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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

EXPOSITOEY LECTURES

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

BY THE
REV. ROBERT J. M'GHEE, A.M., M.R.I.A.
LITE MINISTER OF HAROLD'S CROSB CHURCH, DUBLIK.
RECTOR OF HOLYWELL CUM NEE KINO WORTH, HUNTS.

NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
No. 285 BROADWAY. 1853.

DEDICATION.

TO THE
RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF RODEN, K.S.P.,
&c., &c, &c.
My Dear Lord,
Various are the motives which influence men in the
dedication of their Works. Sometimes it is from a conviction
that the Person to whom their Work is inscribed takes a warm
interest in the cause in which it is written. Or, it may be, that
he is eminently distinguished in knowledge and attainment on
the subject of which it treats ; and that, therefore, his judgment
and approval are highly appreciated and prized by the Public, as
well as by the Author. Or, the Writer may consider, that the
sanction of a venerated name must reflect an honor on his book.
Or, perhaps he may select this as a mode in which he desires to
express the feelings of respect and grateful affection to a revered
and distinguished friend.
These motives, which, in various degrees and modifications,
may dictate other Dedications, so combine to induce me to inscribe
this Work to your Lordship, that \ know not to which of them, I
could ascribe a preponderating influence.
To those which relate to your Lordship, I could not adequately
or truly advert, without inflicting a wound on the individual whom
I desire to honor.
As to those in which I am myself concerned : — While I trust I
can truly say, that I desire not to seek any Patron for this work,
but HIM, whose Blessed Word, it is a very weak and unworthy
effort to expound — and that I desire to commit it to Him, to bless
and direct its circulation, as far as, through His grace, it may con-

IV DEDICATION.
duce to the promotion of His glory, and the edification and salva
tion of souls — yet, I may be allowed to add, that there is not a
Layman in the Church of England, on whose opinion, as to its
sound and Scriptural fidelity, I should more confidently rely ; and
by whose approbation of it, I should feel more truly gratified and
honored, than by that of One, to whose judgment and advice, on
subjects of the gravest moment, I have felt so often and so deeply
indebted — whose kindness and affection I have been permitted,
for nearly half of my life, to feel as one of its greatest privileges,
and best enjoyments ; and in whom I have found, all that could
be included in the truest, highest sense of that sacred name — A
FRIEND.
These Lectures in fact, owe their existence to your Lordship —
as they had never been delivered, if you had not erected the In
fant School-house at Bray.
To your Lordship, then, with the sincere hope, that you may
consider them true, though so inadequate to the mighty subject ;
and Scriptural, though alas ! so very defective and unworthy — -
permit me to inscribe them, as an humble testimony of that grate
ful respect, and sincere affection, with which I am,
My Dear Lord,
Your Lordship's
Most Obliged and Faithful,
R. J. MGHEE.

PREFACE,

The Author would think it in some degree presumptuous to present
the following Lectures to the Public without a few words of apology, or
at least excuse, for their many defects and redundancies, of which he is
fully conscious. He need not deprecate criticism upon them as literary
compositions, from those who know the circumstances which led to their
delivery and publication ; but as they are now submitted to a more ex
tended tribunal, he thinks it due to the importance of the subjects on which
they treat, to account for the existence of many faults which he might be
supposed to have been able by care and labor to have corrected.
Having been precluded by ill health for. many years from parochial
duty, although willing to work according to his ability, he undertook to
deliver a .weekly lecture in the Infant School-THouse at Bray, near which
place he resided, and after proceeding through. an exposition of the Epistle
to the Romans, he commenced the following course :
The Lectures were delivered quite, extemporaneously, without any other
preparation than sincere prayer, that God would be graciously pleased to
bless His own Word, plainly and simply expounded,to the instruction and
edification of those who attended, and they were preserved as delivered,
by a Reporter whom the Congregation assembled there, kindly employed
to take them down.
Since- the Author's subsequent restoration to health and engagement in
official duty, time was not afforded him to prepare them however imper
fectly -for the press, and therefore this Work, though frequently called for,
has been unavoidably delayed.
Under these circumstances the Author does not desire to incur the
charge of obtruding himself on the public in general, with self-sufficient
presumption as a Commentator on the Scriptures; he, rather offers his
book as a tribute due to those, who considering the Lectures profitable to
themselves when delivered, subscribed to preserve them, and (doubtless
with indulgent partiality) encouraged and urged their Publication.
These Lectures, 'therefore, consist of a very plain, unadorned exposition
of that Apostolical Epistle, which next to those addressed to the Romans
and the Hebrews, may be said to comprehend the fullest scope of Divine
truth of any in the New Testament. There are not any vital doctrines
which are not fully developed or implied, nor any precepts which are not
enforced, in the Epistle to the ¦ Ephesians, and which must not be conse
quently treated of,, in any consistent Scriptural, exposition of it. It has
been the anxious desire of the Writer to adhere with the closest simplicity
to the letter of the text. He can conscientiously say, that according to
the best of his judgment, he has not strained a single verse or a single
word to support any. opinion of his own,r— or of any other man, — or of
any party, — nor has he attempted to force a single expression, to maintain

VI PREFACE.
any system derived from human authority. He has not endeavored to
press the Scriptures into the principles of his exposition — but he trusts he
can say with truth, that he has endeavored throughout, that the principles
of the exposition should simply follow the Scriptures. He has not tried
to make the Bible support the doctrines of our Church, — but he can say
with honest truth, he finds the doctrines of our Church, in the plain letter
of the Bible.
He does not accord with the opinion which is frequently expressed and
written, that we cannot find a system in the Sacred Volume. He is fully
satisfied that there is a perfect system in the Word, as well as in the
Works of God ; and that the laws that rule the Planets in their orbits,
are not more accurately ordered in their influences and operations, than
are all the plans, principles, and movements, of that mighty moral gov
ernment, which is developed in the Word of Truth — all the course of that
" everlasting covenant" which is " ordered in all things and sure."
It is true, that in the lofty heights and wondrous depths of the eternal
Word, as in the mighty altitudes and profundities of nature, we find that
we have neither instruments adequate to measure the height, nor lines to
fathom the depth ; and so far we must in many things await in humility
and patience, the full development of those truths which we have not the
means or power to comprehend — but we can advance so far in the knowl
edge of the system of eternal truth, that we caa be sure and confident as
of our existence, of the certainty of the truth we have attained ; and we
do not fear, in its clear and practical application, to maintain it against the
sophistries of those errors that are inconsistent with, or oppose it.
We can tell the right ascension or declination of a star, though we can
not measure the angle of its orb, or calculate its distance from our sphere.
We can steer with firm hearts and joyful hope, under the blessing of God,
over the bosom of the deep, though we cannot fathom the depths of the
abyss beneath us.
There are truths in the system of redemption, bright as the stars, yea,
brighter than the orb of day ; fixed as these luminaries in the firmament,
and firmer than the boundaries of the fathomless ocean, on which the
soul can fix its gaze with as perfect certainty, as we ean see the lights
that rule the day or the night, and on which it can rest with as fearless
security, as we stand upon the mightiest rock that mocks the advances of
the rolling billows.
Of these truths there is one which stands in the Sacred Word — the
fundamental basis of Christianity. — That Christ, our glorious Redeemer,
is the Alpha and Omega of man's salvation — that every sinner that shall
ever enter into the gates of eternal life must enter by the righteousness
and atoning blood of a crucified Saviour, through faith, and not by his
own works or deservings, in whole or in part.
This sacred truth — with those that are dependent on it, and implied in
it, is largely treated of in this Epistle. " Salvation to our God which
sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb" is the theme of joy and in
spired instruction to the Church on earth, as it is her song in glory. And
those who tell us that there is no system in the Scriptures, but help to
undermine the confidence of truth and faith, and to encourage the pre
sumption of ignorance and error — to transfer the dependence of the heart
from the unerring oracles of God, to the wavering opinions of men, vary
ing between the extremes of sceptical latitudinarianism and drivelling
superstition.

PREFACE. yii
Those indeed who set up a system of their own, or of a party, or a
Church, into which they endeavor to compress the revealed will and mind
of God, will find no system, if they mean their own system, in the Bible.
But those who through Divine Grace are enabled to cast their souls with
confidence on their Master's truth, as far as it is fully revealed to them in
His word, and to wait in patient humility, for clearer knowledge, on those
deeper subjects, or less clearly revealed truths, or seeming inconsistencies
which as yet they know not, can rejoice in the light that shines in the
system of eternal truth, with as full a confidence in all its great realities,
its Divine perfections, and its unerring laws, as a man can bask in the
beams and warmth of the noonday sun, without knowing the laws and
properties of light, or troubling himself when he hears of the spots upon the
solar disc, on which learned Astronomers may please to differ and debate.
The Manna from heaven was given for food and not for chemical analysis.
— " The Living Bread that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto
the world" was given to support, to nourish, and to save ; and not to
supply a subject for vain and speculative theories.
How satisfying is the Gospel to the soul, when the weary and heavy
laden sinner comes to Christ for refuge ! How sweet the green pastures
of the Fields of Promise, when the soul lies down to repose and ruminate
in them, beneath the watchful eye of her Shepherd !
" I know in whom I have believed," is the language of the Apostle—
but it may be that of every sinner who believes the Gospel of Christ,
with as much confidence as it was that of St. Paul. Christ being the
object of hope for both through the Spirit, is as worthy of the confidence
of one, as of the other. " The same Lord over all is rich unto all them
that call upon him." Rom. x. 12. "Henceforth," saith the Apostle,
" there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the
righteous Judge shall give to me in that dag, and not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim. iv. 8. All who with the
Apostle look to Christ as " the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth," Rom. x. i, — all who with him trust that " being now
justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him," Rom. v. 9,
and therefore, who " love his appearing ;" may look with joyful hope like
the Apostle to a crown of righteousness.
Here is the rest of those who look for " a kingdom which cannot be
moved." Here the solid repose of the heart, which has Christ for its
refuge and His purchased inheritance for its home. It is this alone that
can enable the soul to adopt the language of the Psalmist as its joyful
song — " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble ;
therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, and though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of
God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high. God is in the midst
of her, therefore shall she not be moved ; God shall help her, and that right
early." Psal. xlvi. 1 — 5. It is this, which in that great and dreadful day
when this scene of terror shall be realized at the coming of the Son of Man
— when " The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every
freeman shall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains,
and shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from, the
face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

V1U PREFACE.
for /the great day of his wrath is come, and wlio shall be able to stand ?"
Rev. vi. 15, 16, 11, — it is this that shall then enable the believer to Uft
up his head with joy and triumph, and to cry, " Lo, this is our God, we
have waited for him, and he will save us. This is tlve Lord, we have waited
for him ; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isa. xxv. 9.
This is indeed that " hope that maketh not ashamed," when Christ is
known as ".The, Way, the Truth, and the Life," as the Foundation of
Hope — the Source of Consolation — the Rock of Trust — when He gives
peace to the conscience, and comfort to the heart, — when faith in our
blessed Redeemer, brings salvation to the soul, and love to Him becomes
the mainspring and motive of the conduct, making our duty our pleasure,
and teaching us to feel that the service of our God, is indeed "perfect
freedom." These blessed truths, which are so fully comprehended within the scope
of this Epistle, are alas ! very imperfectly and unworthily treated in the
Exposition. But if the Author may be permitted to express a general
opinion, he would observe, that detailed expositions of the sacred Script
ures, appear to be the most useful and important religious works, that can
be published or studied in the present day.
The best must be indeed defective in exposition of the fulness of truth.
But if they are sincere and simple as far as they go, they may serve to
guard the mind under the Divine blessing, against the pertinacious, and
persevering perversities of error. Many modern works, as those of Papal
and Tractarian subtlety, abundantly illustrate, how far Scripture, in de
tached quotations, may be pressed into the service of the grossest false
hood. And those who are not acquainted with the letter or spirit of the
Bible, are in danger of being misled and perverted by them.
Those anti-Christian principles, under the guise of a strict and sanctified
morality — a scrupulous observance of the ordinances and ceremonies of
religion — or a mortified abandonment of the pleasures of the world, un
dermine the very foundations of the Christian faith, and lay the axe to the
very root of all Christian morals, by totally corrupting the principle from
which alone they can , spring with acceptance before God. Thus really
subverting morals, by the pretended interests of morality, and overturning
the faith of Christ, under the pretence and semblance of religion.
There is but a step from the cell of the ascetic to the carnival of the
voluptuary. It is an easy and natural transition for an emancipated mind,
to pass from the adoration of a piece of paste, to. the worship of the goddess
of Reason — from being a posture-master in religion, to become a profligate
in infidelity. It is all alike to the Prince of darkness whether he can
dishonor the Majesty of God and destroy the souls of men by infidelity
or superstition. Both alike reject " the record which God hath given of
his Son" and both alike shall perish in their ignorance and unbelief. The
,one makes God a liar, because it affirms He has only told part of the truth.
The other makes him a liar; because it denies He has told any truth at all.
But it seems to the writer that the most effectual mode of guarding against
error ourselves, and opposing it in others, is to bring it to the test of
God's Holy Word, not merely, by comparing it with detached passages
of Scripture that oppose it, but by taking a portion of Scripture, such as
an Apostolical Epistle, in which the mind of God is given in its own
perfect consecutive arrangement on the subject, and testing by that, any
system that is opposed to it. This is a process, by which, the man who
inquires after or maintains truth, will only more fully investigate, or more

PREFACE. IX
fearlessly sustain his Master's cause ; while the -opponent of truth meets
at every step, principles which he cannot make to square with the false
hoods and incongruities of his scheme of. error ; and he will therefore
shrink from the ordeal, with a conscious incapacity to endure the test to
which it subjects his principles.
To follow the revealed mind of God in faithful simplicity, is necessarily
to attain to truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and where this
is really the object of a Christian teacher, he has reason to trust that a
blessing will attend his labors.
The following Lectures, the Author trusts he can truly say, were begun,
continued, and ended with that object. In whatever he has failed, he
desires to express regret for his inability to succeed ; and for whatever
measure of success has crowned his efforts, he desires to express his humble
gratitude to that God, to whose grace and mercy alone he owes it ; and
to pray that He will abundantly bless it to promote His own glory in the
salvation of men, through. Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The demand for this work having almost exhausted the numbers of the
first volume before those of the second could issue from the press, the
Author is induced to, print a second edition.
Having learned from several quarters that it has pleased God to bless
it to the edification and comfort of many into whose hands it has fallen,
the Author can only say, that it adds another to the list of the many
proofs, that God can, in His great mercy and power, work by humble
and insignificant instruments. Fujly conscious that to Him alone any
good which it can effect is to be ascribed, he therefore desires to commit
this edition to His grace and power, with an earnest prayer that as far as
it is consistent with His blessed word, it may be accompanied with His
Divine blessing to the souls of men, and prove to many " a savor of life
unto life." " Unto him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, through
out (ill ages, world without end. Amen." Eph. iii. 21.

CONTENTS.

FIRST LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 1, 2, 3.
' Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, to the saints which
are at F.phesus, and to the faithful
in Christ Jesus : Grace be to you,
and peace, from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual bless
ings in heavenly places in Christ."

SECOND LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 4, 6.
" According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love :
Having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his wiy, To the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved." -

*HIRD LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 7, 8.
" In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his
grace; Wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and pru
dence."

FOURTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 9, 10.
' Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his

17

28

36

good pleasure, which he hath pur
posed in himself: That in the dis-
Eensation of the fulness of times,
e might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth,
even in him.''

- 45

FIFTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 11, 12.
' In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated ac
cording to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will ; That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ." -

, SIXTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 13, 14.
1 In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gos
pel of your salvation: In whom
also, after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance, until the redemption
of the purchased possession, unto
the praise of his glory."

SEVENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 15, 16, 17.
'Wherefore I also, after I heard of
your faith in the Lord Jesus, and
love unto all the saints, Cense not
to give thanks for you, making men
tion of you in my prayers ; That
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and reve
lation in the knowledge of him." -

55

69

85

CONTENTS.

XI

EIGHTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i 17, 18.
'That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of
him: The eyes of your understand
ing being enlightened ; that ye may
know what is the hope of his calUng,
and what the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints." - 92

NINTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 18.
" The eyes of your understanding be
ing enlightened ; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and
what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints." - - 101

TENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians i. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.
' And what is the exceeding great
ness of his power to us-ward who
believe, according to the working
of his mighty power, Which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly
places, Far above all principality,
and power, and might, and domin
ion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in
that which is to come ; And hath
put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all
things to the church, Which is his
body, the fulness of him that filleth
all in all."

113

ELEVENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 1, 2, 3.
' And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins ;
Wherein in time past ye walked ac
cording to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that now work-
ef h in the children of disobedience ;

Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the de
sires of the flesh and of the mind ;
and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others." 125

TWELFTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 4, 5, 6.
" But God, who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he loved
us, Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ; (by grace ye are
saved;) And hath raised us up to
gether, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." - 137

THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 7.
" That in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of nis
grace, in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus." - 148

FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 8, 9.
' For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God : Not of works,
lest any man should boast." - - 156

FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 10.
" For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them." - 168

SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 11, 12, 13.
' Wherefore, remember, that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh,

Xll

CONTENTS.

who are called Uncircumcision by
that which is called the Circumcis
ion in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the com
monwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, hav
ing no hope, and without God in
the world ; But now, in Christ Je
sus, ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of
Christ." ¦ - - 180

SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 14, 15, 16, 17.
' For he is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between
us ; Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of com
mandments contained in ordinan
ces; for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain > the enmity thereby ;
And come and preached peace to
you which were afar off, and to
themthat were nigh."

190

EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 18.
" For through him we both have ac
cess by one Spirit unto the Father." 202

NINETEENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 19.
' Now therefore ye are no more stran
gers and foreigners, but fellow-citi
zens with the saints, and of the
household of God." - - 210

TWENTIETH LECTURE.
Ephesians ii. 20, 21, 22.
¦ And are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus

Christ himself being the chief cor
ner-stone ; In whom all the build
ing, fitly framed together, groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord :
In whom ye also are builded to
gether for an habitation of God
through the Spirit."

222

TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
1 For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, (If
ye have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given
me to you-ward ; How that by rev
elation he made known unto me
the mystery; as I wrote afore in
few words; Whereby, when ye read,
ye may understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ, Which in
other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit; That the
Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and
of the same body, and partakers of
his promise in Christ by the Gospel." 233

TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE
Ephesians iii. 7, 8.
' Whereof I was made a minister, ac
cording to the gift of the grace of
God given unto me by the effectual
working of his power." - - 246

TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 8, 9, 10.
' Unto me, who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that
I should preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created
all things by Jesus Christ ; To the
intent that now, unto the princi
palities and powers in heavenly
places, might be known by the
church the manifold wisdom of
God." - 255

CONTENTS.

Xlll

TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 9, 10, 11. PAOB
" And to make all men see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created
all things by Jesus Christ : To the
intent that now, unto the principal
ities and powers in heavenly places,
might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, Accord
ing to the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 266

TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 12.
' In whom we have boldness and ac
cess with confidence by the faith
of him." - - - - 277

TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 13, 14, 15, 16.
" Wherefore I desire that ye faint not
at my tribulations for you, which
is your glory.) For this cause I bow
my knees unto the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth
is named, That he would grant
you, according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man." - 290

TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iii. 17, 18, 19,20,21.
1 That Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith ; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in love, May be able to
comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height ; And to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the
fulness of God. Now unto him
that is able to do exceeding abund
antly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that work-
eth in us, Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus, through
out all ages, world without end.
Amen." - - 301

TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 1, 2 PAGK
' I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,)
beseech you, that ye walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith ye are
called, with ajl lowliness and meek- ,
ness, with long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love." - - 314

TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 3 — 6.
" Endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as
ye are called in one hope of your
calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all." - - - 329

THIRTIETH LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 7 — 12.
" But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ. Wherefore he
saith, when he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive, and
fave gifts unto men. (Now that
e ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower
parts of the earth 1 He that de
scended is the same also that as
cended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things.) And
he gave some, apostles ; and some,
prophets ; and some, evangelists ;
and some, pastors and teachers.;
for the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ." - 342

THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 12 — 16.
' For the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ : till
we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature ot

XIV

JONTENTS.

the fulness of Christ: that we hence
forth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craft
iness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive ; but, speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even
Christ : from whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, mak-
eth increase of the body, unto the
edifying of itself in love." - 355

THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 17 — 20.
" This I say therefore, and testify in
the Lord, that ye henceforth walk
not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind ; having the un
derstanding darkened, being alien
ated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in them, be
cause of the blindness oftheir heart :
who, being past feeling, have given
themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greed
iness. But ye have not so learned
Christ." - - - 371

THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
EphesiAns iv. 20 — 24.
1 But ye have not so learned Christ ;
if so be that ye have heard him, and
have been taught by him, as the
truth is in Jesus : that ye put off,
concerning the former conversation,
the old man, which is corrupt ac
cording to the deceitful lusts ; and
be renewed in the spirit of your
mind ; and that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness." -

382

THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 25 — 28.
1 ' Wherefore , putting a way lying, speak
every man truth with his neighbor ;

for we are members one of another.
Be ye angry, and sin not : let not
the sun go down upon your wrath.
Neither give place to the devil. Let
him that stole steal no more : but
rather let him labor, working with
his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him
that needeth." - 393

THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
Ephesians iv. 28 — 32.
"Let him that stole steal no more:
but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is
food, that he may have to give to
im that needeth. Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good to the
use of edifying, that it may minis
ter grace unto the hearers. And
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day
of redemption. Let all bitterness,
and wrath, and anger, and clamor,
and evil-speaking, be put away
from you, with all malice : and be
ye kind one to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, even
as God for Christ's sake hath for
given you." -

- 404

THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 1—6.
' Be ye therefore followers of God, as
dear children ; and walk in love, as
Christ also hath loved us, and hath
given himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smell
ing savor. But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it
not be once named among you,
as becometh saints ; neither filthi-
ness, nor foolish talking, nor jest
ing, which are not convenient ; but
rather giving of thanks. For this
ye know, that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolater, hath any inher
itance in the kingdom of Christ and
of God. Let no man deceive you
with vain words: for because of
these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedi
ence."  417

CONTENTS.

XT

THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 7 — 12.
" Be not ye therefore partakers with
them. For ye were sometimes dark
ness, but now are ye light in the
Lord: walk as children of light;
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, and righteousness, and
truth;) proving what is acceptable
unto the Lord. And have no fel
lowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them.
For it is a shame even to speak of
those things which are done of
them in secret." - - 431

THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE
Ephesians v. 13 — 16.
" But all things that are reproved are
made manifest by the light: for
whatsoever doth make manifest is
light. Wherefore he saith, Awake
thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light. See then that ye walk cir
cumspectly, not as fools, but as
wise, redeeming the time, because
the days are evil."

445

THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 17 — 21.
" Wherefore be*ye not unwise, but un
derstanding what the will of the
Lord is. And be not drunk with
wine, wherein is excess; but be
filled with the Spirit ; speaking to
yourselves in psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the
Lord ; giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
submitting yourselves one to an
other in the fear of God." - 457

FORTIETH LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 22 — 24.
" 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. Therefore, as the
church is subject unto Christ, so let
the wives be to their own husbands
in everything." - - - 470

FORTY-FIRST LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 25 — 27.
" Husbands, love your wives, even as
, Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself for it; that he might
sanctity 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." - - - -480

FORTY-SECOND LECTURE.
Ephesians v. 28 — 33:
" 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. This is a great mys
tery : 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." ----- 494

FORTY-THIRD LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 1 — 3.
" 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."  507

XVI

CONTENTS.

FORTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 4.
" And, ye fathers, provoke not your
children to wrath : but bring them
up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord." - - - 518

FORTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 5 — 7.
" 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 eye-service as
men-pleasers, but as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from
the heart ; with good-will doing ser
vice, as to the Lord, and not to men." 534

FORTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 7 — 10.
"With good- will doing service, as to
the Lord, and not to men ; know
ing that whatsoever good thing any
man doeth, the same shall he re
ceive of the Lord, whether he be
bond or free. And, ye masters, do
the same things unto them, forbear
ing threatening: knowing that your
Master also is in heaven ; neither
is there respect of persons with him.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his
might." 

544

FORTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 10, 11;
" Finally, my brethren, be strong in
tLr Lr-rJ. «*m2 yu tri -yvex of his
might. Put on the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles, of the devil." - 558

FORTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 12—14.
"For we wrestle not against' 'flesh
and blood; but against principalities,
against powers; against the rulers' oi"
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. Stand
therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having oh
the breastplate of righteousness."

570

FORTY-NINTH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 15, 16.
" And your feet shod with the prepa
ration of the Gospel of peace ; above
all, taking the shield of faith, where
with ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked." - 582

FIFTIETH LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 17, 18.
" And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God : praying always
with all prayer, &c." - - ^ 598

FIFTY-FIRST LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 18 — 20.
" Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the spirit, and watch
ing thereunto with all perseverance
and supplication for all saints; and
for me, that utterance may be given
unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery
of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in bonds : that therein
I may speak boldly, as I ought to
speak." - - - - 611

FIFTY-SECOND LECTURE.
Ephesians vi. 21 — 24.
" But that ye also may know my af
fairs, and howl do, Tychicus, a be
loved brother and faithful minister
in the Lord, shall make known to
you all things : whom I have sent
unto you for the same purpose, that
ye might know our affairs, and that
he might comfort your hearts. Peace
be to the brethren, and love with
faith, from God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with
all them that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Amen."

627

THE EPISTLE

PAUL THE APOSTLE, TO THE EPHESIANS.

Ephesians I. — 1, 2, 3.
" Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at
Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ." The Apostle Paul commences this Epistle in the same manner
in which he commenced that to the Romans, which we have just
concluded,* and as he begins all his Epistles except that to the
Hebrews, by prefixing his name (as was the custom in writing
in those days) instead of subscribing it at the close of the letter as
we do. " Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will
op God." You perceive he not only prefixes his name but his
authority too. This is a point which few, if any of us, sufficiently
consider. I do not mean that when we take up the Scriptures, we
have not generally a conviction of their divine authority and in
spiration ; but we have not as we ought to have, that influential
operative conviction which receives all that is therein contained
as the pure truth of God — -the whole truth ; we have need to pray
continually for this conviction, and the more so, because of the
false opinions that are frequently not only entertained, but even
expressed on the subject.
Many persons will tell you that they prefer the Gospels to the
Epistles, as if they possessed some authority superior to the apos
tolic letters. They even profess to make from them a standard
of doctrine, as it were contradistinguished from that, of the Epis
tles. Hence you often hear persons say, especially those who
argue against salvation by grace, and quote the morality of the
Scriptures, against its doctrines of redemption ; " Paul expresses
himself in such or such terms, but Christ says so and so — now I
take the word of Christ in preference to that of Paul." Now there
* The Author had just finished a Course of Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans,
similar to this, and there are so many allusions made to it in these Lectures, that it
is necessary to mention the fact.

18 lectures on the ephesians.
is a three-fold reason for this : First — Ignorance of the plenary
inspiration of the Scriptures ; that " all Scripture is given by in
spiration of God," 2 Tim. iii. 16 : that " Holy men of old spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. i. 21. Sec
ondly — Forgetfulness of our Lord's testimony, " 7/ is not ye that
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speakelh in you."
Matt. x. 20. " He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that de
spiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiselh him
that sent me." Luke x. 16. They do not understand or believe
these and similar passages, or they would know the identity of
inspiration and authority in these sacred documents ; and that
such a comparison between the words of Christ and His apostles,
was, as it really is, a contempt of Himself of his own authority
and truth.
But there is a third reason for this, viz., — that the Epistles are
more calculated to awaken the enmity of the natural mind against
God than the Gospels ; for although the Gospels contain much
that cannot be clearly understood by these persons in a spiritual
sense ; still the parables, of which many are so clearly illustrative
of moral truth, and the precepts of our Lord, come home at once
to the natural judgment and conscience, and commend themselves
to both ; and therefore are not so calculated to provoke objections
as the Epistles. Therefore you will find, that some persons who
would substitute extracts from the Bible for the Bible itself, for the
instruction of the people, are exceedingly cautious in the selec
tions which they make from the Epistles ; and are fond of quot
ing the passage from Peter, which they pervert, saying, that in the
Epistles of Paul " are some things hard to be understood." Be
cause, as the Apostle Paul sets forth so fully salvation by grace,
and holds forth the Gospel of Christ so freely, this being foolish
ness unto them — as " the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God," 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; therefore such men give a
preference to the Gospels, and so will often quote, and ignorantly
appeal to their authority against the Apostolical Epistles. But let
us remember that every word spoken by the Apostles, claims for
itself the full authority of " thus saith the Lord ;" because accord
ing to the words of the Lord Jesus, " It is not they that speak but
the Spirit of their Father that speaketh in them." Matt. x. 20.
We find then the Apostle Paul exceedingly tenacious of this
authority, and always setting it forth, as if to remind the churches,
that the authority with which he addressed them, was that of
God ; and thus, we ought to receive every word of his inspired
testimony. "To THE SAINTS WHICH ARE AT EpiIESl'S, AND TO THE
faithful in Christ Jesus." We considered so much at large,
the persons who are included in the term " saints" in the Epistle
to the Romans, that I shall now but briefly recall to your remem
brance, that it is the Scriptural appellation of all believers in
Christ. All who are justified by faith in Jesus, are also sanctified
in Him, and in this sense all are alike sanctified— none more so

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 19
than others — the babe in Christ is sanctified in Him, as well as the
young man, the young man as well as the father. There are indeed
different gifts of grace, as well as different degrees of growth in grace,
in the Church of Christ, and in this sense some believers are more
than others under the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God.
And this ought to "be the continual object of attainment, to all the
children of God. But in the sense in which all are one with Christ,
as united to Him by faith, they are all sanctified in Him alike, dedi
cated, set apart, consecrated in Him to God forever. In this sense
their sanctification is ascribed to the salvation wrought by Christ,
so saith the Apostle Paul : " By the which will we are sanctified,
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all"
Heb. x. 10 ; and again, " The bodies of those beasts whose blood
is brought intothe sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned
without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate," Heb.
xiii. 11, 12. And so our blessed Lord ascribes the sanctification
of his Church, in this sense, to faith in Him, in His commission to
the Apostle of the Gentiles, "to whom" saith he "now I send thee
to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God ; that they may receive forgive
ness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me," Acts xxvi. 17, 18. Therefore I say, every
believer in the Lord Jesus is sanctified in him, the weakest as
well as the strongest — the poorest believer of this day, as much
as the Apostle Paul. It is the more necessary to explain this from
the gross errors that are prevalent on the subject. Many persons
are in the habit of making justification only as it were an initia
tory act, whereby men are brought into a state in which they may
be sanctified and saved; and think they are not warranted to trust
in Christ for salvation till a certain purifying process takes place
in them which they call sanctification — a work of the Spirit sepa
rate from the salvation wrought by Christ. Nothing can be far
ther from the Gospel than this — this error keeps, I am satisfied,
many of the children of God mourning all their days, looking for
this purification in themselves which they never feel or can feel.
They confound two things which are quite distinct — the sanctify
ing influences and power of the Spirit, which it is ever their privi
lege and duty to pray for — to watch for, and to receive as being
the children of God ; that they may serve and glorify their heav
enly Father — with that work of the Spirit whereby they are
quickened and brought to Christ, pardoned, washed, justified from
all their sins, sanctified in Him and presented in Him to God
" without spot or wrinkle or any such thing." The truth is
equally opposed to every error, whether those that are more spe
cious, and approach nearer the Gospel in appearance ; or those by
which, as in this case, the Church of Rome runs into an anti-
Scriptural apostacy, canonizing, as she calls it, certain persons as
saints, who are pretended to have advanced to some imaginary
stage of perfection in holiness, but of whom multitudes have been

20 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
characterized by devotion indeed, to her, but by ignorance of God,
and enmity against His Gospel. I need not enter at length on
the no less awful state of those, who profess to protest against the
idolatry and superstition of Rome, but who use the very name of
" saint" as a term of reproach and mockery, applied to those who
do not fear to profess the faith, and follow the conduct of those
who really are servants of Christ. Recollect then, that " the saints
and faithful brethren in Christ" are synonymous terms for all
those who truly believe in Him as the hope and refuge of their
souls.
" Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ."
This is the apostolical benediction with which Paul generally
commences and concludes his Epistles. So we had it in the con
clusion of that to the Romans on our last day. " The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." Rom. xvi. 24. Believ
ers, then, as now, required grace continually to keep them, and
enable them to stand before their God. As our bodily frames re
quire fresh food for their daily subsistence, and without it would
grow weak, languish, and die ; so do we in a spiritual sense require
continual supplies of heavenly refreshment. If the Israelites were
obliged to go and gather the manna, morning by morning in the
wilderness, so have we, my dear friends, daily need of supplies of
" the Bread of God, which is he that cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world." John vi. 32. So should we pray
continually in the language of those who heard this truth from his
own lips, " Lord, evermore give us this bread." v. 33. And if
we " have not" let us remember the reason is " because we ask
not." Jam. iv. 2. We should use the means if we expect the end.
Remember the promise, Prov. viii. 17, " They that seek me early
shall find me." Again — " They that wait on the Lord shall re
new their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles —
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Isai. xl. 31. We ought to use industry for the soul as well as
for the body ; for, " The soul of the diligent shall be made fat."
Prov. xiii. 4. This may be viewed as an apostolical prayer for
the Church as well as an apostolical benediction. All requite
grace to keep them as well as to call them. We need daily sup
plies, and we receive them too, as we have just been singing in
our hymn : — " Grace turned my wandering feet,
To tread the heavenly road,
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While passing on to God."
But it is not only grace, but peace too, for which the Apostle
¦prays for them. — True peace cannot exist without grace — and
peace is the consequence of grace. The believer stands, through
grace, accepted, justified by the precious blood of Jesus ; the
sweet apprehension of Christ by faith, brings pardon and peace to

lectures on the ephesians. 21
his soul ; so saith the Scripture, " being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also
we have access into this grace wherein v;e stand and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God," Rom. v. 1, 2, they are justified by faith,
and have peace — they stand in a state of grace, and rejoice in
hope. Jesus " has made peace through the blood of his cross"
Col. i. 20, and so to know him and to enjoy the peace he has pur
chased through the grace that is given to them, is the subject
of the apostolical prayer and benediction, — " grace be to you, and
peace." And, as then, so now it is our consolation to remember the
source from whence alone grace and peace can flow. It is not
from Paul, or from Apollos, or Cephas ; but "from God our Fa
ther, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Jehovah, the Father, the
fountain, and Jehovah, the Son, the channel of all blessings.
" Jesus the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8.
The Fountain of living waters, as redundant as at the creation — the
Sun of Righteousness with undiminished effulgence — the Ocean
unfathomable in the depths of love and mercy, — " an ocean with
out bottom or shore." Oh how lamentably we live below our
privileges, my friends. How little we bathe in that fountain !
how little we bask in that sun ! — how little we ride buoyant on
that ocean with our anchor cast within the veil! "Lord increase
our faith."
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual bless
ings in heavenly places in Christ."
The Apostle bursts, as it were, into a strain of praise and
thanksgiving at the contemplation of their present position, and
the present blessings they enjoyed through grace. He ascribes
all those blessings to the source of all blessing, to Jehovah, the
Father, and he calls Him, "the God and FatHer of our Lord
Jesus Christ," conveying thereby the ideas included in the amaz
ing manifestation of His love in giving His Son to die for us, and
the unity of the divine will in the salvation of all the Church of
God. If it is " a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1st Tim.
i. 15, it is no less so that " God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. The Father
cannot be separated from the Son in the whole covenant and
completion of the work of Redeeming love, nor the Holy Ghost
from both. The revelation of that love in the glorious person and
work of Immanuel, is the revelation of the Father's character,
government, and love to sinners in Jesus. " No man knoweth the
Father save the Son, and -he to whomsoever the Son will reveal
Him." Mat. xi. 27. The " light of the knowledge of his glory"
is revealed " in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. In the
threat work of salvation it may be affirmed that the unity of the
divine will in the blessed persons of the Trinity is manifested

22 lectures on the ephesians.
through all the Sacred Volume, in the salvation of all His Church.
Our Lord saith, " All that the Father giveth me shall come lo
me ; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise__ cast -out."
And He gives as the reason, " For I came down from Heaven,
not to do mine own will but the will of Him that sent me, and this
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He has
given me I should lose nothing, but shoidd raise it up again at
the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent 'me, that
every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him, may have
everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. John
vi. 37—40.
It is manifest from these words of our Lord that all His Church
are the gift of His Father to Him, they shall all come to Him and
He will in no wise cast them out. Again, the love by which they
are given to Him by the Father, and received by Him, is immut
able ; it carries them on to the end, for it is the Father's will that
" of all which He hath given Him He should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day ;" and again it is the same
will which causes that "every one who seeketh the Son and
believeth on Him," or, as our Lord saith in another place, " who
have not seen and yet have believed," " may have everlasting
life." " The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord," and so whosoever hath come to Christ that he may have
life, whosoever has been drawn to Him as the hope and refuge of
his soul, is warranted to ascribe, as the Apostle does here, the
blessing of all their mercies to " the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ." We see the Apostle Peter uses the same language ;
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to his abundant m.ercy, hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to
an inheritance incorruptible, fyc, 1 Pet. i. 3, and so the song of
the redeemed before the throne is "Blessing and honor and glory
and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the Throne, and unto
the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. v. 13. We perceive here for
what the Apostle ascribes this blessing to God. " Who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings." They were
blessed with them, all things were theirs — Christ is all and in all,
and they were Christ's — as the Apostle says, 1 Cor. iii. 21-23, "All
things are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."
This is a truth of which believers, alas ! are lamentably ignorant
and of which even those who know most, know but very little.
How little are our hearts and hopes lifted up above their natural
state ! how heavily we drag on our spiritual life, compared with
our high and holy privileges !
The Apostle, in the second chapter of this Epistle, enters more
fully (as we shall see, if it pleases God to spare us,) into this sub
ject. He contrasts the position of sinners in their natural state
with that of sinners in their spiritual state — they were " dead in
trespasses and sins," "children of wrath," — now "quickened
together with Christ — raised up together and made to sit together

lectures on the ephesians. 23
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Chap. ii. 1, 5, 6. The believer
may ask, how can this be ? — how can I feel this to be so '? It is
not proposed to you as an object of feeling but of faith — God
speaks it— Jehovah declares it to be a fact, and it is firm as
the foundations of eternal truth. We considered this subject at
length, in reading the 6th of Romans, and it will come more at
large than in this verse, under our consideration in the 2nd chapter,
but you recollect what the testimony of the Holy Spirit is in the
6th of Romans — " We are buried with him by baptism into
death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" —
again, " Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord," verses 4, 11, — again
in Colossians, ii. 12, " Buried with him in baptism, wherein also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God,
who hath raised him from the dead," — again, in chap. iii. 3, 4,
" ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him in glory." Their actual state of spiritual life and union
with Christ is the subject not of sense indeed, but of faith. The
Lord declares it to them, for it is so seen in his eye, " according
as he hath chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the
world." v. 4. God views all his own mighty works in progress as in
completion. The architect surveys in his mind's eye the building
of which he has laid but the foundation stone, as a complete and
perfect structure, according to the plan and elevation he has laid
down for it, — the shipwright when he lays the first beam of the
keel of his vessel on the stocks, views it as complete as if it were
sailing on the bosom of the deep, with every sail expanded in the
breeze — and if architects and shipwrights were infallible and im
mortal, their works and their conceptions and plans must ever cor
respond. But how often do we see that they who lay the founda
tion may never live to raise the superstructure ! how often do
their structures vary from their plans, and how often do their
resources fail ! so that in all these senses we may say, " this man
began to build and was not able to finish."
But God is the omnipotent, infallible, eternal architect. When
the foundations of his church were laid before the foundations of
the world, it stood as perfect and finished in His view as it shall
appear when the "head stone shall be brought forth with shout
ings of grace, grace unto it." Zech. iv. 7. — And the mind of
Jehovah shall be reversed — and his plans be changed — and His
resources fail — or, He Himself shall cease to exist, before
one stone shall fall and perish of that building which he
viewed as complete from eternity. Jesus the living head of His
church is exalted at the right hand of His Father, every member
of His mystical body is beheld complete and safe in Him, " raised
up together with him, and made to sit together in the heavenlies
in him." — not one of them shall be lost — his sheep shall never
perish, John x. 28. It is as true of His mystical as of His natural

24 lectures on the ephesians.
body, " a bone of him shall not be broken." John xix. 36. Prom
ises and means are given us here, but it is the privilege of every
believer in resting on those promises, and in the use of these means,
to look beyond this tabernacle, to rise above this poor world of
sorrow, sin, and death, and to enter by faith into those mansions,
of which his Lord spake when He said, " I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye
may be also." John xiv. 2, 3. He is made unto His people,
" wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
1 Cor. i. 30.
" How am I to feel thus," some poor believer will say, " when I
feel so deserving only of hell, so bowed down beneath this body
of sin and death — struggling under the pressure of this corrupt
and wicked heart — constrained continually to cry out, " O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death !" Rom. vii. 24. Paul was constrained to cry out thus
before you — but you see when he records this sad experience of
his own evil heart, and the power of sin in his members — even
then in the midst of his complaint of sin and of his body of flesh,
he bursts forth in the exercise of faith, and while groaning he
asks the question, " who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ?" Faith answers in the same breath, " I thank God through
Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. vii. 25. It is our privilege and
our joy to rise upon the wings of faith and hope, and to soar up
to our heavenly home above the strugglings of these dying bodies:
how often do we see the believer even in the depths of suffering,
and in the hour of death enjoying this blessed privilege.
I had a dear friend,* a physician, who died very lately of this
disease that has been so prevalent and so fatal, this influenza ;
and there was another dear friend of his and mine, who had the
privilege of watching by his bed of death ; his daughter who
would else have occupied that post, lay dying of consumption at
the same time ; indeed it was to a devoted attendance on her,
humanly speaking, that he fell a sacrifice, for when he caught the
disease, he would not omit his late and early watching, nor give
up till he was beyond the reach of human aid. This lady who
attended him told me some circumstances of his death, Avhich
evince how a believer may rise above his earthly tabernacle, and
look down on it as it were while he sees it crumbling into dust
before his eyes.
The day before his death he requested his medical attendant to
read for him the 23d Psalm in Buchanan's Latin translation of
the Psalms ; he requested him afterwards to read the same Psalm
in the Bible — he repeated with great joy the 4th verse, "yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they com
fort me." — When this was done he said, "As all his concerns
were arranged for eternity, he would now settle his affairs for
* Dr. Samuel Robinson, — he fell asleep in Christ, January 29th, 1837.

lectures on the ephesians. 25
time," accordingly he arranged his will and all temporal matters.
That night about eleven o'clock, a violent fit of coughing came
on, he said to his dear friend who was sitting beside him, in meta
phorical language, to the use of which he was very much ad
dicted, " That was a heavy blow from the iron mace of death  I
thought I should have gone off about twelve o'clock to-night, but
I see from the strength of that cough that I shall last three or
four hours longer" — this was precisely the case, for at four o'clock
in the morning he fell asleep. Soon after he had spoken thus he
added, " Now my dear friend, you will see my hands and my feet
swell, and then they will grow cold and bluish in their color, and
if you will he so kind when you see this to roll a little warm flan
nel round them, it will alleviate the bodily suffering, — you see my
hands are swelling already — then you will see the cold sweat of
death breaking out on my forehead, and just wipe it off with a
warm cloth — I shall then fall into a sort of stupor, but I shall not
be dead for some time, and let them not touch me till I am
dead." — He spoke this and gave these directions, just as delibe
rately as if he was giving them for another dying man, and
seemed just to speak of his body as of that of another person,
then, after a little time he said as it were with a sort of playful
triumph, " Who would have thought that I should have won the
race from Sophy after all?" — alluding to his daughter, who was
so near the goal, that he had been daily expecting the termination
of her race. Soon after this, he fell asleep.
Thus, is it the privilege of a believer to rise above his earthly
tabernacle, and while he sees and feels it sinking into the dust of
death, to behold with the eye of faith his immortal spirit risen
with Christ, and to long to burst the fetters which bind him here
below, and spring at once to the realms of light. It is his privi
lege to turn his eyes away from the shroud, the coffin, the clay,
and "the worm, and to behold the glorious company of his brethren
around the throne, and to hear the song of the redeemed as they
cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus. Death is his as well as
life — his, for good and glory too. " All things are his, whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come, all are his, and he is Christ's,
and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23.
He is " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ." Oh ! consider this, believer — you have all things —
though now for the present you do not enjoy all things. It must
be so, the Holy Ghost assures us, that the premises must involve
the conclusion — the reasoning on them is infallible, "He that
spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things ?" Rom. viii. 32.
How shall he not ? that is to say, it is impossible but that he must.
Therefore it is our glorious privilege to look out of ourselves in
the flesh, and to behold ourselves by faith safe in our blessed
Lord — " Surely shall one say in the Lord I have righteousness
and strength." Isaiah xlv. 24— in ourselves we have neither one

26

lectures on the ephesians.

nor the other — all weakness and all sin — " all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags." Isaiah lxiv. 6 ; the more we examine the
fact, the more we shall feel it to be so. Bring filthy rags into the
light of the sun and they will appear ten times more filthy than
before, so it is with all our works — bring them into the light even
of our own judgment, we must condemn them, what must they
be in the light of God's holy law, when we say " thou hast set our
misdeeds before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy counte
nance." Psalm xc. 8. O how should we stand if he were to
" enter into judgment" with us ! but if we are looking out of sin
and self to the covenant promises of our God in the everlasting
Gospel, then we may " lift up the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees'' Heb. xii. 12, — then we may say in spirit and in
truth, as I fear we so often mutter over in a cold heartless form,
" O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the
strength of our salvation." Psalm xcv. 1.
O what would become of us without the Bible? — all peace, all
joy, all consolation, all hope forever gone — it would be like blpt-
ting the sun from the firmament, the soul would be in outer dark
ness. Let us think of that testimony of the everlasting cove
nant, " all things are yours" — and remember this is spoken of
spiritual, not of earthly blessings. Poor Lazarus was not enjoy
ing earthly blessings when he was laid at the rich man's gate full
of sores, and when the dogs were coming and licking his sores,
and when he was longing for the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table — but " he was blessed with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ" — as one of his members " all things
were his" — all his very trials were just his Father's means of pre
paring his soul to be transported in a little time by the angels into
Abraham's bosom. Poor Job was not enjoying earthly blessings
when his oxen and his asses, and his sheep and his camels, and
his servants, and his sons, and his daughters, were all swept away
from him in a day, when Satan was let loose on his possessions,
and his person ; and his wife, as if leagued with Satan, bid him
" curse God and die." Yet read the whole of his history, and mark
the Apostolic comment on it, " ye have heard of the patience of Job,
and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitifid and
of tender mercy;" James v. 11 — ye have seen the end of the Lord, ye
have seen how all things were working together for his own good and
his Master's glory. And do you not think Job knew this when he
saw " the end of the Lord" himself? So shall you see, O believer,
when you shall see his end in all dispensations towards yourself — you
shall see all trials working for your good. Then learn to "glory in
tribulation" with Paul, and you shall feel as it is in the hymn.
" Since all that I meet
Shall work for my g6od,
The bitter is sweet,
The medicine is food ;
Though painful at present,
'Twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant
The conqueror's song."

lectures on the ephesians. 27
Remember then, it is the privilege of faith to look at Provi
dences in their end, to " look, not at the things that are seen, but at
the things that are not seen." Yes, believer, it is your privilege
to see " all things working together for your good" — " all things
are yours," whether inward or outward crosses, all afflictions, all
trials, all temptations, all difficulties, all bereavements, all your
sorrows whatever they be, and sooner or later you must feel sor
rows : — no child of God can be more or less without them — as an
old writer remarks, " God had one Son on earth without sin, but
he never had one without sorrow," — but these very sorrows teach
you the preciousness of a " brother born for adversity," who is the
man of sympathy, and the God of love and power, and who can
speak peace to the winds and waves in the heaviest storm of
trouble, and cause the heaving of the sinner's bosom to sink like
the sea of Galilee into a great calm. — He can give peace which
all the world can neither give nor take away —
" And if such peace
While under his afflicting hand we find,
What shall it be to see him as he is,
And past the reach of all that now disturbs
The tranquil soul's repose, to contemp'ate
la retrospect unclouded, all the means
By which his wisdom has prepared his saints
For the vast weight of glory that remains.
Come then affliction if my Father bids,
And be my frowning friend — a friend that frowns,
Is better than a smiling enemy."
Yea, even your very sins shall be made to work together for
your good — they shall " humble you, and prove you, and make
you know what is in your heart," and they shall serve to develop
and to enhance " the unsearchable riches of Christ."
You will not misunderstand me as if I were to say it can be
good for you to sin, God forbid ! but I mean that the grace and
mercy of God will overrule even your sin, and so humble you
under the convictions of it, as to make Christ more precious to you,
and that you shall learn more and more to love him, and to hate
your sin, and hate yourself, for as it is sin that sets forth the
grace and love of Christ to the sinner, so it is the love, the con
straining love of Christ that illustrates the evil, and aggravates
the bitterness, and increases the hatred of sin.
Now consider — dwell on these two points, the position of a sinner
by nature, and the position of a believer by grace, and as we are
all without exception by nature, in the first, O may we be found
by grace, " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ." Amen.

SECOND LECTURE.

Ephesians I. 4 — 6.

"According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him, in love. Having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved."
We considered, the last time we met, the position which those
who believe in Jesus occupy by grace, and the privileges they
enjoy, namely, being " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heav
enly places, in Christ." And the reason of this is stated in the
4th verse with which we commence to-day — •" According as he
hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the
WORLD."
God's everlasting love is the source of all that believers enjoy in
time, or shall enjoy in eternity. We entered, you recollect, at
large into this subject, as we went through the 8th and 9th chapters
of the Epistle to the Romans. We dwelt on the uses and abuses of
the doctrine of God's predestinating love, which forms such a prom
inent subject of those chapters ; and considered how profitable the
practical view of the doctrine is to the believer ; and how vain and
unprofitable the speculative controversies to which it so often gives
rise. It is, in fact, a portion of that "strong meat which belongeth
to those that .are of full age, even those who, by reason of use,
have their senses exercised to discern both good and eyz7."Heb.
v. 14. When men do not understand the fundamental principles
of the Gospel of Christ, every effort of their mind to comprehend
the doctrine of election is vain ; so that, to reason with them on
the subject, is like reasoning with a man born blind on colors, or
with a deaf man on harmony ; while, to the practical use of this, the
believer owes the whole of his hope of being brought to eternal life.
If we think that our own goodness, or our good intentions, reso
lutions, prayers, or anything tending to excellence or superiority in
us over our fellow-sinners, was the cause why God looked in his
mercy upon us, we cannot believe the Gospel ; we cannot really
be looking to Jesus, under a consciousness of our own guilt and
vileness as lost and helpless sinners.
Again, if we think that our own goodness, or faithfulness, or
profitable use of means, or the purity of our intentions, or the subjec
tion of our will, or anything in us derived from ourselves, or our own
good disposition, is to be the cause of our perseverance, and final
ealvation, we are equally far from the knowledge of ourselves, or of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 29
the Gospel. We cannot be really looking to and leaning on Jesus
as lost and helpless sinners — we are trusting to a source of salvation
as uncertain as the weathercock, or the wind that blows it about.
Look, my dear friends, not merely to the written Word of God,
bat look also into your own deceitful hearts — look at the working
of your wayward will, not only before you knew Christ as your
refuge, but now. Look at the wandering idolatrous clinging of
your earthly affections to the creature, and you will see the ne
cessity of being chosen in Christ ; you will confess that it is all
" by grace ye are saved," — not as righteous in yourselves, but as
rebels — and this merely — " according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world." Man was
seen in the whole detail of his existence, and not alone in the ab
stract — therefore all cavilling questions, such as, Why was man
allowed to fall? — Why made liable to sin? &c, resolve themselves
into the one point ; Why was evil permitted to exist ? to which
we can give but one answer — the fact. Look around you, and
look within you — if you are taught of God, the whole testimony of
your conscience, as a voluntary, accountable, rational creature,
will correspond with your Lord's revealed will. And if not, if you
cavil at it, and object, then I know no other answer than that of
the apostle, " Wlio art thou that repliest against God ?" Rom.
ix. 20. Oh, my friends when we come to appear before our God,
no fallen child of Adam shall be able to throw the blame of his
sin on his Creator, more than his fallen forefather was. Do you
think that Adam convicted his Creator of wrong, when he replied,
" The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, and I did eat" ?
Here my brethren, is the one simple rule : all the evil that we
feel within, comes from ourselves and our enemy ; and all the
good that we can ever put in practice, or feel, or even desire,
comes solely from the free gift of God. Were we to depend on
ourselves, we must perish. God does not deal with us as a cred
itor might deal with a broken merchant, to whom he would give
a capital again, to trade with, and to try to retrieve his affairs, by
his own exertions and resources. We are not pardoned by a
divine decree, as it were to a certain time, and then left again to
ourselves, to try if we shall walk aright, and maintain our state
of salvation ; — no, blessed be our God, " We are kept by the power
of God, through faith unto salvation." 1 Pet. i. 5. Indeed were
it possible that we were all placed in a state of innocence like
that of Adam, like him we should individually transgress our
Master's law. Oh how much more secure the salvation of those
who have Christ as their Covenant Head and Covenant Hope,
and who can say, " Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Tit. iii. 5.
Who can say, "Behold God, is my salvation, I will trust and not
be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song :
he also is become my salvation." Isaiah xii. 2.

30

lectures on the ephesians.

Yes, every child of God — every converted soul, must know that
he is saved indeed by free and sovereign grace. If he confesses
Jesus as the Saviour, he will confess him too as the seeker of his
soul, " He is come to seek and to save that which was lost" — and
having gone as the good Shepherd into the wilderness after the
sheep, and found it, and " laid it on his shoulders rejoicing," he
does not cast it down again to perish ; no, he brings it home to
his friends and neighbors, — Luke xv. 5, 6 — the company of his
redeemed, " having loved his own he loveth them unto the end"
John xiii. 1. Looking unto him we have all the promises secured,
for he is "faithful and true"— and " all the promises of God in
him are yea, and in him amen."
But observe to what believers are chosen in Christ, " that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by jesus christ to himself, according to the good pleas
URE of his will." They are chosen, " to be holy" — chosen to
be " without blame before him in love" — and mark the source of
all, "HAVING PREDESTINATED US TO THE ADOPTION OF CHIL
DREN ;" " ACCORDING to the good pleasure of his will."
They are chosen to be holy, as He also is holy — so saith the
Apostle Peter, " as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy
in all manner of conversation." 1 Pet. i. 15.
Here, perhaps, the believer will say, " ah ! that is the very thing
I feel I want ; if I were holy I should be happy — but I feel my
self, alas ! unholy and unclean." Now, we must again observe,
on this point, that there are two senses in which the term holy is
to be considered.
" Holy" is to be considered in an absolute and relative sense, and
I believe much distress of conscience arises to believers, from not
having a clear Scriptural knowledge of this subject. Every
believer is, and is considered as absolutely holy before God. Just
as the vessels of the temple were sanctified, consecrated and set
apart to the service of God — so, in this sense, is every vessel of
the spiritual temple, every believer, chosen in Christ, sanctified,
consecrated, dedicated to the Lord's service ; he is taken from
the mass of the world, that lieth in wickedness — his guilt is can
celled — sin blotted out forever ; he stands washed in the precious
blood, and clothed in the perfect righteousness of Immanuel,
without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. In this sense, he is
absolutely and positively holy ; so saith the Psalmist, " Preserve
thou my soul, for I am holy." Psalm lxxxvi. ; though in the
preceding verse he cries, "Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me :
for I am poor and needy ;" he mourns his sin and poverty in
the same breath in which he says, " i" am holy." God looks not
at him as he is in himself, a poor, miserable sinner ; I say, in this
sense God looks not on him as such, but He looks on him as a
member of the risen body of his risen Lord and covenant head,
Christ Jesus. So it is the believer's privilege and duty to contem
plate himself also as the Apostle commands, Rom. vi. " Likewise

lectures on the ephesians. 31
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." In this sense the
sanctification of the believer is the immediate and necessary con
sequence of his justification. As soon as he is justified from all
his offences by faith in the Lord Jesus— so soon is he considered
in the eye of God as sanctified in Christ. This is the sense in
which the term is used in the passages before quoted. Acts xxvi.
18, in which the Lord Jesus speaks of the " inheritance amon"-
them that are sanctified by faith which is in him." So it is used
in Heb. x. 10, where it is said, " By the which will toe are sancti
fied through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all"
—and in the 14th verse, "For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified ;" and again the same effect is
ascribed to the blood of Jesus, Heb. xiii. 12, " Christ also, that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the
gate ;" and therefore it is, that the Spirit, by the Apostle addresses
all believers as " saints," or persons who are sanctified.
I will not apologize for again quoting these passages of Scrip
ture and calling your attention again to this subject ; for I believe
that whenever the Lord uses words in the Scripture, it is our prof
itable duty again and again to consider them ; for we have daily
need of the same truths to be applied as living principles to our
hearts. This great truth, which the believer ought to know and feel
and live on as his high and holy privilege, is too much put out of
sight, and is perhaps one cause why the Church of Christ seems
to be so low at this day.
The view which God takes of His Church is that of a perfect
building, not one stone wanting, and every stone perfect, and per
fectly fitted in its place: as He shall behold it in eternity, so He
sees it in time, and so He saw it before time began. It is the
privilege of believers to know this, that they may abide with full
confidence and joyful hope in Christ their covenant head — " abide
in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself ex
cept it abide in the vine, no more can ye unless ye abide in me."
John xv. 4. If the branch could speak it would say, it rejoiced
that it was not independent but that it was part of the tree, that
all its life and fruit were from the sap that nourish the parent
stem from which it grew : so all the joy of the believer should
be, that he is nothing and has nothing in himself, but that all he
has and is, is derived from the Lord Jesus, his covenant head,
with whom he is united ; " of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sancti
fication, and redemption, that according as it is written, he thai
glorieth let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 30, 31. It is per
fectly clear that the pure and positive holiness in which a believer
is accounted as holy before God, is that holiness which he pos
sesses, as being sanctified perfectly in Christ. " For if the first
fruit be holy the lump is' also holy, and if the root be holy so are
the branches." Rom. xi. 16. Therefore believers are all in the

32

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

same sense called holy, "ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; there
fore this is one of the grounds on which they are exhorted to
practical holiness, "put on therefore as the elect of God holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meek
ness, longsuffering," Col. iii. 12 ; they are exhorted to holiness
because they are holy, as the vessels of the temple ought to be
used in the Lord's service, because they were consecrated to Him.
How difficult is it, in our unbelief, to realize these truths ! how
difficult for a poor sinner who feels the burthen of his own sin
within, to believe that he is accounted holy and without spot before
God ! — When we take the holy law as our standard and Christ
the living pattern of it as our example, how deeply must we feel
as we frequently confess, that " there is no health in us" — how
must we feel in the language of the Apostle, " I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." Rom. vii. 18.
Therefore what need have we continually to hear the apostolic
admonition, " Put ye on the Lord, Jesus Christ and make not
provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." Rom. xiii. 14 ;
what need to say with Paul, (Oh ! that we may say so in spirit
and in truth !) " the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me." Gal. ii. 20. Yes, it is in Christ alone we can stand in the
presence of our God — it is in the Beloved alone we are accepted, in
Him alone complete, in Him alone presented " without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing," Eph. v. 27 ; and although in this
body of sin and death the believer must ever say and feel when he
looks into himself, that he is blameable, and sinful and vile, yet as
surely as he is looking unto Jesus, so surely is he seen in Him, and
chosen in Him, as " holy and without blame before God in love."
But in the other sense, the believer is not only positively holy,
but he is relatively holy too, and although if you are believers you
are always sensible how infinitely short you fall of the perfect
standard of God's holy law, yet you are holy not only positively,
as has been explained in Christ, but you are relatively holy too,
that is, you are holy compared with yourselves before your conver
sion, and holy compared with all others who are not brought to Christ
— " if 'any man be in Christ he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17 ;
that which you once hated you now love, and that which once you
loved you now hate — the holy principles, the holy word, the holy
conduct, the holy companions, the holy law, which once you hated,
you now love, the holy God against whom your hearts were en
mity, you now adore as your reconciled God and Father. Christ
is precious to you, you love His cause, his honor, and his people,
and though you feel you do nothing, and desire nothing, and love
nothing of all, as you ought to do, yet you will and desire to love
and act as in your unconverted state you never did, — the sins, the
Emrsuits, the pleasures, the companions , in which you once de-
ighted have not only lost their charms, but would make you mis
erable, and even now a3 they recur to your mind, or as your carnal

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 33
nature would desire them, they bring guilt and pain on your con
science, and the sense of your continual sin makes you constantly
learn more that Christ is precious as your Redeemer and your
Refuge. It is true you cannot always feel that there is this
change in your own character, the power of sin and unbelief often
makes you doubt whether you can be indeed children of God—
and therefore I would not refer you to evidences in yourselves for
peace — I neither think it safe nor scriptural to do so ; but it is very
important to refer you to them for self-examination, for humilia
tion, to stir you up to watch and pray, that you may learn to look
unto Jesus, to live on Him for your peace and your salvation, and
to Him for his praise and glory, that you may learn more and more
to " mortify your members," " to crucify the flesh with its affec
tions and lusts," because God hath chosen you in Christ, that, in
every sense, " you should be holy, and without blame before him
in love."
Yes, dear friends, we are indeed vile and miserable sinners in
our best estate ; and if left to ourselves, must assuredly perish ;
but though condemned in ourselves, yet we are delivered from con
demnation in Christ — unclean, yet clean — defiled, yet without
spot—" black, but comely" — lost, but saved. Oh, what wondrous
paradoxes are these for the poor believer. While he feels that he
deserves to be cast into hell, yet " he is raised up and made to sit
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," as we shall see in the next
chapter. God looks not on him as the judge looks on the criminal,
but as the tender father looks on the beloved child; so that his very
trials are to be received as tokens of love — therefore the apostle
saith—" If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with
sons ; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not ? but
if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are
ye bastards, and not sons." Heb. xii. 7, 8. If we are " predes
tinated to the adoption of children" trials must be the
portion, in a greater or less degree, of every child of God— they must
pass under the rod of the outward cross, pains, sufferings of many
kinds, disappointments, difficulties, temporal losses, bereavements
of those dear to them, various afflictions ; or they must suffer under
the pressure of the inward cross — doubts, darkness,unbelief, being
left to themselves to feel their own weakness, to mourn under their
own corruptions, to suffer under temptations, like Paul under the
bufferings of Satan. — But mark the end, the object of their suffer
ing under the rod — " that they may be partakers of his holi
ness." Therefore, as this is the object for which the rod is sent,
so it is the motive given of our submission to it — " We have had
fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them rever
ence ; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of
spirits, and live ? for they verily for a few days chastened us
after their pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be par
takers of his holiness." Heb. xii. 9, 10. He hath predestinated his
children to be holy, and therefore he will surely make them so — the
beginning is love: — the end is love— ^so all the intermediate, means
O

34 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
are love. Therefore if we are indeed his children we are called to
be holy — " as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves ac
cording to the former lusts, in your ignorance, but as he who hath
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ;
because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet. i. 14,
15, 16. You are graciously adopted as children, and lovingly
chastened because you are such — and why ? He tells us, it is
"for our profit that we should be partakers of his holiness." — ¦
Heb. xii. 10.
Let us suppose a man of property to adopt the child of a beg
gar — to make him his heir — to bring him up as his own — to pro
vide for all his wants — to educate, to discipline, and to fit him for
the sphere in which he was to move, and the inheritance he was
destined to enjoy — we should consider this an act of great kind
ness to that child — men would say, what a fortunate and happy
child he was, and how thankfully he ought to receive the instruc
tions, and submit to all the necessary discipline of his benefactor.
But if this were kind from one fellow-sinner to another, what shall
we say of the love of that God, who has called and adopted rebel
lious worms like us — who has pardoned us, kept us, watches over
us, disciplines, instructs, corrects us, and gives us the joyful hope
of an " inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away." 1 Pet. i. 4.
" Behold," saith the apostle, " behold," as if he were pointing to
some remarkable object, " behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God."
1 John iii. 1. " He hath predestinated us to the adoption
OF CHILDREN BY JeSUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF ACCORDING TO THE
good pleasure of his will." Herein are all blessings — all the
blessings of paternal love and paternal power — included. If the
Lord of glory has predestinated us to be adopted as His own chil
dren, then He has involved in this all the blessings necessary to fit
us for our inheritance — all that wisdom, love, and power can plan,
can wish and execute, must belong to those who are adopted as
the children of God. His own glory is involved in the salvation
of those whom He adopts. It is all " to the praise of the
GLORY OF HIS GRACE WHEREIN HE HATH MADE US ACCEPTED
in the beloved." The manifestation of God's glorious attri
butes is the legitimate end and scope of His dealings with man.
To manifest supreme good is the righteous object of supreme good
ness, and all the dealings of God with His redeemed servants, are
now and shall be finally exhibited to be " to the praise of the
glory of his grace." The fact stated in the beginning of the
4th verse, namely, that He had " chosen them in Christ, before
the foundation of world," is a proof that their salvation proceeded
from the sovereign grace of God, and these words " according to
the good pleasure of His will," are but an illustration of the prin
ciple on which they 'were chosen in Christ. They prove that it
was not from any good foreseen in them, or any other cause, but
purely the good pleasure of His will, as we have in Rom. ix. 15,

lectures on the ephesians. 35
16. " He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and He hath
compassion on whom he will have compassion, so then it is not
of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy." And therefore it must be " to the praise of
the glory of his grace ;" because if it be, as indeed it is, the
mere gratuitous act of His own sovereign will, it cannot be from
any source, but His own gracious and unmerited bounty by which
he "passed by them while they were yet in their blood and said
unto them, Live," Ezek. xvi. 6. Yea, they were chosen in Jesus
before the world began — therefore His grace must be the theme
of their everlasting praise, because it is in truth the whole cause
of their being called and saved in Christ ; and surely there is not
one amongst us, whose eyes have been open to know the hope of
the Gospel, who must not confess that Grace is the only source of
that mercy. " Who maketh thee to differ from another and what
hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" The first stone of the
temple is laid by Sovereign Grace, and the last that shall be laid
on the summit, shall be laid with shouts of " Grace — Grace unto
it." The effects of this grace are manifested to the souls of all
men, in the fact that they are " accepted in the beloved." You see
"He hath made us accepted." It is a finished work for the be
liever — Jesus and his work are accepted with the Father, and all
his people are accepted in Him. This the Apostle adduces as the
glorious exhibition of grace to sinners. 2 Cor. vi. 1. "We be
seech you" saith he, " that you receive not the grace of God in
vain; for he saith, I have heard thee" (i. e. Christ) "in a time
accepted and in the day of salvation have I succored thee ; be
hold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salva
tion" — that is, now is the promised time come — now is Immanuel
and his glorious work accepted with the Father — now, the day of
salvation proclaimed to sinners ; and now, saith the Apostle here
"he hath made us accepted in the beloved" — we were
"predestinated to the adoption of children," therefore
now are adopted as children — accepted in the Beloved as children !
so that to all who believe in Jesus, as the hope and refuge of their
souls, this is the language of inspired truth, " 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." Hear
then, these words, let us behold what manner of love it is ; how
great — how full — how free — how unchangeable ! " I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have
I drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. This is His language. " Where
fore, lift up the hands that hang down," O believer ! Let us pray
for a more enlarged view of this love of our heavenly Father — a
more simple confidence in Him — that we may have our heart's
affections drawn forth to him, in filial gratitude and love ; that we
may be enabled to feel the force of the love, and the power of the
appeal when we shall come to the passage, if we are spared to do
so, in this Epistle, Chap. 5, " Be ye therefore followers of God,
as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,

36

lectures on the ephesians.

and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God,
for a sweet smelling savor." O ! may our hearts feel all the
blessed confidence of the relationship of children, and all the power
of filial, holy love; that "we may show forth the praises of Him
who hath called us out of darkness unto his marvellous light."
1 Pet. ii. 9. " Not only with our lips but in our lives, by giving
up ourselves to His service, and by walking before Him in holi
ness and righteousness all the days of our life." Amen, Amen.

THIRD LECTURE.

Ephesians I. — 7, 8.

" In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and
prudence." In our last Lecture we traced the spiritual blessings of the chil
dren of God to the source from which they are all declared, in His
eternal Word, to spring, that is, to His eternal purpose, His ever
lasting love, " according as he hath chosen us in Him, before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adop
tion of children, by Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to the
good pleasure of His will."
In tracing this, we found the entire glory of our salvation, from
first to last, ascribed to the Creator, and no part of it to the crea
ture. Man's glory had been his obedience, had he been faithful ;
but he is a fallen rebel, and God's glory is his salvation. Nothing
of merit in it belongs to man, or God would be robbed of His
glory ; and if we are indeed His children by adoption, we shall be
brought to see this.
Can a child adopt its parents ? or can it adopt those who stand
towards it in the room of parents ? Surely not ! neither then can a
sinner be truly called the adopted child of God, and adopt his Heav
enly Father ; the spiritual child of God is not born of himself any
more than the child of an earthly parent. He is " born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
John i. 13. So saith our blessed Lord, John, xv. 16, " Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you." Consider this, God's people
are called by sovereign grace to be a peculiar people— to be His — to
" be holy and without blame before Him in love." Now, instead
of puzzling ourselves with the theological difficulties which man's
presumption is continually suggesting on this subject let us oc-

lectures on the ephesians. 37
cupy our hearts with humbly meditating on the revealed fact •
and we shall find, both as it regards the world and ourselves, that'
as all things come from God, and are ordered by God, that are
good ; so even those things that are evil shall all be finally over
ruled for His glory. Yea, the very sins of this fallen guilty world
shall be ultimately made subservient to that great end — the
sins of the sinner, when he is cast into outer darkness, shall re
dound to the glory of His eternal justice, as those of the redeemed
who have " washed their robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb," Rev. vii. 14, shall redound to the everlasting glory
of His grace, who bore their sins " in His own body on the tree."
1st Peter, ii. 24. The Apostle here reduces this to the simplicity
of the Gospel, and shows the grandeur of it to be commensurate
with the attributes and character of God.
If there be any here, any soul in this assembly, ignorant of the
Gospel, all the peace of such an one, hollow as it is, and all his
hope, vain as it is, depends on something he has done, or expects
to do for himself, instead of on the redemption which is in Jesus,
" In whom we have redemption through his blood." And
here we are taught in what this redemption consists, " the for
giveness of sins." The measure of this redemption too, we see
—it is " according to the riches of His grace," as the
Psalmist says, " with Him is plenteous redemption." Ps. cxxx. 7 ;
how plenteous must that be which is commensurate with the riches
of the grace of God ! Redemption — that is, the purchasing sin
ners back from the bondage of sin, death, and hell, unto eternal
life, — bestowing on them the forgiveness of sins, and blessing them
" with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
You perceive — it is not said, in whom we have had redemption,
or, in whom we shall have redemption, but, " in whom we have
redemption," this is all we want to know and rest on to obtain
solid peace, for " being justified by faith, we have peace with God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1.
We are called here to consider the person of Him " in whom
we have redemption." Who is this Being, this Redeemer?
He is Jehovah, " God over all, blessed, forever," and he is the
" man Christ Jesus," He is the " child bom unto us," the " son
given unto us" of whom saith the Prophet, " His name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah, ix. 6. He, of whom it is
written, " He is before all things, and by Him all things consist,"
Col. i. 17. He who was " made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5. In this is the " great mystery
of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh." 1st Tim. iii. 16.
It is evident that if it were not so, the Gospel scheme of salva
tion must necessarily involve idolatry* The Being who brings
full redemption and forgiveness of sins to the soul — relief to the
distressed conscience — peace and balm to the wounded heart, of
which He is the Comfort, the Refuge, the Resting-place, the Sal-

38 lectures on the ephesians.
vation, and this too, at the expense of his own most precious
blood ; to Him must the affections of that heart be drawn out, in
Him must they be centered. In vain had the command been
given, " Thou shalt have none other Gods but me," if He who
saith " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest," (Mat. xi. 28,) were not that God himself.
In this consists the blasphemy of Socinianism, which, if it admit
of anything it calls atonement, robs the Being who made it of His
Godhead, and therein makes him an object of idolatry. In this
also consists, in part, the idolatry of the church of Rome. It ap
plies to the Virgin Mary, and to the saints, the titles which belong
to Christ alone, and so it proves thereby the idolatry which it in
culcates in the sinner's heart. When it addresses, as in its books
of devotion to the Virgin Mary, the titles that belong to Christ ;
as for example in the Rosary of the Virgin : " Refuge of Sinners,
pray for us." " Comfort of the afflicted, pray for us." And as
the Pope, in his encyclical letter of the year 1832, calls her, " The
whole foundation of our hope." It is perfectly clear that that on
which the heart leans as its hope, and to which it flies as its comfort
and its refuge, is the object on which its affections must be cen
tered. Therefore that apostate church gives His glory to another.
But of Jesus we say : " Behold God is my salvation ; I will trust
and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and
my song, He also is become my salvation." Isai. xii. 2. Of Him
we say : " Be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may con
tinually resort." Ps. lxxi. 3. Of Him, " In God is my salvation
and my glory, the Rock of my strength and my refuge is in
God. Trust in Him at all times ye people, pour out your hearts
before him, God is a Refuge for us." Psalm lxii. 7, 8.
But the manhood of our blessed Lord is no less to be borne in
our minds. He who knew our nature, who " knew what was in
man," saw that we needed a " merciful and faithful High Priest :"
" Such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, unde-
filed, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."
Heb. vii. 26. Yet such an one too who is " touched with the feel
ing of our infirmities ; who was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15. So that if the nature of God's
moral government, and the work of Christ as surety for sinners
and fulfiller of the law in our stead, had not required it, yet even
in compassion to our necessities " such an High Priest became us."
So that when we can say to the Father of our spirits, speaking of
the Son, " Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, even
the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself." Ps. lxxx.
17. We can say with Thomas to that blessed Son of Man, though
we have not seen Him, " My Lordt-and my God." How we need,
then, continually to have the person of Him who hath wrought
our redemption ever present with us, so St. Paul saith : " Where
fore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider
the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."
Heb. iii. 1.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 39
^•T.llellTSidel' What he has wrougbt— Redemption— pause and
think of the fact— we require to bear this in our hearts every hour
It is not a vain, but a life-giving truth, which should be present in
all its fulness m our souls continually. It is that truth which
tunes, and shall tune, to all eternity, the harps of the redeemed
before the Throne, " They have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb, therefore are they before the
Throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple "
Rev. vn. 14, 15. Therefore they cry " with a loud voice, saying,
' Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the Throne, and
unto the Lamb.' " Rev. vii. 10. Then observe " We have re
demption through his blood," the blessing is spoken of in the
present time, "in whom we have redemption," we have it this
day, now, this moment, present salvation for present necessities,
for present sins.
Consider, since last we met, how often in thought, word, and
deed, have we sinned ! how often have we needed this redemp
tion ! O then ! what it is, if we can look unto Jesus and take up
this language of faith, and say, " In whom we have redemp
tion through his blood." If there be any here ignorant of
their lost condition, trusting to some outward form, saying, " Lord,
Lord," while they do not his will, " drawing near with their lips,
while their hearts are far from him." Mat. xv. 8, who instead of
enjoying present redemption, are resting in some vain system of
their own, or of man's invention, thinking they cannot be author
ized to look to Him, until they change their lives, and reform their
habits, and who are thus trying by their vain and weary efforts
to recommend themselves to the favor and mercy of God; I
would say to such, alas ! my poor friend and fellow sinner, all
your religion consists in resolves never to be executed, and inten
tions never to be performed, and which, if even carried into effect
would profit you nothing, and never can even help to make your
peace with God.' " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or can
the leopard change his spots, so soon may you do good that are
accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23, this is the testimony of God
concerning such persons, as those who try to make themselves
clean in his sight. But 0 ! the good news of the Gospel is present
salvation to sinners, a proclamation of present pardon and forgive
ness through the blood of Jesus. Mark these words, "In whom
WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD." What is that?
he tells us what he means, " the forgiveness of sins ac
cording to the riches of his grace."
Have you been all your life far from God ? Then hear at this
moment pardon is proclaimed to you through the blood of Jesus.
Are you farther than the thief on the cross ? when at the first in
conjunction with his fellow-thief as two evangelists inform us, re
proach and blasphemy hung upon his lip, yet, when through
grace touching his heart, and opening his eyes, he turned to Jesus
for pardon, to him was given present redemption and salvation,
" To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Luke xxiii. 43.

40 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Although salvation is given to us according to our several cir
cumstances, yet it is the same salvation to all, for though all are
in different states of sin, all are alike sinners. You may be a
Pharisaical sinner, perhaps, high in reputation, not only for moral
ity, but for religion, and yet be only a whited sepulchre ; the devil
can transform himself into an angel of light, and so does he often
clothe his servants in the same livery. Saul was high in reputa
tion, and " after the most straitest sect of his religion, he lived a
Pharisee," at the time when he was " breathing out threatenings
and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord," Acts, ix. 1.
when by his subsequent inspired testimony he was " a persecutor
and blasphemer, and injurious." 1 Tim. i. 13. When the Lord
smote him to the earth, when trembling and astonished he cried
out, " Lord what wilt thou have me to do," and when the Lord
ordered him to go to Damascus, the message which He sent to
him there by Ananias, was a message of present pardon and sal
vation, " Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins"
Acts, xxii. 16.
The Philippian jailer, a sinner of a different character, was a per
secutor, and a cruel one in his trade, up to the very moment when
the songs of praise of Paul and Silas from the stocks, where he
had fastened them — the earthquake — the falling off of the chains
from the prisoners, and the bursting open of the prison doors,
startled him from his slumber, when he was about to commit the
most awful murder man can perpetrate, self-murder — when his
sword, all but steeped in his own blood was flung down, and he
cried out trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, " Sirs, what
must I do to be saved," What was the answer? present salvation
through the blood of Jesus, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved?" What was the result? he embraced
with gratitude and joy the present remedy — that same hour of
the night " he rejoiced, believing in God." Acts xvi. 31. 34.
Now you are not worse than he, nor are you better. Does not
your own conscience tell you that by nature and practice you are
a guilty sinner? Hear then the glad tidings, salvation is pro
claimed to you through the blood of Jesus. " Be it known unto
you men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified,
from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law
of Moses." Acts, xiii. 38, 39, that is by your own efforts, by any
thing that you can do, by laws, by ceremonies, by forms, ordi
nances or morals. 0 ! then embrace this salvation, trust in it —
rejrice in it. It is not a half redemption, it is not a sort of condi
tional redemption, that places you in a condition to struggle as it
were for your soul's deliverance, and leaves you to complete the
half done work of your salvation. O no ! It is full, free, finished,
and complete redemption just suited to your wants, and suited to
them at this moment.
Perhaps there may be several here, too, who would be much
offended if I were to ask them, " do they know the meaning of the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 41
word redemption?" who would say, "we have known it all our
lives. Yet it is an important question, and it is to be feared the
word is but too little understood. — Let us consider it.
Suppose any article pledged for a certain sum, and that it was
redeemed ; would it not revert to its owner again, and be his own
and be free ? Suppose a man a prisoner, and ransomed, or re
deemed by having a ransom paid for him. If the ransom were
sufficient and accepted, would he not be free ? Suppose an estate
mortgaged and redeemed from its mortgage, would it not be free ?
Does not redemption in all these cases mean a complete and per
fect deliverance, so that if there be not deliverance, then the term
redemption cannot be applied ; for the person or the thing is really
not redeemed. Hear, then, O sinner, the good news of the Gospel.
Here is the redemption that is in Christ. It is full, free, complete
redemption. Nothing remains to be paid. The prison doors are
burst open, and the captive is free ; pardon, liberty, and life are in
the word, O ! think of it, " In whom we have redemption
THROUGH HIS BLOOD."
Again, consider the means of its accomplishment. Consider the
price. " Through his blood." Consider if any other means had
been sufficient, is it possible, think you, that Christ would have
died ? Would the precious blood of the Lamb of God have been
poured out if any price less costly had been sufficient ? If you
could save your children from destruction by any other means
than the peril of your life, would you risk that life unnecessarily ?
And surely the Father had not sent his beloved Son to die upon
the cross, if other ransom could have been found for guilty man.
" If righteousness come by the law," (that is, by anything that
man can do,) " then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. But
O ! what can be added of weight or value to the blood of Jesus ?
His blood is an all-sufficient ransom. It " cleanseth us from all
sin." 1 John i. 7. He has purchased sinners with His own blood,
and that is price enough for their redemption.
This is the whole ground of our forgiveness, so observe how dif
ferent this is from the natural expectation of the heart. How dif
ferent from the miserable hope that men derive from the thought
that they are not so bad as others. How different from the mis
erable hope they derive from the idea that they have amended
their lives and reformed their habits, and are better than their
former selves, and therefore trust that they are on this ground
more acceptable to God. How different from any such miserable
hope — if hope it can be called, which must ever be clouded by the
consciousness of sin, by the feeling that, however imperfect and
false the standard of attainment be which we have raised, we
must fall short of our own standard, and sink beneath its level,
when measured even by our own conscience. True it is indeed,
that if a sinner believes the Gospel, his life will be totally changed ;
he will be different from those who believe it not, and different
from what he was himself as an unbeliever, " If any man be in
Christ he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17, but this is the effect

42 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
not the cause of his salvation ; he is changed not to be saved, but
because he is saved. Salvation by grace and salvation by works,
are not only distinct from, but opposed to each other, light and
darkness are not more opposite. They cannot be combined, they
cannot be dove-tailed together. The Scripture declares they are
excluded from each other by a universal negative, " If by grace
it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it
be of works, it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more
work." Rom. xi. 4. It is impossible they can co-exist as conjoint
causes of salvation, and consequently as conjoint grounds of hope.
The Word of God is, " Redemption through His blood, the
FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HlS
grace." " Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what
law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith." Rom. iii. 27.
If salvation were in any degree of works, then indeed, were there
some room for boasting in man ; the man who had attained it by
his performance, could boast over him who had lost it by his fail
ure. But no boaster shall ever enter into eternal life, except those
who boast in Christ Jesus, as it is written, " He that glorieth let
him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 31.
What encouragement then is here for the heavy laden heart and
conscience ? What a blessing to be called by the glorious Gospel
to look out of itself to Jesus ? to look from the depths of its own
distress, to the glory and the fulness of that redemption, which is
" ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HlS GRACE." O ! how great is
this redemption ? well might the Psalmist say, " with the Lord is
mercy, with Him is plenteous redemption." It is a redemption
commensurate, not only with our sins, but with the riches of" the
grace of Jehovah. Hence He saith, Psalm, ciii. 11, 12, "as the
Heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward
them that fear Him, as far as the east is from the west, so far
hath He removed our transgressions from us." Heaven and
earth, east and west, must meet together, before the sins of His
people shall be brought against them before Him. Yea, they are
not only blotted from the face of heaven like a cloud, but, they are
said to be blotted even from the remembrance of the Most High,
" their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. x. 17.
This is the redemption, the forgiveness, we need, and this is the
redemption through the blood of Jesus, "wherein He hath
abounded toward us," or, as in Romans, " where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound." Rom. v. 20.
Does this then (as men say who believe not the Gospel)
afford encouragement to sin ? We can only answer with the
Apostle, when he proposes the same question, " What shall we say
then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? God
forbid." Rom. vi. 1, 2.
Suppose you had been injured deeply by some dependent, that
he were doomed by the law to forfeit his liberty or his life for his
offence, and that, at a great personal loss and sacrifice, you were
content to pardon, and to procure his deliverance, and receive him

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 43
again into your family — could you ever suppose Him to under
stand, from your clemency and kindness, that he might therefore
take license to repeat his offence ? No — you would consider, and
justly, that you had an everlasting claim on his gratitude and his
affection, you would consider it as the most atrocious aggravation.
of his crime, that he should ever again abuse your mercy. If we
would say and think thus of our fellow-man, in reference to our
selves, how much more should the principle apply to a sinner in
reference to his Redeemer ! surely it were the worst state to
which a fallen-creature could be reduced — the deepest mark of per
dition that could be branded on his brow — that he should use the
means of deliverance from his sins, which the grace of God pro
claims to him, as an incentive or excuse for continuing to rebel
against that God. No ! the salvation of the Gospel, on the con
trary, is the only means whereby we can be delivered from the
love and power of" sin, as well as from its condemnation ; all human
inventions ever have failed, and must fail, to take away the love
of sin from the heart, or plant the love of God within it. Vain are
all the penances, the austerities, the mortifications imposed by su
perstition to undermine the power of sin and to attain salvation.
Self-exaltation, self-deliverance, self-redemption is the virtual scope
of all such religion, and genuine holiness is therefore not only
unattained, but unapproached, yea, unknown even in its prin
ciple, by those who practise them ; the motive, the only allowed
and acceptable motive, of moral action, cannot have a place within
them — and that is love to God.
Let me suppose that a parent saw a child or a servant perform-,
ing some labored acts of obedience, but that he had means of as- \
certaining that these acts were performed to attain some interested \
and selfish end, could he give him credit for these performances 1 /
— would he not rather consider them a subject of reproof than of
reward ? — must he not condemn this conduct as hypocrisy, when
the motive which it seemed to affect had no place in the heart ?
Such exactly is the same selfish feeling that dictates the seem
ing obedience of the man who expects in any degree salvation
from his works — the acknowledged scope of his conduct is to serve
himself — to save his soul — and therefore, on his own principle, not
to serve or glorify God.
But how can we ever sufficiently appreciate the language of the
Spirit by the Apostle here in this amplification, if I may so speak
of this redemption. Speaking of it in reference to God, as com
ing from him, it is " according to the riches of His grace."
It is the mercy, the love, the grace, not of a king, but of the King
of kings. It is exhibited in the fact that " we have redemption
by His blood," — what " riches of grace" in God the Father,
to give His Son. The Apostle John does not attempt to describe
this love, but leaves it as it is, beyond description — " God SO
loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whoso
ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life*
John iii. 16.

44

lectures on the ephesians.

He " SO loved," but how much, who can calculate !
What " riches of grace" in God the Son, to pour out that
blood for our redemption. " Greater love" He saith " hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John xv. 13. : This is the utmost extent to which human love can
go. But what were " the riches of his grace," who laid down
His life for His enemies ! " God commendeth his love towards us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. v. 8.
How horrible must be that sin, which cost such a price for the re
demption of those who were sold under it ! How unsearchable
" the riches of that grace" that paid the price ! — how ines
timable the value of that blood that " cleanseth from all sin !"
The riches of this Grace shall be the Hallelujah chorus of the
saints in glory forever, " Unto Him that hath loved us, and
washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us
kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6.
Then, considered in reference to His saints, the Apostle says
" WHEREIN HE HATH ABOUNDED TOWARDS US," " the RICHES OF
His grace," are, the unsearchable riches of the King of kings, and
He hath not only given us of them, but He " hath abounded in
them towards us." It is not only grace but " the riches of
His grace," and then, not in a scanty measure, but in the very
abounding of God to our souls. The table of the wedding feast is no
niggard banquet to which He invites " the poor, and the maimed,
and the halt, and the blind." His language is " Eat, O friends
—drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Cant. v. 1. So by
the Prophet — "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness, incline
your ear and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall live."
Isai. Iv. 2, 3. So the response of the soul that feeds on the ban
quet of His love, is that of the Psalmist, " Because thy loving
kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus
will I bless thee while I live ; I will lift up my hands in thy
name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness ;
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips." Psalm lxiii.
3, 4, 5.
This is alas ! foolishness to the world — to those who know not
Christ and the blessed redemption in his blood, but how different
is it, in its real nature and value as it comes from God. The
Apostle saith, that in this grace " He hath abounded towards
us in all wisdom and prudence." " All wisdom" in the plan
of such amazing redemption — all "prudence" in the execution
and communication of it. This is full of force and power as ad
dressed to the Ephesians. Wisdom was professedly their great
object. " The Greeks seek after wisdom." 1st Cor. i. 22. " Phi
losophy, falsely so called," was one of the many idols of Greece,
but the Apostle as if to show them where alone true wisdom was
to be found, places it as it were all here. Here are the abounding
riches of God's grace. Here is that which your philosophers have

lectures on the ephesians. 45
been seeking in vain, here is "all wisdom." So he saith to the
Corinthians. " The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stum
bling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which
are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God." 1st Cor. i. 22-24. As if He had said all
wisdom is in Christ ; as he does to the Colossians, " In whom' are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3. To
attain knowledge is accounted wisdom ; to attain wealth, rank,
glory, which men call happiness, in even the little scanty measure
in which such blessings are attainable in this passing world, these
are accounted as the attainments of wisdom, though all these
"perish in the using." But what must that wisdom be which
secures all these, and secures them for eternity ! To know
Christ is to attain that wisdom. If we know Him, it is of small
moment that we should be ignorant of other things here, because
those who know Him shall surely be with Him forever, and then
shall their knowledge of all things be adequate to their glorified
capacity; "then shall I know even as also I am known." 1st Cor.
xiii. 12. The wisest man in all other knowledge, who is igno
rant of Chriat, knows nothing, nothing worthy of an immortal
being, soon shall " all his thoughts perish ;" and the man who
knows Christ though ignorant of all things else on earth, knows
that which shall make him wise and happy through eternity.*
If therefore, in reference to God, He " aboundeth towards us in all
wisdom and prudence" in giving us Christ ; our highest wisdom
and prudence must consist in receiving this " unspeakable gift ;"
in endeavoring to understand and appreciate its value ; this is the
treasure hid in the field, which when a man hath found, he selleth
all he hath to purchase it. O ! may our souls enjoy the blessings
of this redemption, rejoice in the riches of the grace that hath
wrought it, and instructed by the wisdom wherein God hath
abounded in it to our souls. May we be made " wise unto sal
vation through faith that is in Christ Jesus." Amen.

FOURTH LECTURE

Ephesians I.— 9, 10.

"Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good
pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness
of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are m heaven,
and which are on earth j even in Him."
The Apostle having expressed among the causes of blessing
and praise to God, (verse 3,) for himself and his brethren at Ephe-
* " Si Christum discis nihil est quod altera neseis.
Si Christum neseis, nihil est quod altera discis," — Hookeb.

46

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

sus, that they were accepted and redeemed by the Lord Jesus.
" He hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have re
demption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to
the riches of His grace," proceeds to show in these verses how
they had been made partakers of this redemption — what a glo
rious mystery it is — and what shall be its glorious consummation.
You will perceive, on reflection, the vast importance of this, for
this is one great point, on which all unenlightened men, profess
ing Christianity, are ignorant ; all such, whatsoever their shades
of opinion may be, are included within the scope of two classes.
One class, (if we can call them Christians, they profess to call
themselves so,) expect to be saved by their own virtues, without
any reference to Christ, except, perhaps, they might admit that
He was an exemplar of morals. But Christ does not come into
their contemplation as the hope of their salvation.
There is another class, (and this is by far the more numerous) who
believe, that there is no salvation without Christ. They will say,
" we believe there is no salvation without the death of Christ ; we
believe it is impossible for man to be saved without his atonement."
These persons will insist on redemption by Christ, as they call it,
but they deceive themselves when they think that they believe in
Him — and that they believe the Gospel. They believe that Christ
has brought salvation within their reach, that is, put them into a
condition or capacity to save themselves, but then, they say,
" We must labor to make ourselves worthy of this salvation, we
must labor to gain it, we must labor to recommend ourselves to
the favor of Christ — we must labor, (as is their common phrase,)
to perform the conditions of the Gospel Covenant which are
required on our part in order to the salvation of our souls, we
must be righteous before we can hope in Christ." Now, to save
ourselves, without Christ, and to save ourselves in this manner
by Christ are two very different principles, but they are both
equally false, they both deny Jesus as the Saviour of sinners. One
of them sets up a false Christ, that is, a Christ who helps sinners
to save themselves ; the other denies Christ, and shuts him out of
their scheme altogether.
To this latter class who deny Christ, may be reduced Deists,
Arians, Socinians, a great multitude of those who call themselves
as is the fashion in these days, " Liberals" in religion. The
other class embrace all the Church of Rome, and all the Protes
tants who hold the principles of popery, (and we all hold the prin
ciples of popery by nature — a modification of popery is the natural
religion of the heart,) and this class embraces all such Protestants
and most especially, those individuals of the Church of England
those false teachers of the present day, who are setting up a sys
tem of popery within her pale.
Now, let me entreat you to consider these questions which I
propose —
Is salvation altogether by ourselves without Christ ?
Or is salvation partly by Christ, and partly by ourselves ?

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 47
Or is salvation by Christ alone ?
The scheme of salvation must be included within these three.
You must consider — you must understand the answers to these,
if your souls are to be saved.
Now, salvation is not by ourselves alone, otherwise Christ
cannot be a Saviour, we cannot have " redemption through His
blood." Salvation is not by ourselves and by Christ, He performing one
part, and we another ; otherwise Christ is but half a Saviour — a
helper to salvation — a helper to redemption.
Salvation is by Christ alone, and Christ is an all-sufficient Sav
iour, " in whom we have redemption through His blood, the for
giveness of si?is according to the riches of His grace."
Men who are ignorant of this, may, notwithstanding, have very
strict principles of religion, they may be very pious, very devoted
men, they may labor very hard for their salvation, as many do, as
the Israelites of whom the Apostle testifies, " they have a zeal of
God but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteous
ness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 2, 3, 4. All false religion,
and all false morality, that is, morality based on false principles,
may be reduced to this. So these persons who are striving to save
themselves, and yet, who are lost through their ignorance and re
jection of the Gospel, are described in Ecclesiastes, x. 15, " The
labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he know-
eth not how to go to the city." If you wish to see the spiritual
meaning of this, you may find it in Romans, ix. 31, " Israel which
followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the
law of righteousness." Is not that marvellous ? is it not a wonderful
thing that the man who follows after the law of righteousness
cannot attain to it ? Do you think if you follow after it you must
attain to it ? You see it is not so. Here were men who followed
after it, " Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath
not attained to the law of righteousness." Now, " wherefore ?"
what is the reason ? " because they sought it not by faith, but, as
it were, by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stum
bling stone." They stumbled at Christ. Take care lest he be a
stone of stumbling to you — beware ! O beware ! Remember, the
Lord's words, Mat. xxi. 44.
Now, in opposition to this, stands the knowledge of Christ, as
you have it in St. John's Gospel, xvii. 3, " This is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent." To know the Father and Christ is life
eternal. This brings us then to consider the meaning of these verses.
You will observe in this passage —
First, they had received redemption, "we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Then, you see the

48 LECTURES CN THE EPHESIANS.
means whereby they attained to this, namely, God having made
it known to them — God having revealed to them, the glorious
mystery of redemption by Jesus. Look at the connection of the
7th and 8th verses, " In whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace,
wherein, He hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and pru
dence, HAVING MADE KNOWN UNTO US THE MYSTERY OF HlS
WILL, ACCORDING TO HlS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH He HATH
purposed in himself." God made it known to them, therefore,
they had received it. We have also the reason why God made
-it known to them " according to His good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself." We have more — We have
the end, the consummation of the mystery which He did make
known to them, namely, " that in the dispensation of the
fulness of times, He might gather together in one
all things in christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth, even in hlm."
Now, then, let us consider here, the means whereby God brought
redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, to this people — the means
whereby they were made partakers of it, and whereby, alone, we
can be made partakers of it. Let me entreat your attention to
this, because this is a point on which so many individuals are
ignorant, and so many constantly full of doubts.
Persons frequently say, " I know there is redemption for sinners
in the blood of Christ, but how am I to be made partaker of this
redemption? — how am I to be redeemed?" Here is the answer —
God making known unto you His truth, by His word, and His
Spirit teaching you to understand and to believe that word — to em
brace the truth it reveals as the hope of your salvation. This is
the means whereby God conveys his salvation to sinners. No man,
by his natural reason, can know or understand Christ, as revealed
in the Scriptures — no— not had he even seen Him and His mira
cles, except by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. So our Lord saith
to St. Peter, in St. Matthew's Gospel, xvi. 17; on St. Peter confess
ing Jesus to be the Christ, " Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven." So, you perceive, the Apostle Paul speaks
exactly in the same language, 1st Cor. ii. 9, 10, 11, " But as it is
written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by
His Spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man that is in him ? — even so, the things of
] God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." God must reveal
His truth to the sinner's heart, before the sinner can understand
or receive it. So you have it set forth in the 14th verse, — " The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned." So our blessed Lord, himself, ex-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 49
pressly promises to His Apostles, in St. John, xvi. 13, " When He,
the Spirit of truth, is come., He will guide you into all truth ; for
He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that
shall he speak. And He will show you things to come." The
Apostles, though hearing the word of our Lord Himself, were only
guided into truth by the Spirit ; and the Spirit that taught them,
alone can teach any sinner the truth as it is in Jesus. So our
Lord says in verse 14, — " He shall glorify me : for he shall receive
of mine, and shall show it unto you." And lest you should sup
pose that our blessed Lord speaks here, merely of the inspiration
of the Apostles, which was no doubt included in it, but lest you
should suppose, that it is not equally necessary that all His people
should be partakers of the divine instruction of the Holy Ghost, as
to His own person, work, and offices, you will find in 1st Cor. xii.
3, — " No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost." You may name the name of Christ, and you may set up
in your own imagination, a being born of the Virgin, who has per
formed such and such works, who lived and died, and rose again,
to whom you may apply the name of Christ, but the Christ that is
revealed in the Bible, as the Saviour of guilty sinners, and the work
of that Christ, you know not, and cannot know, till Christ teaches
you, by His Spirit, to receive as little children, the revelation of His
holy word.
Many, in these days, call this enthusiasm or fanaticism, but wide
is the difference between enthusiasm or fanaticism, and the true
scriptural expectation of the teaching and guidance of the blessed
Spirit. Enthusiasts speak of sensible or visible impulses and reve
lations of the Holy Ghost, which are not found in, and will not
stand the test of, God's eternal word. The Holy Spirit is discerni
ble in His effects, and not in His operations — thus our Lord teach
es, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear est the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth :
so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. It is not
the office of the Holy Spirit to give new revelations — it is enthusi
asm — fanaticism, to expect them. But it is the office of the Holy
Spirit to teach the sinner's heart to understand, to receive, to be
lieve, and walk in the revelations that God has given in this blessed
book. Hence God's word is the guide of those who are taught byj
the Spirit. Therefore, true religion studies the Bible, true religion
prizes and throws open the Bible, true religion calls on man to hear
our Divine Master, and to " search the Scriptures." Falsehood
shrinks from the Bible, shuts up the Bible from the instruction of
mankind, and deprecates the study and diffusion of the Bible. I
say then, the means that are here stated to have been used by
God, towards the Ephesian church, to bring them to this blessed
state of redemption, were His " having made known unto them
the mystery of His will," which He did by His word preached
by the Apostle and His Holy Spirit.
Again we have here, secondly, the reason why God made it
known to them. " According to His good pleasure, which
4

50 lectures on the ephesians.
He hath purposed in Himself." This part of the subject is
very plain in its expression, but I shall not enter into it in this
verse, because it will come under our consideration, in verse 11, if
it please God, and I shall refer to it on that occasion.
We shall consider now, the glorious consummation of that mys
tery, which according to His good pleasure, God had revealed unto
them, it is this, — " that in the dispensation of the fulness
of times, he might gather together, in one, all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth, even
in Him." The Apostle here takes a most comprehensive view of
the subject of divine revelation, in which he had instructed the
church at Ephesus. He had sojourned with that church for more
1,han two years, as you may recollect, Acts xix., and in that time,
the whole scope of his apostolic teaching, had been brought fully
before them, as he tells the elders of Ephesus, Acts xx. 27, " Ihave
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
He embraces then in this verse, not merely one, but many sub
jects, and for the sake of perspicuity, I shall divide them. He says,
" In the dispensation of the fulness of times." Observe,
he does not say, the fulness of a time, speaking merely of one
period, you will find him speaking of this in Galatians iv. 4. There
; he speaks of one epoch in the dispensations of God, that is, the first
coming of Christ, " when the fulness of the time was come, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, 6fc." But here he speaks
of a " dispensation of the fulness of times," and that in this,
"he might gather together all things in Christ, both
which are in Heaven and on earth, even in Him." Now
this is a part of the mystery of his will, as you will find on consider
ing it ; and it involves several parts, each of which is a mystery in
itself, as the whole is a mystery.
The first mystery which God makes known to them is, the mani
festation of Christ to sinners, and sinners gathered
in Christ. This is a mystery, as you will find in 1 Tim. iii.
16, " Great is the mystery of Godliness : God was manifest in
the flesh." This was one mystery, which, " in the dispensation of
the fulness of times," God made known. And, oh ! what a mys
tery ! that He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain,
should take upon him our flesh in the womb of a virgin — that He
should be born into this world, and live and die for us, and send
his ministers to proclaim this Gospel — this good news, to every
creature — as, in his most blessed name, I proclaim to you as sin
ners this day, pardon of your sins, through the blood of " God
manifest in the flesh." Oh, what a mystery ! that the holy God,
who sees each of us — such vile sinners — who measures and fathoms
what we cannot ourselves — the depths of iniquity in our hearts —
that that God should proclaim to us pardon through the blood of
his Son' — that He should " so love the world as to give his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life." Here is a mystery ; that such sinners
as we are should be gathered — if, indeed, we shall be gathered —

lectures on the ephesians. "51
out of a world of guilt and sin, snatched from hell— plucked, like
brands from the burning, and brought to God, through Christ Je
sus ! Oh, it is a mystery — an amazing mystery ! No wonder
the Apostle Peter says, " the angels desire to look into these things."
It is this mystery of salvation into which they desire to look ; for,
when he says that the prophets who foretold this salvation diligent
ly sought what it was, that the Spirit within them signified ; he
adds, " unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but
unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the
Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven : which things the angels
desire to look into." — 1 Peter i. 12.
The manifestation of God in the flesh, and this, that he might
die for guilty sinners, and send the Holy Ghost from Heaven to
teach them " the unsearchable riches" of His love ; what wonder,
these were mysteries of divine and amazing grace, into which " the
angels desire to look."
But there is yet another mystery which forms a part of that
gathering in of all in Christ, of which the Apostle speaks in this
verse. That is : — The close and intimate union that sub
sists BETWEEN OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR, AND THOSE WHO BE
LIEVE in His blessed name, and look to Him as the Refuge
of their souls. This is set forth as another part of the mystery,
as you see in this Epistle, v. 32. St. Paul in that chapter is speak
ing of the union between husband and wife — he is speaking of the
devoted attachment of the husband to the wife, and the dutiful sub
jection and affection of the wife to the husband ; and having dwelt
on this practically, with regard to husbands and wives, he says,
" this is a great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the
Church." Oh, how wonderful the union between the Lord Jesus
Christ and those who believe on his name ! — As a husband is re
sponsible for all the debts of his wife, Jesus is responsible for the
sins of his people, and pays the mighty debt of every poor sinner
that depends upon him — As the wife is lifted up, and taken even
from the meanest rank in the world, and if the husband is on a
throne, she is lifted up to the rank of her husband — if he is a king,
she is a queen — so the blessed Jesus takes the poor sinner out of
the depths of guilt and sin, clothes him with his own righteous
ness, washes him in his own blood, gathers him in his arms, car
ries him in his bosom, and will never leave him nor forsake him,
until he raises him up to sit upon his own throne. " He raiseth
up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dung
hill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of
his people." — Psal. cxiii. 7, 8. This is an exhaustless mystery —
but this is a mystery which God had taught the Ephesian church,
and thus enabled them more to rejoice in that blessed hope, that
they "had redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace."
But there was another part of the mystery comprehended in that
of gathering in all in Christ, in the dispensation of the fulness of

52

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

times, and that was — The bringing in of the Gentiles.
These had been living without God, worshipping stocks and stones,
and various idols, yet now were called into the church of Christ.
You know that the Apostles did not for some time believe that the
Gospel should be preached to the Gentiles. You know that it was
by a vision from heaven (as you find in Actsx.) that St. Peter was
induced to go and obey the invitation sent to him by a Gentile, to
come and declare to him the way of salvation. In this Epistle,
the Apostle speaks of the calling of the Gentiles as a hidden myste
ry now revealed. You see the passage at length, chap. iii. from
1st to 11th verses. And, in the 3d and 4th verses, he expressly
calls it " the mystery," and " the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now re
vealed unto his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Ch. iii. 5, 6.
That mystery, you perceive, the Apostle says, was now revealed ;
and how mysterious it was that God should, for so many centuries,
have separated to himself a people from the whole world — should
have given to that people ordinances and laws, by which they were
kept distinct in their government, their religion, their habits, their
customs, their manners, from all the nations of the earth — that He
should have promised to them the Messiah in their family, and
should promise, as He did, the amazing blessings that are predict
ed to the Jews hereafter — that then the Lord should command,
that all the barriers between them and the other nations of the
earth, should be broken down and levelled at once, and that the
same salvation which was proclaimed to the Jews, should be
proclaimed to the Gentiles throughout the whole world — that the
same salvation proclaimed to those who had had the " adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises." — Rom. ix. 4 ; should be
sent to those who were worshipping " the image that" they said
"fell down from Jupiter," and shouting out in the ears of the
Apostles, who had been preaching the Gospel to them, "great is
Diana of the Ephesians !" How marvellous, that God should
send his Gospel to them, and to us !
Go through the fields in this very countiy, look at that massive
stone, supported on those rude pillars, and ask your antiquarians
— what was that? They will tell you that was an altar where
human victims were offered, in this land, as a sacrifice to idols.
And now, is it not a marvellous and mysterious blessing, that, to
the descendants of those, whose hands have reeked with the blood
of human victims, the Gospel should be proclaimed as it is pro
claimed now, that we should be blest as we are with the oracles of
God, and that our children should be taught in the way of ever
lasting life ! " Great indeed is the mystery of godliness !" and
that this very thing is part of that mystery, is stated in that same
verse, " Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the

lectures on the ephesians. 53
Gentiles, received up into glory," 1st Tim. iii. 18 — this is a mar
vellous mystery, the preaching of salvation, pardon of sin, to a lost
and guilty world, through a crucified and risen Saviour.
But there is another mystery still, which is the consummation
of that here spoken of. The "gathering together of all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on
earth." This you know is not as yet fulfilled, but this includes
that mystery of which the Apostle speaks in 1st Cor. xv. 51, 52.
The mystery of the resurrection. "Behold I show you
a mystery, we shall not all sleep," (that is, all believers in Christ
shall not be asleep when Christ comes,) " but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor
tality." 1st Cor. xv. 51, 52, 53. This is a part of the mystery of
which the Apostle speaks, as having been revealed to them, for
this was given as the hope of the Church from that day to this
present. But the mode in which " ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN,"
/ things being put for persons, that is those who have fallen asleep,
and are departed to be with Christ, and "THINGS ON EARTH,"
that is the whole Church on the earth at His coming, whom He
calls collectively, chap. iii. 15, " the whole family in heaven and
earth," the mode in which they shall be gathered together, com
pletes the mystery he speaks of, and this is fully set forth by the
Apostle in 1st Thess. iv., where he says, speaking of those who
had fallen asleep in Jesus, 14th verse, " if we believe that Jesus
died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will
God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming
of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep," we shall
not be beforehand with them, a man's being alive on the earth
when Christ comes, shall not give him precedence of those who
have died in the faith, of one twinkling of an eye in eternal life, or
in resurrection glory, it shall not give him the precedence of all the
dead that have fallen asleep in Christ, from Adam to that moment,
" For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout,
with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
1st Thess. iv. 14-17. In the same twinkling of an eye that he
who is alive is changed, and fashioned like to the glorious body
of Christ, in that same twinkling of an eye the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, when he shall appear who said, " let there be light
and there was light." And as the dew-drops spangle the ground,
ere they are exhaled, when the sun bursts in his glory from the
morning sky ; so shall his people awake from their graves, and
stand in regenerated life and glory, as they rise to meet their
Lord in the air. This is the consummation of that great mystery,

54

lectures on the ephesians.

" the gathering together of all things in Christ," of which the
Apostle speaks ; then shall we behold Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and. all the saints of old, all the Old Testament Church,
and the New Testament Church, " the whole family in heaven
and earth" then shall we behold them all " gathered together in
Christ." And you, if you be indeed His disciples, if you be indeed washed
in his precious blood, you shall be of that blessed number, who.
shall arise in glory to meet your God. This is that " dispensa
tion of the fulness of times," when all shall be "gathered
TOGETHER IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND
WHICH ARE ON EARTH, EVEN IN HlM."
Great is this mystery then, in all its course and its consum
mation. Great is the mystery of Godliness, that " God was manifest in
the flesh." 1st Tim. iii. 16.
Great is the mystery of this Salvation, that he should be
" wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities,
that the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and. by his
stripes we are healed." Isai. liii. 5, and that we should "have re
demption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, accord
ing to the riches of His grace."
Great is the mystery of that union, that exists between Christ
and his redeemed people, that " we are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones." Eph. v. 30.
Great is the mystery that the times of the Jewish Dispensation
should be completed, and that it should be revealed, " that the
Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and par
takers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Eph. iii. 6.
Great is the mystery of the mighty renovation that is to pass on
us in that day of resurrection glory, " When we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump ; for the trumpet shall sound ; and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.
And when " the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled" — and
the promised day shall come, when all these dispensations shall
be past — great is that mystery, when " He shall send His angels,
and shall gather together his elect, from the four winds, from
the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven,"
— that " IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES HE
MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST,
BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH, EVEN
IN HIM."
And now, O friends, and brethren beloved, shall we be gathered
in Christ in that day ? Is this " God manifest in the flesh," our
life and our salvation? Have we indeed "Redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of
his grace ?"
Do we know the value of that mystical union between Christ
and His church, that oneness of Head and members, by which we

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 55
are called, as we had it in the 6th of Romans, to reckon ourselves
dead with Christ, and risen with Him : " dead indeed unto siti,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom.
vi. 11.
Is the Gospel of our salvation precious to us sinners of the Gen
tiles ? shall this dispensation of grace to the Gentiles be unto us,
" a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death ?" Are our
privileges, our ordinances, our churches, our Bibles, all our bless
ings, are they all the means of leading us to Jesus — keeping us
looking unto Jesus — -strengthening us and building us up in our
most holy faith, upon the Rock of ages ? or had it been better for
us to have perished, like our pagan forefathers, without the aggra
vated curse, of Christ professed in name, but in heart despised, re
jected, and trodden under foot by us, in guilt, hypocrisy, ungodli
ness, and unbelief?
Is the glorious hope of resurrection in Christ our comfort in all
our conflicts in these bodies of sin and death ? Shall it be true or
false of us, as the solemn words are spoken over our sleeping dust,
that we are committed to the ground,* " earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to
eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ," " who shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue
all things unto himself." Phil. iii. 21. O, brethren ! when the
trumpet shall sound, shall we be among those " Blessed and holy,
who have part in the first resurrection" ? Rev. xx. 6. And, " IN
THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES,"
shall we be among those of earth or heaven that are " GATH
ERED TOGETHER IN CHRIST," by grace, to glory ?

FIFTH LECTURE.

Ephesians I. — 11, 12.

" In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to
the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we
should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
This world were indeed a weary pilgrimage to the believer, if
he were not cheered in all his trials and sorrows by the way, with
the blessed hope of eternal rest, in that which is to come. " If in
this life only," saith the Apostle, " we have hope in Christ, we are
* Service for the Burial of the Dead.

56 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
of all men most miserable." — 1 Cor. xv. 19. Even here, the pros
pect of any future good, if it be reasonably well founded, liable, as
it is, to ten thousand cont'ingencies, still cheers and supports the
heart through many intervening years of anxious expectation — as
we are told, " Jacob served seven years for Rachel ; and they
seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." —
Gen. xxix. 20. And if that be so with respect to this world, in
reference to the future hopes of time, how much more, when the
heart is enabled to repose with a solid assurance of hope upon that
blessed " rest" which " remaineth for the people of God." This
supports the believer under all trials, yea, in the most afflictive of
them — " Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts,
all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me," saith the Psalm
ist ; but in the midst of these deep waters, faith looks up and cries
— " Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and why art thou dis
quieted within me ? hope thou in God ; for I shall yet praise
him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." — Ps.
xiii. 7, 11. Therefore, we see, that the Apostles, inspired by the
Holy Spirit, continually cherish and strengthen the hope of the
believer in his blessed Lord ; for in direct proportion to our faith in
the promises of God, and, therefore, to our hope of attaining the
blessings which those promises hold out to us, so shall we be lifted
up above the things of time and sense, and be enabled to realize
and live for that eternal world of glory, where we look for an in
corruptible inheritance. With this view, the Apostles, you per
ceive, confidently dwelt on God's eternal covenant promises — as,
for instance, in Hebrews vi., where the Apostle, speaking of the
covenarit and oath of God, says, " that by two immutable things,"
(namely, God's covenant and oath) "in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have,
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." — Heb. vi. 18,
19. So he prays for his brethren, Rom. xv. 13 — " Now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." So, he
exhorts the Ephesians, that they may be enabled to lift up their
head in all their difficulties, to " take the helmet of salvation." —
Eph. vi. 17 ; and he explains this in 1 Thessalonians, v. 8 — " put
ting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the
hope of salvation."
There could be no confidence of hope without a security of the
inheritance for which we hope. Therefore, the glorious covenant
of salvation gives that inheritance, makes it over, with everlasting
security, to all the elect people of God. This hope must be built
alone on Jesus. When men know not the Gospel of Jesus, they
cannot understand — they oppose — they hate the doctrine of any
assurance of hope ; therefore, this doctrine is opposed by all the
principles of the Papacy : there is no such thing as assurance of
hope within the pale of Rome. How can there be, when, in the
darkness of Papal error, man's salvation is made to depend on his

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 57
own works ? Well, indeed, may such a system of ignorance as
that, shut out the security and joy of hope from the soul. So, in
the same manner, this grand fundamental doctrine of consolation,
is also shut out from that similar system, on which, I am sorry to
have occasion to remark, but which it is necessary that the faith
ful minister of Christ should notice in these days — that heresy in
our own church, which is another form of Popery, setting up the
works of man, and the sacraments, as the ground of his trust, in
stead of Christ, or what is virtually the same, in conjunction with
Christ. There can be no such thing as assurance of hope in such
a system — impossible ! it opposes and denies the Gospel. The
Gospel of Christ alone — -Jesus, his precious blood poured out for
the guilty, his finished righteousness, wrought out for man, in
which Jehovah declares, he is " well pleased," that, and that alone,
affords security and joyful hope to the fallen sinner.
Now, the security of the believer's inheritance in Christ, depends
upon the electing love of his God and Father, as is set forth in the
passage which I have read to you. Observe : —
"In WHOM ALSO WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE." 
How? "Being predestinated according to the purpose of
Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will." Being so " predestinated," " we have obtained an
inheritance." Here you will perceive, first — they have obtained an inheritance
— " In whom we have obtained an inheritance."
Secondly — the cause of their having obtained it — " being pre
destinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will."
And, thirdly — you see the end of their election — " that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ." Now
let us consider these things.
I. "We have obtained an inheritance." This is the
necessary result of their being the children of God. All believers
are the children of God. So you see in St. John's Gospel i. 12, 13,
" As many as received him, to them gave he power to becoms the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God." So you have in Galatians, iii. 26, " Ye are all the chil
dren of God by faith in Christ Jesus." So you perceive in Ro
mans viii. 17, the result, " if children then heirs ; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified together." Jehovah has no paupers in
his family. They may be, indeed, and they often are, in this
world, poor. " God has chosen the poor of this world," we are told
— but then, they are " rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom," —
the children of the King inherit the kingdom. So, in this first
chapter of Ephesians, (read from 3d verse) you see, the Apostle
shows, that believers are God's children, and predestinated to that
— " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christy

58 lectures on the ephesians.
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ ; according as lie hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love ; having predestinated us unto the adop
tion of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, where
in he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Therefore, I say, if
they be children of God, they must be heirs of the Lord's kingdom.
They have their inheritance indeed, not in possession, but they
have it in reversion ; and it is not like an earthly inheritance — •
here is no flaw to be found in the title deeds — here no error in
the settlements— here no fear of. cutting off the entail — here no
doubt whatever as to the certainty of the possession — there are no
contingent remainders, as they call them, in God's testamentary
dispensation to his people. No, " Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ," saith the Apostle Peter, 1st Pet. i. 3,
"which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead," mark to what he hath begotten- them — verse 4, 5, "to an
inheritance incorruptible, and undeflled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation." They are begotten to this inheri
tance — this inheritance is reserved by God, in heaven for them,
and they are kept, by God's power, on earth for it. The mansions
of Jehovah's house must be overthrown, the power of Jehovah's
arm must be paralyzed, before their inheritance in these mansions
can be taken from them, or before they, in this wilderness can be
debarred from it. So saith the Lord Jesus Christ, in St. John's
Gospel x. 27, 28, 29, 30, " My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me : and I give unto them eternal life ;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of
my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all :
and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and
my Father are one." Therefore are they " kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvatio?i" — therefore have they " ob
tained AN INHERITANCE, BEING PREDESTINATED, ACCORDING
TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM, WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER
THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL.
II. The cause of their having obtained it, " being predesti
nated."
Now, we come to consider this subject, which I said we should
consider in the 9th verse. There is no doctrine which is more
misrepresented or more cavilled at. But there is not one more
clearly laid down in the Bible, than the doctrine of God's predesti
nating grace and love ; it is inseparably interwoven with the whole
of the Gospel dispensation.
One man may say " I do not understand it" — another may say
"I do not believe it" — another may say " I do not like it, or, I hate
it"— but I confess, I do not see how any honest man can say, it
is not plainly written in God's eternal word ; and if it be plainly

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 59
written there, and that you know that it is God's truth, then let
me entreat you to pause and consider, with calm sobriety, that
solemn truth before you speak, in the manner that too many pre
sume to speak on the subject.
It is peculiarly hateful to the natural heart of man, because it
levels all his pride and self-righteousness to the dust, it leaves him
a helpless, hopeless sinner at the feet of his God, depending solely,
as we must all be, on his free mercy.
I well remember, myself, the difficulty I had in my own mind
on the subject. I well remember how I fought against the truth,
I well remember all my own cavillings and arguments, and there
fore, I desire to deal tenderly and gently while I deal faithfully
with others.
It is not possible, before we clearly know and believe that we are
justified alone by Christ, scripturally to understand this subject.
It is the strong meat of the Gospel, it is utterly unintelligible in its
true scriptural sense to those who know not, and understand not,
the simple truth as it is in Jesus — they cannot comprehend any
thing about it ; therefore, salvation by Christ is the first thing for
the mind of man to be applied to. Whosoever feels his heart op
posed to the doctrine of God's election, depend upon it, he does not
know, with perfect scriptural clearness, the foundation on which
his own soul is to be saved ; therefore let me entreat you to con
sider carefully the point.
I do not know any human composition in which the subject is
more clearly, simply, compendiously, and scripturally laid down
than in the 17th Article of our church. I pray you to attend
to it : —
" Predestination to life, is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foun
dations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel, secret to
us, to deliver from curse and damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of
mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to
honor. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be
called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season ; they through
grace obey the calling ; they be justified freely ; they be made sons of God by adoption ;
they be made like the image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ ; they walk relig
iously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity."
This is, in plain terms, the scriptural truth on the subject. It
cannot be more literally expressed than in these words. But, mark
— the Article goes farther : —
" As the godly consideration of predestination, and our election in Christ is full of
sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in them
selves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their
earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things ; as well
because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation, to be en
joyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God ; so,
for curious and carnal persons, lacking the spirit of Christ, to have continually befora
their eyes the sentence of God's predestination is a most dangerous downfall, whereby
the devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchedness of most unclean
living, no less perilous than desperation.
" Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally
set forth to us in holy Scripture : And in our doings that will of God is to be fallowed,
which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God."

60 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Now, let me recommend you to study that Article, if you have
not studied it before, and if you read it, as a commentary on pas
sages, where the subject is treated of in the Scriptures, you will
find how truly scriptural it is.
The Article, you see, declares : — First, what the doctrine of
God's word on the subject is.
Secondly, what the use of that doctrine is to the Lord's children,
to those who believe the Gospel.
Then, thirdly it sets forth a most dangerous and awful abuse of
the doctrine.
And lastly, it tells us how men are to receive God's promises,
and to do His will, and that is plainly and simply, as God hath writ
ten and revealed them.
Now, I shall touch, briefly, on both these views of the case, on
the use and abuse of the doctrine. I shall speak, first, of the
abuse of it. It is very necessary to consider this, because, I have
myself known persons who have strangely abused it ; and I tell
you where that abuse is sometimes to be found. It is sometimes
to be found among young people, in pious families. Their father
and mother, perhaps, have endeavored to bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord — they have heard the doc
trines of grace repeatedly set forth and dwelt upon, in conversations,
expositions of Scripture, sermons, or books. Being in themselves
unregenerated, unconverted, as all must be until the grace of God
converts them, they try, from this, to satisfy themselves in their own
course of sin and folly. And let my young friends, or any others,
whose minds may be perverted or ignorant on this subject, con
sider their language.
" We are told," say they, (adopting another of our Articles,)
" that man cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural
strength and good works to faith, and calling upon God, where
fore, we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable
to God, without the grace of God by Christ, preventing us, that
we may have a good will," (that is, beginning the work in our
heart, and giving to us a good will,) " and working with us when
we have that good will."— Art. x. " Now, since none are to be
converted except by God's grace, if I am to be saved, I must be
saved, and if I am to be lost, I must be lost — if I am to be saved,
I cannot destroy myself, and if I am to be lost, I cannot save my
self, so I will go on in my present course, and God, in His good
time, will save me, if I am to be saved, and if not, I can, I know,
do nothing of myself."
I have heard that argument used — I have known persons pro
fess to act on that principle. Therefore, you see, how wisely the
17th Article lays down the awful falsehood of such an abuse of
the doctrine as this.
Let us, therefore, consider this view of the subject. — The omnisci
ence of God the Almighty Creator, may be said, in one sense, neces
sarily to determine the whole course of all created beings, and all
treated things : I mean it predetermines it in this sense, — that, as

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 61
they appear to Him — as they are seen in his omniscient eye through
out the course of time and eternity, so they must remain forever un
changeable. This you must admit, unless you deny such a thing
as omniscience in the Deity. The mechanist will make a machine,
whether it be a clock, a locomotive engine, or anything else you
please, and when he puts it out of his hands, he knows not what
may become of that machine ; he knows not to what use it may
be turned, to what end it may be applied, nor does he know what
part will stand, nor what part will fail, or anything more as to
its fate or destination, after it is delivered from his hands. But do
you imagine that the eternal Creator has thus formed us in this
world that we inhabit ? We are not indeed machines, but ra
tional, voluntary, responsible moral agents — formed so — conscious
that we are so — and treated so accordingly by God. But do
you think He has been ignorant of all the results that should
follow from all the works of his own mighty hand ? When He
endued the beings and the things He formed with reproductive
and vegetative power, do you believe that he was ignorant of all
the consequences that were to follow from the exercise of all the
powers with which He endued them ? Nay, there is not a single
leaflet that ever burst from a tree in the forest, from the creation
to this hour — there is not a single blade of grass that ever grew —
there is not a single grain of sand upon the shore — there is not
a single insect undiscovered or undiscoverable by the human
eye, or by the microscopic power of human instruments — there
is not a drop of water in the ocean — not a single atom of dust
in the world, or anything connected with them all, that was
not known as well in the mind of the Eternal God, as any
single fact is known to Him at this moment. And you must
admit this to be the case, unless you deny that it is He that
" clothes the lilies of the field," unless you deny that there is not
a single sparrow that falls to the ground unmarked by His all-see
ing eye, unless you deny that He numbers the hairs of your head,
unless you deny what seems more difficult than all the rest, that
He will bring the secret thoughts of every sinner's heart into judg
ment, and that all are noted in His eternal book. Therefore, it is
wholly impossible that anything different could occur from that
which was present to His omniscient mind before the foundation
of the world. But now mark ! there is no predestination connected
with man, irrespective of man's full accountability to God, as a
voluntary, rational, responsible, agent. And this is just as true in
temporal, as in spiritual things.
Let me illustrate this. — Whether your immortal souls or mine
shall be saved or lost is as certain in the mind of God as any other
act that ever shall occur. But, again, — your life, your bodily life,
its continuance, its close, the place, the mode, the moment of its
termination, everything connected with your life and death is as
fixed in the counsel of the living God as anything concerning
your immortal souls, — and you must admit this, unless you sup
pose that some contingency can arise connected with you which is

62 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
unknown to Almighty God. But you know that such an idea is
incompatible with His divine attributes ; there is no use in argu
ing about it, it is absurd. I suppose you to admit this, for I cannot
imagine you to deny it.
Now, I suppose you tell me you are tired of life : I shall place
before you a cup of wine and a cup of poison ; which will you
drink, that wine or that poison ? It is just as fixed and as certain
before you were born in the eye of God, as it shall be after it is
done, which you will take. But will you dare to say, will you pre
tend to think, that you have not the power, the freedom, as a vol
untary, rational, accountable being, of taking the one or the other ?
Do you pretend that you act under any irresistible constraint ?
Do you mean to say, that if you drink that cup of poison, you are
not guilty of the crime of self-murder, and that you shall not be
justly accountable at the tribunal of the holy God ?
Again, let me suppose an assassin, — he has his dagger in his
hand — -he is watching for his victim. Now, whether that victim
is to fall, by the dagger of that assassin, or not, is as clearly settled
in the counsels of God, that is to say, it is as clearly known to
Him as it is to you, if the deed be done. But, if that murderer
plunges his dagger into the victim's heart, will you say that he is not
accountable as a moral rational agent for his crime to God ? Will
you sit on his jury, and when the fact is proved fjefore you, give in
your verdict before God, that you think he is not fit to live in
human society, but that he should fall a sacrifice to public justice,
and will you venture to say, that the Judge of earth and heaven
is not to pronounce sentence on him, as you and the judge on
the bench will do ? Will you be an assassin, and will you pre
sume to lay your guilt on your God ? You know you dare not do
so. Conscience — Conscience answers your cavils against the pre
science of the Omniscient God.
We will go farther — I suppose you are afflicted with a disease,
— your physician says, your disease is certainly mortal unless you
take a certain remedy. He says to you, " here is a specific, take
this." Will you say, " Oh, if I am to die, I must die ; and if
I am to live, I must live ; and therefore, there is no use in
taking any remedy, I will not take it — my fate is fixed" ? Nay,
verily, you would seize the cup, and drink it with an earnest, anx
ious, trembling hand, and invoke a prayer, I hope, for the blessing
of God on the means you use. — And then — when your immortal
soul is infected with a fatal' distemper — When God tells you so —
when the . Physician of souls holds out to you a cup of mercy — a
cup of his own precious blood — a cup of healing, life-giving power,
— will you dash it away, and say, " if my soul is to be saved, it
shall be saved ; and if it is to perish eternally, it must die" ?
Surely, if you dare to reason thus,— if God be in heaven, and you
on earth, and if you are a rational being, your blood shall be upon
your own head. — And when the Lord shall bring you into judg
ment, and when he shall lay the cavils of your guilty heart open
to the eye of man, — the whole world must shout " Amen," when

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 63
He says, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels."
Now, let me go farther still. I said, there was not a blade of
grass that ever sprang from the field, without the prescience and
power of God. It was but last Sunday that we returned thanks
to God, as indeed we ought to thank and bless him, for the gra
cious harvest he has been pleased to send us. Now, let us take a
field of wheat, and I propose this question to you, —
"Do you think did that productive crop of wheat spring up by
accident, or was it the gracious gift of God ? Do you believe, that
the harvest in this field arose as a contingency, or do you believe
that before the creation of the world, the gracious produce given
by God this year, was as clearly in the all-seeing eye and mind of
that God, as it was when he sent the rain upon it, and commanded
His sun to shine upon it this summer ?" Now, let me suppose the
owner of that ground to have said : —
" Oh, here is my field to be sure — but, if it pleases God to give
me a good crop He will give it to me— and if He does not please
to do so, He will not — so I may sit down idle — I will neither till,
nor sow, or do anything."
Do you think would not this sluggard, this idler, this daring
speculator on God's providence, be justly left to starve in his indo
lent audacious presumption ? Yea, you know he would.
Again, whether you be engaged in business, or trade, or farming,
or in a profession, I hope you look unto God — I hope you know
and feel, that if you are prosperous, it is God that prospers you —
that it is He who sends orders into your counting houses, and cus
tomers into your shops, grants you the increase of your ground, or
prosperity in your profession, and supplies you with daily food and
everything that you enjoy.
Now give me leave to ask, will you say, " Oh well, if God sends
me orders, I shall have them — -or if he sends me customers, I shall
have them — -or if he sends me produce in my farm, or prosperity
in my profession, I shall have them — there is no use in my doing
anything ; I shall have them, if I am to have them — and I shall
not have them, if I am not to have them — therefore I will do
nothing" ?
Will you thus reason ? Will you presume to give utterance to
such sentiments ? Will you pretend to think so ? Nay, you know
well, that if you did so, you would be left justly to starve. You
know well, that if you are not diligent in your business, if you do
not take care of your counting houses— of your shops — of your farm
— if you are not diligent and laborious in your profession or calling
whatever it be, you know full well, you neither could or ought to
expect a blessing from God on your own indolence, your neglect,
your presumption, your audacious tempting of His mighty power ;
you know this is true. Now you will admit, I suppose, that your
temporal and spiritual affairs are alike in the hand of God. Will
you then venture to reason respecting your immortal souls, as you
would not reason respecting the smallest trifle in all your tempo-

64 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
ral concerns? Will you presume to say, when you neglect the
means that God has been pleased to give to you in His holy word,
that you are to expect any blessing for your souls, or any salvation
from your God ? And will you dare to charge your own neglect,
your own unbelief, your own rejection of the use of means, will
you dare to charge them on him ? Surely, conscience must con
vict you. Your own conscience must make a liar of you, if you
dare to charge your own crime on your Creator ! You are moral
agents, voluntary agents, you are responsible agents, you have to
deal with a righteous, just, and holy God, and if you are to rebel
against your Maker, in speculating as to your immortal souls, as
you would not attempt to speculate in any temporal concern, —
again, I say, your blood be upon your own head.*
Remember, it is with respect to spiritual things, as it is with re
spect to temporal things ; that as far as man's knowledge, as far
as man's view, as far as man's salvation is concerned, there is no
predestination irrespective of his responsibility and conduct as a
moral agent. Remember, that no impenitent unbeliever, continu
ing in impenitence and unbelief, is predestinated to enter into
eternal life. No believer is predestinated to perish. Your busi
ness is to repent, and believe the Gospel, while it is called to-day.
" To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb.
iii. 7, 8.
You say, " We can do no good of ourselves. The doctrine of
election, as it is written in Scripture, plainly shows that man has
it not in his power to do any good to his own soul." Most true.
But, while it tells you your own impotence, it tells you where to go
for strength and assistance, " Ask and it shall be given you, seek
and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you ; for
* Without attempting to enter into any abstruse or metaphysical discussion on the
subject, the author would venture to suggest that, much difficulty seems to have arisen
from those who vindicate this doctrine of Scripture by speaking or writing against
what they call the freedom of the will. This appears to be at least an unscriptural
mode of treating the subject, and gives ample ground to those who oppose it, to array
against them the whole body of the Word of God, which deals with man, as it con
fessedly does, as a voluntary responsible agent, as he certainly is.
It is the corruption of the will, the depravity and wickedness of the heart, which
aggravates, instead of excusing, the guilt of a moral agent, that appears to be charged
on man throughout the scriptures, and which makes his impotence to do good rather
an enhancement than a palliation of his iniquity; and this appears to be not only a
Scriptural truth, but a truth constantly admitted and applied to moral evil in our ordi
nary parlance and our common dealing with our fellow-creatures. We say, speaking
of them, " That man cannot speak a word of truth, — That man cannot keep his hands
from pilfering, — That man cannot keep himself sober, — That fellow cannot speak a
civil word to you, or cannot speak without blaspheming, — That child cannot treat its
parents with common respect or decency." — These, and similar phrases which we ha
bitually use, and justly apply, never are considered by us, to imply either a want of
freedom of will in these persons to do right, in any sense which affects their moral
accountability, or any impotence to discharge their duty, which could induce us either
to excuse or extenuate their guilt ; on the contrary, we use the expression " cannot" in
a sense that implies an aggravation of their crime and an indurated impenitence of
character which makes them subjects of severer judgment. When we thus deal with
our fellow-creatures in their several relations of accountability to us, we surely vindi
cate the ways of God in all his various judgments and dealing with us. And the
man who denies original sin, and the man who traces all practical evil to that source,
alike refuse it as a plea against accountability of their fellow-creatures to themselves.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 65
every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and
to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Luke, xi. 9, 10. If it is
written, " No man can come to me, except my Father which hath
sent me draw him" John, vi. 44, it is also written, " him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." John, vi. 37. He who
saith this, invites sinners to come to Him. " Come unto me all ye
that labor, and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Mat.
xi. 28.
He complains of their refusal, " ye will not come to me that ye
may have life." John, v. 40. Ye do not choose to come to me.
In willingly doing what conscience testifies we can do ; there is
always strength vouchsafed to those who seek it, to do what the
Bible tells us we cannot do.
" Stretch forth thine hand," saith Jesus. Mat. xii. 13.
The man does not say, " It is withered and I cannot." No —
" he stretched it forth and it was restored whole as the other."
Depend on it when the Judge of heaven and earth shall come, there
shall be neither metaphysics nor casuistry heard at His tribunal.
Therefore, let me address all in their respective circumstances.
Those that are " dead in trespasses and sins," — If you speak to
me on the doctrine of election, and say, " Alas ! I am perfectly
dead, perfectly insensible, I have no regard for my soul, I am liv
ing recklessly in sin, and you cannot say I am among the elect of
God." Indeed I cannot, nor is it my province to pronounce. You
certainly give no evidence of being one of God's people. You are
as the Apostle speaks of himself, and of this very church in their
unregenerate state — " Among whom also we all had our conversa
tion hi times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others." — Ephes. ii. 3. But, neither can I say, that
you are not among the elect of God. When the two thieves were
hung on the cross and when they joined the mob in reviling Christ,
if any had asked, " Are these God's elect people ?" — the answer
must have been, " Alas, no, they evince that they are the children
of Satan." Nevertheless, God's sovereign grace touched the heart
of one of these poor sinners, and he turned to Jesus, and said,
" Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." You
know the answer !
Now, though you may have been a hardened rebel against God
- to this very day, man can neither pronounce nor know whether
or not you are one of God's elect. But it is my office to address
you, and it is your duty to listen, as you are — a guilty sinner ; it
is my office to proclaim to you in the name of Jesus, pardon and
free salvation from your God. I know, if you hear me, it is God's
sovereign grace, overcoming your naturally hard heart, and in
clining your ear to listen, opening your heart to attend to the
things that are spoken, as he opened the heart of Lydia, " to attend
unto the things that were spoken of Paul," Acts, xvi. 14, and as
the Apostle in the passage which I have quoted, (Eph. ii. 3.) shows
of himself and the Ephesians, that they had been delivered from their
5

66 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
guilt, " But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) and hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 4, 5, 6. And perhaps this very subject, per
haps these very words spoken this day, may be God's blessed means
of bringing the truth to your heart and conscience, and of leading
you to say, " Since free salvation is proclaimed in Christ, though I
cannot repent or believe myself, yet God's grace is mighty to save.
O let me pray that God may bring a sinner, such as I am, to the
feet of Jesus." May the Lord bring this truth to your hearts ! and
though " dead in trespasses and sins," to this hour, yet God can
give you light and life, and salvation, in Christ Jesus, the Lord.
Now, let mc address those who are very weak, and who are
awakened to a sense of their own inability. A person who is
" dead in trespasses and sins," feels no spiritual life, nor is he con
scious of spiritual death, any more than a dead body. But sinners
who are awakened, begin to feel their inability to do good, they
feel they are not able to will or to do, they mourn over their own
sin and corruption, and each is ready to cry out, " Alas, I must be
lost, I cannot be one of God's people, or I could not be such a guilty
sinner as I am." Nay, my dear friend, let us rather trust, that
this is " the day of small things" with you. God saith, " who has
despised the day of small things ?" Zech. iv. 10. As much as to
say, " Surely not I." No, he does not. " A bruised reed shall he
not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench." Isa. xiii. 3.
And if indeed you are awakened to see, and feel your own helpless
ness, it is not you who have awakened yourselves, nor is it the
enemy of your soul, who has awakened you. Oh, no surely, if
yovi are awakened, it is the gift of God. " For by grace are ye
saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephes. ii. 8, 9.
Therefore, take courage, the sight of your own disease, should lead
you to prize the blessing of the Great Physician, and Oh, remem
ber, that you cannot be so guilty, but that Jesus is more mighty to
pardon and to save.
Then, again, you who are enlightened, who are strong in the
faith, I need not say to you what the blessedness of the doctrine
of God's sovereign electing grace is.
Ignorant persons imagine, and speak of those who hold this doc
trine thus : — (it is right, to mention this error,) " Oh, these persons
say, they are the elect of God ! they are the good ! they are the
holy ! they are the excellent people of the earth ! but for us, poor,
guilty creatures, we are lost, we have not any lot or part in the
matter, these men say to us, ' come not near to me, for I am holier
than thou.'"" Isai. lxv. 5. Oh, my dear friends, it is not the knowl
edge of his goodness, but it is a knowledge of his deep guilt and
misery, that makes a believer prize the doctrine of God's electing
grace. It is not because there is anything good in him, but be
cause he feels himself so full of sin, that if he could not look to

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 67
God's sovereign grace and mercy to take him, and bring him to
Zion, he knows, he would not come, — he knows, that nothing but
God's grace could overcome his wicked will at first, or carry on any
plans of love and mercy to his soul. And therefore, I say, you who
are strong in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, your sin has
taught you the blessing of the doctrine of election.
But again, it is said, " Oh ! then, you may go on in sin, and if
you are elected, you may presume on the grace of God. If God
has given us his grace, we may go on and live in sin." Remem
ber, Oh ! sinner, that God's promises of election are always insepara
bly connected both with the use of means,* and with an appropri
ate faith and character, so the Apostle saith, " We are his work
manship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them, chap. ii. 10,
Again, " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of
his," again, " As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are
the sons of God." Rom. viii. 9, 14. Again, while our Lord testi
fies, " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." So He adds
the proof of the fact, " He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do
nothing." John, xv. 4, 5.
So here you see in the text, the end of their election, " that we
SHOULD BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY, WHO FIRST TRUSTED
in Christ." That we who have been brought, as it were, the
first-fruits of his grace from Jews and Gentiles, — I, a blind, self-
righteous persecutor from amongst the Pharisees — you, blind idola
ters from the worshippers in the temple of Diana, that " we should
be to the praise of his glory" — monuments, as we are, of
His sovereign grace, that we should remember " we are not our
own, but bought with a price, and should therefore glorify God
with our bodies and spirits, which are God's." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.
That " we should show forth the praises of him who hath called
us out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Peter ii. 9. That
we should "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and accepta
ble unto God, which is our reasonable service." Rom. xii. 1.
That we should " let our light so shine before men, that they may
see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven."
Mat. v. 16.
Yes, if men are chosen out of the world by the grace of God, it
must be for the service of God. There could be no election to
serve the devil, for that is the natural course of all. If men are
* The belief in God's purposes and promises, as connected with the use of means,
is remarkably illustrated by the conduct of St. Paul in the storm, Acts, xxvii. God
had promised him that " there should be no loss of any man's life" on board, verse 32 ;
so he confidently asserted to the crew, to cheer their hearts. Yet though God had
promised, and though he had asserted it on God's authority, still when the sailor*
were about to make their escape out of the vessel, " Paul said to the centurion, and to
the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved," verse 31 ; to profess to
trust in any promise of God, and to despise the use of the appointed means, is not
Scriptural faith, but unscriptural premmption.

68

LECTURES on the ephesians.

elected from this service, the only proof that can be given of it is,
that they are called to the service of God. As St. Peter says,
" elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. i. 2.
Believers know and feel too deeply the bitterness of sin — the
burthen of the heavy conflict— the anguish of that lusting of the
flesh against the spirit, so feelingly described by the Apostle, Rom.
vii. 14-24, not to know and feel that their calling is an holy calling
— they feel that holiness and happiness are essentially connected
together. Sin is the pleasure of the unregenerate heart, it is the
grief and cross of the believer — -" we that are in this tabernacle do
groan, being burthened." 2 Cor. v. 14. Alas ! how often, O be
liever ! has your sinful corrupt heart experienced as a bitter evil
what the ignorant world imputes to you as a principle — how often
has your sinful heart presumed on the Lord's grace ! — how often
have you provoked and grieved your Master ! Yet, let me ask,
did you ever do so in your life that you were not made to feel it
bitterly ? — did you ever sow to the flesh, that you did not reap
corruption ? Gal. vi. 8, — did you ever sow the wind, that you
did not reap the whirlwind ? Hos. viii. 7. No ; if you be a be
liever, you have felt what the evil of sin is, you feel it continually,
and you know you are not elected to go to eternal life by living in
your sins, — you know that you are elected to eternal life, if you are
indeed one of God's people, to serve and to glorify your Father
which is in heaven. But when you feel your inward corruption,
when you feel the struggling of sin in your soul — the power of
those temptations that would hurry your natural heart away, and
draw it on into the vortex of ruin — Oh, then you know what it is
to bless God that you have a mighty hand to hold you, and to
keep you safe in Jesus, that he will not leave you to perish. You
know how sweet are these exceeding great and precious promises
and truths — " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My
Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and none is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are
one." John x. 27, 28, 29. Again " This is the Father's will, which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." John vi.
39. You know the consolation of that blessed promise — " He hath
said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5. You
love the doctrine of election, not because you think yourself good,
but because you feel what a guilty sinner you are, and that if God
did not keep you, you could never keep yourself; therefore you
prize that glorious truth of His word, that His people " are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation." 1 Peter i. 5.
And now, beloved friends, pray over these things, pray, that
God may instruct you. Oh ! beware how you tempt God. Be
ware how you deal with God in spiritual things, as your own

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 69
natural thoughts and feelings— your own carnal interests and ob
jects make you know and feel, you would not dare to deal with
Him in temporal things. — Beware of this !
And O ! prize the day of small things. Cherish every feeling
of conviction, every emotion of spiritual sensibility, every whisper
of an awakened conscience in your hearts, cherish every gleam of
hope in Jesus— if it be genuine, it comes from the Lord God, and
it shall " shine more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18.
Remember our Lord's words, " watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation." Mat. xxvi. 41.
And ye who are strong in faith, pray, that your strength may
be renewed day by day. True Faith builds no storehouses for
" the Bread that cometh down from heaven," but lives daily on
the fresh supplies it gathers from the hand of God. Pray that you
may be enabled to " glorify God in your bodies and spirits which
are His," 1 Cor. vi. 20, and " as he who has called you is holy, so be
ye holy in all manner of conversation ; because it is written, Be
ye holy for I am holy. 1 Pet. i. 14, 15. Let every promise be
turned into prayer, that it may be fulfilled, and every precept, that
it may be observed. Pray that, during all your course you may be
enabled not to " yield your members as instruments of unright
eousness unto sin," but to " yield yourselves unto God as those
who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God." Thus shall you glorify your Father,
and live to the praise of His glory.

SIXTH LEC TURE

Ephesians I. — 13, 14.

" In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the pur
chased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
Having considered how God's sovereign, predestinating grace,
of which we read in the last passage, no more interferes with
man's responsibility as a voluntary, moral agent, or supersedes the
right use of means, or the legitimate operation of second causes
in spiritual things, than the predeterminate order and succession
of all things on earth, supersedes them in man's temporal concerns
— having shown its use and consolation to His elect people — and
that those who are called by his sovereign mercy and power, are
called to glorify Him, as monuments of grace, " to the praise of
his glory." Let us observe, how the operations of divine grace

70

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

are manifested in > those who are the objects of it, — that is, how
those who are the objects of divine grace are to be known. How
does it appear that men " have obtained this inheritance ?" how
that they are "predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will ?" This
is evidently exhibited in the words which I have read to you, " in
WHOM YE ALSO TRUSTED, AFTER THAT YE HEARD THE WORD OJF
TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION ; IN WHOM ALSO,
AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED WITH THAT HOLY
SPIRIT OF PROMISE, WHICH IS THE EARNEST OF OUR INHER
ITANCE, UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POS
SESSION.", Now, you perceive here how their election to their inheritance,
was manifested by the power of divine grace through the Gospel,
and I would specially point out three things : —
I. — In their attention to the " Word of truth," when it was
preached to them.
II. — In their believing the Gospel of their salvation and trusting
in the Lord Jesus.
III. — In the operations and influences of the Spirit of God upon
them. Now, let me entreat you that in the very consideration of this
subject, as applied to the Ephesians, you will endeavor to carry
out its practical application to your own souls. Let us remember,
that the preaching of the Word can no more convey a blessing to
our souls, than it could convey a blessing to the beasts that perish,
unless the Spirit of God accompanies it. I can neither derive a
blessing to my own soul in reading the Bible, or in preaching ; nor
can you in hearing, unless God by His Spirit teaches us.
May the Spirit of the living God then accompany His Word to
our hearts. May He give us those blessed gifts which come alone
from Him ! May the word spoken in Weakness be accompanied
with " demonstration of the Spirit and of power," 1 Cor. ii. 4, to
our souls, so that it may be to us " a time of refreshing from the
presence of the Lord."
I. — The power of divine grace was proved in their attention to
the Word preached by the Apostle.
The natural character of man is exhibited in this, as well as
many other instances, in his utter disregard of God's Holy Word.
The natural man is a " deaf adder," he stoppeth his ears — he
never hears the Scriptures with attention. Men will listen to the
language, indeed of the preacher ; they will attend, perhaps, to
his voice — to his manner — they will criticise them for you, together
with the style and expression of everything he says — if you ask
them their opinion of these things, they will be able to give it to
you readily enough — but, ask them the meaning of the holy Word
preached to them — they know nothing about it, except perhaps
totally to misrepresent or pervert it. How many of you can give
an account of the spiritual truths that are set before you, when
you leave this or any place of worship ? I dare say, you will find,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 71
if you examine yourselves, that there are but too many who
cannot give any. Our blessed Lord illustrates their case, in the
parable of the sower, by the seed sown on the high-way-side.
" When any one" saith our Lord, " heareth the word of the king
dom and understandeth it not,"\it never reaches to his under
standing nor his conscience) " Then cometh the wicked one, and
catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he
which receiveth seed by the teay-side." Mat. xiii. 19.
Now, what must be the end of those who hear, and hear, and
hear, and hear again, and again, and again, and again, but who
are at the last as though they had never heard ? Do you think,
is not man responsible for this inattention ? When we say, that
this is your natural heart, and when we say, that nothing but divine
grace can deliver you from it, do you think you are not responsi
ble for your guilty disregard of God's Word ? Your mother would
have corrected you when you were a child, for inattention to your
alphabet, if you would not learn your letters. Your school-master
or school-mistress would punish you if you neglected your lesson.
If you be a clerk, or a servant, ,or an apprentice, your employer
would dismiss you, or cancel your indentures, if you were not at
tentive to your business. If you be a professional man, or if you
be in business yourself, your clients and customers would forsake
you, if you did not attend to your profession, or counting-house, or
shop. You know, this is all right and just, and you would deal
so yourself with your fellow-man. And " shall not the judge of
all the earth do right" — Geii. xviii. 25, — in bringing you into
judgment, when you neglect His blessed Word? When you neg
lect His expostulations — His entreaties— His warnings — His prom
ises — His threatenings — His mercies ? Shall your Creator — your
Preserver — your Benefactor — your Redeemer, appeal to you, and
shall you neglect and despise Him — shall you be irresponsible and
unpunished ? Your consciences echo the justice of that solemn
question, " How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"
Heb. ii. 3.
But your consciousness of this, if you feel your own negligent
and inattentive hearts — if you feel th». burden of that thoughtless,
wandering, distracted spirit that tells you, it is not in yourselves to
direct your way, but that the gift of attention is the gift of God,
this should lead you to pray with the Psalmist, " Consider and
hear me, O Lord my God, lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the
sleep of death." Ps. xiii. 3. — " Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I
will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name."
Ps. lxxxvi. 11. And if the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking of the
natural wickedness of the human heart, in St. John's Gospel, vi.
44, saith, " No man can come lo me, except my Father, which hath
sent me, draw him," — so, remember that your prayer should be
the prayer of the church, in the Canticle, i. 4, " Draw me, we will
run after thee." Oh ! that this may be the prayer of your hearts
and mine ! If you feel the want, remember— the God who can
supply all your wants, invites you to come and ask, — " if any of

72 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men lib
erally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him," James i.
5. " Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that ask-
eth, receiveth; and lie that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that
knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of
you that is a father, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a
fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ? Or if he shall ask
an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him ?" Luke xi. 9-13, for " the hearing ear, and the seeing
eye, the Lord hath made even both of them." Prov. xx. 12. " The
preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue
is from the Lord." Prov. xvi. 1. Therefore attention to God's
truth is one of the first manifestations of the grace of God. Oh !
then, if your heart is inclined to listen to the Word of God, if
you are anxiously inquiring into divine truth, cherish, I beseech
you, that spark of grace in your heart. It may be but a spark,
but remember, Jesus " will not quench the smoking flax," Isa.
xiii. 3, nay, but " He giveth more grace," Jam. iv. 6. Remem
ber that the refreshing showers that brought life to the land of Is
rael, were at first but a little cloud, as a man's hand in the sky.
And remember, again, you have a God to come to who saith,
" Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John,
vi. 44. Oh ! cherish every desire for truth, pray for more of it,
" if so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
1 Pet. ii. 3.
But again, I said, — II. Faith in the Gospel of Christ, and
trust in the Lord Jesus, is the manifestation of the power of di
vine grace, " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye
HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVA
TION." Inattention necessarily must produce unbelief. How can
they believe who do not hear or consider that which is proposed
to their belief? " Faith cometh by hearing." Rom. x. 17. Faith,
the belief of the truth, is, l;ke attention, the gift of God. You
have that principle laid down in this epistle : — ii. 8. " By grace
are ye saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The
disciples, though they had been long with their Lord, hearing His
words, and marking the character of His divine power, imprinted
on every act He did, and every word He uttered, yet, they were
ignorant of Him, and of all the Scriptures concerning Him, till after
His resurrection, when, as we read in St. Luke, xxiv. 45, "he
opened their understanding that they might understand the
Scriptures." The Apostle Paul, speaking of the impotence of
man to produce any effect on the soul by his own power, saith, 1
Cor. iii. 5, 6, 7. — " Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, but min
isters by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.
I have planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 73
So then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that
watereth, but God that giveth the increase." So God alone is
to receive the praise.
Thus again, in 2nd Corinthians, he sets this clearly before us,
contrasting the power of Satan over the human mind, in blinding
it, with the power of God in enlightening it, iv. 3, " If our Gospel
be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." Now, how is it hid ? ver.
4, " in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them" How
then, had he and those whom he addressed been delivered from
this bhndness ? We see, verse 6, " But God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ." The same power that commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, the same God who said, " let there be
light, and there was light," alone can shed light into the heart and
conscience of the sinner, alone can enable him to " believe the
record that God hath given of his Son," 1 John, v. 10, therefore,
when the Gospel is received by faith, when the sinner embraces
the hope that is set before him in that Gospel, — that, I say, is a
manifestation of the power of the spirit of God, as producing that
influence on the soul. So you see in 1st Thessalonians, the
Apostle sets forth this, as giving to him a clear testimony of their
election of God, 1 Thess. i. 4, " knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God." How did he know it ? " For our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance." He knew that they were taught
of God, because his Gospel came to them, not in word only, but in
power. So, brethren, when we see the Gospel come with power to
the consciences of sinners, when we see the sinner thoughtless,
careless, hardened ; and when we see him awakened, anxious —
humbled — and brought low to the feet of Jesus — when we see
him who took no interest whatever in the blessed Bible, who took
no interest in prayer, no interest in instruction, when we see him
searching the sacred Scriptures — when we see him calling upon
his God in spirit and in truth — when we see him delighting to
listen to instruction — ready to receive it as a little child— when we
see him who was proud and self-righteous, counting " all things
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord,"
we know, that that man must be taught of God ; for this is not of
nature, it is of God's gift alone.
Now, faith produces that effect which the Apostle speaks of in
the text, " in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION."' Trust
in Jesus is the consequence of faith in Jesus, some confound these,
but there is an important distinction between them. The belief
of the Gospel of Jesus may often exist and does exist in the heart
of many a sinner, when that sinner is not trusting or reposing, in
Christ as he ought to do — he ia not casting his care on Him as he

74

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

ought to do — he is not rejoicing in him as he ought to do — he has
no confident assurance of hope as he ought to have. The Apostle
says, " In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation." The word, " trusted," is supplied
in our translation, but it is properly and necessarily so, being carried
on as you perceive from the preceding verse, " That we should be
to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye
also (as well as we) trusted." It is the word which the sense de
mands. It literally signifies "hoped." When we "believe the
record that God has given of his son," when we know what Jesus
hath done for us, it is our privilege to trust with holy confidence
upon the glorious work of our blessed Master.
But, alas ! how few do so ! how few there are who really enjoy
the confidence of hope which it is their privilege to feel !
It appears to me of moment to consider this subject more atten
tively ; for it seems of the utmost practical importance to the peace
and strength of the soul. As far as my experience of the state of
believers whom I have visited, both in health and sickness, extends,
I feel the importance of it more and more.
The point of view in which the subject seems to me to demand
attention is this, that we should endeavor to ascertain satisfactorily
to our own minds, the difference which, as I have stated, exists
between the belief of the Gospel and trust in the Gospel. I have
said there is an important distinction between them, and though
I know there are authorities high and deservedly esteemed on the
opposite side, I must reiterate the assertion ; and I entreat your
attentive consideration of it, for I think there is not a servant of
God in the world to whom it is not, at least at some times, of vast
importance to his own peace.
We shall first briefly consider what the Gospel is, and then the
difference between believing it and trusting in it.
The Gospel is that good news which God proclaims to man of
salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. He proclaims that
blessed Saviour as our Surety, who has paid both our debt of obe
dience to His holy law, and of penalty for its violation. Of obedi
ence — " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every
one that believeth." Rom. x. 4. " This is his name whereby he
shall be called, the lord our righteousness." Jer. xxiii. 6.
Of penalty—" Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on
the tree." 1 Pet. ii. 24. " Who was delivered for our offences, and
was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv. 25.
When our Lord gave His apostles their divine commission " Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,"
He said, " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved." Mark
xvi. 15, 16. There cannot be a doubt that he suspended salvation
on the belief of that Gospel.
Now the Gospel is a relative term — the belief of it necessarily
involves the belief of several other truths — such as the lost state of
the sinner — the impossibility of salvation by anything he can do
for himself— the sins and imperfections that cleave to his best ac-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 75
tions and intentions— in fact a full conviction that he is totally
unable to fulfil the holy law of God— that " by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin." Rom. iii. 20.
Therefore, the belief of the Gospel necessarily involves the con
viction that the ordinary refuges of the sinner's heart are all
refuges of lies, such as the hope that his virtues will be weighed
against his sins, and preponderate in his favor; or if not, that
Christ will be, as it were, a make-weight, thrown into the scale to
turn the balance for his salvation. His virtues— his alms — his
good resolutions — his prayers — -his reading the Bible — his observ
ance of religious ordinances — his respectability and high character
amongst men — all these things which formerly were combined to
give him some hope of acceptance with God, and which, though he
believed that Christ's merits alone could make them efficient, yet
he believed as sincerely must be necessarily added to Christ's merits
to save him — all these he has now ceased to trust in as giving him
a shadow of hope — he has learned to " count all things but loss
far the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord,"
Phil. iii. 8, and that he is not to be saved because Christ gives
weight or value or acceptance to his works, and thus to his per
son, — but that Christ hath purchased redemption for his person, —
not as being righteous, but as a lost and helpless sinner ; and that
thus it is his blessed privilege to transfer all hope from his own
miserable efforts, to the righteousness and blood of this crucified
and risen Redeemer. Thus new light and hope break in on his
mind, and whether it has come by slow and imperceptible degrees,
as it more frequently does, one shade of error after another vanish
ing before " the Sun of Righteousness," as He arises on the soul,
"with healing in his wings," Mai. iv. 2, or whether it has come,
as it sometimes does, like light to a man whose eyes are opened in
the noon of day, the result is the same ; the enlightened sinner has
been brought to see, that all his salvation is in Christ, and not in
himself, or in any other, he has been brought to understand the
word of the Apostle, " Neither is there salvation, in any other, for
there is none other name under heaven, given among men where
by we must be saved," Acts, iv. 12, he has learned that therefore his
whole obedience to the commandments of God is to be rendered,
not as before, with the vain expectation of its helping to obtain
forgiveness for him, but because that forgiveness has been dearly
purchased and freely given through the precious blood of his Re
deemer. Thus the whole foundation of the hope of his soul— the whole
principle of his moral conduct — has been totally changed, in the
mind of the sinner who has been brought to repent and believe the
Gospel. His hope has been transferred from himself to his Re
deemer, and his obedience from a principle of the self-interested
efforts of a slavish fear, to the real principle, not only of the Gos
pel, but of the Law, — a principle of grateful love. Well may it,
then indeed be said, "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a

76 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
new creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all things
are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us unto himself by Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. v. 17, 18.
But now we come to consider the nature of that faith with which
a sinner believes in Christ ; and this is to be viewed as differing
from that trust, from which it appears so necessary to distinguish it.
The object of faith must be the same in all who believe the
Gospel — Christ is all their salvation. If they do not believe the
record that God hath given of Christ, then they do not believe the
Gospel. " He that believeth not God hath made him a liar ; be
cause he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And
this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1st John, v. 10, 11, 12.
If men do not believe this record, then the thing which they be
lieve is not the Gospel, but some scheme of salvation different from
that propounded by God.
But although the object of faith must necessarily be the same to
all the children of God, for if there be but one Gospel, making all
allowance for errors not affecting vital truth, they can believe but
one Gospel, and there is indeed but " One Lord, one faith, one
baptism." Eph. iv. 5. Yet there is no truth more certain, both
from Scripture — from fact — -and from the experience of every be
liever, than that the degree of confidence with which they trust or
hope in Christ, differs in almost all persons, and in the same per
son, at different times. When the understanding is enlightened
Jo know, and when the heart receives the salvation proclaimed
through Christ to sinners — ("for with the heart man believeth un
to righteousness," Rom. x. 10,) — when it receives Christ as the
true and only foundation on which it rests all hope of salvation,
thereby excluding and rejecting every other — then the sinner be
lieves the Gospel. But how fluctuating is the confidence of his
deceitful heart in the faithfulness and truth, the power and love of
Him in whom he still believes as the only refuge of his soul. It is
then he begins to feel and to lament his weakness, and his want
of faith. He feels so often that he wants that trust, that confi
dence of heart in Christ, which ought to accompany the belief of
his salvation, that he fears and complains he has no faith at all.
It is this that marks one great difference in the flock of Christ,
and draws forth so much, the glorious character of their tender,
gracious Shepherd, for thus spake the Prophet, " He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall, gently lead those that are
with young." Isai. xl. 11. The tottering steps of him who is weak
ir the faith — the trembling fearfulness in their pilgrimage of many
a weary heavy-laden believer in the flock of Christ — too clearly
illustrate the difference between him who boldly walks, with trust
and confidence in his Lord, and him whose feeble hope hangs
sometimes between doubt and despair.
- I have known persons whose faith was in Christ aldne — jealous

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 77
for His truth — fervent in His cause— full of love to His people — ¦
and devoted to His service, who have nevertheless gone heavily
most of all their days, from want of trust and hope in their Lord.
Surely, a large proportion of the book of Psalms appears inspired
for the consolation and support of the weak and timid believer —
the 77th, the 143rd, and many others, are the language of their
hearts ; and if fox faith in Christ, as the salvation of the soul, you
substitute trust in Christ for its salvation, in speaking to such —
instead of strengthening their faith, and comforting their heart,
you rather confirm their doubts and fears, and join the enemy in
harassing and afflicting them. Trust in Christ implies a conscious
ness that you believe, nay more, it implies a consciousness that
you believe with such implicit faith — that you repose a confidence
in Him to such an extent, that you feel it consolatory to your heart.
Now it is the very fact of confounding faith with the consciousness
of faith ; or faith with trust, which necessarily implies this, by
which I have seen the mind of many both living and dying,
harassed and perplexed most deeply. Many a painful hour have
I sat beside the dying bed of a believer, and when I would read of
Christ and all his glorious work and offices, I have heard these
words : —
" Oh ! yes ; I know that — that is all true — but, Oh ! that I could
believe it — O ! that I had faith — O ! that I could find peace,"
&c. &c.
Instead of deriving their consolation from Christ, they have been
seeking for consolation in themselves ; and instead of being satis
fied with believing in Him, they have been seeking for satisfaction,
in believing that they believed. Unless they feel confidence, they
cannot think they have faith. In looking to their own hearts for
confidence and hope, they have been looking away from the only
source from which alone either could be derived. This seems to
me to be produced by the erroneous principle of confounding trust
with faith, and only to be overcome by showing the difference be
tween them.
To such a one I would say — "How vain to be looking into
yourself for confidence — nay, look out of yourself unto Jesus. If
Jesus is the only ground of your salvation, however weak your
faith, when Jesus is its object — fear not, but rejoice. " Let the
heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." Psalm cv. 4.
The fact is, that faith is generally weak ; and when a believer
feels his faith to be so, if his mind has been imbued with the idea
that confidence or trust in Christ is the only true faith, and there
fore necessary to salvation, he is discouraged and oppressed ; yea,
I have seen him overwhelmed by looking into his own heart for
this confidence, without which he could not think himself a be
liever. It may be said by some that this is only contending about
words, for that trust or confidence is only a stronger degree of faith
— or faith in lively exercise. I am not inclined to cavil as to words,
but granting this to be so, though indeed it is not — yet what havoc
in the Church of Christ a man would make, who should represent

78 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
strong faith as necessary to salvation ! this were to frighten away
the Lambs from Him who "gathers them with his arm, and
carries them in his bosom" — this were to harass and to drive to
death, instead of "gently leading those that are with young."
Such is not the word of Him who saith to the " weary and heavy
laden," " Come unto me, and I will give you rest."
How often have I seen the heart refreshed by speaking thus to
those who were sinking under this oppressive error. " You are
turning, my friend, into your own heart, and not to Jesus — you are
looking into your own heart for confidence instead of looking unto
Him in whom you may have confidence and strength — " Look
unto me and be ye saved," Isaiah xlv. 22, is His word. " Look"
— even to turn the eye to Jesus as our All in faith, can bring salva
tion to the soul — true your faith is weak, but Jesus is mighty, and
remember it is written, " God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Mm should not
perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. Think of "who
soever," surely you are included here — " whosoever believeth," no
matter whether his faith be strong or weak — whether confident or
trembling — whether a lamb of the flock or the strongest of the
flock — a Babe in Christ or a Father in Christ — if Jesus is indeed
the only refuge of his soul, " whosoever believeth shall not perish,
but have everlasting life." The infant is as safe as the giant, when
both are in the fortress — the timid child as safe as the stoutest sailor,
when both are in the vessel that outrides the storm. Cheer up
your heart, and look unto Jesus. The question is not, whether
we are strong, but whether Jesus is our refuge — not how confidently
we believe, but in whom we believe. — Therefore, " Trust ye in the
Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength''
Isaiah xxvi. 4.
0 how often have I seen the soul refreshed and lifted out of
its doubts and fears, and brought to trust and confidence, and
peace, by showing that when Jesus is indeed the object of faith,
the weakest believer may rejoice in Jesus. I have seen them,
" out of weakness made strong, waxing valiant in fight." Heb.
xi. 34, triumphing over sin and death, and hell, " in all these
things more than conquerors, through him that loved them."
Rom. viii. 37.
Though this does not strictly belong to the interpretation of this
text, yet as I have drawn a distinction between believing and
trusting, I think it necessary to explain it knowing its practical
importance ; but it is clear, as I have stated that, faith in the
Gospel of Christ, and trust, in the Lord Jesus, is the manifesta
tion of the power of divine grace, there can be no faith, no confi
dence in Christ, but by the grace and power of the Spirit of God.
But we see, III. — The power of divine grace, and their election
to their inheritance, manifested by the operations and influences
of the Holy Spirit upon them. " in whom also after that
YOU BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED WITH THAT HOLY SPIRIT OF

LECT1MES ON THE EPHESIANS. 79
It is unnecessary to remark, after what has been said on the
second head of this passage, that the inward power and operation
of the Holy Ghost, enlightening their hearts to understand and
believe the Gospel, and to trust in the Lord Jesus, must necessa
rily be implied in this place. It was indispensable, not only to the
commencement, but to the continuance and support of divine life
in their souls.
But we are not to understand the scope and meaning of the
Apostle, as limited to that power and grace of the Spirit, by which
alone their minds could be enlightened to understand the Gospel ;
it seems here that he is speaking also of the miraculous gifts of
the Spirit, which God had given them by the laying on of the
hands of the Apostle, after they had received the Holy Ghost in
his ordinary operations. This you will perceive by referring to
Acts xix. " It came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth,
Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus,
and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, have you re
ceived the Holy Ghost, since ye believed ? and they said unto
him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost." He evidently intended by this question, had they re
ceived the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost ? but they had not
understood or known anything of that, about which the Apostle
spoke to them. " And he said unto them, unto what then were
ye baptized? and they said, unto John's baptism." Had they
been baptized with the baptism of Christ's ordinance, they must
have been baptized, " in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost," Mat. xxviii. 19. But these disciples at
Ephesus had only embraced the testimony of John, they had not
known the Gospel of Christ, until Paul visited them. " Then said
Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul
had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them ;
and they spake with tongues and prophesied." Acts xix. 1-6.
You see, the Hofer Spirit of whom he speaks as having sealed
them, (when we look to the facts of their history,) seems to have
comprehended the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which they re
ceived by the laying on^of the Apostle's hands after they believed,
as we know, they must also have received his influence into their
hearts before, to enable them to believe in Christ.*
* The explanation of this passage, including both ordinary and extraordinary oper
ations of the Holy Spirit, seems strictly Scriptural to the Author, although men of high
name have excluded each of them alternately from the sense of the Apostle.
One, whose authority has been long in high repute, with Some who ought to be
better taught, says, " In the following passage St. Paul represents the faith of the
Ephesians in Christ, to have been the consequence of their having heard the Gospel
preached, and the communication of the Spirit to have been subsequent to their faith."
Then quoting this verse, he adds, "The order to be here noticed is this — first the hear
ing of the word —secondly, belief produced by that hearing,^-thirdly, the communica
tion of the Spirit in consequence of that belief." The principle which this author
intended to illustrate may be seen in a sentiment which precedes this quotation by a

80

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

These miraculous gifts, we know, have ceased. We know they
are not now given, although grievous error has been recently
propagated on that subject.* It does not come within the scope
of my intention to-day, to enter more fully into it than to say,
we know that these gifts of the Spirit are not imparted ; and Ave
may just make this one observation further, that, if miraculous
gifts had always continued, they had long since ceased to appear
miraculous. The end for which they were given, namely, to tes
tify to God's truth, had ceased to be answered by them, had they
continued in the church.
But there are gifts of the Spirit which are always given to the
Church of Christ, as you will find by referring to 1 Cor. xii. 4,
5, 6, " There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And
there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And
there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God that
worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to every man to profit withal. To one is given, by the Spirit, the
word of wisdom." — the word of wisdom — that is not an extraor
dinary gift. " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be
given him." — " To another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit," that is not an extraordinary gift. — " To another faith by
the same Spirit." — That is an ordinary gift. Then the Apostle
speaks of the miraculous gifts. But these are the gifts which con
stitute a man a disciple of Christ, — " the word of wisdom" — being
" wise unto salvation." " For to one is given, by the Spirit,
few pages. He says, " There is not a single passage in the New Testament which
leads us to suppose, that any supernatural power was exerted over the minds of ordi
nary hearers, and therefore we are authorized to attribute their faith to the voluntary
exercise of their reason." ! I ! The writer of this is no more — his name is not quoted —
for the author would not inflict reproach on the individual who penned this sentiment
— but how many embrace these principles.
Scott, in his commentary, on the contrary, says of this passage, " This cannot, with
any propriety, be explained of miraculous powers, these were not the earnest, pledge
and foretaste of heaven as this seal is declared to have been ; for many unsanctified
persons exercised miraculous powers. But the sanctifying and comforting influences
of the Holy Spirit, seal believers as the children of God and heirs of heaven : — they
are the first fruits of that holy felicity, and they impress the holy image of God upon
their souls."
" What Scott says of the sanctifying and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit
is unquestionably true — but as to the exercise of miraculous powers by " many un
sanctified persons." this is not so very clear. It was through the laying on of the
Apostles' hands that these powers were communicated, and though they may have
been committed, in some instances, to persons who were false professors, as undoubt
edly many such were in the Church ; yet it by no means follows, that to those who
were indeed the Children of God, such gifts of the Spirit were not a source of conso
lation and a seal of their Sonship — although distinct from, and inferior to, the inward
"joy and peace in believing" which the Spirit's testimony of Jesus alone can give to
the soul. But the fact in the historyof the Acts quoted in the text, does not seem to
justify this limited interpretation of the passage. The author therefore quite agrees
with Bloomfield, who says on this. " Considering the persons of whom it is said, we
are, I think, bound to understand the extraordinary and supernatural gilts of the
Spirit as well as his ordinary influences and graces, though most recent commentators
take it of the latter only." The historical fact, Acts xix. 6, seems quite to preclude
Scott's limitation ; and it were vain to multiply quotations to prove that the opinion
first cited in this note, is quite at variance with the very essence of divine truth.
* The Unknown Tongues were at *his time making a great noise in London.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 81
the word of wisdom," 1 Cor. xii. 8, (for example, when men are
given to learn from the Scriptures of truth, " which are able to
make them wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ
Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 15.) " To another the word of knowledge, by
the same Spirit," (" this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3.) "To
another faith by the same Spirit," ("he that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John, iii. 36.)
These are gifts which, in various proportions, are given to all who
are sealed unto life eternal.
The other gifts enumerated here, " the gifts of healing," " the
working of miracles," "prophecy" "discerning of spirits," "divers
kinds of tongues," " the interpretation of tongues," were given by
the Lord for his own wise purposes, at the time. First, at Pente
cost, and afterwards, by laying on of the Apostles' hands, to man
ifest the divine authority of the Gospel, and to testify the truth of
that doctrine which the Lord sent His apostles to preach. But
these gifts and fruits of the Spirit which you see in Galatians, v.
22, these are the fruits which the Spirit always produces, though
in various degrees, in the children of God, " some thirty, some
sixty, some an hundredfold," " the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem
perance." These are manifestly the gifts of grace. These mani
fest the influence and operation of God's sovereign power upon the
souls of those who are the subjects of them. So, the Apostle says,
in 2 Cor. iii. 2-3, " Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts,
known and read of all men. Forasmuch as you are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not
with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of
stone but in fleshly tables of the heart!' Therefore, the Apostle
says, the gift of the Spirit is to them the pledge or " earnest of
THE INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED
possession." He uses this expression in 2 Corinthians, i. 22,
" who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts," and he uses a similar expression, again, in this
Epistle, iv. 30, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye
are sealed unto the day of redemption," he calls it an earnest and
a seal. Here he says it is " the earnest of our inheritance
UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION."
What is the meaning of that ? Was not the redemption com
pleted by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross? Yes.
The price of our redemption was paid, but the redeemed of Christ
were not then, and are not yet brought home to the glory of their
inheritance. .The ransom might be sent out for those poor cap
tives of our country, for whom we all have felt and feel, such deep
and painful interest,* who are now prisoners, or have been so, in a
distant foreign land, in the hands of savages. ' The ransom might
have been sent out for them, and the ransom might be paid, but
* Those who had been taken captive in the Affghan War.
6

82

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

still, they might be travelling in the enemy's land, and not brought
home to their habitation, their family, and their rest. Such is
the state of the redeemed of Christ. The ransom is paid down
for them, but they are not yet come to their inheritance. If you
open Romans viii. 16-23, you will see this fully set forth. The
Apostle says, " The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together, for I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Believers were
suffering then, so they are now, but these sufferings " are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us." Mark those words, " the glory which shall be revealed." It
was to be revealed then, and is yet to be revealed now. But
though it is not yet revealed it shall be. For consider that which
follows "for the earnest expectation of the creature," (i. e. all cre
ation,) " waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." That
is, waiteth for a certain time, namely, the time when God's chil
dren shall be manifested to the world, that will be " the manifes
tation of the sons of God."
The sense of this passage in Romans, had been much plainer if
the original word which is translated "creature," in the 19th,
20th and 21st verses had been translated " creation," as it is in the
22nd verse ; the same translation would have given a uniform and
a clearer sense to the whole. The Apostle is describing the misery
in which sin has placed this whole earth, and he represents the
whole world, and all its inhabitants, as it were suffering, and groan
ing, and longing for deliverance.
" For the creation was made subject to vanity," to its present
helpless and miserable condition, in which it seems as it were, to
have been formed in vain, not to answer its due end, the glory of
God, or the happiness of his creatures; "not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same," — not by its own choice
or desire, but under the righteous sentence of Him, who has brought
this judgment on it for sin ; the sentence of death, the penalty of
sin, to its inhabitants — the fear and dread of them to all the living
creatures — and thorns, and thistles, to the very ground, for their
sake. But though thus subjected now, there is a blessed hope for
its deliverance. God hath subjected it to vanity, for the present,
but it is still " in hope, because the creation itself shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God." The day is at hand when all the children of
God " shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption," in which
they have been held, in bodies of sin and death, to the resurrection
inheritance of everlasting glory ; and all creation shall participate
in the glorious liberty — such is the triumphal song of the Psalmist,
.** Let the heavens r'ejoice, and let the earth be glad. Let the sea
roar, and the fulness thereof, let the field be joyful, and all that
is therein, then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 83
Lord. For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth, he shall
judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth."
Psalm, xcvi. 11, 12, 13. That this resurrection glory, is that of
which the Apostle speaks, is perfectly clear, because, he proceeds :
"For we know, that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body." The price is paid, for the ransom of the body and
soul of the believer. The soul is delivered, all its guilt is washed
away in the blood of the Lamb, and it is clothed in His spotless
righteousness. But still it groans in a body of sin. The body is
still subject to disease and death, the sentence must be executed
on it, " dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return'' Gen. iii.
18. And we know and feel ourselves, that we are, " through fear
of death, all our lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 15. But
the gift of the Spirit, that leads us to look to Jesus, to believe on
Him, in whom we have deliverance, this is the pledge, this " the
EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE, UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF
the purchased possession ; until that body shall be raised
again in glory from its dust, " to meet its Lord in the air," 1 Thess.
iv. 17, until the glorious " manifestation of the sons of God," for
which now " all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain." So
too the Apostle speaks in Phil. iii. 20, 21, " Our conversation
(citizenship) is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Sav
iour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself." If that blessed hope, in Jesus, is then the anchor of our soul — if
all the blessed promises that are given us to hope in, " are in him
yea and in him amen." 2 Cor. i. 20. The Spirit that teaches you
to trust in Jesus is the pledge and earnest of the fulfilment of these
promises, until the day of redemption, — then in that hope you may
live and die with confidence — -you may lift up your head above
the waves of trouble in time — -you may lay down your head on
your pillow of death — and the last sound that falters on your dy
ing tongue may be " O death vihere is thy sting ! O grave where
is thy victory !" 1 Cor. xv. 55. Your friends may commit your
body to the dust, " in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to
eternal life," and the tear of sorrow may be exhaled from the eye
of faith and love, as it is raised to the Sun of Righteousness, with
the sweet remembrance " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints." Psalm cxvi. 15 ; and with the still sweeter
anticipation that " when Christ who is our life shall appear, then
¦shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 4.
"Beloved," saith the Apostle John, " now are we the Sons of
God ; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is." 1 John, iii. 2. Then shall we bear the impress of

84 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
that seal of " the holy spirit of promise," whereby Ave are
" sealed unto the day of redemption," for " as we have borne
the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heav
enly." 1 Cor. xv. 19. Then shall every hope be realized, and the
soul shall be satiated to" all the full capacities of immortality.
Such is the Psalmist's joyful anticipation when speaking of those
who have their portion in this life, he saith, " As for me," my por
tion is " I shall behold thy face in righteousness. — I shall be satis
fied when I awake with thy likeness." Psalm xvii. 15. How
naturally one may say, might the heart burst into the Doxology,
from this Psalm, — " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and
to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be, world without end."
Surely, then, this blessed hope and the blessed Spirit who in
spires it, is the manifestation of His grace and love to thy soul.
O believer! surely this is the pledge and "earnest of our in
heritance, TILL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POS
SESSION, to the praise of his glory," till the trumpet that
heralds his glorious coming in the clouds, shall awake the sleep
ing forms of all his saints — shall echo through the graves, and
vaults, and dens, and caves, and rocks, and mountains of the earth,
yea, and the depths of the ocean ; and every scattered particle of
His redeemed people, that had fallen into corruption, organized in
death, shall rise in incorruption, glory, poAver, a spiritual body,
"fashioned like unto his glorious body," then re-united to its hap
py spirit, to sin, to weep, to suffer, and to die, no more.
O ! hoAV blessed is that glorious hope ! — 0 ! how secure that un
fading, undefiled and incorruptible inheritance !
Happy those who have the pledge and earnest of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to " look for that blessed hope, and the glo
rious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
Titus ii. 13.
Well then, let us remember the earnest of the Spirit and the
fruits of the Spirit, — if the Spirit is the pledge in the believer's
heart, so should the power of the Spirit be manifested in the be
liever's life, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption." iv. 3. " Quench not the
Spirit." Thess. v. 19. " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh," Gal. v. 16 — and remember what the
fruits of the Spirit are. — Let me repeat them again, — " love, joy,
pe'ace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem
perance, against such there is no law." Gal. v. 22.
May we not close such a subject with the Apostle's prayer for
the Philippians, " This I pray, that your love may abound yet
more and more, in knowledge and in all judgment ; that ye may
approve things that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere and
without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the f raits
of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory! and
praise of God."— I Phil. 9, 10, 11.

SEVENTH LECTURE.

Ephesiaks I. — 15, 16, 17.

" Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all
the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Let me propose this question for your consideration. — What is
the greatest proof of love that a Christian can give to his brother?
Certainly, in my opinion, to pray for him.
Oh, hoAV many there are who would think themselves happy if
they had, what they call, interest at court, a powerful patron to
speak in their favor to the Sovereign, or to some person in author
ity — they would think, that if a privileged friend undertook to do
so, he would be a faithful friend indeed. But, oh, hoAV much more
valuable is the friend who manifests his love to the sinner in bring
ing him before the notice of the King of kings !
You see this strikingly exemplified here. The Apostle having
spoken, as AAre have seen, of the blessings that had been conveyed
to his brethren at Ephesus by the Spirit — of their being called in
Christ Jesus — being redeemed by His precious blood — and having
received the earnest of the Spirit — -proceeds to convey to them the
consolatory assurance that he did not cease to give thanks for
them, and to pray for them. " wherefore, i also, after i
HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO
ALL THE SAINTS, CEASE NOT TO GIVE THANKS FOR YOU, MAKING
mention of you in my prayers," and then he tells them the
subject of his prayer for them.
Why does he say, " after i heard of your faith in the
LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS ?" Had not the
Apostle been with the Church at Ephesus ? Was it not through
his instrumentality that they were called to the knowledge of
Christ? Had he not labored long among them? Certainly —
Why then does he say, " after I heard ?" He had gone to Ephe
sus about the year of our Lord 56, about 23 years after our blessed
Lord's crucifixion. He had sent, as you read in Acts xx. for the
Elders of the Church of Ephesus, to Miletus, where he gave them
the charge which you read in that chapter, in the year 60, — and
in the year 64 he addressed this Epistle to them. Therefore, he
had been absent from them, perhaps six years, certainly five, and
therefore he says, " after I heard." He had tidings conveyed to
him, how the Church of Ephesus stood fast in the faith, — so he
says, "after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus,

86

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Mark, let me entreat you, mark the characteristics of a Chris
tian Church, " AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JE
SUS, and love unto all the saints." The two cardinal points
of Christianity, without these, in their true Scriptural sense, Chris
tianity can really have no existence.
To what end had the church been founded by Paul, if that
church had not held the faith of the Lord Jesus and love to His
saints ?
There is no such thing as an individual Christian, unless a man
that has this faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, —
How then can there be such a thing as a Christian church ? It is
impossible it can exist without this, — there may be an outward
form, an outward semblance, but there is no real, spiritual church
of Christ, except that which is composed of men that have the
"faith of the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints." — Remember
this. What a blessed guard the Bible is against error ! and therefore,
those who set forth falsehood, like to substitute tradition or human
authority, for the pure and holy word of God. Stand fast, then,
brethren, by that word, for your own souls, for the souls of your
children, and for the souls of your fellow-men.
How precious is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, " He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." — John, iii. 36. This
is the blessing of faith. " He that believeth not the Son shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John iii, 36, this
is the misery of unbelief.
And if a man upon whom Paul had laid his hands, or Paul
himself, (I speak on his own inspired authority,) aye, " or an angel
from heaven, preached any other Gospel than that which he
preached," the sentence of God's word is " let him be accursed."
Gal. i. 8. Therefore, faith in Christ is one indispensable charac
teristic, of a member of Christ's Church, and love is another, true
"faith worketh by love ;" therefore, where there is no love, there
is no faith ; we argue from the non-existence of the effect, to the
non-existence of the cause ; so we perceive love is an inseparable
test of faith. " If a man say, I love God, and hateth his bro
ther, he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ?" 1 John, iv.
20, therefore, the Apostle stamps their character, when he says,
" AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE
unto all the saints." Since he gives this summary as the tes
timony of a true Christian church, we may observe, there can be
no vital error where these really exist, and there can be no
saving truth, whatever form there may be, where these have no
existence. Now what effect had this intelligence of their state on the
Apostle 1 It filled his heart with thankfulness, and led him to
pray continually for them : " I cease not to give thanks for
YOU, MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS."
Let us remember this for our guidance. St. Paul was led as

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 87
an apostle, to give thanks for them, he was led as a faithful
teacher, to pray for them, he was inspired to record this for their
instruction, and for ours, therefore this is for our guidance. We
perceive, that the Apostle records the same for other churches of
the saints. So we see in Phil. i. 3, 4, 5, " I thank my God upon
every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for
you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gos
pel, from the first day until now." So we see the same thing,
Col. i. 3, 4, " We give thanks to God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all
the saints. For the hope whiih is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel."
Now, why did he give thanks ? he says to one church, "for their
fellowship in the Gospel," he says to another, "for the hope that
is laid up for them in heaven."
This was a continual memorial which he always retained in
his own breast, and which he wished that they should bear too ;
a constant remembrance, that whenever any blessing had accom
panied to the hearts of men, the words preached by the Apostles,
it was not to them thanks was to be considered due, it was not
their zeal, their talents, their gifts, their eloquence, their graces,
their Apostleship that produced the effect. " No," he saith " while
one saith I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye
not carnal? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the
increase." God must have the glory, not man, " So neither is he
that planted anything, neither he that watereth, but God that
giveth the increase." 1 Cor. ii. 4, 6, 7.
We are continually prone to give glory to man, to give glory
to one fellow sinner, or another, through whose instrumentality,
God may have conveyed a blessing to our souls. There is no
such thing in the Bible. In that word of truth, all the praise and
glory is ascribed alone to God. So the Apostle saith in this Epis
tle, 1 Cor. iv. 6, 7, " These things I have in a figure transferred
to myself, and to Apollos for your sakes that you might learn
in us," (in Apollos, though so " mighty in the Scriptures," and in
Paul, who was " not a whit behind the very chief est apostles,")
" that ye might learn in us, not to think of men above that which
is written, that no one of you be puffed up, for one against
another ; for who maketh thee to differ from another ?" If you
have received any blessing, if your souls are enlightened, and led
to the Lord Jesus Christ, " who maketh thee to differ from another,
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" God gives this
blessing to thy soul, and God is to have the praise and glory.
But the same Spirit that taught the Apostle to give thanks,
taught him to pray for them also.
There is a most important lesson here.
Persons are too apt to say, or at least to think, when they know
the Gospel of Christ, and when they are brought to rest on Him,
"Oh. that is enough, now I am a believer, now I am safe ; and

88

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

too many Ministers seem to consider that when a man is converted,
he is, as it were, secure.
That is the inexperienced language of the inexperienced heart.
The believer who knows himself, and who has experienced any
thing of the depths of sin that are in him, knows that this is no
language for him.
True, the believer is privileged to know, that he that is in Christ
is safe — but his security consists in being " kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation," he is kept through a life of
faith, and a life of faith, is a life of conflict, of watchfulness, and
prayer — he is safe, but it is in "putting on the whole armor of
God," and the last piece of the panoply, as if it were the clasp
that fastens and holds together all the rest, is " Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance." Ephesians vi. 16.
Yes, it is then, first, men begin to pray. You never pray to
Christ, till you are brought to Christ, you never come to the
Father, till you come through Him, "no man cometh to the
Father but by me." John xiv. 6.
As Grace must begin the work, so Grace must carry it on, and
Grace must consummate it. It is the same power that causes the
harvest to ripen that causes the seed to spring from the ground, and
it is the same God alone that can water the blessing of truth in the
heart, that gave that blessing to the heart at first, — therefore, the
Apostle says, " / cease not to give thanks for you making mention
of you in my prayers." And if I might give an opinion on the sad
low condition in Avhich we see the professors of the Gospel, I would
say, that it arises from this — Avant of prayer to God. There is in the
present day, much talk about religion, you hear much of what is
called religious conversation in various companies, but if you at
tend to it, you will find it is talk about religious societies, or relig
ious publications, or about preachers, — something of that kind,
but, alas, very little about Christ, not many in religious conversa
tion speak of the Lord Jesus, and if Ave ask, Avhat is the cause of
this? I think it might be answered, want of prayer, and being
carnal, in the sense of the Apostle to the Corinthians, " one saith
I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas,
and I of Christ." Surely when men are "puffed up for one
against another," we have cause to fear there must be Avant of
prayer, want of communion between the soul and God.
Oh ! if ministers would have a blessing in their OAvn souls, and
on their labors, they must pray. If the flock Avould have a bless
ing on the ministration of their minister to their souls, they
must pray for him. Depend on it you Avill find a blessing from
the ministration of your pastors' in direct proportion as you pray to '
God for them, and for that blessing on their word. If you go
away barren and unfed from church, if you go away unedified, and
unimpressed by the Word of truth, ask yourselves, have I been
praying this week, for a blessing on the Avord of my minister tc
my soul ? and you may be satisfied your conscience will answer

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 89
that you have not. Let me entreat you to remember this 
carry this reflection home Avith you, and carry it with you to your
knees, pray, O pray, for a blessing on our souls, and our labors ;
and may the Lord pour the spirit of the Apostle into our hearts,
and give us hearts to pray for you.
Before we consider the prayer of the Apostle, we must remark
the expression with which he introduces it. In speaking of the
blessed person of the Trinity, to whom he prayed, and I would
request your attention to this, he says, "making mention of you
IN MY PRAYERS, THAT THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST,
THE FATHER OF GLORY MAY GIVE UNTO YOU," &C., as much as
to say, I pray for you, brethren, continually, and to whom do I pray ?
I pray to " the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory."
Remember, that these words are the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, and they seem to have deep meaning in them. And what
is that meaning ? They seem to imply all that could be wanted
to build up, and strengthen his brethren in the faith of Christ. To
whom does he pray ? " To the God of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In saying this, recollect, brethren, he prays to him who " so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" — he
prays to him who not only gives the Shepherd to the sheep, but who
gives the sheep to the Shepherd ; for, recollect the words of Jesus
in St. John x., " my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."
Then mark, " my Father which gave them me, is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one." John x. 27, 28, 29, 30 ; and you re
member, the Lord Jesus Christ, in St. John, xx. 17, uses that de
lightful expression, " / ascend unto my Father and, your Father,
unto my God and your God." If you are looking to Jesus, if
Christ is the refuge for your soul, then His Father is your Father,
His God is your God. When the Apostle says, "the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," he speaks of Him as
your God too, — and so he illustrates the character of God as the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ most beautifully by associating it
with blessings and mercies in 2 Cor. i. 3, 4. " Blessed be God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Mark how he con
nects the Father with the Son, " Blessed be God," who is this
God ? " even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them that are in
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God." See the illustration that he gives us here of God's char
acter, — " the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mer
cies, and the God of all comfort."
Out of Christ, God is not to be approached. When you come
to God in your own righteousness, you are like one of those who
woaild have approached the mountain when it shook with thunde*

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
lightning. No matter with what offering they had come — no
ter what costly sacrifices or propitiatory oblations they had
ight in their hand, the command was, that they should be
med or thrust through with a dart." Heb. xii. 20. Approach
Jod as you may, — come with your righteousness, come with
r morality, come with your virtues, come with your good reso-
)ns, come with your pious intentions, come out of Christ, and
come to the thunderbolts of God's eternal justice, and you shall
sh from his presence forever.
ome to Jesus — however vile you are — however guilty — how-
¦ despised by men — be you an outcast from society — with a
convicted heart — a conscience writing bitter things against
— trembling at the thought of meeting God in judgment, as
': you may, — come through Christ — come, pleading Jesus, — ¦
e, pleading Him who died for sinners, — come with the blood
le Lamb, — and to whom do you come ? — " To the Father of
Lord Jesus Christ. To the Father of mercies, and the God
2II comfort," — you come to Him ; and you come through
1, who saith, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
n ut he calls him not only " the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
" the Father of glory." . How is the greatest glory of God man-
,ed to man ? Suppose, you were now called upon to answer
, question — Suppose a person examining children, were to say,
lildren, how is God's glory most declared to man ? Can you
air me any text concerning it?" Some perhaps might quote,
'he heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
veth his handy-work." Ps. xix. 1. Another might say, " The
le earth is full of his glory," Isai. vi. 3, as we have it embodied
ur beautiful hymn, " heaven and earth are full of the majesty
hy glory." But the glory of God declared as it is by the fir-
nent of heaven, is not his greatest glory for the sinner, for how
le sinner to go there ? How is the sinner to meet Him who
keth among those orbs of light ? How is he to meet that God
> " cover eth himself with light, as with a garment, who maketh
clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind."
1. civ. 2, 3. How is he to meet Him ? The more you dress
I in the glory of His majesty, the more you strike terror into
heart of the unconverted, unenlightened sinner.
>h ! no, it is not in all these things that the .greatest glory of
1, is exhibited to man. St. John tells us where that glory is
le found, i. 14, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
and we beheld its glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
Father, full of grace and truth." The glory of the heavens,
othing to a poor condemned criminal, the riches of earth, could
; nothing to him, if they were poured out at his feet, but if a
ssenger came to open his prison door, with a reprieve — a pardon
him — that is a message of joy to his heart. Oh ! when the
jer's eyes are opened to see the grace and truth that is in " the
ird made flesh," that is indeed the glory of God, revealed to tha

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 91
sinner's soul. Yes! then, he rejoices, so the Apostle says in 2 Cor.
iv. 6. " God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." in that face that
was " marred more than any man's." Is. Iii. 14, in that face of
the " man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" Is. lviii. 3, in
that blessed face, that was bowed in death upon the Cross. Oh !
that is glory for the guilty sinner, for, " surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows," Is. liii. 4. Surely, in the suffer
ings and agonies depicted in that blessed face, through that rent
side, those hands, those feet, the glorious portals of pardon and
mercy are opened to fallen rebels like you and me ! Yes, he is
" the Father of glory," revealed in His brightest glory through the
crucified and risen Saviour, to those who feel their sin. So, the
Apostle testifies this in Heb. i. 3, where speaking of the Lord Jesus
he saith " Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had, by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high." Oh, yes, this — this indeed
is glory !
Do I address any of my dear Roman Catholic brethren ? Alas !
my poor friends, whose only expectation is, not glory, but the ter
rors of that blasphemous fable, Purgatory, listen to this message
of glory, — " When he had, by himself, purged our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on High." There is a
purgatory— a glorious purgatory — the blood of Jesus — an everlast
ing purgatory. Not one that you have to pass through, but one
that the Lord of life and glory passed through, to bear your guilt
and take it all away, and to open to you, not a place of punish
ment, but the gates of glory. Oh, think of this ! May the Lord
enable you to understand and know this ; then you shall know, —
then indeed shall you understand and see — then — -" God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness shall have shined
into your hearts, to give you the light of the knowledge of the glo
ry of God, in the face of Jesus Christ."
God is called the Father of Glory, as the Giver of Life in Christ
Jesus, and in giving life in Christ, He gives glory, — -as we have it
in Psalm, Ixxxiv. 11, " the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the
Lord will give grace and glory." And as we have been speaking
of election in this chapter, you m<iy see this strikingly set forth, in
Romans, viii. 30. " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called,
and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified,
them he also glorified."
He is " the Father of glory," as well as the " Father of mercy,"
"whom he justified, them he also glorified"; for none shall pluck
them out of the blessed hand of Him that died for them. Oh, re
member this. Well indeed might the Apostle add, " What shall
we then say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be
against us ? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him.
up for us all," — (this blessed " God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

at her of glory) — how shall he not, with him also, freely give us
I things?" ; 6
The subject of the Apostle's prayer, I reserve for another Lecture,
eantime* **********

EIGHTH LECTURE

Ephesians I. — 17, 18.

: That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you
Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him ; the eyes of your under
lying being enlightened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and
at the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
We have seen the consolation there was to be derived from the
ry name that the Apostle, by the Spirit, gives to the blessed per-
i of the Trinity, to whom he addresses this prayer, " the god
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY," We shall
av consider the words of the prayer itself.
Let us recollect that it was a prayer for the supply of the spirit-
1 wants of the believers in the Church at Ephesus, inspired by
m who knew those wants, — and since it was not only inspired, but
;orded by inspiration in the Sacred Volume, for our instruction,
is to teach us, that the same things which were needful for
:m, are needful also for us, and that, if the Apostle prayed for
ise blessings for the church at Ephesus, so we are called on to
ty for them for ourselves, and for each other.
The petition commences, " that the god of our lord jesus
RIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY, MAY GIVE UNTO YOU THE
IRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION, IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF
m." Now, why does he pray for this ? Had they not received
i spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ ?
pes not the Apostle say, verse 6, that they Avere " accepted in
'. beloved ;" " he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Does
t he say in verse 11, " in whom we have obtained an inheri-
ice ?" therefore, surely, they must have known Christ, they
ist have been " wise unto salvation, through faith which is in
\rist Jesus," therefore, why does the Apostle pray, that they may
ve " the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
n," which it appears, they must have had already, by the fact
their being accepted in Christ ?
There were some local circumstances and subjeots, with which this Lecture was
eluded, not properly belonging to an exposition of the chapter, but applicable and
ortant to those to whom it was addressed, and which are therefore omitted from
Publication.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 93
To this we may answer. The time of the believer's conversion
to God, is but the beginning of his spiritual life. The stage of
infancy, is but the commencement and not the maturity of exist
ence, Avherefore. the Apostle in 1 Peter, ii. 2, addresses believers
thus, " as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that
ye may grow thereby." What is that knowledge, even of a tem
poral kind, in Avhich man has not need to grow ? And if we have
need to grow in our knowledge, of every work of creation, even
of any of the natural bodies that the Creator hath formed by His
mighty hand, how much more have we need to grow in the
knoAvledge of that God Himself? We only begin to know our
OAvn state as sinners, we only begin to knoAV the character of
Christ as a Saviour, when we are first brought to the knowledge
of the Gospel. It is the long, sad experience of the corruption of
our natural heart, that brings out the development of the glorious
character of Christ as the Saviour, Prophet, Priest, and King of
His people.
As they that are sick need a physician, and in a severe and
dangerous disease, may, even in its commencement, receive great
relief, and so have some experience of his skill, — yet it is in the
lingering processes of long protracted illness, — it is in the long
and Aveary suffering of days and nights of anguish, that they
know experimentally the wise, judicious treatment, and that they
learn to appreciate the skill of that physician, by Avhose care,
under the divine blessing, they have been at length restored to
health. So it is with the believer. We suffer daily more and more of
the inward disease of sin, — we feel more and more our need of
the Great Physician. We are taught to appreciate more and more
His glorious skill, and character, and power.
The holiest experience of the holiest man is but a sad experi
ence of the pollution of His holy things, of the deceitfulness and
desperate wickedness of his own heart, the fell corruption that
rankles within, — and is but a proportionate experience of the pa
tience, the long-suffering, the grace, the tenderness, the mercy, the
compassion, the salvation of his God. Therefore is this blessed
prayer recorded for sinners like us.
The 17th verse contains the summary of the prayer, and then
the subject of the prayer is expanded to the end of the chapter.
The summary is, " That God may give unto them the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ."
Then the Apostle goes on to show what he means by this, what
is that " spirit of wisdom," what is that " revelation in the
knowledge of Christ," which he prays that the Spirit may give
them. It is this, " THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING EN
LIGHTENED, THAT YE MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS
CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHER
ITANCE in the saints," &c. It is the office of the Spirit to glo
rify Christ, " he shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine,

94

lectures on the ephesians.

and shall show it unto you" John xvi. 14. And we see that
the " spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,"
as here set forth consists : First, in the enlightening of the under
standing. Our understandings must be enlightened at first, by
the power of God, to know Christ as our salvation, but what
clouds and thick darkness still remain upon them ! How contin
ually do the murky vapors of the earth, arise and condense in this
cold atmosphere around us, and hide "in the dark and cloudy
day," the Sun of righteousness, from the eye of faith in the be
liever ! What need we have continually, of illumination from the
Spirit of God !
We have need that the Spirit should both drive aAvay the clouds
and clear our distempered eye to see the light of our Redeemer's
countenance! "the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened," saith the Apostle. So the Old Testament saints
prayed for this illumination. So David prays in Psalm, cxix. 18,
" Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out
of thy law." Again, " Consider and hear me, O Lord my God :
lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Psalm, xiii. 3.
So the Apostle saith in this Epistle, v. 13, 14, speaking of light,
" Whatsoever doth make manifest is light, wherefore he saith,
awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light." But as the sun may shine in the firma
ment, and shine in vain, when the eye of man is blinded, but
when his eye is open, then he discerns the light that shines around
him, — so it is exactly Avith us, — though the Sun of Righteousness
shines before us, though Jesus Christ is evidently set forth crucified
among us, yet, our natural understandings are blinded, as blind as
the inhabitants of a blind asylum, and we require the illumination
of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, that we may discern Christ at
first as our salvation, and then we need increasing light, to behold
more and more clearly the character of our Lord and Saviour.
Therefore he prays, "the eyes of your understanding
BEING ENLIGHTENED, THAT YE MAY KNOW"  what ?
First. — "What is the hope of his calling." We shall
consider the several subjects of the prayer in regular succession.
"The hope of his calling." This may be taken either in
the sense of the hope which God inspires into the hearts of his
people, by the Spirit. Or, it might be taken for the object of hope ;
in either sense it is scriptural, and might be suitable in this pas
sage ; the first includes the second, for when that hope which the
Spirit inspires, is given to the heart ; the " hope laid up for it in
heaven," as the object of its anticipation. I therefore take this as
being the fullest sense ; as the hope to which He calls his people,
that is the hope which those who are called by the Lord, are priv
ileged to possess, and to enjoy.
God works in the mind through the medium of its natural feel
ings. Hope is the great, animating principle of all human con
duct. Hope is the expectation of a good to be attained, founded
on a belkf that we can attain it. If we do not believe we can

lectures on the ephesians. 95
attain an object, hoAvever desirable, of course we cannot hope for
it; therefore, I say, hope is the' expectation of a good to be
attained, founded on a belief — a persuasion, that it is attainable
by us ; and it is attended with joy, in exact proportion to the
eagerness with which we desire the good, and the confidence with
which we expect we shall attain it. But, brethren, how is this
blessed principle of the immortal soul, like all its other faculties
and poAvers, disordered and deranged ! It is, alas ! how
" Fallen from its high estate."
Alas ! " how is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine gold
changed !" Lam. iv. 1. Instead of being fixed, as it ought to be,
on its God, it is continually turned to some poor perishing object
of this earth, — and therefore the hopes of men perish with the ob
jects on which they rest, and sink, one after another, from the
cradle to the grave, in sure and sad succession of disappointment,
anguish, and despair.
Man is, generally speaking, more virtually disappointed in
the attainment, than in the failure of his hopes, therefore the
poet says : — Hope, eager hope, th' assassin of our joy,
AH present blessings treading under foot,
Is scarce a milder tyrant than despair !
With no past toils content, still planning new,
Hope turns us o'er to death alone for ease.
Possession, why more tasteless than pursuit 7
Why is a wish far dearer than a crown 1
That wish accomplish'd why the grave of bliss 1
Because in the great future buried deep,
Beyond our plans of empire and renown,
Lies all that man with ardor should pursue ;
And He who made him bent him to the right. Night Thoughts.
True, when the heart is fixed on earth — man never is, he never
can be satisfied — he never can realize the enjoyment that his
eager hope anticipates. When he has attained the object of his
hope, he feels that it has disappointed all his anxious expectations,
and like a child satiated with a broken toy, he sighs and longs for
something else. But " the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus." Phil. iii. 14, that is an object of aspiration and of
hope commensurate with the capacities of an immortal being.
When " the light of the glorious gospel of Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 4,
breaks into the darkened heart of the sinner, — when the glorious
prospect of the " life and immortality brought to light through
the Gospel," 2 Tim. i. 10, is presented to the eye of faith, as a
blessing which he believes he can attain in Christ Jesus — then
his desires ascend from earth to h«aven — then a field is opened for
the hope of the immortal soul, vast as its infinite ambition, and
endless as its eternal existence. That hope is " the hope of his
calling," a hope inspired by the Spirit, of attaining an object
revealed by the Spirit. Oh, may the Spirit give us " wisdom and

96

lectures on the ephesians.

REVELATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM, THE EYES OF OUR
UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED ; THAT WE MAY KNOW
WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES
OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS !"
Let us consider the nature — and then, the hope, of this calling.
I. There are various blessings that characterize the calling of
God in Scripture. We are told it is a calling to peace — as for in
stance, in Colossians iii. 15, " Let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also ye are called in one body." We are called
to the peace of God. This is a new and wondrous calling for the
sinner. — It is a very new feeling for him to be called to enjoy —
peace with his God. The sinner, when called by the Spirit of
God, asks, — Is there peace for me ? — Can it be that there is peace
made between such a guilty wretch as I am and God ? — Is it pos
sible that God can be at peace with me 1 — May I come near to
God ? — May I depend upon God that He will receive me ? — That
I may call Him my God ? — Can my conscience be cleansed from
all its sins ? — May I indeed be satisfied that He, the Lord Jesus,
has " borne our sins in his own body on the tree ?" 1 Pet. ii. 24. — ¦
May I rest on him? — May my soul repose on His love, His faith
fulness and truth ? — May I lay down my head this night on my
pillow, as I never laid it down before ? — not afraid of death, but
knowing that Jesus has made peace for me ? Oh, my brethren,
that is a new calling to the sinner, Avhen he can say, yes, " I
thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. vii. 25. Yes
• — it is a Avondrous calling to be called of God through Christ
Jesus !
Remember, oh, sinner ! you are called to this through the
Gospel. You are invited — God calls you by His ministers — He
calls you by His ordinances — He calls you by His Word-j— He calls
you by His appeals to your conscience — He calls you by His prov
idences. You are called to-day ! Now, there is nothing to bar
your peace with God. for Jesus has made peace, Christ "has made
peace through the blood of his cross." Col. i. 20. He sends us,
He sends those who preach His Gospel — those who proclaim His
glorious salvation — on an embassy of love, as the Apostle says,
" As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. v. 20. The testimony of
the Gospel is, " that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" 2 Cor. v. 19,
that is the proclamation ; and the invitation of the Gospel is, " be
ye reconciled to God," trust in Jesus. You are called to peace.
That is a blessed calling ! Oh, that our ears may be opened to
hear it, and that the Spirit may bring it to our hearts and con
sciences with power !
All those who are called to peace with God are called through
peace to hope — they are called to " inherit a blessing," and so to
hope for their inheritance. So the Apostle Peter tells us, in his 1st
Epistle, iii. 9, when he speaks of this as a rule for our conduct, he
saith, "not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but eo?»-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 97
trariwise, blessing ; knowing that you are thereunto called, that
ye should inherit a blessing." You are called to inherit a bless
ing. The calling of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to the inheritance
of a blessing: We see, very often, pompously paraded in the news
papers, the birth of some child born as the heir of so and so. But
now continually the hope of the inheritance of a family is cut off !
How many that have been proclaimed as sons and heirs are soon
laid in the dust ! How are the churchyards peopled throughout
the world with those who have been called heirs to estates, and
coronets, and crowns ! ! ! The poor heir of a throne of earth, — •
how soon must he be cut off from his throne ! or how soon his
throne must totter from its foundation beneath him ! The Scrip
ture does not call the heirship to an earthly inheritance a blessing.
The Apostle does not say. you are called to inherit a blessing,
because you may be born heir to some little spot of this poor world ;
but he says, you are called to inherit that which God calls a bless
ing — that of which you cannot be disappointed, that from which
you cannot be cut off; for, those who are called to inherit the
heavenly blessing, if they Avere the possessors of all this earth, Avhen
they are cut off from this, it is only calling them away from a poor,
corruptible, defiled inheritance of dust below, " to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away," 1 Pet. i. 4.
For it is their happy privilege to say, " We know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,
a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1.
Yes ! this is the calling of God — they are called to inherit a bless
ing. And then, what a blessing ! They are told in 1 Thes. ii.
12, that the magnitude and glory of the blessing, is to be the
measure and standard of their walk and conversation, " Ye know,"
saith the Apostle, " how we exhorted and comforted and charged
every one of you as a father doth his children, that you would
walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and
glory." You are called to "inherit a blessing," to inherit, "a
kingdom and glory," the kingdom of God, and the glory of God.
Our Lord saith, " to him that over cometh will I grant to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father in his throne," Rev. iii. 21 ; and again, speaking- of
their glory, He saith in His intercessory prayer, in St. John's Gos
pel, xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which
thou hast given me." That they be with Christ, and behold his
glory, and partake of His glory : for they shall reign with him in
glory. Here then is the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ, so the Apostle
Peter saith, in his First Epistle, v. 10, " the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus," it is the
same expression. Therefore, you see, what the nature of that call
ing is.
But then, brethren, there is another point connected with it. It
is a sure calling. Those who are called by the Spirit of God are
7

98

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

never left to perish. We see in Rom. viii. 28, 30, who they are,
and what is the security of their calling ; take it in connection with
the subject of which we have treated, in this chapter, and observe
how they illustrate each other. " Moreover whom he did predes
tinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Those
Avho are called by His Spirit to himself, called to this blessing, called
to this kingdom, and glory, they are justified, washed in the blood
of the Lamb, there is no other calling, there is no other hope, there
is no other means whereby sinners are brought to the kingdom,
they are "justified freely by his grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." " And whom he justified, them he also
glorified." If one were lost, that could not be true, "whom he
justified, them he also glorified" if it could be said, " except such
an one, or such an one," then the general proposition could not be
true, but " whom he justified, them he also glorified." Jesus saith
of His sheep, " They shall never perish, neither shall any one
pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me is
greater than all, and no one can pluck them out of my Father's
hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 28, 29, 30. You see,
then, brethren, the calling of God in Christ Jesus, you see what it
is, you see the nature of it, you see the subjects of it, you see the
certainty of it.
II. — Now, what is the hope founded upon this ? What is the
HOPE OF HIS CALLING?
First, it is a hope that springs from faith, that is founded
on the belief of the truth ; and therefore, let us always remember
there is no such thing as enthusiasm admitted into true religion.
A man may have very enthusiastic ardent hopes, but if these
hopes are not based on the solid word of God, if they are not
based on faith in God's eternal truth, then, such hopes must per
ish forever. Therefore, it is not that your feelings be excited, or
stimulated up to entertain some hope, but it is, " the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened," remember that,
"the eyes of your understanding being enlightened
that you may know what is the hope of his calling."
It" is the solid knowledge, it is the sober, clear, sound certainty of
God's truth, that gives solid foundation for this hope. Remember
that, therefore, the Scripture tells us in Romans, xv. 4, " whatso
ever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,
that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might
have hope." Mark, " through patience and comfort of the Scrip
tures." " It is written," " God hath spoken," therefore, through
them we have hope. Hence you see the awful wickedness of tak
ing God's word from the instruction of men. You see the awful
guilt of taking that blessed word from the instruction of children.
Because it ought to be the very basis, and must be the very basis
of all sound knowledge of truth, therefore, of all firm belief of the
truth, therefore, of all solid hope in the truth, and those who take
it away, take away the foundation of faith and hope from the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 99
soul of man, and therefore, you may be sure, very sure, that all
persons who do so, must be lamentably ignorant of the great and
glorious hope that is built upon that Bible, for themselves. Their
hope must be based on some superstition, or tradition, on their
Church, or their priest, or on their own works, or on some other
foundation of sand, not on Christ, the Rock of Ages.
Again the hope of the calling of God, in Christ Jesus, is a so
ber hope, drawn from the source of God's truth, it is the hope
of the Gospel, and so it is called, you see in Col. i. 5, " the hope
that is laid up for you in heaven," how did they know this ?
" whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel."
"You have heard," he says, of this hope, "in the word of the
truth of the Gospel." Then in the 21st verse, speaking of the
blessed presentation of the sinner to God,, through the salvation
of Jesus, he says, " You that were sometimes alienated, and ene
mies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled,
in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight" — Now mark, " if ye
continue in the faith grounded and settled," that is in the belief
of the truth, " and be not moved away from the hope of the Gos
pel which ye have heard." You have heard this hope proclaimed
to you in the Gospel, therefore it is yours, " if you continue in the
faith," the belief of that Gospel, and therefore, are " not moved
from the hope of that Gospel." Your hope is founded on the
sure belief of the promises of God, that cannot lie. So, in verse
27, he tells them the solid everlasting foundation of that hope, to
all the saints, " To whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles." And
what is this glorious mystery? "which is Christ in you the hope
of glory."
What is your hope of glory? Let me say to each of you,
whose eye or ear may see or hear these words, and let me, be
seech you each, to ask yourselves, what is your hope of glory ?
If you have the hope that shall not be disappointed, if your hope
is not the hope of " the hypocrite," that " shall perish," if your
hope is the hope that shall not make ashamed, and true " hope
maketh not ashamed," then, your hope, you will answer, is built
on Christ. "Christ is all my hope. I am a poor lost sinner,
Christ is my righteousness, Christ is my salvation, Christ is my
hope, Christ is my all in all." " This is Christ in you," (that is
in your heart,) " the hope of glory." This is the hope of the ser
vants of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, it is and it ought to be,
"a lively hope," so saith the Apostle Peter, 1st Pet. i. 3.
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which,
according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to
an inheritance incorruptible and undeflled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you." So it is a joyful hope, as
it is said, " rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing
bistant in prayer, Rom. xii. 12. So, it is a hope full of con-

100 lectures on the ephesians.
solation, as St. Paul says, in Heb. vi. 18, speaking of the glori
ous foundation of the hope of the believer, " that by two immuta
ble things," (God's covenant promise, and His oath, by Avhich His
covenant was ratified,) " by two immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consola
tion who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set be
fore us ; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the Vail." An
anchor of the sOul, an anchor that holds firmly amidst all the
storms and tempests of time and eternity. It is not an anchor
dropped in the quick-sand, it is an anchor cast within the vail.
That anchor cannot drag, it is cast in the covenant salvation of
omnipotence, it is cast within the vail, " the hope of our calling"
is held by a cable that cannot slip. Why ? — because, you are
"kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,-" there
fore, it is " an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast," —
whatever storms, hurricanes, or whirlwinds may blow from the
heavens, — whatever mountain billows may rise and rage from the
deep, — the vessel that is moored, the soul that is secured by the
blessed anchor of that hope shall outride every storm, and mount
over every billow, till the voice of Him Avhose voice can still the
winds and Avaves, shall call the peaceful spirit home to " the haven
where it would be." Is not this a blessed hope ? Is not this a
glorious hope, to pray for, and to enjoy ?
If the Poet might speak, as we have heard, of the vanity of
earthly hope, so might he well change the mode of his lyre, when
he comes to sing of this.
This Hope is earth's most estimable prize
This is man's portion, while no more than man.
Hope of all passions most befriends us here ;
Passions of prouder name befriend us less ;
Joy has her tears, and transport has her death.
Hope, like a cordial, innocent, tho' strong,
Man's heart at once inspirits and serenes ;
Nor makes him pay his wisdom for his joys ;
'T is all our present state can safely bear,
Health to the frame ! and vigor to the mind !
A joy attempered ! A chastized delight !
Like the fair summer's evening, mild and sweet!
T is man's full cup, his paradise below ! Night Thoughts.
I must reserve the next passage of the prayer, " the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints, if the Lord will, for
another occasion. But, Oh, let me ask you, do you not see how
inspiration dictated and recorded the apostolic prayer ? Do you
not feel your own need of praying, that the Spirit may reveal that
" hope of his calling" more and more to your souls ? I would ask
you, O believer, do not you feel your need of this, and that your
understanding should be opened more and more to see this blessed
hope, to feel and to enjoy it more ? Alas ! my friends, how con
tinually our hearts a id thoughts are agitated and tossed about

lectures on the ephesians. 101
with the trifling concerns of time and sense ! — how easily we are
afflicted, how soon distressed, hoAV rapidly cast down, how sud
denly elated with some poor perishing trifle of this passing scene,
how much we forget the glorious hope set before us, " the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus !" Phil. iii. 14. — what
need we have to pray, that God will enlighten the eyes of our un
derstanding and reveal the truth, the hope, the prospect of eternal
glory more fully and brightly to the eye of faith, for, Oh, brethren,
if we had this hope as it is our privilege to possess it — if we rested
in this hope — if we rejoiced in this hope — if we put on our head
for a helmet this " hope of salvation" — when we enter into the
conflicts in which we have daily to contend — when we engage in
the varied strugglings of our warfare here below — we should be
enabled to "fight the good fight of faith," 1 Tim. vi. 12, we
should " quit us like men, and be strong," 1 Cor. xvi. 13, nay,
we should always be " more than conquerors through Him that
loved us." Rom. viii. 37. Oh, remember, that it is on this- ani
mating hope that all our comfort, our happiness, our enjoyment,
our service of our God depends.
Surely, then, I may well close the consideration of this part of the
Apostle's prayer with a similar petition for another of the Churches
in his day, which is, in itself, a beautiful amplification and illus
tration of the truth — " Now the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost." — Amen. — Rom. xv. 13.

NINTH LECTURE.

Ephesians I. — 18.

" The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is
the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints. Having considered the first part of the Apostle's prayer for the
Church at Ephesus, we come to consider the second subject for
which he prays, " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him." Namely, " what is the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
There are some commentators of no small name and authority,
who interpret this passage thus ; what is the riches of the glory of
the inheritance, which the saints are to possess in Christ Jesus,
or " how gloriously rich is the inheritance which he has prepared
for his saints."

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Now I am sure that this is not the meaning of the passage. I
feel satisfied it is not, for then the expression would be exactly the
reverse of this. If such were the meaning of it, the words would
be, " what is the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints
in Him," or it might be, " what is the riches of the glory of his in
heritance for the saints," that is, which He has reserved for
them, or purchased for them, whereas it is, " what is the riches of
the glory Of his inheritance in the saints," the inheritance of
Christ in the saints, the inheritance he has in them. It is not an
inheritance merely, but a glorious inheritance, and not only a glo
rious inheritance, but more — mark the strength of the expres
sion — "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
THE SAINTS."
Now let us ask, can this be properly applied to Christ ? Can we
justly assume this interpretation, which is certainly the plain mean
ing of the words, to be the true one ? Can we scripturally adopt it ?
First. — Is Christ set forth in Scripture as an heir ? Yes, He is
clearly set forth in Scripture as an heir. You will see that in
Heb. i. 1, 2, " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in
these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things." And again, you may see in Rom. viii. 16, 17,
where the Apostle speaks of the blessed inheritance of God's chil
dren, he says, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit,
that we are the children of God : and if children, then heirs ;
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." — I might quote vari
ous other passages, but these are enough.
Secondly — If Christ is an heir, — what is His inheritance? Of
what is He heir ? Is that, revealed in Scripture? — clearly, — Ps.
ii. 8. The Father Jehovah saith, addressing the Son, " Ask of
me, and I shall give thee the heat/ten (the nations) for thine in
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy posses
sion." Again, in Daniel, vii. 13, 14, you see the same truth set
forth, " I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son
of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient
of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was
given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,
nations, and languages, should serve him. His dominion, is an
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed." Christ is appointed heir, and
heir of the nations of the earth, " that all people, nations, and
languages, should serve him."
But how is He heir ? How can He be said to be an heir ? Is
He not Jehovah, and does He not, as God, possess all things ?—
Certainly ! How is He then the heir ? — This is the misery and
ignorance of the Socinians, — the awful error into which they fall.
Christ, as man, has no more than any other man in the world : —
Of Christ, as man, it was as true as of any child that ever was
born into the world, " naked came he out of his mother's womb."
Job. i. 21. He possessed nothing as man ; therefore, whatever he

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 103
receives as man, he has, as a gift or heritage bestowed upon Him
by Jehovah. All things that are said in Scripture of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as man, are perfectly true of Him, as man ; — be
cause He is very man, " bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh."
And therefore, Avhen the Socinians object Avhat the Scriptures say
of Christ as man, they only fall into the snare, through their own
blindness, for he is perfect man. But then come in His character
and attributes as God, as Jehovah, — and this is their stumbling-
block. Beware of that ! Go ou., with God's Word, in the full
length and breadth of the glorious humanity of Christ, — but if
you do, you must perish in your ignorance and sin, unless you go
also forth with it in the glory of His Eternal Godhead, and know
that He is " over all God blessed forever." Rom. ix. 5. The
arm of man cannot save the sinner. But we shall see more of
this, in speaking of the inheritance of Christ — " the riches of
THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS."
Now, the glory of Christ's kingdom, which you see portrayed
in so many passages of God's Word is a moral glory — a glory far
above that of all the kings of this earth. Read the description
of the glory of King Solomon and his kingdom, " when the queen
of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he
had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his ser
vants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel,
and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the
house of the Lord : there was no more spirit in her." 1 Kings x.
4, 5, — his throne of ivory and gold, and all the splendor of his
court, — that is the splendor of an earthly monarch's kingdom, —
but the glory of Christ's kingdom is a moral glory, — so you see in
Isaiah ii. 2. " It shall come to pass, in the last days, that the
mountain of the Lords house shall be established upon the top
of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all
nations shall flow unto it," (you see " all people, nations, and
languages, shall serve him") " and many people shall go and
say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth
the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he
shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people ;
and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears
into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more." verse 3, 4. It is not the
glory of arms, and the pomp of war, and the shout of victory that
graces the kingdom of Christ, — No, it is justice— righteousness —
peace — mercy — love — filling the earth. So you have it in Isaiah
xi. 4. " With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked," — that is at his coming. Then we have
a description of the subsequent peace of his kingdom, verse 6,
" the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall

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lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them." " They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which
shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles
(that is, the nations of the earth,) seek : and his rest shall be glo
rious." v. 9, 10.
The glory, then, of Christ's inheritance, the glory of His king
dom shall be a moral glory, and the greatest glory of Christ, at
this time, is this, to reveal His salvation to lost and guilty sinners,
and to make them fit vessels to inherit that glory with Him.
Therefore, there is nothing that strengthens the faith of a believer
so much as to know and understand, that the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ is as much identified, as much bound up with the sal
vation of His church, as that salvation is bound up in the humilia
tion and glory of our Lord. This helps to unfold the reason, why
the Apostle prays this for the church at Ephesus.
And iioav, consider the value of this in application to our OAvn
state. What do we do ? In our ignorance and unbelief, we are
doubting and fearing, whether, as sinners, we may come to Christ
for mercy. We want to qualify ourselves, — to make ourselves fit
to come to Jesus. Alas ! the poor inhabitants of an hospital might
just as Avell expect to heal themselves before they applied to the
physician. " They that are whole nsed not a physician, but they
that are sick ;" Mat. ix. 12. — and it is guilty sinners, like you and
me, that need a Saviour. But I repeat, that in our ignorance and
unbelief, we are keeping back from Christ, doubting, whether we
may trust Him. " Can I come, can I depend on Christ ? Can T
believe that such sins as mine are blotted out ?"
This is continually the language of unbelief in the human
heart. But we ought to remember that the very glory of Christ
consists in this, that He receives and pardons sinners. In Luke,
xv. 2, we have an account, that the Pharisees and Scribes mur
mured, when the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Jesus,
and this was their complaint, " This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them," and the Lord Jesus Christ, answering them,
sets forth three parables — that of the man who had lost a sheep,
and who " leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and goeth
after that which is lost," and carries it home " on his shoulders re
joicing" ; — the poor woman who had lost a piece of money, and
searches the house until she finds it ; — and the tender father who
receives the prodigal son in all his tattered garments and his mis
ery,— illustrating thereby the glory of his own character. As if
when they murmured and said, "this man recer'.*eth sinners," He
might answer them and say, "Assuredly, I receive sinners," "for
the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Mat. xviii. 11. Instead of knowing that the glory of our Re
deemer's character, consists ¦ in receiving sinners — in pardoning
the guilty — in redeeming the lost — in pouring forth as the " Foun-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 105
tain of living waters," the tide of love, of mercy, of salvation, to
guilty man — Ave stand doubting, and fearing, and questioning,
whether we have salvation in Christ or not.
This may lead us well to comprehend the reason why the Apos
tle prays, " That the God of our Lord J;ms Christ, the Father
of glory, may give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in
the knowledge of him, that thy. eyes of their understand
ing BEING ENLIGHTENED, THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE
OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS
INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS."
The voices of the prophets declare, that the glory of Christ was
to consist in the salvation of sinners. I might quote a multitude
of passages to show this, but I shall only refer to a few. The
Lord saith by Isaiah, xliv. 22, " 7" have blotted out, as a thick
cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins ; return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee." Then, mark, how the prophet
bursts out in the following verse, " Sing, O ye heavens ; for the
Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth : break
forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein :
for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Is
rael." He hath glorified himself in their redemption, in their
pardon, in their deliverance, and the prophet calls upon heaven
and earth, the mountains, the hills, the forest, every tree and every
leaf to praise the Lord for his redeeming love to those guilty sin
ners — His people.
In Isaiah xlix. 13, you see the same thing, " Sing O heavens,
and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing O moun
tains ; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have
mercy on his afflicted." Now look at unbelief in the following
verse, " but Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord
hath forgotten me." There is, unbelief, doubting His love, doubt
ing His mercy. What is his ansAver ?
" Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may for
get, yet will I not forget thee." See how the voice of the prophets
glorify the Lord God in the pardon of sin.
Let me read one or two more passages. Isaiah lx. 19, 21,
where he speaks of the glory that shall dwell in His Zion, in
the day of his inheritance. " The sun shall be no more thy light
by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee,
but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy ghry. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy
moon withdraw itself ; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting
light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people
also shall be all righteous, ,they shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my plantings the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified."
Here are some golden beams of light that shine on the treas
ures of "THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN

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I shall refer you but to one more prophecy, Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9,
where He speaks of the glory of pardoning the sins of His rebel
lious Israel, when he shall call them home, " And I will cleanse
them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against
me, and I will pardon all their iniquity whereby they have sinned,
and whereby they have transgressed against me." And now
mark, "And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an
honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the
good that I do unto them, and they shall fear and tremble for all
the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it."
His grace, His mercy, His salvation shall be a praise, honor, joy,
and glory to them, through all the nations of the earth.
When the Lord Jesus Christ was born, what were the first words
that burst from the lips of the heavenly choir, that came to celebrate
his birth ? " Suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God, and saying, glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will-toward men." Luke ii. 14.
And the history of Christ's kingdom — the history of Christ's
church from that day to this — the history of that Avhich is really
the holy Catholic church, not the Church of Rome — nor the
Church of Scotland — nor the Church of England — nor any other
outward church, that the eye of man has been able to discern, but
of Christ's spiritual Church — that is, Christ's believing people —
those who have fled to Christ for refuge — those who have embraced
Christ's salvation, — they are Christ's Church and none other ;
then. I say, the history of them from that day to this, has been a
history of the glory of Christ. Oh, what glory ! when the Apos
tles Avent and preached " repentance and remission of sins begin
ning at Jerusalem," Luke, xxiv. 47, proclaiming pardon through
the blood of the Lamb, to those who had embrued their hands in
that blood, see Acts, ii. 37-47. And Oh, how often, from that
day to this, as each successive sinner has been brought to trust in
his Redeemer, how often has the expression, " Glory be to God,"
broken in sincerity from his lips, as the light of pardon and peace
from his Redeemer, has broken in on his poor, benighted soul !
So it is continually, when a sinner is brought to knoAV the riches
of the grace of Christ — " glory be to God," is the language of his
heart — this is the glory that Christ has received from all his
saints to this day.
But this glory, however great, has been as yet but partially un
folded. It is yet all undeveloped to the world. It is not .yet mani
fested — His dealings with all the members of His church are yet
to be revealed. We have indeed, the history of them in some de
gree in the Bible. We have the history of Abraham, of Isaac
and of Jacob — we have the history of many saints of the Old
Testament — we have the story of Zaccheus — of the thief— we
have the history of Saul — we have the record of many individuals,
who were brought to Christ, we have much of their history given
to us in the Word of God. But the secret dealings of God with
all their souls, " the unsearchable riches of Christ." — Eph. iii. 8, —

, LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 107
as they have abounded to each individual among them are not
known, and shall not be known, till the revelation of His glory.
Again eternal life is not yet known, it is a subject but of faith and
hope ; you believe in it, and you hope for it, but it is not yet seen.
The Church of Christ hath not yet risen, "the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only
they, (all created beings) but we (believers) ourselves, who have
the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our
selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body." Rom. viii. 22, 23. Our bodies are not yet redeemed, they
must pass through the ordeal of death, they must enter into the
grave, they must be subjected to that process of decay which
awaits them, " dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Our present life is but animal life, animal existence — that must
soon be extinguished, but that eternal life which the believer has
in Christ, is as the Scripture tells us, " hid with Christ in God."
Col. iii. 3. — it is not yet seen or known, but it shall not be always
so ; for " when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we
also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 4. Oh, what a glorious
day, when those who sleep in death, in the dust of the earth shall
" burst their cerements" — when all the redeemed of Christ shall
break forth at the sound of the trumpet, springing in their renewed,
regenerated bodies, from the earth and the depths of the sea, " to
meet their Lord in the air." Then shall the glory of Christ be
revealed, then shall be displayed " the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints." When " the travail of
his soul " shall encircle him with songs of everlasting joy ! Oh !
Avhat a blessed day for those who know Christ, to look for, and to
hope for ! Then, indeed, shall be fulfilled the testimony of the
Apostle, as he says in 2d Thessalonians i. 7, " to you who are
troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels." Then is beheld the fearful fate
of the ungodly, — verses 8, 9, 10, " in flaming fire, taking ven
geance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power." But then shall be revealed the life now hidden
of His Church — then shall be revealed His own glorious majesty,
and faithfulness, and truth, " When he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be ad/mired in all them that believe." Here
is "THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE
saints," He shall then " come to be glorified in his saints, and
admired in all them that believe." Then His Church shall ap
pear the bride of His love — then His children, " the travail of his
soul," — then His glorious inheritance the purchase of his blood —
then His royal diadem, with all the jewels of His crown of glory.
And Oh, what glory shall then be manifested in Christ and his
saints ! What glory to that grace that has been proclaimed to
sinners, as I proclaim to you this day in His most blessed name,
free, full, complete pardon for all your sins. Heard you not th$

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words of that book this day, as they Avere read in the Church?
" Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. i. 18.
Oh ! what glory to the grace of Christ, in pardoning the veiy
chief of sinners. How shall Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, the Thief,
and Saul, and you, and I, if we be there among them, sing ! Alas !
are any among you looking to any other refuge ? No matter what
your morals, or your amiability, or your fancied excellence may
be — ^no matter with what self-delusion in your pride and ignorance,
you may deceive yourselves, in reviewing your oAvn character — no
matter how your friends may blind you, by calling you amiable
and excellent, as perhaps, relatively speaking, you may really be
— before God you are a guilty sinner, and the wrath of God abideth
on you as a sinner, and there is no hope, no shadoAV of hope or
refuge, for your soul, but pardon in Christ. The glory of Christ
is to have been a substitute for sinners, to fulfil the law for us,
which we had broken, and to be " the Lord our righteousness."
He came to bear our sins on the cross, and therefore, the glory of
His grace consists in pardoning sinners. O look unto him and be
you saved.
But glory shall be to His justice. The sufferer, the victim of a
violated Law, who acknowledges the justice of the sentence that
dooms him to die, honors that justice as much as he who pro
nounces the sentence, and inflicts the blow. The thief on the
cross, Avhen God enlightened his eyes to see the Saviour, honored
the justice of his sentence when he said, " we indeed, justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done noth
ing amiss." Luke xxiii. 41.
But if man glorifies human justice in acquiescing in its sentence,
as pronounced against himself, how then, was the character of
Jesus glorified, when he came to give himself a willing victim to
the sentence of that eternal justice which had pronounced a doom
and a curse on guilty man ! Who can tell, what the sense of jus
tice was in Jesus, Avhen " he steadfastly set his face to go to Jeru
salem," Luke ix. 51, — knowing all that should befall him ?
Oh ! "when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to
be admired in all them that believe" then shall be proclaimed the
glory of His justice when he underwent the " agony and bloody
sweat" of Gethsemane — the mocking — the buffeting — the "shame
and spitting" of the judgment hall — the cross of Calvary — the
vinegar — the gall — the dark desertion of His Father, when, in that
mysterious agony of suffering, He cried out, " My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?" Mat. xxvii. 46. Oh! then, it shall
be seen by a guilty world, that He who came to be a willing vic
tim for sinners, is the Lord of life and glory. Then, how shall the
justice of Immanuel shine forth in the Judge of Heaven and earth !
How shall the patient sufferer of justice shine forth in glory as the
vindicated executor of justice when He shall come "to be glorified
in his, saints" in that day !

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 109
And then, — Avhat glory to His mercy ! Who shall appear among
all the hosts of the Redeemed — Avho shall appear there, that is not
a monument of grace and mercy ! There shall be Manasseh, that
deluged Jerusalem with blood — there, .shall be Mary Magdalene —
there, the persecuting Saul — there, perjured Peter — there, that
blaspheming thief who was just rushing, with blasphemy on his
lips, into hell, when the grace of God arrested him, and showed
him, that he who hung beside him on the cross, was the Lord of
grace and mercy. Oh, how shall the mercy of Christ be glorified
in these, as in all His saints ! Oh ! yes ! and believer, you can
say, and I can say, if we be there, " Oh, how glorious is that mer
cy, that saved a wretch like me !" Yes, each individual who knows
the secrets of his own heart — each who knows the guilt of his own
corruption, his baseness, his ingratitude, his unbelief, his rebellion,
his enmity, his crimes against his God, whether perpetrated, medi
tated, or desired — each who knows the vileness of his own nature,
shall emulate the song of the loudest as he feels, that none should
shout forth "glory to christ" louder than a sinner such as he.
Do not you know this, Oh believer ? Yes, you do, every one
of you who knows the Gospel of Christ, you know, that this is true.
Then, what glory to his faithfulness ! Mark his words by the
Prophet Isaiah, xlviii. 8, 9, 10, 11. " I knew that thou wouldest
deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the
womb." How often has this been bitterly echoed by the voice of
conscience ! But how faithful is He to His covenant ! and alas !
how great our unfaithfulness ! Yet He saith. " For my name's
sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for
thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold I have refined thee, but not
with silver ; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For
mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it ; for how
should my name be polluted ? and I will not give my glory to
another." Oh, how His faithfulness and patience shall be glorified
in the salvation of sinners, like you and me, in that day.
His patience ! How has He not borne with our manners and
waywardness ! Look back at your life, and see, hoAV Christ has
borne with you ! See, how you have provoked Him, remember,
how continually you have dared Him to His face — rushed into the
jaws of temptation — fallen into them again and again — and yet,
your God has not cut you off! He has pardoned you— He has
given you again peace, and restored you to His mercy ! How of
ten have you had to say of your Shepherd, " he restoreth my soul."
Psalm xxiii. 3. Oh ! when you remember this, how must you
glorify the faithfulness and patience of your Saviour ! And again,
what glory to His power ! What deliverances He hath wrought
for you ! How His providences have delivered you, how His power
has rescued you from danger, from snares, from temptations, trials,
yea, from what depths of sin, the Lord of life and power has rescued
your soul ! How often has His arm lifted you up from the preci
pice of death and hell ! Oh, how must, you glorify the Lord in
that day !

110 LECTURES on the ephesians.
And then, what glory to His holiness, when out of such a mass
of sinners, he "presents to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish."
Ephes. v. 27.
How the character of Christ, His moral character shall be glorified !
all the attributes of His divinity, and all the perfections of His hu
manity, shining, not only in himself but in all His redeemed saints !
How they shall all be manifested, and how they shall all be glori
fied in that day, " when He shall come to be glorified in the saints,"
and to display to all the worlds of heaven, earth, and hell, " the

RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS

I"

for they are His inheritance, they display His character, they
manifest His grace, they exhibit His justice, mercy, truth, love,
faithfulness, patience, power, they exhibit them all, they are the
inheritance of Christ. His glory — the very essence of his glory is
manifested and displayed in them.
Hoav wonderful, that even the fall of the world, that the sin of
man should be, in the end, overruled for good ! to confer blessed
ness on the sinner that is redeemed, and to magnify and enhance
the character and glory of his God.
Oh ! believer, let us think what does this demand from us ?
" Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God for
bid." Rom. vi. 1. Because Christ is glorified in the pardon of sin,
and in the salvation of sinners, shall Ave therefore sin against our
God? — God forbid. No, it is the very manifestation of this love,
it is the exhibition of Christ's character, as brought home to the
heart and affections of man, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that
draws that heart and these affections to his God. And it is thus,
that even here, in the life of His people, their Lord is glorified,
" herein," saith He, " is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit, so shall ye be my disciples."
Then, do you not see, what a blessed prayer, " That the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give unto them
the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him ?"
Do you not perceive how inspiration shines in the petition, " that
THE EYES OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED,
THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND
WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN
the saints?" How is not this calculated to glorify Christ?
— to make them glorify Him in their faith, their confidence,
their hope in Him, their love to Him — in their life and con
versation, as the disciples of the Lord — the redeemed of such a
Saviour ? Oh ! that the Lord may grant, that these blessed re
sults may flow to our souls from the revelation of the knowledge
of Him!
Let us remember, that the Apostle preached these truths much
better than we can preach them. He set these things forth by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Yet he does not say, my preach
ing shall produce such and such an effect upon you. Nay, brethren.
You may say, and I trust you do, when you hear the word of

lectures on the ephesians. Ill
God faithfully set forth, " That is true, — that preaching is scriptural,
— that testimony is faithful, — that word is sound." But then, this
truth can produce no effect on you or me but by the power of the
Holy Spirit. We may preach, but our OAvn heart and life shall be
all uninfluenced by the very word we teach, unless God by His
Spirit brings it home to our own souls. So must it be with you.
Therefore, remember, the Apostle does not say, I have preached
to you, my preaching shall be effectual — my word shall take root
and bring forth fruit in you. No, but he offers this petition to the
Throne of Grace. He knows that even the very words of God
himself, whether spoken or inspired, must be accompanied by the
Holy Spirit to reach the heart of a sinner. He knows that all the
glory of Immanuel's character, the riches of His grace, and the
fulness of His salvation, shall shine in the firmament of God's
eternal world as vainly as the sun in the firmament of heaven on
those whose eyes are blind, unless " the Father of glory shall give
them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him — unless the eyes of their understanding shall be
ENLIGHTENED, THAT THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF
HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS
INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS."
And now, perhaps, some poor blind sinner may have come in
here to-day, to whom this is all unknown. He does not under
stand these words. He cannot tell what is " the riches of the
glory of Christ's inheritance in the saints." Well — per
haps through God's grace, the Spirit of eternal truth may bring
home this word to your heart, and enable you to understand it
ere you leave this Church. You may have come here as many
come, because they think it is right to do so on the Sabbath-day,
because they think it right, as they say, to do their duty —
to go to church — to say their prayers — and to hear a Sermon, or,
perhaps, as many do, they come to lounge away an hour — or
thinking, it may be, that it is a very meritorious act, and shall be
entered as an item to their credit in the Book of God for their sal
vation. Perhaps that such an one may be offended at being told,
that " all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isa. lxiv. 6, and
that all their religious observances, and all their duties can never
save, or help to save their souls. Nay, I say to such a one, my
friend, you are a sinner, and " the wrath of God abideth on you"
What are you to do ? My dear fellow-sinner, the riches of the
glory of Christ are set forth to you, in the proclamation of the
pardon of sin to sinners. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
I proclaim to you, on the authority of God's eternal word, pardon
of your sin through the blood of Him, which " cleanseth us from
all sin," 1 John, i. 7. You may ask, " What ! do you mean to
say, that what Christ has done and suffered, is enough for me to
rest my soul on ? May I depend on Him this day ? Is there in
Him full pardon for a thoughtless sinner like me ?" Oh yes, " to
day if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart." Psalm,
xcv. 7, 8. Remember he said to Zaccheus the chief of the publi-

112

lectures on the ephesians.

cans, " This day is salvation come to this house." Luke xix. 9.
Recollect He said to the Thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in
paradise," and do not forget this glorious truth, that he Avho said
thus, is " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and forever."
Heb. xiii. 8.
Oh may He by the Spirit, enable you to receive these glad tid
ings, and then your salvation shall redound to the glory of Christ.
Then you shall be able to say, as many a sinner like you hath
said, " Ah, when I was not thinking at all about myself, about my
sins, quite ignorant of my own state, and ignorant of Christ, God
sent His word home to my conscience, I saw, I was a guilty sinner,
and I heard for the first time in my life," (for if you have been
listening to it all your days, it is not till it comes to your heart
with power, that you hear it,) " I heard for the first time of forgive
ness through the blood of Christ."
May the Lord enable you to see and to receive it. Then you
shall be among those whose salvation shall redound to the glory
of Christ — then you shall understand and participate in " the
RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS."
Now they give Him glory, now they praise Him for his pardoning
love and mercy. But Oh, what shall it be in that glorious day,
when he shall have "spoken and called the earth from the rising
of the sun, to the going down thereof!" When " Out of Zion
the perfection of beauty God hath shined !" When " Our God
shall come and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before
him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him !" When
" He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that
he may judge his people." " Gather my saints together unto me,
those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice !" When
" The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is Judge,
Himself!" Psalm 1. 1-6. What shall it be when He who "hath
been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast
of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." What shall
it be when " He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord
God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of
his people shall he take away from off all the earth ; for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo,
this is our God ; we have waited for him, and he will save us :
this is the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be glad, and
rejoice in his salvation." Isa. xxv. 4, 8, 9.
Then, and not till then, shall be the full response to the Apos
tle's prayer — then, and not till then, shall the Song of Moses and
the Lamb echo from every voice of the assembled hosts of the
Redeemed — then shall they enjoy in full possession their "inher
itance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away" —
then shall be enjoyed in full fruition the glorious " Hope of his
calling," and then revealed in the light of His countenance be
fore the throne "the riches of the glory of his inherit
ance in the saints." Amen.

TENTH LEC TURE.

Ephesians L — 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.

" And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, ac
cording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principaUty, 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 : and hath put all
things under his feet, and given him to be head over all things to the church, which is
his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
There are, as we have seen, three principal subjects in the
Apostle's petition for the Church at Ephesus^-three distinct points
in which he prays the Father of glory to grant to them " the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, that the
eyes of their understanding being enlightened they may know —
1st . What is the hope of' his calling.
2d. What is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints. 3d. What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward,
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set
him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."
We have in this, as has been set forth, in the
First — The blessedness of the saints in the hope to which it is
their high privilege to be called in Christ, " which hope they have
as an anchor of their soul, both sure and steadfast." Heb.
vi. 19.
In the Second — The riches of the glory of Christ's inheritance
in them, when He shall be crowned and glorified in all the salva
tion of His Redeemed — when the " ten thousand times ten thou
sand and thousands of thousands shall say with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."
Rev. v. 11, 12.
As the first refers to the hope of the saints in Christ, and the
second to the glory of Christ's inheritance in them, so we have
in the
Third — The glory of both Christ and His Church in their pres
ent union. He, as the risen head; they, as His members; one
glorious mystic body. He as "the head over all things to the
Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in
all." Eph. v. 22, 23.
Having considered the two first, — the third point is for our con
sideration to-day, " what is the exceeding greatness of his
8

114 lectures on th*e ephesians.
power to us-ward who believe, according to the work
ing OF HIS MIGHTY POWER, WHICH HE WROUGHT IN CHRIST,
WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD."
Some commentators consider, that the Apostle means here sim
ply the resurrection of Christ, and the blessings which God, by
His power, in raising him from the dead, has conferred upon the
Church. Others imagine, that it refers to the resurrection of be
lievers, in that He will raise them, and that the Apostle means
that this is "the greatness of his power toward those
who believe" that they also shall arise, " according to the
WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER, WHICH HE WROUGHT IN
CHRIST, WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD."*
Most unquestionably both of thege must be included in its mean
ing. It must include both the resurrection of Christ, and the
future resurrection of believers. But, I think, there is much more
than either one or both of these in this passage. It appears to
me most especially to mean, the present spiritual life which be
lievers have in Christ Jesus, being risen with him as their risen
head. In order to understand the passage, you must refer to the whole
context, and examine it at length in the Epistle. The sentence
does not appear to me to be concluded till the 10th verse of the
next chapter. The Apostle does not appear to have fully given
<ojjtt his meaning till he gets to that verse. If we are spared to
jreach the* 5th and 6th verses, you will see, I trust, the whole con-
jHection of the passage, — meantime, I would just remark, that the
;%h and 6ith verges of the 2nd chapter appear to me to be the ex
planation of this 19th verse. Here he prays, " that the eyes of
ymr understanding being enlightened, you may know what is
THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS POWER TO US-WARD WHO
BELIEVE, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER,
WHICH HE -WROUGHT IN CHRIST WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM
THE DEAD, AND SET HIM AT HIS OWN RIGHT HAND IN THE
heavenly PLACES." Now, in the 5th and 6th verses of the next
chapter, he saith, " he hath quickened us together with Christ,
* The Author in referring to the opinions of commentators, in several parts of these
Lectures thinks it better to omit names and authorities. First, because it might give
a controversial tone to this w.ork. which is generally not profitable to our own souls.
It is enough to be obliged to use the Word of God, controversionallv with opponents,
and it is the least that we may be allowed to enjoy it, spiritually and devotionally our
selves. Besides many persons are so wedded to names and authorities of men, that
the very insinuation that a favorite commentator, was not right in every point, would
disgust them, and not allow them to consider a passage with common patience or
attention, it would be quite enough to stamp it as false, to suppose that Scott, or
Henry, or Whitby, or Macknight, or Poole, or Bloomfield, or some other Commentator,
was not almost infallible in their interpretation. But the author earnestly entreats
others to do, as he would humbly desire to do himself— to study the Lord's word simply
with prayer! comparing spiritual things, with spiritual ; and thus he trusts they will
find, that though in general, sound pious Commentators are right; yet there are many
portions of Scripture, which God may be pleased to throw light on, to meek and hum
ble enquirers, of which they may impart some feeble ray, to a fellow-sinner, which
even the best Commentators, may perhaps have but slightly noticed ; how often do we
ourselves see texts of Scripture at some times in a brighter light, than we do at others.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 115
(by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." I
think, if you examine it, you will see, that the Apostle carries on
the sense to these verses, and that they give the true interpreta
tion of this. The explanation will naturally appear when we
come to the passage ; but, as the Apostle seems to conclude his
meaning there, we shall wait and follow on the chapter in the or
der in which it lies before us.
You may observe, that the mind of the Apostle seems carried
away, as it were, the moment the thought of Christ's resurrection
is suggested to him, his soul seems lifted up from the church and
things below, to follow up the Lord Jesus into his resurrection
glory with the eye of faith. When he touches on the topic of
Christ's resurrection, you observe, hoAV, Avithout a single pause, he
folloAvs the succession of thoughts that rise as light before him,
to the end of the chapter, " which he wrought in Christ,
WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, AND SET HIM AT HIS
OWN RIGHT HAND IN THE 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. AND HATH PUT ALL THINGS
UNDER HIS FEET, AND GAVE HIM TO BE HEAD OVER ALL THINGS
TO THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY, THE FULNESS OF HIM
that filleth all in all." His soul, I say, seems carried
away from things of earth, folloAving up Christ in His glory, and
expatiating on it as he goes, as if he were ascending up to the
very mount of God — -and bounding, as it were, from summit to
summit, he proclaims the glory of Immanuel, from every elevation
of His love and power. " How beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,
that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth." Isa. Iii. 7. It is glo
rious now, while He sitteth on his mediatorial throne ; and what
shall it be when He is on His throne as King of glory !
Let us observe, now, what various topics the Apostle touches on
in succession here : —
1st. The Resurrection of Christ, "which, he wrought in
CHRIST WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD."
Then 2d, the exaltation of Christ, " and set him on his own
RIGHT HAND IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES."
Then 3d, the Supremacy of Christ, over all powers in heaven,
and earth, and hell, — " 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."
Then 4th, the absolute executive rule and authority of Christ
over all things in heaven and earth, " and hath put all things
UNDER HIS FEET."
Then 5th, the glorious headship of the Lord Jesus Christ to the

116

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Church, "and gave him to be head over all things to
THE CHURCH."
And 6th, the union of Christ with His Church, as of the head
and members, "which is his body, the fulness of him that
FILLETH ALL IN ALL."
We can only briefly touch upon these subjects. May the Lord,
the Spirit of wisdom, life and power, be present with us, and teach
us each to offer up the Apostle's prayer from our own hearts, and
may the Lord give us an answer of peace. May " the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give unto us the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of
our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what is
the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding great
ness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in
christ when he raised him from the dead !"
Each of these subjects is a subject of faith, hope, and consola
tion to the believer. And First — the Apostle speaks of "the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ." The resurrection of
Christ is the very basis of all the believer's hope. " If Christ be not
risen our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins," as the Apostle
argues, 1 Cor. xv. 17. His resurrection is given to us in Scripture,
as the proof of His Godhead, as we see in Rom. i. 4, " declared to
be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead." It is the pledge of our salva
tion. It is, as it were, the presentation of a receipt in full to man,
from the divine justice for all our debts ; therefore, it is said " he
was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justifica
tion." Rom. iv. 25, that the justification of man might be pro
claimed through the finished work of Jesus, as risen from the
dead. It is the earnest of our own resurrection, as the Apostle argues
throughout the whole of first Corinthians, chap. xv. " But now
is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them
that slept, for since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead ; for as in Adam all die, even so, in
Christ, shall all be made alive." 20, 21, 22. And again, "as we
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly." Again, verse 49, " we shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump." verse 51, 52. Again, the resurrection of Christ,
is, as we said, and as we shall see more fully, the present life of
the believer's soul, chap. ii. 6, He " hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"
" reckon ye also yourselves, to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 2.
But the Second point is, the exaltation of Christ. If Christ
were not exalted at the right hand of God, the blessing of His
resurrection would be incomplete to us ; we should not knoAv, where
He had risen to go, or what He had risen to do. But now we

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 117
know He is exalted, and that He is exalted as a Prophet, Priest,
and King, on His Father's throne, and there He carries on His
glorious work, in these blessed offices for those who believe on
Him to life everlasting. So we have in Acts, ii. 33, " therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of
the Father, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth
this, which ye now see and hear." That was the Holy Ghost.
Christ had sent Him forth as the prophet of His Church, He had
sent the blessed Spirit to teach them. So St. Peter by that Spirit,
whose office it is to glorify Christ, testifies this at the moment, to
the assembled multitude, and adds, "For David is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I 'make thy foes thy foot
stool ; therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both
Lord and Christ," v. 34, 35, 36. And again, the same Apostle
sets forth before the council,- the office for which He is exalted, as
we see in Acts, v. 30, 31, " The God of our fathers raised up
Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree, him hath God exalted
with his right hand, to be a- prince and a Saviour, for to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins," and He exercises
His office as a prophet, in teaching His people by His word and
by His Spirit.
Recollect that if you really learn any truth to your soul's good,
it is only because He is exercising that office for you. How ought
we then in hearing His word, to lift up our hearts in prayer to Him,
that He will teach us by His Spirit, that He will clothe His truth
with power, in the mouth of His servant who speaks, so that that
word may come with a blessing to our hearts ! If you receive any
blessing,- yoii must receive it through Christ by the Spirit. There
is no blessing derived from man, man is a poor earthen vessel,
" We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of
the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Cor. iv. 7.
Remember, that as the Lord is exalted, as a Prophet, so He is
exalted as a Priest, as the Apostle tells us in Heb. ix. 11, 12,
" Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come,"
(being come that He might be made an High Priest of good things
to come,) " by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the
blood of goats, and calves, but by his own blood," (having come
here as a Sin Offering, and poured out his own blood, He hath
been now exalted, and) "he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us ;" for as he says in
verse 24, ^Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true" (alluding to the holy of
holies in the temple; ) " but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for ust," exalted an High Priest, on His Father's
throne, to appear in the presence of God for us.
Oh, consider What " the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge" of Christ in this does for thd sinner ! What is it to

118 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
you, that Christ is exalted a high priest at the right hand of God?
— it is nothing — unless you come as a sinner to that high priest,
to plead that precious blood before the bar of God for your salva
tion and peace — that atonement which Christ hath wrought — that
blood which Christ poured out as a victim, and now offers as a
Priest, and trust in Him, that having carried that blessed sacrifice
into the presence of God for sinners, you may rest satisfied that
that is enough for you, — you want no more. Consider, then, the
use of this--the Avondrous blessing, as the Apostle tells us in Heb.
iv. 14-16, " Seeing, then, that we have a great high priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us holdfast
our profession ; for we have not an high priest who cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, out was hi all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need." Here is the end of Christ being
exalted a Priest at the right hand of God. And, what an unspeaka
ble blessing it is to know Him in that character ! If I address any
of you, my dear Roman Catholic friends, here is the Priest for you
to go to, or to send for. When you are sick, or when you feel the
burden of your sins, then send for the priest, — not the priest of the
Church of Rome, — nor the priest of the Church of England, — to
take away your sins, or to make an offering for you, — as if a bit
of paste, or bread and wine could make an offering to God for sins.
Oh, no, send for the "great high priest, who is passed into the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God," send for him. You need not
wait for a messenger, you need not send man and horse as an
express for Christ. A thought of the heart — a look of the eye is
messenger enough for Jesus ! " Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all ye ends of the earth !" Isa. xlv. 22. Here, brethren, is a Priest
for you. May the Lord enable us all, Protestants and Roman
Catholics, to know the value of Christ as the high Priest that is
gone to " appear in the presence of God for us" — again I repeat
and mark it, " Seeing that we have a great high priest that is
passed into the heavens * * * let us come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need." How necessary it is to hold up these great truths, when
men are setting forth priests and sacraments, to make their peace
with God, — putting the shadow for the substance, the emblem for
the thing signified ! Grasp the substance, then you are sure to
have the shadow. Hold the substance in the light of God's truth,
the shadow is sure to follow, as it follows a form in the sun. If
you hold Christ as you ought, you will surely place the proper
value on the blessed ordinances which He has appointed.
But He is exalted, not only as a Prophet and Priest, but as a
King, — and this brings us to the next consideration, His suprem
acy over all the powers of heaven and earth and hell, " 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." The angels, all the host of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 119
heaven, are commanded to worship him. So we have in Phil. ii.
9, 10, speaking of the exaltation of Christ, " God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." An
gels, men, and devils, must bow before him, "and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father." So in Heb. i. 6, "when he bringeth, in the first
begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God
worship him." Angels are to worship him, men are to worship
him, so the Lord Jesus tells us, " that all men should honor the
Son, even as they honor the Father." John v. 23. How is that ?
It is, with the supreme adoration of Jehovah, " with all their heaf t,
and'mind, and soul, and strength;" — "he that honoreth not the
Son," thus, " honoreth not the Father that hath sent him." There
fore, Ye Socinians, who pride yourselves on the knowledge of
what you call the one God, — -your God is an idol — he is no God
at all ; the thing you call God is no God, for. if you honor not the
Son as you honor the Father, you honor not the Father, but de
spise the God of the Bible. The being you worship is a god of
your imagination, it is not the God that is revealed in the Bible,
because the God that is revealed in the Bible is Jehovah, that
God who " was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself."
So, the devils are called to worship Him, and they do worship
Christ. You see, in St. Luke, iv. 34, when the man with the
spirit of an unclean devil cried out, saying, "what have we
to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? Art thou come to
destroy us ?" He adds, in the same breath, " / know thee, who
thou art, the Holy One of God." The devil knew Him. The
devils are better theologians than the Socinian ! Ask the Socin-
ian, who Christ is ? — he will tell you, He was a good man, a great
man, a holy man, a great prophet, one gifted with the Spirit of
God. Ask the devil, who Christ is ? — the devil will tell you, " the
Holy One of God," as it is said in verse 41, " And devils also came
out of many, crying out and saying, thou art Christ, the Son
of God." Oh, it is an awful faith which is not so sound as that
of the devils ! It is an awful faith, I say, which is not so sound
even as the faith of devils ! But the devil only knows Christ to
tremble, for there is no salvation in Christ for the devil. But you,
O Socinian, who have neither known Him or trembled at Him —
you— though you are more ignorant and unbelieving than the
devil — there is salvation in Christ for you ! O come, look to Him
to-day, with faith — with hope — nay, come to Him to-day, with
confidence — look to Him to-day for mercy, for " all manner of
sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." Mat. xii. 31.
Remember Avhat a blasphemer Saul was, persecuting Christ, — yet
remember, what mercy Jesus showed him. Look unto Jesus, and
be ye saved. Come to Him, whatever you are, — whether Socin
ian, Deist, Infidel, Atheist, — whatever be your grade of ignorance,
presumption, or blasphemy. You are a poor, guilty, condemned

120

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

miserable sinner, " the wrath of God abideth on you" — but the
proclamation of the Gospel is, Christ is exalted, " far above all
PRINCIPALITY, AND POWER, AND DOMINION, AND EVERY NAME
THAT IS NAMED, NOT ONLY IN THIS WORLD, BUT ALSO IN THAT
which is to come." And " He is exalted to give repentance
and forgiveness of sins," Acts v. 31. — through him is "proclaimed
unto you the forgiveness of sins." Acts xiii. 39. Then, look unto
Him, " Repent, and believe the Gospel." Remember that those
who " with wicked hands had crucified and slain" the Lord of
Glory, were yet pardoned through the veiy blood that they had
shed; (see Acts, ii. 23, 37-41) and the fountain that cleansed
them from their guilt is still open for sin and uncleanness.
Sinner, think of this ! And may the Lord give you " the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that the ey4s of
your understanding being enlightened you may know what is the
hope of his calling."
But the Apostle speaks, not only of the exaltation of our blessed
Lord, but of his absolute power and authority, "he hath put
all things under his feet," so the Lord Jesus Christ tells us
in St. Mat. xxviii. 18, " all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth."
What a blessed thing it is then, if " the spirit of wisdom and
revelation" is given to a believer to have knowledge of Christ in
this character, to see him ruling and overruling all things, — di
recting, — controllings — restraining — subduing ; eliciting good, even
out of evil. " Surely, the wrath of man shall praise thee, and
the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain." Ps. lxxvi. 10. No
wrath of man shall go one step farther, than He who hath all
things under His feet shall overrule it at the last, to His own
praise and glory. What. a blessing it is to the believer to remem
ber, that in the midst of all the turmoils and confusion of this
world, the troubles and disasters of private circumstances, and the
shakings of kingdoms, there is one overruling power Avho Avatches
over it all. Christ has " all power in heaven and earth." Re
member, believer, what He says, when He commands you not to
be careful, He tells you, " even the very hairs of your head are
all numbered." Luke xii. 7. A single sparroAV can no more fall to
the ground without His permission and His providence, than a world
could burst from its sphere, and leave the orbit in which He com
manded it toroll, "for all thingswere created byhim and for him,
and he is before all things and by him all things consist." Col. i.
16, 17 — they are all held in the eye and in the hand of Christ, the
Lord of Glory.
But consider now the blessedness of the next step in our Lord's
exaltation, that is, the headship of Christ to his Church. "And
HATH PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET, AND GIVEN HIM TO
BE HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO HIS CHURCH." This is full of
solemn warning to the outward professing Church and full of
solid comfort to the. true believer. Let those where the candle
stick is burning prize its light while they have it and fear its re-

« LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 121
moval. " Let Ephesus remember whence she is fallen and re
pent." Rev. ii. 5. " Let Smyrna fear none of the things that she
shall suffer," v. 10, " Let Pergamos beware of them that hold
the doctrine of Balaam." v. 14, " Let Thyatira tremble at her
encouragement of Jezebel," v. 20, " Let Sardis be watchful and
strengthen the things that remain," Rev. iii. 2. " Let Philadel
phia hold fast that no man take her crown" v. 11. " Let Lao-
dicea hear the counsel of her Lord, that the shame of her naked
ness do not appear." v. 18. Let all remember that the promise
is " To him that overcometh." Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17,25, iii. 5, 12, 21 ;
and " He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the Churches." Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 29, iii. 6, 12, 22.
Believer ! remember thou that all things are in the hands of
our precious Lord and Master, and that all things are Avorking
together, for good to His people, because He is given "to be
HEAD OVER ALL things to his church." " All things" No
thing is too small for Christ to attend to — nothing too minute for
the notice of His love, and the exercise of His power, who num-
bereth " the hairs of our head." That blessed Spirit, whose office
it is to glorify Christ, meant what he said, when He inspired the
Apostle to testify and encourage His people, thus, " casting all
your care upon him, for he careth for you." 1 Pet. v. 7. Oh,
that we did but feel and exercise our happy privilege ! Then all
our afflictions would seem to be what they really are, blessings
sent to us from the hand of a Father's love. Then whatever
trials might befall us, we should be enabled to say in spirit and
truth, what alas, we so often repeat while our hearts belie our
hps, " thy will be done." However gloomy and surcharged with
clouds our horizon might appear, the Sun of Righteousness, seen
by the eye of faith, in the firmament beyond, would
" Tinge our dark cloud, and turn it all to gold."
Believing that all things work together for our good, we should
enjoy the solid happiness expressed in the words of the hymn —
" Sweet in the confidence of faith,
To trust His firm decrees ;
Sweet to lie passive in His hands,
And know no will but His."
That we may enjoy this, let. us remember, it is our privilege to
do so, if we are looking to Christ, for -," he is head over all
things to his church."
And the eye will not see a danger, into which the foot would
step, or the hand would plunge— the sagacity of the head will not
more readily direct the members to avoid it, than the providence
and power of Him who is the Head of .His Church, will foresee
every evil and guard against every danger, with which a single
member of His mystical body,, could be threatened.
But if indeed you are in trouble and affliction, and are not look
ing to Christ, if you are not resting on Him who is the Hope and

122

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Refuge of the guilty, then however afflictive or overwhelming your
sorrows may seem to be, they are all of little consequence com
paratively to you. Alas ! what is all your sorrow; if you are under
the weight of your sins ? What is your grief as to temporal afflic
tions if you are not looking to Jesus, to deliver you from the wrath
to come ? Oh, leave your grief and go to Jesus, with your guilt.
Saul's father forgot his anxiety for the loss of his asses, when he
began to fear for his son, and you will soon forget to mourn for
your sorrow, when you begin to feel, and to fear for your soul.
I remember reading once a little book, in which the author says,
" I was very much bowed down with sorrow the other day ; my
father-in-law came unto me, ' Ah John,' said he, ' when sorrow is
heavy, sin is light.'" If we feel our sin as we ought, whatever our
sorrow be, it will be light, compared with our sin, and if we bring
our sin to Jesus, joy for the forgiveness of sin, will soon dispel the
gloom of sorrow.
The light of the Sun of Righteousness exhales the tears of grief
from our eyes, as the light of the morning sun exhales the tear
drops of the night from the dewy drooping flowers. Then we un
derstand what it is to have Christ as " the head of all things
to his church," then it is our privilege to look at every dispensa
tion of Providence, as a dispensation of love, and to see all things
working together for our good, and that therefore, no evil that is
really an evil, can happen unto us.
The believer may say, how can that be? Surely, I have suffered
under many evils.
Let me pause then here for one moment, believer, and let me
ask you this question. Look back at all the course of your life, at
all the trials and afflictions which you have ever encountered — and
let me ask, did you ever encounter a trial, since you knew the Lord
Jesus Christ, that the Lord did not make your trial a blessing ?
Did it not show you more of your sins ? Did it not show you more
of your own vileness ? Did it not bring you nearer to the feet of
Jesus ? Did it not wean you more from the things of the Avorld ?
Did it not make your heart ache more, over your broken cisterns ?
and did it not drive you from them, to the "fountain of living
waters ?" Jer. ii. 13.
I anticipate — yea, I know your answer. It is this — " Yes — He
hath done all things well."
' Oh, then, remember, that " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8, — and since you must know
that all things have been working together for your good, re
member that they are, and shall continue so to Avork — so nothing
can be really evil to you, for things that are evil in themselves
will be over-ruled to you for a blessing, because Jesus is " the
head over all things to his church." Think of this, and
remember the reasoning of the Apostle in the very passage, Rom.
viii. 28, where he asserts that " all things work together for good,
to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his
purpose"^— recollect he asks, " Who shall lay anything to the

e LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 123
charge of God's elect ? it is God that justifieth : who is he that
condemneth? it is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen
again," — (you see, it is the same truth Avhich he mentions here to
the Ephesians, in teaching them to look to Jesus as a risen and
exalted Saviour) " It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen
again, who also maketh intercession for us." Then he boldly
asks, "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall trib
ulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword ?" — shall anything within or without ? — any
trouble, any want, any affliction, any evil ? — " Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us;
for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present," (however much
they may press upon us) — "nor things to come," — (however much
Ave may fear them) " nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea
ture shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord," Rom. viii. 33-39 — Now why ? because
He is " GIVEN TO BE HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO HIS CHURCH."
And the Head must die, or, be cut off, before the same stream
of vital sympathy and power that warms that Head shall cease to
flow through every member that is vitally united to it. How fre
quently have his express revelations — His actual deliverances —
His inward supports and consolations, strengthened the hearts of
His servants, and carried them through countless trials. Observe,
in the very Lesson we had this day, (Acts, xviii.,) when Paul went
to Corinth — when he was in the midst of an idolatrous city, and
in the midst of those who opposed and blasphemed, and who would
be glad to have persecuted him or put him to death — ¦" Then
spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, be not afraid,
but speak, and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For 1 have much people in
this city." Acts, xviii. 9, 10.
So, in Acts xii., when Herod was determined to bring Peter out
and slay him, — he " delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers,
to keep him," and put him " sleeping between two soldiers, bound
with two chains." v. 4-6.— But what was Herod? or, what the
quaternions of soldiers ? or, the chains ? or, the guards ? or, the
prison ? What were they, when the Lord Jesus was determined to
deliver His servant out of their hand 1 — the chain was snapped in
sunder — -the prison doors were burst open, and he was brought
out by the power of his Lord and Master, for "He is head over
all things to his church," and He is as much so now as He
was then.
Look to Daniel, iii., when the King Nebuchadnezzar said to
the three servants of the- living God, when he had set up a golden
image to Avorship in the plains of Dura, "if ye worship not, ye
shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery fur
nace, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my
hand?" And they refused, as you know, and said, " Our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace^

. 1S?4 lectures on the ephesians.
and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O King." verses 15-17.
And, you remember, Nebuchadnezzar got the strongest men in his
army, and heated the furnace seven times more than it was Avont to
be heated, and commanded these strong men to cast these three
men, bound, into the furnace. What did the heating of this fur
nace ? — he made the furnace so hot that it sleAV his own soldiers,
the strongest men in his army. What harm did it do the children
of God ? — it burned off their bonds, and Nebuchadnezzar Avas the
first to cry out, " Did not we cast three men, bound, into the midst
of the fire? They answered and said unto the King, true, O
King. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose walking
in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt ! And the form
of the fourth is like the Son of God." And so it was the Son of
God, for " He is the head over all things to his church."
And His promise is, ". When thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee ; when thou passest through the fire, thou shall not be
burned ; . neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isai. xliii. 2.
This is His promise, and remember, it is the promise of "Jesus
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8.
Then, the last point is the union of Christ with his church, He
"gave him to be head over all things to the church."
But what is the church? " which is his body, the fulness
of him that filleth all in all." Recollect the Church of
Christ is His body — those Avho believe His blessed Gospel — those
who are leaning on His mighty arm — those who are servants
of the King of kings, and Lord of lords — they are members of
Christ's body, none else. His Church, is His body, a part of Him
self, every member of that body is a member of Christ, — therefore
all the images in the Scripture that refer to the union of Christ
with His Church, refer to a real vital union between them, a union
commensurate with their existence. Such a union as between
the vine and its branches, vitally united. Such a union as exists
between husband and wife,^-one. Such a union as exists be
tween a house and its foundation — inseparably connected together.
Between the head and the members of the body. You see this in
various pages of Scripture, so he says, " he that toucheth you, touch-
eth the apple of his eye" Zech. ii. 8. What a tender member
that is ! So he says to Saul, Acts ix. 4, " why persecutest thou
me ?" so he says to the whole company of his redeemed, " inas
much as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren,
ye have done it unto me." Mat xxv. 40. His union with His
Church, as one with them, assures the full blessedness of all his
power and offices, as exalted at the right hand of God, to be the
prophet, Priest and King of His people, — " all power given to him
in heaven and earth" " He the head over all things to
his church."
, Brethren, it is well to preach about these things, and it is well
to hear of these things, — but, Oh, what are they if we do not, real
ize them in our hearts? Pray, I beseech you, for the spirit of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 125
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ,— pray, that
the Lord may teach you, that you may know these things experi
mentally, so "that in life and death, you may be one with Christ,
that " neither death nor life, may be able to separate you from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. viii. 39.
Amen.

ELEVENTH LECTURE

Ephesians II. — 1, 2, 3.

" And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein, in
time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others."
You recollect it was remarked, that the sense of this passage to
the 10th verse, was to be taken in connection with the 19th verse
of the preceding chapter. You recollect we have been dwelling
on the Apostle's prayer, which commences at the 17th verse,
" That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being en
lightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who be
lieve, according to the working of his mighty power, which he
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead." This
prayer may be considered with respect to Christ himself, and
with respect to believers as united to Christ, their living and risen
head. In the last verses of the preceding chapter. — We have consid
ered how God's power was manifested in reference to our Lord,
when He raised Him from the dead. The Apostle there confines
his observations to Christ, his exaltation, His glorious majesty,
His mighty power, His sovereign rule over all things which are
put under His feet, being given to be Head over all things to the
church, and the church being His body. Now, we are to consider
how this power is manifested in reference to believers, and for this
purpose, the Apostle shows us two things. First. — The "state of
all believers, both Jews and Gentiles, by nature ; and next, their
state by grace. He shows their state by nature, in these first three
verses ; he shows then state by grace, in the subsequent part of

126 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
the chapter. These two conditions, the Apostles keep continually
before the mind of believers,— in fact, they are as inseparable from
the real existence of spiritual life, as the necessities and the sup
plies of nutriment are indispensable to the being of our animal
frame. Now, the passage before us contains the first of these impor
tant truths, that is, a description of the state of Jews and Gentiles
by nature, and it is in their deliverance from this, that the great
ness of God's power toward them is manifested.
" And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins." You perceive, on looking at the text, that the words,
" hath he quickened," are in Italics, therefore they are not in the
original. The words that are not in the original Greek are sup
plied in Italics, to mark that they are inserted by our translators,
for the purpose of shoAving, more clearly, the sense. — These Avords,
"you hath he quickened," both refer back to verse 19, of the
preceding chapter, and onward to verse 5, of this chapter. The
Apostle prays, verses 19, 20, that God might show them, " What
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his
own right hand in the heavenly places." In the last three verses
of the chapter the Apostle follows, as Ave have seen, the Lord
Jesus Christ to His glorious exaltation in His offices, and now re
verting to the subject of his petition in the 19th verse, he com
mences to show what the " exceeding greatness of God's power,
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,"
had been to those who believed, " He is the head of the Church,
which is his body." " And you, (members of that body,) hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." He then en
larges on their fallen condition. — Having diverged from his imme
diate subject, in the 21st, 22nd, and 23d verses, to dwell on the
exaltation and glory of Christ ; he does the same in the 2nd and
3rd verses here, to dwell on their degradation and misery as sin
ners, then in the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses, he resumes the subject
of his prayer and shows hoAV the poAver of God in raising Christ
from the dead, and setting him at his right hand, had been equally
manifested in raising up them. If we leave out both digressions
as to Christ and to them, and read the passage without them, we
shall more clearly see the Apostle's meaning : — " That ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand
in the heavenly places." Chap. i. 18, 19, 20. * * * for you
too hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins
* * * God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us

lectures on the ephesians. 127
up toge'her, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ,
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
Chap. ii. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7. This, I think, will show the meaning of
the Apostle. But we shall see this more fully in the next Lec
ture ; and we noAv return to the verses immediately before us, to
consider the state of those by nature who are called by Grace into
the Church of Christ.
Mark the Apostle's description, "dead in trespasses and
sins." Was this peculiar to the Ephesians ? Nay, it is univer
sally true, for they were only " walking according to the
COURSE OF THIS WORLD."
Again, under the dominion of Satan, " according to the
PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT THAT NOW
WORKETH IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE." Observe in
this, the subtlety of his agency, and the extent of his domination.
Again, "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind." This was their state. Then mark its fatal conse
quences, — the wrath of God abiding upon them — they "were
BY NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS OTHERS."
Now, as surely as this is the word of truth, so certainly is it a
description — God's description — of each and every one of us by
nature. It is the picture which the pencil of inspiration draws
of us. Look into this as into a mirror, behold' your own face.
Look into this sacred page for the exact delineation of yourselves,
— see if you can recognize your natural character — "dead in
trespasses and sins," — dead, doubly dead.
First, in a state of utter spiritual insensibility, as insensible to
all spiritual things, as a dead body to the things of time.
Secondly, in a state of condemnation, sentenced to death both
in body and in soul. The curse pronounced on man's disobe
dience was, you see in Gen. ii. 17, " in the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die," now, he says, " in the day," therefore, death
must have passed on our first parents even the very day they eat
of the forbidden fruit. It was a state of spiritual death, they be
came utterly insensible of the real nature of God's character and
of their own, their eyes were opened indeed, to see good and evil,
but alas ! it was a fatal vision, that arose before them, it was more
than vision, it was the horrible experience of evil — blindness,
darkness, sin, and misery, in their own souls ! You have only to
see, how instantly fallen Adam Avas, and into what a state of
spiritual darkness and death he must have been precipitated, when
he, who had conversed before with the Omniscient, Omnipresent
God, ran to hide from His presence among the trees of the garden,
ignorant of his Creator as one of the beasts that perish. Such is
the state of death in which man is represented throughout the
Scripture. — So in the 1st chap, of St. Luke, where the Gospel is
spoken of as shining upon the people, it is, " to give light to them
that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," Luke, i. 79.
And so you have in 1 Tim. v. this description of a woman of the

128 lectures on the ephesians.
world, 6th verse, " she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she
liveth." Oh, consider this, any of you who are, what you call, perhaps,
"enjoying life." "Let us enjoy life," persons say; let us live
while we live.* That enjoyment of life, as you call it, is another
name for living " after the course of this world, and fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind ;" while you are enjoying
life, as you think, God marks you as dead while you live, if you
saw an individual in the midst of a gay assembly, of whom a
physician told you, "look at that person, in the thoughtless circle
of this fashionable crowd, that man to my knowledge has got a
disease of which he is insensible, but which renders it impossible
he can outlive a week." Suppose you saw such an individual in
the centre of such a throng, engaged in what the world would
call enjoying life, — what would you think of him ? — would you
consider this enjoyment of life ? Suppose he were to live ten days,
— what difference would that make? Add another day, another,
and another, after which it was impossible he could survive, — and
at what day would your compassion for him cease ? If you are
living without God in the world, "thou art the man," death is in
that body — and if you are living without God in the world death
is in that soul. The sentence of death is passed upon you — it is
the state of all unawakened men — it is the state of all unenlight
ened sinners ; and while they are in this state, all spiritual truth
comes to their ears, exactly as all the objects or the sounds of na
ture affect the tenant of the silent tomb. In vain the wintry
storm howls around, in vain the thunders roll, and the hghtnings
flash across the grave. In vain the. sun arises and declines, in
vain the smiling spring revisits them, and decks with flowers the
sod that is spread over their form. Darkness and light, storm and
sunshine, winter and spring, to them are all alike, they never
pierce the gloom to the eye, or break the silence to " the dull cold
ear of death." So it is Avith the Gospel, so with the laAV, so with
all the appeals of God's eternal word to man, — the sinner is " dead
in trespasses and sins," no threatenings, no warnings, no judg
ments, can aAvaken him, no voice of love and mercy, no message
of peace and pardon, no sound of God's Almighty grace, no inyita-
tion from a dying Saviour, can reach his ear or touch his heart,
he is " dead in trespasses and sins." Perhaps, it is so with some
— with, alas ! too many of those whom I address. No matter
what we preach, if God leaves you to your own corrupt and har
dened heart, you go away unmoved. If you seem to attend dur
ing the few moments you are in church — if when you leave it,
you make a few remarks on the solemn service, or on the sermon,
it will not be on the public professions you yourself have made,
nor on the awful warnings, or the gracious mercies you have heard,
but perhaps it may be on the manner in which the service has
been read, or the sermon has been delivered. God's judgments,
God's mercies, have no effect upon you, you cast them all without
* Dum vivimus vivamus.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 129
compunction or care behind you, and go back into the world to
follow the course that is described in these verses.
It is enough for your destruction that you go on, " according
to the course of this world." The very principle by which
men console themselves, the very ground on which they build
themselves up in their sins, and entrench themselves up in their
iniquity, the very source of their satisfaction and self-complacency
in then- career, ought to be the ground of their apprehension, their
fear, their terror of eternal judgment, and that is this, —
" Oh, sure, we only do what the whole world does, — sure we
only live like the rest of the world, — every one does this, — every
one says this, — everybody thinks so,^-why should not we ? — you
would not have us to be singular, — surely the whole world cannot
be wrong." Have you not often heard, perhaps used these and
similar expressions? Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture,
" The whole world lieth in wickedness." 1 John v. 19, — or as it is
more correctly interpreted by the context, "lieth in the wicked
one," lieth under the power of the devil, as the Greek idiom would
imply, or lieth in the devil's arms, as the English would seem to in
terpret such a phrase— but it is a strict parallel to this passage.
But did you never read of a time when the world said the same
thing, and when the world found too late its awful mistake ? The
Lord Jesus in St. Luke xvii. 26, 27, refers us to a time Avhen all
men thought and spoke and acted just as you do. " As it was in
the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man,
they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the
flood came and destroyed them all." For one hundred and
twenty years did God spare the world from the time he denounced
his judgment against it ; and for one hundred and twenty years
did Noe preach righteousness, judgment and salvation, to that
guilty world that surrounded him ; but they went on in their usual
avocations, mocking Noah for his singularity, and strengthening
each other in their wickedness, eating and drinking, buying and
selling, planting and building, marrying wives and giving in mar
riage, till the flood came and swept them all to ruin. So again,
he says, 28, 29 verses, " Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot,
they did, eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted,
they builded, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
What consolation in these fearful judgments did the world bestow
on its votaries ? Did those who strengthened each other in their
sin, console one another under the wrath of God ? Did the world
afford an ark to rescue its victims as they were being engulphed
in the rising flood of the deluge ? or shield their devoted heads
from the falling fire of Sodom ?
" Oh, but then," you will say, " they had not the light that we
have, they had not all the light and knowledge that is diffused
among us in our day, they Avere not Christians, as we are ; we
are baptized, we are members of the Christian Church, we enjoy
9

130

lectures on the ephesians.

all these privileges, therefore we are not like them." Does Christ
say so ? Does the Lord Jesus afford this consolation to those who
are called by his name ? he says, — " even thus," — as it was in the
days of Noe, as it was in the days of Lot, — " even thus shall it be
in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke xvii. 30.
The outward privileges which men have enjoyed, the spiritual
blessings which God has heaped upon them, shall only rise in
judgment to condemn the souls of those who have made light of
that Gospel of their salvation. Sodom and Gomorrah shall ap
pear as witnesses against them — Bibles, Sacraments and ordi
nances, the rejected means and testimonies of salvation — like the
sun shining on corruption, shall but generate in their guilty souls
" the worm that dieth not," and call divine justice to pour doAvn
on them " the fire that never shall be quenched."
The course of this world is according to the god of this world,
" according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobe
DIENCE." Now, here is another point. Men think that to say,
persons are acting under the dominion of the devil is to imply,
that they must be some notorious criminals. They think that
persons who commit some flagrant offence, some awful crimes, and
that only such as these are instigated by the devil. So our law
speaks, in certain acts of parliament, and some of our legal indict
ments, referring to grievous offences, " Whereas, such and such a
person, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being in
stigated by the devil," &c. <fcc. That is all very true, but persons
think it is only to be applied to those who are guilty of flagrant
offences ; and to tell them that if they are themselves living "ac
cording to the course of this world," they are under the
power of the devil, would be a gross affront. But if you are not
brought by grace to the cross of Christ, you are under the domin
ion of Satan, in the smooth, quiet discharge of what you imagine
to be your regular duties, and which really are so, just as certainly,
though not in the same manner, as those who commit the most
flagrant offences. Do you imagine that the devil ahvays exercises
his power and presents his snares in a startling and revolting point
of view ? Mankind would shudder generally at flagrant crimes,
and do you think their enemy presents destruction to them under
this alarming aspect ? Far from it. How did he bring " death
into the world and all our woe ?" Was it by any astounding act
of daring wickedness ? Was it by what seemed to man, or what
men in general would even now pronounce a flagitious crime?
Nay, multitudes would iioav consider the act a very insignificant
offence. It was not an alarming sin, but the smooth promise of
good that tempted Eve, " thou shalt not surely die :" — Nay, he
said, " in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." Gen. iii. 4, 5.
Many persons object to this very fact against the Bible, and say,
" surely, the smallness of the sin is enough to show us that it can-
i»ot have entailed the dreadful consequences you speak of on manr

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 131
kind." You see how Satan works in the minds of men to make
them believe, that that sin was but a small one.* God gave our
first parents a test of obedience and of love to a holy God, — a
light, a little test, so light, so little, that the very lightness of the
test that God had laid on man, enhanced the guilt of man's viola
tion of it, and aggravated the act of rebellion against his God.
Satan came quoting Scripture to our Lord, and tempted him to
manifest his own divinity and power ; and he often comes, quot
ing Scripture to deceive and tempt men noAv. He comes, taking,
as it were, the Sacraments in his hands, he tells you of them, that
these are your salvation. He comes extolling the Church to the
very skies, and he will tell you, too, that the Church is your sal
vation. He will come, and laud the ministers of Christ, and will
tell you these are the successors of the Apostles, that you must
bow your ear, your heart, your conscience, to their words, for they
are God's appointed channels of salvation. The devil does not
always come with blood and slaughter in his train, he becomes an
angel of light more frequently than he appears as the Prince of
darkness — he brings the rites and ceremonies and ordinances of
religion. He comes with these as well as Avith ungovernable lusts
and furious passions "to work in the children of disobe
dience," to hide their own sin and misery, and to hide Christ
from their eyes, — he comes not only himself like an angel of light,
but he transforms his ministers into angels of light, testifying
falsehood in morals and religion, and turning man from the only
hope that God has given him in the Gospel. The Pharisees were
as much under the power of the devil as Judas Iscariot. What
said the Lord Jesus Christ to them in St. John viii. ? — to those
smooth hypocrites who brought their own morality and virtue and
religious seryices to God, who thanked him they were " not as
other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers." Luke xviii. 11. — and
rejected the testimony of God against their souls. — Our Lord tes
tifies they were as here described, " dead in trespasses and sins,"
" under the prince of the power of the air." Mark, how the Lord
Jesus Christ addresses them, verses 44, 45, " Ye are of your
father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do ; he was
a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, be
cause there is no truth hi him. When he speaketh of a lie, he
speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not."
The very reason they ought to have believed him, was the very
* It is a singular and awful fact, that in the doctrines of Popery, the very theft of
an apple is specified as being but a venial sin. — Dr. Doyle in his Christian Doctrines,
Coyne, 1828, chap. 8, p. 46, says : —
" A venial sin, for example, a vain word, an officious or jesting lie, which hurts no
body — the theft of a pin or an apple, is not of weight enough to break charity between
man and man, much less between God and man."
And page 63, in answer to the question, " When is theft a mortal sin 1" he says : —
" When the thing stolen is of considerable value, or causeth a considerable hurt to
our neighbor" — as if the value of an article, and not the law and will of God were
the standard of sin and duty.

132 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
reason they rejected him, — therefore he said, " Ye are of your
father, the devil, and the works of your father ye will do ;" and
if the devil can persuade a sinner to reject God's truth, to disbelieve
God's testimony, he has that sinner just as much in his power as
if he instigated him to imbrue his hands in his brother's blood.
Mark what God declares — He is " the spirit that now
WORKETH IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE." All AA'ho are
disobedient to the Gospel of Christ, are under the power of Satan.
Now, you perceive the same testimony borne here of both by the
Apostle, speaking alike of Jews and Gentiles. Observe the iden
tity in this respect, between them in this passage. He is writing
to Gentiles, to the Ephesians, who Avere idolaters, worshippers of
the goddess Diana, — " wherein in times past ye" (Ephesians,)
" walked according to the course of this world." And now look
at verse 3, " among whom also, we all had our conversa
tion IN TIMES PAST, IN THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, FULFILLING
THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND, AND WERE BY
NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS OTHERS," We JeWS,
were " by nature the children of wrath," even as you, Gentiles.
This is St. Paul's description of himself and his brethren. Let
me entreat you to compare this with the description he gives of
himself at the same time in Philippians iii. You will find there,
Paul's description of his own character, as an unregenerate man, 4th
verse, " if any other man thinketh, that he hath whereof he might-
trust in the flesh, Imore." Then he tells them Avhat he was, " cir
cumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benja
min, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee,
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteous
ness which is in the law, blameless." Noav, I pray you to observe
this, he says, " if any other man thinketh, he hath whereof he may
trust in the flesh, Imore ;" if he thinks he has any righteousness,
any morality, any virtue, any excellence which he can bring before
God, I meet that man, and I challenge him, saith Paul, I have more.
Yet, what was he, at that time ? See his description of himself
in my text,. — " ave had our conversation in times past, in
THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF THE
FLESH AND OF THE MIND, AND WERE BY NATURE THE CHIL
DREN of wrath, even as others." How could he be Avalking
in the lusts of his flesh, when he Avas so moral and so virtuous,
and so outwardly observant of religion ? There is nothing more
gratifying to the flesh, than the indulgence of its spiritual pride.
Spiritual pride and self-righteousness, are among the most delight
ful enjoyments of the flesh, — and the man Avho will deny himself
the indulgence of some lust, in order that he may look down upon
his neighbor who falls into it, and say, " stand by, I am holier
than thou" the man who does so, indulges, perhaps, a deeper lust,
in the denial of the sin on such a principle, than the other man who
falls into the sin that he denies himself. There is no greater in
dulgence of the flesh than spiritual pride, or self-righteousness ;
therefore, while Paul was such a character as he describes himself

lectures on the ephesians. 133
to have been, in Philip, iii., he Avas also such a character as he
describes himself here to have been, in Ephesians ii. While he
was selected by the chief priests, as the most pious, devoted, and
admirable engine of their persecution of the church, he was, as he
tells us, " a persecutor and blasphemer, not meet to be called an
apostle" (even after he had been chosen one,) " because he perse
cuted the church of God." 1st Cor. xv. 9 — therefore, the being
under the poAver of Satan, and "fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind," is not at all confined, you see, to open
criminals and profligates, but just as much applies, in the sight of
God, though not in that of man, to every sinner on the face of this
earth, who knoAvs not his own guilty character, and flies not to
the refuge that God has proclaimed through Christ. This is a
picture of man, and if we do not know it to be a picture of our
OAvn character, Ave do not take our character from the Bible, there
fore let me entreat you to "judge yourselves that ye be not judged
of the Lord." Let us be assured that God will not pronounce
one judgment on man now in His word, and another judgment
when He comes in His glory. Nay, He expressly testifies, " The
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge you in the last
day." John xii. 48. — that, Word which He has given to us to be a
"lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path," testifies to us what
we are, and such as the Bible describes us to be, such shall we be
found Avhen God shall come to sit in judgment on us. If it Avere not
so, you knoAV, God as a Judge must contradict God as a LaAV-giver.
God in His Word and sentence spoken when He shall come in His
glorious majesty, to judge the quick and dead, must contradict
God in His inspired truth Avhich He has given to lead our souls
from death to life. This, you know, must be impossible, there
fore, if we do not take our character from the Bible, we are blind ;
but these verses in this passage are the testimony of God as to our
real state and character by nature — and not ours alone, but that
of the whole human race, there is no exception ; therefore the
conclusion is of necessity the consequence of our sin, we are " by
NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS OTHERS,"  those who
are children of grace, being called by the blessed Gospel of Christ,
had been by nature children of wrath. " The wages of sin is
death" Rom. vi. 23 — and they had incurred the penalty, " Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." Gal. iii. 10.
But what must be the actual state of man as under sentence
of the wrath of God ? Who can justly appreciate the misery of
his condition ? How is it, that the announcement of the awful
fact, has no effect on our hearts ? that the most trifling inconve
nience that could occur to annoy us, would excite us more than
the revelation of God's eternal judgment against our souls ? This
very fact demonstrates the truth that men are " dead in trespasses
and sins."
Announce to a man who believes himself possessed of an enor
mous capital, that bankruptcy and beggary await him. — Tell a

134 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
prisoner who hopes for certain deliverance, that the sentence of
death is passed on him, and he may expect the summons of the
executioner. — Inform a man who thinks he has got but a slight
disease, that it is the symptom of a fatal plague, and advise him
to prepare for death. — Thunder at a man's door, and shout that
the house is on fire, and bid him escape for his life, and surely no
thing but that men had sunk in death before these tidings reached
their ears, could prevent their being suitably affected by them. But
men can hear of the judgments and the wrath of God, as though
they heard them not ; such announcements are like those of the
destruction of Sodom by Lot, " He seemed as one that mocked
unto his sons in law." Gen. xix. 14, or like the language of un
believing Israel to the prophet, when he proclaimed the fearful
judgments to come, " Ah, Lord God ! they say of me, doth he
not speak parables." Ezek. xx. 49.
Yet what is it to be a child of Avrath ? It is to turn every bless
ing that this earth can give, into aggravated misery. The hap
pier we see a man the more exalted in station, the more renoAvned
by fame, the more endowed with wealth, the more miserable is
his lot, when precipitated from them all to everlasting ruin. Bel-
shazzar was more to be commiserated and contemned, than the
poorest beggar within the city of Babylon, Avhen the hand of fire
came forth to Avrite his doom upon the wall ; the louder he had
laughed— the more triumphantly he had "praised the gods of
gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,"
Dan. v. 4 — the deeper draughts of luscious wine, that he and all
his court had quaffed from the golden vessels of Jehovah's temple
— the deadlier was the livid paleness of his face, the loosening of
his joints, and the smiting of his knees, when the fatal characters
of death and judgment were traced before his eyes. What profit
in the vast domains of wealth, Avhen the trumpet of eternal judg
ment shall awake their haughty oAvners from the death of tres
passes and sins? When they shall call, but call in vain, upon
those lofty mountains, of which, in their pride of heart, they had
boasted as their own, to fall on them, and cover them, and hide
them from the wrath of that God, whom they have dishonored and
despised ?
Oh ! what is a miserable sinner, while he is a child of wrath —
and such are you who hear, if you have not fled from the Avrath
to come.*
My subject closes here. The Apostle is speaking but of human
guilt and condemnation, and I am not called to speak of the de-
» The writer, in publishing these Expository Lectures, ought perhaps to apologize
for a digression from the text such as is presented in the remainder of this Lecture —
but he hopes that his object in reference to those to whom they were addressed as
hearers may excuse him likewise to those who read them. It may be true of some
who shall read this Lecture, as of some who heard it, that perhaps it is the last treatise
on religion that may ever reach their eye — and surely it is needful to the reader as to
the hearer that if he is awakened to a sense of sin, he may, at the same time, read the
message of salvation— and if he is led to feel the extent and danger of his disease, that
he may also, through mercy, see the skill and power of the Great Physician.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 135
Iiverance until I shall next address you, but I dare not wait until
then ; who can tell what a day, much less a week, may bring
forth ; I may never be allowed to speak, nor you to hear again — I
know not but some sinner may have come to hear this day, who
even until this hour has been " dead in trespasses and sins." I
know not but that even now his heart may be awakened to feel
his want and misery, and that even now his spirit cries within
his breast, " What shall 1 do to be saved ?" I dare not leave such
sinner comfortless, perhaps, this very day, the Lord saith to him
as to Zaccheus, " this day I must abide at thy house," Luke xix.
5 ; perhaps like Zaccheus, this day his soul may receive him joy-
fully. The Lord Jesus never sent any away empty, who came to seek
His mercy. Yea " Thou O Lord hast not forsaken them that
seek thee." Psalm, ix. 10. Perhaps then this day that some one
who hears this description of the state of sinners, may be taught
to feel the weight and burden of his sin, and now listens with a
very heavy heart. — Yes, if you believe the testimony of God,
concerning your own state as a sinner, your heart must be sad
and heavy indeed. But the Gospel of Jesus is intended to come
to lift the load off the weary and heavy-laden heart of man, and
therefore, if there be any of you here who say —
" Alas ! that is my case, Ah !- yes, that is a description of me !
I feel I have been just such a sinner as is mentioned here, ' dead
in trespasses and sins,' oh, how hard, how callous, how insensi
ble, my heart has been ! How have I slighted God's mercies !
made light of and neglected His blessed Gospel ! — how often has
it sounded in my ears, and my heart has been as hard as the nether
mill-stone ! Yes, I have indeed been ' walking according to
THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD,' 'FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF
the flesh and of the mind !' The devil has led me away
captive at his will ! I have turned a deaf ear to God. Yes,
this is a description of me, — my God, this is a true description of
me !"
Well my friend and fellow-sinner ! the glad tidings of salvation
are the same to you that Saul rejoiced in, when they reached his
ears, and when, from having been a persecutor and blasphemer,
he arose, went forth, " and preached Christ in the synagogues."
Acts, ix. Remember the invitation of your blessed Redeemer,
" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest." Mat. xi. 28. No matter how heavy is the load
that presses on your heart — -how long you have been " walking
IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF
the flesh and of the mind," or how long the enemy of your
soul has had you under his power, Jesus is the mighty God, and
stronger than the world, the flesh and the devil ! As sure as you
are taught by Him to feel your state of misery and sin this day,
so surely He is loosing the chain of Satan from your neck, and
you shall see that Christ is anointed to "preach deliverance to
the captives." Isa. lxi. 1, and Luke iv. 18. His Avoid is "look

136 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
unto me, and be ye saved," Isa. xlv. 22, " the Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all," Isa. liii. 6, " He bare our sins in his
own body on the tree," 1st Pet. ii. 24. All the Church of Christ
have felt their load of sin like you, and it was through the riches
of the salvation of Christ that they have been delivered, and en
abled " to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Why should
you not rejoice ? Christ is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for
ever." Heb. xiii. 8. It may be you are a poor backslider — what
does He say? "Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal
your backsliding s." Answer then, with those to whom He spoke,
" Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God."
Jer. iii. 22. You have destroyed yourselves, it is true, but He
saith, " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy
help." Hosea xiii. 9. Yes, God hath " laid help on one that is
mighty." Psalm lxxxix. 19. Wherefore, " lift up the hands that
hang down, and the feeble knees," Heb. xii. 12, lift up your bur
dened heart and look unto Jesus, and let your soul rejoice in " the
unsearchable riches of Christ." Eph. iii. 8.
" Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses." — Acts xiii. 38, 39.
" Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is
God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ
that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God ; who also maketh intercession for us." Rom.
viii. 33, 34. Good news, good tidings of great joy !
No doubt, with all your ignorance and sin you have flattered
yourself that you were righteous, and perhaps the Lord has left
you to see how guilty you are — left you to follow the devices and
desires of your own heart — left you to sink in your own misery
and wretchedness, in order that He may show you the more, how
glorious a Saviour He is to deliver you from the depths of sin and
sorrow. Lift up your eyes then, and look unto Jesus. Here you
are, tojday, within the reach of His mercy — He has sent His glo
rious Gospel, inviting you to come to Him, and do you think he
will cast you out ? Oh, no, " him that cometh to me I will in
nowise cast out." John vi. 37. Go not then away with a heavy
heart, go away, casting all your burthen on the Lord, and the
more guilty and self-condemned you are, rejoice the more in hear
ing the glad tidings of pardon and salvation. Do you not remem
ber the two debtors ? " one owed five hundred pence, and the other
fifty," — remember, when they are both forgiven, which will love
him most ? Then, if you feel you have much to be forgiven, re
joice much in the glorious pardon that is in Christ Jesus for your
soul. Yet, 0 Lord Jesus, who can speak of thy mercy ! who can tell
of thy righteousness ! who of the depths of the fountain of thy
blood ! who of thy longrsuffering, thy patience, thy tenderness,
thy grace, thy compassion ! Hoav have we " made thee to serve

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 137
with our sins, and wearied thee with our iniquities!" Yet. thy
glorious Gospel is, " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans
gressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
Isa. xliii. 24, 25. Oh ! the depths of the riches of his grace !
Angels and archangels, and those who know Him better, even
guilty sinners, redeemed by His precious blood, never through
eternity can tell His love ! May God the Spirit write it on
our hearts, and make it manifest in our lives that " The love of
Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him who died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. — Amen.

TWELFTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — i, 5, 6.

" But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved ;^) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus."
These verses, as we have seen, explain the latter clause of the
Apostle's prayer, in the 19th and 20th verses of the preceding
chapter, He is praying, that God would reveal to the saints at
E.phesus, " what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-
ward, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead."
I suggested that this did not mean the mere, pledge or assurance
of their resurrection, that they were to rise, as certainly as Christ
had risen, but that it meant the present power and glory of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, as given now to those who
believe His Gospel.
In these verses the Apostle explains this, he shows Avhat was
" the exceeding greatness of Gods power towards those who be
lieve which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead." In the preceding part of this chapter, we see the state of
the idolatrous Gentiles, and of the Jews, we see them involved in
the same common ruin by nature, and the passage shows the dif
ference between their state as believers, and as unbelievers. The
three former verses show then state as unbelievers, by nature ;
the three latter show their state as believers by grace. Their
state as unbelievers, was that of " death in trespasses and sins,"
they were walking "according to the course of this world," they
were under the power of Satan, they were "fulfilling the desires

138

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

of the flesh and of the mind, and they were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." That was their condition as dead in
trespasses and sins.
Now, what is their condition as believers by grace ? what has
Christ done ? They were by nature dead in sin, Christ, in their
place, died for sin. Christ was reckoned dead in sin for them, and
they are reckoned dead for sin in Christ. So the Apostle explains
in Romans vi., where he shows that those who believe are dead
Avith Christ and adds, verse 7, "he that is dead, is freed from sin."
Christ who owed nothing, becomes their heavenly surety, makes
himself a debtor for them, and fully pays their debt. They who
owed that mighty debt which they could never pay, are cleared of
their debt through the payment of their Redeemer.
Christ " who knew no sin was made sin," treated as a criminal,
and bears the penalty for them. They, the real criminals are de
livered from the penalty due to their crimes, and treated as right
eous through Him who hath borne it for them.
Christ was actually raised from the dead for them. The Surety
leaves the prison, having discharged the debt, and is exalted to
glory, they are reckoned as raised from the dead with Him, their
debt being paid in Him, and by Him, and they are exalted to
glory too.
Christ, the spotless Son of God, was degraded, punished, slain
as a vile malefactor, before God and men, for them. They, the
children of the devil, and of wrath, vile malefactors before God
and men, were thus rescued from the penalty of all their crimes,
received, honored, rewarded, exalted as the spotless sons of God,
in Christ their Lord.
Thus Christ was one with them, bearing all their sin and pen
alty, their guilt and degradation, judgment, curse and death, —
they are reckoned one with Christ, receiving all His merits, His
righteousness, and His reward, His honor, dignity and everlasting
life and glory. " Who his ownself bare our sins in his own body
on the tree, that we, being dead unto sins, should live unto right
eousness : by whose stripes ye were healed." 2 Pet. ii. 24. For he
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. v. 21 — " Oh,
the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God !" Rom. xi. 33. If you do not understand this, you do not
know the very foundation of a sinner's hope, you do not knoAV the
only spot on which you have to rest for salvation in time or eter
nity. If you do understand it, then you can comprehend some
thing of the meaning of these verses, " God, who is rich in
MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, EVEN
AVHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER
with Christ." Well might the Apostle pray that God Avould
reveal to them " what was the exceeding greatness of his power
towards them who believe which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places." If Ave ask what was the meaning of that ?

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 139
Avhat was the exceeding greatness of God's power towards them
that believe, which He wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead ? the answer is in these verses, that, as He raised
Him from the dead, so He raised them up together with Him.
Mark the plain Avoids — " God, who is rich in mercy, for his
GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE
DEAD IN SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST,
AND HATH RAISED US UP TOGETHER, AND MADE US SIT TO
GETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS," — -nOW refer to
19th and 20th verses of the preceding chapter, — ¦" according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places." Now to those who understand the
original, the terms will be still more explicit and clear, — " he raised
him from the dead," or " having raised," — eyeiga;. "hath raised
us up together," — oweysige. " set him at his own right hand,"--
exo.0t.o6v. "hath made us sit together in heavenly places," —
awexadiaev. "raised him up," "raised us up together with him,"
" set him at his right hand" in glory, set believers along with him
at his right hand in glory. Language cannot more explicitly set
forth ideas.
Let us now consider the passage more particularly. It points out
I. — The cause of salvation.
II. — The means of salvation.
III. — The effects of salvation.
The effects of salvation are but partially set forth, viz., in refer
ence to the believer's privileges ; the Apostle shows them fully
out afterwards, as well in reference to his duties as his privileges,
Avhich, if the Lord permit, we shall consider hereafter.
I.— The cause of salvation.
What is the cause why any sinner is saved ? How is this to
be answered from the Bible ? The ansAver most unquestionably
is — God's rich, free, sovereign grace. There is no other source of
salvation to guilty man. So the Apostle says here, as in other
places, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love,
WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE AVERE DEAD IN
SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST." There
is no moving cause, no moving power in man to save himself. A /
dead body cannot walk. A dead soul cannot move itself.
This is set forth in the Scripture as the only cause of salvation
being given, or proclaimed to men in general — so we have in St.
John's Gospel, iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life," and so in his 1st Epistle, iv. 10,
" herein is love, not that we loved God," (for, " the carnal mind is
enmity against God," Rom. viii. 7,) " but that he loved us, and
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our ' sins." And so with
respect to the salvation of each individual sinner, while the pro
clamation of God's mercy is made to every man to whom tha
Gospel is preached ; if any man receive the proclamation of that

140

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

mercy, it comes of God's free and sovereign grace, to the soul of
that sinner. So we hear from the Prophet Jeremiah, xxxi. 3, " /
have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn thee," and our Lord applies the same ex
pression to eveiy sinner. " No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him." John, vi. 44. And so
the Apostle St. Peter says, in his 1st epistle i. — 3, " Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to
his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" and St. James
illustrates this again, " Of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth." James i. — 18. And so we had it in this epistle, i. 3, 4,
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in
Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the founda
tion of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love."
Man's condition, we have seen, is that of death in sin, and all
who are taught by the Spirit of God, to knoAV their own heart,
know and feel, that not only in the first instance, when their eyes
were enlightened to see the truth, but that now, every day, every
moment, it is alike true of them, " no man hath quickened his
ovm soul." They know that as at the first they were " called out
of darkness into his marvellous light," 1 Pet. ii. 9, because " God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, had shined
into their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; so they are
still indebted to the same Almighty power that first kindled the
light of faith and love to keep it alive in their souls.
There is nothing to attract love in a dead, corrupting carcase, —
and there is nothing to attract God's love in a dead, corrupting
soul. An old woman, once speaking on this subject, made a very
just and pertinent remark, " I am sure," said she, " if God did not
see something in me to loVe before I was born, he never saw any
thing since." Most true, and there is not one of us who knows
his own heart, who does not know that this is true, as applied to
our own case. Can you ever remember anything that God has
ever seen in you to recommend you to His favor? Look back —
retrace your whole existence — go back to your childhood, remember
the iniquities of your youth, — come to your present time of life,
whatever it be, — and answer in your own conscience. Do you
ever remember a time when, if even your felloAV-men had seen
the, workings of your heart, and all that was within you, from the
deceitfulness and falsehood of your childhood to the deceitfulness
and wickedness of your manhood and womanhood, — do you
ever remember a time when, if those who are nearest to you,
could have seen the working of your sinful heart, as you saw it
yourself, that they would love you? Do you not rejoice that
man does not see you ? Do you not rejoice that your heart is
concealed from your friends ? are not you thankful to God that no

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 141
eye can see you, no being on earth can know you but yourselves ?
— I am sure I am, — I am thankful, that none but God can see the
corruption of my vile, sinful heart, — and so must it be Avith you,
if you knoAV yourselves ; for " as in water, face answer eth to face,
so the heart of man to man."— Prov. xxvii. 19. God's testimony
of the heart is, that it is " deceitful above all things, and despe
rately wicked." Jer. xvii. 9, — and God's testimony, borne in His
eternal word, will not, as was shown before, be reversed before
His glorious tribunal, when He shall bring the thoughts of every
sinner's heart into judgment, and weigh them in the balances of
the sanctuary. Then, if you know that your fellow-man could not
love you, if he saw you as you are, nay, if you must even " abhor
yourself and repent in dust and ashes," Job xiii. 6, — -what must
you seem in the sight of a pure and holy God, " to Avhom all hearts
are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid ?"
" Who can stand the thought of that expression, " Thou hast set
our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy coun
tenance ?" Psalm, xc. 8, who must not cry, " Enter not into judg
ment with thy servant, O Lord ?" If we are saved, it is by God's
free, sovereign, rich, eternal grace and mercy. We would never
turn one step from the broad way of eternal death, if God did not
arrest us by His Almighty power, and bring us to Himself. Yes,
it is by God, " God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love where
with he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ." Observe the Apostle in his parenthesis,
(" by grace are ye saved.") Mark this parenthesis, as much
as to say, do not forget this, do not forget the true interpretation
of this text, it proves that — by grace are ye saved-— Mark, I
pray you, this parenthesis.
II. Now we come to consider the means of salvation.
" He hath quickened us together with christ."
This implies, you know, the death of Christ. It is not neces
sary that the Apostle, in his reasoning, especially as he is refer
ring, as I have shown you, to the mercy that God bestowed on
them, and to the greatness of His power exercised when He raised
Christ from the dead, — it is not necessary, I say, that he should
recapitulate continually, the atonement, the redemption, by the
Lord Jesus. Of course, the resurrection of Christ implies His
death, but you remember, how he had set that forth in the pre
ceding chapter, 6th verse, " to the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins ac
cording to the riches of his grace." Therefore, the means of a
sinner's salvation are the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, we must again dwell on the contrast and at the same
time the union between Christ and the sinner, as mutually inter
changing their condition each with the other. The sinner trans
ferring through God's grace, or rather God transferring through
His grace, and the sinner embracing with gratitude by faith the

142 lectures ->n the ephesians.
blessed transfer, of all his guilt and misery and curse to Jesus, —
" The Lord hath caused to meet on him the iniquity of us all ;"
— and Jesus transferring, God the Father imputing, and the sinner
by faith with joyful gratitude receiving all the riches of Christ's
righteousness, redemption and salvation, put down to His account
as a guilty sinner. If you understand this, then you knoAV, that
the only means of your salvation, are the obedience unto death
and the resurrection of Jesus.
Alas ! if you are looking to any other means of salvation, — I
beseech, I implore you, for God's sake, pause, and consider how
vain, and false your hope is ! "If righteousness come by the
law, Christ is dead in vain." — Gal. ii. 21. If man's works could
save him, Christ's death is of no value. If then, you are looking
to other means of salvation, let me beseech you to turn from them
all, to the hope that God sets before you in Christ, — " Repent and
believe the Gospel."
Are you looking to your Church for salvation ? What is to
save the poor Church ? — One set of lost sinners looking to another
set of lost sinners for salvation ! One poor debtor Avho cannot
pay one farthing of his debt, looking to other poor bankrupts like
himself to discharge it ! — one starving Avretch, turning to others,
starving like himself, for a morsel of bread ! Such is man looking
for salvation to his church.
Are you looking to the Sacraments for your salvation ? To
what are you looking? Is it to the outward sign in the ordi
nance? Or is it to the truth Avhich it represents ? Oh beware!
Can water wash away your guilt? Can bread and wine atone
for it ? Are these your Saviours ? The glorious Lord hath left
them to us as precious emblems, as blessed memorials of Christ
the substance of salvation, — but if the sinner looks from Christ to
them, he turns his eyes from the substance to the shadow, from
truth to falsehood, from the only hope that God has given to man,
to emblems and memorials of that hope ! You might as well
take a picture, and embrace that picture, and bestoAV all your
affections on it, and call it the being or thing it represents, and put.
it in the place of that being in your affections, and in your house,
as depend your salvation on sacraments or anything that man
can do for you, instead of on the Lord of life and glory. Oh think
of this. Salvation by sacraments in the Church of England is as
great a falsehood as salvation by Sacraments in the Church of
Rome. A shadoAV is a shadoAV, whether it is projected by the sun
in Italy, or by the sun in England, and sacraments can no more
save the soul in Britain than they can in Rome. Christ, the glo
rious Redeemer, the Lord of life and glory, He is the only Saviour
of tiie lost. You must stand on that Rock, if you ever hope to
stand firm amidst the coming floods and storms. — If you ever
hope to rest with peace upon your dying bed, or to lift up your
eyes when the clouds shall be rent asunder, and when the Lord
Himself shall be revealed, — if you hope then to join the chorus of
the redeemed, and say, " Lo, this is our God, we have waited for

lectures on the ephesians. 143
him, and he will save us, this is the Lord, we have waited for
him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isai. xxv. 9.
If you hope for these things, you must not be looking to miserable
shadows and miserable fallen sinners to save your souls, instead
of Christ.
I am sorry to say, it is too necessary to preach on these topics
in our pulpits. I am grieved to think that falsehood and heresy
should creep into the Church of England to corrupt our congre
gations from the simplicity that is in Christ. May the Lord keep
us "looking unto Jesus," — continually looking to Christ alone
for salvation, for this is His word, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, ,
all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."
Isa. xlv. 22.
When the Apostle saith then, " he hath quickened us to
gether with christ." He sets forth the means of salvation,
God quickens the sinner together with Christ, implying, of course,
the death of Christ, for Jesus to be quickened must have been
dead. Now forgiveness of sins is set forth through the Scriptures,
as being proclaimed and secured through the resurrection, as well
as the death of Immanuel, so we are told in Romans, iv. 25, He
" was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justifi
cation." It was a proclamation that God had accepted the work
of Jesus, the atonement of Jesus for the salvation of rebellious
man. So, the Apostle speaking to the Corinthians, of some of
•those in that Church, who had set forth heresies ; (for there are
always heresies springing up in the Church, thefe always have
been, and always shall be, until the Lord himself shall come to
reign over His kingdom, and Satan shall be bound,) referring to
those who denied the resurrection of Christ, 1 Cor. xv. — 17. " If
Christ be not raised your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins."
The Apostle uses an expression, similar to this 5th verse, in Co
lossians, ii.— 13. " You being dead in your sins and the uncir-
cumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all your trespasses," raised up with Christ,
and your sins buried in his grave and forgotten, never to be men
tioned again. Therefore, the means of salvation which the
Apostle speaks of here, are the death and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ ; and he asserts the interest His people have in
Him, in virtue of their union with Him, being raised together with
Him. III. — Now, we come to consider the effects of salvation,
the effect of their being saved in Christ, " and hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in christ jesus." Let us ask, what meaneth this?
Where were the Ephesians at that time ? They were at Ephesus,
walking about, engaged in their ordinary occupations, or perhaps
engaged at home, or in the congregation, as you are sitting in
Church, occupied with the Avoid of God, and I hope lifting up
your hearts to ask for a blessing on it. Then, what does the
Apostle mean by saying, he " hath raised us up together,

144

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

AND MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST
jesus ?" What is the meaning of that ? How can men on earth
be said to have been raised with Christ, and to have been made
to sit together in heavenly places with him 1 Believers are spoken
of, and deemed to be now as they shall be. Their blessed inheri
tance in reversion, is spoken of as in possession, and their faith in
God's promises of what they shall be, enables them through His
grace to rejoice in what they are. What are they called ? " Chil
dren of God." " Ye are all the children of God, by faith in
Christ Jesus." What is their inheritance as children? The
Apostle tells us, in Romans, viii. 17, as indeed we are told in va
rious other passages of Scripture, " If children, then heirs, heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ."
Your children, you would say, are your heirs, they are to pos
sess your property. Men make their eldest son the heir of their
properties. The law which subverts that of primogeniture, which
divides estates, and necessitates that property be divided among
all the members of a family, soon reduces the family to beggary,
for our poor earthly properties are easily exhausted. But the
children of the King of kings, are all heirs of eternal glory. The
rays of the sun are undiminished in their bright effulgence, the
lustre of that luminary is not dimmed, although the beams of his
glorious orb have been diffused throughout the world from the first
moment of the morning when God set him in the firmament of
the heavens to rule the day ; he still pours forth from his redun
dant fountain floods of unexhausted, and exhaustless light, and
every creature that basks beneath his beams enjoys the fulness
of their power too much to leave him room to grudge the world
beside. But what is all the glory of the orb of day compared with
that of Him whose fiat struck that orb but as a spark from solid
darkness? and what is the inheritance of him who is an heir of
God and a joint heir with Christ ? " The glory that thou gavest
me 1 have given them, that they may be one even as we are one."
John xvii. 22. Christ's inheritance — Christ's glory is their inherit
ance and their glory, and there is not one whose glory is dimin
ished by the fulness of glory that all enjoy.
This is the blessed hope— ^this the glorious inheritance of the
saints in light. Oh, you Avho perhaps are fixing all your thoughts
and your anxieties on your little earthly inheritance, — wrapt up
in all your comforts, pleasures and enjoyments, Avithout one
thought, or fear, or hope as an immortal being,. — " what will you
do in the end thereof?" What Avill you do when your all is gone ?
You may be obliged to " pull down your barns, and build greater."
but what can this avail when God shall say, " Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke xii. 20, — Oh,
consider this, and ere it be too late, receive the glorious inherit
ance that is freely given to sinners in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Now, on the other side, there may be some, yea, 1 doubt not there
are some here, who are oppressed with want, poverty-stricken, and
often not knowing one day how their wants may be supplied the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 145
next. Well, my poor friends, if you are looking to Jesus, — if
Christ is your hope and refuge, — think what an inheritance you
have ! think, what a glorious inheritance is secured to you in Him.
Remember, O poor believer, you are an heir of God, a joint-heir
with Christ. Whether would you rather be the rich man or
Lazarus ? Your days of poverty will soon be past — you will soon
be beyond the reach of want, or pain, or sin, and your Lord is
now watching over you, and numbereth the very hairs of your
head. Wherefore lift up your heart — better be poor, and have un
searchable riches in reversion, -than be reigning on a throne with
out Christ. " Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees." Heb. xii. 12, — and remember, that " God hath chosen the
poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom."
James ii. 5. This is the inheritance of Avhich Daniel speaks,
when he says, " a kingdom and dominion' and the greatness of
the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve mid obey him." Dan. vii.
27. — •" Happy is the people that is in such a case, yea, happy is
that people ivhose God is the Lord." Psal. cxliv. 15.
Believers then are spoken of, I say, as they shall be, they shall be
raised up together, they shall be glorified together with the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Apostle says, they are so. They are so in
God's counsels, they are so in God's purposes, they are so in God's
promises, they ought to be so in the joyful confidence of faith and
hope, and when they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is their
happy privilege to know they are so in reality.
Allow me to enlarge a little more on a former illustration. I
desire an architect to give me an estimate for building a church,
he draws his plan, he furnishes me with the ground, and the ele
vation, and he gives me a specification of all the various expenses,
and if he be a professional man who knows his business, the
Avhole of that church is just as clear in that man's eye, while he
is drawing the plan and estimate of it, as Avhen he beholds it
erected and completed. Now let me ask, does not Jehovah hold
His Church, complete and finished in His eye ? Is there a single
stone in the building that is not marked in the specification of His
counsels, from eternity. The architect may not perhaps knoAV
the quarry, where he is to find the stones to erect the building he
proposes, or if he expects to find them in a certain quarry, he may
be disappointed in his expectations, — but do you think there can
be any disappointment in the materials of the Church of the living
God ? The architect may change his plan, perhaps from caprice,
perhaps from necessity, from some unforeseen difficulty, some un
looked-for contingency, which serves but to show the imperfection
of the individual himself, or the unavoidable difficulties and disap
pointments that attend all human plans and calculations. But, do
you think, can God encounter these ? Do you think, can God's plans
be changed? Can unforeseen contingencies arise to make Him
vary from the course laid doAvn in the plans of His Omniscient wis-
10

146

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

dom ? Can He be disappointed or deceived in any quarter from which
the living stones in the mighty fabric of His spiritual temple are
to be collected ? Nay, when He gives His command to His angels
to gather the elect from the four quarters, from every kingdom
and nation and tongue and people, — and to bring them together
to Himself— and when He beholds the finished structure of His
glorious Church, and sees " the top stone brought forth with shout
ings, crying, Grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7 — there shall not
be a single individual — not a single saint in glory in the building
that was not marked in the counsels of the eternal God, and his
very position allotted in the Church, in which Jehovah sees him.
Eternal resurrection life and glory are given — received — embodied
into being in the word " hath." The architect will point out in
his plan to his employers — " There is the aisle — there the nave —
there the chancel — there the tower," Sec. — he calls these things of
his ideas and intentions as if they were real existences, but their
only being is in his own conception, they may perhaps never
have any other. But Omniscience and Omnipotence give present
existence to the future. In the fiat of His eternal word, He " call-
eth the things that are not as though they were." It is the pro
vince of faith to embody the existences of her Maker's word, and
therefore, " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evi
dence of things not seen." Heb. xi. 1. Therefore they are " raised
UP TOGETHER AND MADE TO SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY
places in christ jesus." — These are the privileges of the be
liever — they are written in the word of his God.
And now, brethren, what shall we say to these things ? these
glorious present blessings of the Church of Christ ? Surely we
may say with the Apostle to the Romans, xii. 1, " I beseech you,
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service." Surely we may say with St. Peter,
2 Pet. iii. 14, " Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot and blameless."
The Church of Rome is very right in her marks of the church,
— Catholicity, unity, apostolicity, sanctity. Very true they are
all marks of the church, they are marks of the church of Christ, —
not indeed of the church of Rome, no, nor of the church of Eng
land. You will see men contending about the term Catholic, as
if its real sense and meaning is not that in which it is to be ap
plied to the whole church of Christ through all the Avorld. That
is the Catholic Church ; — and so it has that mark of Catholicity, —
all believers in Jesus that have been, are, or shall be, through the
whole length and breadth of the globe, yea, "the whole family in
heaven and earth" are all in Christ, and are all one in Christ.
And so they have the mark of Unity. Recollect that blessed
testimony that was given to His Church by the Lord Jesus Him-
. self, in that wondrous prayer He offers up, commencing, as it
were, His glorious mediatorial office on earthy — St. John's Gospel,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 147
xvii. — 9, " I pray for them," (that is for His disciples,) " I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me ; for
they are thine." Now, O believer, look at the glorious testimony
in the 20th verse, " Neither pray I for these alone," (His disciples
Avere then around Him,) "but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father
art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." So
that glorious unity of hidden life exists in all the members of
His Church, and shall be manifested, when all who have believed
on His name, shall be gathered together a. His coming in His
glory. So you may see too the Apostolicity of the Church. Our Lord
saith, "for them also which shall believe on me through their
word," those who shall believe the testimony of the Apostles,
therefore, those whose principles and doctrines will stand the test
of God's eternal Word, and therefore, who are one with Christ
Jesus, their Lord, "built on the foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief corner stone."
Eph. ii. 20.
So is the Sanctity of the Church — -they are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, and so, though holiness is no part of their hope ; for Christ
is all their hope, it is an inseparable part of their character, an in
separable test of their fidelity ; and therefore, though no man can
be saved by his works, the Scripture tells us that all men can be
'udged by their works, because it is thus, and only thus, that the
sincerity of the disciples of Christ can really be known. If Ave
be servants of our blessed Master, we cannot be serving another
master, " no man can serve two masters ; for, either he will hate
the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Mat.
vi. 24.
Let us then deeply consider these things. It is difficult in lec
turing through these consecutive portions of the Scripture, not to
leave each portion more or less incomplete, because in its full
meaning it stands so connected with its context ; but still it is, I
believe, the most profitable mode of instructing from the sacred
Scriptures. It calls all who hear, to study the portion of God's
blessed Word, which is under consideration, to bring what we say,
always to that standard of truth.
Recollect you are not to be judged by the sermons or the min
istry of your pastors, you are to be judged by the Word of God,
itself, which it is their province to teach you. " The word," says
Christ, "that I have spoken, the same shall judge you at the last
day." John xii. 48. — " To the law and to the testimony, if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them." Isa. viii.— ^-20. And if we speak according to that Word
of truth; — woe be to those Avho neglect our word, not because it
is ours, but because it is according to the Word of the living God.
The Lord write His truth in our hearts, and sanctify it to our
souls, .for His great Name's sake; — Amen.

THIRTEENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — 7.

" That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in
his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus."
We are now to consider more fully the effects of man's salva
tion, as set forth in this passage. In part Ave have seen them to
consist in this, the raising man from the death of sin, its curse
and condemnation, and the exalting him to be an inheritor of the
kingdom of Christ, — God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus."
Another result' we see is to follow — namely, the manifestation
of the glorious attributes of God, and the exceeding riches of his
grace, "that in the ages to come, he might show the ex
ceeding RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US
THROUGH CHRIST JESUS."
I shall not apologize for adverting again to the first of these
subjects briefly to-day ; for, if we be indeed the children of God, it
ought to be the theme of our continual consideration, — as it must
be, it alone can be the joy and consolation of our hearts.
I. Recollect, then, that the state of a believer, is a state of present
pardon and acceptance with his God. Remember that. It is not
a contingent future forgiveness, as most persons, yea, as all unen
lightened sinners believe it to be. It is not, I say, a future for
giveness, contingent upon their own present morality and virtue,
— this is not the salvation of Christ — but present pardon, present
forgiveness, proclaimed to them through the blood of their Re
deemer, in the everlasting Gospel, and ratified on the authority of
the eternal God Himself; therefore, their state, being a state of
present forgiveness, is a state of present exaltation to the kingdom
of Christ, — I say, of present exaltation. Though the believer is
on this earth, living in this world, a poor, helpless sinner, yet, in
the covenant counsels of his God, as a believer in the Lord Jesus,
Christ, he is raised up with his Heavenly Head, and as a member of
Christ, he is exalted to the right hand of God, so that the glorified
members of the human body of Christ are not more exalted with
Christ at the right hand of God' than the members of His mystical
body, that is, all the members of the Church of Christ Jesus are
raised up in covenant, and made to sit together in heavenly places

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 149
in Christ Jesus their Lord. Consider one or two passages on this
subject. In Acts, xxvi. 18, you see the commission which the Lord gave
to the Apostle Paul, speaking of His sending him to the Gentiles,
He says, "unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheri
tance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
You perceive here what they Avere to receive. Now compare this
with the testimony of the Holy Ghost as to the state of those who
received the Gospel. In chapter i. 3, of this Epistle, we see the
fact, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
{daces in Christ," — hath done so.— Compare this again Avith Co-
ossians i. 12, 13, " Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light ; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." — Now ob
serve, " hath made us meet," — " hath delivered us from the power
of darkness," — "hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son." This is the actual state of all who truly believe the Gospel
— the actual position in which they should consider themselves to
be. Look again to 1 Pet. i. 3, 4, 5, he says, speaking of the state
of believers, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away," (there is their inheritance,) " reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed, in the last time."
Now, this inheritance is reserved for them, and they are kept
for it. Then it is to be revealed. It is as secure now as when it
shall be revealed. So in St. John's 1st Epistle, iii. 1, you see the
same truth set forth, " Behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God;
therefore the world knoweth, us not, because it knew him not."
Ah, brethren, these truths are above the comprehension of the
unregenerate world, " the world knoweth us not because it knew
him not." — Consider these facts, verse 2, " Beloved, now are we
the sons of God." If Jesus is indeed our refuge, then, beloved,
we are, and must be the sons of God ; for " whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." 1 John v. 1. " Ye are
all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." — Gal. iii. 26.
" But it doth not yet appear what we shall be." — that is not yet
known — " but v>e know, that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him ; for we shall see him as he is." When He shall be re
vealed, then His redeemed church shall burst from the earth in
light and glory, and in the likeness of their blessed Master, hav
ing their vile bodies "fashioned like unto his glorious body."
Phil. iii. 21, they " shall meet their Lord in the air, and so shall

150 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
they be ever with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 17. So, in the last
verses of this same chapter, which we are now considering, the
Apostle, having told them to remember what their former condi
tion had been, compares it with their present state, and says,
verses 19 and 20, " Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house
hold of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
You see, therefore, this is the effect of a sinner being brought to
Jesus, this is the immediate result of a sinner embracing the glori
ous Gospel of Christ. But this is an exhaustless subject ; for it is
a subject that is to be expanded into infinity and prolonged to
eternity. Oh, that it may be so with each of us !
II. But we come now to cdhsider another effect of salvation,
not merely individually, but collectively, as embracing the salva
tion of this whole church of Christ, which is the passage before us
to-day. Observe, how directly and consequentially it depends on
that which precedes it, — "he hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. — that
IN THE AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING
RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US THROUGH
CHRIST JESUS."
The highest privilege, the first duty, the noblest exercise of the
faculties of a moral being as such, is the setting forth of moral ex
cellence, the manifestation of moral virtue. Hence, the glory of
angels is their holiness — that which becometh the house of God
forever, is holiness. This is clear, most especially in all situations
of authority, from the father and master of a family to the ruler
and governor of nations, in which not only their own individual
existence is concerned, but also the relative position Avhich they
hold to all that are placed under them. But to do this man can
not set forth, or set up himself. If he does, it is ignorance, it is
pride, it is selfishness and falsehood. All the faculties, all the
poAvers of a moral agent, to be exercised as they ought, must be
exercised in manifesting, in holding forth the power and glory of
the Creator. The perfection of man as a moral agent, would be
the observance of the holy law of God. In this, the perfection of
Jesus, " of God manifested in the flesh," consisted. The perfec
tion of Jesus was in doing the will of His Father, — " my meat,"
said He, " is to do the will of him, that sent me, and to finish his
work." So it must be in all created intelligences, men or angels,—
the will of their Creator is the highest summit of perfection. To
set themselves up or to set forth themselves is to forget their God.
I must then take occasion here to remark on the objection, the
infidel objection that I have heard made against the Scriptures,
against such passages of the Scripture as this, in which God sets
forth His own glory as the great end of His- dealings with man.
They say —
"Surely, if man was to set forth himself as the end and scope
of his actions would we not call him sinful and selfish and proud in

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 151
setting himself up. It is in consideration of others that men should
show forth moral excellence. Therefore is it not attributing to
God that which we admit to be moral evil in man, to make his
own glory the end and scope of his government ?"
This is like all the other objections against God's word. It only
shows the blindness, the corruption, the ignorance of the uncon
verted, proud, natural heart of man ; — stupid, contemptible, worth
less, the moment it is put into the balance of the sanctuary. Why
is self-exaltation criminal in man ? What is the reason why he
ought not to set himself up as the end or scope of his actions ?
Because the standard of perfection is Jehovah, therefore, he rejects
that standard, if he does not aim at it, — if he aims at anything
lower. But the infinite perfection of God's moral government as
it really consists in the exercise, so it can only be exhibited in the
display of His OAvn glorious attributes. — I say, the perfection of
His government can only consist in this, in the exercise and in
the manifestation of His own individual glory. Why ? Because
He can have no higher standard of perfection than Himself, un
less there is something above God. He can have nothing less
than Himself, He cannot descend from the Creator to the crea
ture ; for that would be to descend from the standard of perfection
to imperfection, from the standard of the glory of the Creator to
the insignificance of the thing created. Therefore that men or
angels should make themselves the end or scope of their actions
is sin. But that God should make Himself the end and scope of
His actions is the necessary result of His perfection, as the holy
God. It could not be otherwise, — not to do so, would be, that He
must cease to be God, — it were to abdicate His throne — to take
up imperfection instead of perfection, as the standard of His moral
excellence and moral glory.
Hence, all the Scripture testimonies on the subject of the mani
festation of God's glory, in all His dispensations and all His deal
ings with man. Hence, the salvation of His people should be the
glorious manifestation of the glory of His grace ; and hence, the
very existence of sin, the wickedness of man, the rage and malice
of the devil, shall redound at last to the glorious manifestation of
the attributes of Jehovah, — His justice, His power and His mercy,
— the power of His justice in judgment, and the power of
His mercy in salvation. So you must see — you must acknoAvl-
edge it, unless you are blind, in all the history of the Scripture.
The overwhelming of a rebellious world by the flood, was as
great a manifestation of the glorious attribute of God's righteous
judgment and justice, as the saving of Noah and his family in the
ark, was of His grace and mercy.
The gaping of the earth, and the swallowing up of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, was the righteous manifestation of Jehovah's
character, as much as the sanctification of Aaron to the priest
hood — the miraculous budding of his rod — and the setting up the
sacrifices for sin, — the types of that blood of " the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world."

152 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
The fire of Sodom manifested the glory of God's righteous
judgment, as much as the deliverance of Lot exhibited His mercy.
And the sentence of the last da}', when " the secrets of all hearts
shall be disclosed," in the day of the righteous revelation of the
holy judgments of the mighty God, — the sentence against those
upon his left hand, " depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, pre
pared for the devil and his angels," Matt xxv. 41, shall redound
to the righteous justice of the eternal God, as much as the glorious
manifestation of His love to those on His right, " where mercy
and truth meet together, where righteousness and peace have
kissed each other," " Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,"
Mat. xxv. 34. Yea, " the weeping and gnashing of teeth" of the
damned shall glorify the righteous judgment of Jehovah, as much
as the song of the redeemed.
Oh think of this. Remember what it shall be, when instead
of man being everything and God nothing, " the loftiness of man
shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made
low, and God alone shall be exalted in that day." Isa. ii. 17.
" Oh, consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces,
and there be none to deliver you." Ps. 1. 22.
But our attention in the passage which I have read is directed to
the glory of God's grace in the ages to come, in the redemption,
the salvation, the exaltation, of His Church, — "that in the
AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF
HIS GRACE, IN, HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US THROUGH CHRIST
Jesus." Do you ask the meaning of this, — do you ask, how is
this manifested ? — hoAV is the " exceeding riches of Gods grace"
shown " in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus ?" I
will endeavor to explain it and to teach you how it is to be shoAvn
even in this very congregation. I will divide you this day — not
by persons, for that is not man's province, but by principles, of
which I must leave the application to each person's OAvn con
science. I will divide you, as you are divided in fact and truth, if
there be, as there are, alas, too many here, Avho are not servants
of God, — and that is, I Avill divide you into unconverted sinners,
and the people of God. You are divided, you must' be, into these
two classes. There is not a sinner here, or a sinner in all the
earth this day, who does not belong to one or the other. You
must be an unconverted sinner, or you must be a sinner that is
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, and made a servant of God.
I will show you how the riches of God's grace is manifested, —
hoAV, in the ages to come, the exceeding riches of His grace shall
be manifested towards you in Christ Jesus, — and I hope and trust
in His blessed name, that it shall be manifested this day to the
ungodly, unregenerate heart and conscience of every unconverted
sinner that is here. For example, — I care not who or what you
are — I suppose you to be some wretched, guilty creature, Avhom
all your neighbors know to be a character that ought to be
avoided, — there are such people Avho come into church frequently.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 153
There m;vy be here some this day of whom those Avho knoAV
you say —
" Ah, tb at is a rogue, that is a thief, there is no dependence to
be placed on that man."
Or agai i — " Look at that poor wretch, that miserable drunkard,
he cannot keep himself sober a moment, he has plunged himself
and his fa mily into ruin."
" There is a Sabbath-breaker, — what could have brought him to
church to day ? — I never saw him in church before, Avhat could
have led him here ? — he spends his Sabbaths in idleness and
wickedne: s." Again
" There is a liar, you cannot depend on one word that comes
out of hia lips, — he speaks truth and lies, alike with the same
facility.1' " There is a wretch that is a blasphemer, cursing and swearing
from nicming to night."
" There, there is one whose hands are stained with blood — that
man ought to have been hanged for murder."
Again, — " Ah ! there is a woman who is a reproach to modesty,
and to her sex — one whom Ave must shun as a pestilence, Avhose
very touch is contagion."
Perhaps there are some such here of various grades and shades
of guilt to-day, — and some perhaps who have never been detected,
but whose conscience echoes the charge from the pulpit in the ear
of God. Such, I say, may be here to-day, stained even with blood,
— yea, if your hands are not, the hearts of many of you are,
because it is written, "whosoever hateth his brother is a mur
derer." 1st John, iii. 15. And there are murderers in this and
in every congregation, those of wicked passions, who hate, or who
have often hated their brother.
How then are the riches of the grace of God to be manifested
here? It is our commission to proclaim, in His blessed name,
salvation to every creature — to proclaim mercy to the very chief
of sinners, and the exceeding riches of His grace are manifested
in the magnitude of the guilt he pardons, and the mercy He ex
tends to those who are ready to perish.
But there is another, and perhaps a more common character, —
a white-washed Pharisee ! A man who presents a fair exterior,
of whom his neighbors say, and as far as man sees, justly say,
" that is an upright, moral, worthy, decent, respectable man." But
God is not in your heart, and God is not in your house, — His Holy
Word is not opened in your family, you do not kneel down with
them, and seek His pardoning grace and mercy on your souls, —
you do not, in your own closet, kneel down and call upon God to
wash away your guilt in the blood of the Lamb — you value not
the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness — you think you have
but little sin to pardon — your pride is, that you are not as other
men. " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extor
tioners, unjust, adulterers" — this is your consolation, and this is
the hope of your salvation, when you look at such characters as I

154

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

have been describing, to comfort yourself with the thought — " I
am not such a character." — Alas, if this be so, you are but a
whited sepulchre. God looks through the whitewashing — the var
nish of the exterior, and He sees Avithin, the heart of His own
description, the corrupt, umvashed, guilty, rebellious heart, — the
heart, " deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Jer.
xvii. 9. — " The carnal mind is enmity against God." Rom. viii. 7.
But iioav, I care not what you are — in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, I proclaim to you this day, free and full forgiveness.
Oh thou poor, black, and guilty sinner, who would be afraid that
your fellow-sinners would look at a single movement of your heart,
— Remember God sees you, remember He sees every depth of sin
and every winding of deceit, — but God sends you pardon in His
everlasting word, — this day he commands you to " repent, and to
believe the Gospel." Mark i. 15. He proclaims mercy and for
giveness in your ears, — "Go ye," He says to His ministers, "go
ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,"
Mark, xvi. 15 — the good news of salvation. Whatever be your
character, or whatever the cause Avhy you came into this Church
— whether to build up a Babel of your own righteousness — to go
through an accustomed form — to salve your conscience by the dis
charge of a duty — to trifle away an hour of an idle Sabbath, yea,
even to hear and scoff — Yet, look unto Christ, and be ye saved,
" He came into the world to save sinners," 1st Tim. i. 15. Think
of the words of that sacred Hymn which you repeat so often in
our Liturgy, " When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." Oh, it
is true — it is true — hear it — believe it, and
" Let fools who came to scoff, remain to pray."
I Avent, last week, to see an old friend of mine, who had been a
member of this congregation. He is dying, and he told me, " Oh,
sir, I remember when you preached on a text, to illustrate these
words, ' When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou
didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers,' — my heart
rejoiced to see such pardon, grace and mercy in Christ Jesus my
Lord." Well — your hearts may rejoice this day, for you are, like him,
sinners, and Christ is the same Almighty Saviour.
And is not this "the exceeding riches of his grace?"
and if the Lord quickens you who are " dead in trespasses and
sins," — -leads your souls to know and rejoice in his pardoning
mercy to-day — if you are enabled, instead of coming here next
Sunday, a poor, blind, profligate rebellious enemy of God — or a
proud self-righteous Pharisee, — if you are enabled to come, as a
believer in Jesus — a reconciled child of God — longing to hear the
word of Christ — kneeling down in faith and hope, in truth and
love, to call upon your God — not going through the service in
mere mockery and form — but worshiping " in spirit and in truth"
that God who " seeketh such to worship Him" — if He leads you,.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 155
who have hitherto been serving the world, the flesh, and the devil,
to serve and glorify your God — will not that manifest " the ex
ceeding RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS
you through Christ Jesus." Will it not be " to the praise of
the glory of His grace" in time and eternity. Oh, think of this,
and may the Lord send this message of mercy and salvation to
your hearts, to-day, my friends and fellow-sinners ! for this is the
good news of the Gospel — it is the same alike to all, that which is
for you, is for me, we are all by nature vile, rebellious sinners, — if
God should enter into judgment with us, we must all perish. Oh,
then, " to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
" To-day, while it is called to-day," Heb. iii. 7, 8, 15, " look unto
me," saith He, " and be ye saved." Is. xlv. 22.
Believer, you know something of this, but, alas ! we know but
very little of it, as we ought to know. But are you at a loss to
understand— are you at a loss to know, how God manifests the
riches of His grace, in His kindness towards you ? Were you not
such as we have described, once living without God in the Avorld ?
Do you not remember what you were ? Do you not remember
your guilt — your enmity against God? Do you not remember
when you hated, or at least totally neglected His word ? When
you never prayed in spirit and truth ? — when you turned a deaf
ear to the Gospel? — when you disregarded it, and cast it from
you? Who remembered you in your low estate? — who found
you an outcast in the wilderness? Who "passed by you, and
said unto you, live ?" Ezek. xvi. 6. Who, "for his great love
wherewith he loved you, even when you were dead in sins, hath
quickened you together with Christ" ? Ch. ii. 5, — Who " sent his
word and healed you, and delivered you from your destruc
tions ?" Ps. cvii. 20. Who brought His word to your heart, and
led you to see Jesus as your refuge, and gave you hope and peace
in His salvation ? And then — when you look back, and think of
what you have been since — your innumerable provocations how
you have tempted Him to withdraw His grace from you, and
yet, up to this hour, how His patience has borne with you ! — How
often you have turned back in your heart " to the flesh pots of
Egypt !" — how often you have cherished in your soul, instead of de
testing, the very thought of sin — and yet, the long-suffering of
your God has not cast you off! Oh ! how great has been his
mercy to you ! How many your backslidings, your innumer
able sins ! — Perhaps the world has seen them, — perhaps they
are only known to God and your own conscience ! — but, Oh !
how often have you fallen, and He has lifted you up ! — watched
over you — not left you to yourself — not allowed you to depart from
Him — followed you with His grace, His mercy, His providences —
hedged up your way with thorns — visited you with stripes, to
chastise — to reprove — to correct — to humble you, to bring you
back — sending a messenger to you, like Nathan — bringing His
word to your soul in a thousand different ways, — and here you
are to-day, a monument of grace !— and in the ages to come, when:

156

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

it is all known, — Oh ! how shall every dealing of his wisdom,
providence, and love display "the exceeding riches of his
GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS YOU THROUGH CHRIST JESUS."
When " we know even as we arc known." 1st Cor. xiii. 12.
When we see the precipices on Avhich we have been standing —
the pit-falls from which he has rescued us — the ruin into which
we would have rushed, if God bad left us to ourselves — if He had
not, taken us, and dragged us back — and held us in His mighty
hand — and not alloAved Satan to pluck us out of it ! — Oh, dear
brethren in Christ, if there can be a contest in eternity, it must
be, Avhich of us should sing in the loudest strain, " Unto him that
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and
hath 'made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to
him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Rev. i.
5, 6. Well then, may Ave understand in some degree, yea, I
know you feel something — when I speak to you of the blessed
hopes and prospects of His servants, and of that love Avhich has
opened them to your ears — something of the meaning of these
Avords, "that in the ages to come, he might show the ex
ceeding RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US
through christ jesus." To Him be praise and glory forever
and ever. Amen.

FOURTEENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — 8, 9.

" For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is the
gift of God : Not of works, lest any man should boast."
We have seen, that one of the effects of the salvation of the Lord's
Church, is the manifestation of the glorious attributes of Jehovah
Himself, in the exceeding riches of His grace, — as Ave had in verse
7, " that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus."
The Apostle seems to introduce the 8th and 9th verses, as an em
phatic repetition, a fuller explanation of the momentous truth
which he had inserted parenthetically in the 5th verse, " by grace
are ye saved." He had said " But God who is rich iti mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye
saved,") and here again he evidently introduces it, for the purpose
of reminding them again of the important lesson, which is neces
sary to be so continually impressed on the heart of the sinner,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 157
viz., that the whole of man's salvation from first to last is to re
dound, not to his own glory, but to the glory of his God, as you
observe by the Avord "for."—" That in the ages to come, he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus, — for, — by grace are ye saved
through faith," — he shoAVs the exceeding riches of his grace,
for — by grace alone are ye saved.
It is indeed necessary to have this truth perpetually reiterated
to man ; for it is a truth of which, though the heart, in its con
stant sense of its own want and sin, has continually need, yet the
believer is as continually prone to turn from it. Therefore, you
may perceive, how frequently it has been introduced, even in this
short portion of the epistle we have read, — as for instance, in verse
2 chapter i. The Apostle uses the term as he always does in his
benedictory salutation, " Grace be to you, and peace from God
our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ," and he repeats
the word in verse 6, " to the praise of the glory of his grace,"
Avherein " he hath made us accepted in the beloved," and in the
7th verse, " in whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace," and
then in verse 5th of this chapter, as I have already remarked, "by
grace are ye saved," and in verse 7, "that in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace," and in the
verse now before us, "by grace are ye saved through
FAITH." Now, when we meet a truth repeated again and again in God's
word, we are not to pass over it lightly, and say, " This is the
same truth we met in the other verse, we have spoken of this
before." — No — God repeats truths in his holy word that Ave may
continually reconsider them, that we may again, and again, and
again, and again pray for His Spirit to apply them to our hearts.
When we preach — -at least for my own part, I can say, that when
I come to preach or lecture on these great truths to any of my
fellow-sinners, I feel I have need when I have set them forth to
others, to preach and lecture upon them again, as it were to my
self, that the same truths may be impressed upon my OAvn heart,
that I have endeavored to impress on others, which, however Ave
may know them as abstract truths, we are continually ready to
forget, if God whose grace teaches them to us, and keeps us,
would allow it. So the Apostle exhorts in the 2nd chap, of He
brews, verse 1, " Therefore we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should
let them slip."
If one of the members of our body is fractured, or dislocated, or
distorted, it can be set and bandaged up and bound to some sup
port, to keep it in its natural and right position. But Oh ! what
human force— what power — Avhat skill — what instruments can
we find to bind up and heal those dislocated, disjointed, and dis
torted thoughts and hearts of ours ! If we are attracted for a mo
ment to the holy word of God, and if our attention seems fixed for

158

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

a time to the standard of truth and sober wisdom, alas ! the next
moment we fly off again, like a Avandering bird. " The wicked,"
saith the Prophet, " are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Isa. lvii. 20, — and we often
feel our hearts fluctuating, like the waves of the troubled sea,
which, though, as you heard this day, at the moment Avhen the
voice of Jesus spake, they were hushed and stilled into a calm,
yet Avere again lashed and convulsed by the very next storm that
swept over them, or ruffled and disturbed by the next breeze that
passed across their surface. So it is Avith the heart of sinful man.
So do we require the continual impress, the continual acting of
the word of God, the grace, the power of the Spirit to move over
the face of the waters, — so must we have " line upon line, precept
upon precept, here a little, and there a little." Isa. xxviii. 10, —
that we be not " carried about with every wind of doctrine," Eph.
iv. 14 — and turned from the truth of God to fables. Therefore,
may the great God bless us and teach us by His Spirit, and by
His holy word, while we consider it this day and at all times.
The Lord tells us in these words, expressly by the Apostle,
HOAV WE ARE SAVED,
" By GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT
of yourselves, it is the gift of god," 
And how we are not saved,
" Not of works, lest any man should boast."
We are saved by grace through faith ; and Ave are not saved by
works. Grace is taken in various senses in the Avord of God, — some
times in a very limited, and sometimes in an enlarged sense. It
appears to me in this passage to be taken in its most comprehen
sive sense, embracing within its meaning all that is implied in its
application to the salvation of man in the Scripture. Grace is
sometimes put to signify the everlasting love of God to His people.
As for instance, 2d Timothy, i. 9, " who hath saved us, and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but accord
ing to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began," — and you have nearly the same
sense of it in this Epistle, i. 5, 6, " having predestinated us to the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
Sometimes, it signifies the effectual calling of the sinner, by the
operation of the Spirit of God, quickening his soul, as we have it
in this chapter, verse 5, " even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved").
Sometimes, grace signifies abounding mercy, as in Rom. v.
20, 21, " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life,' by Jesus Christ our
Lord." So you have the same idea expressed, though the same
word is not uset?; in Isa xl. 1, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 159
people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her
iniquity is pardoned ; for she hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins." Superabounding grace for abound
ing sin.
Sometimes, it is taken for the free and full pardon of sin, as in
Romans iii. 24, " being justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus," — and that Avas the view taken
of it in our last Lecture, in setting forth the riches of God's grace,
as proclaiming pardon to ungodly sinners, and the continual exer
cise of love and mercy to His redeemed people.
Sometimes, it means the being in a state of pardon and accept
ance with God, as for instance, in Romans v. 2, — " by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God," and you have the same idea
in Romans vi. 14, " you are not under the law, but under grace,"
— under a covenant of grace, — in a state of gracious acceptance
through the goodness of God.
Sometimes, it signifies the final salvation of the Lord's people,
as in 1st Pet. i. 13, " be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Now here I conceive it comprehends all these things, all the
blessings of the grace which brings salvation to the sinner's soul.
" By GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT
OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD," from first tO last— from
beginning to end — from the grace that called you to the grace that
shall open the folding doors of eternal glory to your view.
" By grace are ye saved through faith." It is important
to attend to this, it is necessary to put faith into its right place, it
is indispensable to have the judgment, the understanding clear up
on this subject, for I know of no subject on which the minds of
believers are more frequently in error, perplexed and harassed than
on this.
They are not saved by works, they say, but they are saved by
faith. But, when they find their faith Aveak, when they find doubts
and darkness arise in their minds, then their hope of salvation is
gone, — they are all agitated, " Oh Ave are saved by faith, but I do not
believe — I feell have no faith." Now, it is of the greatest importance
rightly to understand this, " By grace are ye saved through
/ faith." Faith no more saves you than works, considered in
! itself. It is no more the act of your mind in believing, or it is no
more your strongest confidence that saves you, than it is your
works. Faith is the channel through which salvation is given to
you. Your salvation is Christ, — the glorious grace of God in giv
ing Christ ; Christ's righteousness, the gift of grace, — Christ's blood,
the gift of grace, — Christ's glorious sacrifice, His finished salvation,
the gift of grace, — all, is the grace of God, all, the manifestation of the
riches, " the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus." Faith is merely, as it were, the vessel
by which this salvation is given to you. If man rejects it and casts

160

LECTURES on the ephesians.

it off, of course he must perish, — if a man receives it and embraces it,
all the blessings of it are his, — but, remember, the blessings are
all in Christ, and not in his faith. Faith receives and embraces
the blessing, but is not the blessing itself, — because, salvation is in
Christ, and not in faith. It is the medicine that heals the body,
and not the cup in Avhich that medicine is conveyed. If a medi
cine is administered to you in a vessel of gold, silver, china, delph,
or glass, — yea, though the vessel be not only fragile, but cracked,
or partly broken, — it matters not, it is the medicine and not the
vessel, that conveys healing to your body. And it is the balm of
Christ's blood, it is the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which
your soul is saved, though the faith may be veiy weak by Avhich
you receive Him — "By grace are ye saved through faith."
An illustration, perhaps, will convey more clearly to your minds,
that the important difference lies not between a weak and a strong
faith, but between a true and a false one. Let me suppose two
shipwrecked mariners, swimming from the Avaves to a bank of
sand, one very confident, — the other, trembling Avith fear. They
reach the bank of sand, but it is a quicksand, and both are en-
gulphed. Why ? All the spirit, the courage, and confidence of
the one could not save him, because the ground on which he trod
sunk under his feet, — the other povishes, not by his fears or appre
hensions, but because the ground on which he stood sunk beneath
him too. So it is Avith sinners. It is not the strength or weak
ness of their faith, but it is the truth of their faith, that is, the truth
of the object in which they believe. It is not the strength or con
fidence with which one believes, or the Aveakness Avith which an
other believes, — but it is this, — that the thing Avhich we believe is
God's eternal truth. So if two men believe a lie as the hope of
their soul, — one going on with the utmost possible confidence, and
the other, trembling and fearing, — they shall both perish in the
lie they have believed ; for they have not "fled for refuge to lay
hold on the hope set before them," Heb. vi. 18, but they have fled
to a refuge of lies.
Let me speak affectionately, and entreat their attention, if I ad
dress any of my Roman Catholic friends and neighbors to-day.
No doubt there are very different degrees of confidence Avith which
you may believe, that the sacrifice of your Mass is a propitiatory
offering that satisfies God for your sins, or that your priest can for
give you. So there are different degrees of confidence, Avith which
many ignorant Protestants may believe, that the Sacrament will
be an atonement for their sins, and make their peace on their death
bed, or that their minister can do something for their souls. But
it is no matter, Avhether men believe in such things Avith confidence
or whether they believe in them with trembling doubt and appre
hension, they shall perish in their iniquity, if they rest upon such
refuges of lies, for there is no offering in either the Mass or the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper nor in anything in earth or
heaven for the sinner to save his soul, but the blood of our crucified
Redeemer.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 161
Now let me again illustrate true faith. Two shipwrecked mari
ners buffet their way from the wreck to a rock, — one is confident and
joyous— the other trembling and fearing, lest the waves should
overwhelm him and sweep him again into the bosom of the deep ;
— but the rock is inaccessible to the waves, and both are equally
secure. Why? It is not the courage or confidence of the one
that saves him, but because he is on a rock. All the doubts
and fears of the other cannot overwhelm him. Why ? Because
notwithstanding all his doubts and fears, he is on a rock. — So
when sinners have indeed " fled for refuge to lay hold upon the
hope set before them," when they have indeed fled to Jesus, — the
Rock, the Fortress of their salvation, Avhether they believe with
joyous, lightsome heart, with full assurance of faith, or whether
they are, as many are, doubting, trembling, fearing in the weak
ness and unbelief of their own hearts, — still they are both equally
secure ; — for both are resting upon the " Rock of ages," — Jesus is
the Hope, Jesus is the Rock, Jesus is the Salvation of them both.
Wherefore the babe in Christ is as safe as the father in Christ —
the weakest believer is as safe as the strongest, — because it is not
their faith, but Christ that saves them — it is not by faith you are
saved through grace, but " by grace are you saved, through
faith ?" Grace is that which gives salvation, and therefore, that
may " be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,"
Eph. vi. 10, " strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2nd
Tim. ii. 1.
This may seem to some of you not very important, — but if you
are distressed and agitated with doubts and fears, as certainly
some, perhaps many of you who believe the Gospel are, — you will
see, what a blessing it is for a sinner to be taught to look out of
himself, and how blessed it is for him to see, that all his salvation
•is in Christ Jesus his Lord. Oh, how hard it is, when persons
have taken up a false system, and have not been rightly instructed
in God's truth, to drive these vain fancies out of their minds !
How often have I seen the servants of God doubting and trem
bling, and writing bitter things against themselves, even on the bed
of death, because, instead of looking to Jesus as their all, they
were looking into themselves for confidence, and expecting comfort
and courage from the strength of their faith, instead of from
Christ, the strength of their salvation. Remember this.
You who are strong in the faith of Christ Jesus, — you who are
resting with joyous confidence on your Lord, — beware — we are in
an enemy's land, and always in danger. " Let him that thinketh
he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. x. 12. We are often
encouraged when faith is strong, to look away from Christ to our
selves, to transfer our confidence from Jesus to our faith. Beware,
lest the confidence of faith should degenerate into confidence in
faith. Remember David — " In my prosperity I said, I shall never
be moved, Lord, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong." What are the next words ? " Thou didst hide
thy face, and I was troubled." Psalm xxx. 6, 7. Oh, brethren,
11

162 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
"watch and pray." If you are strong in the faith that is in
Christ Jesus, pray that the Lord may keep you strong, keep you
humble, and keep you lowly. Remember, the Apostle says, " when
I am weak then I am strong." Strong faith is often a very hard
tried faith. Recollect strong faith ought to be victorious faith.
" This is the victory that overcom,eth the world, even our faith''
1 John v. 14. If your faith is strong, you may be called upon to
put it into exercise against a storm of corruption and sin Avithin,
or such power of temptation without, that it may make you trem
ble, and ask yourselves, " Is it possible I can be a believer ?" I
repeat then — " Watch and pray." Mat. xxvi. 41.
And those of you who are weak in the faith that is in Christ Jesus,
— trembling and doubting, — if indeed you are looking unto Him,
take courage. Look out of your faith. It is not your faith, — it is
Jesus that saves you. It is not the strength of your own confi
dence, it is the strength of Him in whom you confide. Think of
this.: — Lift up your hearts. Remember that Jesus is the same to
the weakest as to the strongest. The Rock is the same to the
man that trembles on it, as to the man who stands with the
stoutest heart upon it. Jesus is the same to both. O weak be
liever ! lift up your hands that hang doAVn, — you may be " walk
ing in darkness, and have no light,"— but he that does so, — " let
him trust in the Lord, and stay himself upon his God," Isa. 1. 10
— upon " his God' when he is Aveak as well as when he is strong,
— " his God," in darkness as well as in light, — " his God," in doubts
as well as in confidence, — " his God" in difficulty as well as in the
easy course of prosperity. Therefore, " Lift up the hands that
hang down, and the feeble knees." Heb. xii. 12. Let the weak
take courage, — let the strong " watch and pray." Remember the
character of your Shepherd — remember what is said, " he gather-
eth the lambs in his arms, and carrieth them in his bosom, and
gently leadcth those that are with young." Isa. xl. 11. The
strong walk firmly and boldly on, — he gathereth the weak ones
in His arms, — He gently leadeth those that are weary and heavy
laden with burdens of anxious doubts and fears — " I have yet
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now," He
saith, John xvi. 12. You then that are Aveak and weary, heavy-
laden, burthened with a sense of your sins, — Oh ! look out of
yourselves to Jesus, cast your burden on Christ, — He is able to
sustain it, — He is mighty to bear it. Remember, "underneath
are the everlasting arms." Deut. xxxiii. 27. The bearer of your
burthen is Omnipotent. What weight of sin or soitoav is too great
for Christ to carry ? and what burthen ought to be too heavy for
us to cast on Him ? We cannot bear it, but Jesus can.
"By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not
,of yourselves." — Now, the word " that" does not mean either
grace or faith. The original does not directly admit of its refer
ence to either, but it means both together, namely, salvation by
grace through faith, " by grace are ye saved, through
,faiTH, AND that" (namely your salvation by grace through

LECTURES . N THE EPHESIANS. 163
faith) " IS NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GoD : NOT
OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST." It is not by your
works you are brought into a state of salvation, and it is not by
your works you are kept in it, for you can do nothing to save your
soul, you are a lost sinner, — you are saved, not by anything you
can do, but by the work of Jesus, proclaimed to you in His blessed
word, and brought home to your hearts by His mighty Spirit.
Some men Avill go very far indeed in ascribing salvation to a
being they call Christ, and to a thing they call Grace, if you will only
allow them to have some little share in their own salvation. Only
alloAV, that there is some little credit due to themselves, and they
will give to Christ and Grace as much as you please. I repeat it
again, they will ascribe salvation to a being they call Christ, and
to a thing they call Grace. But they do not really mean Christ
or Grace. It is neither the Christ nor the Grace of the Bible that
men really call by such names, when they hold such principles in
their hearts. This is of the greatest possible importance to con
sider, because such awful falsehoods are set forth with such inge
nuity and sophistry, and come recommended by such names and
such authority, that if men are not built upon the " Rock of ages,"
if their faith is not established on the Word of the living God,
they will be led away by the " cunning craftiness" of men who
" lie in wait to deceive."
I shall read for you a brief specimen of this system of religion
to which I advert :
" Religious doctrines and articles of faith can only be received,
according to certain dispositions of the heart." — That is very true.
" These dispositions can only be formed by the repetition of cer
tain actions."
This is very false, and mark the false principles engrafted
on it.
" And therefore, a certain course of action can only dispose us
to receive certain doctrines."
And here the writer says,
" It is curious to observe, how entirely Aristotle's system in this
respect coincides with Holy Scripture."*
Whether this be the doctrine of Aristotle, it is of no import
ance to us to investigate ; but if it be, the writer of this sentiment
is, at least as far as the Pagan author whom he quotes, from
either truth or the doctrine of the Bible. — You will perceive how
directly the principles here maintained contradict the express tes
timony of our Lord. This doctrine is — make the fruit good, and
you make the tree good. Our Lord's doctrine is, " Make the tree
good and his fruit good." Mat. xii. 33. And our Lord expressly
testifies, " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a cor
rupt tree bringeth 'forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit ; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
. fruit" Mat. vii. 17, 18. Outward actions are not in themselves
* Tracts for the Times, as cited by Mr. Goode, in his excellent Tract " The Case as
it is," p. 32, 33.

164 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
really good — -because they may seem to be so — their goodness
depends on the motives and principles of the heart on Avhich they
are performed — just as the excellence of the fruit depends not on
its outward appearance, but on the taste and flavor Avhen you try
it. You may have seen apples that appeared beautiful and tempt
ing to the eye on the tree, but when you tasted them, you found
them sour and not fi; to be eaten ; so actions on false principles,
that are not, as it were, flavored Avith the motive of love to our
blessed Master, are only falsely tinted with the seeming glow of
virtue. The application, therefore, of this doctrine is as false as
the doctrine itself. The writer says,
" For instance charitable works alone will make a man charita
ble and the more any one does charitable works, the more char
itable will he become."
" He only will be humble in heart who does humble actions."
Mark how directly this transposes the order both of truth and
Scripture, as if it were not charity and humility of heart that
could alone make men either really charitable or humble ; as if
men might not "bestow all their goods to feed the poor, and give
their body to be burned," 1 Cor. xiii. 3, without one spark of
charity in their heart ; or, " make broad their phylacteries, and
enlarge the borders of their garments," Mat. xxiii. 5, and stand
praying in seeming humility at the coiners of the streets, with the
pride of Satan in the heart — garnish and AvhiteAvash the sepulchre
without, while nought but death and corruption were festering
within. He adds — " He who most of all practises these duties, will be
mopt of all brought by a necessary and moral consequence to
embrace the cross of Christ." And by forming men to these
actions, there is to be " a preparation of the heart previous to the
imparting of the highest knowledge" namely, "the doctrine of
the Cross."
How miserably ignorant of divine truth is man when not taught
by the Word and the Spirit of the living God. Hoav clearly do
such doctrines illustrate that the " unlearned and unstable" who
" wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction," 2 Pet. iii. 16, do
not mean those who are not learned in Classics or in Science, in
modern literature or Pagan Philosophy, but those who are un
taught in the sacred oracles of truth. For these doctrines, I am
ashamed, to say are put forth from learned men in one of our
English Universities, and this system is but another edition of the
falsehoods of Rome.
But this illustrates the use of scriptural terms in an unscriptural
or antiscriptural sense. For this is a system that sets forth a
thing that is not grace, and a being that is not Christ ! Christ
and the cross are not for the good, but for the guilty. " They that
are whole need not a Physician, but they that are sick." Mat. ix.
12. This is like prescribing to a man in an hospital — "Get up
and make yourself better, and walk about a little, and take exer
cise, and then you will be fit to be healed by a Physician."

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 165
This is exactly the same thing. Set men to Avork, to do some
good deeds, in order to make them acquire good habits, and then
they will come to the doctrine of the cross by a "moral conse
quence" ! Is this the word of the living God ? Is this the salva
tion of Christ for the lost ? Preaching Christ to men who have
acquired good habits — preaching the doctrine of the cross to save
humble charitable men ! Alas ! such a system as this can only
come from the father of lies. Blessed be God it is written in His
word of truth, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin
ners," 1 Tim. i. 15 — uncharitable sinners, proud sinners, guilty,
rebellious, vile sinners, sinners such as are in this and in every
congregation. The glorious Gospel of Jesus is, that Christ came
into the world to save sinners such as you and me. Oh, that is
the blessing of the Gospel ! " by grace are ye saved, through
FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD,
NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST."
If such a system as this were true, what would be the conse
quence ? Why, that man could boast, and must boast. The man
who prepares himself by this sort of system, by his charitable
works, and humble works, and similar Avorks, to come to Christ,
, what must that man's song be? what must his principle be? Is
it not this ? " God, I thank thee, lam not as other men are, extor
tioners, unjust, adulterers," Luke, xviii. 11. "I have done a variety
of charitable actions, and so made myself charitable — I have perr
formed a number of humble actions and so made myself humble —
and therefore, I have prepared myself to profit by the doctrine of the
cross — I have prepared myself for the reception of this ' highest
knowledge-' — this neighbor of mine has not done so, — therefore,
" stand by thyself, come not near to me, for lam holier than thou."
Such must be their language if they speak as they think. But what
saith the Lord ? " These are a smoke in my nose, afire that burn-
eth all the day." Isaiah Ixv. 5. It is impossible to call principles
such as these the principles of the Church of England ! Nay —
they subvert the very foundation of truth — they pervert the doc
trines, not only of the Bible, but of our holy religion ! — they deny
the truths, which those martyrs whom the Lord raised up, our
blessed reformers, to deliver us from Apostacy and superstition, em
bodied as the principles of God's holy truth into the articles of our
religion, and into the whole framework of our Church, to raise a
bulwark in this land, against such false and ignorant corruptions
of the blessed Gospel, as this. Hear our Article on this sub
ject, —
Article X. — " The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot
turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith, and
calling upon God."
He cannot do so, that is, by doing charitable or humble actions
or any such thing as this, he cannot even turn himself to faith and
prayer, much less give himself a claim upon God.

166

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

The Article proceeds . —
" Wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God%
without the grace of God, by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and
working with us, when we have that good will."
Grace must go before any actions that the sinner can do, before
they can be called good ; therefore good actions cannot lead him
to faith, but, as we shall see, if we are spared to consider the next
verse, faith in Christ leads him to good actions, to serve his God.
Again, in Article 13 —
" Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ. Neither do
they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of
congruity."All works that are done before the grace of Christ, are not pleasant
to God, because their principle is false and hollow, and when that
principle is on the system of making men meritorious, and making
them fit to come to Christ, fit recipients of His mercy, making them
deserve grace of condignity, or congruity, (as the Popish authors
say,) when this is the principle of such works — it is a denial of the
Gospel, it is a total subversion of God's holy truth. The Article
continues, —
" Yea, rather for that they are not done, as God hath willed and commanded them
to be done, — we doubt not but they have the nature of sin."
And indeed they need not doubt it ; for there is not a shadoAV
of doubt upon the subject. They have, and must have the nature
of sin ; they do not fulfil the law, and the motive they spring from
is false, it cannot be love. The works of a believer, although they
do not fulfil the law, and all have in them much to be forgiven — ¦
yet they are graciously accepted by God, because the man who
does them is accepted — the person is accepted, so are his works —
and the motive is accepted, because it is love. The sinner whom
Christ has washed in His precious blood desires to serve his Lord,
because he loves Him — so a cup of cold water given in the name
of Christ shall by no means lose its reward. Love — the attractive
power that gravitates to the centre of all good — is that which gives
weight to acts of obedience. It can cause " two mites which make
a farthing" to weigh more than " all the gifts of the treasury,"
and " a cup of cold water" more than " thousands of rivers of oil."
But the unconverted sinner is dead in sin, and he is dead in
law ; his person is condemned, so are his works ; and all he does,
or can do, will but accumulate sin on his head before God, when
God shall enter into judgment with him. He must be saved by
grace, or he must perish.
Herein then comes the glory of the blessed Gospel, — " by grace
ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT, NOT OF YOURSELVES,
IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD
boast." It proclaims rich salvation to the very chief of sinners,
to man in the depths of his guilt, and to man in the depths of his

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 167
proud imaginary virtues, the pride, the self-righteousness of the
natural rebellious heart — for the one is as deep an abyss as the other,
and both alike are alienated from God.
If, then, I say again, a man were to be saved by his works, or
if he were to prepare himself for grace by the m'erit of his own
actions, his humility, charity, or anything else, I say, that man
must boast over his fellow man, who had not so prepared himself
as he has done. " I do not frustrate the grace of God," says the
Apostle, Galat. ii. — 21, "for if righteousness come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain." If righteousness come by anything a
sinner can do for himself, that is, by his obedience to the law, then
" Christ is dead in vain," so in Romans, xi. 6, "if by grace then
is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it is no more grace : otherwise work is no
more work." Surely, a man could not possiby be delivered from
death, both by the verdict of a jury, pronouncing him innocent —
and by the sovereign sending him pardon for his guilt. If the jury
pronounce him innocent, he does not want a pardon, he is saved
from condemnation, because he is not guilty. If the sovereign
send him pardon, then he must have been pronounced guilty by
the jury, and his only hope depended on the remission of his sen
tence. So it is, if a man is saved by his own righteousness, he
cannot be saved by Christ. Christ has nothing to say to him, he
wants not Christ, — he cannot look to Christ, — Christ never came
to save those who can save themselves, — there is no salvation pro
claimed to righteous men. A righteous man cannot need salva
tion,— again, I repeat the Scripture, " they that are whole, need
not a physician, but they that are sick," " I came," saith Christ,
" not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The salva
tion of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a salvation for sinners, for us who
know and feel that we are sinners. Glorious indeed is the sound
of the gospel to us, " by grace are ye saved through faith,
AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF
WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST."
Such a system as this — salvation by works, by merit, by pre
paring the sinner to make himself worthy to receive pardon from
God, — such a system completely frustrates the grace of God —
subverts, denies the Gospel, and makes Christ dead in vain. It
turns away the hope of the sinner's soul from Christ on earth — it
would reverse the song of the redeemed in glory ; for that song
could not be " Unto him who loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood," but, " Unto me, who have prepared my
self, and made myself fit for salvation and glory, and made myself
worthy to receive the mercy of God, — unto me be praise and
glory" !
Oh, blasphemous abandonment of God's eternal truth ! blas
phemous subversion of the salvation of Jesus, and of all the hope
that God proclaims to man in His eternal word !
Blessed be God, " by grace are ye saved" ! Blessed be
God, the same grace is opened for us to-day that was opened for

168

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

us when first we believed. Blessed be God, we have a Saviour
who is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8.
Blessed be God, Ave have " a fountain opened for sin and for un
cleanness," Zech. xiii. 1, and though mountains of sin have rolled
into it, — it is still as deep, as fathomless as ever, — for it is written,
" Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea," Micah
vii. 19. Oh, grace is the song that we must sing.
" Grace all the work shall crown,
Through everlasting days ;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise."
Yes, when the top stone is laid in the arch of the Spiritual
Temple, " grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7, shall echo through
the vault of heaven, — " grace, grace, redeeming grace, salvation
to the Lamb for all eternity !"
" 0 that with yonder sacred throng,
AVe at His feet may fall,

There join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all."

Amen.

FIFTEENTH LECTURE

Ephesians II. — 10.

" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Nothing can be more opposed to true religion or to common
sense, than to suppose that any dispensation could come from God
to man, in Avhich he did not provide for the authority and observ
ance of his holy law. The relation between Creator and crea
ture, Governor and subject, God and man, precludes the possibility
of such a monstrous anomaly ; for, as long as that relation sub
sists, it must be regulated according to some rule, it cannot be un
defined. There must be a rule, according to Avhich the governor
is to govern, and the subject to obey, — and that rule can only be
the holy law of God.
Can you imagine a sovereign, ruling over his subjects Avithout
any law ? Or, can you imagine a sovereign so absurd as to make
any proclamation to his subjects, which would give them license
to ti'ead his laws under foot ? So soon might you suppose the Al
mighty Ruler of the universe making any revelation of His will
to man, in which there could be any dispensation for His holy
law or any relaxation of its divine obligation.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 169
The objectors to the Gospel scheme of salvation, by which it is
provided, that " by the deeds of the law," (i. e. by man's obedience
to the laAV,) "no flesh can be justified," cry out against this Gos
pel, because they say, it relaxes obedience to the laAV, on the
part of man ; it relaxes the obligation of the law, on that of Gou.
In this they only show their own ignorance, both of the law and
of the Gospel : for it is because the law cannot be relaxed, it is
because the perfection of its authority must be maintained, it is
because " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle
of the law to fail," — this is the very reason Avhy by that laAV, no
flesh can be justified before God. It is admitted, that if man keeps
the law, he shall be saved. This is a principle laid down in
Scripture over and over again, as in St. MattheAV, xix. 16, 17,
where the young man came to our Lord and asked him " Good,
master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life ?"
and our Lord ansAvers him, " if thou wilt enter into life keep the
commandments." If man will attain eternal life by the good that
he is to do, that good must be to "keep the commandments,"
And again in Romans, x. 5, you see the same principle stated,
" Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man that doeth these things shall live by them ;" therefore, it is a
principle laid down in the Scripture, that if a man keeps the law,
he shall be saved. — But if we suppose that a man were only to
break the law in one single instance, and that with that single
exception he could be justified by his previous and subsequent
obedience to the laAV, then the lav/ must be relaxed for him in that
instance ; — his violation of the law in that instance must be passed
over, and his obedience, before or after, must be taken as a satis
faction for his disobedience in that one point. But it is because,
this is utterly impossible, it is because the law of God cannot be
relaxed in a single particular, that therefore, it is written in St.
James, ii. 10, " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all." So to prove the impossibility
of justification by obedience to the law, it is written in Gal. iii. 10.
Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them." And so, when the
Apostle proves in Rom. iii. 20, that "by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh, be justified in his sight ; for by the law is the
knowledge of sin," — and Avhen he concludes from his argument
in verse 28, " Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith without the deeds of the law" — so far from relaxing the
obligations of the law of God, the Apostle demonstrates that it is
by this alone the law can be maintained, — verse 31, " Do we then
make void the law through faith ? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law." So in this chapter, in the passage we had under our
consideration, in our last Lecture, " by grace are ye saved, through
faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast,"— while the law is there ex
cluded from the justification of the sinner, provision for obedienca
to the law is immediately set forth, as we have it in our text.

170 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
"FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS,
UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT
we should walk in them." In the very place where he tells
you, that the law can have no place whatever in the salvation of
the believer, he tells you in the very next verse, which we have
now under consideration, that it must have a place in his conduct
and character. So that, though it is clear from the Scripture, that
no man keeps the law of God absolutely, so that he can never
call himself a fulfiller of the law, — on the contrary, it is written,
" in many things we offend all." James iii. 2 — on the contrary, it
is written, that at any time or under any circumstances, " if we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us." 1 John i. 8, — yet it is as clearly set forth in Scripture, that
the believer must be a keeper of the law relatively ; that is, in a
manner totally different from his OAvn former life, and totally dif
ferent from the customs and practices of an unregenerate and
ungodly world; "for, we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which god hath before
ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM." So yOU See this
is set forth of the believer in 1 Pet. iv. 2, 3, " that he no longer
should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men,
but to the will of God, for the time past of our life may suffice
us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and
abominable idolatries." Such had been their walk, but now it is
changed — and all their former companions see it to be so — ver. 4,
" wherein they think it strange, that you run not with them to the
same excess of riot, speaking evil of you." You did run with
them, hut now they think it strange that you do not do so,- — and
that is the very case this moment with the sinner Avho is brought
through grace to know Christ. He was a merry pleasant fellow,
as his companions thought him, — but now, what a great change
has come over him ! — he will not go Avith them as he used to do,
he no longer joins with them in their former pursuits, he has be
come a new man. They tell him most truly, but alas ! for them,
in mockery, " He has become a saint." He has become a changed
character. It must be so, it could not be otherwise. " If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed
away ; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. v. 17. So you
see the same thing in 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11, " Know ye not, that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not de
ceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effem
inate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall in
herit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you" — (that
is, what they were, their former character) — " but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." " Such were some of
you," but now you are no longer such — you are totally changed.
So you have it in this very chapter, verse 2, "wherein in time

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 171
past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience ;" — and then Paul includes him
self, — " among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others" — " But" — a mighty change hath passed on us — " God
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his
grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus ; for by
grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man should boast."*
But are we now living as we once were, among an ungodly world ?
are we walking with them as they walked ? No, God's mercy
hath been revealed to us, God hath stretched out His hand over
us, He hath quickened us, — and now, " we are his workman
ship, CREATED IN CHRIST JeSUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH
God hath before ordained that we should walk in
THEM." Now we have in this text —
I. The power that acts on the sinner to bring the sinner into
obedience to his God — "We are his workmanship."
II. The mode in which that power acts upon him, so as to
produce this effect, "created in Christ Jesus unto good
AVORKS." III. The certain security for the operation of this power and
for the effect it will produce, " which God hath before or
dained that we (his people) should walk in them." It is
His appointment — it is His will — it shall be done.
We consider then —
I. The power that acts on the sinner to bring him
into obedience to his God. What is the power ? The power
of God alone, — no other power. Oh that men knew this ! then
instead of looking to men and means, they would look to God !
instead of resting on preachers, and running about, as many do,
from one preacher to another, to try and derive profit from them,
* Some readers may think it very unnecessary to quote at length these passages of
the chapter which have been lately so frequently cited, and so much dwelt on, and
that a mere reference to the verses would be quite sufficient. The Editor does not
think so — he has often felt in reading religious books that mere references to the pas
sages in the Word of God on great principles of doctrinal or practical truth, lose their
jiower and effect when not fully inserted — for few will open their Bibles to refer to
them, they take them for granted, and pursue the thread of the subject — but the Editor
is persuaded, that the greatest blessing to be hoped for in any work, is to be found
most especially in this, how far the Author in his work, may be able through grace to
;set forth, in truth and faithfulness, the mind of God by His own blessed word. Here
the whole course of the Apostle's reasoning, which had been considered in its doc
trinal meaning is now brought forward in its practical bearing on the subject of this
lecture, so that the truth is applied which was before explained.

172 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
— and turning from one religious book to another, and often from
one error to another, — Oh ! that they would remember that the
only real profit a sinner can find for his soul, is not to be derived
from his felloAV-man, but from God ! — that " men are born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." John i. 13.
There is no truth more clearly set forth in Scripture, than that
it is impossible for man to reform himself. — " Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do
good that are accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23. And now,
consider, how opposite this is to your own natural sentiments, be
cause there is not a single person in this congregation who is
not brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, that admits this principle.
You do not believe it, — you think you can amend your life, you
think you can reform your character. You might as well im
agine that an Ethiopian could wash himself white, or a leopard
change his skin ! God who knoweth all things tells you, that
" then" — Avhen they do so — " then may you do good who are ac
customed to do evil." This is repeatedly shown in those portions
of this Epistle which Ave have been considering. We should con
sider them over again, to prove the principle from them. Man is
represented as dead, and God as the quickener. The same
power must be put forth to quicken the dead soul, that Jesus
Christ put forth to quicken the dead body, when he said, " Lazarus
come forth." John xi. 43. If man cannot quicken his own souL
how can he reform his own life ? If man cannot set the cause in
operation, how shall he be able to produce the effect ? If you
cannot make the tree good, hoAV will you make the fruit good ?
and, if you cannot generate in yourselves good principles, how
can you possibly produce in yourselves, the conduct that flows
from good principles? It is impossible. "We are his work
manship." God's power alone can produce holiness of life. So
we have this repeatedly set forth in God's holy word, as for in
stance in Jeremiah xxxi. 33, where the Lord speaks of men
becoming new creatures, — what does he say, " / will put my law
in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be
their God, and they shall be my people." " I will do it," saith
the Lord. There is the royal fiat of the King of kings, " I will
•put my law in their hearts, I will be their God, they shall be my
people." And again, xxxii. 39, 40, " I will give them one heart
and, one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of
them and of their children after them. And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from,
them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, that
they shall not depart from me." " I do it," — they do not do it
for themselves, — it is God's work, "we are his workmanship."
So you have in 2d Cor. v. 5, " he that hath wrought us for this
selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest
of the Spirit." And so in Philippians i. 6, " being confident of
this very thing, that he ivho hath begun a good work in you, wilt

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 173
perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." He does not say, I
am confident, that as you have begun to reform your lives, you
will continue to do so. No, but " being confident of this very
thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perform
it unto the day of Jesus Christ." Oh, what a blessing, — what a
blessing it is, that it is God's work.
All of you who are ignorant of this, in the pride of your heart
are angry at it, you think that it is an unreasonable thing to sup
pose, that you are not to have some strength in your own power
— some share in quickening your own soul, — in your own deliver
ance — you, I say, are displeased. But you Avho know the Gospel
of Christ, and you who know the corruption of your own hearts,
— you thank God, that it is God's work — you bless God, that it is
His power you have to look to, and not your OAvn — your hearts
rejoice when you pray to Him and say : "forsake not thou the work
of thine own hands !" Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Yes, those who know their
own helplessness, know, that if they had not the Almighty hand
of God to take them and keep them, and bring them to Zion, they
must perish forever.
Now we consider — II. The mode in which the power of
god acts upon the sinner. It is God's power that brings the
sinner to obedience. " We are his workmanship" — this is
His power. Then " created in Christ Jesus unto good
works," — this is the mode in Avhich His power acts on the sinner,
he is " created in Christ Jesus unto good works," and thus
brought in Christ to serve his God.
Now this is again opposed to the natural sentiment of the un-
regenerate Christian ; I use the term unregenerate Christian ; I
am sorry to say, that a vast mass of those who are called Chris
tians, are so, — so false is the principle, that men are spiritually
regenerated by the ordinance of baptism, (who live and die, alas !
what countless thousands of them) ignorant, impenitent, unbe
lieving, and consequently unregenerate and unredeemed to
eternity !
Now, I say, this is totally opposed to their opinion, for what do
they think ? They directly reverse the truth. They think that
they are created in good Avorks unto Christ Jesus. — not that they
are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Pray con
sider this.
They think that they are created in good works unto Christ
Jesus. Ask them how are they to be saved ? They will say, " we must
endeavor to make ourselves fit to come to Christ."
Do you depend on Christ ? — Have you a solid hope that your
soul is saved in Christ ? " No. I trust I shall have, but I have
not now."
Why ? "lam not yet worthy of Christ."
I beg of you to consider whether or not this is the religion of
many of you ?
" I am not fit. I am not worthy. I must be a different crea-

174 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
ture before I can have that hope. I must make myself fitter to
come to Christ. 1 must prepare myself to come to Chrfot."
What will you do ? " Well, I will endeavor to read more — to
pray more, — I will attend the ordinances of grace better, and I
trust that, after I have persevered in this for some time, then I
may have some hope."
Noav all these things are very right to do. It is right to read, it is
right to pray, — it is very right to attend the ordinances of grace, — all
these are very important — but when you do this as a moans of mak
ing yourselves fit to come to Christ, — do you not see what your re
ligion is ? It is this :— " we are created in good works unto Christ
Jesus," or we hope to be. Now you perceive this is the very reverse
of the truth ; for the Scripture is, We are " created in Christ
Jesus unto good works." When we are enlightened by divine
grace to believe the Gospel, and thus united by faith to Christ —
grafted into the Living Vine — then "We are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works." So the Apostle
tells us in 2nd Cor. a*. 17, "if any man be in Christ he is a new
creature," — a neAV creation ; he must be in Chiist, to become a
new creature. Would you expect fruit from a branch, before it
was grafted into a tree, or after ? — this is a simple question. Con
sider it simply. What would you think of a gardener who should
take a branch which Avas to be grafted into a tree, and expect to
find fruit on the branch before it was grafted into the tree?
Would you think him a wise man or a fool ? Certainly a fool.
Such are you, when you think you can bring forth fruit before
you are grafted into Christ. What saith the Lord Jesus Himself?
St. John xv. 3. " now are ye clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you." Mark that, — they do not make themselves
clean, they are clean through His Word, through His Gospel.
Verse 4. " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except
ye abide in me." You must be grafted into Him, and abide in
Him, ere you can bring forth fruit unto God. So, though your
works can never produce justification, justification must produce
works. Bearing fruit will never graft you into the vine, but being
grafted into the vine, then afterwards you are to bear fruit ; so we
have in the text, "we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works." The sinner that is brought
to Christ, washed in the blood of Christ, clothed in the righteous
ness of Christ must necessarily produce fruit unto God. Thus
you see in Romans vi. 17, 18, how clearly this is set forth, " God
be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered unto
you ; being then made free from sin, (through the Gospel of
Christ) ye became the servants of righteousness." Then in verse
21, " What fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are
now ashamed ; for the end of those things is death ; but now
being made free from sin, (that is, being delivered from its curse,
being delivered from its condemnation,) and become servants to

lectures on the ephesians. 175
God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life." So in the Epistle to Titus ii. 11, 12, 13, 14, " The grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teach
ing us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself
a peculiar people zealous of good works." The Gospel brings
salvation first, and then teaches men to live soberly, righteously}
and godly. They are redeemed from all iniquity, and so they
are purified unto Christ, and thereby made zealous of good works.
So in 1st Peter i. 15, 16, " as he which hath called you is holy, so
be ye holy in all manner of conversation : because it is written,
be ye holy ; for I am holy ;" — therefore, I say, as it is utterly im
possible that God could, by any dispensation, relax the obligation
of His law, so it is only by the Gospel of Jesus that provision for
the observance of that law is made by God for sinners, — they
must be "created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
The law of God, proclaimed to the sinner, in its spirituality and
its justice, shows his guilt, his condemnation, his state of death'
and ruin. So it was with the Apostle Paul " when the command
ment came, sin revived and I died." Rom. vii. 9, 10. Then, the
Gospel, proclaiming Christ as our glorious surety, fulfilling the law
for sinners — bearing its curse— proclaiming thereby, deliverance
from the wrath to come — staying the sentence of eternal judg
ment, — satisfying the demands of eternal justice through the blood
of the Lamb — speaking peace and pardon to the sinner's con
science, leads his heart by the Spirit to know the love of his Re
deemer, and draws his heart to respond to that love. What is
that response ? That response is love. And what is that love ?
" Love is the fulfilling of the law." Love is a spontaneous
movement of the heart, it can neither be enforced nor restrained
by obligation. The practical glory of the Gospel is that it leads
the sinner into the Law, because it draws him into love. The im
pulses of gratitude and affection become identified with the obli
gations of obedience. " / delight in the law -of God after the
inward man." Rom. vii. 22. An obligation embraced by the heart,
and the affections, turns duty into happiness, and, therefore,
our glorious Deliverer and Benefactor saith, " my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light." Mat. xi. 30. Holiness is the burden
of the unconverted sinner,— sin is the burden and the cross of the
redeemed saint.
III. What now is the security for this ? How is it
that it must be so? God hath ordained — God hath appointed
it. God hath ordained that His people should walk in good works.
We are " created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them." You have this set forth in this Epistle, i. 3, 4, " Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed

176

lectures on the ephesians.

us with all spiritual blessings in hedvenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love." So you have in 1st Peter i. 2, " Elect, according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ" — " elect unto obedience" — " created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them." Therefore, you perceive, why throughout the Scrip
tures, the works of man are made the test of his salvation. He
is not to be justified by them, but he is to be judged by them ; — -
and this is a difficulty that often occurs to the mind, — how is man
to be judged by his works if he is not to be justified by them ?
because they are taken as the test of his faith, they are taken as
the proof of his sincerity. A cup of cold water could not purchase
salvation for the sinner, — but " a cup of cold water" given in the
name of Jesus, " shall in no wise lose its reward," Mat. x. 42,
because it is the test that the believer loves his Master.
An act from the principle of love to Christ never was done, and
never can be done, by the unconverted sinner. Of all the motives
to moral action, which can influence the heart of man (and there
are innumerable motives,) the love of Jesus can have no place
among them ; for man by nature does not know what to love Him
for, — he fears and hates Him as his Judge. The brightness of
Christ's example, so far from alluring, repels the heart of man.
So it was in His OAvn day. You see how the Scribes and Phari
sees hated Him, because He Avas holy. So He is just as hateful
this moment to the natural heart of man. — But Avhen the sinner
is enlightened to see that Jesus is the Refuge for his soul, — that
Jesus is the Friend of sinners, — that he can come to Christ as a
Saviour, — that he can pour out his heart at His feet, — that He
can depend upon His blood to wash aAvay all his sin, — that he can
come as a vile sinner, as we had in the language of the Psalm
to-day, "for thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for
it is great" — Psal. xxv. 11, instead of thinking, as the sinner in
his natural state thinks, that he can, at least in some degree,
make himself clean, and come Avith the prayer, "pardon mine
iniquity, for it is little," — when he knoAvs, he can say, "pardon
mine iniquity, for it is great" — Avhen he knoAvs, he can thus
come to Christ, with his sins, and cast them into the fathomless
ocean of eternal love, " the fountain that is opened" in the blood
of Jesus for the guilt of sinners, — when he knows this — then he
loves his Lord and Master ; and then, the least Avork of love
becomes the test of his faith, and is certain of acceptance and of
reward, — not for its own value, for it is nothing ; but because it is
a proof that this man is a disciple of Jesus — that he had fled to
Jesus as the salvation of his soul — "fled for refuge to lay hold on
the hope set before him," Heb. vi. 18.
The act that brought sin and death into the world Avas, not in
itself, an act of good or evil. There was no moral good or evil in

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 177
the act of eating the fruit of a certain tree more than of any other
tree ; — but whon that act was made a test of the law, that is, of
love to Him who commanded it, then the very lightness of the
test itself aggravated its guilt ten thousand fold, and it became
sin, pregnant with death and ruin to the world. So, the act that
is a test of love to God, — that act, however little, is graciously
received and rewarded.
Allow me to entreat you to consider again the articles of our
church on this subject, that you may compare and see how sound
and scriptural they are. Our text says, " we are his work
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."

"The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and pre
pare himself, by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon
God." Now, is not this an epitome of the instruction I have been
endeavoring to give you ?
" AVherefore, we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God,
without the grace of God, by Christ, preventing us," (that is, going before us,) " that
we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will."
So again in Article xiii., the same principle is laid down.
" Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ."
They want the motive, they want the test, they want the true
principle of moral action.
" Neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or, (as the School authors oay,)
deserve grace of congruity ; yea, rather that they are not done as God hath willed
and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin."
Now, "we are his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works." Consider Article xii.
" Albeit, that good works which are the fruit of faith, and follow after justification,
cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment."
We cannot be justified by them, nor challenge God to enter into
judgment with us for them.
" Yet, are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out neces
sarily of a true and lively faith ; insomuch, that by them a lively faith may be as evi
dently known, as a tree discerned by the fruit."
They necessarily flow from it. It must be, that a man if he is
a believer in Jesus, must show that he is so. It is impossible that
the heart can love any human being, if it have an opportunity
of showing that love, and that it will not show it. We cannot
conceal our affection, if we love any one. Much less, if the heart
is filled Avith love to Jesus, when we love our blessed Redeemer, we
cannot but endeavor to prove it by our life. Therefore, all who
are grafted into the Living Vine, are "created in Christ.
12

178 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Jesus unto good works," " insomuch, as by them a lively faith
may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit."
You see, how sound the articles of our church are on this sub
ject,— and therefore, it is no wonder, that those who endeavor to
subvert the Gospel of Christ in our communion, should endeavor
to explain away the articles with sophistry and falsehood. They
are a solid bulwark for the faith of the church, because they stand
the test of comparison with the word of God, and because, Avhen
you search the Scriptures, and bring them " to the law and to the
testimony," Isa. viii. 10 — there you find, that they are sound in
the faith.
I would now address unbelievers in this congregation. My dear
friends, what is all your morality, if you are not in Christ Jesus ?
Whatever be your character before men, you are, alas! guilty,
condemned sinners before God, — and it is in vain you struggle to
deliver yourselves from your sin. You cannot do it, — all these
efforts that you make, and that you think you are making, for
which, as you expect God will give you credit, and which you shall
have put down to your account, are all vain, they can profit you
nothing, they evince nothing but this, that you are ignorant of
yourselves and ignorant of God.
What are you to do ? Hear the glorious proclamation of divine
grace and mercy to you in Christ Jesus, — The Gospel addresses us
all, each and every sinner only in one character — as sinners. It
makes no allowance for our morality. Whatever we may have,
comparatively before men, we have none before God, — " there is
none righteous, no, not one." Psalm xiv. 3 — Rom. iii. 10. God's
judgment is proclaimed against us — God's judgment is written in
this book against us. . Read your Bible. There you read the
sentence of God against your souls, when you think of your sins,
and your deserts in His sight. Now we do not mean to drive you
to despair, by such testimony as this, but on the contrary to bring
you out of despair, — a state of real despair, though yet not. felt ; —
to bring you out of that, to the hope of the Gospel. For Oh, my
friends, when you read that Bible, you see also the good news,
that the sentence has been executed on Him Avho came into the
world to bear it for sinners. How mad a man would be, Avho was
indictable for a capital crime, if there Avere conclusive proofs against
him — if it were wholly impossible he could escape when brought
to trial — whose sovereign should issue a command that he might
go free, and not be indicted or prosecuted to conviction, — how mad
he would be to say, " I will insist on a trial, — I demand a prosecu
tion." That is the mode in which you act. Depending on your
own claims — your own morality — your virtue — your own miserable
efforts to save your soul, — you are going on to judgment, challeng
ing God to condemn you, and refusing the glorious deliverance
,thatis proclaimed to you in the Gospel of Christ. David says,
¦li Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy
sight shall no man living be justified." Ps. cxliii. 2. Now we
proclaim to you mercy, that God has entered into judgment with

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 179
Christ for you. Some will say, " you speak of this very often, you
preach this doctrine continually," — most certainly I do so ; God
forbid, I should ever leave the pulpit without preaching it — for as
there is no other hope of salvation, so there is no other sound prin
ciple of Christian conduct. Do you not come here as sinners ? —
Do I not address some Avho are under the wrath of God ? some
who have not fled to Christ for salvation ? some who come here
vainly endeavoring to save their own souls, rejecting the hope of
the Gospel ? and must I not set that Gospel before them again and
again ? How many, alas ! shall never hear its blessed sound once
more. Besides, I Avant to keep it ever upon my own heart ; every
day of my life, I want to have the Gospel preached to my own
soul. May the Lord bring it home to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Are you looking to Christ for salvation ? Remembe^ if you are
not in Christ, you cannot bring forth good works. You who are
indeed looking unto Christ as your hope and refuge, remember this,
— " WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UN
TO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED WE
should walk in them." Remember, that the same testimony
of God's word that gave you hope in the faith of the Gospel, gives
you also directions for the walk of those who embrace that faith.
The same word, the same Gospel which tells you, that, " there is
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," teils you too
that they "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom.
viii. 1, — tells you that they who are in Christ are " created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them."
Remember my friends, my beloved brethren, that if you are
walking carelessly with God, you cannot be walking safely or
peacefully with God. If you are not watching against your own
sins, you are not enjoying confidence in your Lord. Do you re
member what the Apostle says ? "I therefore so run, not as un
certainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." 1st Cor.
ix. 26. There is great uncertainty in the faith and hope of the
believer, where there is unsteadiness in the walk of the believer.
Our own experience tells us so, I know it from my experience,
and you know it from yours, — and therefore, though there is no
reward for the works of the law, considered in themselves, — there
is an amazing reward in the works of the believer, " in keeping
of them, there is great reward." Psalm, xix. 11. Even the un
godly world will tell you, that "Virtue is its own reward," — and if
that is a maxim, even of those who know not Christ, how much
more do those who know Christ, feel that in walking carefully
with their Lord and Master, they are Avalking happily and confi
dently ? This is what the Apostle means, when he says, " If our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth
all things, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence
toward God." 1 John iii. 20, 21. It is not if our heart condemn
us not of sin, for our heart must always condemn us of sin, — but
if, instead of coming to our Lord Jesus Christ, with our sins, and

180 LECTURES DN THE EPHESIANS.
pouring them out at his feet, and crying for strength against them,
we cherish any of them in our heart, — we must feel the bitter con
sequence, the Lord will made us feel it. He loves his people too
much, not to make them feel it. Thus He visits them with the
rod, — this is the reason why, " whom the Lord loveth, he chasten-
eth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Heb. xii. — 6.
Therefore, dear friends, if we are under the chastening of the
Lord, let us take the chastening thankfully, gratefully ; remem
bering how much we need it — remembering, how much we have
drawn it on ourselves — remembering, hoAV tender our Father is to
chasten us, to humble us, to prove us, that we may know what is
in our heart, and to bring us again out of the furnace, strength
ened and refreshed, to His feet, that we may " run in the way
of his commandments, when he shall enlarge our hearts." Ps.
cxix. 32.
Oh think of this, and may the Lord, in His great mercy supply
the innumerable defects and deficiencies of these instructions, and
bring home His own truth with demonstration of His OAvn Spirit
and with power to our hearts and consciences for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

SIXTEENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — 11, 12, 13.

" Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are
called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by
hands ; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ."
It is a common exhibition of the evil of the human heart, that
when a man has been raised from some low condition by the favor
of his sovereign, and placed in one of rank and influence, he is
apt, as we say, to forget himself, — to forget the mean estate in
which he formerly was — to forget, that he has been raised to that
which he now enjoys, only by the favor of his sovereign — to forget
what he owes to his benefactor, what he owes to his superiors,
what he owes to his equals, what he owes to all over whom he
is placed, in every relative position of duty.
If this be a common evil with respect to our fellow-men, — how
much more in reference to God. What innumerable mercies have
we all received ! what temporal mercies ! — How could we ever
enumerate them ? What spiritual mercies ! — what a mercy that

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 181
we are here this day with the sound of the Gospel in our ears, —
yet, which of them have we remembered as we ought ? which of
them have we not forgotten ?
If we were asked, what is it that man ought most to remember,
and what is it that man most forgets ? The answer must be — ¦
His God. Well may He complain, then, as He does in Jeremiah,
ii. 32, " Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire ?
Yet, my people have forgotten me, days without number." So, we
perceive, when God warns the Jews against departing from Him,
he warns them against forgetting Him, — we see this in Deuteron
omy iv. — 9. " Only, take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul dili
gently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life."
We have the same in chap, viii 11, speaking of their readiness to
forget the blessings they have received from God, " Beware that thou
forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments,
and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this
day ; lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built
goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy
flocks multiply, and thy silver and gold is multiplied, and
all that thou hast is multiplied, — then thine heart be lifted up,
and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out
of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." And, as He
warns them thus not to forget Him, so in the promises of His cov
enant love to the Jews, to gather them to their own land, and to
pour upon them the blessings He has promised ; He provides for
their fidelity by providing, that they shall remember all their own
sin, and all His mercies to them. You see this in Ezekiel xvi.
60. " Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee."
(namely with the people of the Jews,) " in the days of thy youth,
and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant." then in
verse 62 and 63, " And I will establish my covenant with thee,
and thou shalt know, that I am the Lord, that thou mayest re
member and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more,
because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all
that thou hast done, saith the Lord God" You see the same in
Ezek. chap. xx. 42, 43, " And ye shall know that I am the Lord,
when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country
for the which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.
And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings
wherein ye have been defiled ; and ye shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight, for all your evil that ye have committed." The
same is in chap, xxxvi. when the Lord promises to give them a
new heart, 26th and folloAving verses, " A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you
an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judg
ments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave
to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your

182

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses ; and I
will call, for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine
upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the in
crease of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of fam
ine among the heathen." Now, mark, — " then shall ye remember
your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities
and for your abominations.
If such is to be the humility of the saints in that blessed time of
promise when the " earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord as the waters cover the sea." Isa. xi. 9, — surely, it ought to
be the humility of the saints now. One of the offices of the
promised blessed Spirit is, that he shall be a Remembrancer.
What wonder, then, that the Apostle, having enumerated the
misery and guilt of the saints at Ephesus, and having set before
them, as we have seen, the glory to which they had been raised,
by the Lord Jesus Christ, — what wonder that he should come to
the conclusion with which my text commences, " wherefore,
remember," remember what you have been, and remember
what you are. He had showed them, from verses 1 to 3 (Avhich
I need not now recapitulate to you, as we have gone through
them so lately,) he had showed them there, their state of sin by
nature,— he had showed them from verses 4 to 10, their present.
state by grace, " raised up together, and made to sit together in
heavenly places in Christ," — and now he calls them to remember
from what they had been rescued, and to what they had been
brought. You will observe, 'that in this place, he addresses especially the
Gentile converts at Ephesus, — and it is necessary for the under
standing of the passage, that you should attend to this, and that
you should refer to the history of the fact. You perceive, on
referring to the history, which you find in Acts xix., that the
Church at Ephesus consisted of Jews and Gentiles. When St.
Paul came to Ephesus, as you see in verse 1, he found certain
disciples, and then he asked them, as we find in verse 3, " Unto
what were ye baptized ? They said, unto John's baptism," — -
therefore they must necessarily, have been Jews. John had never
come to Ephesus, nor had the idolatrous worshippers of Diana
gone to Jerusalem ; but the Jews had gone up to Jerusalem, and
there some of them who believed, had been baptized unto John's
baptism. So, you perceive, they had a synagogue at Ephesus, as
is evident from Acts, xix. 7, 8, " all the men" (that is the disciples)
" were about twelve. And he went into the synagogue, and spake
boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading
the things concerning the kingdom of God." The JeAvs, in the
synagogue at Ephesus, rejected Paul, they rejected his testimony,
and then we are told, verse 9, " when divers were hardened, and
believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he
departed from them, and separated the disciples" — that is, those
who did believe the Gospel, — he separated them from the unbe-

LECTURES ON THE K.i?HESIANS. 183
lievers and scoffers, and he " disputed daily in the school of one
Tyrannus." He left the synagogue, and went to the school of
Tyrannus ; and there, we are told, this daily disputation, " con
tinued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in
Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks."
verse 10.
We see, then, that the church consisted of a mixed assembly, —
of beheving Jews and believing Greeks, — and likewise the immense
progress which the Gospel made among ^the idolatrous Greeks at
Ephesus at this time. If you read the whole chapter, you will
see it more fully, I can only cite a few verses, 18, 19, 20, " And
many that believed, came and confessed, and showed their deeds. — •
Many also of them which used curious arts brought their books
together, and burned them before all men, and they counted the
price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So
mightily grew the word of God and prevailed'' And then, you
perceive, one of the idolatrous workmen at Ephesus, who made
silver shrines for Diana, named Demetrius — called together his
fellow workmen, and said to them, verse 26, " ye see and hear,
that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this
Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, they
be no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this
our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also, that the tem
ple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her mag
nificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world
worshippeth." St. Paul had no notion of that unchristian charity
of the- present day which is to be found among Protestants. He
had no notion of saying, or believing in his heart and conscience,
that people were idolaters, and then professing, that indeed he did
not wish to proselytize them. There was no such unbelief, no
such ignorance of his own apostolic mission — no such contempt
of his duty— no such abandonment of his Master and his Master's
cause, and of the souls of men, there Avas nothing like that in St.
Paul. He did Avish to proselytize thpse who, he knew, were idol
aters, — and he testified before God and before them, that " they
were no gods that were made with hands" — no matter of what
they were made — -whether made of stone or iron, or brass, or
wood, or flour, he testified, " they are no gods that are made with
hands." Paul asserted this, and God's blessing rested upon his
testimony, and God's power accompanied His word, and God's
salvation was brought to the souls of men,— many believed. So
it would have been in this country, if there had been fidelity,
apostolical fidelity, as there ought to be among those who profess
to call themselves the servants of Christ. So you see the testi
mony against Paul, — they cried out against Paul that he said,
" they be no gods which are made with Aareds,"— therefore said
Demetrius, " not only this our craft is in danger to be set at
nought, but also, that the temple of the great goddess Diana
should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed,
whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." You see, how the

184 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Lord, by the fidelity of His apostle, battered down the temples of
idolatry. This was by Christian fidelity, turning men, through
God's grace, in the spirit of faithfulness and love, "from darkness
to light, from the power of Satan unto God" — as he had been
sent by his Lord to do. Acts xxvi. 17, 18.
It is clear, then, from the history, that the church at Ephesus
was composed of Jews and Gentiles. We perceive how numerous
were the converts from the worship of Diana, — and the Apostle,
in the passage which I have read to you, is addressing, as you
perceive, these Gentile converts, reminding them of their state of
aggravated guilt and misery, and of the great blessing which God
had vouchsafed to them, in bringing them "from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God," he says, " re
member, THAT YE BEING IN TIME PAST GENTILES IN THE
FLESH, WHO WERE CALLED UNCIRCUMCISION BY THAT WHICH
is called the circumcision in the flesh," — he reminds
them, that they had been looked down upon as Gentiles, by all
who knew anything of the true God, as the Jews, — that they had
been in a despicable state, they "were called uncircumcision."
The rite of circumcision was that especially, which separated the
Jew, from the time of his birth, from all the other people of the
world ; it was one of the great distinctions that God had placed
between them, and all the other nations ; therefore, the " uncir
cumcision" was the name given by the Jews to all those persons
who were separated from God, outcasts from God ; — so you re
member the story of David and Goliath, — you recollect David's
contemptuous sneer at the giant, — he did not care for his being a
giant, or for his staff, or for his spear, but he said — " who is this-
uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the
living God?" 1st Sam. xvii. 26. He was an "uncircumcised
Philistine," such is the term of contempt with which David brands
him. And so in Acts, xi. 3, you see the charge that all the Apos
tles brought against Peter, " thou wentest in to men uncircum
cised, and didst eat with them." They were angry with him for
doing so. It was a thing totally unknown to the Jews, and un
known to the world, that the Gentiles — that any nation except the
Jews should be brought into the covenant of Christ ; therefore we
perceive, when the Lord intended to send Peter to Cornelius, he
sent a vision from heaven to Peter to show him that the distinc
tion between clean and unclean, was now done away. " What
God hath cleansed that call not thou common," Acts x. — 15, — and
if you look to Ephesians iii. — 2, you perceive this subject clearly
set forth, " if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which is given me to you-ward," 5th, " which in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, — that the Gen
tiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers
of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." It was not known to
the sons of men, but it was now revealed, that the Gentiles should
be fellow-heirs ; therefore the Apostle reminds them of their state

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 185
of former separation from God, and of the contempt in which they
had been held by His people, before the mercy of the Lord had
visited them, " Ye know" saith the Apostle Peter, " how that it is
an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or
come unto one of another nation." Acts, x. 28. The Apostle
Paul had set forth, as we have seen in the first part of the chap
ter, the state of the Jews and Gentiles universally as sinners. He
had set forth their state positively, " dead in trespasses and sins,"
utterly insensible to their guilty, miserable condition — unable
either to feel it, or deliver themselves from it — Avalking " according
to the course of this world," — under the power of the devil —
walking in the lusts of the flesh — "fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind," and " by nature the children of wrath,
even as others." This was the positive state of theni all. But
now, in this passage he sets forth the state of the Gentiles, nega
tively, — he shows what they were not. " Remember," he says, in
addition to your state of positive sin, — remember, that " at that
time, you were called uncircumcision," — you were not circum
cised — shut out, by that means, from the only people upon the face
of the earth who were the recognized, acknowledged people of
God. — " You were without Christ," — you had no Saviour, in type, or
ordinance, or promise,— you were " aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel," — you had no lot or part in the commonwealth of God's
Church — you were " strangers from the covenants of promise,"
you knew nothing about the glorious salvation provided in the
Covenant of Grace. You had " no hope" — eternity was a dark
and fearful precipice — a gulf that yawned before you. And you
were "without God in the world." You knew not Him who
formed you — your idol Diana was a senseless image, made with
hands. That was their condition.
Not so the Jews. We see in Galatians, iii. 8, that God had
"preached the Gospel unto Abraham." We see, in Romans, iii.
1, 2, when the Jew is supposed to ask, " what advantage then hath
the Jew?" (because the Apostle had proved that "both Jew and
Gentile were all under sin,") " or what profit is there of circum
cision ?" He answers, " Much every way : chiefly, because that
unto them were committed the oracles of God." They had much
blessing, much profit, of which all other nations were destitute —
but the greatest blessing of them all was this, that " unto them
were committed the oracles of God."
You perceive, that the Scriptures are counted the greatest bless
ing that a people can enjoy, — therefore, the privation of the Scrip
tures is the greatest curse with which a nation can be visited, —
the worst of all famines is " a famine of hearing of the word of
the Lord." Amos, viii. 11. Compare these advantages of the JeAvs
again with those mentioned,. Romans ix. 4, 5, " Who are Israel
ites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and
the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning
the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever." So

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you see in 1 Corinthians x. 2, " they were all baptized unto Moses,
in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was
Christ." 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. So in St. John's Gospel our Lord saith,
v. 45, 46, " Do not think, that I will accuse you to the Father,
there is one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust ; for
had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote
of me."
Therefore, the Jews had Christ revealed to them in the Sacred
Volume, — they were not " without Christ," as the Gentiles were.
The Gentiles were deprived of the oracles of God, therefore " with
out Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
AND STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE," which
promised Christ, whom Abraham kneAV — in Avhom he believed and
rejoiced. — " Your father Abraham," saith Christ, " rejoiced to see
my day, and he saw it, and was glad." John viii. 56. They were
strangers from the promise of the coming of Messiah to save —
strangers from the promise of the coming of the glorious King,
who was to " arise and to reign over the Gentiles, in whom the
Gentiles should trust." They were strangers from the covenant
of the glorious priesthood to be fulfilled in Christ Jesus the Lord,
the " priest forever, after the order of Melchisedech." Ps. ex. 4.
They had no prophets, no promises, no sacrifices to the true God,
no types, no shadows, no law, no blessing or privilege derived from
the Gospel covenant which the Israelites possessed. Therefore,
they had " no hope."
In what an awful state a sinner is, without hope ! Did you
ever see a man die without hope ? and feeling he was Avithout.
hope ? I have — it is an awful sight. This was the state of all the
Gentiles, they had "no hope." They had not, indeed, a clear
revelation of the awful eternity that Avas before them, — but they
had within, the conscious apprehension of an immortal existence,
a sense of sin that barbed the arrow of death, and made that which
is the sting of death rankle in their consciences ; and they had no
balm of mercy to pour into the wound, — being "without Christ,
without hope, and without God in the world." It is of great im
portance that we should know and consider this, — we had in the
second of the Psalms of this day, xcvi. 5, "as for all the gods of
the heathen, they are but idols, but it is the Lord that made the
heavens," and again, xcvii. 7, " confounded be all they that worship
carved images, and that delight in vain gods, worship him all
ye gods," and the Apostle says, "the things which the Gentiles
sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. 1 Cor. x. 20.
It is of vast moment that all Avho bear the name of Christians
should remember these things, for Avhat were the privileges of the
Jews compared with the blessings that we enjoy ! We ought to
form our judgment and our opinion respecting the state of the
heathen world, not from the ignorance of man, but from the records
of God's eternal truth. This would give us, both a right sense of

LECTURES on the ephesians. 187
the privileges and blessings we enjoy ourselves, and make us feel
as^we ought, for the destitution of those who have " no hope," and
who are " without God in the world."
But while the Apostle calls on them to remember what their
state had been, he teaches them also to remember the blessing of
their present condition, " but now in Christ Jesus ye who
SOMETIMES WERE FAR OFF ARE MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF
Christ." Amazing mercy ! made nigh — by what means ? —
"made nigh by the blood of Christ," — brought to behold the
" glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,"
John, i. 14 — brought into a state of pardon, peace, and salvation
through Him. The change that had passed upon them was like
the light bursting on the dark world, when " God said, let there
be light, and there was light." For " God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness had shined into their hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. There they behold all the prophecies
of Jesus fulfilled, " to him give all the prophets witness, that
through his name, whosoever believeth in him should receive
remission of sins." Acts x. 43. All the glorious promises of God
are accomplished in Jesus, for, " all the promises of God in him
are yea, and in him, amen." 2 Cor. i. 20 ; in Him, are all the
blessed covenants ratified, as you see in the song of Zechariah, St.
Luke, i. 67 — 75, where he so beautifully sets that forth, as he
speaks, being " filled with the Holy Ghost," — "Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and
hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his
servant David ; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,
which have been since the world began ; that we should be saved
from our enemies, and from the hand of them that hate us ; to
perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his
holy covenant ; the oath that he sware to our father Abraham,
that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the
hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness
and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." Here
they were no longer "strangers from the covenants of promise"
they behold them all fulfilled in Christ. Here, they were not
brought merely into the shadows of the JeAvlsh law, but into the
substance of the glorious Gospel, not offering daily sacrifices, but
resting on the one finished sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews, x. 11, 12,
" Every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices which can never take away sins ; but this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the
right hand of God." And so, they had the antetype instead of
the type. Though they had not the covenant of the priesthood
of the Jews, they had the everlasting covenant of Christ's glorious
priesthood, " Christ being come an high priest of good things to
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into tha

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LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. ix.
11, 12. That precious blood of Jesus, the " fountain opened for
sin and for uncleanness" hath been revealed to them, that they
who bathe in that blessed fountain, though like Naaman, full of
leprosy, should come up healed and clean as a little child.
Oh, the blessing of being " brought nigh by the blood of
Christ !" Then, instead of having no hope, they had " hope as
an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." Heb. vi. 19. In
stead of being "without God in the world," they were made
" children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus," Gal. iii. 26 ; brought
nigh to Him as a reconciled Father in Jesus. Brethren, if the
state of the Jews who neglected the privileges they enjoyed,
although these privileges were only typical, was awful — if the
state of the Gentiles who were without these privileges that the
Jews possessed, was such as described in this passage by the
Apostle. — What must be the state of those who have all those
privileges, which " many prophets and kings desired to see, and
have not seen them ?" if we speak of the Jews. And who have
all the privileges and blessings enjoyed by these Gentiles when
they were " brought nigh by the blood of Christ," and yet who
" neglect such great salvation ?"
It may be, — it must be, that I address some, perhaps many in
that state to-day. Remember, " all were not Israel who were of
Israel." Remember, all are not Christ's who are Christians in
name and profession. Remember, that " a name to live when we
are dead," — privileges when neglected — the blood of Jesus as a
fountain, when it is despised— the righteousness of Christ, as a
robe to clothe our nakedness, when it is cast by as an unclean
thing — remember that these, instead of blessings, are all turned
into curses, judgments, accumulated causes of ruin on the heads
of those who thus trample on these mercies.
If I address some, as I trust I do, who are awaking to a sense
of the state in which they have been living in the midst of bless
ings and privileges, — who are asking " the way to Zion with their
faces thitherward," — who say in their hearts, " Oh that my lot
were cast among the people of Christ." Remember, my dear
friends, the means by which these persons were brought from their
awful state of ignorance, of guilt, and misery, both Jews and Gen
tiles — remember it is all contained in that one word, " made nigh
by the blood of Christ," — alone. — There was no process to be gone
through by them, — no long and labored return from their dark
idolatry and guilt, to Some to God, but to believe the glorious pro
clamation of God's everlasting mercy, of His eternal love, of His
rich grace, of His free and full salvation sounding in their ears —
this was enough, — even all that they could want.
The blood of Jesus Christ has been poured out, a ransom for the
guilty. The ransom is paid down, the prison doors are opened, —
come forth ye prisoners of hope into life, and light, and liberty, —
the life that Christ has purchased Avith His blood. — The light of
u the Sun of righteousness," of Him who is " the light of the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 189
world." — The liberty of the everlasting Gospel— "if the Son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John viii.
36. Oh, think what brought them nigh, — why should it not bring
you nigh to-day ? Remember, the fountain of Immanuel's blood
is like Himself, " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever."
And you, brethren, who see, and taste, and hope, and rejoice in
the glad tidings of salvation, who can repeat in spirit and truth,
" O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the
strength of our salvation." Ps. xcv. 1. Remember what you
were ; in one sense, far worse than these Ephesians ; you were
not brought up like them to worship Diana, or to believe that that
image had fallen down from Jupiter, — you were not placed in the
midst of darkness and idolatry, without the, Word of God, " aliens
FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL,  STRANGERS FROM THE
COVENANT OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, AND WITHOUT GoD
in the world." No, you were baptized in the name of Jesus —
when you Avere born into the world, you were brought to that holy
ordinance, which Jesus has appointed as the instrument of con
fessing His faith — being adopted into His family — entering into
His church. You were brought to that ordinance as the sign and
seal of salvation, a fountain of water, emblematic of a fountain
of blood, — bathed in that, or sprinkled with it, it matters not
Avhich, it is emblematical of the cleansing power of the blood of
the Lamb. You were brought by that means into all the blessings
and privileges of the Christian church, — and how have you used
them ? Alas ! how long you despised these mercies ! how long
you slighted them. Even when your Ministers perhaps have been
endeavoring to explain to you, — listen to me, children — listen to
me, my beloved young friends — listen to me, you who are learn
ing your Catechism, — when your Ministers have been endeavor
ing to explain to you, and to set before you the privileges and
blessings, the solemn obligations and responsibilities of those who
are brought into, and brought up in the Christian church. — Oh !
how have you neglected and turned a deaf ear, — slighted them,
disregarded the instructions you received, and provoked the Lord
to cut you off in your sins. Remember this.
But God hath touched your hearts — God hath reached your con
sciences — God hath visited you with His mercy — God hath led
you to the feet of Jesus — and now you see, that " you who some
times were afar off" in spirit, though near in profession, are now
"made nigh by the blood of Christ." Wherefore, remember
what you were, and remember what you are, — " ye are not your
own ; for ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1st Cor. vi. 19,
20. You are no longer debtors to the world, or to the flesh, to
live after the flesh — you owe to Jesus all you have, and all you
are ; for Jesus hath " redeemed you from the curse of the law."
He hath bought you with his precious blood — And "Now in
Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of christ."

190 lectures on the ephesians.
Oh ! then hear the words of the Apostle, " I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vo
cation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love ; endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is
one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of
your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
Ephes. iv. 1 — 6.
" Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceed
ing joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude, 24, 25.

SEVENTEENTH LECTURE

Ephesians II.— 14, 15, 16, 17.

" For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the mid
dle wall of partition between us ; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the
law of commandments contained in ordinances ; for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace ; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body
by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : And came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."
We have seen in our last Lecture, the distinction between Jews
and Gentiles, — that although all were alike sinners before God, as
we see from the first to the third verses of this chapter, yet that
there was, in the case of the Gentiles, a peculiar degree of aliena
tion from God, they were in a much more deplorable condition
than the Jews. This has been shown in our last Lecture. " At
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common
wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world." But he adds,
" But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are
made nigh by the blood of Christ." Then the Apostle proceeds
to explain how they were made nigh. — He shoAvs the mode in
which it was effected, that JeAvs and Gentiles should be brought
nigh, both to each other and to God, " for he is our peace, who
hath made both one," — &c.
Now, observe, — First, " peace" between Jew and Gentile, mak
ing them, who were so totally separated from each other, " both
one." Then, "peace" between both and God, — having been
both separated from Him, and being both brought nigh to Him.
Now, I say, first, that this passage shoAvs us, that peace Avas made

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 191
betAveen Jew and Gentile. You know what a barrier God had
erected between the JeAvs and all the other nations of the earth, —
what an impenetrable barrier. We should go through the whole
of the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, if we Avere to enume
rate all the means by Avhich this separation had been effected.
There was circumcision — their sacrifices— their passover — their
priesthood — their daily food — the whole system of their worship
and ordinances, — by all these means they were separated from all
the other nations of the earth. God had placed these as an im
passable barrier between them. You see this mentioned in a va
riety of passages in the Scripture, but I shall only point your
attention to one or two, — -for instance, Esther iii. 8, you see here
what the Gentiles thought of the Jews, — " And Haman said unto
king Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and
dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom ;
and their laws are diverse from all people ; neither keep they the
king's laws." This was the ground on which Haman induced
Ahasuerus to issue his decree for the destruction of the Jews, — the
complete separation there was between them and all the rest of
the nations. And again, you see that marked in a passage, fa
miliar no doubt, to you all, Acts x. 28, where Peter says to Cor
nelius, " ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation.
But God hath showed me that I should not call any man com
mon or unclean," — as the Jews had always considered the Gen
tiles. Now, I need not quote other passages, to prove to you a fact
with which, of course, you are all acquainted, but the argument
of the Apostle in the passage I have read is this, that all these
ordinances, all these means by which the Jews were separated
from all the other nations of the earth, had all been done away
by Christ. Consider the verses in reference to this point, the re
conciliation of Jew and Gentile, " for he is our peace, who
HATH MADE BOTH ONE, AND HATH BROKEN DOWN THE MIDDLE
WALL OF PARTITION BETWEEN US ; HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS
flesh the enmity," — and you see what that enmity was, —
what it was that constituted that enmity, — " even the law of
COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES J FOR TO MAKE
IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, SO MAKING PEACE ; AND
THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GoD IN ONE BODY BY
THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY J AND CAME
AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO

n

THEM THAT WERE NIGH.'
Noav we shall see that all these things were done away in
Christ. Circumcision is done aAvay, as you see in Colossians iii.
10, 11, " And have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him : where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Bar
barian, Scythian, bond nor free : but Christ is all, and in all."
The rite of circumcision is superseded by baptism, "for in Christ

192

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Jesus neither circumcision availcth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature." Gal. vi. 15, — He saith in another passage,
"for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond .
nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye all are one in
Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 27, 28.
Again, the Sacrifices were done away. You see this in innu
merable passages, I shall merely quote one, Hebiews x. 4, where
the Apostle says, " It is not possible that the blood of bulls and
of goats should take away sins," speaking of the sacrifices as " a
shadow of good things to come," " even of the sacrifice of Christ,"
"wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me :" &c. — he quotes here Psalm xl. 6, 7, 8, and then mark the
Apostle's reasoning upon it, "above" — that is, "in the first place,
when he said, sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings and of
fering for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein ;
(which are offered by the law ;) then said he, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God, he taketh away the first," — that is, all the legal sac
rifices, He sweeps them all away at once, " that he may establish
the second," — that is, His own sacrifice, — " by the which wilV (by
His doing His Father's will, or by the decree of which will, since
He hath fulfilled it,) we are sanctified, through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all." Therefore, in writing to the
Hebrews, he tells them, that, while the continual repetition of
their sacrifices proved that they could not take away sin, they are
all done away by the one atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, because by Him is the remission of sins. So he argues
conclusively in this chapter, and proves, that the sacrifices were
repeated because they could not take away sin ; but that the sac
rifice of Christ was offered once for all, because in it, there is full
and everlasting remission of sin.
Then, their Passover was taken away. You recollect the re
markable words of our blessed Lord, in St. Luke xxii. 15, 16, " He
said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more
eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." What
did our blessed Lord mean by these words, " until it be fulfilled in
the kingdom of God." If you turn to 1st Corinthians, v. 7, you
will find the explanation of it, — " Christ our passover is sacri
ficed for us." When He bowed that blessed head upon the cross,
and said, "It is finished," then that passover was fulfilled in the
kingdom of God, the Lamb of God, typified by the paschal lamb,
being then slain upon the accursed tree — the blood, typified by that
sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of the Israelites, was then
poured out from the side, hands and feet of the dying Saviour,
and that precious blood proclaimed in the record of His eternal
word both to Jew and Gentile, guilty sinners like us, that it might
be sprinkled upon our consciences and our souls, and that we might
be passed over in the day of God's vengeance. Oh, that it may

LECTURES ON' THE EPHESIANS. 193
be so ! Oh, remember that passover is "fulfilled in the kingdom
of God" — remember, " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us,
therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth." 1st Cor. v. 7, 8.
Again, the Priesthood was another barrier between the Jew3
and all the other nations of the earth. But that priesthood is all
done away in our glorious Redeemer. You see this argued at
length in Hebrews, vii. The Apostle argues in verses 11, 12, of
that chapter, " if perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, —
(for under it the people received the law,) what further need was
there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec,
and not be called after the order of Aaron ? for the priesthood
being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the
law." He then speaks of our blessed Lord; of Him, he says,
verse 16, " who is made, not after the law of a carnal command
ment, but after the power of an endless life," and then, verses 23,
24, 25, " and they truly were many priests, because they were not
suffered to continue by reason of death : but this man, because
he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore,
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," and
he closes the chapter in these words, "for the law maketh men
high priests which have infirmity ; but the word of the oath,
which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for
evermore." Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ has superseded the
whole of the Levitical priesthood ; but He has not come to estab
lish another priesthood as a priesthood to offer sacrifice for sin.
Recollect, that all the Lord's people are called " an holy priesthood"
and so, we call the ministers of our church, whose business it is
to offer up prayers, whose business it is to administer the ordi
nances of the Lord, we call these priests, as being appointed in
the Christian covenant, " to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accepta
ble to God, by Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. ii. 5. But Avhen this prin
ciple is set forth, that the priesthood of the church is appointed to
offer sacrifices for sins — when, for example, that blessed ordinance,
the commemoration of our blessed Lord's sacrifice, is corrupted
from its glorious intention — and instead of being made, as it is, the
blessed memorial of the finished sacrifice of Immanuel — when it
is corrupted and perverted into a sacrifice, propitiatory unto God
for sin, — the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ is denied — the
work, the sacrifice of Christ is denied — the axe is laid to the very
root of the Gospel, and instead of preaching " Jesus Christ, and
him crucified," men, whether in the church of Rome or in the
church of England, who preach such falsehood as that, preach not
Jesus Christ, but themselves as the priests and ministers to take
away sin from men. Mark this. Christ hath finished transgres
sion, Christ is the priest, the only priest to offer up sacrifices to
God for sin. Beware, how you turn your poor guilty consciences
from the Lord Jesus Christ to priests or ministers.
13

194 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Now, my dear Roman Catholic friends, if I address, as I trust I
do, some of you to-day, this is one of the desperate corruptions of
your church, that your priests are called sacrificing priests, — they
profess to offer sacrifice for your sins, they call the mass " a pro
pitiatory sacrifice." Beloved friends, the good news of the Gospel
is, that our precious Redeemer hath offered one sacrifice for sins. —
Oh, look unto Him. There can be no repetition of it. Repetition
must prove its utter insufficiency. That is the argument of the
Apostle on the Jewish sacrifices, that the repetition of the sacri
fices proves their inefficiency, their imperfection, but the oneness
of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ proves that our blessed
Redeemer's sacrifice was sufficient once for all, as he says in
Hebrews x. 11, 14, " Every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away
sins :—but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down at the right hand of God ; from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offer
ing he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Why ?
because it was finished, the work was done, salvation was com
pleted, the good tidings of the Gospel which He commissioned His
Apostles to preach to sinners, now proclaim finished salvation
through His precious blood shed once for all. Through Him this
barrier of the priesthood between Jew and Gentile is swept away,
and both Jew and Gentile pointed to the great High Priest, who
" ever liveth to make intercession for us."
Their daily food was also another barrier. You see that in Acts
x., where the Apostle Peter, in the vision that he had of a sheet
let down from heaven, in which were numbers of beasts of all
kinds, four-footed beasts and creeping things, all mingled together,
which, if you recollect, Avere separated by their law for the use of
the Jews, — you remember the distinction marked between clean
and unclean beasts, so that the JeAvs were obliged in their daily
food to take care that they eat nothing unclean ; and even to this
day, most Jews will not touch a morsel of meat that has been
slain by any one but their OAvn Rabbies ; they must have their
meat slain by them, that they may be sure, that according to their
law, not a drop of blood is left in it. At the same time that this
vision appeared to Peter, " there came a voice to him, rise, Peter,
kill and eat, — but Peter said, not so, Lord ; for I have never eaten
anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto
him again the second time, what God hath cleansed, that call not
thou common." Acts x. 13, 14, 15. God hath broken down now,
the barrier between Jew and Gentile, which consisted so much in
the use of certain food, in things clean and unclean. God hath
abrogated that now, God hath cleansed it, therefore thou art no
longer to call that common. You see this set forth in Romans
xiv. This principle could not be brought immediately into opera
tion among the Jewish converts. The Jewish converts had been
all their lives accustomed to the strictest care and vigilance in what"
;they eat ; and they could not be brought at once to see, that there

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 195
was no difference between clean and unclean meats : and there
fore, their consciences were in a great number of instances,
extremely scrupulous, and could not touch the things that they
had been accustomed to consider unclean. This is that principle
on which the Apostle writes in Romans xiv., to which it is impor
tant to advert. It begins, "Him that is weak in the faith, receive
ye, but not to doubtful disputations ; for one believeth that he may
eat all things, another who is weak, eateth herbs." Some of the
Jews did not think that they might eat all things, others of them
did. Then the Apostle is here exhorting them to patience and
forbearance and tenderness with one another on such points as
these, — because, if a man's conscience is not sufficiently enlight
ened on a subject, provided he believes the truth, you are to receive
him as a Christian brother, but not " to doubtful disputations."
This shows us, that there are many points on which the con
sciences of many may be weak, that is, not clearly enlightened,
and that we should be tender and kind, and charitable, and care
ful of wounding them on minor indifferent points, if they are, by
God's grace, brought to hold the head, and lean on Christ Jesus
the Lord, as you observe the Apostle says, " Him that is weak in
the faith," — " in the faith," — though " weak" in it. He says, verse
14, " I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is
nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to
be unclean, to him it is unclean." I read this verse to show you
the complete abrogation of the ceremonial law on this subject.
" / know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is
nothing unclean of itself." Now, that text completely shows,
that the whole system of clean and unclean meats is abrogated
by the Ohristian dispensation. But I have known some instances,
of devoted servants of God, who have had a tenderness of con
science about eating blood, they would not therefore eat game,
or any animal that was shot. I have knoAvn highly intelligent
Christians whose consciences are tender on the subject. I merely
mention it to illustrate what the Apostle means — namely, persons
whose consciences are weak in things in which the mind is not
enlightened. But you see the ordinances as to all unclean meats
were completely done away by the Lord Jesus, " nothing is unclean
of itself," says the Apostle, " but to him that esteemeth anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean." If a man thinks he is doing
wrong in anything, let him not do it, — " happy is he that con-
demneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth." verse 22.
The whole system of the worship of the Jews Avas another
barrier. — It is unnecessary for me to dAvell on this for a moment,
because you know it must have separated them from the whole
world. You will find that dwelt on at large, in Hebrews, ix. 9,
10, 11, 12, where the Apostle speaks both of their worship and its
abrogation, by the fulfilment of its types, " Which was a figure,"
(that is, their worship, their tabernacle worship,) "for the time
then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that
could not make hin: that did the service perfect, as pertaining to

196 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
the conscience ; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them till the
time of reformation. But .Christ being come an high priest of
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." All that Avorship of theirs, was but an emblem of the
great and glorious work of" Jesus — their sacrifices finished in the
sacrifice of Christ — their priesthood abrogated in the priesthood
of Christ. No longer was the High Priest to enter into the holy
place with blood of others — when the blessed Jesus bowed His
head on the cross, the vail was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom, to show that the way into the Holiest of all was noAv made
manifest to the sinner — when He Himself, the Great High Priest,
passed into the heavens, there " to appear," once for all, and that
forever, " in the presence of God for us." Therefore, you per
ceive that all the ordinances that had separated the Jew from the
Gentile, had been completely done away. Now, let us read over
the passage again, and I trust you Avill all understand it clearly,
"He is our peace, who hath made both (Jew and Gen
tile) ONE, AND HATH BROKEN DOWN THE MIDDLE WALL OF
PARTITION BETWEEN US ; HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH
THE ENMITY, EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED
IN ORDINANCES ) FOR TO MAKE IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE
NEW MAN, SO MAKING PEACE ; AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE
BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN
THE ENMITY THEREBY ; AND CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO
YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH."
So these are His own blessed Avords, speaking of the Gentiles,
" Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also 1
must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall bs
onefold, and one shepherd." John x. 16, " Where there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free : but Christ is all, and in all." Col.
iii. 11.
But this passage of Scripture, not only shows, that He had
made peace between Jew and Gentile, but further, " that he
MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GoD IN ONE BODY, BY THE
CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY."
Now let me call your attention to the difference that there is
between these two words, or rather this same word in these two
verses. The word " enmity" in the 15th verse, and the word " en
mity" in the 16th verse. The enmity in the 15th verse is the enmity
between Jew and Gentile, " having abolished in his flesh
the enmity," and He tells you what that enmity was, " even
THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES."
But the " enmity" in the 16th verse, is the enmity that both Jew
and Gentile have to God. This is the enmity that you read of in
Romans viii. 7, " the carnal mind is enmity against God." But

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 197
mark, too, the different expressions that are used — " having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, (betAveen Jew and Gen
tile) EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN ORDI
NANCES" — but the enmity between God and man is spoken of dif
ferently, — " having slain the enmity thereby." The first
enmity is " abolished" — the enmity between Jew and Gentile is
taken away, the commandments and ordinances are abrogated.
The second enmity between them and God, is " slain," because
the carnal mind, the carnal nature, the carnal heart, the old man,
all the rebellion of the believer against his God, is slain forever —
dead upon the cross of Christ. I pray you attend to this. He
says "having slain the enmity thereby." Look to Ro
mans vi. 6, 7, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin."
I have dwelt very often on this passage of Scripture and the
glorious truth contained in it. But noAV, let me dwell on it again,
for we ought all to dwell on it every day, — " our old man is cru
cified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed
from sin." There is no sin chargeable upon a dead body, a dead
body can have no sin. He that believeth in Christ Jesus the '
Lord is accounted by God as dead with Christ upon the cross ; he
is accounted as one with Christ, and dead with Christ. As the
justice of God had been fully satisfied, all the demands of God's
righteous law had been finished when Jesus died — finished for
ever, not only for the Jew, but for every sinner that believeth on
Him, — so all who believe are dead with Christ, as you have in
this chapter, Romans vi. 11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord," and in Colossians iii. 3, " Ye are dead, and
your life is hid with Christ in God." What is the practical ap
plication of this ? Look to the next chapter, Romans vii., and you
will see it practically applied by the Apostle Paul ; — he, speaking of
his own sense of sin, his own corruption, his own burden, says, " /
see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my mem
bers." He felt what you, believer, feel. I say, you believer, — every
one of you who believe the Gospel of Jesus, feels as Saint Paul felt —
if you believe, you feel within, your own corrupt heart, rebellious
against your conscience, against your own standard of right, which
is the holy law of God, and when you would desire to do good, you
find evil present with you, you feel that " law in your members,
warring against the law of your mind, and bringing you into
captivity to the law of sin that is in your members," — it is the
law of your body of sin and death, — you feel that law evermore
contending against the law of your mind, and bringing you into
captivity every day. This very day, since you came into this
congregation, there is not a single one among you, that has been
able to worship God as you desire to do. There is not a single

198 LECTURES on the EPHESIANS.
one among you who feels you have worshipped God as you ought to
do. Any of you Avho are dead in trespasses and sins, — -you think
you are very good — you have come to church, — you have said
your prayers, — as you call it, and you think you are very good
for doing so. But you, believer, feel very differently, you feel
your poor heart distracted, vain and foolish thoughts have come
into your mind since you came into this house, and defiling all
your prayers, you feel how little you worship God as you long to
do, — you mourn that you are continually more inclined merely
to " say your prayers" than to pray — thus you feel that corrupt
heart of yours warring against the law of your mind, you feel you
cannot do as you ought,— so did the Apostle Paul, and then he
cries out, " Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of thin death ?" then he adds, " / thank God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord," — as much as to say, " I am de
livered from it, it is dead with Christ, though it is living in me—
working in me— though it is bringing my heart down — making me
sink under a sense of my own guilt and vileness, — yet, I thank God
it is dead with Christ — it is crucified with Him — its transgression is
finished — its sin is made an end of — it never can come against
me — my God has blotted it out— the blood of the Lamb has
washed it away, and therefore, 'J thank God through Jesus
Christ.' My blessed Redeemer has slain the enmity of this
guilty heart to God, and so has reconciled me, a guilty sinner to
my God and Father." Oh ! then, rejoice, believer, Uft up your
heart, look to your Lord and Saviour, triumph over death, sin,
and hell, and thank your God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Then — when groaning and brought low as he was — then — when
like him constrained to cry out, " Oh, wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" let faith
triumph over sin and death, and say, " / thank God through
Christ Jesus." That is faith, that is trust, that is confidence in
God's blessed word. " Lord increase our faith."
So then, " having slain the enmity thereby," and recon
ciled Jew and Gentile unto God, " in one body by the cross,
HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR
off, and to them that were nigh," — peace to the Gentile,
and peace to the Jew, " peace to them that were afar off,
and to them that were nigh." And is not this peace? Is
it not peace to see your sins blotted out through the blood of
Jesus ? When Jesus has made peace by the blood of His cross,
what can make war ? If God is satisfied, if eternal justice is satis
fied, what have you to fear then? " It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth?" Who can condemn when God acquits?
when the Judge of heaven and earth pronounces the sinner inno
cent ? Oh, what an amazing expression ! what a paradox ! But
what a truth ! ! when God pronounces the sinner innocent ? — In
nocent sinner ! Did you ever hear of such a thing ? Yes, blessed
be God ! though a sinner, yet counted innocent, — though guilty,
yet 'counted clear, through the blood of the Lamb ! Oh, is not this

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 199
peace ? " He came and preached peace to you w hich were
afar off and to them that were nigh." How did Christ
preach peace ? How does He preach peace ? He preached peace
by His prophets, Isaiah xxvii. 5, " Let him take hold of my
strength, that he may make peace with me ;" (that is, Christ,)
" and he shall make peace with me." Then again He saith, Iii. 7,
" How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion,
thy God reigneth !" And again, lvii. 19, " / create the fruit of
the lips ; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is
near, saith the Lord ; and I will heal him." This appears to be
the very passage that the Spirit suggested to Saint Paul, when he
quoted this verse, " peace to you that are afar off, and
TO THEM THAT ARE NIGH."
Again, He preached peace by His angels. What Avas the song
of the angels when the blessed Redeemer was born ? — when they
came to announce the birth of the Saviour ? " Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men."
Again, He came and preached peace by His own word, as he
says in St. John's Gospel, xiv. 27, " Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Again,
He closes His conversation Avith His disciples in these words,
" These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have
peace." John xvi. 33. And what was that peace 1 You see that
peace explained in chapter xx. 19. After our blessed Lord arose
from the dead, when He came on the first day of the week to the
room where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, what
were His first words, when He came and stood in the midst of
them ? The first accents that fell from His blessed lips were these,
" Peace be unto you !" The very men that "forsook him and
fled." Peter that denied Him with an oath — to him He saith,
" Peace be unto you." And again, in eight days after, to Thomas,
who said he would not believe unless he put his finger into the
print of the nails, and thrust his hand into His side, — what is the
first word that Jesus speaks to them all? "Peace be unto you,
and when he had so said, He showed them his hands and
his side." As much as to say, " Peace be unto you," and, behold
here is the purchase of that peace — here is the price of peace,
here is the security of peace, — "Behold my hands and iny side."
Well indeed may those words be added, " Then were the disciples
glad, when they saw the Lord." v. 21. " He came and preached
PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT
were nigh." To His disciples, who were Jews — to Saul, a Jew
too, a persecutor and blasphemer — to you, poor idolatrous wor
shippers of Diana at Ephesus, — and blessed be His name, it is the
same peace to us who are far off, poor Gentiles in these islands.
So He preaches peace by His Apostles. What is His commis
sion to them ? " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel

200

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. What is that Gospel ? Peace
with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, pardon through His
blood, and peace through His salvation. So you see the Apostles
preaching. I should go through the whole of the Apostolical
epistles, were I to quote on this subject. How do they commence
all their epistles ? " Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fa
ther, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." How did St. Peter preach
his first sermon ? To whom was the first proclamation of peace
made ? To whom did the Apostles make the first proclamation of
peace ? To the men whose hands Avere embrued in the blood of
Christ. See Acts ii., when Peter had testified against them for their
crimes, and when they cried out, what shall we do ? " Repent, and
be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,
for the promise is unto you, and unto your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
v. 38, 39. Come to the Saviour whom you have slain, come to
Him, whose blood has stained your guilty hands, come to Him, re
ceive pardon and peace. He preaches " peace to you which
WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH."
He preaches peace by His ordinances. What is that feast?
What is that which is spread on that table ? Who instituted that
ordinance ? For what purpose was it instituted ? Was it not by
Him " who in the same night that he was betrayed took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he brake it and gave it to his dis
ciples, saying : take, eat, this is my body which is given for you :
do this in remembrance of me. Likewise after supper, he took
the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, say
ing, drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the new testa
ment, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of
sins. Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of
me." The pledge of peace — the memorial of peace, purchased
by the blood of Jesus, just as fresh this day as when it came from
His OAvn blessed hands. There is the ordinance remaining, im
mutable to this day, from the night He instituted it among His
disciples to this moment. There it is, just as it was, broken bread
and poured out wine, the memorial of peace, and this " to you
who were afar off," says the Apostle, "and to them that
WERE NIGH."
Oh, blessed be God ! peace is purchased for them that are afar
off, and I dare say, I address some sinners who are very far off
from God, to-day. I have no doubt, I address many who are very far
off from Him indeed — sunk in sin and wickedness — coming into a
church. — perhaps, they do not know why — perhaps some — who
seldom attend a place of public worship — sabbath-breakers — liars
— drunkards — thieves — murderers — adulterers — all, or any other
class of sinners. If such be your character, you are far from
God — you have no peace Avith God — no comfort — terror at the
thought of death — trying to forget that you are immortal beings —
hating anything that forces you to remember it — perhaps greatly

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 201
displeased, now, at my thus addressing you — perhaps anxious to
go, but ashamed to go out of the church — ashamed to get up and
go out — hating me, for testifying against your guilt and misery ;
and thinking I am speaking to your case — perhaps you think so —
an accusing conscience has a fearful power in applying the Word
of God. You are far from God. What shall I say to you ? What
is my commission to you ? " Peace, peace to you who are
afar off."
However guilty your poor soul is, the message of the Gospel is
peace. The message of God's law indeed is terrible — the message
of God's justice is terrible — it is vengeance, judgment, curse, death
and hell. Oh ! " consider this, ye that forget God, lest he pluck
you away, and there be none to deliver you." But that is not the
message of the Gospel. I must speak of these things to you, but
for what purpose ? to enhance to you the glory of the everlasting
Gospel, the riches of Immanuel's grace, Avho sends a message of
peace and mercy to your souls, " Peace, peace to you who are
afar OFF."
I address, I doubt not, some, who compared with you, think they
are very nigh, some who may be very diligent in all their obser
vances of religion, some Pharisees Avho are strict in all the ordi
nances of their Church, and who would not for the world, omit
one of them, — but who still are resting their souls on these observ
ances and ordinances, resting their souls on what they are doing
for themselves. They may be said in one sense to be nigh to
God ; for they attend on the worship of God, " they draw nigh
with their lips," but " their heart is far from Him," they are just
as far from peace as you, such persons are all alike far from peace,
— they are as far from peace as the publicans of old. The Phari
sees and Scribes were just as far from peace and from God, as the
publicans and harlots ; and so it is with them. Indeed, often as
of old, the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God be
fore such, and often it is, that to a poor, wretched, guilty, vile sin
ner, whose character is blasted among men — the sound of the
Gospel will reach his ear — the peace of Christ Jesus will touch
his heart — his soul will be melted at the foot of the cross, and he
will come, like her who had her mighty debt forgiven — lie down
at his Saviour's feet and wash them with his tears.
Oh, that it may be so among you to-day ! And remember, dear
fellow-sinner, whoever you are, there is but one peace. "Peace
TO YOU WHO ARE AFAR OFF AND TO THEM THAT ARE NIGH,"
peace to the Gentile — peace to the Jew,— -peace to all who bear the
name of Christian, whose heart may be as far from God, as Jew
or Pagan — our message is, peace to all through the blood of Christ.
Oh ! that God, by the blessed power of His Spirit, may bring
this home to your hearts and consciences, my friends, that you
may know what it is to have peace with God through Christ.
May the Lord apply it, — may the Lord bring it home with demon
stration of the Spirit and of power to your souls, that you may
know the sweetness of having the blessed message of God's mercy.

202 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
and the blessed ordinance of Christ's salvation spread before j ou,
and that your souls may be enabled to feed on Him who is our
Peace, our Rest, our Rock, our Salvation, — to " feed on Him in
your hearts, by faith, with thanksgiving." Amen.

EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — 18.
" For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
On the last day, we considered the state of the Gentiles by
nature, as expressed in ll.th and 12th verses — severed from the peo
ple of God, the Jews — severed from the ordinances and the revela
tion of God, and consequently from God Himself. " Having no
hope, and without God in the world." We considered the means
by which they were brought nigh to the people of God — brought
from a state of guilt and condemnation, into a state of union AATith
God's people, and into a state of peace with God Himself, even by
Christ Jesus. " Now in Christ Jesus," adds the Apostle, in the
13th verse, " ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ," — made nigh to the Church of the Jews, — Jew
and Gentile united together, and both made nigh to God — all one
in Christ Jesus ; "for he is our peace." He — that is Christ Jesus,
" who hath made both one," — Jew and Gentile who believe in Him,
— " and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between!' us,
— Avhich separated the Jew from the Gentile, — " having abolished in
his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances, for to make in himself, of twain, one new man, so
making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross." Recollect, then, the way in Avhich alone we
can be reconciled to God, — by the blood of Christ, by the cross,
" having slain the enmity thereby :'' having slain the enmity be
tween man and God by the cross, having " borne our sins in his
own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii. 24, — having taken our flesh, " that
through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil ; and deliver them, who through fear of death,
were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 14, 15, and so
"having made peace by the blood of his cross, he came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were
nigfi ;" — to the Gentiles who were afar off, and to the JeAVS who
were nigh, Avho had the oracles of God, and the ordinances of God,
and the means of grace, but who st ill, though nigh in outward

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 203
form and privileges, were just as far separated in spirit and tmth
as you were.
Outward forms, ordinances, and privileges, may be said, in one
sense, to bring a sinner nigh to God, as they do. They bring him
Avithin the means of grace, they enable him to come and hear the
Gospel preached, to come and attend instruction from the word of
the living God, as in Lectures, to come and attend the ordinances
of God, as in public Worship and Sacraments, these things all
bring a sinner, in a certain sense, outwardly nigh to God. You
are all, of course, in this sense, far nigher to God than many of
your poor countrymen and countrywomen, Avho have no Bible, no
Gospel preached to them, no message of peace or salvation to their
souls, but vain superstitions substituted for the Gospel of Christ ; —
you are much nearer to God in that sense than others. But
remember that these things do not bring the sinner spiritually
nigh to God ; you may enjoy all these outAvard ordinances, and be
just as far from God as the heathen, or the idolater who never
heard His name. The Scribes and Pharisees were just as far from
Christ as the worshipper of Diana of Ephesus, though they enjoyed
all His ordinances, and in that sense were nigh to God ; they disbe
lieved the record of the eternal Gospel, and were, in that sense,
as far from God as the remotest heathens. Therefore, remember
this distinction, and it is very important, for Alas ! my dear friends,
we are so apt to rest in outward means, and outward ordinances,
to mistake the forms of religion for religion itself, the privileges
of spiritual religion for spiritual religion itself — that we have great
need to be driven every moment btick into our OAvn hearts, and to
stop in the midst of ordinances and privileges, and ask ourselves, —
"What is this to me? Is my soul brought nigh to God by the
blood of Christ ? Have I peace with God through Him that died
on the cross ? Am I ready and watching when my Master calls
me ? or when my Master comes ?" These are important questions ;
— take heed, you do not rest in outward privileges. Outward
privileges are only aggravations of guilt, if they do not bring us
nearer to God in spirit and truth, therefore mark and recollect this
distinction in reading this passage of Scripture — He " came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were
nigh" The Apostle proceeds, "for through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the father." This is the text at
which we commence this day. Observe in this passage, the only
way in which a sinner can come to his God : " through him,
we both have access ;" Jew and Gentile alike — none other
access for either. Observe how this agrees Avith the expression of
our blessed Lord Himself, in the 14th chap, of St. John's Gospel,
6th verse, " / am the way and the truth and the life, no man
cometh to the Father but by me" and again he says in the 10th
chapter, 9th verse " / am the door, by me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." There
fore, observe, through Him alone we have access. Noav consider,

204

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

what need of access a sinner has to his God. " We must all ap
pear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may
receive the things done in his body." 2 Cor. v. 10. Time is hur
rying us on. We are, as it Avere, grasped in the mighty hand of
time, and dragged or driven along, however reluctant we may be,
to the precipice of death. Like the poor culprits of old, who were
sentenced at Rome, to be hurled down from the summit of the
Tarpeian rock, we are, as it Avere, hurried along under the sentence
of death to the verge of the precipice of eternity; — on — on — down
—down we must go. We cannot turn about and parley with the
officers that are hurrying us along ; we cannot turn about, and say
to the minutes, hours, and days — " Oh ! stop, — wait, — linger a
little sloAver, — give me a little more time, — do not fly so fast, — a
little space — a little respite." Impossible ! on, on, on, on we must
go ; who or what shall arrest the rapidity of our progress ? What
barrier can be erected to stay the flight of time ? Is it not necessary
then, for the poor sinner to have access to his God ? If you could
suppose a culprit, such as I have been speaking of, doomed to be
cast from the summit of the Tarpeian rock — if, when he was in
the act of being dragged to the execution of his sentence, it were
possible that he could even then have access to the means of pardon
- — if it were possible that even then, his voice might reach the ears
of the judge who could reverse his sentence — Oh ! with what joy
would he pour forth that cry, would he send forth that supplication
to the judge's ear, if haply indeed, his fate might be arrested, and
he might be restored to liberty and life ! Though we cannot pause
on our progress to eternity, yet may we have access every moment
to the ear of our Judge ; and remember, that it is not a sinner cry
ing to God for respite, and for pardon. — No — but this is the awful
point of the case, that it is God crying to the sinner to receive respite
and pardon ; " turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die ?" Remember
this ; — it is not, only, come you to God, cry you to the judge, for
the judge will have mercy upon you. But the language of the
Gospel is a message from your God to you, crying to you. — Oh !
sinner, peace, peace, pardon, pardon, " come unto me and I will give
you rest," " look unto me and be ye saved." Oh ! think of this ;
" he came and preached peace to you who were afar off," here is
the access ; you may have access continually to your God. God
invites you, — commands you, — to cry to Him, to come to Him, He
proclaims peace to you, hoAvever far — pardon, however guilty.
Now, " through Him, we have access" — then if Ave feel the
need we have of this access, let us consider the nature of it. Let
us open the 4th chapter of Hebrews, and we shall see, that such
is the nature of the access which the sinner has to his God, that
he is not only privileged to come, invited to come, but to come with
confidence and boldness. Look at the last verse, " let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
" Let us therefore" — wherefore ? — what is the reason ? — what
is the means ? You observe, it is exactly the same that is set be-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 205
fore us in this text, for in this text it is said, " through him, we
have access, by one Spirit unto the Father." Noav, if we
look at the reason, 4th chapter of HebreAVs, why it is said, " let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of grace," — if we look at the
word " therefore" and ask ourselves the question, wherefore ? We
shall find it answered in the 14th and 15th verses, " Seeing then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we
have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne
grace." Mark — " Seeing then that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens." Who is this High Priest ? what
is the office of this Priest? what is the necessity of a Priest?
Avhat has a Priest to say to us ? " Every high priest is ordained
to offer gifts and sacrifices." Heb. viii. 3. We see the office of a
priest is to offer gifts and sacrifices. Then, Ave find in the 7th
chapter of the Hebrews, 26th verse, " Such an high priest became
us," was suited to us " who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from, sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; who needeth
not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his
own sins, and then for the people : for this he did once, when he
offered up himself; for the law maketh men high priests which
have infirmity ; but the word of the oath which was since the law,
maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
Now we are told, in this passage of Ephesians which we have
been reading, that sinners are " made nigh by the blood of Christ"
— Ave are told that He slew the enmity between God and man, on
the cross, by giving His OAvn life on that cross for sinners — we are
told that He offered up Himself as an atonement for man's trans
gressions, — He was a Priest, He was a victim, — such is the lan
guage of St. John, " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away
the sin of the world !" Behold the Lamb of God slain on the cross
for sin : — -now, behold the Lamb risen from the dead, and ascended
into heaven, not only a Lamb and a victim, but a Priest, " he is
passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God," " having ob
tained eternal redemption for us." We read in the 9th chapter
Hebrews, from the 24th verse, " Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Nor yet that he shoidd offer himself often, as the high priest en-
tereth into the holy place every year with blood of others ; for
then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the
world : but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And in the next chap
ter, from the 11th verse, " Every priest standeth daily minister
ing, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sins ; but this "man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God ; from hence
forth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool ; for by

206

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us : for after that
he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them : and their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. Noio where remission of
these is, there is no more offering for sin." Where is remission
of sins ? whence is it ? How is it to be found ? In the blood of
Christ. " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."
Then, " where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin," — there is nothing more to be done. — " Having, therefore,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an high priest over the
house of God ; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assur
ance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering ; (for he is faithful
that promised :) and let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works : not forsaking the assembling of our
selves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one an
other : and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
Heb. x. 19—25.
Noav, to compare these passages of Scripture. We have here,
in Ephesians, the blood of Christ bringing the sinner nigh — we
have that blood poured out on the cross as a way of access — we
have, in the 4th chapter of HebreAvs, and in other passages to
which I have called your attention, Jesus, the high priest, who is
passed into the heavens, the Son of God, a merciful and faithful
High Priest — we have his two offices as a Saviour : — his office as
a victim, an atonement ; and His office as a priest to cany that
atonement into the presence of the Father — Ave have both these
brought together, in the 10th chapter of HebreAvs, — and in these
three passages, Ave have announced this blessed truth, that a sin
ner, a guilty sinner, — you, — I, — any — every sinner, has access to
God, freely, boldly, continually, through the blood of the victim,
and the glorious intercession of the great High Priest, Avho hath
taken that blood into the heavens, and appears Avith that blood as
an all sufficient offering, to cleanse the chief of sinners, " through
Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."
Thus, as in the 4th chapter of HebreAvs, " let us, therefore, come
boldly to the, throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need ;" and as in the 10th Hebrews,
" having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath con
secrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and
having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near
with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." Oh ! sinner, see
what an access there is for you here ! There is no qualification
necessary for you, except that which you possess ; there is not one

lectures on the ephesians. 207
of us Avho has not this qualification, — the only qualification that
is necessary for us to come with the greatest confidence to the
throne of grace, — and what is that ? It is that we are sinners,
that we are guilty sinners ; that is our qualification. What is
our plea? There is the victim offered for the guilty, — there is
the Great High Priest who is passed into the heavens, and who
has carried that victim, His own pierced hands, and feet, and sides,
to the throne of grace ; that victim, that bleeding victim is the
sinner's plea ; the One Avho offers it, is the sinner's Priest, his
Friend, his Refuge, his Redeemer, his God. What more can we
want ? Oh ! my friends, that we were all but enabled to enjoy
this blessed Refuge as we ought to do ! When we think of the
constant, the ever-during need the sinner has of access to the
throne of grace ! and of the glorious way of access, — Christ " the
way, and the truth, and the life," how can we sufficiently appre
ciate the nature of this access. It is a free access, an open ac
cess, an access in which the sinner may have boldness Avith confi
dence, as we see in the very next chapter, Ephes. iii. 12, " in whom
we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him."
How blessed, then, is the thought that it is an ever open access,
the way is always open, so saith David, " Be Thou my strong
habitation whereunto I may continually resort :" Ps. lxxi. 3,
" continually resort :" there is not a moment of our life, not a cir
cumstance of our existence, there is not a state of want, misery,
destitution, wretchedness, bereavement, guilt, ruin, there is no
earthly position in which we can .be placed, in which the cry of the
Gospel is not just the same to us, " come unto me, all ye that la
bor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest," Mat. xi. 28,
" look unto me and be ye saved." Is. xlv. 22.
Oh then consider, dear friends and fellow-sinners, consider what
a privilege is here open to us ! Here may we all have access,
every Jew and every Gentile. But there is an important word
here, there is an important person, an important agent, that must
not be left. I fear not to assert, that the truths which I have just
laid before you, and the passages of God's eternal Word which I
have quoted to substantiate these truths, are as irrefragable as the
foundations of the earth itself — for they are the truths of the living
God. But such is your state, such is my state, that — important
and true as they are, and supported as they are on the foundations
of God's eternal Word — I might as Avell address them to the seats
you sit on, as address them to you, or to myself, unless the Spirit
of the Living God, who indited these truths, should bring them
home to your hearts, and to mine. Therefore observe, " through
HIM, WE HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT TO THE FATHER." YOU
see, hoAV the Three Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity are brought
together, in this verse, in their different offices, as they are in so
many passages of God's Word. You see the Three Persons so
distinctly mentioned here, that they cannot be confounded or
mistaken.

208

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

" Through him," through whom? — Christ, the mediator of the
new covenant, God the Son.
" We have access" unto whom? — "unto the Father," from
whom the sinner is separated by nature — from whom he is at a
distance — cast off by his own rebellion.
Through him, we have access to the Father.
But who brings us ? Do we come of ourselves ? Are we willing,
are Ave ready ? Never : — •" you will not come to me, that you
might have life." John v. 40, is language that is just as suited
to our hearts as to the hearts of those to whom it was addressed —
the Scribes and Pharisees, — " You will not come to me that you
might have life." How are you brought ? — " Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power" Ps. ex. 3. Our Lord saith,
"It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of
God ; every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father, cometh unto me." John vi. 45. And thus " through
HIM WE HAVE ACCESS, BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER."
The Spirit of God must quicken the soul, the Spirit of God must
open the understanding, the Spirit of God must bring the truth
home to the sinner's heart and conscience, or the sinner remains
dead in trespasses and sins, and perishes in his iniquity, for " no
man can say, that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," 1
Cor. xii. 3.
What therefore are Ave to do ? We find these truths written in
the word of the Living God, — our own guilt, our own misery, our
own condemnation. We see written in that Volume, our OAvn en
tire inability to do or think anything good. We see written in
that word, the glorious testimony of salvation proclaimed fully,
freely, through the blood of Christ, to the chief of sinners — we see
that this is brought home to the sinner's heart by the Avord of God ;
accompanied by the Spirit of God ; and Ave see that the Spirit of
God is freely given to every poor sinner who asks for it. " If a
son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give
him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a
serpent ? or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion ?
If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke xi. 11, 12, 13. Now,
there is Christ's promise, — take that promise, plead that promise
on your knees before the Throne of God. Did you ever try it ?
Did you ever take your Bible and go into your closet, and take
one of the promises of God, for example that promise in the 11th
chap. Luke, — did you ever take that promise, kneel doAvn on your
knees, and cry to God thus : — •
" Oh, God, I am a poor, lost, helpless, vile sinner : I have no in
clination to come to Thee, I have no power to come to Thee ;
Lord, Thy word tells me, thy precious promise assures me, that
Thou wilt give Thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee ; Lord, I
come, I would plead Thine own promise before Thee, it is Thy
word, Lord ; it is written, Lord, as a promise to poor guilty sinners,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 209
I come to Thee for bread, Thou wilt not give me a stone ! My
Father, my earthly father never cast me off; he never, when I
went to him for bread, sent me empty away, or gave me a stone ;
O Lord, wilt Thou do so ? Oh, no, Lord, I know that Thou wilt
not, yea, how much more wilt Thou give Thy Holy Spirit to them
that ask Thee. Oh, give it to me, incline my heart to read Thy
blessed word, bring Thy promises home to my understanding, to
my conscience, to my heart, teach me to know Christ as my
refuge, teach me to bathe in the fountain of His precious blood, to
wrap my soul in His spotless righteousness, give me access with
confidence 'by the faith of Him to Thee. Lord hear me — Lord
fulfil Thy promises for Jesus' sake to my soul."
Now did you ever do this ? If a friend, a patron wrote to you,
giving you a promise of anything that you wanted, and that you
could not possibly obtain through any channel or from any per
son but Him, what would you do ? Suppose he delayed to give it
to you ; suppose you did not get it in time as you required ; suppose
your need of the fulfilment, of his promise pressed on you, what
would you do ? You would take his promise, go to him, or write
to him, remind him of his own letter, tell him what he had prom
ised you, tell him your want, ask him to fulfil his word. And is
not that the use to make of the promises of the living God?
Would you not expect your friend, if he Avere true— if he were a
person of integrity and power, — would you not expect he would
keep his word — that he would fulfil his promise ? And shall Ave
not trust in the truth — the faithfulness and power of our God?
Did you ever know or hear of any one who trusted in the promises
of God, and was disappointed? You never did, and you never
shall. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
not pass away}' Mat. xxiv. 35.
Then think of these things, consider, what a blessing is com
prehended in this one verse ; it is quite sufficient to consider at
one time ;— " through him, we both have access by one
Spirit to the Father."
May the Lord the Spirit enable you and me to profit by this
great and precious truth of the word of God this day, through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 14

NINETEENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians II. — 19.

" Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God."
I have endeavored in the course of my Lectures on this chapter,
to impress on your minds the great truth which is so continually
brought before us in the word of God, — namely, the actual state of
every individual on the face of the earth, either that he is before God
in the actual condition of guilt and condemnation, so that, if cut off
in that state, he must perish. Or that he is, before God, in the
actual state of acceptance and salvation ; so that whenever he is
called away in that state, he departs and is Avith Christ ; so that
he may say with the Apostle, " whether we live, we live unto the
Lord, or whether we die we die unto the Lord, whether we live
therefore, or die, we are the Lords." Rom. xiv. 8. And I wish
you to bear this continually in mind, because I believe there is no
one truth of which persons are more entirely ignorant than this.
They believe they are in an uncertain state, they believe that
they are in a doubtful condition, they will not say, that they are
children of God ; that, they think, would be too much to assume ;
they will not admit that they are children of Satan, — that, they
consider would be too awful to contemplate : but remember, my
friends, you must be in one state or the other. If you believe,
that all sinners when they die, must go to either of two places,
either enter into that " rest which remaineth for the people of
God," or that they must have their portion among those to whom
the Lord shall say, " depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, pre
pared for the devil and his angels :" if you believe that that is
the condition of every individual at the hour of their death, re
member, they must be fitted for one or the other of these condi
tions, at every moment of their existence. You and I must
be so now, and I entreat you to consider this chapter over and
over again, with reference to this one great truth. Observe the
condition in which the Apostle again and again asserts that men
are by nature ; and observe the state n which the Apostle testifies,
that believers are by grace. It is to this latter view of the subject,
our attention is called to-day.
On the last day, you recollect, we considered the access which
the sinner has, through Christ, unto the Father, by the Spirit ;
and in the 19th and following verses, you see the state of every
believer who enjoys this blessed access. " Now therefore ye are

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 211
no more strangers and, foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner-stone, in whom, all the building, fitly
framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit." Now, 1 pray you, refer to the 12th verse,
and contrast it with the 19th. You see, in the former, the state
in which he describes them as having been. " At that time ye
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world :" that Avas their state ; — observe
now their present condition, 19 v. " Now therefore ye are
NO more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens
WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GoD :" yOU Were
" aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
the covenants of promise," but noAv " ye are no more stran
gers and foreigners," you had " no hope, and were without
God in the world" — but now you are " fellow-citizens with
THE SAINTS, AND OF THE household of God," Can there be
a more plain or striking contrast betAveen the two conditions than
there is in these two verses, the 12th and 19th.
Noav, there is one great blessing contained in these verses — and
that is, that these two verses refer to the same individuals. Ob
serve, you were so and so, you are now so and so. You and I
certainly were, and perhaps, too, many among us yet are, as he
describes in the 12th verse " without Christ," and as to all real
spiritual blessings, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world." These same individuals, who were
in that condition, are now brought out of it; you are not Avhat
you were, the Apostle says, you are " no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints." Now,
dear friends, is not this a most important question for us to con
sider? There may be many among us who have never seriously
considered it ; for certainly if there are any (as it is to be feared
there are,) who are not brought to the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you never have considered this question — how am I
brought from the one condition to the other, from being " an alien
and a stranger, without hope and without God in the world," hoAV
am I brought from this, to be made a " fellow-citizen with the
saints, and of the household of God ?" Is it not most im
portant that you should be brought from one state to the other ?
Consider what is your condition if you are not brought. And
then consider, what is your blessed condition, if you are. Re
member then, remember the way, 13th verse, " Now in Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood
of Christ." Let me dwell on this, for those whose consciences
testify that they are not brought nigh, and let me illustrate the
truth.

212 lectures on the ephesians.
We have just sung that beautiful hymn of Cowper's containing
these lines : " There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins ;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day ;
And there may I, as vile as he,
Wash all my sins away."
Let us then consider the case of the Thief on the Cross. When
he hung there as a malefactor, having joined his fellow-culprit as
we know he did (Mat. xxvii. 44) in mocking Christ — in reviling
that blessed Saviour who was hanging on the Cross beside him ;
what was his condition ? Was he not, as those mentioned in the
12th verse, an " alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and a
stranger from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world ?" But we see in his case the work
of the Holy Ghost — there was no preaching to that thief, he had
no Bible in his hand or in his heart Avhen he was nailed to the
cross — it was the Holy Ghost's work, whose special office it is, to
take of the things of Christ, and show them to the sinner. He
alone can enlighten by means — or, as in this case, without means.
But when that blessed Spirit touched the poor thief's heart, and
ta«ght him to know, that he who Avas hanging crucified beside
him, was the Lord of life and glory, that He was indeed the King
of kings, in whom it was to be fulfilled, " Lift up your heads, O
ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of
glory shall come in." Ps. xxiv. 7. — I say, when that blessed Spirit
touched this poor thief's heart, and taught him to know Christ, to
turn to Him, whom but a moment before he had been reviling —
to look to Him as his Refuge, and to cry to Him, " Lord, remem
ber me when thou earnest into thy kingdom" — what was then his
condition ? he was then "no more a stranger and a foreigner, but
a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God"
his Lord's ansAver of mercy sealed his inheritance and adoption
to his dying ear, — " This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."
He was then ready to be transplanted to glory.
Now the same fountain that washed that thief is open to you
and to me, — there is no other means to cleanse the least stain of
sin, "there is no other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved," Acts iv. 12. And if there be any of
you who have not come to bathe in this fountain, Oh, come and
bathe there to-day! See how soon the poor sinner can be washed
in it ! See, how soon the dying thief was washed in it ! Turn
ye then, and behold the blessed condition of those who are " made
nigh by the blood of Christ," — they are " no more strangers
AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS,
AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD."

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 213
Consider the image used here by the Apostle — how it illustrates
the difference between the state of man as unreconciled, and as
reconciled to God.
A stranger and a foreigner in a city has no home there — he has
no property — no privileges, no rights, in the city. — no habits, inter
ests, pursuits, in common with its inhabitants. Therefore his
heart, his desires, his affections, his feelings, are alien from that
city where he is a stranger, and are given to his own city and his
home. He is in all these points contrasted with the inhabitant of the
city. There is his home — there his property — all the privileges
and rights of the city belong to him ; even though he is absent
from it — still they are his — his interests and his cause are one with
its inhabitants — therefore his heart, his desires, his affections, his
feelings, are all identified with his city and his home.
How truly does this apply to the difference between the uncon
verted and converted sinner. Speak to a man Avho is not " made
nigh by the blood of Christ," of the blessings, the rights, the privi
leges, the possessions, and the home of the saints — tell him of the
great Charter of their Salvation, and all its glories in the blessed
word of God — and you see he evinces that he is " a stranger and
a foreigner," he shows he has neither home, property, privileges,
interest, feeling, care, or concern in the matter. To dwell on such
subjects; — to engage in the pursuits, or to be occupied in the com
pany of those who are " fellow-citizens with the saints,
and of the household of god," would be to him intolerable.
His possessions, his home, his interests and his heart are in the
world. But not only are they strangers and foreigners, but enemies —
men are more than aliens from a city, when the very name of its
inhabitants is a term of reproach, as that of Samaritan was with
the Jews. So they said to our Lord, " Say we not well that thou
art a Samaritan, and hast a devil." John viii. 48.
And alas ! my friends, as I have before remarked, in what an
awful state is the nominal Christian church. — In what an awful
state is the Protestant Church, when there are so many thousands,
nay, tens — hundreds of thousands belonging to it, who in their
blindness and ignorance, take the very name of God's servants —
the very name of those, of whom some serve Him here on earth,
and some surround the Throne of His glory — to be felloAV-citizens
with whom is the highest privilege of man — and make it a nick
name to mock at, — " saints ! !" The very term with multitudes
is a name of scorn. Is not this an awful state of blindness and
ignorance, when even the title that God bestows on his people, is
borrowed from His holy Word, as a name of reproach ? Are not
these "aliens?" Are not these "strangers and foreigners?"
But remember that the Church of Christ — those who are " made
nigh by the blood of Christ," are truly enrolled among the saints ;
they are " fellow-citizens with the saints," they are sancti
fied in Christ Jesus. Recollect the means whereby they are brought

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to God and sanctified. Recollect our Lord's OAvn Avoids to the
Apostle Paul, when He sends Him to preach the Gospel to the
Gentiles, He says, " To whom now I send thee, to open their eyes,
to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an
inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in
me." Acts xxvi. 17, 18. And recollect, in the 13th of Hebrews, the
same truth is set before us, 11th and 12th verses, " The bodies of
those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the
high priest for sin, are burned without the camp, wherefore Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate." Thus they are sanctified by the blood of Christ,
by faith in Christ, through the teaching of the Holy Ghost by the
Word, that is, they are made saints, they are " made nigh by the
blood of Christ," they are made holy, they are taken from the mass
of a guilty world, and they are " washed, they are sanctified, they
are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of
our God," 1st Cor. vi. 11 ; therefore he says, " ye are fellowt
citizens with the saints." We have this expression used by
the Apostle in the 3rd chapter of Philippians, though our transla
tion does not exactly convey it, yet the original word is the same,
— it is according to our translation, " our conversation is in heaven*
but the original word is, " our citizenship (nohtev/ia) is in heaven,"
we are citizens of heaven ; — our citizenship is there. St. Paul was
a Roman citizen, he had the privileges, and enjoyed the privileges
belonging to one. He demanded, as you recollect from Claudius
Lysias the rights of Roman citizenship. But he was a citizen of
a far higher city than that of Rome, he was a citizen of the King
dom of God, he was a "fellow-citizen with the saints."
We hare this subject expanded more in the 12th chapter of the
Hebrews, where the Apostle contrasts the state of those under the
law, with that of those under the Gospel — of the Jews when in un
belief, with that of Jews as believers — of those under condemnation,
with that of those who are sanctified in Christ, 18, 19, 20, 21,
verses, " For ye are not come unto the Mount that might be
touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and dark
ness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of
words ; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should
not be spoken to them any more ; for they could not endure that
which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch the moun
tain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart : and so
terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and
quake :"
That is — ye are not come to the Mount that Avas to be seen and
touched, namely, Mount Sinai — where the LaAV Avas given amidst
thunderings and lightnings, and clouds and tempest — where black
ness and darkness, and flame, and the terror of the trumpet, and
the sentence of death pronounced against any, even a beast that
should touch the mountain, all proclaimed aloud that " the law
worketh wrath." Rom. iv. 15, and that by its deeds "no flesh could

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 215
be justified." Rom. iii. 20, that it was — as it was, and is — a minis
tration not of life, but of death to the soul.
Ye are not come, saith the Apostle, to that Mount ;— " But," he
adds in the 22, 23, 24, verses, " Ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel."
The contrast in this passage of the Hebrews between the condi
tion of the unbeliever and the believer, is the very same that we
find in this chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, only expressed
in different terms. Let me entreat those who hear, who have not
fled to Christ for refuge, to consider how solemn that contrast is.
Some there are of you, perhaps, whose hearts are wholly occu
pied about this passing, perishing world, — taking anxious thought
for " what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, and wherewithal
ye shall be clothed." Mat. vi. 31 — thinking how you shall main
tain yourselves — improve your trade — increase the profits of your
shop or farm — advance yourselves in your profession — or perhaps
only considering how you may amuse yourselves, if — in the lan
guage of the poet, you are " Cursed with means
To dissipate your days in quest of joy — "
but never — never thinking of your God, " as for the ungodly, he
careth not for God, neither is God in all his thoughts :" Ps. x. 4,
— -never contemplating that awful eternity to which you are rush
ing on, as fast as time can hurry you ; and never considering the
fearful condition of the sinner, passing, in such a state, into the
presence of his Judge.
Some perhaps there are again different from these — religious,
not in God's way, but in their own. Many are religious in their
own way, " we have turned every one to his own way :" Isa. liii.
6. — man has his own way of religion, as well as his own way of
iniquity, and some of you may be very religious thus — laboring to
wash your Ethiopian skin — to qualify yourselves to come into the
presence of your Creator — abstaining from certain sins, and hoping
that God will give due merit to your self-denial, — practising certain
virtues, and expecting that God will give you credit and reward
for them. So you may be either, perhaps careless, without any
religion, or secure, as you vainly imagine, in a false religion —
"going about," like the Jews, "to establish your own righteous
ness, and not submitting yourselves to the righteousness of God."
Rom. x. 3. To whichsoever of these classes you belong, (and to
some grade of these every unenlightened sinner may be reduced,)
consider to what you are come. " You are come to the mount that
might be touched, that burns with fire, unto blackness and dark-

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ness, and tempest, and the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of
words" — -that sinners' ears could not endure.
That is, you are come to the mount of the Holy and Eternal LaAv-
giver — the flames of justice and the clouds of the outer darkness
surround His throne — the tempest that shall sweep away every
refuge of lies rolls before Him — the sound of the trumpet that shall
summon the guilty to judgment, heralds the sentence of your
doom — and the thunder of that voice that the ear of the unpardoned
sinner can never bear to hear, peals from His lips.
You are come to the law, which, as a careless sinner, you are
daring to despise — or, which, as a self-righteous Pharisee, you are
vainly and ignorantly expecting to fulfil. You come to " the min
istration of death, written and engraven in stones," 2 Cor. iii. 7 ;
you are come to " the ministration of condemnation" v. 9. — you
are come to the law that condemns you — to the Judge that pro
nounces sentence upon you — you are drawing near to the mountain
— and as certain as you come to it, you shall be, not " stoned or
thrust through with a dart" — but bound hand and foot, and cast
into outer darkness, as a rebel against God ! Such must be your
state, if either living carelessly in your sins, or "going about to
establish your own righteousness," you know not Christ, and seek
Him not. He is dead in vain for you. You are a " stranger and
a foreigner." But if you have indeed "fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope
set before you," Heb. vi. 18, — if you knoAV your sin and misery,
and know Christ as the Hope and Refuge of your souls, Oh, lift
up your head, and see the blessed testimony of your God concern
ing all who are indeed, " made nigh by the blood of Christ," — you
have access by Christ unto the Father, " you are come unto mount
Zion, unto the city of the living God," to " the city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God," Heb. xi. 10, you
are " fellow-citizens with the saints." And, then, see
what that city is, — " the heavenly Jerusalem," there is your home
— there the place Avhich Christ hath gone to prepare for His people
— there is your "house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens," — 2 Cor. v. 1, there your " inheritance incorruptible, un-
defiled, and that fadeth not away'' 1st Pet. i. 4. But you are not
only come to His city, but His Household, ye are " fellow-citi
zens WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD," 
and who are your fellow-citizens ? who are members of this house
hold ? You are come to " the innumerable company of angels,
the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven." Their names are enrolled there in the book
of life, and you are their " fellow-citizens," so your names
must be written there too.
Who reigns in this city ? " and to God the Judge of all," — the
Judge that has pronounced the sentence, not of condemnation, but
of acquittal upon you, for " it is God that justifieth, who is he that
condemneth ?" Rom. viii. 33, 34, you are " washed in the blood
of the Lamb." You are come to Him, then, not as a Judge, but

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 217
as a Father — not only to His city, but to His household — and you
have come " to the spirits of just men made perfect," those who
have gone before you, through the wilderness — some, perhaps near
and dear to your hearts, who have trodden the pilgrimage through
trials, sufferings, sorrows and sins — through vexations, cares, temp
tations, perplexities — tears often starting from their eyes — and
many sighs bursting from their hearts — but Avho are noAv " rested
from their labors," and departed "to be with Christ, which is far
better." Phil. i. 23, — you are come to these — and to Him Avho saved
both them and you, " to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than
that of Abel." " You, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh
by the blood of Christ," " you are no more strangers and
FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOAV-CITIZENS AVITH THE SAINTS, AND
OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GoD, AND ARE BUILT UPON THE FOUND
ATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JfiSUS Cl-IRIST HIM
SELF being the chief corner-stone." Oh, Avhat a blessed
privilege it is for a sinner to be enabled to look to such a rest,
such a city, and such a home.
Observe, he says, " ye are not come unto the mount that might
be touched ;" Sinai, Avith all its terrors and judgments, Avas visible
and tangible, as the fruits of sin are sensibly felt and suffered
here beloAv — and so " in this tabernacle we groan being bur-
thened." But the blessings Avhich are purchased for sinners
by our glorious Lord are all as yet unseen. That for Avhich we
hope is hid from our eyes, for " what a man seeth why doth he yet
hope for ? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with
patience wait for it." Rom. viii. 25, — so saith the Apostle, "your
life is hid u-ith Christ in God." Col. iii. 3, the life that you enjoy
is a hidden life ; — you see it not, it is not a life of sense or of sight,
it is a life of faith, "we walk by faith, and not by sight." 2nd Cor.
v. 7. Faith indeed may give substantializing vieAVs of this, but
still it is " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen."
Oh, believers, consider Avhat a blessed privilege it is to realize by
faith the things we hope for ! Oh, that we all could see, and feel,
and rejoice by faith as Ave ought to do !
Hoav Avould it lift up our hearts in the midst of our trials,
cares, and conflicts within, and without, in our pilgrimage, — if, as
we are toiling along in our weary journey, we could lift up our
eyes and look at. the turrets of the city Avhither Ave are going, and
behold by faith the pinnacles of the New Jerusalem ! Oh, blessed
cheering prospect ! Like the poor weary traveller, when he comes
Avithin sight of his home, and sees the smoke curling among the
trees, and anticipates his reception, his Avelcome, and his rest.
Oh, how blessed for a poor sinner, if he knows his privileges, to
" look for, and haste unto the coming of the day of God." 2 Pet.
iii. 2. That is what St. Paul means in the passage of Philippians
to which I have adverted, Avhen he says " our citizenship is in
heaven." Observe the use he makes of it — "from whence also,

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we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all
things unto himself." Phil. iii. 20, 21. And this, too, is what the
Apostle John says in his first Epistle, 3rd chap. 1st and 2nd verses ;
— " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God ! therefore, the world
knoweth us not, because it knew him not ; beloved, now are we the
sons of God ; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for
we shall see him as he is."
You see with what confidence the Apostle speaks " Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." We are His chil
dren, we are " of His household," we are " fellow-citizens
with his saints," and, therefore we are " looking for the com
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to
himself." This is the very same idea that the Apostle uses in the
next chapter, "for this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named." Observe, " the whole family in heaven and
earth ;" one family : — part of the family are at home, part of the
family are abroad, part are still travelling in the wilderness, and
part have travelled through it, and have reached the end of their
journey, and are at rest on the bosom of their Lord,
" The toilsome way thou 'st travelled o'er, and borne the heavy load,
But Christ hath taught thy languid feet, to reach his blest abode :
Thou 'rt sleeping now like Lazarus, upon his Father's breast,
Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."
Part of the family are safe in Canaan, part are on their journey
coming up to the River Jordan — ¦
" One army of the living God,
At his command we bow,
Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now."
Some are beyond the flood, some coming up to the banks, but it is
one family, " the whole family in heaven and earth." And think
you, that that family in heaven, are safer than the family on earth 1
No ; for those who are on their way, are " kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation." All who are looking to Jesus
" are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with
the saints and of the household of God." Well then, is not this
a blessed truth ?
And now, believer, perhaps, you may be often weary in your
earthly household. There may be many things in your taberna
cle here that distress and afflict you. Your habitation may be
poor, and very sad, and melancholy, in many respects. But, pause

lectures on the ephesians. 219
and look at the fact — Is that your household ? Is that indeed your
home ? Is the place that you are living in here — is this your real
rest ? Nay, have you not another and a better household ? Is
not this rather your little tent, pitched here for a few nights, or the
inn you are lodging at for a few days ? Are you indeed a " fel
low-citizen with the saints"? Are you "of the house
hold of god?" What ! "of the household of God ! !" think
of this expression ; " of the household." It is one word ; it
occurs but three times in the New Testament, —
I. — Galatians, vi. 5, where we are exhorted, " while we have time
let us do good unto all men especially unto them that are of the
household of faith."
II. — It occurs here where those who are of " the household
of faith," are declared to be of " the household of God."
The last place it occurs is in 1st Tim. v. 8, in which it is said
that " if any man provide not for his own and specially for those
of his own house Ae hath denied the faith and isioorse than an
infidel." Shall the Lord commend to our special love and care,
" the household of faith ?" Shall he assure us that they are
His household, His family? Shall He tell us, that he that
"provideth not for his own house hath denied the faith and is
worse than an infidel ?" and shall not He provide for His own
household? Yes! my brethren, "Jehovah-jireh," is written
on every page of the history of His Church. When He provided
the Lamb for the burnt offering, He provided all things in Jesus ;
for " He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?"
Rom. viii. 32. Fear not, believer, " all things are yours, whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and
Christ is God's." 1st Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23.
Fear not, believer, Avhatever be your wants, spiritual or tempo
ral, fear not. It is Avritten, " my God shall supply all your need,
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus," Phil. iv. 19.
Surely this is the inheritance you derive under your Father's will
— this is the possession which your Lord assures you is your own,
as of His household. Therefore, lift up your heart, and look unto
Jesus. " Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to
the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revela
tion of Christ Jesus." 1 Pet. i. 13.
And Oh ! unbelievers, my poor unbelieving friends, if there be
any here, who as yet know not, and belong not to this " house
hold" — you too are uneasy perhaps, about your earthly habita
tion ; and thinking how you may embellish, enlarge, adorn, im
prove it — perhaps meditating how you may exchange it for a bet
ter, thinking how happy you would be, if you were in such or
such circumstances — or how much better off, if you were in such
or such a place. Well—suppose your wishes gratified— your ex
pectations realized — and that you had all your hearts could desire.
This question comes — " what will you do in the end thereof?" If

220

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

this is your all, what a miserable all it is ! Is it a cottage ? Or
is it a palace ? How poor is a palace when the unhappy owner
has no hope beyond it ! — how poor is a throne ! — hoAV poor is a
perishing world ! Alas ! " what shall it profit a man, to gain the
whole world and lose his own soul ?" Mat. xvi. 26. But, Oh !
there is a better household, there is a better inheritance. Think
what it is to be " of the household of God !" Oh ! look unto
Christ, and be ye saved. — You have, no doubt, a wounded con
science, and a troubled heart. You have tried, perhaps, many
physicians to heal your distempered soul, and you are nothing
better, but rather worse, — and so must it be to the end unless you
come to Jesus. Come, then, and touch the border of Immanuel's
garment; the woman mentioned in the Gospel said, " If I may
but touch his garment, I shall be whole." Mat. ix. 21. Come
now — He is as near to you as He was then to her, — come touch
the border of His garment. It Avas not only that poor woman,
but " as many as touched him were made perfectly whole." Mat.
xiv. 36. " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."
Remember, what Christ saith to His disciples in the 14th ch. St.
John, " Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, be
lieve also in me ; in my Father's house are many mansions, if it
were not so, I woidd have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be
also." If He is gone to prepare a place for you — then, lift up your
eyes to those mansions ! that household of God where Christ is
gone to prepare a habitation for His people ; look to that, there is
a rest, a rest indeed — and indeed there is no rest in anything be
side. There is no rest for the sole of our foot on the troubled
waters of this weary world, no more than there was for the dove
on the Avaters of the deluge. And it is well for those who look for
a better rest, that they cannot find a rest on earth — how ready
would we be to make nests for ourselves, to nestle here beloAV — but
our God, our Father will not allow us. If we are looking to Christ,
He has prepared some better things for us. If your father and
mother expected you at home, and if they thought, you were lying
lazily down to sleep in some hovel on the road-side, instead of
hastening on to them, how would they be disappointed and dis
tressed. They would send, if a messenger could reach you, and
say to you, " Oh, come home, why rest in such a place as that?
We are waiting for you, expecting you at home." Thus, our
heavenly Father will not let us take up our abode in hovels on the
road side, He will compel us, He will constrain us to come home,
He will send His messenger to reprove, to quicken us, to chide our
dull delay. He will make us " gird up the loins of our mind,"
and teach us to " be sober and hope to the end." How can we
sufficiently appreciate the blessing till we reach our Father's house,
of being "fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
HOUSEHOLD OF GoD !"
I said, St. Paul was a Roman citizen, and therefore had a right

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 221
to the privileges of his citizenship. And do you remember how he
used them ? Do you recollect when the chief captain bound him,
and Avould have scourged him, he asks, " Is it lawful for you to
scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned ?" Acts xxii.
25. And do you remember how, when the chief captain heard he
was a Roman, he was afraid, and let him go, the terror of the
Roman name was upon him, and he dare not scourge or bind a Ro
man citizen. And do you think there are no privileges belonging
to the citizenship of the city of the living God ? If the chief cap
tain feared the Roman Emperor, if he should dare to invade the
privileges of a Roman citizen, or to infringe the rights of Rome, do
you think, the King of Glory is not watching over his citizens, and
vindicating their privileges and their rights in all their trials ? Oh !
remember — Satan, and the flesh, and the Avorld, shall no longer
have power to hold you captive — " sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace." Re
member, all your foes can do nothing that the King your Father does
not permit. They shall do nothing but what is for your good, for
" all things are working together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose." Rom. viii. 28.
Think, then, of these things ! Oh blessed thought ! we shall
never reach the end of our privileges — they are for eternity. Oh,
may we be enabled, through the grace and mercy of our God, to know
— enjoy — live on them as we ought, to live to the glory of our God
and Father — to "glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which
are God's." I beseech you consider these things, compare these
two verses, the 12th and 19th — study the intermediate verses, and
they will show, how man is brought from the state of an unbe
liever, in the 12th verse, to the state of a believer, in the 19th.
Mark — how in that short compass you have laid before you " the
fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ," and let us pray
that the Lord may enable us to know, to understand, to believe,
and rejoice in the unsearchable riches of our adorable Redeemer.
Amen.

TWENTIETH LECTURE

Ephesians II.— 20, 21, 22.
" And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner-stone : in whom all the building, fitly framed together,
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit."
On the last day, we considered some of the privileges of believers,
as they are set forth in the 19th verse. We contrasted the state
in which they had been, as " aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world," Avith that in Avhich they noAv
are ; being " made nigh by the blood of Christ," having " through
him access by one Spirit unto the Father," " no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God." The Apostle proceeds to show them the sta
bility of all their privileges, in the 20th verse, which we consider
to-day, " and are built upon the foundation of the apos
tles AND PROPHETS, JeSUS CHRIST HIMSELF, BEING THE
CHIEF CORNER-STONE."
You are " built upon the foundation," — this is an expres
sion, or rather an image, which is repeatedly used throughout the
whole of the Scriptures ; — the Church of Christ is compared to a
building, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to the foundation.
We meet it in the Prophet Isaiah, xxviii. 16th verse, the Lord there
declares " Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation, he that believeth
shall not make haste." We find the Apostles repeatedly using
this image ; we see it, in the sermon of Peter, in the 4th chapter
of the Acts, where he says, alluding to our Saviour who was fore
told in the prophecy that 1 have just read to you — to His rejection
by the Jews, and His exaltation as foretold Ps. cxviii., 22, he saith
11th and 12th verses, " This is the stone which was set at nought
of you builders, which is become the head of the corner, neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." And so
the Apostle in the 3d chapter 1st Cor. 11th verse, " Other founda
tion can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
The Lord Jesus Christ, is set forth as the foundation on which the
sinner must rest all his hope, He is the foundation on which rests
all our salvation, the foundation, on which, as on a rock, the Avhole
Church of Christ is built.

lectures on the ephesians. 223
Now, before we consider this any farther, let me pause, and ask
all who are here, or rather let me entreat you my dear friends to
ask yourselves,
" Is Jesus my foundation ? — Is all the hope of my salvation built
on Christ?"
It is a question, which perhaps every nominal Christian would
be ready to answer in the affirmative, " Oh, yes," he would say, " I
have no hope of being saved but by Christ, I could not be saved
without Christ."
But we shall find on examination, that while many persons
make this confession, nevertheless, He is not the foundation of
their hope. Then confession is a sentiment which they have been
accustomed to admit in words, not in principle. They prize it,
and they have learned to confess it with their lips ; but in saying,
that they cannot be saved without Christ ; — They mean this,
" I know that my own righteousness — my own works — my own
merits — my own efforts, are not a sufficient foundation for me to
rest my hope on, if I had not Christ to make them so ; if Christ's
merits were not to be added to the best that I can do, I know I
could not be saved, but I trust through Him that my humble efforts
will be accepted."
Such is, I fear, the hope of multitudes who call themselves
Christians. If this is your opinion, be assured that Christ is
not the foundation of your hope at all. If we say, " this house is
founded on a rock," we do not mean, it is partly founded on a
rock, and partly on the sand, but Ave mean to say, it is altogether
founded on a rock. Now, your hope, if it be as I have described,
is founded partly on a rock, and partly on the sand ; and if a
house is partly founded on a rock, and partly on the sand, it might
as well be all founded on the sand ; for the foundation of the half
Avill be soon AA^ashed aAvay, and then it must fall to ruin. If you
think that Jesus makes your works and efforts acceptable to God
for your salvation — and that therefore, He is necessary, so that, in
this sense, you cannot be saved without Christ — if you mean this
— then Christ is not your foundation at all ; He is merely the
helper of your salvation, — He is not your Saviour. The founda
tion that is laid on Christ, or rather the hope that is built on
Christ, is entirely built on Christ. The whole of Christ's right
eousness, without any mixture of your own whatever, that is the
righteousness of the sinner whose hope is built on Jesus. The
whole of Christ's redemption — the finished pardon that He has
bought with His blood — which gives the soul complete and full ac
ceptance with God, without any reference to his own works — except
this — that they are sinful, and therefore unable to save him — that
is the resting place for the soul of every sinner who trusts in Jesus.
He can say " Jesus hath paid my debt, He ' is the end of the law,
for righteousness' Rom. x. 4. — for me. He hath satisfied the di
vine justice for me. He hath passed into the heavens, as my
Great High Priest,, having obtained eternal redemption for my
soul. Christ is my peace. He is my Lord, my Master, my eternal

224

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Salvation. If I look to myself, I am all doubt, all fear, all appre
hension. If I look unto Christ, I have no doubt, no fear, no ap
prehension, because Christ has done all, '¦finished transgression,
made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in
everlasting righteousness.' Dan. ix. 24. Therefore, ' Why art
thou cast down, Oh my soul, and why art thou disquieted within
me, hope thou in God.' Ps. xiii. 5, lean on this rock, rest on this
foundation." Such is the language of a soul that is built on
Christ. Here an expression is used, which is a peculiar one, "are
BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPH
ETS." What is the meaning of being " built on the foundation
of the Apostles and Prophets ?" There are two passages in
Scripture which seem similar, one in the 16th chapter of St. Mat
thew, where our Lord says to Peter, " I say unto thee that thou art
Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." This is the passage from
which the members of the Church of Rome take their doctrine,
that Peter is the foundation of the Church, that the Church is
built upon Peter. If the Church is built on the Apostles at all,
we see it is built, not alone on Peter, but on all of them ; for here it
is said, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets," and we have a similar expression in the 21st chapter
of Revelations, 14th verse, " the wall of the city had twelve foun
dations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the
Lamb." But what is the meaning of being "built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets ?" Is it that the Apos
tles or Prophets, Peter or all of them, are a foundation on which
sinners are to rest their hope or their salvation? No more on
them than any other sinners. We might just as well say, that
we are built on one another, or on any sinner on the face of the
earth, as built on one or all of the Apostles, if you consider the
Apostles or Prophets in reference to themselves, or their persons.
It does not signify built on them as a foundation, but built on
that which was their foundation. The foundation of a wall or
city does not mean the wall or the city itself, but the foundation
on which the wall or city is built — so it is here. " The founda
tion of the Apostles and Prophets," is not they themselves, but
the foundation on which the Apostles and Prophets were built —
and the testimony which the Apostles and Prophets bore, Avas a
testimony of Christ, and a testimony to Christ, as the foundation
of our salvation ; so they say, as we have said before, " other
foundation can no man lay, but that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ." This is equally true, whether we consider with some,
that the word " Prophets" refers to the inspired Prophets of the
Old Testament — or to the evangelical preachers of the New. I
am rather inclined to adopt the former opinion, and if that be
right, then of them it is true, " To him give all the Prophets wit
ness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins." Acts x. 43. If the latter opinion be

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 225
correct, then to testify of Jesus as the foundation, is the office of
all faithful preachers since Jesus died. I need not enter into the
question of the Church of Rome, in reference to Peter, further
than to quote the Apostle himself. He cites this very passage
from the Prophet Isaiah, to which Ave have referred a little before ;
and he gives the interpretation of that passage, he says, 1 Peter
ii. 4, 5, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, " To whom coming, as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God
and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual
house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept
able to God by Jesus Christ." If Peter were to have been called,
in himself, the foundation of the Church, we see he here deserts
his post — he abandons his place as the foundation of the Church,
and leaves the Church built on him to fall, because he renounces
such a title, and calls the Church to its true foundation, even to
Christ ; — and then he quotes the passage, verse 6, " Wherefore
also, it is contained in the Scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a
chief corner stone, elect, precious ; and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded ;" verse 7, " unto you therefore who be
lieve he is precious." Here he describes believers ; then alluding
to those who reject the testimony of God, he says, " but unto them
which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offence, even to them that stumble at the word, be
ing disobedient." He shows us what their disobedience is —
stumbling at the Word, and denying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, " the foundation of the Apostles and Proph
ets" is the very same thing which our Lord means, in that pas
sage Avhere he addresses Peter, when, in reply to the question,
" Whom say ye that I am ? Simon Peter answered and said,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God ; and Jesus an-
sivered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for
flesh and, blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter,
and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." " On this rock." This is the
foundation laid by the Apostles and Prophets in their testimony, —
the Prophets prophesying of Christ as a foundation — the Apostles
testifying of Christ as a foundation — Peter here acknoAvledging and
confessing Christ as a foundation, as we see him calling sinners,
and calling the Church in his Epistle to rest on that foundation.
So " upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it." So the Apostle here speaks of
it in a consolatory manner, to the Church of Christ, " you are
BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPH
ETS," — that which is laid in their testimony and in their word,
and in which they trusted themselves — on which they them
selves are built, and on which they call the world to rest. As
they were first built on Christ, and, as it. Avere, the stones imme
diately laid on Him, and then the Church called by them , laid
15

226 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
next to them — so, in this sense, it might be said, you are built
upon that foundation, " Jesus Christ being the corner
stone" on which the building rests — on whom, and by whom,
Jew and Gentile are united, and thus, " in whom all the

Here then, the church of Christ, its foundation, and superstruc
ture are described.
Its foundation — the Lord Jesus Christ.
Its superstructure — all the members who rest on Him — all the
other parts of the building. He it is " in whom, all the build
ing is fitly framed together." And in Him the building
itself, " GROWETH INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LoRD." And
then, that the Church at Ephesus might know their OAvn place in
the building, he adds, " in whom ye also are builded toge
ther FOR AN HABITATION OF GoD THROUGH THE SPIRIT."
We may here remark how the grace of God, of which the
Apostle had been speaking throughout this chapter, — is promi
nently set forth in this image. As well might we say, that the
stones, of which the walls of this building in which we are assem
bled, are composed, could quarry themselves out of the mountain — -
convey themselves to this spot — fit themselves together into that
Avail — and raise this structure Avhich we behold around us — as say,
that the church of Christ is collected and gathered together by the
natural good will — good inclinations — good understanding — reason
— faith— excellence— or merits of the persons who compose it ! Not
more certainly does the hand of the workman quarry the stones —
bring them together — lay them in order on the foundation — and
erect them into the superstructure which they compose ; than the
Lord of life and glory calls sinners by His Spirit and His power, out
of their state of natural darkness, ignorance and death — brings
them to the Lord Jesus Christ — layeth them on Him as a founda
tion — buildeth them up on Him, and fitly frameth them together
as a holy temple in the Lord.
We may observe then, in the first place, the grace of God, in
gathering His Church. " By grace are ye saved, through faith."
Then we observe, the stability of that Church ; they are " built
ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS" — their
foundation is Immanuel. Their "builder and maker is God;"
— they have been brought by sovereign grace, every individual
among them, to know the " truth as it is in Jesus" — There is no
member of the church of Christ that is not taught these lessons ;
their guilt — their ruin — their utter helplessness — their utter in
ability to deliver their own souls, — none who are not instructed in
Christ as their hope — their only hope and refuge — yea, all their
salvation. They are all taught of God, though their degrees of
knowledge and experience in all the doctrines of truth may be
very different. One man may have a much greater fear of his
guilt and condemnation — another man may have much deeper
views — more humbling, self-prostrating views of his own corrup-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 227
tion and abomination — another may have much clearer and
brighter views of the finished Avork of his glorious Redeemer — a
much more lively assurance of faith and hope, — these principles
may be, and are exceedingly varied, not only in different believers,
but in the same believers at different times ; but they all learn the
same lesson, they are all brought to renounce themselves — to fly
to Christ as their hope and refuge ; they are all brought to know
— to look to — to lean on, and rejoice in Christ. So the Apostle
Peter, in the passage I have quoted, speaking of the church being
built on this living stone, says, " Unto you therefore who believe,
he is precious." This is the characteristic of every true child of
God. Yes, " to you who believe, he is precious," whatever may
be your state, whatever may be your circumstances or feelings,
noAv or at any other time, Christ is precious to your soul. Those
who know not Christ, as the foundation of their hope — He " hath
no form or comeliness," Isaiah liii. 2, to them. But to those who
know Christ, he is indeed precious, " the chief est among ten thou-,
sand," yea, " altogether lovely." Cant. v. 10, 16.
Some may say perhaps, " Alas ! I Avish it were so with me, but
I find my heart so cold and dead, that this is the very thing that
distresses me, I do not feel that I love Christ as I ought to love
Him, and therefore I am cast down, that thought casts me down,
to those Avho believe Christ is precious, but I do not feel Him so,
as he ought to be to me."
Well, I say unto you, if this be your feeling, lift up your heart ;
for if He Avas not precious to you, and if you did not love Him, your
own coldness and deadness could not be a source of grief to you :
you would not feel that coldness and deadness if you did not love
Christ : and those who love Him most, feel how little precious He
is to them, compared to what He ought to be. For Oh ! how pre
cious ought Christ to be to us ! How contemptible everything else
on this earth ought to be, when it comes into competition for a
moment Avith Christ ! " Whom have I in heaven but thee, and
there is none on earth that I desire besides thee," saith the Psalmist.
Ps. lxxiii. 25. There is no sin, no earthly joy or pleasure, no car
nal gratification — nothing that the whole world could bestow that
we could not count it all loss for Christ, if He Avas precious to us
as He ought to be. Let us seek that we may know Him more and
more, for if He is not precious to us as He ought, it is because He
is not known to us as He ought. Let us all consider what we are,
what Christ has suffered, what He has done for us, — let us remem
ber how He has borne with us — let us reflect what provocations,
what innumerable provocations He has received from us, since He
taught us that He was our Hope and Refuge, — let us consider our
ingratitude — what vile returns we have made to Him for all His
love and tenderness — and yet how He has kept us — and has borne
with us, — and has not withdrawn His grace and mercy from us !
He has brought us here to-day — He has opened His glorious Word
before us — again He calls us to Himself— again He testifies of the
riches of His love — the exceeding riches of His grace, His invita-

228 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
tion is — " Come unto me and I will give you rest." Mat. xi. 28.
Oh yes ! Christ ought to be precious to us, indeed — and cold, com
pared with what we OAve to Him, are the warmest affections of
our hearts.
We behold then, the grace of the Lord in building His church,
as set forth in this chapter — and this stability of the church,
as resting on that foundation. The church is founded on a
rock, and the stability of this foundation is one of the things
which makes Christ precious to the soul. Do not be doubting,
O believer ! do not be distrusting your Lord — do not allow your
mvn sin, your OAvn ingratitude, your own unbelief to make you
doubt your Lord's love. Surely it was not for anything good in
you that He loved you first, and brought you to Himself ; and He
will not cast you off noAv, for all your unworthiness, and all your
vileness, when you bring it all to Him, — " Trust in him at all
times ye people, pour out your hearts before him, God is a refuge
for us." Ps. lxii. 8.
We are told continually that this is great encouragement to
licentiousness, an encouragement to go on in sin ; nay, but, it is
the encouragement the Lord gives to His people, to love and serve
him, and if the grace and love of Christ is abused, as we grant,
that the doctrines of grace, have been abused, and may be abused
again to licentiousness, yet, if they are so, is that a reason that
we are to stint the children of God of the " Bread of life," because
the devil chooses to mix poison with it for his own children ? The
children of God Avill not turn the grace of God to licentiousness,
they shall not do so. We have seen, verse 10, that they " are his
workmanship created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that they should walk in them." They
shall be taught to know and feel the power of this truth, " Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. How
shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ?" Rom. vi.
1, 2 ; they shall be taught to know and feel, that as " where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound :" It is not that they are
to " continue in sin that grace may abound," but " that as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom.
v. 20, 21. Nay, this is only the means of lifting up the sinner's
heart from the love and power of sin. It was the grace and love
of Christ that first brought your soul to knoAV, and to rejoice in
Christ, and it is the same power alone that shall keep, and carry
you on to trust and serve Him, so saith the Apostle, " the love of
Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which
live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that
died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Therefore,
consider, that God is the foundation on which your soul rests, and
the stability of the Church is derived, not more from the security
of her foundation, that she rests on Christ, than from the power
of her Lord, who keeps, and guards, and preserves her for ever-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 229
more, " / the Lord do keep it ; I will vmter it every moment : lest
any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Isa. xxvii. 3 — He saith
by the Prophet. So they are kept, " kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation," saith the Apostle Peter, i. 5.
Then we are to consider, not only the grace of the Lord, and
the stability and security of His Church, but also, the unity of the
Church in Christ. This is, perhaps, a vieAV of the question which
it requires as great an exercise of faith to see distinctly, as any
truth connected with it ; for alas, Avhat divisions do there appear
in the Church of Christ ! yea, even among those Avho clearly pro
fess to believe the Gospel — among those, who from their life and
conversation, we suppose make a true profession that they know
Christ — that they love Him, and that He is precious to their
souls ! Yet alas ! what divisions appear among them ! hoAV we
see them " contending about words to no profit but to the sub
verting of the hearers !" 2nd Tim. ii. 14. What contentions exist
about forms of government — of discipline — forms of Avorship—
forms of words — ordinances of various kinds — modes of adminis
tering ordinances — opinions, on points of speculation — some look
ing in the church on earth for the purity of the church in glory ;
separating— dividing among themselves — causing divisions and
schisms in search of a pure church — trying " to bring a clean thing
out of an unclean," Job xiv. 4, foolishly and ignorantly anticipat
ing the work of the angels in separating the tares from the wheat,
and forgetting that both must grow together till the harvest ! ! !
Alas, what a heart-rending view the state of disunion among be
lievers, presents to one that really knows and feels, what the spirit
of union ought to be among all the children of Christ ! Yet, in
spite of all this, Avhatever it may appear to the eye of sense, still,
"THE WHOLE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH
into an holy temple in the Lord." Out of all the various
outward churches, and outward denominations of those that pro
fess the name of Jesus, the Lord is gathering in His own flock
into His fold — the stones of His own temple, they are all " fitly
framed together" in His eye, and all " growing into an holy
_ temple in the Lord."
This is the proposition that is written here, it must be true, it is
as true as His Avoid, — and yet, there is nothing, perhaps, connected
with the Church of Christ, that requires a greater exercise of faith
than the belief of that truth. But so it was even in the days of
the Apostles. See what a dissension arose even between Paul
and Barnabas, a contention so sharp " that they departed one from
the other," Acts xv. 38. — and that too, about Mark. Yet, the
Lord overruled this, one goes one way, and the other goes another.
And Avhile their contention is calculated to humble them both, and
make them feel what they are ; the Lord can overrule the evil to
make them go and declare His Word in different countries, and
bring the message of salvation to the souls of sinners in different
places. The Lord can thus overrule even evil for good in gather
ing the stones of His spiritual temple. Paul was obliged to with-

230

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

stand Petei to the face, for Peter was temporizing with the JeAvish
believers. Yet that stands recorded in the word of eternal truth,
and a blessed record it is ; for that, among other testimonies stands
as a witness against the awful delusion of that fatal apostacy,
which would make that Apostle the foundation on Avhich men were
to build the hope of their salvation !
You see then, the Lord can overrule even the evil in His Church
for good ; and to this very moment, although Ave have to mourn
over the contentions and divisions in the church, yet the Lord over
rules, and will overrule them, as the very means of making His
people more watchful, more vigilant, more circumspect, and drive
them more from resting on their forms, and trusting in themselves,
to the pure spiritual principle of faith in Christ, and love to the
brethren. Pure and undefiled religion cannot consist in outward ordinances,
it cannot consist in outward privileges, however important they
may be, but it must consist in genuine faith and love — in a real
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the vital principle of a real
Christian spirit that will lead the heart not only to love its Lord.
but all who love Him, for His sake, and to say and feel the last
words of this Epistle ; — " Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Amen. " In whom all the
BUILDING, FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH UNTO AN HOLY
TEMPLE IN THE LORD."
Then, again, consider what a beautiful view this presents to
us of the different circumstances of the members of the church
of Christ, — -the different circumstances in which they are called.
One is called in a higher, another in an humbler walk of life, one
is called as a parent, another as a child — one, as a master, an
other, as a servant — one may be called as a king, another, as a
subject — one may be called as a noble, another as a commoner ; — ¦
persons are called in all the different departments of life : — and
remember, that in all their circumstances and situations they are
called, for what ? that in those circumstances, and in that situa
tion, they may glorify God. The king on his throne. If he is a
servant of his God, his faith in his Lord and Master is the bright-
est jewel in his crown. The great and good George the Third,
in his own prayer-book, in the prayer for the King, where the
words occur, " our most gracious Sovereign Lord King George"
— wrote in the margin, — " a poor guilty sinner," What a bless
ing it is to see a king, laying down his croAvn at the feet of Jesus.
He knew and loved his Lord and Master — and he has now cast a
crown far brighter than his earthly diadem, at the feet of his Re
deemer. But, now, I address, no doubt, persons moving in varied circum
stances of life. If I address any in poor and humble stations, I
would say to them, remember, that as surely as you are brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he has placed you, as a living stone in His
temple, in the very position in which you are — He has called you,
and fixed you in the very spot which you occupy — all the circum-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 231.
stances of the Lord's people, how different soever they may be, and
all things connected Avith them, are all arranged by the infinite
wisdom of God — because Ave know that " all things work together
for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose." Rom. viii. 28. Therefore, I say, what
ever your circumstances in life may be — whatever your situation
— how poor and humble soever, — however overlooked or disregarded
by men — how numerous soever your trials — hoAV weighty soever
the cross you have to carry — how humble, how low, how poor,
how mean, how despised soever you may be — you are placed exactly
in the very position in the temple of the living God, in which He
has been pleased to call you, to glorify your Lord and Master,
"THE WHOLE TEMPLE IS FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER." The
Lord requires for His own All-wise and mighty purpose, every sin
gle stone in His temple — not one is to be left out, all are to be
gathered — placed — fixed in their own position, no matter what it
is. The smallest stone that the mason takes, to fill up and fit in
the wall, is just as necessary in his eye to the building, as the large
stone, the thorough stone, or the quoin, he lays beside it. And
remember, it must be true of every single stone in His spiritual
temple, that the Lord is the one who has laid it there — Avho has
fitted it there — who keeps it there — and there, in your position,
whatever it be, you are called upon to serve and glorify your Lord
and Master. Therefore our true happiness is, as it is well and
simply expressed in our Catechism, " to do our duty in that state
of life unto which it shall please God to call us."
Oh ! how contented that should make us, how thankful in all
our situations, in all our circumstances ! We should each remem
ber, " I am just as the Lord has placed me." And therefore, be
liever, in any purpose — in any desire — in any thought of change
of position, you should seek the Lord's guidance, you should seek the
Lord's gracious and special providential direction. Look to Him,
cast all your care upon him, " in all thy ways acknowledge him, and
he will direct thy paths." Prov. iii. 6. What a beautiful view this
gives us of the temple of Christ, the temple of the living God, " the
WHOLE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH INTO
an holy temple in the Lord." We have the church of Christ
spoken of in another chapter under the image of the body and the
members, iv. 15, 16, you " may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly
joined together, and compacted by that which every joint sup-
plieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the body, to the edifying of itself in love."
What a beautiful view that is ! Every muscle, nerve, and fibre
is necessary for the body — so every believer, whatever he be in
place or condition in the church, is necessary, and they are all,
every one of them, growing together in one body, exactly adapted
and formed by Him. Well may we say of the body of the church,
it is "fearfully and wonderfully made." Ps. cxxxix. 14. Each is
to hold their own place — to serve their Lord's purpose, and to glo-

232 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
rify that God, avIio has "called them out of darkness into his
marvellous light." 1st Pet. ii. 9.
And then, dear friends, consider this, " the whole building
FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE
in the Lord." Consider, it is not only a temple, but a "holy tem
ple ;" and we see the reason why it is a holy temple, " in whom
YE ALSO ARE BUILDED TOGETHER FOR AN HABITATION OF GoD
through the Spirit." He saith, "I will dwell in them, and
walk in them," 2 Cor. vi. 16, " Iwillput my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them, and will be their God, and
they shall be my people." Jer. xxxi. 33, with Heb. x. 16. This is
the way in which the charges of licentiousness that are brought
against the freedom and glory of the doctrines of grace are to be
answered. We are not to cramp, to contract the glorious liberty
of the everlasting Gospel, we are not to confine, to curtail, or explain
away the blessed privileges of the Lord's people, to meet the igno
rance f«nd carnal objections of an ungodly world. We are to walk
through the land of promise, in the length and in the breadth of
it, unshackled by what men may say or think. But we are to
prove — to manifest — to demonstrate to all, that Ave give no just
ground for such a charge. Not only is it to be denied in our doc
trine, but practically disproved in our lives. Our whole life and
conversation is to be the answer to the charge that is made against
us. " For so is the will of God, that with well doing, you may
put to silence the ignorance of foolish 'men ; as free, but not using
your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of
God."l Pet. ii. 15, 16. " Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, for
ever." Ps. xciii. 5. Oh yes ! and if Christ hath called us, and " loved
us, and washed us from our sins, in his own blood." Rev. i. 5. — .
" what shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits toward us." Ps.
cxvi. 12. Hoav shall we serve Him ? How shall Ave glorify Him ?
Surely, that ought to be the inquiry — the aim of our existence.
Consider then, what a blessed portion of Scripture this chapter
is. It might be very justly compared to the history of a magnifi
cent building — a Palace for the residence of a king. As if you
Avere to describe an architect, who employed his Avorkmen to go
to some vast quarry ; who there quarried the stones — took them
out — drew them — brought them together — Avrought — squared —
chiselled — fitted, and erected them into such or such a mighty
structure, which you behold for the habitation of a monarch. This
chapter is, as if even thus, the history of the Church of Christ.
Here the materials are represented as in a mass of sin in the be
ginning, " dead in trespasses and sins" — quickened by the grace
of God— called out of that state by " his great love wherewith he
loved us, even while we were dead in sin" — quickened together
with Christ — all their sins blotted out — reconciled to God — given
free access through Christ, to God by the Spirit — " no more stran-
fers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
ouseholdof God" — brought together — fitted — prepared — " build-
ED TOGETHER AS A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD, FOR AN

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 233
HABITATION OF GoD THROUGH the Spirit," and the Lord
dwelling in the midst of them, and choosing them as His habi
tation forever ! Oh ! think, Avhat blessed privileges are brought
before us in this chapter. — Read it over, pray over it. May the Lord
grant, that it may be sanctified to us, that we may derive from it
spiritual blessing — instruction and edification, that Ave may be
built up indeed, "a holy temple in the Lord," "builded
TOGETHER, FOR AN HABITATION OF GoD THROUGH THE SPIRIT."
Amen.

TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.

Ephesians III. — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jpsus Christ for you Gentiles, (if you have
heard of ihe dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward ; how
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery ; (as I wrote afore in few
words ; whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
ChriKt ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, ns it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should
be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
Gospel. This Chapter contains a long and rather difficult parenthesis, on
which it is necessary to offer some prefatory observations. The
parenthesis begins with the second verse.
"For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
for you Gentiles ;" then commences the parenthesis "(If ye
HAVE HEARD OP THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GoD,"
&c. Noav this parenthesis terminates at one of two verses. It may
end at the close of the 13th verse ; or. as our authorized version
makes it end, at the middle of the. 1st A'erse of the next chapter.
We shall read it in both ways, and then consider Avhich seems
to be preferable. If Ave read it as terminating at the 13th verse,
and omit the intervening verses, then Ave suppose the Apostle to
mark the sense, and limit the parenthesis by repeating the Avords
"For this cause" Avith which the- 14th verse commences — then
the sense will run thus :— "For this cause, I, Paul, the pris
oner of Jesus Christ for you gentiles," " bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you,"
&c, v. 14, 15.
Or if we read k as it is marked in the Bible, continuing the
parenthetic reading to the middle of the first verse in the next chap
ter — then we suppose the Apostle to mark the sense, and to limit
the parenthesis by the words " the prisoner of the Lord," then it

234

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

will read thus : — " For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ, for you gentiles," " beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in
love," &c. iv. 1, 2.
Now, each of these is very important for us to consider. In the
first place ; remark, Avhat the cause is to which the Apostle al
ludes ; in the first Avords of the chapter, " For this cause."' What
cause ? He had stated in the close of the last chapter, as we have
seen, the great and blessed privileges of believers in the Gospel of
Jesus — " Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the build
ing fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord ; in whom also ye are builded tpgether for an habitation
of God through the Spirit." And "for this cause," — viz. — because
ye are so — because ye are " of the household of God' — because
ye are " built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets" —
because ye are " builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit :" " for this cause, I, Paul the prisoner of Jesus
Christ, for you gentiles," " bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, that he woidd grant us according to the
riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in
the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,"
&c. Or, if you continue the parenthesis to the next chapter,
"for this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
for you Gentiles," "beseech you, that you walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meek-
ness,with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavor
ing to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," &c.
It is important to consider in either case, that professors of the
Gospel of Christ are too apt to think when they are brought to
the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus — when they are
brought to know the great fundamental doctrine of justification
by the righteousness and blood of a crucified Redeemer — called
out of darkness into the marvellous light of God's truth — thereby
brought into the state of AA>hich the Apostle speaks in the latter
part of the preceding chapter, " no more strangers and foreign
ers, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of
God" — when they are brought, I say, into this condition, then
they think, as it were, that all is done. " Now they are Chris
tians, now they are servants of Christ." True — so they are — and
in one sense, all is done — in one sense all is completed — the work
on which depends their salvation is finished by Him who died on
the cross — the glorious work of redemption is accomplished. But
then begins the conflict of those who are partakers of this great
salvation — then, from that moment begins the conflict of which
you read throughout the Scriptures, as existing in the breast of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 235
every believer: as for instance, in Galatians v. 17, "the flesh lust-
eth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and
these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would." From that time, the new principle, the re
generating poAver of the Spirit, is shed abroad in their hearts, and
then they begin to feel the conflict that they must have with the
world, the flesh, and the devil. Then begins the time, Avhen they
have need of these blessings and this Avatchfulness which, in
whatever view we take the parenthesis in this chapter, the Apostle
brings, either in one or the other, so prominently before them.
They have need continually of prayer to God for strength and
grace, "that they may be strengthened ¦ with all might by his
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts
by faith, that they 'may be rooted and grounded in love, and able
to comprehend with all saints, what is the length and breadth,
and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge, that they may be filled, with all the fulness of
God." 16-19. They have need of continual prayer for these in
estimable blessings, and this is the subject of the Apostle's prayer,
for them, because they are of "the household of God," if you read
the parenthesis as ending at the 13th verse.
And again, they have no less need of Avatchfulness, that they
" may walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called," if
you read the parenthesis as ending in the 1st verse of the next
chapter. They have need then of prayer for all that they
require, to enable them to carry on their warfare ; and they have
need of grace, that, from that time forth, they may "glorify
God in their body and in their spirit, which are Gods," for they
" are not their own, but are bought with a price." 1st Cor. vi. 20.
They are " children of light," and should " walk in the light." 1st
Thes. v. 5, 1st John i. 7.
Bear this, then, in mind ; and, if it pleases God when we come
to these passages, we shall resume this subject, as to the proper
place of closing the parenthesis. In the meantime, we shall con
sider the parenthesis itself, and the subject which the Apostle in
troduces in it.
" For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
for you Gentiles." This epistle was written to this Gentile
Church the Ephesians, from Rome, Avhere St. Paul was a prisoner ;
and he calls himself " a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the
Gentiles," because it was the faithful testimony which he bore
to the salvation of Christ for the Gentiles, by which he had ex
cited so much the wrath and enmity of the Jewish people. There
fore the Jews persecuted him — therefore he appealed to Cffisar —
therefore he was brought as a prisoner to Rome, as we see in the
four last chapters of .the Acts. He says, " If ye have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you-ward,
how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I
wrote afore in few words ; whereby when you read, you may un
derstand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in othet

236

lectures on the ephesians.

ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now re
vealed unto his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel, whereof I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God, given
unto me by the effectual working of his power." The Apostle
had communicated to the Ephesian Church his own conversion,
he says, "if you have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God, which is given me to yob-ward." The word
translated " if," is rather affirmative than hypothetical, it means
"since indeed ;" and the Apostle uses it, not because they had not
heard of it, but because it was necessary they should remember,
and dwell on it ; that they might consider the Apostolical author
ity and poAver, by Avhich he proclaimed to them the Gospel of
Christ, and knoAV the certainty of their own calling in Christ,
being called by him to the knowledge of. His precious Gospel.
The Apostle calls his divine mission; "The dispensation of
THE GRACE OF GoD, WHICH IS GIVEN ME TO YOU-WARD." This
subject " the grace of God," — you perceive, he brings before
them by frequent repetition throughout the whole of his epistle.
He commences his epistle with it, — "Grace be to you, and peace
from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Then
speaking of their election and adoption in Christ in the 6th verse,
he says, it is " to the praise and glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved." Then speaking again of
the riches of the pardon of their guilt, in the next verse, " in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace." Then again, as we see in
the chapter Ave have just finished, he says, speaking of their being
quickened, their being delivered out of their state of nature, of
guilt, darkness and condemnation, " even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are
saved," then again in the 7th verse he repeats the same thing,
" that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace, in his kindness towards us by Christ Jesus," 8th
verse, " By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man
should boast." And so, throughout the whole of this epistle, he
reminds them over and over again of this grace, and so he says
in this verse, " If ye have heard of the dispensation of
the grace of God which is given me to you-ward." We
do not consider it good taste in writing to be guilty of tautology,
that is, repeating the same expression over and over. Why then
do we see that this is the case in the Scriptures, Avhich furnish a
model, a perfect model of taste and beauty in composition — the most
perfect model in the Avorld ? Why are these terms repeated so
continually in the Sacred Volume ? — Because it is indispensably
necessary that they should be repeated — they should be impressed
again and again on the ears and heart of every sinner. God's
grace is continually brought before us in every part of His word,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 237
because Ave need it every moment. Every day, every hour we sin
against our God, and proA'oke his righteous judgments against us :
if He Avere to enter into judgment with us. And if there be any
here that have been quickened and called out of their natural state
of ignorance, of guilt and condemnation, to the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ, as I trust there may be many, — it is, as we
have seen, because " God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved.")
And if there be any, Avho, having been brought to the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for any time past, for months or years,
are here this day, still knoAving Christ as their refuge — enabled
in any respect to serve our God — kept from bringing reproach,
dishonor, disgrace, on His blessed cause through our guilt and
Avickedness, if these things are so, each may say Avith the Apostle,
" By the grace of God, I am what I am," 1st Cor. xv. 10. By
Grace we are called, and by Grace we are kept, — " kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation." 1st Pet. i. 5.
Let me address myself to you especially, Believer. I knoAV you
feel — for God's word tells me so; and I know I feel — my OAvn
heart corroborates the word that testifies it, the continual working
of sin, of corruption and evil within ; so that you are obliged to
complain with the Apostle Paul, " to will is present with me, but
how to perform that which is good, I find not." and again, " when
I would do good, evil is present with me." Rom. vii. 18 — -21. You
are obliged to confess with him, " We that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burthened," 2 Cor. v. 4, you are obliged to ex
claim with him, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death ?" Rom. vii. 24. I say, when you
feel, when you experience this in yourselves, you knoAV that every
moment you have need to cast yourselves doAvn at the footstool of
the Throne of Grace that you may obtain mercy — strength — sal
vation, and all the blessings that flow from salvation — not for any
thing you have done — not on account of your holiness — your
prayers — your hearing of the Word of God — your attendance on
ordinances — nor on account of anything you have in yourselves—
but that you may receive the blessing of salvation, and all those
blessings that accompany it ; and that Aoav from the free, sove
reign grace, love, and mercy of your God through Christ and
Christ alone. Your cry is, O Lord, " receive me graciously, and
love me freely." This is a prayer Avhich is suited to every sinner,
this is language which the Lord Himself by His prophet puts into
the mouth of His people, as you will find it written in the 14th
ch. of Hosea in the 2d v., ana let me call you to consider this.
The Lord does not merely from the throne of Grace invite sinners
to come to Him, but He puts words into their lips, He tells them
the very Avords they are to speak when they do come to Him.
" Take with you words, and turn to the Lord. Say unto him," —
now mark what they are to say, " take away all iniquity, and re
ceive us graciously, so will we render unto thee the calves of our

238 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
lips." He does not say, take with you words, and tell the Lord
what you have done for Him, how you have served Him — alas !
what could we have to recount ! — He does not say, take with you
resolutions and vows — come to the Lord, and tell the Lord what
you will do for Him, and how you will serve Him — alas ! what
could we venture to promise ! But He commands — invites — en
courages you to come to Him, as guilty, helpless sinners, and say
to Him these words which He authorizes you to adopt, "take
away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." Now dear friends
is not this what Ave want to-day ? Is not this the very language
that, if we knoAV ourselves, we feel is suited to our case ? Lord, I
am nothing but a poor, vile, guilty sinner, " take away all ini
quity, and receive me graciously." What can a sinner desire
more than that such a plea should be heard — and how can he
doubt that it will be received, Avhen his Heavenly Father Himself
puts the very words into his lips. Oh ! hear His word, and avail
yourself of His infinite mercies ; for therefore it is that this grace
is brought before us in the Scripture so repeatedly, because we so
continually need it, and therefore observe, what the Apostle says,
" If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God."
The dispensation of the Gospel is a dispensation of grace ; and
so when the Apostle alludes to this, he speaks of the dispensation
of the grace of God given to the Gentiles. He speaks of that
peculiar dispensation Avhich was expressly committed to him, when
he was on his journey to Damascus. He was himself, the most
eminent example of divine grace. Grace found him " breathing
out threatenings and slaughter," Acts ix. 11, blasphemy on his
lips, and murder in his heart, — going on his way to carry believers
in Christ bound unto Jerusalem. Such Avas Saul of Tarsus, when
the. sovereign grace of God arrested him in his progress. And be
fore we advert to the dispensation, committed to the Apostle Paul,
let us turn to the 1st chapter of the first epistle to Timothy, where
he speaks of this grace as a special manifestation to himself in his
OAvn person. The dispensation of grace was committed unto him
for the Gentiles ; and in order that he might speak from experience,
and that he might be a glorious example of the grace Avhich he
E reached, and of which the dispensation Avas committed to him,
e was arrested by that divine grace in the midst, as we see, of
blasphemy and persecution, and so he tells us in this chapter, 1st
Timothy, i. 12-15, he says, " I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who
hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into
the ministry, who before was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and
injurious, (but I obtained mercy,) because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceed
ing abundant, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom lam chief."
Now, mark the 16th verse — he tells us in it, by the Holy Spirit,
the reason why he obtained mercy — namely, that when the dis
pensation of grace was committed unto him for the Gentiles, he

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 239
might stand out himself as a most prominent example of grace
to the world, " Hoiobeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in
me first, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a
pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life ever
lasting." That is, that every sinner to whom he, Paul, preached
the Gospel, might say, " If Saul of Tarsus was pardoned in the
midst of blasphemy and persecution, and if in such a state, grace
and mercy were extended to him, why should I fear to trust in
grace — when I hear the Gospel of Christ proclaimed to such a
wretch as I am ?" Mark, then, the reason of his own calling, as
he gives it in this Epistle to Timothy ; then turn back to the his
tory of his conversion, in the 26th chapter of the Acts ; I say the
26th chapter, because, although the first mention of his conversion
is in the 9th chapter, yet it is in the 26th chapter, when he is
speaking before Agrippa, that he mentions at large the peculiar
dispensation that was given to him, of grace to the Gentiles. He
describes his journey to Damascus — his previous life — his com
mission from the chief priests, in the 12th verse — the light that
shone around him, and the voice he heard from heaven, testifying
that it was Jesus whom he was persecuting ; — and then look at
the 16th verse, " But rise and stand upon thy feet ; for I have
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and
a witness both of these things which, thou hast seen, and of those
things in the which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from
the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee " —
(here is " the dispensation of grace,") " to open their eyes, and to
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheri
tance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me."
17,18,19. This is the testimony given to the Apostle Paul, or rather the
dispensation, committed to him, of grace to the Gentiles.
Let us recollect we are all Gentiles. And there may be some
poor unbelieving sinner, a Christian only in name here, to whom
this dispensation of grace, if you attend to it, will be indeed, a
message of joy and mercy to your soul. For if you are not con
verted to God, you are in the very state in which Gentiles are here
described by the Lord Jesus Christ, when he sends the Apostle
Paul to them. Observe their state, blind — in darkness — unpar
doned — unsanctified — under the power of Satan — without any
inheritance of eternal life. That is exactly the state of every
unconverted sinner.
Observe, the Lord saith, I send thee " to open their eyes," there
fore, they must be blind.
" To turn them from darkness to light," of course they must
be in darkness.
" From the power of Satan unto God," of course they must be
under the power of Satan.
" That they may receive forgiveness of sins ;" of course then
their sins are unpardoned.

240

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

"And inheritance among them that are sanctified through
faith that is in me;" of course they were unsanctified, and without
any such inheritance.
Observe, this is an exact parallel to the beginning of the 2nd
chapter of this epistle, " In the words which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual," they are
here described, " dead in trespasses and sins," Avalking " accord
ing to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience ;" and so, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world." You perceive how these descriptions
of the Apostle exactly agree together.
If you are not brought to Christ, if you are not brought to know
the Lord Jesus, as the refuge and salvation of your soul, this must
be your state. Consider then, what this Gospel is, Avhich is sent
to such persons. Does it send them a message of condemnation ?
does it give them up to despair and abandon them ? does it say,
" Go — you are in a state of rebellion — in the service of Satan —
blind — dark — enemies to God, — go on to perdition, perish as you
deserve " ? No, no, my dear friends, no, — it is a dispensation of
grace, of free and full forgiveness, pardon, peace, mercy, life, sal
vation, sanctification, inheritance among them that are sanctified.
Oh ! consider what a blessed message the Gospel of Christ is ! and
if there be any of you who are oppressed, under a sense of sin,
then let me say with the Apostle, " to you is the word of this sal
vation sent."
We often hear people saying, " If I Avas religious, I would do,
and feel so and so, but I feel my oavii heart is so evil — so hard — I
feel so dead and so sinful, that I do not think there can be any
hope, or peace, or comfort for me, till I am in a different state from
this." Believe me this is ignorance of the Gospel of Christ, this
is the blindness spoken of here. What is the Gospel ? A full, free
pardon to sinners just as they are. — The Gospel does not say,
" When you are religious, when you are good, Avhen you are im
proved, then hope." But it says — " When you are lost — guilty —
vile — then hope, look unto Christ, come to Christ, in the midst of
your sins — as you are." The only way on earth to fly from sin is
to fly to Jesus. — The only refuge from guilt is Jesus. Come to
Him Avho came to save the lost, the guilty, the vile — " they that
are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." These
are His own words, three times recorded by the Holy Ghost. It
is the blind, that Avant their sight — it is those in darkness, Avho
want light — it is those bound by Satan, that need deliverance — it
is those who are unpardoned, that require forgiveness — those who
are unholy, require to be sanctified — and those Avho have no
inheritance and no hope, that need an inheritance among the
saints in glory. It is not for anything you have to do, not by
anything you are able to do, but by the glorious work He has
wrought Himself that all these blessings are given. This is a

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 24]
" DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GoD TO YOU-WARD." Christ
has borne the guilt of all that Aveary heart of sin that you feel,
that heavy heart of guilt, that deadness, rebellion, unbelief, blind
ness, He "himself bare our sins in. his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness."
1 Pet. ii. 24 — He has carried away all the judgment of God that
is recorded against this iniquity, and the message of his Gospel is
a message of full and free salvation, " Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy
and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and with
out price." Isa. Iv. 1. " Come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Mat. xi. 28, " look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Isa. xlv. 22.
Consider, my dear friends, how often this mercy and grace is re
peated ; and surely it is that we may learn to dwell on it as
repeatedly — to recur to it — to repose on it — to draAV forth from it
continual refreshment and strength for the conflicts, the trials, the
necessities of our earthly pilgrimage. Alas ! how many persons
there are to whom this subject instead of refreshment, is a burthen ;
who Avould prefer something that might entertain their imagina
tion, or amuse their fancy, rather than that truth which goes
directly to enlighten the understanding, and to renew the heart by
the Gospel. But Ave must adhere steadily to the page of Truth —
" necessity is laid on us, yea, woe are we, if we preach not the
Gospel," 1st Cor. ix. 16, — we must maintain and set forth "the
grace of God which bringeth salvation," for it is that alone which
" teacheth us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world."
Tit. ii. 11, 12.
It is a very bad sign of a man's spiritual state, when a sinner
complains of the repetition of the Gospel — it is a very bad symp
tom of his condition ; it is not likely, in that state, that such
persons shall be among the number that will never tire of that
song throughout eternity ; — we are not told that the redeemed
tire, or that they shall ever be weary of their song, " Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Rev. v. 12. We
are not told that they ever tire of the song, " Blessing, and honor,
and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb, forever and ever." v. 13. The cadences may
be varied indeed — varied symphonies and harmonies may resound
from ten thousand times ten thousand harps and voices — but the
words of the song are the same throughout eternity. Oh, consider
this ! We want " the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel,"
Rom. xv. 29, every moment ; and, blessed be our God, it is, like its
glorious Author, "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever."
The Apostle proceeds, "How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery." We have seen that it was an
immediate revelation from heaven to Paul, he saAv the Lord Jesus
Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 8. He saw " a light from heaven above the
16

242

lectures on the ephesians.

brightness of the sun," and he heard the voice of the Lord Jesus,
giving him a direct revelation and commission. This same Jesus
who died and rose again, wa* He that commissioned Paul to go
and preach salvation, through His precious blood, to the Gentiles ;
and, through that very commission, we have this glorious Volume
of His Divine Revelation given to us — Ave have " life and immor
tality brought to light through the Gospel." 2nd Tim. i. 10.
The Apostle saith therefore, that " by revelation he made
KNOWN UNTO ME THE MYSTERY, AS I WROTE AFORE IN FEW
avords," alluding to his statement in the beginning of his epistle,
ch. i. 9, 10, Avhere he says, " Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of
lime, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him."
Here alluding to this mystery, in that first part of his epistle, he
then proceeds to explain it. " Whereby when ye read, ye
MAY UNDERSTAND MY KNOWLEDGE IN THE MYSTERY OF ClIRlST,
WHICH IN OTHER AGES WAS NOT MADE KNOWN UNTO THE SONS
OF MEN, AS IT IS NOW REVEALED UNTO HIS HOLY APOSTLES
AND PROPHETS BY THE SPIRIT, THAT THE GENTILES SHOULD
BE FELLOW-HEIRS, AND OF THE SAME BODY, AND PARTAKERS OF
his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Now this mystery
which the Apostle here unfolds, appears to comprehend two
things. The first is ; that it Avas not known in the whole world, among
the sons of men, that God would extend the glory of this salvation
to the Gentiles. It was not known to the Gentiles themselves,
carried away, as they were, with their dumb idols. Nor Avas it
known to the Jews, or to their prophets ; for they believed that
the whole blessings of the dispensation of the promised Messiah
should be given to themselves alone. This is a subject into which
we cannot enter at length, but if you will examine the prophecies — -
read them simply as you Avould a book in which you expected that
its meaning would be plainly expressed — read with prayer, for a
simple, child-like heart of faith — read thus the prophet Isaiah,
study that prophet, consider his prophecy in its plain and obvious
sense ; and you will find that the great glory which is promised
to the earth, shall Aoav to the Avorkl through the Jewish people,
even through the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over that nation.
I shall not enter into this vieAvof the subject, nor consider Avhether
the reign of our blessed Lord be a personal, or a spiritual reign ;
but this is clear as light, to those who peruse the prophecies, that,
Avhatever be the nature of the reign of our glorious Redeemer — at
His second advent that reign shall be commenced — His kingdom
shall then be established over Jerusalem, and that from thence,
His government shall flow throughout all the nations of the earth.
Let me refer you to Isaiah ii. 2, 3. Consider the plain literal
meaning of that passage. " And it shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 243
in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills,
and all nations shall flow unto it ; and many people shall go
'ind say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of our
ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go
forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Look
at the first verse,—" The vision, that Isaiah the son of Amos, saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Observe the vision is, " con
cerning Judah and Jerusalem." Then, consider again how plain
these words are. " And many people shall go and say, come ye,
and let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord,, to the house of
the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will
walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 4th v. " And he shall judge
among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall
beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into prun-
ing-hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more."
Just ponder these verses — the plain truth set forth in them, and
you will see this same truth repeated throughout all the pro
phecies. You Avill see there, that the reign of the Lord upon the
throne of His Father David, whatever you may consider the
nature of that reign to be, shall be certainly the time in which the
glory and blessing that is predicted of this earth shall be fulfilled.
It is to this, the Apostle Paul alludes, as Ave observed, in his pro
phecy in Romans xi. 15, where he speaks of the calling in of the
Jews. " If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world," meaning, that if when they rejected Christ as they did,
and when in consequence they were themselves cast away, and
that then He sent His dispensation of grace to the Gentiles, " If
the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what
shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead ?"
Noav the Jews were totally unable to distinguish the first from
the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The advent of Jesus
Christ in his humiliation Avhen he was to come to be "made a curse
for us." Gal. iii. 13, " to die, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God," 1st Pet. iii. 11, they entirely overlooked ; and
therefore, they despised and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. This
mystery then — that the Gentiles should be gathered in, called into
His church, that they should be called into that glorious dispensa
tion of love and mercy, in which " there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free," Col. iii. 11, this mystery was not known to the JeAvs or to
their prophets, " as it is noav revealed unto his holy
APOSTLES AND PROPHETS BY THE SPIRIT."
But the Second point comprehended in this mystery, seems to
be not only as we have seen in the first, that the salvation of
Christ should embrace the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, and that
they should be " one fold and one shepherd " — John x. 16, but
also the development to the nations of the earth of the redemption

244

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

which is proclaimed to them — the glory of the salvation itself that
is sent to the Gentiles, that they " should be felloav-heirs
AND OF THE SAME BODY, AND PARTAKERS OF HIS PROMISE IN
Christ by the Gospel." That they should understand that
great mystery of godliness that " God was manifest in the flesh" —
that mysterious work of redeeming love by Avhich the vilest can
be pardoned, and yet God can be just in justifying the chief of
sinners, — that mysterious dispensation of grace, by which, those
Avho were following their dumb idols can be brought to the God
and Father of their salvation, — the polluted sinner can be brought
unto Him " who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity" and
presented to Him " without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," — ¦
covered in the righteousness and Avashed in the blood of Christ.
The words of the Apostle indicate still more the nature of this
mystery, " That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs," the
same word that is used in the passage, Rom. viii. 17. "heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ."
" And of the same body," — the same thought that is in
the passage, Rom. xii. 5, " We being many are one body in
Christ." And partakers of his promise in Christ." The same glorious
privilege on which the Apostle reasons so fully in Galatians iii.,
concluding with the words, " There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Each Avord indicating the glorious mystery of the union of
the Church with Christ, "fellow-heirs" in Christ — "of
the same body" in Christ — "partakers of his promise
in Christ by the Gospel." These showed the Apostle's
"knowledge in the mystery of Christ." " Whereof," he adds,
" J was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of
God, given unto me by the effectual working of his power, unto
me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ." This mystery of grace and love, proclaiming
salvation to the chief of sinners, through all the earth — this
mystery of gathering in the Gentiles to the fold of the Good Shep
herd — of the union of His Church in Him — of preaching the
Gospel to every creature — proclaiming among all nations, "the
unsearchable riches of Christ," — going to the philosophers and
votaries of Minerva, at Athens— to the Avorshippers of Diana, at
Ephesus — of Jupiter, at Rome — and proclaiming the glorious
salvation of God through the blood of the Redeemer, and the
resurrection of the dead to all, this was committed to him, and its
blessings were all condensed in that one expression, "that I should
preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ."
We must reserve this for another occasion. But the rejection
of the Jews — the calling of the Gentiles — their dispensation — and
the future prospects of JeAvs, Gentiles, and the earth — open a most

lectures on the ephesians.
interesting field for the examination of the prophecies. It is a sub
ject Avhich has been lamentably neglected in the Church ; and
though much has been said, and much must be expected to be
said, of vain speculation, even by sober persons who may make
mistakes, and by others Avho will seek perhaps to be " wise above
what is written ;" still it is no reason, because many mistake, and
others abuse what the Divine Word reveals, that therefore, it
should not form the subject of deep, and close, and prayerful atten
tion and investigation, by all who desire to be instructed in the
truth of the living God. There are many reasons, into which I
shall not enter at present, which should lead us to consider and
examine the subject. Men speak of the danger of mistakes. But
there is no grosser mistake, and no greater danger, than to be
ignorant of Avhat God has graciously written for our learning. Let
us read, and Avatch, and pray, humbly, — faithfully, — and then we
shall read safely.
Let us beware indeed of vain speculations, of questions to no
profit. Let us pray that we may be kept like Mary at her
Master's feet, that nothing may divert our attention from the great
simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, as applied to our own soul.
That is the great point. — The foundation of all sound knowledge,
the basis of all solid hope, and all real, or stable peace, and the
only true principle of all holiness of life.
Be assured that the genuine power of " all holy conversation
and godliness," is simply the Gospel — -applied to the sinner's soul
by the Holy Ghost, in the constant exercise of faith and hope and
prayer, looking unto and leaning on Christ — covering our naked
ness by faith, with His righteousness — washing away our sins by
faith in the fountain of His precious blood — leaning by faith on
the arm of His strength — and looking to His eye to guide and
keep us in the way wherein we ought to go. Let us pray, deaf
friends, that we may be brought to "the simplicity that is in
Christ," and let us beware that we be not corrupted from that
simplicity. May our God teach and direct us all according to the
riches of His grace ! for we may preach — or we might hear truth,
not from a poor, weak fellow-sinner, but from an inspired Apostle,
and yet both that Apostle himself and those Avho hear, must be
indebted solely to the sovereign grace and power of God for fixing
that truth in their heart, and keeping it practically influential upon
their life in every moment of their existence.
May the Lord teach us all by the power of His Spirit, and bring
us to eternal life, for Christ's sake. Amen.

TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.

Ephesians III. — 7, 8.

" Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, given
unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the un
searchable riches of Christ."
The mystery of which the Apostle speaks, Avhich "in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit," Ave considered
in a two-fold sense.
One, as it refers to the glorious work of Christ, — redemption by
the righteousness and blood of a crucified Saviour.
And the other, that the Gentiles should be called in, and made
partakers of this, and fellow-heirs of that glorious kingdom Avhich
is promised in Christ to the Jews. The Apostle proceeds to men
tion his own ministrations in this dispensation of love to the
Gentiles — he says, " whereof i was made a minister," (name
ly, of the Gospel,) — " whereof i was made a minister, ac
cording to the gift of the grace of God given unto me
by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who
am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that i should preach among the gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ." — That is the dispensation
of the grace of God of which he speaks in the 2d verse, " If ye
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to you-ward." We referred to the place Avhere the Lord com
mitted this ministration to him (Acts xxvi.) and he says here,
speaking of himself and this ministration, " unto me, who am
LESS THAN THE LEAST OF ALL SAINTS, IS THIS GRACE GIVEN,
THAT I SHOULD PREACH AMONG THE GENTILES THE UNSEARCH
ABLE riches of Christ. The Apostle speaks of his own
character as " less than the least of all saints," and he
tells us the reason of this in 1st Cor. xv. 9, " / am the least of all
the Apostles, and am not meet to be called an Apostle, because
I persecuted the church of God." This is a very important
reason. The character of St. Paul, in his natural state, we have
on the testimony of the Holy Ghost, speaking by the mouth of the
Apostle himself, Phil. iii. 4 — 6. It was a character of the very
highest order. The highest order of morals, the highest order of
religion, in a certain sense, was Paul's — he says himself, " If any

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 247
other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I
more :" v. 4, — there was sincerity, morality, devotedness, conscien
tiousness, zeal, indomitable courage, to be found in the character
of the Apostle Paul. But you see, that so far is this sincerity, con-,
scientiousness, and devotedness to Avhat he believed to be the
truth — so far is this from being accepted before God, Avhen it is
not the truth — that is, when not founded on the truth as it is in
Jesus — so far is it from being approved or accepted before God —
that the Apostle brings forward this very zeal and devotedness in
a wrong cause, not as a proof of his excellence, but of his guilt
and vileness. He says, that " he is not worthy to be called an
apostle, because he persecuted the church of God." This is a very
important point to consider, because as we have had frequent
reason to remark, this is the common principle of the natural
mind, that if persons are really upright, sincere and zealous in
their religion, it is not of much moment Avhether or not they hold
certain doctrines or opinions ; as if the truth of God consisted of
mere vague statements, which it is of no consequence whether
men believe or not, provided they are sincere in Avhat they profess.
Sincerity and conscientiousness are only the means of sinners
running farther from God, and rebelling Avith a higher hand
against Him, if they are not sincere and conscientious in God's
truth, because the more a man is devoted to a false religion, the
more opposed he is to the truth as it is in Jesus. The most bitter
opponents of the Gospel Avhom I have ever met, were men con
sidered by the world as very religious, as the Scribes and Phari
sees were, the chief enemies of Christ.
One of the Articles of our Church is very clear on this subject,
and although the Articles of the Church are not the authority of.
Scripture, they will be found to derive their authority from the
Bible. One is very plain on this point, Art. xviii. It states —
" They are to be held accursed that presume to say, that every man shall be saved
by the law or sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life accord
ing to that law, and the light of nature; for holy Scripture doth set out unto us only
the name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved."
I would observe, our Church does not pronounce, of her own
power, as if she had a right to curse any one, but she says, they
are to be held so. What an awful but. common state of delusion
for men to think, that provided they are zealous and sincere in the
sect they profess, they will be saved : whereas, if they believe not
the Gospel, the wrath of God abideth upon them, they are under
the sentence of death. So the Apostle, speaking of himself, says,
he is "less than the least of all saints," and he gives the
reason, " Because I persecuted the church of God, but by the
grace of God, I am what I am." — That grace of which we have
been speaking in the last chapter — that sovereign grace, arrested
Saul in the midst of his blasphemy and persecution — seized him
on his way to Damascus — revealed to him the glory of Jesus — his
own guilt and misery — the riches of pardoning love, — and sent him,

248

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

forth to testify of that faith Avhich he once destroyed, of that Christ
whom he was persecuting. And you do not forget the passage to
which we referred on the last day, in 1st Tim. i., wherein the
Apostle shows the reason why he received mercy ; he says, " I
thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me, for that he
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was
before, a blasphemer, and a persecutor and injurious, (but I ob
tained mercy,) because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Let me
again call your attention to this verse for there is an important
error connected with it, into which I did not sufficiently enter on
that occasion.
Some person may say, " If one is ignorant, he will obtain mercy,
because the Apostle says, ignorance is no sin, he obtained mercy,
because he sinned ignorantly in unbelief, and God will pardon us
when we sin ignorantly."
The Apostle Paul says no such thing ; and if you look at the
passage, youAvill clearly see this. He does not mean, "I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief," but these words
refer to the other clause, "I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor,
and injurious, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." The
sense is shown by placing the Avords, " but I obtained mercy," in
parenthesis. The 16th verse proves unequivocally the meaning
of the passage, " howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy," not
"because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." But "for this cause I
obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show forth
all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting."
The Apostle Paul holds himself forth as Ave have said, as an
eminent example of the grace of God, that no sinner should
despair, when such grace was given to such a wretch as Saul of
Tarsus, the persecutor and blasphemer. And see, Avhat a blessing
it is to us ! how often have we blasphemed the Lord in our hearts !
how often resisted his providences and his ordinances ! Iioav often
has our heart risen in unsubdued opposition in a thousand Avays
against Him ! perhaps it is so even noAV, perhaps there are many
things, against Avhich some hearts amongst us rise in proud re
bellion against our God ; perhaps even at this very moment we are
complaining and murmuring against him. Well! PaulAvas"o
persecutor, and a blasphemer, and injurious," and he is held out
to you as an example, that you may knoAV that the grace of God
can pardon any sinner — and that you may bring your sinful heart,
laden with iniquity as it is, to the foot of the cross of Christ — and
that you may know that in Christ there is full salvation, free sal
vation for the very chief of sinners. Blessed be God for the pardon
of the persecuting Saul ! blessed be God for the pardon of the thief
on the cross ! blessed be God for the pardon and the raising up of
fallen Peter ! Blessed be God for the pardon and bringing back
, of guilty David ! Blessed be God for the riches of His grace to
the bloodthirsty Manasseh ! Blessed be God for the glorious
Gospel, which is a disoensation of grace to the chief of sinners.

lectures on the ephesians. 249
The dispensation of grace given to St. Paul for the Gentiles, is
that which we have to contemplate in this passage. He says,
"unto me who am less than the least of all saints is
this grace given, that I should preach among the Gen
tiles THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF ClIRIST."
There was a very eloquent and able minister of our Church,
who Avent to labor among his flock, ignorant of the Gospel of
Christ, but at the same time very zealous and devoted in his own
Avay of religion. He was sedulously endeavoring to deliver them
from their sins, and to promote morality and virtue among them
by every means in his power ; and you may suppose with the
same success that, must always attend such vain efforts as these,
to make the law do " what the law could not do, in that it is weak
through the flesh," Rom. viii. 3. Whitewashing the sepulchre
can never purify the corruption within. " Daubing the wall with
untempered mortar," Ezek. xiii., can never build it on a solid
foundation. Outward reformation can never renew the heart and
save the soul, or bring the sinner nearer to his God. But this
clergyman was reading this chapter one day, and when he came
to this verse, " unto me who am less than the least of all
SAINTS, IS THIS GRACE GIVEN, THAT I SHOULD PREACH AMONG
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ;" he
began to consider what the doctrine was Avhich St. Paul was
preaching, "preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ !" " What is that ?" said he. "Is this what
I preach ? I am preaching virtue, amiability, goodness, devoted
ness to God, attendance on ordinances, I am preaching against all
sort of sins ; St. Paul was preaching ' the unsearchable
riches of Christ !' what is that? what can he mean?"
See, how the Holy Ghost is pleased to use various means in
bringing sinners into the light of truth ! The blessed Spirit fast
ened that word on that man's mind, "the unsearchable
riches of Christ" and led him to see that that Avas not the
doctrine which he taught : he did not even understand the mean
ing of the expression. This led him to inquire into what that
meaning Avas, and the same blessed Spirit satisfied the inquiry,
and led him to discover the treasure hid in the field, even " the
unsearchable riches of Christ," and then he went forth and
preached these " unsearchable riches," and the blessing of
God attended his labors, he experienced in his congregation the
truth of the Apostolic testimony, that the Gospel is " the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. i. 16. And
now, perhaps, there are some in ihis congregation as ignorant as
this Clergyman* was. Let me ask, do you know the meaning of
" the unsearchable riches of Christ ?" Let me, I entreat,
ask you this question, did you ever find this treasure in the sacred
Scriptures ? Do you know the meaning of it ? When you take
the word of God into your hand, can you open that book, and can
* This story is told, and the name of the Clergyman is given, to the heat of my rec
ollection, by Newton, in one of his letters. — En.

250 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS;
you find in it, a,iy portion of " the unsearchable riches of
Christ 1" Can you lay your hand on any passage and say,
"here is a portion of 'the unsearchable riches of Christ,'
a treasure, a rich treasure for my poor soul, here are the real
riches which I want to give me true and solid happiness ?" Can
you do this? Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ saith — "the
kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hid in a field." Mat. xiii.
44. If you know the meaning of these words, let me not say the
meaning, for AA'ho can fully know the meaning? — who hath
searched out these " unsearchable riches ?" But if you
knoAV, in any degree, the meaning of these words, you have found
the treasure hid in the field ; you know there is in this blessed
book a treasure greater than all the world or ten thousand worlds !
you know that the only treasure for your soul to give you rest,
peace, and happiness in time and in eternity, is to be found in this
blessed word : and if you do not know this, then you are poor in
deed. Hoav destitute the sinner is, that has not " the unsearch
able riches ow Christ." If he had all the world beside, the
question still is to be answered, the sum is still to be calculated,
"what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul ?" Mat. xvi. 26. The monarch of a Avorld were a miser
able pauper if destitute of " the unsearchable riches of
Christ."
What are they ? Go to a man in an arid desert, lying on the
ground, gasping with thirst, at the gate of death, beneath a burn
ing sun, take to him gold — and jewels — offer them to him — prom
ise him a kingdom ; and Avhat do you bestoAv on him ? There
is that for Avhich, if he had it, he would barter them all. — A cup of
Avater, one draught from the stream — for this he pants — this would
be Avcalth and a kingdom for him.
Go again to another in the jaAvs of famine, dying from hunger,
pour out silver and gold — the Avealth of a world at his feet, and
what do you confer upon him ? he Avould give a world, or a
thousand worlds, for a single morsel of bread.
Again, take a man gasping on the field of battle, mortally
wounded, writhing in agony, offer him riches, offer him a crown,
will he thank you ? No. If you could heal his wounds, — if you
could raise him up from the cold bed of death, — if you could re
store him to the life and health he enjoyed an hour before, that
would be wealth and riches for the dying man.
Take a poor criminal, led out to execution, offer him all that
earth could give — what could he do with it? what is the earth to
him ? But procure a pardon for him,— gain for him a reprieve,
there is a world, and more than a A\-orld for him.
Well then, if you kneAV your own actual state, you would see
that your spiritual condition before God, is just as hopeless, just as
miserable, just as desperate, as the temporal condition of any one
of these sufferers I have described ; you are spiritually the poor
wretch in the burning desert, without a drop of Avater, and if you .

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 251
die in your unconverted state, you must be without a drop of water
to cool your tongue for eternity. You are worse than the poor
creature who is famishing with hunger, — worse, far worse than him
writhing in agony on the field of battle, — Avorse than the criminal
about to be led to execution ; these, however agonizing their state.
are merely suffering for time ; considered in reference to man's
mere animal existence, their pangs soon must terminate ; but the
misery in which your immortal soul is sunk, unless you are de
livered, must endure for eternity.
Now Christ is the Water to the soul that is dying of thirst
John iv. 10. vii. 37.
Christ is the Bread of life to the sinner, perishing for hunger,
John vi. 32, 33, 35.
Christ is the Great Physician that can heal the dying man.
Mark ii. 10, 11.
Christ is the King that extends his pardon to the criminal led
forth to execution. Luke xxiii. 43.
These serve as a partial illustration, of " the unsearchable
riches of Christ." You understand the application, if you
know Christ as the Deliverer, the Healer, the Saviour of your im
mortal souls.
The knowledge of that grace of God which pardons sin, and
delivers those Avho are under its curse and poAver, from death and
hell — of that blessed Saviour Avho has " borne our guilt in his own
body on the tree" — and who sends a proclamation of His mercy
to a lost and perishing Avorld, illustrates the meaning of the
Apostle, when he says " that i should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
Now, who were the Gentiles ? They composed a world sunk
in every species of crime ; there is no description of iniquity into
which man could be degraded, no degree of utter alienation of
his Avill or his affections from God, no prostration of intellect in
the Avorship of dumb idols, the work of his hands, into which you
"will not find the Gentile nations fallen and debased. Now, what
did Christ send Paul to do ? What Avas the message of the Gos
pel with Avhich He charged him ? The Apostle declares he was
sent to them, "that I should preach among the Gentiles,"
— the original word is stronger, — that I should proclaim, — go as
an ambassador from God, and proclaim " among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ," — tell them of a Re
deemer that came to save the vilest sinner, — tell them of the
justice, the judgment, the mercy, and love of God, — tell them of
the justice that pronounces sentence on sinners, — but which Christ
had satisfied — tell them of the judgment that is to be executed on
them, but which Christ had borne — tell them of the mercy that
they had forever forfeited, but which Christ had purchased for
them — tell them of the wisdom that devised, the faithfulness that
carried out, and the love that began, continued, and carries on the
glorious plan of salvation for a guilty world — tell them that this
is the True, and Holy Lord, the Judge of quick and dead — call

252

lectures on the ephesians.

them thus to turn from their idols and their vanities, to serve the
living God.
Now, if Ave look to the history of the Acts of the Apostles, we
see through their various labors, how the Apostle executed his
divine commission. Let us take one instance ; let us turn to Acts
xiii. St. Paul came into the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia,
and stood up to preach the Gospel to those assembled. We find
him beginning at the 16th verse ; he gives a brief history of the
JeAvish people, — the promise of the Messiah, — and the fulfilment
of that promise, in the birth, life, character, and death of Christ.
After giving a brief sketch of these, he testifies, not only of His
death, but His resurrection from the dead ; that He Avas raised up,
and that He saAV no corruption, 37th verse. And then we find,
afterwards he testifies what the end and object of His coming Avas,
" Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by
him, all that believe are justified from all things from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses." v. 38, 39.
Then he warns them to beware, lest they despise this testimony,
" Beware lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the
prophets, behold ye despisers, and wonder, and perish ; for 1
work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise
believe, though a man declare it unto you." v. 40, 41.
Then look at the 42nd verse, " When the Jews were gone out
of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might
be preached to them the next Sabbath." He proclaimed to them
"the unsearchable riches of Christ" — namely, the pardon
of their sins, through a crucified and risen Saviour, " through this
man is proclaimed unto you the forgiveness of sins ;" then the
" Gentiles besought that the same words might be proclaimed to
them the next Sabbath ;" and so it is always the case, the moment
the sinner is brought to knoAV the Lord Jesus Christ, the procla
mation of His great salvation is the joy of his soul, — he desires to
hear the same things over again and again.
I kneAV a lady once, Avho had heard the Gospel of Christ for
many years, but she had neglected that great salvation, and con
tinued in darkness and ignorance till she was very old. She was
taken very ill at one time, her daughter was sitting by her bed
side, and speaking to her of the riches of Christ. She was read
ing the Word of life to her, telling her of the pardon of sin. It
pleased the Lord to bring His word with poAver home to her heart,
and she did the very same thing that the Gentiles did at Antioch,
she raised herself up in the bed, and said, " Oh, my dear child,
tell me that again, — tell me these words again." She had heard
the same Avoids a thousand times, but she had never believed
them, never attended to them before, — noAv she heard them and
understood the blessing they conveyed, and cried, " Oh, tell me
that again." Whenever a sinner is brought to Christ, he says,
" tell me that again, tell me more of Christ, the refuge of my soul,
more, more of the unsearchable riches of Christ." When a man

lectures on the ephesians. 253
finds a gold mine, what does he do*? he digs deeper and deeper
still, till he discovers more and more of the treasure. When the
sinner finds Christ, that is, when through grace he understands
and believes the Gospel, he longs for more of the inestimable
treasure — more of the unsearchable riches — he " counts all things
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ," he longs for
more of the happy privilege of trusting on Christ, — more of the
power of leaning and resting on Christ, — casting all his soul, all
his sins, all his sorrows, all his cares, all his Avants, all his hopes,
doubts, fears, anxieties, upon Him, — he longs for an increase of
faith, and learns more and more to wrap his naked soul in the
spotless righteousness of his Redeemer, to bathe continually more
and more by faith in the fountain opened for sin and for unclean
ness, — he finds the riches of Christ unsearchable, because he finds
his own sin inexhaustible, he finds the deceit of his own heart, he
finds the depth of his OAvn guilt and Avants unfathomable ; daily
he finds more and more sin, and corruption, and varied Avants and
evils in himself, and sees more and more his bankrupt poverty,
and his need to draw on " the unsearchable riches of Christ."
Hence, sincere Christians who are not well and scripturally in
structed, are grieviously cast down because they do not feel their
heart groAving better, but rather growing Avorse ; for they feel more
unbelief — more deadness — more sin, than they have ever felt before.
It is not that your heart really grows Avorse, for Avorse it cannot be,
but you begin to discover its evil more and more, to understand
— to feel it more and more, your mind is more enlightened to com
prehend the spiritual nature of the law of God, hoAV it reaches to
every desire, wish, thought and imagination of the heart — you
learn more of Avhat you ought to be, and you learn by painful
experience more truly Avhat you are. It is then you are brought
to know somewhat of the meaning, and to see the blessing of
"the unsearchable riches of Christ," Avhatever be the painful
experience of your OAvn Avant and sin, you find the Lord Jesus
Christ commensurate to all your necessities.
His righteousness is unsearchable, "his righteousness is like
the great mountains." Ps. xxxvi. 6.
His Avisdom is unsearchable, " in him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge." Col. ii. 3.
His grace is unsearchable, " Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound." Rom. v. 20.
His love is unsearchable, " m,any waters cannot quench it." —
"Strong as death." Cant. viii. 6, 7, — It "passeth knowledge."
verse 19.
His faithfulness is unsearchable, " Thy counsels of old are faith
fulness and truth." Isa. xxv. 1. We would turn from Him, Ave
Avould go back, we would run the broad way to ruin as fast as
ever Ave ran, but that His faithfulness will not let us go. What
would become of us, if it were not written, " My sheep shall never
perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." John x.
,28. Oh, " the unsearchable riches of Christ !"

254 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Then His power is unsearchable, " By thee have I been holden
up from the womb" Ps. lxxi. 6. " In him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily'' Col. ii. 9. " God is our refuge and
strength." Ps. xlvi. 1. " My strength is made perfect in weak
ness," " most gladly therefore," saith the Apostle, " will I rather
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me." 2nd Cor. xii. 9. It is a wonderful experience for a sinner to
attain to, to be able to look at his infirmities as a subject of glory
ing, because they magnify and endear his Saviour more and more
to his soul, and lead him to discover more and more of " the un
searchable riches of Christ."
Then the tenderness and compassion of our blessed Saviour are
unsearchable, his long-suffering is unsearchable ; which of you
Avho knows the Gospel cannot tell, (I am sure I can,) what a "God
of patience," Rom. xv. 5, He has proved to us ? hoAV many years
He hath " suffered our maimers in the wilderness." Acts xiii. 12.
But time would fail were we to enter into any detail' of these
gracious attributes of our adorable Redeemer. If those Avho love
the treasures of this earth take pleasure in counting their silver
and their gold, we may be permitted to take some time to dwell
on that which Ave prize more than all the Avealth of the world ;
and we shall dwell yet once again on the " unsearchable riches of
Christ," "for we have not been redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from our vain conversation received by tra
dition from our fathers, but with the precious blood, of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish, and without spot." 1st Peter i. 18, 19.
May our souls so feel their need continually of Christ, that Ave
may love to dig deeper into the mine where his unsearchable
treasures are to be found ; here is the mine, the Bible ; all Avho
once have found the " treasure hid in this field," the deeper they go,
the richer veins of ore, do they discover ; the more Ave search the
Scriptures, the more Ave find of their treasure, and remember the
reason of it is this, " Because," saith our blessed Lord, " they are
they which testify of me ;" John v. 39, " the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy," Rev. xix. 10, " we preach Christ cruci
fied," saith the Apostle, 1st Cor. i. 23. " J am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, sait/i the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty,'' Rev. i. 8. Let
us pray that our souls may be enriched, more and more with
" the unsearchable riches of Christ," that our hearts, filled
Avith the joyful hope of their undefiled, unfading, incorruptible, in
heritance, may be less careful and anxious for the passing vanities
of a transitory world, which like a mirror that reflects a shadow,
gives back to the eager eye but the unsubstantial image of a shaded
that our hearts may be filled more and more with these " un
searchable riches of Christ," " The blessing of the Lord
that maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Prov. x. 22.
Yes, O Thou bounteous Giver of all good,
Thou art of all -thy gifts, Thyself the Crown!
Give what Thou canst, without Thee we are poor,
And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.

TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.

Ephesians III. — 8, 9, 10.

" Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ : to the intent that now, unto
the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God."
If a ship freighted from a foreign clime for our shore, with the
invoice of a cargo of inestimable value, Avere consigned to a mer
chant, for his own emolument ; when the intelligence of her arri
val in port had reached his ears, how anxiously would he hasten
to investigate the contents of his expected prize. How earnestly
would his mind be exercised in the various thoughts, arrange
ments, and occupations which this rich consignment entailed on
him. Now, beloved brethren, when the Apostle Paul was commis
sioned to " preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ." He was charged Avith a freight of bless
ings, richer than all the merchandize that all the vessels of the
world have ever carried on the bosom of the deep ; and this
too a freight consigned to every sinner who hears the gra
cious message of the Gospel. " Men and brethren, children
of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth
God, to you is the word of this salvation sent" Acts xiii. 26.
These are his own words in the very passage which I quoted in
my last Lecture, as addressed by hiin to those in the synagogue
at Antioch, in Pisidia, " To you is the word of this salvation
sent," and let me add that those who have received this blessed
freight consigned to them, would not barter it for all the treasures
of the earth or of the sea.
How inexpressibly important is the question then, whether we
have received it, or know its inestimable value ? whether we have
received the invoice of the Holy Ghost, that the Gospel carries the
freight to us of the " unsearchable riches of christ." May
our God lead us to examine the rich consignment, and enable us
to draw forth treasures from these unsearchable riches, that " our
souls may be satisfied as with marrow and fatness," and that our
"mouth may praise him with joyful lips!" Ps. lxiii. 5.
The heart of man is continually panting after something it im
agines to be good; continually longing for something to satisfy

256

lectures on the ephesians.

its vast desires ; and as long as it pursues the things of time and
sense, Avhich in its natural state, it always will pursue ; turning from
one unsatisfying vanity to another, so long, the very nature of the
immortal soul, precludes the possibility of its happiness, and keeps
it in continual misery. Because, nothing but "unsearchable
riches," can really satisfy the Avants of an immortal being ; and
therefore, the invitation sent to sinners, are invitations to come to
God Himself. " Ho, every one that thirsteth come ye to the
waters" Isaiah iv. 1, " Come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest," Mat. xi. 28 ; " If any
man thirst," saith Christ, "let him come unto me and drink,"
John vii. 37 ; " My oxen and my fallings are killed, and all
things are ready, come unto the marriage." You that thirst for
happiness, that seek for enjoyment, — for rest, — for peace, — come
unto me saith Christ. He knows what is in man. He knoAvs
that " unsearchable riches" alone can satisfy the desires of
the immortal soul. So He saith, " Riches and honor are with me,
yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than
gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I
lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of
judgment, that I may cause those that love me to inherit sub
stance, and I will fill their treasures." Prov. viii. 18, 19, 20, 21.
When Christ saith, " J will fill their treasures," then must the
treasures of the soul be filled indeed ! The immortal soul is not
formed by God to be satisfied Avith anything, but enjoyment corn-
nensurate with its OAvn existence, therefore, it is not to be found
n time or in the world, — eternity and Christ, alone can fill its in
finite capacity, therefore the riches of Christ are called " un
searchable riches," because they satisfy the desires, they
quench the thirst of an immortal being, — the soul is never cloyed,
never left to pine, as in finite enjoyments for the brief duration of
its bliss : it never reaches the end of its unsearchable and inex
haustible possessions until it has found its treasure and its rest in
the bosom of the Infinite God.
The suitability and all-sufficiency of Christ, for the Avants of
the sinner, constitute one reason Avhy the blessings of Christ are
called "unsearchable riches." I said, AA'e should count over
some of the items in our treasure.
Take then, in the first place, the Wisdom of Christ, nothing
less than an Omniscient Saviour could possibly be suited to the
wants of sinners like us. Hence, the absurdity as Avell as the
awful idolatry of praying to saints or angels ; for if they have not
the attributes of an Omniscient God, they cannot be suited to the
wants of man. Christ is the Omniscient God, "in him are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and lcnowledge," " in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," Col. iii. 3, 9. "He knows
what is in man," Iioav could Ave kneel down and pour out our
hearts to Him, if He did not know our sins, our wants, if He could
not enter into all our necessities and fears? If Ave Avere to tell
our feelings, wants, sins, to any friend on earth, they could not

lectures on the ephesians. 257
understand — they could not enter into them — impossible ! But
Christ can, and does, " He knoweth our frame, he remembereth
that we are dust," Ps. ciii. 14 ; " in that he himself hath suffered,
being tempted,' he is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb.
ii. 18. O ! what an inestimable blessing ! *
The Apostle says, " all things are naked and open to the eyes
of Him, with whom we have to do." Heb. iv. 13. What a frightful
thought for the ungodly sinner, that would try to hide from God'.
¦ — for the sinner who is looking for salvation in himself ! — trying
to deliver himself — to make himself clean in God's sight ! What
a fearful thought for such an one to have a God, that sees all the
turnings of his deceitful and desperately wicked heart ! — what a
frightful thought for a poor sinner, who is trying to make himself
fit for the inspection of Him, who is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity !
But Avhat a blessing for the soul who knows, that instead of de
livering himself, all his deliverance is in Christ ! His very wants,
— sins, — necessities, — weaknesses, these are the very reasons why
he comes to Christ ; these are the very reasons why Christ is
precious, because he wants a Saviour such as this. And there
fore, what a blessing to think, that the wisdom of Christ is un
searchable, and that he knoweth all things ! If we are sick, and
a physician is called in, we are most anxious to let him know our
case ; and we very often hear persons say, of a physician long at
tending them and their families, " Oh, such a man knows my con
stitution — he knows my case — he is accustomed to my disease — I
value him above all others !" If Ave value such a physician for
the body, what a blessing it is to have such a Physician for the
soul. To have One who is familiar with our case, who under
stands our disease, who knows all our wants, — to have Him
watching over us — watching by our sick beds, " Thou wilt make
all his bed in his sickness," Ps. xxi. 3 ; watching by us in health,
" Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,"
Ps. cxxi. 4 ; Avatching over us with the Omnipresent eye of in
finite wisdom,— of everlasting love, and of Almighty power !
Then again, the Love of Christ, how unsearchable ! — the
very nature of God's love to sinners is unsearchable. We do not
love anything on earth in which we do not see something to
make it loveable or lovely in our eyes. But the love of God, the
free, full, and everlasting love of God for sinners cannot be derived
from anything attractive in the sinner ; on the contrary there is
everything repulsive to make God hate us, to make Him turn
from us. Yet His language to His people is, " I have loved thee
with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I
drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. The love of Christ is then an ever
lasting love to His people. I believe I quoted on some former oc
casion the remark of an old woman, " I am sure, if the Lord did
not love me before I was born, he never saw anything in me to
make Him love me since," if He did not love sinners with an ever-
asting love, He never would love them at all ; but He does, as
17

258 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
we have seen. " God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ." ii. 4 ; and again, " according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be hoiy and without blame before him in love." i. 4.
Then if His love is unsearchable in its commencement, surely it
is equally so in its continuance. There is no affection on earth so
strong as that it may not be weakened or totally dissolved by re
pulse, ingratitude, baseness, unkindness. The various evils of
our own natural tempers will often obliterate any affection that
can be conceived in the human heart. But Oh ! what can
quench the love of God to His people ! Surely, coldness — unbe
lief — distrust — ingratitude — baseness, — repulse, — and provocation,
if these could banish from His bosom the love of Jesus ; I am sure
there is not one in this assembly — nay, not a sinner in the world
who could look up to God with any ground of hope for a continu
ance of His love. But " Christ is the same, yesterday, to-day,
and forever." Heb. xiii. 8. " / am the Lord, I change not, there
fore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Mai. iii. 6. Surely this
is as true of the Gentiles as of the Jews. So we see, " having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
Thomas would not believe in Him, he would not even believe
his own eyes, " Unless I put my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe," but Jesus
when he cometh saith to him, " reach hither thy finger and be
hold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my
side, and be not faithless, but believing." John xx. 25-27. He
would take the hand of His unbelieving disciple, and let it probe
His own wounded side, sooner than give him up, or withdraw His
love from Thomas.
Peter denied Him with an oath, and yet He sends a messenger,
to " Go, tell his disciples and Peter," He particularizes him, " that
he goeth before them into Galilee, there shall ye see him." Mark
xvi. 7.
Saul was " breathing out threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord." Acts ix. 1. He was going to "Da
mascus with authority from the chief priests to bring them bound
to Jerusalem." but the love of Christ stops him on the way, and
calls him to Himself; so that, whether in its commencement or
its continuance, the love of Christ is unsearchable and unchange
able. Persons continually say, that to speak of the unchangeable love
of Christ is an excitement to sin. If ingratitude will not provoke
— then let us be ungrateful. If rebellion will not force Him to
withdraw His love — let us rebel. If sin and provocation will not
incite him to forsake us — let us sin and provoke. Is that the lan
guage of your hearts ? Then you know nothing of Christ. — Nay,
this is the very thing that melts the heart, and draws us to Jesus,
if we are taught of Him. His holy word commands us, "If thine
enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for in so

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS; 259
doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Rom. xii. 20.
He desires us to melt down our enemies by heaping coals of fire,
— that is, kindness and affection on their heads. Thus it is that
Christ acts too. He draws us, when our hearts would stray from
Him — Avhen we turn to idols, to vanities, as we are so continually
doing — the Lord Jesus Christ meets us, He draws us back to Him
self. Perhaps as sometimes, by ovei'Avhelming testimonies of His
love — the tenderness of reproof mingled with love, as we may
suppose beamed from His eye full upon the face of Peter, when
" the Lord turned and looked upon Peter," and " Peter went out
and wept bitterly." Luke xxii. 61, 62. Or sometimes, by leaving
our idols to chasten and reprove us, till we find "vanity of vani
ties" Written on them all, and we turn Avith all our hearts again to
Jesus, as our best — our only good.
The love of Jesus, the believer finds to be unsearchable, by ex
perience. Oh, hoAV inexhaustible it is ! We know too well how
often we have sinned against Him, in a thousand — thousand,
ways ; and yet He is just the same unchangeable Saviour to us !
He is sending to us the messages of his umvearied love, as He
does this day, in His everlasting Gospel ; and telling us to look
into his glorious Word for the " unsearchable riches" of that
love. And so, this is the very subject of which the Apostle speaks
in the latter end of this chapter. The climax of his prayer for
this church is this, " that ye may be able to comprehend with all
saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and
to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fulness of God." verses 18, 19, 20. But His
love is the love of a wise and tender Saviour. It is very mistaken
love of a parent, that gives way to the selfishness, and wilfulness,
and folly of his child. — A petted child is an unhappy child, and an
over-indulgent parent is a foolish parent. Christ manifests His
love continually, in the visitations He sends to His people ; there
fore he says, "As many as Hove, I rebuke and chasten." Rev. iii. 19.
So, those " whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth ; and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth." Heb. xii. 6. The child who has
been corrected— wisely corrected by a wise parent — wisely brought
into subjection — prudently kept in order — carefully restrained and
kept from evil, — there is no child in the world that loves and respects
his parent so much ; and in no Avay can parents so effectually
evince their love to their child. So, Christ shows His love to His
children, and that very thing draws them nearer and nearer to
Him ; the very chastenings of His love are precious to His people ;
— His rod as well as His staff comfort them. So the Apostle tes
tifies, "No chastening, for the present, seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous ; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby." Heb. xii. 11.
The knoAvledge of His love is derived continually from the visita
tions and trials with which He graciously afflicts His servants.
And I dare say, the experience of all will testify, if we are taught
to know the Lord, that when we look back to His dispensations, ,

260

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we shall mark His chastenings, trials, visitations, — some perhaps
of those that have pressed most heavily on our hearts, when under
His afflicting hand, — we shall look back at them, as some of the
8weetest proofs of His love, issuing in the richest blessings to our
souls. These are some of the lessons by Avhich he trains us to
learn that love holds a prominent place among the " unsearch
able riches of Christ."
Then take another. — The Power of Christ ; — the Avisdom,
love, and power of God must combine to form a Saviour suited to
our necessities. Now we may be very Avise to know what would
be good for those we love, and we may have hearts full of affec
tion for them, so that we would gladly do anything for them in
our power, but we may be totally unable to do what we know
their necessities require. Not so Christ. — There is nothing that
He knows to be good that He cannot do, and there is nothing He
knoAvs to be good that he will not do ; — His love will do all, and
His power can do all that His wisdom sees fit for His children. —
What a blessed thought that is ! — that we have an omnipotent
arm to lean on, — an almighty hand to hold us ! " Who is this
that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved ?"
Cant. viii. 5, resting upon Him, knowing how faithfully tender He
is, — how mighty is His arm ! Oh, what a privilege it is to have
the arm of Omnipotence to lean on ! and so He saith, you know,
speaking of His love and power exercised towards his sheep, " /
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of my hand : my Father who gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 28, 29,
30. None shall pluck them out of my hand, — the tongue of ever
lasting love declares, what the hand of Omnipotence accomplishes.
What a blessing this is !
Remember, then, you can never be in any difficulty, Oh be
liever ! never in any straits — in any trials — any sorrow — in Avhich
you have not such a Savioyr as this, with the " unsearchable
riches," of His wisdom — His love, and His power to relieve you.
What more can you want? Let us add His Faithfulness.
The faithfulness of Jesus ! the " unsearchable riches" of
Christ's faithfulness ! This it is, that gives to all the promises of
God, that certainty Avhich enables the soul to repose on them, in
Christ ; — which testifies, that " all the promises of God in him are
yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us," 2 Cor. i. 20,
all yea, and all amen. It is not yea and nay — it is not that He
promises what he declares to be good from his wisdom, — that he
promises what He desires to do from His love, — and it is not that
He promises to do what He can do by His power, — but He promises
what He knows, — what he desires, — Avhat He is able, — and what
He will do from His faithfulness and truth. Yes ! All his prom
ises are yea and amen. It shall be said at the last to every re
deemed soul around the throne, as Joshua said to Israel, "Ye
know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 261
hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God
spake concerning you ; all are come to pass unto you, and not
one thing hath failed thereof." Joshua xxiii. 14.
Well, then, what a privilege it is for the believer to walk through
the fields of promise, Avhen he remembers the faithfulness of his
covenant God ! Oh think of that. Man may deceive you, and
will deceive you, and you may and will deceive yourselves ; Christ
never can deceive. Oh, what a blessing, to have the faithfulness
of Christ to trust in ; the " brother born for adversity," Prov. xvii.
17, the "friend that sticketh closer than a brother ;" " when my
father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up." Ps.
xxvii. 10. These are some of the " unsearchable riches of
Christ."
Then, if we speak of the riches of His grace in pardoning sin,
O ! how unsearchable ! The riches of His blood, — that fathom
less ocean, Oh ! how unsearchable ! What sinner has ever sounded
the depths of that atoning sea? The riches of his righteous
ness, that spotless robe, that hides " the shame of our nakedness."
Rev. iii. 18, Avhich is " unto and upon all them that believe." Rom.
iii. 22, — with which the Father is well pleased, Oh ! how unsearch
able ! Who can ever estimate the privilege of having such a
Saviour as this to come to ! Well might the Apostle magnify his
glorious office — "that I might preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ."
I have before remarked that the word "preach among the Gen
tiles," means "proclaim among the Gentiles." Recollect, then, it
is the proclamation of the King of kings. If you saw a proclama
tion issued from the Sovereign, to any city, or to any district or
province in rebellion, and that it was a proclamation of pardon ; —
as surely as that proclamation was issued — as surely as it was
posted up — all those who desired protection under it would come
in with confidence to claim protection — why ? — because it was a
proclamation from the Sovereign, of pardon ; because in that royal
proclamation, the royal word was pledged to pardon. So, if there
is a proclamation of pardon for any crime committed in a country,
the criminal who chooses to come in, comes in under that procla
mation ; he is sure he cannot be arrested, tried, and executed.
The Avoid of the Sovereign is pledged that he shall be protected,
and he comes in on the faith of it. Noav remember, the riches of
God's grace are proclaimed to sinners. This is the Gospel of
Christ — every poor sinner is invited, encouraged, commanded to
come in. The Apostle saith, " that i might proclaim among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
Now, perhaps, there are some of you who never thought of this ;
for, though you may continually hear the Gospel — Alas ! how
many there are who never think of it. Did you ever consider,
that the Gospel Avas a proclamation of God's mercy to your soul ?
That His glorious Word,— the glorious Gospel preached or pro
claimed — is a proclamation of the King of kings of illimitable par
don to the chief of sinners. This is to " proclaim among the

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Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Well
then, you are Gentiles, and it is proclaimed among you to-day.
God's message of pardon is proclaimed to you this day. You are
rebels, have you come in under the proclamation ? Are you out
yet in arms, or have you come in at the proclamation — at the
word of the King of kings — to receive pardon ? If you have not,
Oh ! come in to-day. Come in this moment — " all things are
ready" — " To-day if ye will hear his voice harden not your
hearts." Psal. xcv. 7, 8. You do not know when he may cut you
>ff ! If you continue but another night in arms, He may send
¦>ut His judgments, and SAveep you into eternity !
But, if you have come in under the proclamation of mercy,
then, see to what a King you have come ! Remember " the
unsearchable riches of Christ," — these are the blessings
proclaimed to you in the Gospel. You recollect, as we have seen,
when the Apostle Paul went to preach or proclaim this Gospel in
the synagogue in Antioch, "the Gentiles besought that these
words shoidd be preached to them the next sabbath." Now, if
Paul had preached any other words, they would have been sadly
disappointed, for they requested that "these words should be
preached to them," namely, the gracious pardon of sin, " be it
'known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." So they "besought
that these words should be preached to them" again, — " Let us hear
that glorious proclamation again." What a blessing it is, that the
"unsearchable riches of christ" is the glorious proclamation
of God's love to sinners like you and me ! The Apostle goes on to
show the result, in the divine dispensation of preaching the " un
searchable riches of Christ." " And to make all men
see, what is the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in god,
WHO CREATED ALL THINGS BY JeSUS CHRIST." Now, yOU see
he refers again to the subject of the beginning of the chapter, " if
ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is
given me to you-ward, how that by revelation he made known
unto me the mystery," and here it is " to make all men see,
WHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY WHICH FROM
THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD HATH BEEN HID IN GoD, WHO
created all things by Christ Jesus." This mystery, as I
remarked to you, appears to be two-fold, — 1st, the mystery of
the union of Jew and Gentile in the church of Christ. And 2dly,
the great mystery of the union of both Avith the Lord Jesus Christ
in one body as their Covenant Head. We spoke at length of
the mystery of the union of Jew and Gentile, and Ave touched
then rather briefly on the mystery of the union of Christ and His
people. This subject is greatly illuminated in that wonderful chapter,
17th chapter of the Gospel of St. John, in which our blessed Lord
gives His Church, to see Himself standing, as if in His priestly
office before the Throne, commencing even while on earth the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 263
office of Mediator; showing them how He acts as their Intercessor,
and revealing to them as it were, the nature of His mediation,
that as He saith verse 13, " They might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves." He acts as Mediator in the character of a man who prays, and
He acts as Mediator, in the character of God who wills; He acts
in the character of man who prays, as you see in the 1st verse of
the chapter, " These words Spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son,
that thy Son also may glorify thee ." and so He says in the 5th
verse, " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."
Here and in several other parts we hear the voice of the man who
prays. But He acts as Mediator in the character of God who wills, 24th
verse, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which
thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world."
Christ does not pray for Avhat may not be good, as we often
pray, " We know not what we should pray for as we ought."
Rom. viii. 26. We might pray, and the very granting of our
prayer might be our destruction. Even the heathen saw, that the
granting of men's prayers might be and often was their ruin, so
the heathen poet says,* " the compliant Gods have overturned
whole families by granting their own petitions." And so, if God
were to grant all our petitions, or the things we might desire or
pray for, they might be our destruction. But Christ cannot pray
thus, He prays for nothing that ought not to be granted, and that
must not be good. We see Him then, I say, here in His character
as Mediator. And mark the wondrous mystery of union with
Himself, of which he speaks in that chapter, speaking of His
people in the 9th, 10th, and 11th verses, He saith, " I pray for
them : I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine
are mine ; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more
in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one as we are." Then in 20th and
21st verses, we see a prayer for the whole Church to the end of
time ; " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall
believe on me through the word ; that they all may be one ; as
thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me," 22nd
and 23rd verses, " and the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them ; that they may be one, even as we are one : I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ;
* " Evert&re domos totas, optantibus ipsis,
Dii faciles." Jvv. Sat. X.

234

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me."
These verses afford not only a theme of amazement and grate
ful adoration to the Church in time, but they shall afford a sub
ject of wonder, thanksgiving and glory to the Church and to all
the Hosts of heaven ; yea, and of astonishment to the hosts of hell
for eternity ! And it is now one end of the proclamation among
the Gentiles of " the unsearchable riches of Christ," " to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid
in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the
intent, that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of god."
And this mysterious fellowship of Christ and His church, this
amazing work of the Son of God, in which God the Son stands in
the place of his fallen creatures, becomes their Surety — becomes
responsible for them — takes all their debts, as their fellow-man in
His humanity upon Himself — pays all their debts — discharges all
their obligations both of obedience and of penalty — delivers them
from death and hell, to which eternal Justice must else consign
them — carries them on with the wisdom, power, and love of which
we have been speaking, as one with Himself — members of His
own mystical body, to eternal life — taking all along their guilt and
misery, and giving them all along His righteousness and His glory
— this union in its manifestation "to the principalities and
POWERS IN heavenly places by the church," shall be the
subject of adoration, joy, wonder and glory throughout all eternity.
Therefore the song of the redeemed shall ever be a song of thanks
giving and praise to Him — " Amen : Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be
unto our God forever and ever. Amen." Rev. vii. 12.
This is the subject of which Ave have spoken so much in the
6th chap, of Romans, and in the 1st and 2nd chap, of this epistle,
—the union of Christ Avith His people — so that in His death, they
are to reckon themselves dead with Him, and in His resurrection,
alive with Him, — their sins all cancelled — their penalty all paid, in
His death — their glory and their everlasting life secured in His
resurrection and identified with His life ; they are counted one —
" raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toioard us by Christ
Jesus." chap. ii. 6, 7. For " When Christ, who is our life shall
appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 4.
And Oh ! my friends, if we are indeed " looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ." Tit. ii. 13 — even here, with all our blindness, igno
rance, and self-love ; with all our deadness and insensibility to the
awful nature of sin, with all our obstinacy and unbelief as to the
riches of the grace of God's glory, His love, His attributes, and

lectures on the ephesians. 265
all the wonders of the person, work, and character of Christ, even
here, when we see by faith a little of these things, and are able to
realize them at all, so as to live on them substantially by faith, —
what Avonder do they aAvaken in our souls ! what thankfulness !
what feelings of joy ! We see some persons, when they realize
these things, enabled to live above the world ; to " look," in the
language of a beloved and sainted friend, " not as if up from earth
to heaven, but as from heaven down on earth."
Seldom we see it, when the old man, the vile body of sin and
death is strong and active ;— but often in death we see the happi
ness of the Lord's servants — their triumph, their glory, in treading
under foot the last enemy, — so amazing sometimes to those who
behold, that they seem, as if they were in another world, almost
in possession of the joy and glory which faith realizes to their
view. " I see the heavens opened," said Stephen, " and the Son
of man standing on the right hand of God." Acts vii. 56. And
if it is so here, Avhat shall it be when all is past ? when Ave shall
no longer "see through a glass darkly, but face' to face ?" 1 Cor.
xiii. 12. — when we shall be enabled to look back at ourselves, and
to see all our sins, all our vileness, ingratitude and unbelief —
and all the way that the Lord hath led us, through the Avilderness ;
how untiring has been His patience — how immeasurable His
grace — how inexhaustible the resources of His wisdom — how
unwearied the watchfulness of His love — how unremitting the
exercise of His power — how unchangeable the constancy of his
faithfulness, — or, in the one summary expression of the Apostle,
how unsearchable the riches of Christ, as they have been
expended, lavished on such sinners, in calling and keeping us,
and bringing us to Zion !
Oh ! that we may be enabled to enter a little more into — to
know more of these wondrous truths — to knoAV them experimen
tally, practically — that we may learn more to be dead to the world
— dead to the things of time and sense — more to look on them as
they are, vain, passing shadows ! — more to substantialize by faith,
the great, approaching realities of eternity !
What a thought that we may be in a moment in the midst of
it ! — that we must be so very soon — that all this world shall be
to us like clouds that have flown along the face of the sky, — gone,
— passed, — and where are they ? So shall all the things of time be
to us then ; we shall carry nothing with us but the remembrance
of ourselves, our sins, and the unsearchable riches of our Lord's
grace, goodness, and glory, all He has been to us, and done for us !
Let us pray, that we may lay these things to heart, that they
may be brought home to us in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power, then we shall be more enabled " by the mercies of God to
present our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto
God, which is our reasonable service, not to be conformed to this
world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that
we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God." Rom. xii. 1, 2.

TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.

Ephesians III. — 9, 10, 11.

" And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be
known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
We considered on the last day some of the blessed truths enfolded
in those words, " the unsearchable riches of Christ," and some
thing Of " THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY WHICH FROM THE
BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, HAD BEEN HID IN GoD, WHO
created all things by Jesus Christ," — of that mysterious
fellowship which exists between Christ and His Church, in that
they are one body with him, accounted one before God in all the
covenant blessings of salvation which Jesus has purchased, and
which He has covenanted to ad I His people. The Apostle says,
that the preaching of the Gospel is " to make all men see
AVHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY," for this purpose,
" TO THE INTENT, THAT NOW UNTO THE PRINCIPALITIES AND
POWERS IN HEAVENLY PLACES, MIGHT BE KNOWN BY THE
CHURCH THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GoD, ACCORDING TO THE
ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JeSUS OUR
Lord."
All created things, animate or inanimate, intelligent beings or
things without sense, that do not show forth the glory of their
Creator, must fail of the highest end of their creation. All things
bespeak the glory of God, that are really in their true position.
" The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handy-work; day unto day uttereth speech, and
night unto night showeth knowledge." Ps. xix. 1, 2. All God's
intelligent creatures ought to glorify their God as all inanimate
creation does. Thus in any view that is given to us of the beings
that surround the throne of God, in any revelation given of them
to us in the Bible, we find that the occupation of all the heavenly
intelligences, is the praise, and glory of their Creator. So Ave see
in Isaiah vi. 1, when the Prophet has a vision of the Lord sitting
on His Throne, Avhen the curtain of heaven is lifted up, and the
eye of the Seer is permitted to pierce through it, he says, " I saw
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train
filled the temple, above it stood the seraphim ; each one had six
wings, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 267
his feet, and with twain he did fly." " With twain he covered his
^ace ;" — an old writer remarks, as if he were ashamed to lift up
is eyes, — unworthy to stand in the presence of God ; — " with
twain he covered his feet," as if he were ashamed of his obedience.
" And one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy, is the
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." And again,
in another vision which ths Apostle John is permitted to see, as
we have in Rev. iv., when he Avas in the spirit and beheld " a
throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat
was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone ; and there
was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an em
erald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats,
and upon the seats four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white
raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold ; and out
of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices
and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the Seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there
was a sea of glass like unto crystal : and in the midst of the
throne and round about the throne were four beasts, (it would be
better translated, four living creatures,) full of eyes before and
behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second
creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as a man,
and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four
creatures had each of them six wings about him, and they were
full of eyes within, and they ceased not day nor night, saying,
holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is
to come. And when these living creatures give glory, and honor
and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever and
ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on
the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and
cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O
Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power ; for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created." I say, then, in every view that is given to us in God's
word that shoAvs us intelligent creatures in His holy presence, we
see all their intelligence and all their affections, and powers, con
secrated to the praise and glory of their God ; and surely it ought
to be the position, and is the duty of all intelligences that are
created, in heaven and earth and under the earth.
But man, fallen man, that blot on the face of nature, degraded,
apostate man refuses to glorify his God : he will not glorify his
great Creator, he bows before the prince of this world, Satan.
Yet, even out of this state of ruin, even out of this abyss of degra
dation, God can raise up, and God has raised up, and will raise up
to all eternity, a church, a people that shall glorify Him ; and
thus, from the very apostacy of man, from the very fall of man,
from the very guilt and rebellion of intelligent, rational, voluntary,
accountable agents, even through their means, God shall show
forth His own manifold wisdom, manifest His own power, and
build His glory on the very ruins of a guilty world, — "to the

268 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
INTENT THAT NOW UNTO THE PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN
HEAVENLY PLACES MIGHT BE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH THE
MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GoD."
And here, though it be a subject Avhich Ave cannot presume to
enter into with any degree of dogmatism, yet I would humbly say,
that we can see, even in this, a reason, why man has been allowed
to fall. A great part of the moral character of Jehovah must have
been unknown, unrevealed to His intelligent creatures, unless there
was allowed in some part of His dominions, some part of the vast
territory over which He presides, unless, I say, there was allowed
a positive rebellion against His holy will, we could not see the
nature of His moral government, the glory of His moral attributes
unless His law was violated. How could justice be manifested in
punishing sin, if there was no sin to punish ? — The mercy of God
could not be known, unless there was rebellion. — How could mercy
be manifested in pardoning rebels, unless there Avere rebels to par
don ? Take these two attributes, justice and mercy, which con
stitute the perfection of moral government, consider these two
attributes, and how could they be manifested unless in the sin of
rational, intelligent, accountable moral agents, as men are? If
we add to that, if we enter into the subject of the wisdom of God,
" the manifold wisdom of God" spoken of here, how "justice and
mercy can meet together," hoAV " righteousness and peace can
kiss each other," how perfect holiness that must banish sin forever
from His presence, can yet admit the vilest sinner into that pres
ence, and only glorify holiness still ! How justice, that sentenced
the sinner to perdition forever — that banished him forever from
his Maker's sight — this justice can take the sinner and bring him
out of the very depths of guilt and condemnation, and exalt him
to the throne of glory, while justice is only magnified still ! How
mercy may be extended to the very chief, the vilest of sinners, and
yet that that mercy shall not infringe on that justice, while all
but reflect glory on the Creator Himself, and all can centre in
" Christ the brightness of his glory, the express image of his
person," one Avith Himself forever ! The subject is too vast for
human intellect to attempt to expatiate on it. But short as our
sight is, we can perceive in it, the manifold wisdom and Avonderful
glory of our God : — and Avhat shall it be, when we shall " know
even as we are known !" 1 Cor. xiii. 12, when every redeemed in
dividual of those who are of the fallen race of man, shall be in
himself an exemplification of that justice and mercy, and all the
glorious attributes of God, wisdom, power, faithfulness, love, and
all these attributes shall be glorified in their behalf who are res
cued and brought from the jaws of hell to heaven. Oh how shall
God be exalted and glorified in that day ! We see it not now,
but yet, the principalities and powers even now behold it, even
now to "the principalities, and powers in heavenly
places, is known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God."
Here we perceive this expression, " in

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 269
occurring again, as in Chap. ii. 6, — and some persons may consider
that it means exclusively the angels. We cannot reasonably
doubt that it includes them ; no doubt it comprehends the hosts
that surround the throne of God, the cherubim and seraphim,
those hosts of which we were speaking this moment in Isaiah vi.
We know " there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth." Luke xv. 10. We know that " these
things the angels desire to look into." 1 Pet. i. 12. But it may
mean also Satan and all his hosts, these may be included in " the
PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN HEAVENLY PLACES." They
are spoken of in Scripture as being " in heavenly places," but
if you consider the meaning of that word, you Avill find, it does
not mean Avhat we call in heaven, — -in the place of happiness and
glory with God. It is indeed in some places applied thus, but it
is also applied to places, as it were, over our heads, which we call,
when we look up to the sky, the heavens, — that is the firmament
above us. It is thus the term is applied to the " celestial bodies,"
1 Cor. xv. 40. And Satan seems to have his seat, as it Avere,
above us, over our heads, so he is called, as Ave have seen, in the
2nd chapter "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience." And again, if you
look into this Epistle, vi. 12, you see this expressly stated, " 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," or " in heavenly
places," it is the same word Avhich is used in both passages.
There you perceive, in the vi. chapter, the word is expressly lim
ited to Satan ; and when our Lord saith, Luke x. 18, " i" beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven," you do not suppose He
means to say that Satan was enjoying the presence of the Lord,
except as he is under his eye and in his presence in the territory
of apostate spirits ; but it means, fallen from his power in heavenly
places, he is " the prince of the power of the air," Avhere he does
exercise his power as it were with a rapid ubiquitous domination
of his agency. There is no room from which you can exclude the
air, and there is no room from which you can shut out the power
and agency of Satan ; you cannot go into any closet, where Satan
will not follow you. Hence the absurdity of the idea of monasteries
and nunneries shutting out as they pretend, the world, as if they
could thus shut out the world, the flesh and the devil from the heart.
It cannot be so, there is no place into which Satan has not access,
—you know this, believer, you know this from your own sad expe
rience ; you go into your closet, and you shut to the door, and you
pray to your Father in secret, but you know full well that you
cannot shut out the enemy of your soul, and you cannot shut him
out of your own heart, he has power there, you know and deeply
feel what is the meaning of that expression, " the prince of the
power of the air." I myself have no doubt that the fallen angels
are included in this passage, " to the intent that now unto
THE PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN HEAVENLY PLACES MIGHT

270

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

BE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH, THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GoD."
I think it means collectively, to include all intelligent creatures,
angelic and satanic, that all the thrones and dominions of heaven
shall know the wondrous wisdom of their Creator the wondrous
glory of the Redeemer ; and all the powers of hell shall know
and tremble at the majesty of the glory of Christ, who makes
even the very sins of sinners, and the very snares and temptations
of Satan redound to his own everlasting glory.
You see how often He has met and conquered Satan, and made
many of Satan's snares redound to his own glory in this world.
Thus, see how Satan ensnared David, hoAV aAvfully he en
trapped him ; he thought when he had allured David into crime,
that David was his own. But mark, the Lord sent His prophet
with His word to the heart of David, and He rescued him out of the
grasp of Satan, and David remains to this day an example to a poor,
fallen, backsliding sinner who might be perhaps otherwise hopelessly
trembling in the fangs of Satan, David remains to him an example
that "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," Rom. v.
20, and that God will rescue a poor fallen sinner, and bring him back
to Himself, and enable Him to say, as David did, "Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones
which thou hast broken may rejoice." Psa. Ii. 7, 8. That very
51st Psalm, which David composed after his fall, has been, and
ever shall be, a prayer of deep humiliation, of grace, of gratitude,
and of blessing, to poor backsliding, broken-hearted, fallen, but re
pentant sinners.
See, again, the thief on the cross, how Satan Avas triumphing
there, not only when he brought that poor wretch into thefts,
made him steal, and then left him as he is continually leaving
those who trust him, — in the lurch, — left him to fall into the
hands of justice, when he was sentenced to death for his crimes ;
— no doubt Satan was triumphing, rejoicing, thinking that he had
gained another soul into his grasp, and when, still further, he got
him to blaspheme the name of the only Hope and Refuge of sin
ners, Christ Jesus ; how Satan was rejoicing Avhen he was joining
his fellow-thief, and when he heard the two thieves blaspheming
Christ, as well as the multitude before him, how Satan must have
triumphed then ! But mark, how divine grace touched the heart of
that poor thief, even when in the moment he hung on the cross
in the agonies of death, grace enlightened his eyes, and enabled
him to see that Christ was the King of glory, — that, though hang
ing on that cross as a malefactor, He was " King of kings, and
Lord of lords," and the certainty of Christ's kingdom was brought
to the eye of that thief by faith, by the Spirit of God, and he said,
" Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." See
how, in the very midst of the wickedness, the blasphemy of that
poor man, he was brought to see the Lord. See how all Satan's
rage was over-ruled in that instance, and how it has been made a
glorious exhibition, by God's grace, of love and mercy to many

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 271
a sinner to this day. Thus, from this example, we may go to the
den of the vilest wretch — grovelling in the lowest and darkest abyss
of human Avickedness, we may tell him in the depths of his in
iquity to turn like the dying robber to a dying Saviour — we may
tell him there is salvation in Christ, even while trembling as it
Avere on the very jaws of hell — we can proclaim to him that " all
sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
wherewith soever they shall blaspheme." Mark iii. 38. We can
encourage and exhort him to " repent and believe the Gospel."
Again, how Satan must have triumphed Avhen he had led Judas
to betray his Master ! how he must have rejoiced when, entering
into his own son, John xiii. 27, " the son of perdition," John xvii.
12 — he instigated him to betray his Lord — when he had prompted
him to lead a band of officers into the garden to take Christ ! how
he must have triumphed when he had led that unhappy traitor to
betray Him too with a kiss ! just as at this moment his servants use
the words charity and peace for the very purpose of betraying the
truth, the salvation, and the cause of Christ. When we speak
a word in defence of the- glorious Gospel, against Popery, Arianism,
Socinianism, or any anti-Christian system that prevails in any
part of the world,—" It is want of charity — it is illiberal to find
fault with the religion or principles of any other body of Chris
tians." Such is the common cant — " Every man has a right to
think and worship God as he pleases, and we have no right to say
a word on the subject." Here is Judas's kiss of charity, and as
Satan triumphed when he had inspired Judas to kiss his Master !
so he triumphs this day when under the cloak of charity, liberality,
and peace, he covers the most awful blasphemies and apostacy,
and the most wicked attacks on Christ and His kingdom.
But mark hoAV Satan's wrath was overruled. He instigated
Judas to betray the Lord Jesus— the high priest to condemn — the
mob to denounce — and Pilate to put him to death, — he filled the
hearts of the multitude when they cried, " Away with him, away
with him, crucify him, crucify him," — the rage of the fiend, all
his malice, and all his poAver, were concentrated, as it were, on
the head of the suffering Redeemer. But mark how God ovei -
ruled them all ! These were the very means of Satan's over
throw, and of our salvation. All that the fiend could do, served
but to promote by his very malice the glory — and to make known
by the Church the manifold wisdom of God. For " Forasmuch
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might de
stroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and de
liver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 4, — He caught Satan in his own
snare ; " Surely the wrath" of devils as well as " of man shall
praise thee : the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Psa.
lxxvi. 10.
And thus is " made known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God" — by the Head and the members. By the man-

272

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ifestation of Christ's love and power in the salvation of every sin
ner — by the individual exercises of His grace — the individual
application of His precious blood— His spotless righteousness —
by His faithfulness — by the infusion of His strength into every
member of the whole body — by all the deliverances that are
wrought for them — all the snares that are broken — all the temp
tations from which they are rescued — all the precipices from which
they are held back — all the abysses of sin and sorrow out of Avhich
they are raised — .all the whole chain of providences by Avhich they
are surrounded. I say, by every one of these things, Satan is
made to see, and to feel " the manifold wisdom of God ;" and
he is made to feel that all his power, all his efforts are nothing
when he strives in vain to pluck the sheep of Christ out of His
hand. The howling of the wolf but makes the sheep run together
into the fold.
How was he triumphing, when he was filling Saul's mouth with
blasphemy and rebellion against God ! when under his inspira
tion, as it were, Saul Avas " breathing out threatnings and
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," Acts ix. 1 — along
the way from Jerusalem to Damascus, going to drag the saints to
prison. The procession of Saul and his companions was an ova
tion for Satan. But what was the issue ? That very man was
stopped on his journey, arrested in the middle of his career, not
only to be the most eminent chosen instrument to overthrow the
powers of darkness — but the very blasphemies and persecutions in
Avhich Satan chiefly rejoiced, became a beacon of the light and
glory of the Gospel — of the poAver — of the Avisdom — of the grace of
God to the vilest sinners that should ever exist in the world. " /
obtained mercy," saith Paul, "that in me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1st Tim. i. 16. So
that out of the depths of sin we may turn to the example of Saul,
and say — " Grace pardoned the blaspheming Saul, Christ rescued
Saul, ' breathing out threatnings and slaughter,' " " Christ is the
same yesterday, to-day, and forever," and I may look to Christ as
well as Saul did." This is all that Satan gained by inspiring
Saul with this blasphemy and wickedness. The Lord Jesus took
that very man to be his most honored servant — to "preach the
faith he once destroyed ;" and this is the man Avho is now telling
the Church at Ephesus, that to him "is this grace given, that he
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ, AND TO MAKE ALL MEN SEE WHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP
of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world had been hid in god, who created all things by
Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the princi
palities AND POWERS IN HEAVENLY PLACES, MIGHT BE
KNOWN BY THE CHURCH THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GoD."
The Apostle saith in another place " We are made a spectacle
unto the world, and to angels, and to men." 1st Cor. iv. 9. If
then the Church is a spectacle to angels, celestial and satanic,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 273
most assuredly to these angels, these principalities and poAvers, is
" made known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God."
All — all Avho shall be brought to glory hereafter, shall be seen as
monuments, individually and collectively, monuments of "the
MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GoD."
Look back at your life, believer, look back at your OAvn experi
ence of your whole course. Could you not recount many sins,
many evils into which you had fallen, many pitfalls— many
snares — many temptations — many afflictions spiritual and tem
poral — out of which you have been kept and brought by the
grace and by " the manifold wisdom of God ?" What stories
I could tell of my own sinful heart ! what grace — what mercy — ¦
Avhat patience — Avhat long-suffering, have I not experienced at the
hand of a compassionate and merciful Lord ! And I suppose you
could say the same for yourselves, who is there who is really
looking to Christ who cannot say it? Think of your rebellions
since you were a believer in Christ, think of your sins against
light and knowledge — of the waywardness of your will — the vile-
ness of your heart — the wandering of your affections from your
Lord — the blindness of your understanding — think of all the evils
you feel and know in yourselves, and yet see, there you are, hear
ing the sound of the glorious Gospel of Christ, and if you are
taught of God, saying to yourself, " Oh ! merciful Jesus, Oh ! my
precious Lord, if it were not for Thee, if Thou wert not the very
Saviour that Thou art, I should be, as I deserve, in hell ! But
here I am, blessed be Thy Name, hearing Thy gracious voice in
Thy glorious Gospel. The volume of Thy grace is open before
me, Thy faithfulness, Thy truth, Thy righteousness, Thy pre
cious blood, Thy love, Thy compassion, Thy long-suffering, are
all developed before me in Thy blessed Word, and here I am,
' kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.' 1st
Pet. i. 5. Often, often as it seemed to me ready to perish — to be
plucked out of thine hand, still thou sayest, '•none shall pluck
them out of my hand' John x. 28 — still Thou keepest me, Thou
teachest me to lift up my prayer, to look unto Thee my Lord as
the Hope, the Refuge, the Salvation of my soul !"
What is this but exhibiting in you, as one member of the
Church, " the manifold wisdom of God ?" Does not Satan
learn it, when he retreats like a baffled foe from all his attempts
to destroy you ? When he sees you are kept from his power safe
in the protecting grasp of an Almighty hand ? When after all
the thorns in the flesh that he sends as messengers to buffet you,
he hears your Saviour say, " My grace is sufficient for thee ?"
2nd Cor. xii. 9. When he sees you are enabled to catch all his
fiery darts upon the shield of faith, from which they rebound and
fall before you quenched in the blood of the Lamb — Does he not
see you on his throne of darkness, where he sits as "Prince of tha
power of the air," a prominent example of " the manifold wis
dom of God ?" 18

274

LECTURES ON THE 'EPHESIANS.

Do not the angels of light behold you, as they are led from
wonder to wonder in the manifestation of Redeeming love — as they
are "sent forth to minister" to you as an heir of salvation — you
know not how indeed, but is it not written that they are so ?
Heb. i. 14 — Is it not written, too, " The angel of the Lord en-
campeth round about them that fear him, and deliver eth them ?"
Psalm xxxiv. 7.— -And if the Lord Avere to open your eyes as he
opened those of the Prophet's servant, how often might you see,
like him, " the mountains full of horses and chariots of fire," 2nd
Kings vi. 17 — round about you and the church of Christ. What
visions of unimagined existences are given to a blind man if it
pleases God to grant him sight ! and what might not eyes to see
spiritual beings disclose to our astonished view ? But there are
the angels of God looking on you — " a cloud of witnesses " sur
rounding you — devils watching you — trying to draw you away —
but greater is He who is for you than, they Avho are against you.
And then at the last, when shall be revealed all the righteous
judgments of God, all the amazing developments of His glorious
dealings with His church, Oh ! what shouts shall rend the skies,
when all the church shall be exhibited as manifesting the mani-
ifold wisdom and love of the Lord ! the very cries of the damned
shall resound to the glory of the eternal justice of the living God !
There is not a devil or a fiend in hell, or an angel or saint in
heaven, whose cry or whose song shall not resound to the glory of
God — to the God of justice, who condemned, or to the God of love
and mercy, who has kept the elect angels, and redeemed fallen
sinners; while "to the principalities and powers," fo
angels, men and devils, " shall be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God." — Thus shall it be .openly
known to all " when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe." 2nd Thess. i. 10.
" According to the eternal purpose which he pur
posed in Christ Jesus our Lord." There is nothing for
tuitous, no chance, no accident, in God's dealings. " Known unto
God are all his works from the beginning of the world," Acts
xv. 18, — yea, from the beginning to the end. None of God's
remedies for sin are accidental, such as a physician prescribes on
the contingent emergencies that spring up before him. God's
remedies are not like these — Omniscience cannot feel succession of
knowledge. Succession implies imperfection, and cannot exist in
the Eternal mind — from eternity to eternity He is the First and
the Last, so all things relating to His Church are "according to
THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JeSUS."
It is not necessary to enter again on the subject, Avhich has been
before so largely discussed, of the consistency of the voluntary
agency of man, as a responsible being, with the overruling poAver
of God, which makes that agency* subservient to His own eternal
purposes, ,, It could mot be more perfectly illustrated, than in the
inspired testimony of the very stupendous fact, Avhich is here pre
sented to us, the crucifixion of our Lord and its glorious results.

LEC TURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 275
If we speak of the purposes of God. Then Jesus was " the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. xiii. 8. If
Ave speak of this in connection Avith the perpetrators of His death ;
then this is the testimony of the Holy Ghost, " Him being deliv
ered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye
have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
Acts ii. 23.
It is impossible that the eternal purpose of God could be more
distinctly expressed, and the Avickedness of the voluntary agents
who executed it, more clearly and emphatically denounced. It
was thus that ail its cruelty and all its crime, Avere overruled by
God for good ; but as yet the development is only partially un
folded ; for the full intent is not as yet accomplished, by the proc
lamation of the unsearchable riches of Christ to the nations of a
guilty world. "To make all men see what is the fellow
ship OF THE MYSTERY, WHICH FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE
world hath been hid in god, who created all things
by Jesus Christ : to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by the church the manifold wisdom of god,
according to the eternal purpose avhich he purposed
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Lord Jesus Avas the agent in the creation of the world, as
we see here and in numberless passages of Scripture, as John
i. 3, Col. i. 16, 17, Heb. i. 2. And He is the glorious " Word," in
whom is revealed, and exhibited, the end and object of its creation.
As " the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handy-work." So the Sun of Righteousness, in the
firmament of His church, shall declare the fulness of the glory of
all His moral attributes to all the principalities and powers, as all
the system is attracted, supported, illuminated, and animated by
His life, His light, His power, and His love.
But when we know our own character, and the character of
our foes — when we have a real Scriptural view of our own corrup
tion — of the power of sin — -and the malice of Satan — we never
can rest on any promise as immutable, or any hope as secure, till
we know that all things relating to His church are founded on the
eternal purpose of God. And it is a blessing to think that we
have a God whose purposes are unchangeable ; that, in a change
able world, such changeable creatures as we are, have an un
changeable God to rest on as our salvation. What a blessing it
is to have a hope, that in those " immutable things in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us :
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead
fast." Heb. vi. 18, 19. What has a sinner to rest on in this
world, till he learns to rest on Christ ? What can this world give ?
See how God sends us continually lessons to teach us the vanity
of all beloAV. We have been praying, and I do hope have prayed
from our hearts, for those whom the Lord has been pleased to visit

276 lectures on the ephesians.
with heavy affliction. Alas for beauty, rank, wealth ! Avhat are
they all ? We see the young, Avith all their ardent inexperienced
hearts fixed Avith eager hope of anticipated enjoyment on the
world. The phantom form of happiness seems to rest like the
gorgeous image of the rainbow on the earth, but still, like it,
retreats from the pursuit of their eager footsteps. We have seen
one possessed of rank, of youth, and health, and beauty, of every
thing that could be desired — that earth could give — to make her
happy. We have seen in a moment, how God can teach a solemn
lesson to an extensive neighborhood— can place the form of youth,
and rank, and beauty, on a yaAvning tomb — to speak this solemn
text to all around, as she sinks into its cold embrace — " All flesh
is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass ; the
grass wither eth, and the flower thereof falleth away." But Oh !
what a blessing for sufferer and survivors, Avhen her dying accents
too can speak the rest, " but the word of the Lord endureth for
ever." 1st Pet. i. 24, 25.
What a blessing that she was able to know, through grace, the
Lord on whom to lean ! and that she was able, through grace, to
lean upon her Lord.*
Now, ye parents who are looking with anxiety for what you
call the settlement of your children in this world, — and who per
haps live, and leave them to live, without thinking of the settle
ment of their eternal peace— without laying to heart a thought for
their " inheritance with the saints in light." Alas ! if you saw
your children cut off before your eyes — cut off without a hope in
Christ, and remembered, that you had ever been more anxious
about " what they should eat, and what they should drink, and
wherewithal they should be clothed," and educated, and accom
plished, for this world, — than in thinking how their souls might be
nourished with the " Bread of life," or Avith the " Living water"
— hoAV they might be washed in the blood, and clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. Oh ! think what pangs of conscience, if
your conscience was not dead m sin, would wring your hearts in
such a case as this !
And you young friends Avho hear, — Consider what is the world
to you if you know not Christ ? You may think you would have
been happy if your lot was cast as here Avas : — yet had she pos
sessed a thousand worlds, what were they all compared with the
knowledge of Christ ? If she had not known Christ, what would
they be all to her now ? — when her youthful brilliant eye is closed
on all below ; her young and Avarm heart is become " a clod of the
valley !"
Oh ! consider these things,— pray that God my incline your
hearts to His truth, and your footsteps to His ways. These Avarn-
ings are not sent, to be spoken of, as an event of the passing day,
and then forgotten ; but as solemn lessons, each speaking with a
voice that bears life or death in the sound, " Ye know not what
? Lady E. S. had just entered into her rest, in the early bloom of life, 1837.

lectures on the ephesians. 277
shall be on the morrow. For what is your life ? It is even a
vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
James iv. 14. " Therefore be ye also ready : for in such an hour
as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Mat xxiv. 44.

TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.

Ephesians III. — 12.
" In whom we have boldness and access with confidence, by the faith of him."
Having seen in an imperfect sketch — Alas ! how imperfect is the
best that man could draAv ! — " That now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places is made known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord," — Ave may observe how
the Apostle applies to himself and to all believers the blessings
that belong to the Church — that they were individually partakers
of these, individually possess, and have a right to enjoy the access
to God, which is inspired by the confidence of reconciliation through
Christ Jesus. "In whom we have boldness and access with
CONFIDENCE BY THE FAITH OF HIM."
We see, the Apostle here speaks of blessings common to all be
lievers, present blessings, — " In avhom we have boldness."
All who believe the Gospel have these present blessings, too happy
if they but kneAV and enjoyed them as they ought.* And what
are these blessings ? Access to God — boldness in access — confi
dence in access — by the faith of Christ Jesus.
This is a most important point for us to consider — the individual
application of these blessings to our own souls. It is nothing to
us to hear, -that there are blessings belonging to the Church of
Christ, if we do not partake of them ourselves. It is nothing to
us to hear, that sinners may have access to God by Christ Jesus,
if we do not come to God. It is nothing to us to hear that they
may come with boldness — with confidence, — if we do not come
with boldness and confidence. One great glory of the Gospel is,
that it is a blessing individually to the souls of all sinners, who
through grace are taught to look unto Christ. Therefore now, let
us consider this blessing.
We have had this subject before, in the 18th verse of the pre
ceding chapter, and on that occasion we referred to this verse.
There it is written, " through him we both have access by one
* "O ! fortunati nimium sue. si bona norint."

278

LECTURES on the ephesians.

Spirit unto the Father," and here again, " in whom we have
BOLDNESS AND ACCESS WITH COnFIDENCE BY THE FAITH OF
HIM." I have remarked to you frequently before, and we cannot too
often consider it, that when God is pleased to bring before us
truths repeatedly in His holy Word, He brings them before us,
that we may study them with reiterated attention. Recollect, it
is children who have " access with confidence" to their Fa
ther, and it is only as children of God that we can have this
access. Then if so — we must come in the spirit of children. Re
member it is written, " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of
God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." Luke xviii. 17.
It is those whom God instructs — and children must have children's
lessons. How beautifully is this set forth by the Prophet thus —
" Whom shall he teach knowledge, or whom shall he make to un
derstand doctrine ? Them that are weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little
and there a little." Isa. xxviii. 9, 10. How this too, accords with
the words of our blessed Lord, " Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Luke x.
21. How often as children have we repeated our lessons over, and
over, and over, to learn them by heart ! All the lessons of our
Heavenly Father require to be learned by heart by His children,
and therefore must be repeatedly impressed on the memory. A
master on the subject says, that Attention — Repetition— Pleasure
— and Pain, are the chief means of producing impressions on the
memory. All these are more or less employed by our Heavenly
Teacher, and we should learn to profit by them all. He opens
our heart like that of Lydia to attend — He employs, as we see
here, continual repetitions of His instructions — He cheers our
hearts, as he seeth fit, by the refreshing consolations of the Gospel
—and inflicts on us, "if need be," in love, the chastenings of
His rod.
Thus, when the Lord repeats instruction to us again and again,
we are not to say — " We have met this verse or this subject before,
and we may pass on to another." No, God brings it before us
again and again, to show that we are particularly called on to at
tend to it ; for when he is graciously pleased to instruct us so fre
quently, it is because it is His holy will that we should give our
earnest repeated attention to it, and therefore He reiterates in
struction in His blessed Word.
Let us then again consider this subject. Believers have access
— yea, " boldness and access with confidence by the
faith of Christ." They have boldness. We may observe
how totally opposite is this, to the view which the natural mind
takes of God, and the feeling it entertains in reference to Him. If
there be one object of terror more than another to a fallen sinner,
that object is God. Adam had enjoyed the privilege of commun
ion with Him, when he came forth fresh moulded from his Cre-

lectures on the ephesians. 279
ator's mighty hand, Avhen " God saw everything that he had
made, and behold it was very good." Gen. i. 31. But when
Adam's conscience told him he was a sinner, that communion
was gone — and as far as human power could redeem it, it was
gone forever. He fled Avith a blinded understanding and an alien
ated heart, among the trees of the garden, and when the voice of
God summoned him from his vain retreat — he exhibited the fall
of his intellect, as well as the conscious sin of his soul, he said,
" I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I
was naked, and I hid myself." Gen. iii. 10. Now though we do
not hear God's voice, Ave are afraid of God for the very same cause.
Sin is on the conscience, and sin on the conscience, brings into
the heart the terror of an All-seeing and an Almighty Judge.
Therefore when a sinner has any boldness whatever in approach
ing to God — when he can approach his Maker with any degree
of confidence in his heart — it can only arise from this, that he has
a confident expectation and security, that sin, which separated him
from his God — sin — which lay with terror upon his conscience, is
removed from him — that his conscience is now clear, and thus be
ing clear of sin, he can confidently approach his Judge, his Cre
ator, his God.
This is the reason why those persons who are ignorant of the
Gospel, and who are seeking for justification by their own right
eousness — by Sacraments — Priests — penances — fastings — alms —
any moral or superstitious observances, never can approach to
God with confidence ; or if they think they can, it is a delusion —
they cannot maintain it by the authority of His divine Word ; and
therefore they generally consider that the very mention of confi
dence, or assurance in the believer's mind, is the grossest possible
presumption, because it is a thing so entirely opposite to all their
own feelings and experience. For when persons imagine, that,
by their own righteousness, or any of the means I have mentioned,
they are to fit themselves to approach to the presence of God —
_ their conscience bears witness against them that they have not
this righteousness, on which they think they must depend ; so
they never can have confidence in approaching to God, because
they never can feel that sin is removed from their conscience, they
never can believe they are clear from sin in his sight. On the
contrary, it is the privilege of a believer to know that he is clear
from sin before God — perfectly clear from sin. " What !" you
may say, " Is not that gross presumption ? Is it not great audac
ity in any sinner to say, he is clear from sin ?" The question
demonstrates, that the person who asks it is ignorant of the means
whereby a sinner is to be delivered from sin. Consider this.
It is manifest, he thinks, that the way in which a sinner is to
be cleared from sin, is, that he is not to have any sin, in other
words, to be no longer a sinner. There is no such thing as a sin
ner being cleared from sin before God, in that sense, " If we Say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us." 1st John i. 8. Then, the question is, how can we have sin,

280

lectures on the ephesians.

and yet be clear from sin ? how can we be sinners, and yet be free
from our sins? How can this be? Because, sin is taken away,
not by its non-existence in the sinner — but by its non-imputation
to the sinner. It is not that he is clear from sin by not having
sin— but it is, that he is clear from sin, by not having sin laid to
his charge — " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of
the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not
impute sin." Rom. iv. 6, 7, 8.
The privilege of the believer is to know, that his sin is thus
taken away — not imputed to him. Why ? because it was imputed
to Christ, — laid on Christ, — taken off the sinner and laid on his
Redeemer. " The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Is. liii. 6. Now, if the sinner is brought through grace, to see and
know this glorious truth, "to believe the record that God hath
given of his Son," 1 John v. 10, then he is free from sin, then he
says, my conscience now is delivered from its guilt, because, I see
from God's eternal Word, that my blessed Redeemer, " bare our
sins in his own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii. 24; that "he hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us
to God." 1 Pet. iii. 18. This is the truth on Avhich we have
been dwelling so repeatedly, in the preceding chapter, " Now in
Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were afar off, are made nigh by
the blood of Christ ;" Ephes. ii. 13. Thus we come near to God
— for " the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from, all
sin." 1 John i. 7. Then, if Ave are cleansed from all sin, of course,
we can have no sin remaining ; when sin is taken aAvay, sin can
not remain ; so that, though sin exists in the believer, — though he
feels it in himself, — though he knows it, and mourns over it bit
terly in his heart — yet it is his privilege to know, that it is all can
celled, and that it cannot hinder him from coming to his God,
" having boldness and access with confidence by the
faith of Christ."
Oh ! dear friends, it is a most Avonderful privilege to be able to
understand the grand simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, — so to
understand it, as to apply it practically, — daily, — hourly, — momen
tarily to our OAvn sinful consciences. When sin is taken away
Ave have nothing to fear. The man who has nothing to fear is
bold. Having no fear is synonymous with boldness, so St. John
saith, " herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world."
As Christ is, so are his people, — as He is righteous, so are they
righteous — as He is dead to sin, they are dead to sin, — as He is
alive unto God, they are~alive unto God — as He has access to
God, so have they access in Him ; because they are accounted
one with Him : accordingly, (as Ave have been often dAvelling on
this subject) you recollect the Apostle says, " reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord:" Rom. vi. 11 — reckon yourselves to be so. Therefore,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 281
it is He, " In whom we have boldness and access with con
fidence by the faith of him." So assuredly it is our privi
lege thus to come to God by the faith of Jesus ; it is our privilege to
know that we shall not be cast away, that there is no doubt of our
acceptance, no doubt but that we shall inherit eternal life. This
is the privilege of all those Avho believe the Gospel of Christ.
" This honor have all his saints. Hallelujah." Psal. cxlix. 9. I
say, it is their privilege. I do not say they all enjoy it ; they
ought to enjoy it : but alas ! all believers do not enjoy their privi
leges, they go on doubting and fearing, and trembling, instead of
going on their way with trust, and confidence, and joy, and bold
ness, looking unto their Lord and Master, their blessed Redeemer
" heartily rejoicing in the strength of their salvation." Psa. xcv. 1.
There is indeed a sense of holy fear and trembling, which is in
separable from true faith ; but it is the reverential fear of joy and
love, and not the slavish terror of enmity and unbelief. The fear
of grieving a loving, gracious Father, is very different from that
of being sentenced to be hanged by a just Judge. St. John speaks
of the latter when he saith, " There is no fear in love, but perfect
love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment." 1st John, iv. 18.
St. Peter speaks of the former when he saith, " If ye call on the
Father, who without respect, of persons judgeth according to
every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear :
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corrupt
ible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation re
ceived by tradition from your fathers ; But with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot :"
1st Pet. i. 17, 18. The loving confidence of faith is the cause of
the latter fear. The unloving terror of unbelief is that of the
other fear which " hath torment."
This is the reason why there is so little of a true, genuine ex-
hibition of the power of the Gospel in the church, because there is
really such unbelief — such unbelief in believers. Instead of going
on with strength and confidence, boldness, and faith, and love,
united to Christ and united in Christ, and thus " striving together
for the faith of the Gospel," you see them doubting and trembling,
and fearing — some running to one of their beggarly elements,
others to other beggarly elements, not firmly united together, ex
alting their respective forms, and separated from each other ; and
why ? because they are not trusting in faithful simplicity in their
Lord and Master, with ardent love to Him " who hath called them
out of darkness into his marvellous light" 1st Pet. ii. 7, — for the
glorious work He wrought for them and all His people.
Ignorance and unbelief blind the eyes of men Avho are called
Christians, so that they do not comprehend the ground of a sin
ner's confidence — they know not what is that ground — Avhat is
the cause why he has this boldness. It is vain to talk of boldness
to those who do not know the foundation of it. If you see persona
in fear, and desire them not to be afraid, you never can take away
their apprehensions thus, all your exhortations will not calm their

282

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fears ; but if you can prove to them, and convince them, and make
them confident, that there is no ground for apprehension ; then
their fears naturally subside. So it is, that it is in vain to tell
men to have confidence in coming to God, unless their under
standings are enlightened to see and know the solid ground of
confidence that God gives them in His blessed word. Therefore
let us consider more fully what is the ground of this confidence.
Why have believers " boldness and access with confidence
by the faith of Christ ?" We answer on account of
The work of Christ.
The office of Christ.
The character and person of Christ.
Consider these three things.
I. — The work of Christ gives boldness and access
WITH CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE FAITH OF HIM.
The finished work of Christ Jesus is a full remission of sins, by
the one offering of himself once offered on the cross. You have
this set forth repeatedly in the Word of God ; you may see it rea
soned and argued out in Hebrews x, where the Apostle compares
the legal sacrifices Avith the sacrifice of Christ, and shows the ineffi
ciency of all those sacrifices from the fact of their continual repe
tition ; and the completeness and fulness of the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ, from its being offered once, and but once, and
that, once for all, 10th verse, " By the which will we are sancti
fied, through the offering of the body of Jesus ChHst once for
all." I have cited this chapter before ; and almost lectured 'on
every verse, but let me again call your attention to the 11th v.
" Every priest" (meaning the priests of the Levitical law,) " every
priest standeth daily ministering, a?id offering oftentimes the
same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the
right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool ; for by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified." The priests stand daily ministering,
they offer a sacrifice to-day, they are obliged to stand up the next
day and offer the same sacrifice, and the next day to offer the
same, and the next day to offer the same, and so on, — and by
standing up to-day to offer sacrifice, they confess that the sacri
fices of yesterday were not sufficient ; therefore the daily repetition
of sacrifices daily proves the insufficiency of these sacrifices. "But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat
down at the right hand of God" There was no rising up to
come from his throne to offer another sacrifice for sin, there was
no repetition of his glorious offering on the cross. It is finished —
once for all. It Avas " one sacrifice for sins forever." So " He
sat down at the right hand of God," 14th v. "for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Now observe,
" by one offering he hath perfected forever." Surely if a. thing is
forever perfected, nothing more can be done to perfect it. Perfec
tion cannot be added to. And if a thing is perfected once, it can-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 283
not need to be perfected again. If Christ has perfected all His
saints, that is, those Avho are sanctified, which is another term for
believers, if He has perfected all His saints forever, nothing more
can be done to take away their sins. Christ Himself cannot do
anything more to take away sins than he has already done.
Think of thi3, consider it in your own heart, and see whether you
believe or understand this truth. I say, the Lord Jesus Christ
cannot do anything more to take away your sins than He has
already done. Now do you believe this ? Ask your own con
science if you are satisfied that it is truth ? If you are not, then
ask yourself this question, " What is to be done to take away my
sins ?" What do you suppose is to be done ? Some will say,
"Oh, I must pray, I must attend the Sacraments, I must change
my life." That will not take away your sins. If you Avere to
spend from this time to the end of your existence on your knees,
it would not take away one sin. If you were to go to the Sacra
ment every hour in the day, it would not help to take aAvay one
sin. Nothing that you can do, or that the Avhole world can do for
you, or that God Himself can do for you, can take aAvay one sin,
but Avhat is already done. This is true indeed, — that God, and
God alone, can, by His eternal Spirit, enlighten your eyes to see,
and know, and understand His great salvation ; but that is not
doing anything to take away your sins, — it is opening your eyes,
that you may see the glorious work that has been done already
to take them away, — namely, the glorious work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Avhich He has finished on Mount Calvary for sins, that " by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
Therefore when God puts a work perfect out of His hands, He
does not resume that Avork to do anything more. If an artist
or a mechanician gives you a work, and says " that is finished,"
he tells you thereby that he can do nothing more for it. When
the Lord Jesus Christ tells you " He hath perfected, by one offer
ing, them that are sanctified," — that is, all His saints, He cannot
do anything more to perfect them. Now consider this — think of
it — reason on it — digest it — and if you do not believe it, then you
know not " the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ."
The Apostle saith, " Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us, for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I
will make with them ; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put
my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them,
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."
Heb. x. 18. Observe, "where remission of these is," — He has
told you where remission of sins is to be found — namely, that it is
to be found in the finished atonement of Christ — that it is to be
found in the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the Cross ; and
then, having told you, that it is to be found in this perfect sacrifice
— and having told you, that the Holy Ghost witnesses this— and
that this is God's covenant, that He will remember their sins and
iniquities no more — then, he comes to the conclusion, "where'

284 lectures on the ephesians.
remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." There
fore it is, that nothing you can do can take aAvay your sins— nay,
that (I repeat it) God Himself cannot do anything more to take
away your sins ; — for if the Lord were to make any other offering
to take aAvay sin, that offering would be an acknowledgment that
the whole work before Avas not sufficient ; and that all that has
been revealed is delusion on the subject. Thus the truth of the
Gospel annihilates the Sacrifice of the Mass — that awful supersti
tion of the Church of Rome ; — not to say that a piece of paste is
made aa object of worship, or called God — the very idea of making
an offering to God for sin, is a total denial of the finished work of
Christ — a total rejection of the Gospel of Christ. The very
thought that Christ Himself could make another offering for sin,
would subvert the whole foundation of the Gospel, and totally ob
literate the finished work of salvation. Hence ail the modified
mummeries of Rome that are sought to be introduced again into
our Church, arise from an utter ignorance of the Gospel of Christ;
indeed, the chief movers and conductors of the heresy, confess that
their great enmity is to the doctrine of justification by faith in
Christ ; and their vain superstitions could not be entertained for a
moment by any, but those who are lamentably ignorant of the
Gospel. But they are perfectly congenial to the natural pride,
corruption, and ignorance of the human mind, and hence those
who hold them, pass over by an easy and natural transition to the
Church of Rome.
Now then, mark the conclusion which the Apostle draws,
" Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, by
the blood of Jesus." You perceive the work of Christ is the ground
of the sinner's boldness, and observe, he saith, " therefore," viz.,
for these reasons — on account of the work of Christ — the finished
work of Immanuel — on account of this, that nothing more can be
done to take away sin ; — " Having therefore, bret/iren, boldness
to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and liv
ing way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that
is to say, his flesh ; and having a high priest over the house of
God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of
faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water." Heb. x. 19, 22.
And noAv, let me entreat you to consider what a ground of
boldness is set forth here, for you, and me, and all sinners to draw
near to the throne of Grace. You say and feel, each of you I sup
pose, " Alas ! I am a vile sinner before God." I feel the same, I
am a vile sinner before Him ; if God were to enter into judgment
with you or me, we must perish. So the language of our souls
must be the language of David, " Enter not into judgment with
thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be jus
tified." Psa. cxliii. 2. This then is our case, all of us are on a
level, all alike, " there is no difference, all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." Rom. iii. 22, 23. Consider, then,
what is placed before us here — the finished work of Christ — that

lectures on the ephesians. 285
Jesus, by one offering, hath perfected forever every sinner that
rests upon Him — every sinner that is a believer on Him — He hath
perfected them forever — they are all in this sense perfect — they
are not judged by different degrees of character as among men,
but they are all viewed as one complete Avhole, perfect, delivered
from all their guilt, because their blessed Surety has died for them.
Suppose one man owes ten pounds, another twenty, another fifty,
five hundred, a thousand, ten thousand — were some man of ade
quate wealth to take all their debts upon himself, and pay them
all, all would be clear, every debt would be cancelled, every debtor
be delivered from his burthen.
We owe a countless debt, all of us ; we may form some concep
tion of some few of the items against us. But who could pretend
to count the number? Oh, " who can tell how oft he offendeth ?"
Ps. xix. 12. How little can we conceive of the amount of
the black catalogue of our transgressions before God ! — but " the
blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin." There is remis
sion of sins in Him, and "where remission of these is, there
is no more offering for sin." " Having therefore, brethren, bold
ness to enter into the holiest." So Ave come into the holiest, we
come and stand in the presence of God. True Ave must say in
deed, O Lord, behold I am vile, " I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes." Job xiii. 6 ; but vile as I am, " Thy blood
cleanseth from all sin." Thy blood, the blood of the cross, Thy
blood, the blood of my Redeemer, is the fountain where I bathe, I
come as one of the flock " which he hath purchased with his own
blood." Acts xx. 28.
Is not this then enough to give a sinner boldness ? what fear,
what doubt— what cause for fear or doubt have we, if indeed we
are enabled to trust on Immanuel's Redemption — on the work that
Jesus has finished on the cross?
Noav, my dear friends, if you do not understand this — if you are
not brought to know the Gospel, you must have some other
ground of hope, some vain refuge, whatever it be — your moral
character — your virtue — your religious observances — good resolu
tions — sacraments — charities — -Church — or something of this na
ture — you are looking to some false hope, if you are not brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ, — therefore you are not happy, you have
no access to God, — no peace in the prospect of meeting Him, — ¦
your heart is far from Him,— you are living Avithout Him in the
world, — seeking your happiness where it cannot be found, — follow
ing after a phantom — a floating image — an airy vision— a cloud —
a delusion — an " unreal mockery," turning aAvay from the only
solid ground of peace the sinner can have — peace with God
through Christ, — "boldness and access with confidence
through him," as going to a reconciled God and Father, your
sin cancelled — blotted out forever — and the blessed hope of ever
lasting life opening before your eye, through the dark vista of the
grave, a light from the glorious portals of eternity. Such prospect
does the work of Christ open to the eye of the believer.

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But I said, we have not only the work, but
II. — The office of Christ, to give us " boldness and
access with confidence." Recollect that the Lord Jesus
Christ has not only finished that glorious work on the cross, but
He has risen and ascended to the right hand of His Father ; and
there He appears as our great High Priest, having carried into the
presence of God, for us, the blood of the everlasting covenant.
When the high priest offered the great annual atonement, he
carried the blood of the victim into the holy of holies, Avhere the
presence of God was manifested, over the mercy-seat, between the
cherubims. That was, you know, the emblem of the Lord Jesus
Christ ; who, having poured out His precious blood as the great
atonement, of Avhich all others were types and shadows, has gone
into the presence of God, there to appear for us. And so the
Apostle continues, Hebrews x., let me entreat you to consider this
chapter, for it gives the most clear and simple view of the Lord
Jesus Christ, 19th verse, " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail; that
is to say, his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of
God ;" — he not only points the view to the Avork of Christ — His
work — as having made atonement, but he points you to the office
of Christ, as being a high priest, and as having carried that blood
into the presence of the Father, there to appear as the advocate of
His people. So the Apostle John saith, " these things I write
unto you, that you sin not ;" but. he adds, " and if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the propitiation for our sins." 1st John, ii. 1, 2. He
is our advocate and our propitiation, our high priest and our sacri
fice — He has made an offering, and He has gone info the pres
ence of God, and carried that blood into the holy of holies, there
to appear in the presence of God for us. So the Apostle says, in
Hebrews ix., in the 6th and 7th verses, where he is mentioning
the subject of which I am speaking ; — " Now when these things
were so ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God, but into the second, went the
high priest alone, once every year, not without blood, which he
offered, for himself, and for the errors of the people." 11th v.
" But Christ, being come an high priest of good things to come, by
a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that
is to say, not of this building ; neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us." He has gone, once
for all, as the high priest into the holy place ; that is, into the
presence of God, " having obtained eternal redemption for us."
And in Hebrews iv., he gives the same ground for the confidence
of the sinner, 14th verse, as we saw in reference to chap, ii: 18,
" Seeing then, that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our pro
fession ; for we have not an high priest who cannot be touched

lectures on the ephesians. 287
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin ; let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need." You see, then, the priestly office of Christ
affords a ground of confident access to the believer.
III. — But THE PERSON AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST ARE SET
FORTH AS A GROUND OF boldness. And the Apostle also
brings this before us in Heb. x. 21. "Having an high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in
full assurance of faith." Observe, "full assurance of faith,"
full confidence — not doubting your Lord not hesitating to con
fide in His Avoid, or His work, but " in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our
bodies washed with pure water." It is not that you have
not an evil conscience, or a consciousness of evil — it is not that
your conscience does not tell you, you are a sinner ; for it must
be a subject of continual; exercise of conscience, to avoid sin ;
" herein do I exercise myself" saith the Apostle, " to have always
a conscience void of offence both toward God and toward man."
Acts xxiv. 16. It is a continual conflict of the believer to en
deavor to keep his conscience void of offence in the various cir
cumstances in which he may be placed in life. But every day he
lives he will feel that his conscience accuses him of sin. Hoav is
he then to cleanse that conscience ? It must be sprinkled with
the blood of Christ. """" Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience." When he is accused of guilt his conscience says,
" True, I arri guilty, but ' the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth me
from all sin.' 1st John i. 7. ' / am black, but comely,' — black —
' as the tents of Kedar,' — comely — -' as the curtains of Solomon.' "
Cant. i. 5.
Therefore, Avhen your conscience charges you with sin, should
you try to silence its accusing voice by prayers ? — by resolutions ?
— by promises, like a child, that you will do wrong no more ? No
— you must go directly to the blood of Christ, you must go to the
blood of sprinkling, must have your conscience cleansed from sin
by Christ before you can do anything in the service of Christ.
Hoav is that to be done ? Come to Christ in prayer by faith, say
to Him,
" Lord I am a fallen sinner, behold I am vile, my conscience is
defiled with sin, I come to Thy precious blood, there is no refuge,
no help for me but in thee ; I come to Thy precious blood — Thy
word assures me that it cleanses from all sin ; I come to that
blessed Fountain — there let me bathe. Oh, let my soul cast all
its heavy load on Thee, who wast wounded for our transgressions.
Let me rest on Thy faithfulness, Thy glorious work, Thine exceed
ing great and precious promises. There let me rest forever !"
When you are enabled to commit your soul to Christ, to trust
in Him thus ; — then you can rest on the blood of your Redeemer
as all-sufficient to Avash away your sins ; thus is your heart
"sprinkled from an evil conscience'' when "the blood of sprinlc-

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ling that speaketh better things than that of Abel," Heb. xii. 24 — ¦
saith "peace be still."
Come then to Christ for pardon, and in pardon you find strength
to enable you to contend against your sins, not to save yourself,
for salvation is in Christ alone, but to serve and glorify your Lord
who hath loved you, and given himself for you. It is thus you
" HAVE BOLDNESS AND ACCESS WITH CONFIDENCE BY THE
faith of him." For "being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we
have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God." Rom. v. 1, 2.
The character and person therefore of Christ are full warrant
for our having boldness. " Let us draw near with a true heart,
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for
he is faithful that promised." Heb. x. 23. Here we have the
faithfulness of Christ. And in Heb. iv., he brings before us the
sympathies of Christ, 15th v. ; " we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." He brings
us to the faithfulness of Christ as God — "He is faithful that
promised." He brings us to the sympathies of Christ as man — as
one who is so " touched with the feeling of our infirmities" And
on both grounds gives us encouragement to come boldly to Christ
¦ — "let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need"
Heb. iv. 16. And again, " Having boldness to enter into the ho
liest by the blood of Jesus." Heb. x. 19. And here in this passage,
"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence
by the faith of him."
Thus then in happy faith in the Work, the Office, and Person
of our beloved Lord — His work of Righteousness and Atonement
—His Office as Priest and Mediator — His Person as God and
man — let us consider what a glorious privilege it is for a sinner to
have such a way of access to God ! what a wondrous blessing it is,
to have such a path opened not only of approach, but of approach
with boldness, so that instead of leaving our salvation as a matter
of doubt and uncertainty, thinking as multitudes Avho bear the
name of Christian think, that it is presumption to suppose we can
be in a safe state until after the day of judgment — till God has
decided on our respective merits whether we have deserved to in
herit eternal life ! — It is our privilege to have through grace a
blessed hope, a joyful assurance of salvation, not indeed through
our OAvn merits, but through the merits and death of our adorable
Redeemer, and to approach through Him with boldness and con
fidence to God, not as a dreaded Judgey but as a reconciled
Father. Hence — the faith and love of Christ, give boldness in the pros
pect of judgment, as saith the Apostle, "Herein is our love made

•LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 289
Jerfeet, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment." 1st
ohn iv. 17. Hence — -the proper attitude of a Christian, is not
that of awaiting with apprehension, a judgment which he would be
thankful to avoid ; but looking with hope to the appearance of
the Judge, as his Deliverer, and his Salvation. This, so far from
being the terror, is the joyful expectation of the Church. Thus
were the Christians instructed by the Apostles as saith St. Paul,
" Ye turned to God, from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." 1st
Thes. i. 9, 10. So he saith that " To them that look for him he
shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. ix.
28. So, it is with grace, and with the gift of salvation, that all
' sound principle of genuine moral action is inseparably united, as
with the joyful hope of the coming of the Lord Jesus. We
see them all associated together in their scriptural place in the
Epistle to Titus, " For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that, denying • ungodli
ness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works." Tit. ii. 11, 12, 13, 14.
Here we see what the grace of God brings — namely, "salvation"
— not means to help us to save ourselves, but Salvation.
We see what the grace which brings this salvation teaches ;
namely, to " deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live so
berly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."
We see what the grace which brings this salvation teaches us
to look for, namely, the glorious manifestation and everlasting en
joyment of the salvation which it brings, " looking for thatblessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour,
Jesus Christ." For then shall be revealed, bestowed, enjoyed, the
glorious inheritance which Jesus has purchased for his risen saints.
So saith the Apostle Peter when he testifies of this salvation, and
this glorious inheritance, which is reserved for them in heaven.
" Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1st Pet. i. 13. For,
as St. Paul saith, " when Christ who is our life shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory," Col. iii. 4 ; and it is
in this " blessed hope"— this " glorious appearing" — this everlast
ing life at the coming of Christ in glory, that he teaches the saints
to comfort one another for those that are gone to rest, and for their
own everlasting consolation. 1st Thess. iv. 13-18. Therefore,
how well may those who look unto Jesus, Avhen they know the
solid ground of Hope for eternity, have access with confidence
through the faith of Him to the Throne of Grace in time.
" Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound." Psal.
Ixxxix. 5, — blessed those who receive the great salvation which
19

290

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

this grace bestows — walk in the path of holiness and peace which
it teaches — and shall partake of the glory that it shall bring at
the coming of the Lord Jesus, to whom be praise and glory for

ever, Amen.

TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.

Ephesians III.— 13, 14, 15, 16.

" Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your
glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, ac
cording to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
'inner man."
When we were beginning this chapter, I mentioned, that in
the first verse there was the commencement of a very long paren
thesis, which might be considered as terminating either at the 13th
verse of this chapter, or in the middle of the first verse of the
next ; — that you might either suppose that the words, "for this
cause " were those referred to by the Apostle at the close of the
parenthesis, as in the 14th verse, so that the reading in this case
would be,
" For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles, bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Or — you might suppose that the word " prisoner " was that re
ferred to at the conclusion of the parenthesis; and that it Avas
taken up at the 1st verse of the 4th chapter.
" For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles ; beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation where
with you, are called." chapter iv. 1.
Now, I rather think that the proper termination is at the 13th
verse ; and my reason is this. St. Paul commences this chapter
thus, " For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles." Then, as if he feared that the mention of his be
ing a prisoner would cast a great damp on the spirits of his breth
ren at Ephesus ; he commences in this parenthesis, not only to ac
count for his being a prisoner, but to show that his imprisonment
— so far from being a matter of grief to his Gentile brethren —
ought to be a subject of great joy to them. Why Avas Paul a
prisoner ? Because (as you Avill find, on referring to the history in
the Acts of the Apostles) he preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesu3
Christ to the Gentiles.
You recollect, when he said in his speech to the Jews, that the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 291
Lord had said unto him, " Depart; for I will send thee far hence
unto the Gentiles. They gave him audience unto this word, and
then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow
from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live." Acts xxij.
21, 22. In consequence of his persecution by the Jews, who were
aided by Felix and Festus ; Felix kept him in prison " to do the
Jews a pleasure," Acts xxiv. 27, and Festus wished to bring
him to be judged at Jerusalem, for the same reason, Acts xxv. 9.
But he not choosing to be carried to Jerusalem to be judged, ap
pealed unto Caesar, and when he appealed to Caesar, Festus said,
" To Ccesar thou shalt go," Acts xxv. 12, — therefore he went and
was a prisoner at Rome ; and thence he writes to them, " /, Paul,
a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles," &c. But then he
takes occasion to unfold to them the mystery which Avas now re
vealed by God, that the Gentiles were to be fellow-heirs, and that
to him was given the glorious office " to preach among the Gen
tiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," and having thus set forth,
as we have seen, the glory of that mystery — the union of Jews
and Gentiles in Christ ; — and the glory of the salvation of Christ,
hoAV that " to the principalities and powers in heavenly places
was made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God,
according to his eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ"
and having shown the glorious access Avhich JeAv and Gentile have
with "boldness and confidence by the faith of Christ ; he con
cludes v. 13, " Wherefore, I desire, that ye faint not at
MY TRIBULATIONS FOR YOU, WHICH IS YOUR GLORY." I think,
therefore, that the parenthesis from the second verse to the end of
the 12th, contains the premises from which he draws the conclu
sion, to cheer and console them on account of his imprisonment,
" Wherefore," that is, for these reasons, " I desire that ye
FAINT NOT AT MY TRIBULATIONS FOR YOU, WHICH IS YOUR
'GLORY." When he saith, " I, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ," " Ah,"
thought he, " these poor Ephesians will be cast down — they will
say, ' What ! Paul a prisoner ! this great Apostle Paul a prisoner !
Hath the mighty God abandoned his servant to a prison ?' " " Yes,"
saith he, " I am a prisoner, but consider for what I am a prisoner."
Then he tells them the glorious cause in which he suffered, and
concludes "Wherefore I desire, that ye" be not discour
aged — "I desire that ye faint not" — but remember that
my being a prisoner, instead of being your grief, is your glory. —
It is for preaching the Gospel to you and the heathen nations, that
I am a prisoner — I am a prisoner for being commissioned to de
clare the glorious salvation of Christ to the Gentiles ; and there
fore, so far from being cast down at this, you ought to rejoice, as
it is your joy— your salvation — your glory.
Consider how needful is this encouragement— AAre are continu
ally prone to be cast down whenever we see outAvard afflictions or
tribulations befall the church of Christ. We look at outward
things, and are ready to be ovenvhelmed. If we hear of our

292

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brethren being persecuted or afflicted, or suffering for the sake of
Christ, we are almost fainting at heart by it. If we heard of some
of our ministers being sent to prison, or brought perhaps to the
scaffold or the stake for their faithful testimony, as might be the
case, we should be nearly driven to despair at this. But let us re
member, that the covenant of God for all His people is, that " all
things are working for their good ;" and let us remember, that
the history of the whole church proves, that " the blood of the
martyrs' has been the seed of the church." What was the first
signal for the diffusion of the Gospel? — The persecution that arose
on the death of Stephen. You see in the history of that, in the
Acts of the Apostles; — the disciples Avent everyAvhere, preaching
the gospel of Christ — they went through all the country testify
ing. " They that were scattered abroad went everywhere, preach
ing the word." Acts viii. 4. And so it has been in our own
church ;— so it was when Latimer and Ridley Avere brought to the
stake : — when Latimer said to Ridley, " Be of good cheer, brother,
we shall light a candle this day that never shall be extinguished
in England." And so, the very means taken by Satan to oppose
and put down the glorious Gospel of Christ — those very means,
God uses for the diffusion, promulgation and maintenance of His
truth. He can support and strengthen His people in suffering —
enable them to endure affliction — persecution — death for His glo
rious Gospel ; if it was only to show, that the very persecution of
the Church of Christ exhibits the glory of the everlasting Gospel.
So the Apostle, in this parenthesis, on which we have been dwell
ing for some time, having explained the commission he had re
ceived, " to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ," adds, "wherefore, I desire, that ye faint not at
MY TRIBULATIONS FOR YOU, WHICH IS YOUR GLORY."
Let us recollect, that the testimony of our Lord to Hi& Apostles
was, that they should be called to suffer for His sake ; and let us
remember that the testimony of the Apostles themselves to the
churches was, that they should suffer for the cause of truth, " All
that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution."
2nd Tim. iii. 12. And perhaps, the ease that the church of this
nation enjoyed for so long a period, has been owing to this, that
there has been so little faithful testimony, either in doctrine or
practice, to the glorious Gospel of Christ. So little faithful testi
mony in doctrine against the ignorance — the falsehood — the infi
delity—the idolatry — and superstition of the nation ; and so little
faithful testimony in practice, in coming out from an ungodly
world, and being separate in life and conversation from those who
haVe a mere "form of godliness, but who deny the power
thereof'! 2nd Tim. iii. 5. We are told of this Apostle and
Barnabas, at Derbe, that " when they had preached the Gospel to
that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra,
and to Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the dis
ciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith ; and that we

lectures on the ephesians. 293
must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God.''
Acts xiv. 21, 22.
The Apostle saith in the epistle to the Philippians, i. 12, " I
would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which
happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of
the Gospel." He comforts them also for his imprisonment at
Rome, and you know, there were several in Caesar's household
called by this very means. to the knowledge of Christ ; so he saith
of these events " So that my bonds in Christ are made manifest
in the palace, and in all other places ; and many of the brethren
in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold
to speak the word without fear." So, you see, that the Apostle
had cause to desire his Ephesian brethren " not to faint at his
tribulation for them, which was their glory." It was
the glory of the Gentiles that Paul should be called to suffering
and to tribulation for the testimony which his heavenly Master had
commissioned him to bear to the nations of the earth. The Lord
said, " He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show
him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake." Acts
ix. 5, 16. So. that he might well say to his Ephesian brethren, "I
desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you,
which is your glory." This seems then to me, to be the close
of the parenthesis ; and I am quite satisfied that the Apostle in
troduces this for the express purpose of comforting them, when
they kneAV that he Avas a prisoner for their sake.
I therefore think, he here resumes his subject repeating the first
words of the chapter, " For this cause I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
"For this cause." — This brings us back to inquire^ what was
the cause to which he alludes? and we find the cause in the con
clusion of the 2nd chapter, and thus adduced in the 1st verse of
the 3rd — viz., that they had been called out of their natural dark
ness into the marvellous light of the glorious Gospel — that they
were, as the Apostle had thus stated, " Now therefore ye are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner-stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together,
groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also
are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit." Eph. ii. 19-22. Wherefore, since you are so called, so
founded on Jesus Christ, builded together into an holy temple, for
an habitation of God through the Spirit, "For this cause, I bow
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Connect the four last verses of the second chapter with the 14th
verse of this chapter, and you have, I think, the true continuity of
the sense.
We learn from this, that, when persons are first brought to the
knowledge of the.Gospel of Christ,, then indeed, they become sub-

294

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jects of anxious prayer, both for themselves and for all who watch
over them and love them as their Ministers. No man prays for
himself, till he is brought to know Christ as the only way of
access to God — till he comes unto the Father through Christ, " no
man cometh unto the Father but by me," saith the Lord, John xiv.
6, and although Paul " after the straitest sect of his religion lived
a Pharisee," Acts xxvi. 5, yet it Avas not until Christ had smitten
him down on his way to Damascus, and revealed Himself to him
as Jesus whom he persecuted — it was not till then, that Paul ever
tittered a prayer that God acknowledged as a supplication at the
footstool of the throne of grace. But then God sent Ananias to
him, " For," saith the Lord, " behold he prayeth." Acts ix; 11.
So when sinners are brought to the knowledge of Christ, they see
their need of prayer, they see their utter helplessness, their utter
destitution of all spiritual light and spiritual strength, they begin
to feel the plague of their own hearts, that they are indeed " de
ceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Jer. xvii. 9 —
that their " carnal mind is enmity against God ;" Rom. viii. 7 ;
they see therefore their need of waiting on God continually in
prayer and supplication. " A prayerless sinner," an old writer
says, " is a Christless sinner," and we may convert the proposi
tion, and say, " A Christless sinner is a prayerless sinner." He
knows not God, if he comes not to Him in prayer and supplication
— and he comes not in prayer and supplication till he comes
through Christ.
Persons too frequently think, and it seems to be a great error of
the present day, that, if we are brought to the knowledge of the
Gospel of Jesus, — to know that Christ is the Saviour of sinners —
the Refuge of our souls — in opposition to the general systems of
error and falsehood that are current among the professors of relig
ion under the name of Christianity — that if we are brought to
this, all is well.
Now, so far, in a certain sense, all is well. It is a great bless
ing when sinners are taught to know Christ. But let us remem
ber, that this is the time when they most especially have need of
continual prayer and supplication at the throne of grace. It is
then, for the first time in their lives that they are brought into a
capacity of serving God — It is then their conflict begins against the
world, the flesh, and the devil — It is then they have need of
prayer, in order that the truths they know, may be fastened more
and more deeply in their hearts, that they may be given more of
the Spirit of God, and be enabled more to trust Him, to love Him,
to know this great truth, " Ye are not your own, for ye are bought
with a price ; therefore glorify God in your bodies and in your
spirits, which are God's." 1st Cor. vi. 19, 20.
In this prayer, which the Apostle by the Spirit of God offers here
for the Ephesian Church, we see what the Holy Ghost inspires, as
the subject of prayer in behalf of all who believe the Gospel of
Jesus, and let me entreat your earnest attention to it. " For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord

lectures on the ephesians. 295
Jesus Christ, of whom »the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, that he would grant you, accord
ing to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by his spirit in the inner man ; that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to com
prehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height j and to know the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be
FILLED WITH ALL THE FULNESS OF GoD." Now, I think yOU
will see the explanation I have given of the parenthesis in this
chapter very beautifully illustrated, if you connect not only the
14th verse, but the 15th verse also, in its order with the latter part
of the preceding chapter. Observe that beautiful expression, " I bow
MY KNEES UNTO THE FATHER OF OUR LoRD JeSUS CHRIST, OF
WHOM THE WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NAMED:"
you perceive he had said in the preceding chapter, " ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God." You are now brought to God's family,
you are now not only "fellow-citizens with the saints," but of the
very " household of God" wherefore " I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the
WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NAMED," — that family
of whom you are become members — that blessed family of whom
ye are one, and with whom ye dwell^what a glorious name, my
dear friends is this to be given to the Church of Christ — " The
whole FAMILY IN heaven and earth ! — the family on earth
— part of the family, and as much a part — as all, or any part of
the family in heaven ; " For ye are all the children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 26— adopted into the family of
God, " And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Gal. >iv. 6.
" The whole family in heaven and earth !" — What a
blessed thought ! If we turn our eyes from this poor world, and
look with the eye of faith to the company that surround the
throne. If we turn to the vision that the Apostle John saw
in the Apocalypse, when he "beheld, and lo, a great multi
tude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kin
dreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and be
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." When
Ave behold those " who came out of great tribulation, .and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb," who " are before the throne of God, and serve him day
and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall
dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst
any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God

296

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shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Rev. vii. 9-17 — if we
turn our eye — the eye of faith to that blessed assembly, we should
say, " How happy — oh ! how blessed, how glorious are they ! How
blessed should we be, if Ave were brought to join that celestial com
pany ! — all our troubles, sins, sorrows, conflicts, temptations, trials
past, — yea, the body of sin and death left below, or transfigured into
a glorious body like the body of Christ ! Oh ! how blessed if Ave
are brought to join that glorious throng !" But if we exercise
that faith which it is our privilege to exercise at this very mo
ment ; we may turn our eyes upon this world, this wilderness of
sin and sorrow, we may look at ourselves, if indeed we " love the
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," vi. 24— and at all the Lord's
people, in the midst of all their conflicts, trials, and afflictions —
and it is our privilege to knoAV, yea our privilege to be assured,
that they are just exactly as safe — -that every believer in Christ,
whatever his calling — whatever his station — however, poor, un
known, or despised he may be — is just exactly as safe — as much
in the presence of his Lord — under the protection, the guardian
ship of His arm, as much an object of his care and love, as any
of the hosts that surround the throne of God, and cast their croAvns
at his feet ; for " the whole family in heaven and earth"
is one family. " There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye
are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all. and through
all, and in you all," saith the Apostle to this very Church, chap.
iv. 4-6. Therefore the same blessings belong to them all, and are
just as secure to those who are following through the Avilderness,
as to those who have reached their heavenly rest. The language
of the believer, in the full enjoyment of his blessed hope, may be
that of the hymn : " Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given ;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven."
Nor can this blessed hope even for a moment be ever separated
from, but rather must be ever identified, with " repentance toward
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts xx. 21 —
and with the love and service of our Heavenly Master.
What a blessed truth, then, is conveyed in these words, " the
whole family in heaven and earth !" Oh ! let us consider
— are we brought indeed, through faith in Christ, to belong to this
glorious family ? Is God our Father ? If so, what a sure inheri
tance! what great security and blessing to belong to the family
of the Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent Jehovah! Hoav
are we called on to trust our Father ! to believe all his " exceeding
great and precious promises !" Hoav are we called on to fear our
Father with a holy fear, not the fear of a slave or a culprit, but
the holy fear of a reconciled and adopted child! How are we
called on (o love oar Father, Him who hath "so loved us, as to

LECTURES ON the ephesians. 297
give his beloved Son to die for us!" Hoav — this "brother born for
adversity," our Covenant Head, "who loved us, and gave himself
for us !" How are Ave called on to serve our Father ! Think,
what a Father he hath been to us ! Oh, what a Father hath
God been to every one of His children ! There is not one who can
look to Him Avith the eye of faith, as their Father in Christ Jesus,
who must not say, " Oh what a Father God hath been to me !
what a sinful, rebellious child I have been ! But, Ah ! my pa
tient, tender, loving, gracious God and Father ! what a God and
Father he hath been to me,!" How then can we ever sufficiently
appreciate those words, " the whole family in heaven and

EARTH

I"

There is also a beautiful mode of expression adopted here by
the Apostle, when he reminds them by this name, of the charac
ter of the God to whom he prays. He does not say, " I bow my
KNEES UNTO GoD," but " UNTO THE FATHER OF OUR LoRD Je-
sus Christ" — as much as to remind them of the confidence of
his access, — v. 12 — the certainty of his acceptance — ii. 13 — the
power of His intercession — Heb. ix. 24, and the assurance of the
response to that prayer — John xiv. 13-14.
Then consider — what is this prayer for the family on earth ?
"that he would grant you, according to the riches of
his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit
in the inner man ; that christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith-, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints,
what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and height,
and to knoav the love of christ which passeth knowl
edge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of
God." "That he would grant you, according to the riches
of his glory" — what a wondrous prayer that is ! that is the true
Avay of praying to God. Look at the measure of this prayer of
the Apostle^-" that he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory !" The Apostle's commission was "to
preach among them the unsearchable riches of Christ," and the
measure of his prayer for them is, that God would grant them—
not according to their poor petitions— nor according to their Aveak
faith — nor according to their narrow vieAvs of God's dealing out
his mercy and compassion to sinners ; — but " that he would
GRANT YOU, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY." It is
an admitted principle, that the child should be provided for ac
cording to the rank of the parent. A peer will desire that all the
wants of his child should be supplied according to the rank that
he is to fill in society. A king will take care that his sons should
be brought up in all things according to the rank of princes, suit
able to the station they are to hold in the world ; that is, not with
reference to their individual merit — person, or character — but in
reference to the station of their Father as king, and in reference
to their own position, as his sons and as princes.

298

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

So it is the will of the King of kings, that His children shall be
ftrovidedfor "according to the riches of his glory." Recol-
ect, this is not a prayer Avhich the Apostle Paul utters from his
own imagination ; remember, this is a prayer inspired of the Holy
Ghost — recorded for our instruction in the blessed word of the liv
ing God : this is a prayer, an inspired prayer of that blessed Spirit,
of whom the Apostle saith in his Epistle to the Romans, " Like
wise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not
what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself mak
eth intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to
the will of God." Rom. viii. 26, 27. Remember, that every prayer
of the children of God is a prayer aided by that blessed Spirit.
Consider then that this is a recorded prayer of the direct plenary
inspiration of that Spirit. It is He who teaches the Apostle to
pray, that the King of kings should grant unto His people, " ac
cording to the riches of his glory."
But then, the measure which the King of kings is pleased to
grant to His children is not a measure of earthly pomp, or poAver,
or riches, or rank, or any of those things that men call great, and
which Ave might say was a suitable provision for the children of
an earthly king ; " But God has chosen the poor of this world
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which, he hath promised
to them that love him," James ii. 5, and the provision that He
makes for them "according to the riches of his glory," is
a spiritual provision.
Lazarus was provided for " according to the riches of his
glory," when he was "laid at the rich man's gate, full of sores,
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table: moreover, the dogs came, and licked his sores."
Luke xvi. 20, 21. We know, he was a child of God, "he was car
ried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." v. 22.
The poor widow was provided for, "according to the riches
of her Father's glory, when all she had was but "twomites,
which make a farthing" " even all her living," Mark xii. 42 ; but
she was given, " according to the riches of his glory," a
heart to cast it into her Lord's treasury. All the treasures of the
rich men were nothing of a provision, " according to the riches
of His glory," compared to the two mites of that poor widow.
Therefore, remember, that the great provision " according to
the riches of His glory," is a spiritual provision for his child
ren. Oh ! look to this, and remember that since the Holy Spirit
inspired this prayer to the Apostle Paul, whatever we are given to
pray for, according to the will of God, Ave are entitled to pray for
it, according to the same measure, — that is, that "he would
GRANT TO US, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY." What
a blessed thought is this for poor sinners like us ! But alas ! how
little we feel this as we ought ! When Ave go to prayer, we meas
ure our petitions according to our own contracted thoughts. We

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 299
are looking to ourselves, groaning over our sins, and our vile hearts,
and the troubles — the cares — the spiritual and temporal trials that
encompass us — the many evils Avithin and Avithout, under which
" in this tabernacle we groan being burthened ;" 2 Cor. v. 4 our
minds and hearts are turned to these things, and Ave forget — alas !
hoAV Ave forget ! — Avhat a privilege is open to us, of coming to the
King of kings, believing and praying that for all our wants, He
shall make provision, "according to the riches of his
GLORY." Such is the measure of this prayer — noAv what is the subject? —
'¦'That he would grant you, according to the riches of
his glory, to be strengthened avith might by his spirit
in the inner man." As you are called to be parts of a spir
itual temple, as you are built on Christ Jesus, as you are made
members of the household of God, and builded together in Christ
for an habitation of God through the Spirit. So He prays that
you may be "strengthened with might by his Spirit in
the inner man." If we are indeed built in Christ, "for an hab
itation of God by the Spirit," it is only by the indwelling power
of that Spirit, that Ave can be enabled to know — to trust — to love
— or serve our God. There is nothing good in us by nature, in us
" dwelleth no good thing," Rom. vii. 18 ; " there is no health in
us." There cannot be a more beautiful, a more just and forcible
expression, than that in our most scriptural Confession, — " there is
no health in us ;" therefore " Every good gift, and every perfect
gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights ;"
James i. 17, and it is by the in-pouring of the Spirit — the in-dwell
ing of the Spirit in our hearts alone, that our understanding can
be enlightened — our wills subdued — our affections sanctified, and
drawn from the creature to our God ; and just in proportion to the
Spirit's in-dwelling, and the Spirit's abiding poAver over us ; — just
in such proportion shall we understand — choose — love — and Avalk
in the ways of God.
Noav consider that if this was a prayer, an inspired prayer for the
Ephesian church, it is an inspired prayer for us — if they wanted
it, we want it — if it was a blessing for them, it is a blessing for us.
Consider the words of our Lord, in that gracious encouragement
to prayer, given to His disciples ; for the Holy Spirit, Luke xi. 5th
to 13th verses, " Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go
unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three
loaves ; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I
have nothing to set before him ? And he from within shall an
swer and say, Trouble me not , the door is now shut, and my
children are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee. I say
unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his
friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him
as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall
be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you. For every one that as/ceth receiveth ; and he
that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh. it shall be opened.

300

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If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will
he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give
him a serpent ? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children : how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?"
• What promise can be more explicit — what encouragement more
certain ? Let us remember that this is a blessing, for which we
are warranted, unconditionally to pray. It is not permitted us, I
think, to pray unconditionally for temporal blessings ; for the very
concession of our prayers, as we have before observed — the very
granting us the desires of our hearts might be our ruin, if the
Lord gave us what we might call good. We know not what tem
poral blessings might be fit for us. Every mercy of time — all the
comforts of our existence — health — the greatest of earthly bless
ings — even life itself ought to be asked conditionally from God. —
" If it be Thy blessed will"—" If Thou seest it good." But as for
the gift of the Spirit of God, we are to ask it unconditionally — it
must be good, it must be a blessing Avhich Ave want, it must be a
gift of which Ave have need, and Ave see it is fully, graciously, posi
tively, emphatically, promised in this passage. The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself commands His people to ask it urgently, impor
tunately — and so the Holy Spirit inspires the prayer of Avhich we
have been speaking, into the heart of the Apostle Paul, and re
cords it for our learning, that we should ask it unconditionally,
immeasurably — yea, " according to the riches of God's glo
ry, THAT HE WOULD GRANT US, TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH
MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN."
Then, think, dear friends, how encouraging this is to us poor
sinners — these promises— these records — this inspiration — this ex
ample — these exhortations — these commands. We shall hereaf
ter consider the Avork of the blessed Spirit. What is His influ
ence — what, His mode of operation on a sinner's heart. And may
the Lord grant, " according to the riches of his glory, that
YOU MAY BE STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT IN
THE INNER MAN !" Amen.

TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians III.— 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

" That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length,
and depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do
exceeding- abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh m us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen."
We come now to consider this prayer, which, as we have ob
served, is inspired by the Holy Ghost, and given to the Apostle to
pour out at the footstool of the throne of grace for his Ephesian
brethren. Recollect the glorious measure, according to Avhich he is in
spired to ask of God, that is, the measure of " the riches of his
glory." And, recollect, the blessing Avhich the Lord is thus called
upon to grant to His people, — that they may be " strengthened with
might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may
DWELL IN THEIR HEARTS by faith." The Apostle here shoAvs,
what is that strength which the Spirit imparts in the inner man
of the sinner — namely, the abiding testimony, Avhich it is the office
of the Spirit to bear in his soul to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our blessed Lord, when he promised the Spirit to His disciples,
told them Avhat one great office of that Spirit should be,—" He
shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it
unto you ;" John xvi. 14. And you recollect our Lord saith to
Nicodemus, " Except a man be born again," — " except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God." John iii. 3, 5. Noav, if you compare 1st John v. 1, with
this testimony of our Lord, you will find what the meaning of be
ing born again of the Spirit is : — for there we read, " Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." This is the
spiritual birth — the believer is brought thus into God's family, and
this spiritual birth or regeneration is the work of the Spirit; and
the means by which this is effected are, that the sinner is taught
his own guilt, helplessness, and misery, and is enlightened to see
Jesus as the. refuge and salvation of his soul. So we see, Gal. iii.
26, "Ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus."
See also John i. 12, 13.
It is of the utmost importance to understand this, that you may
have a scriptural view of the influences and effects of the Holy

302

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Spirit. I believe there is nothing that brings believers more fre
quently into darkness and distress, and keeps them so, than look
ing for some vague, undefined operation of the Spirit, Avhich they
expect is to be wrought in their hearts, and by which they hope
those hearts are to be made so much better, that they will be de
livered or purified, if not altogether, yet in a great measure, from
sin. And when this expected work of the Spirit takes place, then,
they think, they may begin to hope well of themselves, and to
hope that they are the children of God ; but they cannot indulge
this hope, while they feel a power and indwelling of sin within,
from which they think it is the peculiar office of the Spirit to pu
rify them.
Now, as far as I have been able to judge of believers, whom I
have seen bound in darkness of spirit, I think there is nothing
that keeps them more suffering in that darkness, than this un-
scriptural view of the work of the Spirit. They are looking for
some change they know not how — for some undefined improve
ment, they cannot exactly tell Avhat it is — but it is some sanctify
ing change which they expect to feel ; and until they feel this,
they cannot suppose they are entitled to consider themselves chil
dren of God.
Noav the testimony of Scripture is " Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God," 1st John v. 1, for, as the
Apostle testifies in 1st Cor. xii. 3, " No man can say that Jesus is
the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
When the soul, then, is enabled to knoAV Jesus as its peace,
(Chap. ii. 13, 14), Avhen the soul has fled to Jesus as its refuge,
and is leaning on Him as its hope ; — that soul is born of God.
True it is indeed, that the sanctifying influences of the Spirit are
ever to be looked for by the believer— ever to be prayed for, to en
able him "to bring forth fruit unto God," — to serve and glorify
his heavenly Master ; yet as certainly as it is by being brought to
Jesus by the Spirit, that he is born of God — so it is by being kept
in the faith and love of Jesus, that all the sanctifying influences
of the Spirit are produced. Therefore when the Apostle here
prays, " That he would grant you, according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner
man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith,"
he does not pray for two distinct gifts or blessings for the Ephe
sians, First that they " may be strengthened with might by the Spirit
in the inner man."
And secondly, " that Christ may dwell in their hearts by
faith," &c.
No, it is one and the same petition, but the latter part is explan
atory of the former. He shows how strength is given to the heart
by the Spirit — namely, by the indAvelling of Christ in the heart by
faith. Subjoin that word — " namely" to the 16th verse, and this
shows the Apostle's meaning, as I trust we shall see.
Let us turn to the Gospel of St. John ch. xv., to that consolatory

lectures on the ephesians. 303
address of our blessed Lord to His disciples — observe what he
says in the 4th verse of this chapter, " Abide in me, and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me." The branch by
abiding in the vine is supported by it alone — derives its life, its
verdure, its fruit, its beauty, its all, alone from the stem ; and if dis
severed from the stem, that all is gone. The believer derives his
life, his spiritual existence, his fruit, his all, from abiding in Christ ;
severed from Christ, he is withered — dead — only fit for fuel for the
fire. So saith our Lord, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned." v. 6. The Apostle saith, Col. iii. 3, " Your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Therefore
the whole life of a believer is derived from his abiding in Christ.
Since then our Lord saith " Abide in me, and I in you," the ques
tion is — how does the believer abide in Christ? and how does
Christ abide in the believer ? You have that explained in this
prayer, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
THAT YE, BEING ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, MAY BE
ABLE TO COMPREHEND WITH ALL SAINTS, WHAT IS THE
BREADTH, AND LENGTH, AND DEPTH, AND HEIGHT, AND TO
KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST, WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE,
THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULNESS OF GoD."
Let us now consider the idea of " Christ dwelling in the
heart." Before he can dwell in the heart, he must be in the
heart Now, Christ being in the heart, means simply this, that
the understanding has been enlightened by the Spirit of God, to
see the righteousness and blood of Jesus as all its righteousness
and its justification — that the will has been brought by the same
Spirit to receive and embrace Christ as all its confidence — that the
affections have therefore been drawn to love Christ, and to cling
to Christ as all the hope and salvation of the soul. Therefore,
Christ dAvelling in the heart means, that the idea of the Lord
Jesus Christ is kept present in the heart, as its Peace, — its Hope,
— its Refuge, — its Joy, — its Life, — its All. And Avhereas, whenever
the mind is enlightened to know the spiritual nature of the law,
there is in the heart a continual consciousness of sin, self-conviction
and self-condemnation before God — a continual consciousness, that
if God were to deal with us after our sins, we must perish and be
cast away. So there is, by the Spirit of God in the heart, testify
ing of Christ and His great salvation, a continual refuge in Christ
from all these evils. Thus, as the Apostle saith in the Hebrews,
the heart is " sprinkled from an evil conscience." When the
charges of the law are brought against the heart, and our con
science accuses us of sin; the Spirit testifies of Jesus, as in the
10th chapter of Romans, that " Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth." He testifies that " the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin," 1st John, i. 7 ;
therefore the heart flies from its OAvn self-accusations — its fears —

304 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
apprehensions — convictions— terrors of God — of death— of judg
ment — of hell — it flies from all to Jesus— He is the first thought
that is ever present for its relief.
As a man subject to attacks of a dangerous disease, who has
perfect confidence in a certain physician, of whose skill he has
often experienced the benefit — He has been often attacked — often
apprehensive of death ; this physician has come — prescribed for him
a certain remedy— he has been relieved, and restored to health.
He is attacked again Avith the same disease — he immediately re
curs to this physician for this remedy — his heart turns to him —
his hope is fixed on him — he sends for this man — he confides in
him — he believes that he will again restore him by the same means.
So the heart, conscious of sin, having been enabled, through
grace, to look to Christ, — having experienced the healing efficacy
of Immanuel's precious blood — trusts His love — His faithfulness —
His truth and power ;— turns to Him — looks to Him — leans on
Him — rests on this Great Physician, — reposes on Jesus for pardon
and peace. Therefore Christ dwells in this heart ; because the
heart, in its Avant, its continual necessity and grief, turns to Christ,
and confides in Him with all its affections and desires, as its hope,
its refuge — its salvation. This is the work of the Spirit of God.
It is for this the Apostle prays in these words, " that Christ
MAY DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS BY FAITH." And Ave shall find
that, when our consciences are distressed on account of the evil of
indwelling sin, it is because Jesus is not dwelling in our hearts by
faith. If Ave are not delivered from the apprehensions which re
sult from sin, and brought to trust, to love, and rejoice in our
glorious Master in liberty ; Ave shall find, by experience, that it is,
because, either the heart is not trusting in Christ, in the exercise
of faith ; or is turning after some earthly pursuits, — earthly idols —
earthly vanities ; so that they are occupying the place that Jesus
ought to hold in the heart and affections ; in this state, darkness,
doubt, and sorrow, must necessarily oppress the believer. " If our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth
all things." 1st John iii. 20. But if it is looking away from
these to Christ, and is still cast doAvn — then it is not looking to
Him in the fulness of His glorious character, in which He is set
forth in the Word of God. It has some doubts or apprehensions,
either of his want of poAver to heal it, or of the full and complete
efficacy of His blood, — or it is apprehensive that these particular
sins that are afflicting and distressing it, are so great in number or
degree, that it is not sufficiently Avarranted to trust in Christ, —
that is, it is doubting the glorious completeness and fulness of
Christ. Because, whenever the Lord Jesus Christ dwells in the
heart by faith, whenever the Lord Jesus Christ is really leaned
upon, trusted — confided in, as a full and all-sufficient SaA'iour for
our souls, then, the heart is strengthened, Ave are enabled to go on
our way rejoicing. Therefore, the Apostle prays, that this work
of the Spirit, namely — strength, through Jesus, dwelling in the
heart by faith, may bo AViought in his Ephesian brethren.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 305
Our Lord saith, Rev. iii. 20. " Behold I stand at the door and
knock ; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Like a
friend coming in to us, and sitting down with us at our table, and
cheering us with his presence, — with his conversation, — his love,—
his affection, — his faithfulness ; — so the Lord Jesus Christ comes
into the heart of him who opens his heart. He knocks at the
sinner's heart, — He knocks now at your heart, — at my heart, — He
is knocking at our hearts this moment by His Avord, — by the testi
mony of his blessed truth. He saith, " Open the door, — take me
in, — I Avill come in and sup with you, — I will come into your heart
. and cheer and refresh you by my presence, as your Saviour, — your
Lord." So the disciples whom he joined on the way to Emmaus,
said, " Did not our hearts burn within us, when he talked with us
by the way, and opened unto us the Scriptures." Luke xxiv. 32.
Thus the Lord Jesus enters into the heart by faith, and the heart
through the teaching of the Spirit, opening the door of its will and
affections to receive the blessed Guest, in His Scriptural character,
as an all-sufficient and adorable Saviour, rejoiceth in the strength
of His salvation.
So the Apostle prays, "that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith ;" " I will dwell in them and walk in them,"
this is his covenant, " / will dwell in them and walk in them."
How dwell in them? By faith — by the Spirit continually tes
tifying of Jesus to their heart, and making their heart look to Him,
and lean on Him, — to " rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no con
fidence in the flesh." Phil. iii. 3.
And now, the great subject of this inspired prayer is vitally
necessary to every one of us, viz. : — " That Christ may dwell
in our hearts, by faith." We know Avhat it is to have be
loved objects dwelling in our heart — their image will be present to
us — Ave will be always thinking of them. If we were in distress
or difficulty, and we knew one who could, and would relieve us,
our hearts would turn to him — if he were absent, we would say,
" If thou wert with me, or I with thee, I should be delivered from
this distress." The poor culprit, in prison, and under sentence of
death, if he thinks there is a friend who would have interest and
inclination to obtain his pardon ; — all his thoughts are dwelling
on that person — his expectations — his anxieties — his affections, are
turned to him — he thinks of nothing else — his heart turns to none
other upon earth but him. So the soul, when enabled to know
Jesus as its Hope and Refuge, turns to Him — looks to Him— leans
on Him. So you remember what Mary and Martha said. First,
one meets the Lord Jesus — then the other meets Him ; and the
first Avord that bursts from the lips of each is, " Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died." John, xi. 21, 38. So
they were looking to Jesus — they were loving Him — leaning on
Him — and they knew, if Christ had been there, their brother had
not died. Now, it is the privilege of the believer to know, that
Chrisf is always here ; we need never say, " If thou hadst been
20

306

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

here," for He is always present to His people that are looking to
Him ; therefore the Apostle prays, " That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith," — that He may be ahvays present
in their hearts ; as David says, " God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble ; therefore will we not fear." Ps.
xlvi. 1, 2. What a wonderful blessing to have Christ dwelling in
the heart ! Oh, that we might be able to enjoy this blessing con
tinually ! This is to be "strengthened with might, by the Spirit
in the inner man." For the Avay by which the Spirit imparts His
strength is by testifying of Jesus — of His love — His faithfulness —
His power — His blood — and righteousness— to the soul, as its con
tinual refuge and comfort ; and thus having Jesus dwelling in the
heart. We see an eminent example of this in the Apostles. When the
Lord Jesus Christ was taken from them, they did not either appre
ciate or understand the blessing or the meaning of the work of His
salvation. As far as the Lord's bodily presence could attach them,
they were attached to Him. They had been with Him, — walking
with him, — conversing with Him, — hearing and seeing His mira
cles, partaking of His favor, and rejoicing in His presence, so that
as far as His personal association, communion, friendship, and
love, considered merely in reference to His character as a man,
could attach them to Him they were attached, yet, when He was
taken from them and crucified, " they all forsook him and fled ;"
they did not, at that time knoAV the work of Christ ; they knew
he was Messiah, the Son of God, but what He Avas to do for them,
or how their guilt Avas to be removed, or how their souls were to
be comforted— how they could rest on Him, or trust in Him, or
lean on Him, or rejoice in Him they did not knoAV : and you recol
lect Avhat the two disciples said to Him on the Avay to Emmaus — ¦
having mentioned the circumstances that had happened at Jeru
salem in His crucifixion, " we trusted it had been he who should
have redeemed Israel :" Luke xxiv. 21, as much as to say, Ave
know it is not He, because He was taken and crucified. In igno
rance of this — weak and without strength, " all the disciples for
sook him and fled." Matt. xxvi. 56. Peter, after all his declara
tions and professions, was, as you know, overcome Avith terror, —
you know how the words of a servant girl made him deny his
Master, and declare with an oath, " he did, not know the man."
Now look at this same Apostle, when the Holy Ghost was sent
down from heaven according to the Lord's promise to the disci
ples : when that Holy Spirit testified of Jesus to them, Avhen their
eyes were opened to see the glorious Avork wrought on Calvary by
their crucified Redeemer, and when that Blessed Spirit enabled
them to know the glory of " Jesus Christ and him crucified," and
to understand the full meaning of this glorious commission, " that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke xxiv. 47, and
when Christ Avas brought into their hearts by faith, as a refuge
for their own souls ; then mark how they were " strengthened

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 307
with might by the Spirit in the inner man," — see what they did.
— " Behold Peter standing up with the eleven, and lifting up
his voice." Acts ii. 14 — that same Peter Avho had trembled and de
nied Avith an oath the accusation of a servant girl that he had
been Avith Jesus — behold him standing up boldly on the day of
Pentecost in the midst of all the JeAvs, and charging them with
their guilt ; that they had crucified and slain this Jesus, the Lord
of life ! Behold Peter and John, standing out boldly in spite of all
the Chief Priests and Pharisees, and preaching in the name of
Christ— going from prison to the temple to testify of His salva
tion, i
What made them do so? They Avere "strengthened with
might, by his Spirit, in the inner man ;" and that strength was
proved by this, "That Christ dwelt in their hearts, by
Faith." They were enabled to turn to Him themselves, as their
Saviour, and the Refuge of their souls — they knew their guilt was
pardoned — that the blood of Christ blotted out all their sins — and
they testified of that great salvation to all the people. They were
"strengthened with might," by the Spirit shoAving to their hearts
the fulness of the salvation of Christ ; and the inspiration of that
same Spirit taught them therefore to testify of Jesus, from the
abundance of their hearts, to others ; and so they Avent into the
world, preaching the everlasting Gospel of Christ, in the face of
power, persecution, and death. It Avas their OAvn joyful assurance
that their guilt was pardoned by the atoning blood of the Lamb
of God, taught to their heart by the inspiration of the Spirit, Avhose
office it is to reveal the character and Avork of Christ to the sinner,
as it is written here — It is by faith — and faith alone — that the
Apostles themselves, or that any sinners could be strengthened
with might, under any circumstances in the world. It is by this
alone we can be strengthened to bear up under all our trials, what
ever they may be. It is this alone that bears the Christian up
against inward, as well as outward conflicts. How it bore up the
Church against outward persecutions — led the martyrs to the
stake, and cheered them in the furnace ! It is this alone that can
bear" us up under trials and conflicts not less perilous ; — rather, I
might say, more perilous — more difficult — that gives us strength
against "the world, the flesh, and the devil," — -the temptations that
surround us — earthly thoughts, feelings, affections — sins that are
within us — that are continually drawing us aAvay from Christ —
continually setting up idols and vanities in the heart, instead of
Christ. Nothing but the faith of Christ — the indwelling of Christ
by the Spirit of God — nothing but this, can enable us to carry on
our warfare against these.
Therefore, when the Apostle prays, " that Christ may dwell
in your heart by faith ;" think what he prays for ! think
what it is to have Jesus dwelling in our hearts ! our hearts con
tinually turning to him ! so that wherever we roam in all the
wilderness, we may say, in the language of the Poet,

308 lectures on the. ephesians.
" Where'er I roam, whatever realms I see,
My heart untravelled, fondly turns to thee —
Still to my brother turns ! — "
A Brother " born for adversity," a " Friend that sticketh closer
than a brother," a Saviour — a God — whose covenant promise is,
f I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Oh, Avhat a privilege
it is to have such a Saviour dwelling in the heart !
We shall all know, by sad experience, that everything in this
poor world is passing away. But Christ, is an enduring Treas
ure. The more our hearts turn to any one, or anything in this
world except Christ, the greater trial we shall feel in that very
thing ; for all things are vanity, all are shadows ; — there is noth
ing substantial for the heart to lean on but Christ ; when there
fore,, the Apostle prays for his brethren, "that Christ may
DWELL IN YOUR HEART BY FAITH, THAT YE BEING ROOTED
AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND AVITH
ALL SAINTS, WHAT IS THE BREADTH AND LENGTH, AND DEPTH
AND HEIGHT, AND TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST, WHICH PASS-
ETH KNOWLEDGE, THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED WITH ALL THE
fulness of God." He prays for all blessings for them in time
and eternity ; for " in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom
* and knowledge," " in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God
head, bodily, and ye are complete in him." Col. ii. 3, 9, 10.
" That ye, being rooted and grounded in love." He
uses here the image of a tree, Avhich shoots forth its roots, and all
their fibres into the soil in which it is planted, and takes fast hold
by these roots and fibres, and is maintained in its position by the
hold that these have in the ground. So, he prays, " That ye
BEING ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE," that is — that your
hearts may spread forth, as it were, all the fibres of their affec
tions, and take root, as a tree in the ground, in the love of Christ.
Although it is true, that faith worketh by love, and that love is
the great principle which faith produces in the sinner's heart, —
and that from that love, all acceptable obedience alone can spring;
it is not this love, I think, which is spoken of here. I do not con
ceive St. Paul to mean, — being rooted and grounded in your own
love — for independent of the incorrectness of the figure that a tree
could be rooted and grounded in itself — the love that exists in our
warmest affections would be a poor ground of strength to the be
liever. No — it means " that ye being rooted and grounded"
in the love of God towards you : it appears to me to be a parallel
with Rom. v. 5, where the Apostle says, "hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."* It is the office of the
* The first time I ever knew the meaning of Rom. v. 5, it was conveyed to me under
eircumstances which I can never forget. I was called many years ago when but a
•hort time in the Ministry, to visit a poor creature dying^ of a fever.
It was a hovel on a mountain side in the county of Wicklow. The door leading
'from the miserable chamber to the kitchen (the only other room in the habitation,) was
built up to prevent infection, and the only entrance was through a window about a

lectures on the ephesians. 309
Holy Ghost, as I mentioned, to reveal Christ ; and the Holy
Ghost reveals the love of Christ ; — so he saith, "because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us." Then, observe, how that love is exhibited. "For,
when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly ; for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet,
peradventure, for a good man some would even dare to die, but
God commendelh his love towards us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. v. 6, 7, 8. This is that love, of
which, I think, the Apostle speaks in this passage, " ye being
rooted and grounded in love," — having full confidence by
the Spirit in the love of the Lord, having your hearts established
in the riches of His grace and love, spreading out, as it Avere, all
the roots and fibres of your affections into the vast field of the love
of God — the love of the Father in giving the Son — and of the Son
in coming on such a mission of love and mercy — trusting and con
fiding in Him in every office of His love, as a Prophet, as a Priest,
as a King. See how He has taught us — see how He has borne
with our manners — our ignorance — our stupidity ! See how He
foot and a half square, out of which the frame had been taken for that purpose. In
the corner of that wretched apartment on some straw lay a young man of 21 dying,
but in the fullest possession of his faculties. A few moments' conversation convinced
me that I was there, not to teach, but to learn, in witnessing the triumph of a believer
over sin, death, and hell. •
The young man was rejoicing in Christ, and as a passage of Scripture which seemed
appropriate to his state of mind, I opened the 5th of Romans, and began to read it,
applying each successive sentence to the young man, as according with his experi
ence, to which he gave a most cordial response. When I reached the 5th verse I said,
" Now you feel how true this is — you have that blessed hope which maketh not
ashamed, for you feel such love to God shed abroad in your heart,, that it must be by
the Spirit of God which is given to you."
"Ah, Sir," said he, " that is not the meaning of that text at all."
¦" What !" said I, " not the meaning !" and I looked at the verse again, never having
thought that any other could be attached to it — ¦' what meaning, then, do you give
toil?" " Ah, Sir," he replied, " it would be a poor hope I should have, if it was derived
from any love I feel to God. When I think of what He has done for me, and how I
ought to love Him, I feel so cold and dead compared to what my love ought to be, that
I would be in despair, instead of having a hope that maketh not ashamed, if my love
to Him was to be the ground of my hope. No, Sir, it is God's love to us poor sinners,
that the Holy Ghost sheds abroad in our hearts, and it is that gives us the hope that
maketh not ashamed. Read on, Sir, and you will see it is."
I read on, and the next three verses convinced me at once, that he was right — and
that I had taken an erroneous view of the text — which of course I immediately ac
knowledged, and never can I forget either the Comment or the Commentator, both may
well serve to illustrate this passage.
That poor youth had, not many months before, been brought to the knowledge of
the Gospel through the means of my lecturing in the cottages in that, a distant dis
trict of the parish. Too poor, too old, and too much engaged in labor to so to school,
he had learned from a young companion to read, in the evenings when his work was
over, that he might read that book which had revealed a Saviour to his soul. He had
read — and had been taught by Him who can teach not as man teachath. I had not
known him — I had not to my knowledge seen him before, though God had taught him
under my ministry. I saw him but once again — the next day — entering into "the val
ley of the shadow of death," and fearing no evil. That night or next morning he en
tered into his rest. His name was never printed in this world before, but as certainly
as it is recorded here, so surely in " the Lamb's booh of life" is written the name of
Charles Arm wrong. — Ed.

310

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

has died for us ; how He has carried in His precious blood into the
Holy of Holies, " there to appear in the presence of God for us."
Behold how " he ever liveth to make intercession for us." See,
how, as a King, He has watched over us — led us — kept us — pre
served us from evil — guarded us from dangers— guided us through
difficulties and perplexities. We can raise our Ebenezer here and
say, " hitherto hath the Lord helped us," and is this not a vast,
field of wondrous love in which our hearts may be " rooted and
grounded" forever.
" That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may
se able to comprehend with all saints, what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to
know the love of Christ." This passage proves, that it is of
the love of Christ the Apostle is speaking. It is by tasting that
the Lord is gracious — by having the heart taught to know and
trust in His love, that an experimental knowledge and comprehen
sion of its nature alone can be acquired. It is thus alone His
saints can learn to comprehend " the breadth, and length,
AND DEPTH, AND HE*GHT."
They learn how vast its breadth — that it is spread over the Vol
ume of eternal life through every promise, from that of the Seed
to bruise the serpent's head, to the invitation to drink of the
waters of life in the last chapter of the Apocalypse.
They know how immeasurable is that love, which is from ever
lasting to everlasting. " The mercy of the Lord is from ever
lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him." Psal. ciii. 17.
" Yea, I have loved thee," saith He, " with an everlasting love,
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3.
So our Lord " Having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end." John xiii. 1. "For he hath said, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5.
They understand how unfathomable are the depths of that love,
which can stoop to the lowest abysses of human guilt and misery,
and raise up the sinner from the very gates of perdition* to ever
lasting life. " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth
up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and
to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the
earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." — ¦
1 Sam. ii. 8. " Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be
as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with
yellow gold." Ps. lxviii. 13.
They learn the height of it — that it reaches to the very throne
of God, and bringeth those who were afar off, nigh to " the High
and Lofty one, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy."
Isa. lvii. 15. It taketh those who " have come out of great tribu
lation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb," and carrieth them up, even " before the throne
of God, to serve him day and night in his temple." Rev. vii. 14,
15. " I go," saith he to his disciples, " I go to prepare a place for
you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 311
and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be
also." John xiv. 2, 3. " To him that over cometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set doion
with my Father in his throne." Rev. iii. 21.
The Saints can comprehend the nature, — the faithfulness, — the
truth, — the certainty, — and security of these promises, these deed<<
and gifts of love. But who can scan their glory ? Who can ever
measure this "breadth and length, and depth and height?"
Therefore, the Apostle adds, " and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge" — as much as to say, after
all you have heard, learned, and known of the love of Christ, it
transcends the utmost limits of human knoAvledge, or of human
thought ; you can so measure — as to discover that it is immeas
urable, so comprehend it — as to find that it is incomprehensible.
And what is the end or the scope of this inspired petition ?
" THAT YE MAY BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULNESS OF GoD."
When Christ dwelleth in the heart by faith, He is in His peo
ple, as the Apostle saith, " Christ in you the hope of glory." Col.
i. 27. He "is made of God unto you, wisdom and, righteousness,
and sanctification and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. Now " it pleased
the Father that in him shoidd all fulness dwell." Col. i. 20.
" In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Col. iii. 3. " In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodi
ly, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all princi
pality and power." Col. ii. 9, 10.
When therefore, Christ dwelleth in the heart by faith, the whole
fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in it. All that Jesus has, and all
that Jesus is, dwelleth in the heart and filleth it, for " Christ is
all, and in all." Col. ii. 11. Nothing then, that can be needful for
the perfection of the believer, in blessing here and in glory hereafter,
is wanting in this prayer. It comprehends all that he could want
for time and eternity. Here is strength, — faith, — love, — knowl
edge, — power, — completeness, — fulness in Christ, and Christ in
him ; therefore, saith the Apostle, " All things are yours, whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, all
things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1
Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23.
When this Prayer then is a prayer to be " strengthened with
might, by the Spirit in the inner man," it implies all the gifts of
the Spirit ; it is evidently then connected, as I have shown, with
the last verse of the preceding chapter, in which they are said to
be " builded together for an habitation of God by the Spirit,"
and seems more clearly to illustrate, that it is to be considered as
belonging to that context.
It is impossible that the believer can be " strengthened with
might by the Spirit in the inner man" — that he can be builded in
the Church "for an habitation of God by the Spirit" — that he
can be as the Apostle saith in another place, " What ! know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you,
which ye have of God ?" 1 Cor. vi. 19 — and again, " Ye are the

312

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

temple of the living God, as God hath saith, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people," 2 Cor. vi. 16. It is impossible, I say, that the believer can
be thus, without bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. And if we
consider this prayer in its results, we shall see how the fruits of
the Spirit are to be cultivated and produced, which seems a subject
that is very generally much mystified, because, not simply and
scripturally received or understood.
It is not denied by any professing Christian, that "faith worketh
by love ;" that is, when faith in Christ as the Refuge of the soul,
is produced in the heart, it makes love to Christ, the motive of the
conduct. In the catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22, the first
on the list is Love. Now as our blessed Lord teaches us, as Ave
have seen, that it is the office of the Holy Ghost to glorify Him — -
and as here the strengthening power of the Spirit is exercised, in
causing Christ to dwell in the heart by faith, and causing the heart
to take root in the love of Christ, it is manifest — that this faith in
Christ and in His love to sinners, in which the Spirit teaches the
heart to repose its confidence and its affections, must necessarily
produce the fruits of the Spirit, " love, joy, peace," &c. It is when
the knowledge of His love is " shed abroad in the heart by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us," Rom. v. 5, that we have that
" hope which maketh not ashamed ;" so this is that love of Avhich
the Apostle speaks Avhen he saith, " The love of Christ constrain-
eth us;" 2 Cor. v. 14; it influences, — actuates, — inspires us, —
produces love in our hearts to Him who hath so loved us, as the
Apostle John saith, " We love him because he first loved us," 1
John iv. 19, and thus are the fruits of faith produced by love.
" He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit ;" John xiv. 5 ; and thus the Apostle prays for his
Philippian brethren as here for the Ephesians, " this I pray,"
saith he "that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that
are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence until the
day of Christ ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
Phil. i. 9, 10, 11.
It is thus the harmonizing power and glory of the Persons of the
ever-blessed Trinity are manifested and illustrated in the salva
tion of the soul ! The Father, in the gift of His Beloved Son !
The Son, in the pouring out of His OAvn precious blood ! The
Spirit, in the illuminating testimony and instruction of the heart
by the Word, as to the perfection and spirituality of the holy laAV —
as to the glorious gift of the Father, and the glorious offices and
work of Christ ! — all resulting in the happiness — the blessedness —
the holiness — the glory of His people.
The very scheme of salvation, " by faith without the deeds of
the law," being thus made, by infinite wisdom, the means to " es
tablish the law" — inscribing it on the heart, as it were in the blood

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 313
of Him who hath redeemed us from its curse ; thus causing the
Gospel to produce in the heart, love — which is the law, and mak
ing that law — which is love — the motive of obedience in those who
believe the Gospel.
If then, Ave feel, as we so often do, sinful and cold — groaning in
these bodies of sin and death — suffering under the power of our
three-fold enemy the world, the flesh, and the devil — hoAV are we
to be lifted up ? how strengthened and refreshed ? How enabled
to meet and conquer our foe ?
Not by abstract desires of spiritual aid, to be given to us in some
vague and undefined way, we know not how, and know not what
— but by coming in the spirit of this prayer, directly for strength
in God's appointed way ; — strength from the Spirit, through the
faith and love of Christ ; — strength to take Christ in all His love
and fulness of His salvation, against every foe within and Avith-
out, to take Him as our Refuge, our Fortress, our Defence, our
Power against them all ; and answer all with the precious blood
of the Lamb. It is thus we " put on the whole armor of God."
chap. vi. 11, thus we take " the shield of faith, wherewith we shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked :" vi. 16 ; and
are " more than conquerors through him that loved us." Rom.
viii. 37.
The Apostle concludes his prayer with a doxology, an ascrip
tion of glory to God. " Now unto him that is able to do
EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK,
ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US."
After having prayed for them, that God would grant this peti
tion " according to the riches Of his glory," how beautiful is this
doxology ! It is as much as to say, no matter what the magni
tude or extent of our prayer may be, whatever it may compre
hend, our God is " able to do exceeding abundantly, above
all that we ask or think." What a glorious view that is of
the character of God ! To behold Him sitting on the throne of
grace, and hearing prayer ! Pray as much as you please — for
what you please — for all things you can want in earth or heaven
¦ — pray for them "according to the riches of his grace," still "he
IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY, ABOVE ALL THAT WE
ask or think." Well might the Apostle say, " O ye Corinthi
ans, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged, ye are
not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels,"
2nd Cor. vi. 11, 12. It is in our own narrow, niggard, unbeliev
ing hearts we are straitened my friends ; for if Ave asked accord
ing to our privilege of asking, thought could not reach the bless
ings it is our privilege to ask. After all Ave can pray for, we come
to a God, " who is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we can ask or think." So the Apostle then con
eludes " UNTO HIM be glory in the church by Christ Jesus,
THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END."
The business of a Christian Church is to glorify its Master — -
the business of every individual Christian is to glorify his Master. ¦.

314

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

It is a melancholy proof of the spiritual state of a church, when
she begins to set up her own power and authority, instead of her
Lord's, and to magnify herself instead of her Heavenly King. If
God reveals the riches of His glory to us, in our redemption by
Christ Jesus ! If he hath bought us Avith such a price ! What is
it for, but that we should remember we are not our own, and that
Ave should glorify Him with our bodies and spirits ? Oh ! that we
might be enabled to live to His glory — that our God Avould enable
us to live more and more above the world — to mortify more and
more our corrupt affections — to crucify and deny ourselves — and
live to Him who has lived for us, and died for us ! Yea " rather
who is risen again, who also maketh intercession for us" — Rom.
viii. 34. Who " is alive for evermore, Amen," and "hath the keys
of hell and of death." Rev. i. 18. Who " will never leave nor
forsake" the poor sinner whom He has taught by His Spirit to
look to Him as his refuge and strength.
"NOW UNTO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUND
ANTLY, ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK ; ACCORDING TO
THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US, UNTO HIM BE GLORY, IN
THE CHURCH, BY CHRIST JeSUS, THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD
without end." Amen.

TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.

Ephesians IV. — 1, 2.

" I therefore, (the prisoner of the Lord,) beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffer
ing, forbearing one another in love."
We perceive in this, as in others of the Apostolical Epistles, the
order in which the Holy Spirit brings the Word of Truth before
the mind of the Church. There is an order in teaching, as there
is order in receiving : and the order which the Holy Spirit observes
in teaching, is the same which He preserves, in leading the hearts
of men to receive His truth.
The order which we perceive in this, and other Apostolical
Epistles in teaching, is this, —
The Apostles lay down, first, the doctrines of the Gospel of
Jesus ; and then, they enforce on those, whom they address as
persons who have received the faith of that Gospel, the holy pre
cepts of (he Law. And this order, which we perceive in the
teaching of the Holy Ghost, is the order which that Blessed Spirit
preserves in enabling sinners to receive the truth : that is — all who

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 315
are taught of God, receive first, the faith of the Gospel — they are
"given repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" — 2 Tim.
ii. 25, they learn to believe in the Lord Jesus as all their salvation
— to look to Him — to trust in Him — to love Him, and thus through
faith they are led by love into the sincere desire of Avalking ac
cording to the will and law of God.
Let me entreat you to remember this. In this is involved the
whole Scriptural principle of true Christian moral action. This is
directly the reverse of the principle of all unconverted men. All
unconverted men go, according to their natural ignorance, in direct
opposition to God the Holy Ghost, in the mode of teaching and
receiving Christianity. Their doctrine — the doctrine of every man
educated or uneducated, until he is taught by the Word and
Spirit of God, is this — " I must endeavor to observe God's law, and
by the observance of God's law, I hope I shall be able to attain
his favor, and thus I trust I shall endeavor to gain salvation," (and
perhaps, he adds,) " through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Noav the doctrine of the Gospel is this, you must first receive
salvation through Jesus as a sinner — not because you keep the
law, but because you break the law : you are a breaker of the
laAV, that is the only ground on which salvation is proclaimed to
you. It is sent to you, not as a righteous man but as a sinner.
If you are ever saved — you must receive salvation, because you
are a breaker of the law, acknoAvledging and feeling that you are
so, and receiving it on these conditions as a lost sinner. Then,
when you receive the salvation of Christ, you are called to serve
your Lord and Master, not that you may be saved by your own
works ; but because He has saved you by His works — His right
eousness, and His death. Noav, if there be any of you who do
not subscribe to this ; rest satisfied, you are ignorant of the very
foundation of man's hope and of the Christian faith — you do not
know the very first principles of the Gospel of Christ — you know
nothing as yet, of God's appointed means for the salvation of your
soul. Therefore, consider — reflect on it well — investigate the sub
ject fully. Search the Scriptures. Examine them faithfully, with
prayer — and if you now deceive yourself with the imagination that
you are to be saved by your own efforts instead of by Christ, if you
are taught of God you will learn, that you must be saved entirely by
Christ, and not by your own efforts. For remember that " if by grace
then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace ;
but if it be of works then it is no more of grace, otherwise work
is no more vwrk." Rom. xi. 6. Remember as we had in chapter
ii. 10, that " we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus
unto good works," not created in good works unto Christ Jesus.
This truth cannot be too continually kept before the mind. It
ought to be present with us as the principle and foundation of
every hope of life. It ought to direct us as the motive in the dis
charge of every moral duty. It should never be absent from us,
for there is incorporated with it, the vital existence of the Christian
religion in our hearts.

316

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

We have had now, in these three preceding chapters, the whole
doctrine of the Gospel clearly and faithfully laid down by the
Apostle. From this 4th chapter we commence that portion, in
which the Apostle enforces the practical influences of the Gospel,
pressing on. the Church to cultivate from its blessed principles, the
fruit of good works, of holiness, of every relative duty to God and
our fellow-creatures.
Where there is no fruit, we must argue there is no faith, "Faith
if it have not works is dead, being alone." James ii. 17. It has
no existence — it is a mere lifeless form like a dead body. Where
there is no influence of the Gospel, we necessarily conclude there
is no faith of the Gospel. Where men are living in the service of
Satan, they cannot be the servants of God, " No man can. serve
two masters," saith the Lord, Mat. vi. 24. "Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey;" Rom. vi. 16. We must put works away, as far
as pole from pole, when we speak of a sinner's justification before
God. That is not their position — they have no place there — Avith
that they have nothing to do. But we must bring them and put
them into their own proper place — the place they hold in the Bible
— in the believer's conduct and character before God, as the true
Scriptural test and evidence of the sincerity of his profession.
Here indeed, obedience, holiness, have their place, not a place of
merit, or justification, or redemption, or salvation ; not, in sup
planting or dividing the glory Avith Christ. His is all the merit —
He is our Justifier — He is our Redeemer — He is our Saviour. His
is the exclusive office to give pardon to the sinner — peace to the
conscience— and salvation to the soul.
We know, alas ! hoAV common it is for men to make a Saviour
of their OAvn imaginary virtues. We sometimes read accounts of
men deriving hope and consolation from these, even in the hour
of death ; we read of their dying happy in the consciousness of a
well-spent life, and- looking to a heavenly reward. Those Avho
composed such eulogies, would far more truly state, that they died,
blinded by ignorance — by unbelief — by sin, and Satan. The
man whose conscience is taught of God, so far from being happy
in the sense of his virtues — or his excellence — is humbled and
bowed doAvn to the dust in the consciousness of his guilt and sin.
He feels that he is unworthy to lift up his eyes to heaven — the
language of his heart and of his lips is that of the Publican, " God
be merciful to me a sinner." Luke xviii. 13.
Let us then proceed — and we shall find in the very beginning
of this chapter, as through all the rest of the Epistles, how the
principle that I have stated is brought before the Church at
Ephesus. How the Gospel is kept ever before them as the as
sured foundation of all their hope, and how this is pressed on them
throughout, as the principle and motive of their conduct.
The Apostle commences, " I therefore the prisoner of
THE LORD, BESEECH YOU, THAT YE WALK WORTHY OF THE VO
CATION WHEREWITH YE ARE CALLED."

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 3.17
Noav remember, Avhat that vocation was, wherewith they were
Called. Remember what the state was from Avhich they had
been called. And recollect the state to which they had been
called. The state from AAThich they had been called, is fully set forth in the
2nd chapter. They are there represented as having been "dead in
trespasses and sins," walking in them " according to the course
of this world," under the dominion of " the prince of the power
of the air" v. 2 — "in the lusts of their flesh fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind," " children of wrath," v. 3 — " with
out Christ," "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in the world." v. 12.
Such Avas the state from which they had been called ; and what
state of moral misery and degradation more deplorable, could be
conceived. But what Avas the state to which now they had been called ?
" God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
them, even when they were dead in sins, had quickened them to
gether with Christ." chap. ii. 4, 5. They were noAv " accepted in
the beloved, in whom they have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins," chap. i. 6, 7 — " In whom they have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his
own will," i. 11 — Noav, they are "raised up together and made
to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," ii. 6 — " Now
in Christ Jesus, they who sometime were afar off, are made
nigh by the blood of Christ," ii. 1 3 — " Now therefore they are no
more strangers and foreigners but fellow-citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God, and are built on the foundation of
the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone, in whom all the building, fitly fram,ed together,
groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, in whom they also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
ii. 19-22.
This was noAV their present condition. It Avas impossible they
could have been called from a loAver state of spiritual destitution,
or called to a higher state of blessedness or glory in this world,
than that, to which they had been called by the Spirit through the
faith of the Gospel.
This then is " the vocation wherewith they are called."
And mark, the Apostle does not urge the observance of any pre
cepts on the Church, as the cause of their being called into the
enjoyment of these blessed privileges. But on the contrary, he
urges their vocation to these great and glorious privileges, as the
ground on Avhich he presses on them, the observance of the pre
cepts which he proceeds to inculcate.
"I therefore, the prisoner of the lord, beseech you,
''THAT YE WALK WORTHY OF THE VOCATION (or Calling) WHERE
WITH ye are called." As much as to say, — "Bear this ever in

318

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

your mind — Remember what ye are called from, and Avhat ye are
called to. Ye are called to be members of the household of God
— children of the Most High— heirs of eternal glory." And if the
Church were really in all things as it ought to be, a true spiritual
Christian church — that is, if it Avere in the power of man, by rules
and regulations, and means and ordinances, to enlighten and con
vert the heart of man, and that all who are brought into the out
ward profession of the Church of God, were indeed really believers
of the Gospel — and spiritually, and truly members of Christ's mys
tical body — His disciples by faith in Jesus, and children of God —
they would be, as those whom the Apostle addressed in the Church
at Ephesus, " Saints and faithful in Christ Jesus," chap. i. 1,
part of that Holy Catholic Church in Avhich Ave profess our belief,
that is, of the holy, spiritual Church of Christ — of that spiritual
body of God's elect people — who shall be gathered together in
Christ out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, Avhich is
indeed, not now, and never was visible to the human eye, Avhich
is known only to God, and shall only be revealed, " in that day
when he shall make up his jewels." Mai. iii. 17.
But there is not one of you who does not profess the faith of
Christ. You cannot be members of our Church, Avhich, in all the
doctrines of the great salvation of the Gospel Avhich it teaches, is
"built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." chap, i. 20. You
cannot be members of that Church, without at least making your
public profession of the faith of the Gospel. You profess that faith
every time you come to our public services, as clearly as the
Church at Ephesus could ; you profess it Avhen you go into the
church and repeat or join in our Liturgy. Examine it well, com
pare what you say in it with God's Word, and you Avill see what a
profession you make there of being disciples of Christ, and to what
you profess to be called.
You there profess yourself a lost and miserable sinner. Read
your Confession and your Litany.
You there profess the glorious Gospel of Christ — His pardoning
love and mercy. — Read your absolution.
You testify your conviction that " when he had overcome the
sharpness of death, he did open the kingdom of heaven to all be
lievers." — Read your Te Deum.
You profess, sinners as you are, to rejoice in this salvation, —
" O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the
strength of our salvation."
You say of yourselves — " we are his people and, the sheep of
his pasture."
Look at the various Psalms and portions of Scripture that you
find in the Liturgy expressive of the hope, the joy, the peace, the
salvation of the redeemed saints — look at these — remember this is
your profession — this is your religion — you take it in your lips into
the house of God and call him to witness that these are your
principles, in confession — and these your hope, in praise and

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 319
prayer Avhen you come to worship before Him. But alas ! how
many come "with a lie in their right hand" to church, when
they repeat our solemn Scriptural services ! Hoav many come
there with a profession in their lips, which, if you hear their real
principles as they express them out of church, you find they
totally deny ! They reject, when enforced from the pulpit, the
very truths to Avhich they not only assent when used in the read
ing desk, but which they profess to adopt as their OAvn in the wor
ship of God, and for the truth of which they appeal to God. Alas !
the Liturgy of the Church of England shall rise in terrible judg
ment, against those who belong to her communion, but who reject
the Gospel of Christ.
Remember then, that when you were baptized into the faith of
Christ, and brought into the outward Church of Christ, you were
called into the profession of the faith of His Gospel.
Remember, you have now arrived at maturity of understanding,
and full responsibility to God, at the time when you make this
profession. Now, the Apostle's argument and exhortation to all who are
real Christians, on the principle of their conduct is, that it ought
to be this, " I am called to be a fellow-citizen of the saints and of
the household of God," and therefore, let me walk worthy of my
vocation. Suppose any of you were taken into the household of
an earthly sovereign, the first thing you Avould think of must be,
that you should frame your conduct according to the situation
which you were called to fill. And if you profess to be members
of the household of the King of kings, the first thing to consider
is how you are to walk according to the high station to which you
are raised. You are all called to be members of God's household
by the Gospel of Christ ; if you do not really become so — if you
reject the Gospel — consider, that for all this God will bring you
into judgment — reflect, that you cannot for one moment alter,
escape, or evade the condition of your OAvn responsibility.
Those Avho indeed believe the Gospel of Jesus, are really mem
bers of God's household, members of God's family — and therefore,
as such, they are exhorted from the " vocation wherewith
they are called," to serve their God.
Oh ! then forget, not — ye, who do really know and believe the
Gospel — ye, who kaow that these things are true — then, knowing
the Gospel of Jesus — forget not the principle — the blessed principle
according to which you are called to serve your God.
The Apostle does not say, " Walk so as to bring yourselves into
a state of reconciliation and peace Avith God — Avalk so as to entitle
yourselves to God's favor — -walk so as to make yourselves fit to
become felloAV-citizens Avith the Saints— to qualify yourselves to
become members of the household of God- — to entitle yourselves to
an inheritance among the Saints in light." The Apostle does not
speak thus. If this were the language of the Scripture, alas ! who
could stand ? What conscience, that is in the least enlightened to
know its own guilt and misery, that must not give up the hope of

320

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salvation in despair, if such were the conditions of its attainment ?
And there are few consciences so devoid of sensibility as to enjoy
a ray of bright and cheerful hope and consolation, when the mind
is so blind and ignorant as to expect salvation on these conditions.
But this is not the language of truth and of the Bible. You are
not called to serve God on the base and slavish principle of mere
self-interested efforts in virtue, no — but on a principle of liberty, of
loyalty, of gratitude, and love. When man expects salvation by
his own exertions, this service which he calls the service of God, is
a service of intolerable bondage and slavery. When man is
brought to serve his God on the principle of the Gospel of Truth,
then his service is indeed " perfect freedom." So this is the
language of the Apostle — " Now in Christ Jesus ye who some
times were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He
is our peace," chap. ii. 13, 14. He hath cancelled your mighty
debt. " He himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness, by whose
stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray, but
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
1st Pet. ii. 24, 25. " Nov; therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the house
hold of God, and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles
and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone,"
chap. ii. 19, 20.
Seeing then, that ye are redeemed by such a ransom— pur
chased at such a price — called to inherit such a blessing— exalted
to such glory. — "I therefore, the prisoner of the lord,
beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called," Avorthy of that high position in
which God has placed you — Avorthy of that high calling to which
God has called you — even to be members of his OAvn household —
the household of the King of kings.
And think, dear friends, what a mighty privilege this is — what
a blessing in every sphere of human existence from the highest to
the lowest.
What a blessing to the rich ! What it is for the sinner, who is
rich in everything in this Avorld — who has all his heart can desire
to gratify' him, and make him feel it is good to be here — O Avhat a
blessing to be called to know that he has still a "better and an en
during substance," even " an inheritance incorruptible and, unde-
filed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for him, who
is kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation," 1st
Pet. i. 4, 5, and that, as he knows that his tenure of earthly goods
is very slender, even a thread to be snapped in a little moment — ¦
that he has indeed a treasure beyond the reach of rust, and moth,
and time, and death — that God has not left him to his own sleepy
and foolish heart, but " called him out of darkness into his mar
vellous light," 1 Pet, ii. 9, and given him " a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1.
And think, Avhat a blessing it is for the poor — for those strug-

lectures on the ephesians. 321
gling with difficulties and poverty, and who ha\'e many trials to
afflict them in this Aveary world. Think Avhat it is for such to lay
their hand on the Bible and say, " Well, I am tried here, but it is
but for a short time, and my God has given me a rich reversion, my
Father has given me too an 'inheritance incorruptible and un-
defiled, and that fadeth not away.' He has called me to glorify
him in this humble rank, in this loAATly state of poverty and want,
this is the place in which my glorious Master has been pleased to
call me to honor Him, and He Himself made poverty and want
honorable. He had not where to lay His blessed head, and has
called me to folloAV Him here below, in the path He trod before
me. I have unsearchable riches and glory in prospect — if I have'
an humble portion in possession ; but this is for a moment, they
are for eternity. He has given me the assurance and pledge of
that glorious inheritance which is before me, to which every day
and hour brings me nearer !"
Oh I have seen many poor creatures suffering — dying in pover
ty and pain, yet I have seen them smiling, rejoicing, triumphing,
in the midst of it all, in the glorious Gospel of Christ. There is
not a more glorious sight on earth, than to see a poor afflicted
saint, even while bent beneath the pressure of distress, enabled to
rejoice in that blessed Saviour, who has called him out of darkness
into his marvellous light, washed away his guilt and given him
the glorious hope of this inheritance. In such a case we see how
suffering enhances the prospect of relief — we see how Grace di
vinely adjusts the apparent inequalities of Providence in His
church ; and balances every difference in the lot of time, by a
blessed compensation in eternity.
Think then, what it is to be called into the Lord's household !
what a privilege it is to be a member of the Lord's family ! You
need not envy a king his birth, his crown, or his kingdom, if you
are called to be a child of the King of kings. How glorious is
that happiness which God holds forth before us in his eternal word!
How can it be that man is so blind, so ignorant, and lost, as to
trample on or " neglect such great salvation."
But Ave see, the obedience of the Gospel, is not a burden that the
Apostle lays upon us — it is not a hard burden of subjection — -a hard
obedience — a hateful obedience — a slavish and an unwilling obe
dience. Such is the obedience which the unconverted sinner in his best
efforts tries to render — he strives against his grain — his heart — his
feelings — to render an obedience to God's commands. But this
obedience to which the children of God are called, is, as I have
said, that of freedom, liberty, loyalty, and grateful love. See,
Avhat David saith, " I will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy pre
cepts," Psal. cxix. 45. " I will run in the way of thy command
ments when thou shalt enlarge my heart, (or when thou shalt set
my heart at liberty,") Psal. cxix. 32. When the heart is set free
from the bondage of the law — liberated from doing works as a con
dition of salvation, and enabled to lean its hope on Christ, then—
21

322 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
.but not until then, it is at liberty to love and serve its God — then
— when we can serve him, not on the slavish principle of obtain
ing a reward, but on the principle of love for the great redemption
He hath Avrought for us, then Ave serve Him freely — serve Him
heartily — and serve Him happily. But never until then, can any
service from man be either rendered to, or accepted by, his Creator.
What then is the first duty which the Apostle impresses on be
lievers? "I THEREFORE THE PRISONER OF THE LoRD, BESEECH
YOU, THAT YE WALK WORTHY OF THE VOCATION WHEREWITH
YE ARE CALLED, WITH ALL LOWLINESS AND MEEKNESS." One
of the master sins of man's heart is pride. " The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," 1st John ii. 16, may be
said to comprehend most of the practical iniquities of man. Pride
was the sin by which our first parents fell ; it is at least one
reigning passion, if not the reigning sin, in the heart of every one
of us.
To set up self — to have something — to be something — and to do
something — is our heart's prime ambition. We cannot be content
to prostrate self — to have nothing — to be nothing — and to do
nothing. Pride was the very first sin which the devil called into
action in our first parents. The temptation which he brought
before Eve was a lure to her pride, "your eyes shall be opened ;
ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil." Gen. iii. 5.
We believe pride to have been the sin that cast Satan from
heaven ; and we know it was the sin which cast out man from
paradise. So also the very first sin, to the root of Avhich the Gos
pel lays the axe, is pride. And therefore, when the sinner is brought
to believe the Gospel ; the very principle on which he believes in
Christ is the fact of his lost condition — this is the prostration of
pride. Pride is the cause, the chief cause of opposition to the
Gospel of Christ : " They being ignorant of God's righteousness
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3 ;
they have not bowed their necks doAvn to submit themselves — they
are too proud to do so.
So David saith, " The wicked, through the pride of his coun
tenance will not seek after God" Ps. x. 4. The feeling in the
natural mind that takes offence at the cross of Christ, is pride.
You tell man, " You are a lost sinner" — you tell him " you can do
nothing whatever to justify your soul before God — you are a breaker
of God's law, and stand a condemned and convicted criminal."
Then the pride of man's heart takes fire, he bursts out at once.
" What sort of doctrine is this ? then it is no matter what I
do — I am on a level with the vilest criminal — all virtue and vice
is reduced to the same standard. — What is this ? I — who am so
and so — virtuous, moral, excellent, honest, upright, good-tempered,
amiable — you reduce me to a grade with a man, the reverse of all
this." Thus, we see pride is ever setting itself above others. " But,"
saith the Apostle, " they, measuring themselves by themselves, and

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 323
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." 2nd Cor.
x. 12. If God's standard of judgment were, comparing men, one
with another, that language might suit very well. But when God's
law is the standard of his righteous judgment of man, then the
blind sinner Avho is ignorant of that laAV, is offended when you tell
him, that he is a violator of it in every particular, and that he can
not save himself — his pride is angry, because he has been all his
life congratulating himself, like the Pharisee, " God, I thank thee
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,"
&c. When you bring then to his pride, the principles of truth that
lay him in the dust, he cannot endure it. But the Gospel pros
trates him there. It is for sinners. And he never can receive the
Gospel until he receives it in the dust. The Gospel addresses him
in no other character but as a corrupt and guilty sinner ; gives
him no credit for his amiability — morality — or anything of the
sort — but addresses him as a lost and guilty sinner, on whom, as
under the law, the wrath of God abideth. In that position the
Gospel finds him — in that alone, it recognizes him and addresses
him — and there it proclaims to him, full — -free — finished pardon
and salvation, as a condemned sinner ; and brings to him, for his
deliverance, the righteousness, and the blood of Christ.
See those proud rebels, Avho had been crying out against Christ,
"Away with him, away with him, crucify him, crucify him,"
when the Lord brought home conviction to their consciences, by
the preaching of the Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost — how
did they act ? " When they heard this, they were pricked in their
hearts, and said, men and brethren, what shall we do ?" So every
sinner on earth that is ever brought to the knowledge of the Gospel
of Christ, is brought in the same way. Some may have deeper
conviction of sin than others. In some, those convictions may be
more sloAvly produced ; in others, they may be more sudden and
violent ; — but every individual that is saved, is saved, in the same
way — as a helpless, ruined sinner — brought down to the dust, and
looking to Jesus for free and full salvation.
Now, although they are brought thus to Christ, pride is not
eradicated from the heart. Remember this. The pride of the
natural heart remains as long as there is a throb of life in it.
Pride, like all other sins, remains lusting against the Spirit, in the
natural heart ; the natural heart remains unchanged — struggling
forever against the Spirit. In that struggle consists the constant
conflict of the Christian — and in the mortification and subjection
of that nature, by the Spirit, consists the Christian's triumph of
faith and his practical religion.
One of the most common and dangerous mistakes into Avhich
many believers fall, is, that the natural heart of man undergoes
some improvement in itself and its dispositions. This is alike
opposed to the Word of God, and the experience of every redeemed
soul. It never does so. The natural heart of man remains the
same in itself to the end. The man, on the whole is changed —
" If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2nd Cor. v. 17.

324 LECTURES CN THE EPHESIANS.
He is a new man — but he is so thus, because he receives a new
principle — a new heart — another heart, a heart Avhich is called,
"a heart of flesh," — which is the gift of the Holy Spirit, opposing
— resisting — subjugating his natural heart. Hence, I repeat, the
conflict that continually exists in the believer, and under Avhich
he is constantly harassed — " the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one
to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Gal. v. 17. So saith the Apostle of himself, " I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring
ing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members."
Rom. vii. 23.
Our Article on original sin, the 9th, is very plain on this point,
and describes our slate by nature, both before and after conversion,
it says,
"This infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerate, whereby
the lust of the flesh, called in Greek phronema sarkos, which some do expound the
wisdom — some sensuality — some the affection — some the desire of the flesh is not sub
ject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe
and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess that concupiscence and lust hath of
itself the nature of sin."
Indeed the Apostle disposes of the question in a single text, for
using these very Greek words which we translate "the carnal
mind," he saith " The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom.
viii. 7.
Hence, therefore, this Apostolic exhortation, and all other ex
hortations in the Gospel of Christ, are directly or indirectly against
ourselves ; Ave must " deny ungodliness and worldly lusts," Titus,
ii. 12 — "crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts," Gal. v. 24
— " mortify our members which are on earth" Col. iii. 5 — " not
yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin."
Rom. vi. 13. The whole Christian walk is a Avalk of conflict ; —
that is, a conflict between our OAvn corrupt, natural inclinations,
and the mind of the Spirit. It is very important Ave should know
and recollect this. For there are many believers going on their
way, mourning, in anguish and darkness of soul, because they do
not feel the change they are looking for — that is, the absence of
sin in themselves. They think they are to be improved to a cer
tain state, in which there is to be, in a great degree, if not alto
gether, an absence of sin.* But they are like men waiting for the
river to flow by. The corrupt fountain of evil — the natural heart,
remains a corrupt fountain still; but the mind of the Sprit is given
as a gift by the Lord Jesus to oppose — to contend against — and to
* A late writer, whose theology is as false as it is fashionable, speaking of Mat. t,
8, says, " Truth itself is here manifesting its own eternal essence ; to ' see God' being
the one only happiness; and purity of heart— the one only qualification." Meaning
 not a " heart sprinkled from an evil conscience" by the blood of Jesus — which is true
— but a heart purified from the indwelling of sin, which is utterly without even a
shadow of truth.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 325
subdue the flesh, " Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
2 Cor. x. 5. The Apostle therefore exhorts them " to walk
WORTHY OF THE VOCATION WHEREWITH THEY ARE CALLED,
with all lowliness and meekness." If a Christian Avere
necessarily made loAvly — if pride were removed by conversion —
there would be no necessity for calling on believers to Avatch
against it ; — men could not, in this case, mortify evils — for there
would be nothing to mortify. The very command to watch
against their affections and lusts, implies and proves their existence.
"With all lowliness and meekness." These words are
different in their signification : Lowliness signifies lowliness of
mind ; it is elseAvhere translated, " in lowliness of mind let each
esteem other better than themselves." Phil. ii. 3. And in this re
spect it differs from meekness — the one referring to the conduct
and demeanor ; the other, to the principle of the mind. A lowly
mind will produce a meek deportment, and a gentleness of manner.
A man who thinks humbly of himself, will not act proudly and
haughtily to others ; and this exhortation first goes to the root of
the evil in the mind, and then to the conduct.
You have been called to the feet of the meek and lowly Jesus,
and brought to the foot of the cross, there then abide, and as be-
cometh those bought at such a price, " walk with all lowli
ness and meekness." "Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus." Phil. ii. 5. And, my dear friends, if we
are really taught by the Spirit of God, this, among other graces, is
that in which the Christian especially grows, lowliness and humil
ity. Some old divine, Avhen asked what is the first Christian
grace in which the Christian grows ? answered — Humility. And
when asked Avhat was the second ? he replied — Humility. And
what was the third ? — Humility. I appeal to the experience, of
any of you who know the Gospel, and who feel the burthen of an
evil heart, and I will venture to assert that your experience testi
fies, that, the more you know of yourselves, the more evil you
have found, and continually find in your heart, therefore, if you
are taught of God, this is your experience, and this is the reason
why you should grow in humility. Let us remember to mark the
difference between true humility and that sort of mock humility
which is very often the fruit of pride. We affect to value our
selves at a far lower rate than we really do, and to seem much
lower in our own estimation than we really wish to stand in that
of others. But true humility is a just and sober sense of our own
guilt and misery, which teaches us, not before man, but before
God, in our own closets and in our own hearts, to prostrate our
selves at His feet and cry, " God be merciful to me a sinner,"
Luke xviii. 13. When we are taught of God, as we grow in the
knowledge of His truth, we see cause of deep humiliation, not only
in our general conduct in which we so frequently fall into sin — but
we learn to see cause of humiliation, most especially in all our

326

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

holy things, yea — in our best thoughts ; we find our best deeds
and thoughts defiled and polluted by sin.
Perhaps our friends may say, whether we be ministers or not,
how earnestly we pray — how devoted we are — how warmly we
Avrite— how faithfully we preach — or how exemplarily we dis
charge our duties in all our stations. — -But we feel before God,
that it is in the discharge of our most holy duties Ave have most
cause of humiliation in His sight ; no matter what man may
•hink, or say — we feel, if taught of God, that God sees us all vile,
>olluted, guilty creatures. This must follow from the knowledge
){ God, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now
mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust
and ashes," Job xiii. 5, 6. Therefore, growth in the knoAvledge of
our own hearts teaches us to grow and Avalk in humility. It is
thus we learn to grow in grace and in the knoAvledge of our
blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we grow in the knowledge
pf His character as applicable to our wants, as suited to our deep
necessities and sins.
If we have prized the righteousness of Christ .when first Ave
heard of it, Avhen first we Avere given to believe it — it is more pre
cious to us every day, because we discover daily more and more
the truth of the Prophet's Avords, " All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags." Is. lxiv. 6.
If we prized the fountain of Christ's blood at the first, we learn
to prize it every day, more and more, for we learn that it is not
merely all our sins, but all our righteousness — all we have and
are that we have constant need to cast into that blessed fountain.
Christ grows more precious to us as we grow continually lower in
our own eyes. And if we are not groAving in the humiliating
knowledge of ourselves continually more and more, believe me, it
is because we are not groAving in the knowledge of our own
hearts — our own real character. True humility is the fruit of the
real knowledge of ourselves : it is not, as I have seen it stated, the
undervaluing of ourselves, but the real knowledge — the real, solid
judgment of our hearts — a sober, solid principle, arising from a
sound and sober knowledge of truth. The more Ave know of the
purity and holiness of the law of God, the more we find, not only
our own actual violations of that law, but our short Comings in
everything, that in everything Ave may say Avith the Psalmist,
" Who can understand his errors, cleanse thou me from secret
faults," from faults I know not, and then, " keep back thy servant
also from presumptuous sins ; let them not have dominion over
me : then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the
great transgression." Psal. xix. 12, 13.
Lowliness and meekness evince their practical effects, especially
in all our conduct to our fellow-creatures, so he adds, " with all
LOWLINESS AND MEEKNESS, WITH LONG-SUFFERING, FORBEAR
ING one another in love." Lowliness always teaches us
patience and forbearance. Knowledge of ourselves, teaches us
how to bear Avith the evils we see in others ; and therefore, while

LECTURES on THE EPHESIANS. 327
we sometimes see in the young Christian a proud, arrogant, or
censorious disposition — the experienced Christian bears with the
faults of his fellow-sinners, having learned n some degree how
God graciously bears with him. Increased knowledge of our
hearts teaches us to comprehend and calculate some portion of
that mighty debt of ten thousand talents which we owe to God,
and thus instructs us to have patience with our fellow-servant that
owes us fifty pence; we learn to exercise "long-suffering,"
with others, in proportion as we learn how long-suffering our
Master is with us.
"Forbearing one another in love." This is the best
commentary on the text, " charity covereth a multitude of sins,"
which is, I might say, blasphemously applied to prove the princi
ple, that alms-giving and benevolence, and acts of kindness to
others, cover our sins in the sight of God ; thus putting man's
works into the place of Christ, and laying the axe to the very root
of the Gospel. Charity, that is Christian kindness and love,
"covereth the multitude of sins" that appear in us to each other.
The text is quoted by the Apostle Peter from Proverbs, where we
see it in its own place in contrast with its opposite, " hatred stirreth
tip strife, but love covereth all sins." Prov. x. i2. And that is
the very thing, bearing and forbearing with each other, throwing
a mantle of love over another's transgressions. In our natural
state, we are all ready to remark on our neighbor's defects and
imperfections — to expose them — to whisper them — to laugh at
them, because pride and Satan foster in our hearts the impression,
that we thus exhibit ourselves as superior to others, in those de
fects which we are so ready to point out in them ; hence that
spirit of slander — of scandal — of whispering — of backbiting and
satire, that is so common in general conversation among persons
who are ignorant of God. And alas ! there is a lamentable defect
in Christian conduct among those Avho profess the Gospel of Christ.
There are many who are too ready to speak of the faults of their
neighbors and to blazon their errors. "But love covereth all sins,"
so he saith " forbearing one another in love ;" implying
that we have need of forbearance, and ought to exercise it.
In our own family — among our friends — our acquaintances —
our neighbors — in every relation in life, who has not to bear with
some peculiar tempers — eccentricities — weaknesses — -and failings
in others ? and who has not a great necessity that others should
bear with their own ?
What countless peculiarities and infirmities do those who are
near us see in us, as we see in them, and what would become of
us — surely every house would be almost a hell — if mutual forbear
ance, kindness, and patience, did not " cover the multitude of sins."
And that forbearance which we would exercise toward a friend
whom we loved, the Gospel teaches us to practice towards all,
" FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE."
What a blessed standard of happiness as well as holiness the
Gospel erects for men. How happy would the genuine exercise of

328

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

these short precepts make a family, or a circle of friends or ac
quaintances, "WITH ALL LOWLINESS AND MEEKNESS, WITH
LONG-SUFFERING, FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE."
May the Lord Jesus bring these principles into our hearts and
these precepts into our lives, for His Name's sake, Amen.
Now Ave shall part till after Christmas. — So beloved friends I
must wish you a happy Christmas ; Oh ihat Ave may all know the
rich source of happiness to be derived from the return of the anni
versary of our glorious Saviour's birth ! Alas, what a blight it i3
on the Christian church at this day, that the very time which was
set apart by those of the early faith for celebrating the glorious ad
vent of our blessed Lord and Master, is so lamentably perverted
and abused ! Look at that season now, among nominal Chris
tians. " I wish you a merry Christmas ;" — that means, I wish you a
season of carousing and feasting, of eating and drinking and rev
elling, and a full indulgence in all the follies and vanities of the
world. I was struck with the newspaper the other day in looking
at the vast number of advertisements of Christmas games of all
descriptions, for children : — foolish and absurd amusements, adapted
',o what they call a merry Christmas, without a shadow of even
religious instruction in them ! Oh, how the many returns of what
is called a happy Christmas, shall rise in judgment against those
who profess His name, but who know not the blessing of His com
ing into the world. It is indeed a happy, and ought to be a happy
season ; we should have a continual recollection, an everlasting
remembrance of the time Avhen the Son of God came doAvn from
heaven and " took upon him, the form of a servant," Phil. ii. 7, —
that time ought, indeed, to be a time of joy and thankfulness,
spiritual joy, spiritual thankfulness, when "Christ came into
the world to save sinners," 1 Tim. i. 15. What a wonder in time,
what a wonder in eternity, that the Lord of glory came to be born
in a stable, and to lie in a manger, to live " a man of sorrows"
without where to lay His head, and die on a cross for guilty rebels
like us ! Oh, the true celebration of Christmas is, to think, Avith
gratitude and joy, what our Master has done for us — what His love
demands from us. — Oh, may we knoAV this ! And I wish you, my
dear friends, a happy Christmas, and this is the happiness I Avish
you — " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth and
height ; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God." chap. iii. 17, 18,
19. — Amen.

TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.

Ephesiaus IV. — 3, 4, 5, 6.

" Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; One Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,
and in you all."
The Apostle continues his practical exhortations to his believ
ing brethren to walk worthy of their vocation, and the next char
acteristic mark of that walk which he mentions, is, " endeavor
ing TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OB*
PEACE." There are two grand principles in the Gospel of Jesus, Faith
and Love. The belief of the truth, and the influence of that truth
produced by the belief of it, which is love. It is utterly impossible
that the sinner can really believe the Gospel of Jesus, without that
faith producing love to Jesus. We cannot believe the Avork that
Christ has wrought for us, and rest upon that work, and upon him
who has Avrought it, as our Hope — our Peace— our Joy — our Sal
vation — Ave cannot do so, without loving the Lord Jesus ; and
therefore, you see, that love is always given as the true character
istic of genuine faith, as in that text, " in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love." Gal v. 6.
Noav these — as " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above," James i. 17, these are the gifts of the Spirit of God, " no
man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost ;"
1st Cor. xii. 3. And so you see, these are numbered among the
fruits of the Spirit, in Gal. v. 22, 23, " The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek
ness, temperance :" now, " the flesh lusteth against the Spirit ;"
and the natural workings of the corrupt heart are always contra
vening the mind of the Spirit of God : you see this stated in the
chapter from which I have quoted, Gal. v. " The flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are
contrary, the one to the other : so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would." The natural unbelief of the heart of man is always
conflicting against the faith of the Gospel — as the natural cor
ruptions, the evil lusts and passions of the heart of man, are al
ways conflicting against the love of the Gospel ; therefore, all be
lievers are continually exhorted throughout the Scriptures to faith,
and to the fruits of faith ; which are therefore always requiring an

330

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effort on the part of man against his own evils, so the Apostle
says, "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace" — as much as to say, your natural mind is
opposed to the great principle of Christian love, just as the pride
of the natural heart is opposed to lowliness and meekness ; the
impetuousness and evil tempers of the natural mind are opposed
to "long-suffering, and forbearing one another in love-" so the
same corrupt principle is opposed to " keeping the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace." Therefore, you see the
Apostle says, " endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace" — that is to aay, you must strive to do so.
" I labor for peace" saith David ; and hard work it is sometimes,
both for ourselves and others.
If those who profess the Gospel, attended diligently to these
great leading principles, the pure faith of the Gospel of Jesus, and
the love that flows from that faith, we should not see the Church
of Christ so distracted as it is at this moment. Look at the Prot
estant Churches, you hear continually the objection that Popery
advances against the Word of God, it says,
" Look at the result of reading the Scriptures ; Protestants have
the free use of the Bible, and see Avhat it produces in them ; see
their divisions, their contentions, see the different sects and parties
into which they are divided."
This, alas ! is aAvfully true in fact, but utterly false in principle.
For — it arises, not from reading the Scriptures, but from neglecting
the Scriptures. Union may arise from ignorance and unbelief of
the Gospel of Christ, "teaching for doctrines, the commandments
of men" Such is the state of the Church of Rome itself, Avhose
unity is that of darkness, ignorance, and death ; and such the
unity that those would effect among ourselves, who would transfer
the authority of Rome to the Church of England. In general,
divisions arise from an imperfect, and inadequate view of the value
and importance of the faith and love of Christ, and from giving an
undue unscriptural preponderance, to things, of Avhich some are
comparatively of lesser moment, and some of none at all. In some
cases the spirit of dissension seems in itself to rule in the hearts
of men. It is astonishing how some men seem born Avith a spirit
of discontent, insubordination, and contradiction, — few there are,
who do not feel something of these in themselves, and he who tries
to bring men to unity, where discipline does not forbid resistance,
is well aware how those evils reign in various proportions in the
hearts of others.
The only contention that ought to have a place in the Church
ought to be that of which we see so little — "striving together,"
as St. Paul saith, "for the faith of the Gospel" — Phil. ii. 27, or in
the language of St. Jude, "contending earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints," Jude 3, and as here " endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
But it really would seem, as if some persons thought, that their
Christian duty consisted in the opposite of this ; in endeavoring to

lectures on the ephesians. 331
break the unity of the Spirit in contention and war. For instead
of persons asserting and maintaining the great principles of the
Gospel, that ought to keep and hold them together ; there are many
who seem to search the Scriptures for points of contention and di
vision — who think they may dissent, and that they may separate
themselves, and excite to dissension the consciences of others, on
the most minute and most contemptible trifles, the beggarly ele
ments of forms and ceremonies, and different things of that kind,
to the utter neglect of the great fundamental principle of main
taining the faith of Christ, and " endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."* Creating di
visions appears, I confess, to me to be an aAvful act of evil, sepa
rating and dividing from the unity of those that hold the truth of
the Gospel ; whether it is effected by those who would force
unessential matters on the consciences of others ; or by those who
give to such matters an unscriptural weight and authority over
their own.
I trust I can say, and feel with all my heart, "Grace be with all
them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," chap. vi. 24 —
yet, I cannot, for this very reason, but mourn as sincerely the di
visions among those, who, I believe, hold the essentials of Gospel
truth. Oh ! my friends, if those that profess the Gospel of Jesus
were as anxious to unite together in maintaining the faith of the
Gospel of Christ, and in walking, as here enjoined, "worthy of
the vocation wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love," —
"endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace," this country would present a very different pic
ture, from that which it presents at this moment ; — an awful ex
hibition of dissensions, divisions, and contentions — not merely
among those who are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ, but even
among those who know it ! You see, the command of the Holy
Ghost is, " ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT
in the bond of peace." Men may differ — and, no doubt, will
continually do so, on various subjects connected with religion. It
is utterly impossible, that the minds of men can all be brought to
think alike — I do not believe the Lord ever intended it ; — but,
though men cannot all agree in all unimportant, non-essential
points — those who agree together on the great foundations of the
Gospel of Christ ought to walk together — to love one another, in
"the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace." If
* I recollect a lamentable illustration of the evil here spoken of, in a body who sep
arated from the Church and all other sects, and who would not even kneel down to
pray with a person who did not belong to their own body, on the ground that those
who did not observe all the Apostolic precepts, were " walking disorderly." One of
them at last introduced the Apostolic precept, " Greet one another with a holy kiss," and
then they separated into parties themselves, having divided on this question of the'
salutation. When will men learn that schisms and divisions, except where the vital
principles of the Gospel are involved, are a positive violation of the most express com
mands of the Scripture, and a greater evil than any, that those who cause them can
seek to avoid ?

332

lectures on the ephesians.

there Avere no differences in opinions and tempers, how could men
bring into practice, "forbearing one another in love" ? — Avhat need
of "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace"?— it is the difficulty, that makes it necessary to
endeavor to do so. Surely, if we hold the great foundations of the
truth as Ave ought to hold them, we shall agree in trusting and in
loving our Lord, and loving one another, for our Lord's sake ; and
Ave shall agree in maintaining the great principles of the Gospel of
our God and Saviour, against all the ignorance, error, and false
hood, that are endeavoring to undermine them.
Oh ! shall it ever be, when we shall be permitted to say, " Be
hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to
gether in unity." Surely, " It is like the precious ointment upon
the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard ; that
went down to the skirts of his garments." Surely it is " As the dew
of Hermoti, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion : for there the Lord commanded a blessing, even life for
evermore." Psalm cxxxiii. 1, 2, 3.
Surely, a spirit of union and love — an unction floAA'ing from
Him, the Glorious Head, Avhose name is Love, descending down
to the skirts of His garment, even from the highest to the lowest
in the Church — might Avell be compared to the perfumed oil,
wherewith Aaron was anointed, flowing doAvn on his garments ; —
or, the dew that distilled from heaven on the mountains of Zion,
bringing verdure to the cedars of Lebanon, and perfume and re
freshment to the flowers that grew beneath them.
Surely, we have a sad experience of how evil and how bitter a
thing it is for brethren to dwell together in contention.
I have seen much of dissension and. divisions in my life ; and I
can truly say, I never kneAv a blessing rest, in any single instance,
on them ! I can only view them as the Avork of the enemy of
souls. I have seen many who have separated from the Church,
but I never kneAv in my life, an instance, in which practical evil
did not result from it, both to the individuals themselves, and
others. I have seen it too often narrow the heart of Christian
love, and embitter the spirit — stirring up dissensions, " which min
ister questions, rather than godly edifying, which is in faith."
1st Tim. i. 4.
I trust there is not any person Avho has a more Catholic spirit
than I have, in this case. I can give, cordially, the right hand of
fellowship to those who I believe love the Lord Jesus in sincerity,
to whatever outward denomination of Christianity they belong;
yet, I must say, that I think there is in these realms, at this mo
ment, an awful evil among many who make a high profession of
the Gospel, but who dissent from the Church which God has been
pleased to establish amongst us. Men may hold different opinions
about various points of government, and forms, and discipline, and
cavil at expressions — but all the great vitalities of eternal truth —
all the great foundations of the Gospel of Jesus, are incorporated
with the principles of the Established Church, as plainly as they

lectures on the ephesians. 333
are written in the Bible. The Articles, the Homilies, the Liturgy,
of our Church, contain the doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus, as
plainly as they are written in the Word of God. And, although
there are of course, as there must be in all human institutions,
various ordinances that are, confessedly, of human appointment, — -
and Avhich are, and must be, left at large, and adapted to various
circumstances, and times, and nations, for the utility and edifica
tion of the Church ; — yet all the great fundamental truths, on
Avhich a sinner can alone rest his soul before God, are to be found
at the very foundations of the Established Church. And, when
God did please to establish that Church in this nation, — all those
who call themselves Christians, if, as they say, their conscience
leads them to dissent themselves, — I think it ought to lead them,
not to soav dissension, but to " endeavor to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
I have said, I never saw a blessing rest on divisions. I love
many that are dissenters, as Christian men ; yet, the principle, I
think, has been, and is at this moment, lamentably tested and ex
hibited in this empire* — for I see many who make a loud profes
sion of the Gospel, united at this time with Apostacy, with Popery,
Avith Infidelity, to pull down the Established Religion ! This is
clear ; — no person who reads the public journals can doubt the
fact. Then, I say, that this presents an awful exhibition of the
evils of divisions, and of the substitution of other things, for the
grand principles of faith and love, which are the vital essence of
true religion. I trust that God will lead such persons to see the
evil of taking part Avith Satan, against the cause of Christ! I
have known men, to whom I have gladly given the right hand
of fellowship, as members of Bible Societies, mantaining cor
dially, as I supposed, the Bible— vindicating and asserting its au
thority ; — I have seen such persons stand forward and take part
Avith Popery and Infidelity, for the establishment of that awful
6ystem of anti-Christian education in this country, that empowers
priest-craft to shut out the Word of the Living God from the in
struction of our poor countrymen. Nor do I see one to this day
stand forward faithfully against it.
Again, I have met with persons belonging to our Church, Avith
whom I have taken sweet counsel, and enjoyed Christian fellow
ship, yea — who have labored with me in the cause of Christ — who
have quitted the Church, and afterwards, in a spirit of division,
and dissent, and schism, have turned from me, or argued bitterly
against me — as being a member of Babylon, which they call the
Established Church ! This is neither like " lowliness," — nor " meek
ness," — nor "long suffering," — nor "forbearing one another ill
love," — still less, " endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace."
When men either arrogate an unscriptural authority for them
selves — their office — and their Church — setting them up instead
* This Lecture was delivered in 1837, and the truth of this statement was too
mournfully proved, in many ways, at that period.

334

LECTURES on the ephesians.

of Christ — and unchristian ize all who do not belong to them, as
some do in our own Church.
Or, when men — forgetting the great principles of the Gospel of
Jesus — the great principles of faith and love — dispute, and dissent,
and divide, about forms and ceremonies, and ordinances, which
are no part of the vital truth and power of the religion of Jesus.
Or, when men choose to anticipate the commands of Christ,
and the office of the angels, in separating the tares from the
Avheat, and seek to form a Church for themselves — consisting
purely of the saints — such as is only to be looked for when Christ
shall come ; and Avhen they strive to soav dissensions, and cause
divisions among believers — really doing the work of the enemy.
It appears to me, that such persons, of all classes, seem to know
little — and to prize still less, the glorious Gospel of Jesus, in its
faith, and love, and power; and that they have much need both
to learn these, as Avell as the meaning of this exhortation, " en
deavoring TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND
OF PEACE."
These things ought to be laid to heart; for certainly, "God
is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches
of the saints." 1st Cor. xiv. 33. " Jf ye have bitter envying and
strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion,
and every evil work." James, iii. 14, 15, 16.
The Apostle proceeds to give an unanswerable reason for this
exhortation to unity of Spirit, — " There is one body and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
CALLING."
There will be no divisions at the right hand of the Lamb !
There, these two great principles of Faith and Love shall appear
to have been the grand doctrines which God inculcated, with all
their poAver and their fruits, on His Church, and which God's
Church ought to have ever kept in view. You Avill always find,
when divisions exist, that it is for want of maintaining these two
principles ; some " beggarly elements" are brought in, and put
into a place Avhich they ought not to occupy. Nothing should
sever the members of Christ from each other— nothing should sever
the children of God — the brothers and sisters of " the whole family
in heaven and earth." There are no divisions in heaven, and it
is earth alone that causes any here below. For — ¦
"There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling j one lord, one faith,
one baptism, one god and father of all, who is above
all, and in you all."
There is one Body.
What a beautiful image that is, in which all the members of the
Church of Christ are compared to one body, of which their risen Lord
is the Head ! Christ the Head, and all the individual members of
His Church, members : — "one body and one Spirit." What a

lectures on the ephesians. 335
blessed privilege for a dying sinner, to look upon himself as a member
of the body of Christ !— to recollect that Christ is his Head — that,
Avhatever place he holds in the body, he is still a member of the body
— hoAvever high or low he may be — however adorned with gifts and
graces, or however feeling himself destitute of these — however he
may be placed, on high in the eyes of man — or hoAvever Ioav, so
that the eye of man sees and regards him not ; — still all — all that
are looking to Jesus — that are resting on Jesus, are " one body."
And there is " one Spirit," too. The same spirit that moves my
hand or my finger, is the same spirit that animates my heart, and
my head, and every member of my body. The same Spirit that
rules on high, even the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Spirit
that dwells in every member of His mystical body, wherever that
member may be. The sole of my foot is as much a part of my
body, as the crown of my head — and the life that animates one
part, animates the other. So, the poorest, lowliest, humblest be
liever in the Church is as much a member of the body, wonderful
to speak, even as the glorious Head Himself ! So the Lord Jesus,
in His prayer for His Church, in John, xvii., saith, " Neither,
pray I for these alone," namely, the Disciples who were surround
ing Him at the time, "but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word." Now, mark what He prays — " that they
all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us : that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them ; that they may be one, even as we are one :" John, xvii. 20,
21, 22. See how also the Apostle sets forth this truth to the
Romans, " For as we have many members in one body, and all
members have not the same office ; so we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Rom. xii.
4, 5. The same truth is set forth to the Corinthians, " As the
body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of
that one body, being many, are one body : so also is Christ." 1st
Cor. xii. 12.
What a wonderful truth, my dear friends — that sinners, like us,
should be privileged to think ourselves members of the body of
Jesus ! And ought one member of the body to injure another ?
Does not the Apostle say, " Whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it ; or one member be honored, all the mem
bers rejoice with it." 1st Cor. xii. 26. Again, he saith, " The eye
cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee ; nor again the
head to the feet, I have no need of you." verse 21. Shah I, with
my hand injure my head, or my feet, or any part of my body?
Shall I not rather defend and preserve them? Surely, if one
member of my body is in pain, will not all the members sympa
thize in suffering Avith it ? Oh ! if we but knew the value of the
Gospel of Jesus, as we ought to know, so should it be with all the
members of His mystical body. They would love one another —
be united with one another, in heart ; as they are, in fact, one in
Christ. They would endeavor *.o defend, and protect, and sympa-

336

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

thize with, and help each other. As one member of the body will
help, instinctively as it Avere, all the other members — so all the
members of the Church of Christ (if they recollected, as they ought,
that they are all one in Jesus) would feel for — love — help, and
cherish one another. Oh ! that Ave knew, and appreciated as Ave
ought, the privilege of being united together in Christ; and then
Ave would feel it our privilege, as well as our duty, to " endeavor
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
The Apostle proceeds, " There is one body and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." The
body must be one — the Spirit one— as the hope to which ye have
been called by that Spirit is one. You have all the same hope —
all, the same refuge. The blood of Christ is the common foun
tain for your sins ; the righteousness of Jesus is the common robe
for your nakedness ; the power of Jesus is the common safeguard
and dependence for your weakness ; the faithfulness of Jesus your
common security in your waywardness and wavering ; and the
glorious thought of meeting at the right hand of your Lord, is the
same bright prospect for you all. Therefore, the " hope of your
calling" is the same. You should all then remember this, and
should have but one heart and one mind. The same Spirit that
calls the whole body of Christ, should, in this one blessed hope,
rule in the heart of that body, and animate every member from
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. So it Avould be,
were it not for Satan and sin. We may say of all divisions in the
Church, like the soAving of the tares in the field, " an enemy has
done this," Mat. xiii. 28.
Then the Apostle proceeds from the members to the Head. He
adds, " One Lord, one faith, one baptism." There is but one
Lord — one Head over all — one Saviour of all — one common Re
deemer ; ye are servants of the same Master — soldiers of the same
Captain — children of the same Father — and heirs of the same
glory. So there is " one faith," — one genuine agreement in believing
the glorious Gospel, and all the great truths revealed in the Word
of our God — one common salvation — one only object of common
trust — one sole ground of dependence.
"One baptism," all baptized into Jesus; as the Apostle saith,
"as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,"
Gal. iii. 27, " buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead." Col. ii. 12. Every considera
tion, all the truths of the Gospel — all consolations in time — all
hopes for eternity — all the blessings derived from God to man
here — all that can be expected and looked for hereafter — all con
spire to this one end, to draw the members of the Church of Christ
into one body, to " strive together for the faith of the Gospel,"
Phil. i. 27 ; to " contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to
the Saints," Jude 3 ; to " love one another with a pure heart fer-

lectures on the ephesians. 337
vently," 1 Pet. i. 22 ; " endeavoring to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace."
For as there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." So,
there is, "One God and Father of all, who is above all,
AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN YOU ALL."
The Apostle brings forward the privileges and blessings which
believers enjoy, as the ground for his exhortations. All the Apos
tolical exhortations are based on the same foundation — all mads
to rest on the position in Avhich believers are placed, with respect
to their God. They are not exhorted to these things, to make
them believers, or give them privileges ; — but because they are be
lievers, and because they have privileges. There is " one God
and Father of all." Are you not members of the same family
— children of the same Father? If you saw your children quar
relling, and contending with each other, you would say, " Is it not
a shame for you to disagree in this manner? — you are brothers
and sisters — you are members of the same family — you have one
father — one mother — you ought to live together in unity and in the
bond of peace." And if any child was to allege to you any reason
whatever for quarrelling with their brother or sister, you would
say — " That is no reason for your quarrelling — nothing can be a
reason for violating the great duty of love to each other." The
same principle holds good in God's family : — if we be indeed
children of the Lord, we are brethren and sisters ; and, surely, we
ought to say, as Joseph to his brethren, "see that ye fall not out
by the way." Gen. xlv. 24. We should recollect, that we are
children of the same family— brethren and sisters — if we are in
deed in Christ, if we are indeed looking unto Jesus. But it is in
vain for persons to imagine that outward forms can ever prove a
substitute for inward principle. — Forms and ordinances, however
useful in their place, are miserable ties and bonds to unite a
Church together. It is the great principle of faith and love that
alone can really hold them in one — and it is that which the Apostle
impresses on them.
" There is one God and Father of all." Our blessed Lord,
when He teaches you to pray, instructs you all to kneel down, and
call God your Father ; and surely, when you thus unite in this
appellation, you ought to love as brethren.
But he sets before them the attributes and power of God, and
the relation in which He stands to them, " Who is above all,
AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN YOU ALL."
He " is above all." Your Father's eye is upon you. Oh !
my friends, how all divisions shall vanish, when the trump of God
shall echo through the world ! There shall then be no disputes
among believers. Where then shall all the trifles be, which led
men to differ from each other, and about Avhich there were so many
loud and fierce contentions — when they shall see the one Grand
Object — the Lord coming in His glory ? And if we remember,
that though we see not God, the eye of God is over us — that we
are as fully revealed in His sight, as Ave shall be Avhen " He com-
22

338 lectures on the ephesians.
eth in the clouds" — when " every eye shall see Him." — If we
thought of this, and gave to His omnipresence and to His coming
in His kingdom, and glory, the weight these thoughts ought to
have in our hearts, — there would be no such thing as divisions
among those who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, remem
ber this — Your Father's eye is upon you. Children, when they
are out of the sight of their parents, will quarrel and contend.
But, if the eye of the parent is near, and that they catch that eye
watching them, their quarrels are over — -they are ashamed — they
are silenced at once. So it would be, if Christians but felt, as they
ought, that the eye of God is over them.
You recollect how ashamed the Disciples were, when our blessed
Lord asked them, " What was it that ye disputed among your
selves by the way ? But they held their peace ,\for by the way
they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest."
Mark ix. 33,34. Then observe, the lesson He taught them — "He
sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man
desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
And He took a child and set him in the midst of them, and when
he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, whosoever shall
receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me, and who
soever shall receive me receiveth not me, but him that sent me,"
Mark ix. 35, 36, 37. What " lowliness and meekness," so humble
as that of a little child ? What exaltation so great, as to be taken
into the arms of Jesus ?
But, as if to furnish a practical comment on the necessary con
nexion, as in this passage, between loAvliness and meekness, and
the preservation of unity and love, we are told, in the very next
words, "John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting
out devils in thy name, and we forbade him because he followeth
not us," as much as to say, If we are not to set ourselves up indi
vidually, one above another, at least we may set ourselves up as a
body above all others who do not join us. But what saith our
Lord, "Forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a
miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me."
Surely, if ever a visible body on earth had a claim, to silence,
and put doAvn all who did not join with them, even Rome would
admit that it was our Lord and His Apostles. Yet mark His an
swer to John, as well as the reproof to His Disciples, and see the
lesson He inculcated ; and let those learn meekness and Christian
forbearance, who make an idol of uniformity ; and let those learn
humility, unity, and Christian love, who make so light of schisms
and divisions.
If there is one lesson Avhich our Lord more inculcates than
another, it is humility and unity of spirit among3t His Disciples,
He enforces it — He illustrates it — He prays for it on their behalf.
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another." John xiii. 35. So the Apostle John, "Be
loved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God," 1st John iv. 7.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 339
Yea, he saith, " We know that we have passed from death unto
life, because we love the brethren, he that loveth not his brother
abideth in death." 1st John iii. 14.
You see what the state of the early churches was, when they
Avere united and walking in love. " Then had the churches rest
throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edi
fied, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of
the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Acts ix. 31. 'Ah, my friends,
there is the reason, when the churches " had rest, and were edi
fied," they walked in unity of faith and love, and they "were
multiplied," multitudes were gathered into them, because of their
union in the Lord.
Look now at the state of Christendom ! Look at the Gentile
churches, see what an example they have set to the Jews and Pa
gans ! What Avonder, humanly speaking, that the Jews should
reject, and should contend against Christianity, when all they have
to do is to lift up their finger and point, saying, look at the Chris
tians ! Surely, too, the Pagan nations may say the same. Cruel
ties and crimes have tracked the path ef those Avho bore the name
of Christians for centuries among them.
Come a little nearer home — look at the poor Roman Catholics
of Ireland ! What wonder, that these poor creatures should re
main bound together in the chains of darkness, ignorance, and
superstition, and that they should oppose and object to reforma
tion and Protestantism, when all they have to do, is to lift their
finger and say, look at the Protestants, look at the men who pro
fess to reform us ! look at their faith, their Avalk ! ungodliness, un
belief, wickedness, schisms, sects, contentions, contempt of God and
all religion, mark the conduct of numbers. Alas ! where is unity
and faith and love to our Master ? where is the walking together
like those that love the Lord Jesus Christ, and who could aid, by
their example, as well as by the fidelity of truth, to bring our poor
fellow-sinners out of darkness to the truth of God? Oh, there
would be little boasting, if we thought of ourselves as we ought to
think, we should be humbled to the d'.ist. And God is humbling
us, yea, and will humble us more, I fear, if we do not humble our-
seives, and bow down in deep repentance at the footstool of His
throne. The belief then of the relation Avhich God bears to His people as
the " Father of us all." — The remembrance of His presence as
a reconciled Father who is " above all" may well be urged by
the Apostle as a powerful incentive to lowliness, meekness, love and
unity. It is this sense of His presence impressed on the hearts of
His children by the Spirit, that seems the true fulfilment of the
promise ; "/ will instruct thee and teach thee in the way wherein
thou shalt go — I will guide thee with mine eye." Psalm xxxii. 8.
And this inward spiritual instruction is contradistinguished by
the Spirit from that outward visitation of the lash which is neces
sary to scourge into a sense of duty, or to restrain from evil, for
the Lord adds — "Be ye not as the horse, or, as the mule : which

340

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have no understanding , whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle, lest they come near unto thee." verse 9.
But the Apostle saith not only that He is "above all," but
"THROUGH ALL AND IN YOU ALL."
Recollect he is writing, " To the Saints that are at Ephesus, and
to the faithful in Christ Jesus." chap. i. 1. It is only to such
it can truly be said, He is " through all and in you all." For
if a sinner is unconverted, it is not the Spirit of God, but the spirit
of the Prince of the power of the air that is in him. He is walk
ing " according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience." Eph. ii. 2. That is the spirit that worketh in
all unconverted men ; so it cannot be said that the Spirit of God
is through them, and in them.
Let us recollect, that when the Lord dwells in men, He walks in
them — that is His promise. "/ will dwell in them, and walk in
them." 2nd Cor. vi. 16. And let us not forget how peculiarly this
is connected with the Spirit and walk inculcated here. "Thus
saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name
is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also thai
is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the hum
ble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isa. lvii. 15.
And now, my dear friends, these practical exhortations, as well
as all the doctrines and promises, must have all their place in the
Church, and in the heart of real Christians. Recollect, they are
given by the same Spirit that gives us the testimony of the Gos
pel of Jesus. The God who proclaims to us the glorious pardon
and salvation of our souls — Avho teaches us how we can approach
Him, as a reconciled Father — teaches us also how we are to walk
and serve Him. And, although we are never to put our works, or
our walk, into the place of Christ — let us remember, also, we are
not to put the Gospel of Jesus into the place of practical duties—
or to suppose, that the neglect of the one, can be sanctioned by
the profession of the other ; so as to say, because we have grace,
and faith, and hope, and joy — therefore, these things are not to be
attended to by us. That were indeed an aAvful state for a sinner !
On the contrary, it is because we are called Avith this vocation, that
therefore we are to walk Avorthy of it, as the Apostle saith ; or, as
St. Peter expresses it, " According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."
2nd Peter, i. 3. Recollect that, as our blessed Lord saith, "As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no
more can ye, except ye abide in me." So He addeth, "He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ;
for without me ye can do nothing." John xv. 4, 5. And let us not
forget that He saith, too, " Ye shall know them by their fruits."
Matt. vii. 16.
We have come, now, dear friends, to the close of another year !
This is our last lecture for this year — where shall Ave be, at the close

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 341
of the next ? Who can tell, what a day — -much less a year — may
bring forth ? In all human probability, some of those who are
here to-day shall have passed from this scene, before another year
shall close ; — as some who were here at the beginning of this, have
" gone to that bourne whence no traveller returns."
What a solemn thought it is to consider — Shall the privileges
which we enjoy rise in judgment against us ? Have we all been
brought, through grace, to know Jesus as our refuge? Or, has
another year flown off — another year's opportunities passed by — -
while yet the souls of any here have not "peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ," Rom. v. 1, while any have not "fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. vi. 18. Alas !
shall any have to say, " the harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved!" Jer. viii. 20. If we are not brought to
look unto Jesus — every day God's long-suffering spares us, must
rise in judgment against us. "How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation." Heb. ii. 3.
But if, on the other hand, we are brought to look unto Jesus —
years may fly on. Let them come — let them go, — the last year
of our life shall be the best of all, for " the day of death is better
than the day of one's birth" — Eccl. vii. 1, that is, if a man is a
child of God. What a blessing is it then, if we are brought to
Jesus ! Oh ! then, whatever time we are spared, let the prayer of
our hearts be, that we may be enabled to love Him, whether He
gives us years, or months, or weeks, or days, whatever our time
may be, that it may be spent in the service of our God. Let us " no
longer live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men,
but to the will of God." 1st Pet. iv. 2. Time and all its concerns
are passing aAvay ; " Seeing, then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought toe to be in all holy con
versation and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the com
ing of the day of God." 2nd Peter iii. 11, 12.
May the Lord sanctify His word to us, and give us to meet in
the fulness of joy on that blessed birth-day of everlasting love and
glory, when Christ shall come " to be glorified in His Saints, and
to be admired in all them that believe in that day." 2 Thess. i. 10.
"Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to pre
sent you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding
joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion, and power, both now and forever. Amen." Jude 24, 25.

THIRTIETH LECTURE.

Ephesiahs IV. — 7, 12.

" But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth 1 He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets ; and some evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers : for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ." We considered in our last Lecture the exhortations to unity in
the commencement of this chapter : — exhortations founded on the
great fact, that those who are believers, are one body in Christ, all
united in Jesus as their living head, and all in Christ Jesus united
to each other ; and that, therefore, keeping continually in remem
brance the great fact of their union by faith to their Lord, and in
Him to each other, they should regulate their conduct to each
other accordingly ; — abhor divisions and dissensions — "Endeavor
ing to keep the unity of the Spirit," as united in one body " in
the bond of peace."
But the inequality of circumstances, the diversities of gifts, the
differences of the operations of grace in the church of Christ, are
very likely from that very cause, to produce discord and disunion.
One is apt to be jealous of another — One is anxious to occupy the
place of another — Some desire to be teachers — Some aspire to
E laces that God has not been pleased to give them in the church ;
ence, erwyings, jealousies, strifes and contentions creep in — and
Satan arailing himself of the corruption of the human heart,
sows the seeds of discord and division in the church Avhich have
produced, and do produce such lamentable fruits of bitterness.
The Apostle had said, 4, 5, 6 verse, " There is one body and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all." "But," he adds, (as
much as to say, recollect,) " unto every one of us is given
GRACE, ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF THE GIFT OF CHRIST ;"
all are not alike, all have not the same gifts or the same graces.
He reminds them here, that all they possess of grace, is a gift—
and that every gift, is of grace. And he reminds them, that in
these gifts there are differences, according as it pleaseth the Gra
cious Giver. "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 343
ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND GAVE GIFTS UNTO
men." Having stated, that there were different gifts, and that
these gifts come from Christ, he quotes a passage from the Prophet
in the Book of Psalms, in which he saith, that Jesus was exalted
on high and had received gifts for men — intimating hereby the
fact, that all the gifts that are given and received by men, are pur
chased by the blood of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord —
and are all the gifts of His grace, as " The head over all things
to his church." You find the quotation in the 68th Psalm, " Thou
hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast
received gifts for men; yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord
God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." Ps.
lxviii. 18, 19. This passage then, the Apostle quotes here to show,
that Jesus, when He ascended on high, after His resurrection,
having "led captivity captive," gave these different gifts unto
the church.
We must pause a little on this verse, " when he ascended up
ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND GAVE GIFTS UNTO
men." Here the Apostle alludes to the glorious conquest of our
blessed Master over the poAvers of darkness, who are here called
"captivity." They held, and hold the ungodly Avorld captive.
Satan, with his mighty power, holds mankind by nature captive.
All were in a state of captivity, and all by nature are in a state
of captivity and bondage. The unconverted feel not this ; they
talk of their freedom, they pride themselves on their liberty, not
knowing that they are indeed bond-slaves to Satan — that " who
soever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John viii. 34. The
converted feel this, every believer feels the power of the captivity
of Satan, and therefore the Apostle Paul, speaking of himself, as
we have so fully entered' into, and dwelt upon in the 7th of Ro
mans, says, " I see another law in my members warring against
the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members," Rom. vii. 23. I find the power
of sin and Satan so distressing that I call it a law, " / delight in
the law of God after the inward man," but I find another law,
another power, dragging me "into captivity to the law of sin
which is in my members, so that when I would do good, evil is
present with me" Rom. vii. 21, 22, 23 ; " to will is present with
me ; but how to perform that which is good, I find not." v. 18.
To explain lliis from my oavii experience, I would say — When
I would give up my thoughts to God, I feel sin and Satan hurry
ing my imagination into evil. When I would remember all the
Lord's past mercies to me, I find sin and Satan diverting my
memory into past scenes of wickedness and folly. When I would
kneel down in prayer, and pour out my heart to God, I find sin
and Satan filling my heart with a thousand vanities and distrac
tions. When I would open my Bible, and study the word of my
God— I feel sin and Satan diverting my attention from it, by a
thousand artifices. When I would have my will brought into sub-

344

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

jection to my Master, and Avhen I would kneel down and say to
Him, " Thy will be done" — I find sin and Satan exciting my will
into rebellion against my God, and urging my thoughts to mur
mur against my Master's ordinances. When I Avould have my
affections given to my God and desire to love Him with all my
heart — I find sin and Satan drawing my affections to some earthly
idol. Therefore, I can truly say, " I find then a law that when I
would do good evil is present with me," I feel " a law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."
Rom. vii. 21—23.
But "when Jesus ascended up on high, he led captiv
ity captive," or as the Apostle says in Colossians, speaking of
the work of the Lord Jesus, " Having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it." Col. ii. 15. So the Apostle John says, " For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil." 1st John iii. 8. And so, the Apostle Paul says,
writing to the Hebrews, " Forasmuch then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same, that through death, he might destroy him that hath
the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them, who through
fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage ;" Heb.
ii. 14, 15; therefore, when the Lord Jesus Christ "ascended up
ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE."
This is an image taken from the processions of the ancient tri
umphs, in which the conqueror used to bind the kings or distin
guished warriors whom he had conquered and taken captive, and
lead them as the trophies of his victory, bound at the Avheels of
his chariot, in the array of his triumphal procession. This appears
to be the very same image which David uses in that psalm from
Avhich the Apostle makes the quotation, for in reading it with the
preceding verse, it is thus, " The chariots of God are twenty thou
sand, even thousands of angels, the Lord is among them, as in
Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast
led captivity captive ; thou hast received gifts for men, yea for
the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them"
Ps. lxviii. 17 — 19. As much as to say — He that "layeth the
beams of his chambers in the waters, and maketh the clouds his
chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind," Ps. civ. 3 —
He when He ascended up on high, destroyed the works of the
devil — led captive at his chariot Avheels, amidst the attendant
hosts of heaven, the fiend who had held His people in bondage—
and only waits the approach of the appointed time, to trample him
under His feet, and under the feet of His Church, and to cast him
into the abyss, forever and ever.
Remember, therefore, believer, that though you feel this law in
your members, and though you feel the power of your enemy,
remember, that he is virtually conquered, and that you are deliv
ered from his captivity forever. You feel yet in your body the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 345
bondage of sin and death, but your soul is forever emancipated
from his chains, you are delivered from his thraldom, and as surely
as your risen Head is ascended to glory, so surely you are " raised
up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ,"
chap. ii. 6. And therefore, you see, how when Satan is spoken
of in the book of Revelation, as "the accuser of the brethren,
which accused them before our God day and night," you see, how
the church is declared to have gained the victory, " they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimo
ny," Rev. xii. 10, 11.
We shall see more at large, if we are spared to reach the 6th
chapter of this Epistle, hoAV — when the Apostle is commanding
them to " Put on the whole armor of God, that they may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil," he says, " above all, tak
ing the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked," chap. vi. 12, 16. That is to
say, " Remember, O ye Saints at Ephesus, your Blessed Master — ¦
your glorious Redeemer — your crucified Lord — your risen Head —
your ascended High Priest — remember that fie has conquered
your foe — He has "led captivity captive ;" and though you
feel the attacks and malice of your enemy, remember " The God
of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly," Rom. xvi.
20 ; and that He has delivered you out of his hands, for ever and
ever. Let me entreat you to consider, especially in the passage which
I have quoted from Romans vii., the practical and experimental
use of this doctrine. Consider how it was used by the Apostle
Paul. In that passage in which he is groaning under the power
of this captivity, he is not cast doAvn ; he says, " I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members," then he utters his complaint of sorrow, " O wretched
man that lam, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ;"
Rom. vii. 23, 24 ; observe then, I say, the experimental use he
makes of this doctrine, he " takes the shield of faith," " to quench
the fiery darts of the wicked." For when groaning he asks,
" Who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" he answers
by faith, " / thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom.
vii. 25. And consoles himself with the joyful assurance, " There
is therefore, now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus." Rom. viii. 1.
Mark here the glorious triumph of faith, looking up in the very
midst of the conflict to Christ — gaining the victory over the law
in the members, and delivering him from the captivity and bond
age he felt even at the moment, when he was groaning beneath
its yoke. Surely, " This is the victory that overcome th the world,
even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." 1st John v. 4.
The Apostle then having stated that there is a difference of
grace, "according to the measure of the gift of Christ,'1

346 lectures on the ephesians.
reminds them thus that all their graces and all their gifts come
from the Lord Jesus. We have nothing of our OAvn ; no sinner
can ever have anything good in himself, " Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights." James i. 17. Having quoted this text from
the Psalms, then in the parenthesis of 9th and 10th verses, he
calls to their recollection the person and work of Jesus. The Apos
tles continually delight to dwell on Jesus ; in all their practical
exhortations, bringing the soul back to Him. They keep Christ
continually in view ; they show in their doctrine what the Apostle
Paul testified and exemplified in his own experience, " The life
that I now live in the flesh, Hive by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me ;" Gal. ii. 28.
Therefore he saith, as it were to keep the Lord before them,
"NOW T«AT HE ASCENDED, WHAT IS IT BUT THAT HE ALSO
DESCENDED FIRST INTO THE LOWER PARTS OF THE EARTH, HE
THAT DESCENDED IS THE SAME ALSO THAT ASCENDED, FAR
ABOVE ALL HEAVENS, THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS."
As much as to say, — remember that this same person who as
cended is the King of glory. Remember who Christ is. Do not for
get, "HE THAT DESCENDED IS THE SAME ALSO THAT ASCENDED,"
that he is not a mere man, born on this earth, and ascending from
this earth. True, he is indeed man, perfect "man of the sub
stance of his mother, born in the world ;" but remember, He is
the God of Glory that hath descended into that flesh on earth.
Remember that this is the great " mystery of godliness, that God
was manifest in the flesh," 1st Tim. iii. 16 ; remember, " he
THAT DESCENDED IS THE SAME ALSO THAT ASCENDED, FAR
ABOVE ALL HEAVENS THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS."
So our Lord also himself saith in St. John's Gospel iii. 13, " No
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he ihat came down from
heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven ;" and so again, in
chapter vi. 33, our blessed Lord uses the same expression of Him
self, " The bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world ;" and so He says in the 62nd
verse, " What, and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up
where he was before ?" and so, in His blessed prayer, in xvii. 5,
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with
the glory that I had with thee, before the world was." Arians
and Socinians could not be allowed to be Christians by St. Paul.
He reminds them, that He who gave them these gifts Avas the
eternal God ; and as Moses saith in the blessing of Israel, " The
eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms," Deut. xxxiii. 27 ; so, when they think of Jesus, they should
remember, that He who gave them these gifts is the eternal God,
the Lord of Glory ; who has " ascended far above all heav
ens that he might fill all things" — all Time — all Space
— Eternity. When and where was He not? When and where
is He not? When and where shall He not be? Alas! how
miserable is Infidelity ! ! !

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 347
The Apostle then speaks of these gifts, which the Lord had
given to the Church, "He gave some apostles and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, till we all come in the unity of faith, and of
the knowledge of the son of god, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ." Now we may observe, that there are some gifts which
are common to all the Church of Christ. Every individual mem
ber of the Church of Christ has and must have the gift of the
Holy Ghost, or he could not be a child of God. — The Holy Spirit
must be given to every individual believer to teach him his state
as a sinner. — The Holy Spirit must be given to every individual
believer — to take of the things of Christ and show them to his
soul — that is His office ; for " no man can say that Jesus is the
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1st Cor. xii. 3. " The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." 1st Cor. ii. 14. No poAver of the natural
understanding of man, hoAvever exalted, hoAvever enlightened —
cultivated — endowed with all the gifts of literature and science,
can arrive at the simple knowledge of the Gospel of Christ Jesus.
Man must have the gift of the Spirit of God, to "know the things
that are freely given to him of God," 1st Cor. ii. 12. Therefore,
I say, all believers must have the gift of the Spirit of God. They
mnst be born of the Spirit — as they have the gift of eternal life ;
for " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God ;"
1st John v. 1, " the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus
Christ our Lord," Rom. vi. 23 ; " And he that hath the Son hath
life." 1st John v. 12 ; therefore, these gifts are common to all the
children of God. They are sanctified in Christ Jesus by the Holy
Spirit. But as we have in 1st Cor. xii. " There are diversities of
gifts, b ut the same Spirit. And there are differences of administra
tions, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations,
but it is the same God that worketh all in all. But the manifes
tation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal ; for to
one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom :" one believer
has a peculiar degree of wisdom given to him whereby he is more
gifted to advise and guide his brethren. " To another the word
of knowledge by the same Spirit." 1st Cor. xii. 8. Some have
a much greater degree of spiritual knowledge than others : " to
another faith, by the same Spirit ;" the faith of different believers
is given in very different proportions ; some have strong faith by
which they can encounter any difficulty, any danger, or any con
flict — others again are among the weaklings of the flock, whose
faith is very weak, and who require continually to be strength
ened, helped, cheered on by their stronger brethren. The Great
Shephferd watches over them, however, with care, " He gathereth

348

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

the lambs in his arms and carrieth them in his bosom, and gently
leadeth those that are with young." Is. xl. 11.
Then the Apostle speaks of the outward gifts that were given
in Apostolic days ; " To another the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit ; to another the working of miracles ; to another prophecy ;
to another discerning of spirits ; to another divers kinds of
tongues ; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all
these uiorketh that one, and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will, for as the body is one, and hath
many members, and all the members of that one body, being
many, are one body, so also, is Christ." 1st Cor. xii. 7 — 12. Now
observe the very same figure in that chapter of Corinthians,
which he uses in this, of Ephesians, under our consideration ; he
proceeds, v. 13, " For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or
free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the
body is not one member but many. If the foot shall say, because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body ; is it therefore not of
the body ? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I
am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? If the
whole body were an eye, where were the hearing ? if the whole
were hearing, where were the smelling ? But now God hath set
the members, every one of them as it hath pleased him ; and if
they were all members, where were the body ? But now are they
many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto
the hand, I have no need of thee ; nor again the head to the feet,
I have no need of you, nay much more, these members of the body
which seem to be more feeble are necessary ; and those members
of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon them we
bestoiv more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more
abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need; but
God hath tempered the body together, having given more abun
dant honor to that part which lacked ; that there should be no
schism in the body ; but that the members should have the same
care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the mem
bers rejoice with it. Now, ye. are the body of Christ and mem
bers in particular." 1st Cor. xii. 13 — 27.
I read this passage at length, because it is more clear, full and
perspicuous than anything I could say to illustrate the great
truths it contains.
Read it over — study and consider it ; and remember, that in
this passage the Holy Spirit is shoAving under the beautiful simili
tude of a human frame, the different gifts that the Lord has been
pleased to bestow on different individuals, members of His Church,
and the different places in which He has been pleased to fix them,
and the perfect unity and harmony that ought to subsist among
them. And therefore, your duty and my duty is, not to try and
get out of our place in the body, not to try to seek for some higher
distinction, or some higher honor, or higher office or place in the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 349
Cliurch, or in the world, than we have, but to remember, that
God has been pleased to place us in our present position, and that
all we have to do is this, to know our own place, in Avhatever
sphere God has appointed us, and to endeavor to discharge our
duty, humbly, faithfully, and devotedly in that station in which
we are placed by our heavenly Father. Our duty is to knoAv
simply what is our place? where has God fixed us? and to say,
" Wherever His Providence has fixed me, that is my position, and
there let me serve and honor my Heavenly Master." And if the
different individuals of the Church did this, instead of " all seeking
their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's," Phil. ii. 21;
seeking to divide and split from one another. One desiring one
object, and one another — some finding fault with one real or
imaginary evil, and some with another — one contending for this
observance, and another against it — they would all in their OAvn
places, humbly walk together, and try to serve and glorify their
God, in the position in which He has been pleased to place them.
Recollect, that the humblest individual in the Church of Christ
has as great an opportunity of glorifying his Heavenly Master in
that place, as the highest. The humblest servant — the humblest
operative can glorify the Lord, as much as the Sovereign on the
throne. It is not by mighty acts, in exalted situations, that God
alone may be glorified — -but by humble duty, in every station,
Avhatever that station be, done for the service, the honor, and the
glory of God.
No doubt, if we had been standing in the temple Avhen Christ
was there, and had seen a great number of individuals, " casting
their gifts into the treasury ;" and if we had been asked — " Who
do you think, of all these persons that you see casting their gifts
into the treasury, is most serving and glorifying God?" Perhaps
we should have looked among the rich and the great men who
were casting in their gifts, and whom we saAV approach Avith the
largest offerings to God, bearing a sober and sanctified demeanor,
and presenting their gifts with the most seeming devotion. I
suppose, we should have said, " This or that man appears to be
most especially glorifying God — look at his manner — see, he is
offering a vast gift."
But Avhom did our Lord point out as serving Him most? Who
is that person, whose character he has recorded in His eternal
Word, as the individual who glorified Him most among them all?
A poor creature, whom perhaps we should never have looked at,
or even thought of for a moment, — "a certain poor widow, and
she threw in two mites, vmich make a farthing." Mark, xii. 42.
Now, remember this ; and remember whatever your condition in
life may be, — if God has been pleased to give to you the precious
gift of salvation in Christ, if He has given you to knoAv Him as
your hope and refuge, — remember, I say, whatever your situation
in life may be, if the Lord has given you that unspeakable gift,
your calling is not to get out of your place, but to serve the Lord
and glorify Him in your place. He has placed you, perhaps, an

350

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humble member of the body, perhaps a weak member of the body ;
but you are as much a member of the body, as the highest — you
are one Avith Christ.
Oh, poor believer, if there be any such here ; poor — destitute-
tried — afflicted believer ! remember the Lord has put you into a
place, in which, perhaps, the very difficulties — the very trials that
afflict you, may be in His eye, the very means by Avhich you can
honor and serve Him most. If the Lord had given that poor
Avoman a large fortune, He would not have given her so much to
honor Him Avith, as when He was pleased to give her but two
mites as her all, but gave her too a heart to cast that all into the
treasury. Consider this. And what a blessing it is to think, that
the poorest and humblest of His flock is not overlooked by that
God who is " no respecter of persons." He hath " chosen the poor
of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom." James ii. 5.
If indeed Christ is the Refuge of your soul, His heart — His hand
is over you — He will " never leave you nor forsake you." Oh,
think of that; — and whatever be the different gifts which God
has been pleased to bestow on us or to Avithhold from us — it is of
the utmost moment to us, to remember that it is the Lord who
giveth, and the Lord who taketh away, or Avithholdeth — that
whatever be our circumstances or position, it is not more our
duty than our happiness to remember, that Ave are just where the
Lord has seen fit to place us — that there we are called to serve
and glorify our Heavenly Master. In the simple, but expressive
and comprehensive words of our Catechism, "To do our duty in
that state of life unto which it shall please God to call us."
You observe, this subject is more enlarged on, in 1st Cor. xii.,
than it is here. But I have called your attention to that chapter,
in order that, in considering this portion of Ephesians, you may
refer to it, and dAvell upon the enlarged statement of the subject
that is given in that passage ; and look to all the references, in the
various parts of the Word of God, in which these great truths are
brought before us. That is the profitable Avay to study Scripture,
" not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1st
Cor. ii. 13.
Here the Apostle speaks, not merely of spiritual gifts as bestowed
on the individuals themselves, but as bestOAved on them for the
edification of the Church ; and he speaks of the individuals on
Avhom they were bestowed as being themselves gifts to the Church.
This is the conclusion of the passage which I have quoted from
Corinthians, for the Apostle proceeds there, " And God hath set
some in the church, first, apostles ; secondarily, prophets ; thirdly,
teachers ; after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, govern
ments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles ? are all prophets ?
are all teachers ? are all workers of miracles ?" 1st Cor. xii. 28,
29. So here the Apostle, omitting the gifts to the individuals, by
which they were respectively qualified for their offices, speaks of
them, as being themselves the gifts of Christ to His Church.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 351
" He gave some apostles ;" that is, men specially called—
and directly inspired — and sent by God Himself. Those who
were thus sent were called Apostles ; — all other teachers in the
Church Avere appointed and sent forth by these Apostles. The
Apostle's office, deriving its immediate authority and mission from
God, was, of course, the highest office of teacher in the Church.
With them He promised to continue — "Lo, I am with you always;
even unto the end of the world." Mat. xxviii. 20. And those
Apostles, and their instructions, we have to this day.
He gave " some prophets ;" this is used in the New Testa
ment rather as referring to teaching or preaching than to foretell
ing ; the gift of prophecy is rather a gift of preaching and edifying
the flock, than of predicting ; therefore, I rather think it means
here, those Avho were gifted to teach and to preach in the Church.
So saith the Apostle, " Ye may all prophesy one by one that all
may learn and that all may be comforted'' 1st Cor. xiv. 31.
" And some evangelists ;" those whose office it was to go
forth and preach the Gospel. It seems from this name being ap
plied to Philip, Acts, xxi. 8, and from what we read of Philip, Acts,
viii. ; and from the command to Timothy, to " do the work of an
evangelist," 2nd Tim. iv. 5 ; in which places alone this word oc
curs ; that this office was that of a missionary, itinerating to
preach the Gospel, as the Apostles did themselves ; an office neces
sary at all times in the Church, and too lamentably neglected in
our own.
" And some pastors and teachers ;" the exact difference
betAveen those gifts, we may, perhaps, not be able, adequately or
fully to determine. But " pastors" seem to be those, whose especial
gift it was to visit and to feed the flock. " Feed my lambs. Feed
my sheep," saith the Lord Jesus. John xx. 15, 16, 17. Some are
peculiarly gifted to converse — to take the Scriptures and read
them — to open out their meaning, and to strengthen and nourish
the flock.
" Teachers" are those again, perhaps, whose office it was to
instruct children in the church, and to expound the Word of God
to them and others, Avho required especial instruction. Whether
these Avere exactly distinct offices in the Church, or persons specially
gifted to discharge these varied functions, they were all given as
gifts to the Church ; for the purposes, which the Apostle proceeds
afterwards to explain.
There are many persons at this day, Avho think that there are
men who have different gifts of this kind, and who should be ac
cordingly appointed to those several offices ; and that we ought to
discern them ; that they ought to be sent out in the Church, as
evangelists, prophets, pastors and teachers. But that appears to
be a very erroneous opinion. It is very true, that God has been
pleased to bestow different gifts on His servants. He has made
some men powerful in one Avay, and some in another — some pow
erful in preaching — some more competent to act as pastors in feed
ing the flock, going among them — visiting — instructing them—

352

lectures on the ephesians.

strengthening and building them up in Christ. But Ave are not
competent to form a true estimate or judgment of these persons or
their respective gifts, as the Apostles did. All the different means
of spiritual instruction, all the varied writings of these inspired
Apostles, are now collected together for us, as the written Word
of God, and are given to us as the Word of inspiration, by the
Apostles themselves ; so that these gifts which were at that time the
direct and immediate qualifications given by the Spirit of God — -
given by inspiration or by intuition — without the written col
lected Word — are now to be attained by men in the study of that
Word, and to be used by them from thence in edifying and in
structing others. And we might as Avell expect, I think, that mi
raculous gifts of tongues were to supersede the use of learning — -
or an immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost to prevent the ne
cessity of taking thought what we should say — as, suppose that
these distinctive gifts were noAv discernible in every character, in
such a mode, as to determine the place appointed for them by God
in the Church.
Every minister ought to be a prophet — that is, a preacher — an
evangelist — a pastor — a teacher. Every minister ought to be a
well-instructed scribe — " to bring out of his treasure things new
and old" — Mat. xii. 52, to draAv forth out of the Word of God, the
treasure of instruction which he may be called upon to administer,
in the different parts of his vocation, to the flock of Christ — to ex
pound — to instruct— to teach — to admonish — to "reprove — rebuke
— exhort" — to comfort — to encourage — to preach the Word, as it
may be needful in the calling of his sacred office to do.
However great or varied the gifts of men may be — it is not
great intellectual gifts — not great poAvers of eloquence, that really
constitute a faithful and efficient minister ! It is drawing out of
the treasury of the Word of God — bringing forth the holy truth
that is written there, as a means of instructing — feeding — refresh
ing — nourishing — strengthening, and directing the soul.
I have, for my own part, gone away from listening to some, con
sidered most eloquent men in the Church — and from hearing very
eloquent sermons — and I have thought, that the person Avas a
very powerful and highly gifted man ; and that his discourse Avas a
fine oratorical display ; — still my heart has derived no refreshment
from it. And I have gone aAvay from hearing a man, with not
the least pretensions to what the Avorld might call eloquence ; —
while my soul has been refreshed, and fed with the Word of Life
- — my heart instructed, and comforted by the precious truths of the
glorious Gospel. As far as my own experience goes — and I have
been noAv for many years, a hearer, more than a teacher — I could
say, I have derived from the exposition of the Word of God, by
men who Avere not highly gifted with eloquence, at least as much,
if not more profit, than from those who were. When eloquence is
devoted to simplify and to impress pure Scriptural truth — I know
how important and valuable it is. But there is a very great dan
ger, both to preachers and hearers, lest the gratification of the

lectures on the ephesians. 353
taste, or the intellect might supersede the edification of the soul —
lest men should be led away by the " wisdom of words," more than
edified by the simplicity of the Gospel. This is what the Apostle
says to the Corinthians, " I. brethren, when I came to you, came
not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto you
the testimony of God : For I determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 1st Cor. ii. 1, 2.
And again, " Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel ; not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect." 1st Cor. i. 17. Our feelings may be ex
cited sometimes, by glowing appeals, that may address our fancy
or our imagination — but depend upon it, the only solid food for the
soul, is that which comes by the Holy Spirit of God, bringing the
truth as it is in Jesus, home, through the understanding, to our
hearts and consciences.
Therefore, whatever may be the importance of the gifts, con
sidered in themselves, they derive all their real utility, and all
their blessing, from this — that they are sanctified by the Holy
Spirit of God, to the service of the Lord of Glory. And if the gift
of eloquence may not be very great in a minister, let us remember,
that the gift of eternal life is very great ; — and that the simplest
testimony and proclamation of that great salvation, is the richest
eloquence that can reach the ears of a dying sinner. Let us re
member, the power of Christ is very great ; and let us remember,
that it is by the simplicity of truth the heart is instructed, and th,e
soul saved — not by the wisdom of Avords. As saith the Apostle,
"After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by vnsdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe." 1st Cor. i. 21.
It is very important for us to consider this. There really seems
a. great evil in the Church of Christ on this very subject. You go
into Avhat is called religious company — you hear Avhat is called
religious conversation. Persons think, that if they speak of re
ligious men and of religious things— of this preacher and that
society — this sermon and that religious meeting — they are con
versing on religion. There is a vast deal of talk about these
things, but very little indeed about Christ — very little about the
precious Word of eternal life — little of "considering one another
to provoke unto love and to good ivorks : ........ exhorting one
another : and so much the more, as we see the day approaching."
Heb. x. 24.
Talking of religious things and of preachers, is not religion.
Sometimes it merely ends in " One saith I am of Paul, and
I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." 1st Cor. i. 12.
It often degenerates into a mere contemptible sort of gossip, re
ligious gossip instead of worldly gossip. Ah, my friends, Christ in
the heart, ought to bring forth Christ in the closet — Christ in the
drawing-room — Christ in private, and Christ in public. Is not
this the meaning of the Apostle when he saith, " Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admon-
23

354

LECTURES . N the ephesians.

ishing one another ; in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your heart to the Lord ; and whatsoever
ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Col. iii. 16, 17.
We have not now time to enter upon the consideration of these
various offices, of which the Apostle speaks as gifts to the Church,
in reference to the edification of the body of Christ. If the Lord
spares us, we shall on the next day consider from the 12th verse,
and see what the end and use of these different instructors was to
be. May the Lord sanctify His Word to us, and bring it with
" demonstration of the Spirit and power " to our souls.
It is a great comfort, my dear friends, in opening the Bible and
reading, or hearing it read or expounded to think that all the
blessing comes from God : that although we should endeavor to
speak the Word in simplicity and faithfulness according to the
truth, still that it is not a person's language, or their manner, or
any power they could possess to communicate instruction, that can
really convey any truth to a sinner's soul. It is a great comfort
to think, that it is all the power of God : — That the power of the
Holy Spirit alone can bless His Word to our understandings, con
sciences, or hearts. However weak or feeble we may be — how
imperfect soever our instruction — (and, alas, how imperfect and
inadequate to the mighty subject are our best instructions ! how
very poor and meagre are our best expositions of God's Word !)
still let them be ever so inadequate, and ever so weak ; — the hope
— the comfort of the minister for his own soul and the souls of
others, is the thought, that all the blessing comes from God — that
his is the power, that His is the glory. And therefore, he may
hope, if he addresses a people, who are looking up in prayer and
supplication for God's blessing — that however humble his instruc
tions, God's blessing will attend them — the people will be edified
and instructed — souls will be fed with the Bread of life — they will
be enabled to know more of themselves — more of Christ — their
affections will be drawn out to their Lord and Master, and so, they
will be established in the faith of Jesus — their life will be in
fluenced by the power of faith and love, and this because it is not
man's work but God's. Oh, let us pray, that the work in our
hearts may be God's work, and then He will "perfect that which
concerneth us: and not forsake the work of his own hands." Ps.
cxxxviii. 8.
He will keep us in trials, difficulties, dangers — in life and in
death ; so that, " Whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and
whether we die, we die unto the Lord, whether we live, there
fore, or die, we are the Lords'- Rom. xiv. 8.

THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.

Ephesians IV.— 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

" For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ : Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive ; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in
all things, which is the head, even Christ : From whom the whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying
of itself in love."
We come now to consider the object, which the Spirit tells us
by the Apostle here, the Lcrd had in giving to His Church these
" Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers." And we
see, in the 12th verse, what that object was, " For the perfect
ing OF THE SAINTS, FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, FOR
the edifying of the body of christ : tlll we all come
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ : That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE ; But SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE,
MAY GROW UP INTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, WHICH IS THE
HEAD, EVEN CHRIST : FROM WHOM THE WHOLE BODY FITLY
JOINED TOGETHER AND COMPACTED BY THAT WHICH EVERY
JOINT SUPPLIETH, ACCORDING TO THE EFFECTUAL WORKING
IN THE MEASURE OF EVERY PART, MAKETH INCREASE OF THE
BODY, UNTO THE EDIFYING OF ITSELF IN LOVE." Here Ave
have the inspired description of the Church of Christ, and how it
ought to be instructed and built up by those ministers whom God
gives to it as gifts. This passage might be applied or interpreted
in a two-fold sense : —
First. — It might be considered in an enlarged prophetic sense.
Namely that the Lord has given these different ministers as gifts
to the church — who should continue to gather in — to complete —
or perfect the number of His elect, and build up the stones of His
Spiritual Temple, until all are brought in, and until at the last all
shall come to the full perfection of growth in Christ — until the
Spiritual Temple shall be finished, and the Head-stone is laid,
" with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it." Zech. iv. 7. _

356 lectures on the ephesians.
If it is limited to this sense, it is manifest that the words, " per
fecting," — "edifying," — "a perfect man," — "measure OF
THE STATURE OF THE fulness of Christ," must refer to the
completion of the number of the elect. I believe that this is, at
least, fully implied and intended in the passage.
But Secondly. — It might be considered as being applied to
these ministers, as gifts, for the individuals in every particular
branch of the universal Church, and for their Avork in the edifica
tion — in the salvation, of the members individually, and of the
Church collectively. In this sense, these words must be con
sidered in reference to individuals, and individual Churches.
But indeed the former sense of the passage must also imply
this. For it is by the perfecting and building up of the saints in
dividually, in every Church, and every successive generation, by
each successive generation of ministers whom the Lord shall raise
up and send as His faithful witnesses and laborers, that the whole
body of the elect shall at last be brought to " the measure of
THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF ChRIST." When the Glo-
rious Head and the glorified members shall all be manifested in
the fulness of the glory that shall be revealed at His appearing.
Let us then consider in this latter sense of the passage, that
these ministers are given "For the perfecting of the
saints." Are not the saints then perfect? — Yes, in one sense,
they are. " Ye are complete in him," Col. ii. 10, saith the Scrip
ture. Again, it is written, " By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." Heb. x. 14. The saint — that
is, the sinner who is brought by the Spirit to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and sanctified in Christ — sanctified " through his blood,"
Heb. xiii. 12 — sanctified " through the truth," John, xvii. 17— is
accounted perfectly sinless before God : — for, though a sinner him
self, his sins are entirely removed, being taken away from him,
and laid on Christ ; they are no longer imputed unto the believer.
" The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;" Is. liii. 6.
Therefore, " Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not im
pute sin." Rom. iv. 8. He is perfectly righteous before God — for
having no righteousness of his OAvn, the righteousness of his glo
rious Lord and Master is put doAvn to his account — as if he had
entirely performed it, " For Christ is the end of the law for right
eousness to every one that, believeth." Rom. x. 4. "He who
knew no sin Was made sin for us, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him." 2nd Cor. v. 21. So, " There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus." Rom. viii. 1. And so in that sense, the saint is perfect —
perfectly sanctified in Christ — set apart in Him — consecrated —
dedicated to God, in Him and by Him — and one with Jesus, for
ever. " For," saith the Apostle, " of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us ivisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption." 1st Cor. i. 30. Therefore
we say in this sense, the saint is indeed wholly and completely
perfect.

lectures on the ephesians. 357
But, in another sense, the saint is very imperfect. He inhabits
a body of sin and death — he is in the midst of a world that lieth
in wickedness — he is subject to temptation — to the power of an
adversary, that " like a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour." 1st Pet. v. 8. He is not perfect in his under
standing — nor in his will — nor perfect in his affections — nor in his
walk ; — in all these things he is very imperfect. He is also very
imperfect in his vieAvs of the Sacred Word. How little does he
knoAV of himself — his own ignorance — sinfulness — weakness —
want — and how little of " the unsearchable riches of Christ," out of
which he is to be instructed — strengthened — pardoned— nourished
— and directed by the Spirit ; — how little of the mind and purposes
of God, as revealed in His Sacred Truth. How much has he need
to read — to hear — to learn from the exhaustless stores of God's
Eternal Word. How often is he involved, both within and with
out, in perplexities — in doubts — in fears — in difficulties. And
therefore, when we consider these things, and they are but a small
part of those that are to be considered — Ave see hoAV imperfect are
the saints — we see hoAV the Church requires a continual ministra
tion of the W01'd of God. Hence, the Lord hath given these gifts
to the Church, "For the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ.
The Apostle John speaks of three stages in the life of a believer,
a child, a young' man, and a father in Christ. When we are first
brought to the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, when " the Sun
of righteousness arises with healing in his wings" on our souls.
Mai. iv. 2 — when we see the first light of divine truth gilding with
its beams all objects around us — brightening every prospect in time
and opening a glorious vista into an illuminated eternity ,— we
think, very frequently that we are so established— so strong — that
the Word of Truth — the power of the Gospel is so great, so glori
ous, that the effect in our hearts is such, that we shall never again
fall into the evils with Avhich Ave know our previous course has
been continually defiled. " In my prosperity I said, I shall never
be moved, Lord by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong." Ps. xxx. 6, 7.
But Oh, my friends, how very soon the believer begins to feel
the imperfection of his knowledge — the weakness of his faith —
the corruption of his will— and the power of the sin that dwelleth
in his deceitful and desperately wicked heart.
Then commences the conflict within — the struggle between the
flesh and the spirit — the new man and the old man — " the law in
the members," and " the law in the mind :" and he requires, there
fore, a continual increase of knowledge to be derived from the
Word of God, of his own character — of his own heart, and of the
character — offices and power of his Lord and Saviour.
Therefore, you remember in this Epistle, iii. 16, the prayer of
the Apostle for this Church "that he would grant you according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might, by his

358

lectures on the ephesians.

Spirit in the inner man." You see they want the strength of the
Spirit in their souls. " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith," — they want the indAvelling of Christ through the Spirit in
their hearts by faith, — the habitual turning of the heart to Christ
— the habitual leaning of the heart on Christ, — the habitual con
fidence of the soul in the person and work of their Lord and
Saviour ; — in his spotless righteousness and His precious blood.
" That ye being rooted and grounded in love" — just as the plant,
as it grows from a seedling into a sapling, and from a sapling
into a tree, requires to spread forth its roots continually below, to
take deeper hold in the soil in which it is planted, that it may
spread forth its branches above, both to yield fruit and to sustain
the pressure of the storm ; so the believer, who is like " a tree
planted by the rivers of waters that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season," Ps. i. 3, as he requires to have his branches spreading
forth continually and bearing fruit and blasts of trial in faith, so
does he need as constantly to have his roots, the fibres of his
heart's desires, affections, confidence and hope, spread deeper and
deeper into the love of his Lord and Saviour.
Therefore the vast subject, "the perfecting of the saints,
THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF
Christ," might be enlarged upon as the continual application of
the whole of God's truth to the continual wants of all the mem
bers of His church and the constant exhibition to them of His
power, faithfulness, and love.
There is not one who hears me, who is a believer in the Gospel,
and who, therefore, knows anything of his own heart, that does
not feel continually his need of strengthening, of refreshing, of
edification in Christ.
Why do we meet together ? why do we read the Bible ? why
pray? why expound or converse about the Scriptures ? Is it not
because we feel our continual want of being built up and strength
ened in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Omit, for a little
season, the reading of your Bible — neglect, for a time, prayer — ¦
forsake the means of grace — abandon the ordinances of God, and
see how you will droop and languish in your spirit. See how your
heart will grow faint in faith and hope — how your desires and
affections will be debased into wilful disobedience to God, and
clinging to all things of earth ! It is only by the study of the
Word of God — it is only by diligent attendance on His appointed
ordinances — on the means of grace — by prayer, public and private ;
it is only by these means, (and these are the means of profiting
by the ministry) it is only by these means, I say, that we can de
rive strength or power in our spiritual life, or groAvth in grace to
carry on our conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Therefore, look into your own hearts, for your sins — your wants
— your weaknesses — temptations — trials — corruptions — whatever
they be ; look into your hearts, I say, for these, and then you will
understand, by your necessities, what is the need of the perfecting
of the saints. You will see your innumerable wants; — and the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 359
continual sense of your wants will lead you to feel how much yoa
require for the perfecting and the edifying of your own soul.
But it is ahvays most important to keep in view, — that while
the believer must ever feel his own wants, and what he requires
continually for his soul's strength and edification, — he is never to
allow his sense of those wants, or of all that he requires, to hinder
his view of his perfection, as he is complete in Christ Jesus. If his
heart does not condemn him of insincerity or double-dealing with God
— if he is indeed sincerely looking unto Jesus — he is not to allow his
view of his own wants — sins — and imperfections, to hinder him
from believing with confidence, that he is accepted, and perfectly
delivered from all condemnation, in Christ his Lord and Saviour.
When the Apostle as we have seen was groaning under the pres
sure of his body of sin and death, he triumphed at the same mo
ment in deliverance in Jesus, " O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vii. 24, 25.
And this is a point, very important for us carefully to distinguish
and examine. For unless believers are well instructed in the
Truth of God, it is a frequent error among them, as we have be
fore observed, to think, that although they are privileged to believe
that the work of Christ is indeed a refuge for their souls, — yet they
cannot have perfect confidence in their acceptance through the
work of Christ, until they find in themselves a certain growth
towards perfection, which they do not find ; — and therefore, they
look off Christ, and the perfect work of Christ, as the ground of
their acceptance, — and they look into themselves — they feel their
own innumerable sins and imperfections, which keep them thus
continually back from trusting and rejoicing in Christ. They look
for a certain purifying work of the Spirit, yet to be wrought in
their hearts, — and, until this is wrought, they cannot really find
perfect confidence before God in Christ, — not knowing that the
purification of the heart is by faith, "purifying their hearts by
faith," Acts xv. 9, and by the blood of Jesus, " having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience," Heb. x. 22. That is a great
delusion — a great error. Let us never forget, for a moment, that
it is the privilege of the believer to rest with confidence on his
complete acceptance, through the finished work of Jesus ; and
while he is fully conscious of all his own imperfections, and all his
own wants and sins, he has to seek for strength against these, and
pray in the midst of these — not to complete — or to strengthen — or
to increase his acceptance before God, — but to enable him to serve
and glorify his God, who "hath made him accepted in the Be
loved," Chap. i. 6, by the continual subjugation of his own corrupt
affections — by a continual conquest over his own carnal mind —
and a continual exhibition of Christian holiness — and a devoted
life — and Christian fruitfulness in the service, and for the glory,
of his Lord and Master. So observe what our Lord says, " Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works," not that you may derive pardon— or peace — or acceptance

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from your good Avorks, — but that men may " glorify your Father
which is in heaven." Mat. v. 16. Our good works — our holy and
devoted life, are for the glorifying of our Lord and Master, and not
for the acceptance of our own souls — they are manifested as the
effects of our acceptance, but are no part of the cause of it ; for our
OAvn peace. Christ is the Alpha and Omega — Christ is all.
Consider these vast truths, they are of deep moment. When
the Apostle then says that these ministers endowed with various
powers are "for the perfecting of the saints," he does not
mean to imply that the saints are to doubt of their complete and
perfect acceptance in Christ, for you recollect he says, Ephesians,
i. 3, 4, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heav
enly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love." Remember he blessed God
for this being their actual condition, and therefore, there is nothing
to be done in order to give them that perfect acceptance Avhich
they already have.
But these are gifts to the church.
" For the avork of the ministry," who can attempt to tell
what the varied work of the ministry is — what the varied work
of the ministry must be ? None, — Unless he can tell the varied
wants of man and the varied fulness of the blessings Avhich are
contained in this blessed Book, as given to man by God, and Avhich
it is the province and duty of the minister to draw forth from that
Word, for the conversion, the edification, and the salvation of his
poor guilty fellow-sinners: — "The work of the ministry" is
as extensive as man's wants, and God's grace and glory, as it is
revealed in Scripture. It is only necessary to state the meaning of
the Apostle ; Ave could not enter into the vast field which it opens.
"For the edifying of the body of Christ." "Edifying"
— building up the body of Christ — increasing it — strengthening it
— establishing it — compacting it — uniting the members of the body
of Christ together — building up each individual soul— and build
ing all up together in Christ. What is the Avork of a builder in
a building? Some employed in the work, hew out stones from
the quarry — some draw them to the foundation — some hammer
and square them — the builder lays every single stone firmly and
evenly on the foundation ; and from the moment he lays the first
Stone on the foundation, he applies his plumb-line as the wall goes
up, to see that he lays every stone evenly on the same foundation ;
and the top stone of the wall rests as much on the foundation
stone, as the stone that immediately presses over it. All rest on
the foundation, from the bottom to the top. So it is the business
of all the ministers of Christ to take care that all are placed on
the foundation, and every man is to " take heed how he buildeth
thereupon." 1st Cor. iii. 10. All must rest alike on the Lord Jesus:
Christ. The minister has the same Gospel for the salvation of all
— the same Rock for all to rest on — the same Hope to set before

lectures on the ephesians. 361
them all, — but he must regulate his admonitions and exhortations
to them, according to their different circumstances of life, as
the Apostle himself exemplifies in this Epistle. He must direct
his varied exhortations to parents — children — husbands — wives
— masters — servants — those in high stations, and those in the
humbler Avalks of life — those in power, and those in subjection. He
has different admonitions to give them all, according to their differ
ent circumstances. It is his business to instruct them, according
to the position in Avhich God has been pleased to place them in
the Church, in the several duties of their respective spheres in life.
While all are laid on the foundation of Christ alone as their hope,
they are all to be built up in Him, to glorify their Lord and Saviour,
wheresoever He hath been pleased to place them in His Temple,
For these gifts are given, " For the work of the ministry,
FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST."
We considered, on the last day, and indeed Ave cannot too fre
quently advert to it, that there never was a greater or a more
common delusion than this : — that believers should think, that if
they Avere in some circumstances, different from those in Avhich
they are placed, they would serve the Lord better, and glorify Him
more. 1 believe that is a frequent temptation and snare of their
heart — I am sure it is of mine. We are continually prone to say,
or at least to think : — " If it Avas not for such and such a difficulty
— or for such and such a want of means, or power, or opportunity
— if I Avere placed in a different position from what I feel I am
placed in — then I would be able to serve the Lord better." Now,
this is a gross delusion — a snare of our enemy. For God is to be
glorified by His people, in every position of difficulty — of danger
— of distress. He is to be glorified by us, in overcoming the very
obstacles of which we complain. In the difficulty is the victory
and the glory of divine grace. We are seeking for facilities of the
flesh, and not of the Spirit. Let us remember all things are alike
easy to Him in whom is all our strength, " / can do all things,
through Christ, which strengtheneth me." Phil. iv. 13. There
fore our duty and our happiness is, not to change the place that
our Heavenly Father has allotted to us, but to glorify Him there
with our bodies and spirits, which are His. If we be low, not to
seek to be high, " Seekest thou great things for thyself seek
them not." Let us rather seek, in our different circumstances,
whatever they are, to make them and ourselves subservient to our
Master's glory. There is not a single individual, from the highest
to the lowest on earth, that cannot serve and glorify the Lord, in
the situation in which he is placed. So " the edifying of the .
body of Christ" is, in this sense, the building up of the Church
of Jesus — not only, as it may be interpreted, in gathering in the
stones of the temple, but in establishing them all individually in
the faith of our Lord and Saviour — in directing and strengthening
them all, and establishing them all in the service of their Divine
Master, in the various places in which the Lord has been pleased
to fix them in His Church, for His glory.

362

Lectures on the ephesians.

"Till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the son of god unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness of christ."
This part of the passage seems to me to indicate that the more
enlarged prophetic interpretation of it, of which we spoke, is, if
not its direct and primary meaning, at least expressly included in
the Apostolic view and intention ; for we can scarcely conceive
that so full and perfect an image would be meant by the inspired
writer, to express that, which presents to the mind so very inade
quate an idea of it, as that state, to which either the Church at
Ephesus or any other church has ever attained. Besides, it seems
too contracted a view by far, to suppose that the words " We all,"
are applied to the mere Church at Ephesus, — they seem plainly to
comprehend not only that Church but all the Churches of Christ, —
and not only those of Apostolic times, but the whole mystical body
with their glorious Head. It seems to comprehend the same idea
as that, in our Blessed Lord's own prayer, "Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through
their word ; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world,
may believe that thou hast sent me." John xvii. 20, 21.
But, no doubt, as all the gifts of the ministry were given by the
Lord to His Church to be continued till that glorious consumma
tion, when all are to be gathered together in Christ — so the same
blessed standard of unity in the faith and doctrine of the Gospel,
and in the edification of holiness and love, in which the glorified
Church shall appear, is that, into which it should be the object, as
it is the duty, of the ministry to labor to bring every part of the
Church in its present dispensation. And this brings us to the
practical application of the passage. For that state, to Avhich it
is the object of the whole appointed ministry of the dispensation to
bring the whole Church at the last, must be the proper aim of
every minister, with reference to every Church and every indi
vidual in their present state — till they "all come in the unity
OF THE FAITH AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GoD
UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF
the fulness of Christ ;" till they all are perfectly edified,
strengthened, and built up in the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ,
like the members of one body. Without any doubt this ought to
be the object of the Avork of the ministry ; for let us recollect, that
although it is true, that no church ever has arrived, on this earth,
at the fulness of this blessed state, still the measure of man's at
tainment, whether individually or collectively — the measure of the
attainment of the individual believer, or the measure of the at
tainment of any collective body of believers in a church, is not
to be the standard, according to which either men or churches are
to be, collectively or individually edified. Though we never at
tain to perfection, still perfection is the standard at which we
all should aim. We attain not to the fulfilment of God's holy
law, still the law of God is the true and only standard of perfec-

lectures on the ephesians. 363
tion, that standard is the measure of our duty, and at that stand
ard we are consequently bound to aim. Therefore, that standard
should be the only measure of the believer's judgment of himself.
And this is the reason why a man when his eyes are opened to
see the holy and spiritual nature of the law, sees his own lost con
dition as a sinner, and so the Apostle saith, " When the command
ment came sin revived and I died." Rom. vii. 9. And this is the
reason, why, the more believers grow in grace — the more clearly
and deeply the law of God is written in their heart, this is tite
reason why, (as we have before explained at length) the more they
grow in humility, because as they acquire increased knowledge of
the spiritual nature and perfection of the law of God — as they
acquire increased knoAvledge of the spiritual dominion which it
claims over their wills, desires, affections, thoughts, and imagina
tions — as they acquire a knowledge of this heavenly standard, —
so they acquire an increased knowledge of their own violations —
their short-comings — their constant transgressions ; they see and
learn continually how totally they fail of approaching the stand
ard of perfection. Thus the perfect standard of the law of God,
ought to be the aim of every believer for himself, and every col
lective body of believers as a church ; and it ought to be the aim
of every minister — of every person, whose office and whose object
it is to edify the body of Christ, to hold up this holy law as the
standard and rule of their duty.
It is the perfection of the standard of duty that magnifies the
nature of sin, and it is the extent and magnitude of the nature
of sin that exalts and glorifies the unsearchable riches of Christ in
the souls of his people, showing that " where sin abounded grace
did much more abound." Rom v. 20.
Now as the law is the standard of the believer's duty ; and as
it is by his transgressions of the law he learns to prize the salva
tion of the Gospel — so the standard of perfect faith, and unity,
and love, and glory in the Gospel, ought to be the standard of the
believer's aim, and of that of all the Church ; and consequently,
to this, it is the duty of the ministry to labor to bring the Church.
The love and harmony of the Church above, surrounding the
throne of God and the Lamb, with the praises of redeeming love,
ought to be the standard and model for the Church below.
It does not at all follow, that a Church must necessarily attain
to this state, any more than that it must attain to a perfect obedi
ence to the law, because that is the standard of its duty. But it
is true, nevertheless, that this is the standard of attainment for the
Church, and ought to be the object of every minister, in endeavor
ing to edify the Church, "till we all' come, in the unity of
THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GoD, UN
TO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF
the fulness of Christ." We know, indeed, how impossible
the full attainment of this glorious stature is in the Church now —
we know that, even under the teaching of the Apostles themselves,
the different understandings of men — the different orders of their

364

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

minds — their several sins and failings, hindered them from all hav
ing the same clear, distinct view of the truth — and from having in
uniform exercise or power, the faith or trust in the truths they did
know. But still, this ought to be the end and object of every in
dividual minister and of every believer in the Church.
Dear friends, persons imagine, when they know the doctrine of
justification by faith, that they knoAv Christ ; but we never knoAV
Christ as Ave ought to knoAv Him, Ave neA'er know the Lord Jesus
Christ, just as Ave never knoAv ourselves — The Lord saith, "The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who
can know it?" Jer. xvii. 9. So Ave may say, "Christ is glorious
above all things, infinitely precious, infinitely suitable to all the
wants of poor sinners, who can know Him?" So, you see, the
Apostle saith in this Epistle that to him Avas giA'en, to "preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." chap. iii. 8,
and Avhen he speaks of knowing the love of Christ he saith," and
to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." chap. iii. 19.
Yes indeed, it passeth knowledge, — we never can know it ; let
any of us look back at our course and see Avhat He has been to us !
let us see Avhat Christ has done for us ! let us just consider what
every individual member of his Church has experienced from
Him,— of His grace — His pardoning love — His redeeming power —
His long-suffering — His sympathy — His compassion — His tender
ness — His vigilance — His faithfulness — His truth ! Think how
He has borne with us. — Think what He has borne from us ! We
may well repeat the language of the hymn,
" Could we bear from one another,
What He daily bears from us 1
Yet this glorious Friend and Brother,
Loves us, though we treat him thus 1
His is boundless love indeed,
Jesus is a friend in need."
When Ave think of what Christ has been to us, we may say, we
never could have anticipated what He has done in time past, any
more than we can tell all He shall do in time to come, Ave never
can comprehend the grace and the glory of Christ. Therefore,
here too, the necessity for the believer to grow continually in the
knoAvledge of Christ, as the Apostle says, " grow in grace, and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2nd Pet.
iii. 18. Hence, both the need of these gifts of ministers and of the
constant exercise of their ministration " Till ave all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of christ."
If men really believed the Gospel of Christ in the pureness and
brightness of its truth, and gave to it the weight and value it de
serves, we should have no divisions in the Church.
Observe, the Apostle saith, " The faith," "The knoavledge
of the Son of God." There is but one faith— one truth — one
Oospel — dissension is produced from the multiplicity of ignorances

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 365
and errors by which that faith — that truth — that Gospel are cor
rupted, perverted, denied. — When the salvation of Christ Avas first
proclaimed with the power of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pen
tecost, — Avhen the pride and presumption of sinners, had neither
time or opportunity to mix up their AVorks, whether moral or cere
monial Avith the righteousness and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
as the ground of a sinner's justification before God. — When remis
sion of sins/through the name of Jesus, was freely and fully pro
claimed to the very men who "with wicked hands had crucified
and slain" Him, and Avhen they ^ who gladly received his word
were baptized" then they " continued daily with one accord in
the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." Acts ii. 23, 38,
46. Then "The multitude of them that believed were of one
heart and of one soul." Acts v. 32. "The unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God" then produced
that unity of love, that oneness of heart and soul, which filled
their OAvn bosoms with joy, and manifested to others the truth and
power of the doctrine they believed. But soon, alas ! the evils of
sin produced discord and disunion in the body. Soon " when the
number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring
of the Grecians against the Hibrews, because their wid.ows were
neglected in the daily ministration." Acts vi. 1. Soon persecu
tion superinduced other trials and scattered the disciples. Soon
again, when the Gentiles Avere brought into the Church, the Phar
isaic teachers arose preaching circumcision and keeping the laAV
of Moses, corrupting and perverting the Gospel, till the assembled
Apostles and Elders Avere obliged to issue a letter to the Church
against them. Contentions about beggarly elements, eating cer
tain meats, observances of days, as in the Church of Rome, Rom.
xiv. Contentions and divisions, one saying " / am of Paul, and
another I am of Apollos," as in the Church of Corinth. Corrup
tions of the Gospel through ceremonial observances and the merit
of works, as in the Churches of Galatia, which struck at the very
root of the Christian faith ; these and similar evils indicated the
necessity of men to labor in the Avork of the ministry in every
Church, till they Avere brought to " the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God."
Hence the earnest exhortations of the Apostle, as in this chap
ter, to unity in faith and love. Hence his prayer as for the Ro
mans, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. xv. 6. Hence
the duty of all the ministers of Christ in the exercise of their
holy calling, which cannot be more scripturally and faithfully en
forced, than in the exhortation in our OAvn solemn service, in the
Ordering of Priests, which is a practical application of this very
passage, and of which the following is an extract :
EXHORTATION IN THE ORDERING OF PRIESTS.
" Wherefore consider with yourselves the end of your ministry towards the children
»f God, towards the spouse and body of Christ, and see that you never cease your

366

lectures on the ephesians.

labor, your care and diligence, until that you have done all that lieth in you according
to your bounden duty, to brine all such, as are or shall be committed to your charge,
unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and per
fection of age in Christ, that there be no place left among you, either for error in religion
or for viciousness of life."
We perceive, by the subsequent illustration, what the evil is,
against which the Apostle desires particularly to guard them,
namely — the instability of ignorance. It is by the edification of
the ministry, that the Church is to be brought to ripeness and
perfection of maturity in Christ — from the weakness of child
hood, to the strength and stability of age. So he saith, " That
WE HENCEFORTH be no more children, tossed to and fro,
AND CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, BY THE
SLEIGHT OF MEN AND CUNNING CRAFTINESS, WHEREBY THEY
LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE."
This is a peculiarly apposite illustration. If a child hears a
number of stories, from different persons, that are contrary to, or
inconsistent with each other, about which it has no experience or
knowledge, — it is led off, and carried away by the various impres
sions produced by the most opposite opinions. It does not know
what to believe, or Avhom to follow. So it is Avith all those in the
Church, who are not established in the truth — they are like weak
and ignorant children.
They hear one man's sermon, and they say, " / am of Paul." —
Then they hear another man's, and they say, " / am of Apollos."
They take up a book, and read the opinions that one man writes
on a subject of Theology — they think that is truth. They take
up another book, and read the opinions of a man on the other
side of the question — they think that is truth. The false opin
ion being more congenial to the natural mind than the true,
they are generally swayed by what is wrong — they have no
knowledge — no experience of truth — they think it is candid, as
they say, to hear all sides of the question. I know one individual,
of whom I happen to think at this moment, Avho has read the
most opposite doctrines of truth and error ; — and, not knowing
what to believe, or what to think, he has ended in scarcely believ
ing anything at all on the subject — "tossed to and fro, and
CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE," — like a
weather-cock, the sport of every breeze.
There never was a time, when persons are in more danger of
this than now. — There are such a multiplicity of books published
— such inundations of falsehood from the press — such false prin
ciples poured forth, on every subject connected with divine truth.
I might mention many,— but I do not wish even to bring them to
your notice — but their effects are lamentably exemplified, as one
goes among individuals, in what is called the religious world, and
converses Avith them. We hear the most extraordinary and ab
surd opinions, as contrary to the Scriptures, as if those who ut
tered them had never read the Bible.
They are "Like children, tossed to and frc and car-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 367
RIED ABOUT WITH EVERY AVIND OF DOCTRINE." Thus some
of the very fundamental truths of the Gospel — the very funda
mental principles of the Christian religion, are sapped at this very
moment, in the minds of thousands, who are led away by the
fanciful torturing of Scripture — by rationalism, and philosophy,
falsely so called, on the one side, — and by mysticism — superstition
— fanaticism, and idolatry, on the other ; — so that, even from in
stitutions which ought to be the fortresses of true religion in the
land, — falsehoods are poured forth, which strike at the very root
of the hope of man's salvation — and turn the minds of men, not
"from darkness to light" but from any little light they may have
seemed to have, to utter darkness.*
And what does this arise from? — from ignorance of " the faith"
— from want of " the knowledge of the Son of God ;" and this
springs, either from the fundamental principles of divine truth not
being soundly taught by the ministry — or received by the flock.
Where the great foundations of the truth are laid in the soul, and
where the soul is firmly built up and established on Christ, — then,
it cannot be carried about by the various winds of doctrine —
whereby some persons are like children, tossed to and fro. And
the Holy Spirit knew well the state of the human mind, and the
state of the Church, when He inspired the Apostle to write this
verse, — since it is only, by being built and established in " the
UNITY OF THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SoN
of God," we shall "henceforth be no more children,
TOSSED TO AND FRO, AND CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND
OF DOCTRINE, BY THE SLEIGHT OF MEN, AND CUNNING CRAFT
INESS, WHEREBY THEY LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE."
It was, in the days of the Apostles, as in our own, that souls
were " beguiled by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lay in wait to deceive." Then, as now, and at all
ages of the Church, such men were the agents and ministers of
the Prince of Darkness. The Apostle had warned the elders of
this very Church, when he had summoned them to Miletus, not
only that there should "grievous wolves enter in among them,
not sparing the flock," Acts, xx. 29, — but that those wolves should
arise even from themselves. " Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them." v. 30. And nothing can more clearly establish that men
were never intended to surrender their judgment and conscience to
their teachers, than the many safeguards against false teachers
and blind guides, with which the Word of God abounds. For as
* The progress of Tractarianism, or rather of Popery in disguise which had gone so
far when these Lectures were delivered, in 1837-8, has too lamentably developed itself
into the only system to which, from its first commencement, it inevitably tended. False
I)rinciples are not at all less false, when put forth in the name of the Church of Eng-
and, than in that of the Church of Rome— they are only the more dangerous, as being
less suspected ; and the more treacherous, as being taught by those who have solemnly
abjured them. But wherever that apostacy begins to develop itself— the mark which
God has written on it, is equally legible on its brow, " Speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having
the conscience seared with a hot iron" 1st Tim. iv, 2,

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LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

faithful shepherds Avere the gifts of God, for a blessing to His
Church, — to strengthen and build them up in Christ, — so were
false teachers the curse and pest of the flock — "grievous wolves"
corrupting the Gospel of Jesus, as the Apostle saith to the Corin
thians, " I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from
the simplicity that is in Christ." 2nd Cor. xi. 3. And their
" sleight and cunning craftiness" were to be especially guarded
against. The Avord translated "sleight" occurs only in this place,
and it is a metaphor taken from gamblers playing with dice, im
plying trick and cheating. So the word cunning craftiness is the
same Avhich is translated "wiles of the devil," chap. vi. 11, and
i.t only occurs in these two places in the NeAV Testament.
He proceeds " But" (instead of being thus deceived — distracted
— and beguiled) "speaking the truth in love, may grow
UP UNTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, WHICH IS THE HEAD, EVEN
Christ." These are the two vital principles — the two pillars of
Christianity. Faith and Love. Faith — providing for the whole
trust and confidence of the soul in its God. And Love — providing
for the whole walk of man, with God and his fellow-creatures. —
Faith, taking root in Christ, — and Love, produced by faith, and
manifesting its fruits, in the life and conversation — devotedness to
God — and love to man. So he saith, " speaking the truth
IN LOVE, MAY GROW UP UNTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, WHICH IS
THE HEAD, EVEN CHRIST."
You see where there is true faith wrought in the heart,
there is love, and there is open, honest profession of it. No hesi
tation about it, — no mincing of it, no accommodation of it, no sur
render of principle, no compromise with base iniquitous expedi
ency, — no trying how far it is expedient to accommodate God's
truth to man's wickedness ; — " But speaking the truth in
love," boldly and faithfully doing so. But then, in the true spirit
of love, not as is the case with nominal charity — Avith pretended
charity — Avith Satan's charity — by Avhich he is so fond of alluring
men to come to him. Not disturbing them at all, nor offending
them, nor saying a word to Avound their prejudices. Such charity
regards not how far God's truth be abused, perverted or put doAvn,
so that Ave neither say or do anything to offend man. This is
Satan's charity, to get man's soul into his power, not "Speaking
the truth in love," but " speaking lies in hypocrisy," 1st
Tim. iv. 2, accommodating their doctrines to the taste and incli
nation of their hearers Avho say unto them " speak unto us smooth
things, prophesy deceits." Is. xxx. 10. Such is not the love
spoken of here. Such Avas not the love our Blessed Lord had, nor
such the love the Apostles had. All false religion, all false prin
ciples they faithfully exposed, but speaking the truth, in the spirit
of genuine love for the souls of men, to deliver those from evil who
are in evil, and to establish those in the truth Avho are in the
truth, that they might grow unto Christ in all things. What im
portant training for the Church of Christ, for every individual

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 369
member of that Church ! It is impossible not to give offence to
those Avho hate the truth ! if men will speak the truth, however
much in a spirit of love. What man can be gentler than Christ ?
Who can be meeker than Christ ? Can any be wiser than Christ?
Is it possible to be more simple — more charitable — -more tender —
more inoffensive than Christ. — Yet, Avho gave such offence ? " Say
we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil ?" " Now
we know that thou hast a devil." John viii. 48, 52. This was the
language to Christ of those to whom he spoke the truth in love —
and the disciple is not above his Lord, so was it Avith the Apostles,
with this very Apostle who "Avas all things to all men," "speak
ing the truth in love." Yea, and " all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution." Tim. iii. 12. It may
be only the persecution of opinion, or of words, though the Church
has often felt it heavier than either, but if men are really faithful
to their Lord and Master in all their conversation and dealings
with one another, they can scarcely escape giving offence to men ;
until the offence of the cross ceases, still you see the standard,
"BUT SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE MAY GROW UP UNTO
HIM IN ALL THINGS WHICH IS THE HEAD, EVEN ClIRIST ;
FROM WHOM THE WHOLE BODY, FITLY JOINED TOGETHER AND
COMPACTED BY THAT WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH, AC
CORDING TO THE WORKING IN THE MEASURE OF EVERY PART,
MAKETH INCREASE OF THE BODY UNTO THE EDIFYING OF
ITSELF IN LOVE."
As the human frame "fearfully and wonderfully made," Psalm
cxxxix. 14, is formed and adapted in every part of its wondrous
mechanism with the most perfect fitness — harmony — unity — sym
pathy and co-operation of all its parts, for their mutual support,
increase, and growth in strength and energy, till it reaches the full
maturity of its appointed stature — and as every part of it is formed
and adapted by the almighty power of Him " by whom all things
were made" — so by the same power, and by the same hand alone,
are all the parts of his mystical body formed — adapted — -fitted—
harmonized — adjusted for that unity — sympathy — co-operation —
and increase that ought to characterize the visible Church of
Christ, and which though all unseen by us, does really belong to
his mystical body. But it is from Christ the glorious Head alone
that all the blessings flow to the body. It is from Him "the
WHOLE BODY IS FITLY JOINED TOGETHER, AND COMPACTED BY
THAT WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH."
Through the head is all the nutriment and life derived to the
human body. The head thinks for it — sees for it — hears for it —
speaks for it — rules it — guides it — every fibre, muscle, and joint is
moved at the will of the head. How beautifully, yet how inade
quately, does the image illustrate the glorious character of Him,
who is, " The head over all things to his church, which is his
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all?" chap. i. 22, 23.
Life through the head, wisdom — guidance — government — direc
tion — safety — movement to every place — motion of every limb —
24

370 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
sympathetic guidance and government of every member — all that
can be needful for the body is treasured up in its glorious Head.
"In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power," saith the Apostle Col. ii. 9, 10. In Him the whole body
"ought to be joined together in love. Love should supply the
band, and lubricate the motion of every joint, while every part
should contribute to the increase and edification of the whole.
I must enter a little more into particulars on this verse again,
please God. But, what a blessed picture of a Church on earth
does this figure present to us ! All united in the pure faith of the
everlasting Gospel. All one in Christ by a living faith, and one
with each other in sympathy and love, as members of one body in
Him — All drawing together Avith one heart and one soul. Each
in his proper place discharging exactly the functions of the sphere,
in which the Lord has been pleased to appoint him, as every joint
and muscle of the body moves in its appointed station, performing
its exact and proper office. All from the highest to the lowest
growing up into Christ, and firm and steadfast in the faith, moving
onward in the path of holiness and peace, as a strong man pur-
sueth his way.
Such shall be the pattern presented to the world "when Christ
who is our Life shall appear," and when, " Then shall we also
appear with him, in glory." Col. iii. 4. But though the visible
Church attain not to this in its present state, in this dispensation,
— let us not forget that this and nothing less is the standard of
her growth — "the measure of the stature of the ful
ness of Christ." May our God in His great mercy teach us to
aim at this ! May we learn in the varied disappointments which
we meet in this, in ourselves and others, to look for and haste unto
His coming and His kingdom ! May He enable us to "Present
our bodies a living sacrifice unto God holy and acceptable which
is our reasonable service !" Rom. xii. 1 ; to " glorify God in our
body and in our Spirit which are God's !" 1st Cor. vi. 20, both
individually and collectively here ! and may He bring us by the
riches of his grace, and the might of His power, to meet at His
right hand in the glory of His kingdom. Amen and Amen.

THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.

Ephesians IV.— 17, 18, 19, 20.

" This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind ; Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of
the blindness of their heart : Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned
Christ." Man's natural condition is that of being severed and alienated
from God ; and therefore, before he can serve God, he must be
brought back, and reconciled to Him. A servant who is dismissed
from your household cannot serve you — a child, who has fled
from his home, cannot render you the duty and obedience of a
child. The man who is not a servant of God, and a child of God,
can neither render to God the duty of a child, or the service of a
servant ; — therefore, we must be first brought back and reconciled
to God, before it is possible to render Him any obedience.
You recollect how we dwelt, in the 2nd chapter of this Epistle,
on the state of man by nature, as being " dead in trespasses and
sins" — therefore, you will observe, in these chapters, 4th, 5th, 6th,
of this Epistle, in which the Apostle presses practical duties on the
servants of God. He assumes throughout the principle that they
are reconciled and brought back to God — and it is therefore, as we
have seen, he urges on them, to " Walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love." Thus you per
ceive it is, in consequence of the relation in which believers stand
to Jesus, as being united unto Him, as members of that body of
which He is the living Head, that the Apostle proceeds in the ex
hortation in this chapter.
Is Christ spoken of as a vine — His Church are the branches.
Is Christ spoken of as the head — his Church are the members !
as the body severed from the head, or as the branches broken off
from the vine, so is the sinner without Christ : — and just exactly
as the branch in the vine draws all its sap and life, and flower and
fruit from the stem, and as the body derives all its vital poAver, or
functions, and its very existence from its union with the head, so
.the believer derives all spiritual fruit, poAver, and existence from
his union Avith the Lord Jesus Christ, Quickened by the Holy
Spirit, grafted into Christ, " brought nigh by the blood of Christ"
and reconciled to God ; thus they are called to walk and glorify

372

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

the Father in Him. Therefore our Lord saith, "As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more
can ye, except ye abide in me." John xv. 4. Now in this image
of the vine every living branch and every single fibre, in every
ramification of every branch from the joint where it is united to the
stem, to the remotest bud that bursts from its extremity derives all
its vitality, its verdure, and fruit from the stem. And in the image
of the body, and the members, &c, the very same relation exists
in reference to the Head. The Apostle says, " From whom the
WHOLE BODY, FITLY JOINED TOGETHER AND COMPACTED BY THAT
WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH, ACCORDING TO THE EFFECT
UAL WORKING IN THE MEASURE OF EVERY PART MAKETH IN
CREASE OF THE BODY UNTO THE EDIFYING OF ITSELF IN LOVE."
As the whole body is composed of a great variety of members — a
great variety of bones — joints — muscles — nerves — fibres, &c. ; — so
the whole body of the Church of Christ is composed of a great
variety of members. We cannot see the mechanism of its move
ments, or the mode in which the nutriment is conveyed — hoAV the
'pOAvers of its vitality are derived, and its motions communicated
from the Head. But God sees it ! And the Church may take up
the words of the Psalmist, and apply it to all her members, as
David to his body — "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being
unperfect ; and in thy book all my members were written, which
in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them." Psalm cxxxix. 16. And the body of the Church is as
perfect and complete, in God's eye, as the body of Adam, when
He formed it from the dust of the earth — and beheld him — and all
was very good. There is nothing wanting — no member Avanting
in the Church of Christ — no joint — no member deficient. It is as
true of His mystical body, as of His human form, "A bone of him
shall not be broken." John, xix. 36. Everything is complete,
though we cannot see it ; — but we shall see it — when the body
shall, in the Lord's time, be raised a glorified body ; and it shall
be beheld by angels, men, and devils, — as all complete — all perfect
in one — united in its Glorious Head, Christ Jesus.
I have often mentioned to you before, but we ought to think of
it every day, and so Ave must have " precept upon precept, precept
Upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a little, and
there a little." Is. xxviii. 10 — that it is one important lesson for
every Christian to learn, the place which he has in the body.
What place have I in the body ? Let me ask, what place has my
hand — my finger — my eye — or any member of my frame, in my
body ? — The answer is, the place that God has appointed it. And,
as every joint and muscle in the body, has that place in the body,
that God has appointed it — so, every Christian in the Church of
Christ has a place in the Church, that God has appointed him to
fill. Where they are — there they are called — there they are to
rest — and there they are to serve the Lord.
I do not think this can be too often, or too particularly insisted
on — for in fact, the murmuring and discontent of individuals with

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 373
their respective lots would cease, if they were really Christians,
and felt that they Avere placed in the position they fill by God. It
is ignorance of God that makes the world miserable. It is for
getfulness of God that makes His people murmur. It is the dis
content, the murmuring of individuals that arises, accumulates,
and swells into the storms that disturb social happiness, and peace,
and order, and agitate, convulse, and overturn nations. It may
be applied to every murmurer — "Of the Rock that begat thee thou
art unmindful, and hast forgotten the God that formed thee."
Deut. xxxii. 18. Therefore in every state and stage of existence
to know and feel that we are in our appointed place, and there to
serve and glorify our God is our only happiness and peace. Now
this is a most important consideration for every single one of you ; —
the child who is called to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
is called as a child to serve and glorify the Lord who has called
him in the relation in which he stands as a child ; — and the youth
who is called to know and serve his God has his own peculiar de
partment in which he is placed by his Lord to love and serve Him,
he has peculiar circumstances and duties attendant on his position,
peculiar trials and snares attendant on his youth ; he has all
these difficulties against which to watch and pray that he may
be enabled to glorify his God in that sphere and stage of his
existence. The man who is called in a more advanced period of life,
he has his peculiar position, his appointed place in the body ; — the
cares of his family, the difficulties of his circumstances — the snares
and temptations peculiar to these that surround him ; against these
he is also called to watch and pray, and in the midst of them he
is called on to glorify his God. The young female too, has her
snares, her difficulties, her besetting sins, her trials, she is called on
in these to serve her Lord. The married female, grown up with
the cares of her family resting on her, has her position too in
which to serve her Heavenly Father ; and in all spheres in which
we can be called to move, and in each sex, from youth to age,
from the lisping tongue of infancy to the hoary head which is " a
crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness" —
Prov. xvi. 31. All have their peculiar places in the body, where
they are to serve and glorify their God. Thus too in the different
ranks of life, the poor creature who is suffering in poverty, in
want, and distress, is called on in those circumstances in which
God has been pleased to place him, to serve and glorify his Heav
enly Father. The man again, who is in a higher sphere, blessed
with competence and comfort, is called on in his position to serve
and glorify his God : — if one is called on to suffer from trials, the
other is called on to enjoy the privilege of knowing, that " it is
more blessed to give than to receive." Acts xx. 35. Those in still
a higher sphere are called on, according to the increased variety
and value of the talents with which God has entrusted them, te
glorify the Giver.
Solomon — the Lord was pleased to place in a situation of pomp

374

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

and magnificence, and he was called to magnify his God in that
sphere. Joseph, of Arimathea, a rich man, who could purchase and heW
out his own tomb in a rock — he was called on to glorify his Mas
ter, and honored by being allowed to provide a sepulchre for his
Redeemer. Lazarus, lying on his humble bier to be carried about from door
to door, to watch for the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table,
while the dogs came to lick his sores, was called on to glorify his God
there, and carried from that bier by angels to Abraham's bosom.
The women that followed our blessed Lord, and ministered un
to him of their substance, — the Q,ueen of Sheba, that " came from
the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon."
Matt. xii. 42. Ruth, the Moabitess, and Rahab, the harlot, who
was brought to Christ, were called to glorify that God Avhom they
adored in the various spheres of their existence. The poor widow,
who had but tAvo mites to cast into the treasury, Avas called to
glorify her God with these. They were all she had, but God gave
them to her for His own glory, and you see how she used them for
that end. Every member and every muscle is arranged and fixed
in the body in its place, and all the joints are fitly compacted to
gether, and fitly work together. We may not see, we cannot un
derstand the wisdom of this Avondrous mechanism in the body, we
are just as ignorant of the various fittings of all the members and
joints of the church, as a person unacquainted with anatomy is
ignorant of the nerves, and joints, and muscles of the animal
frame. But notwithstanding, we may be assured — Ave ought to
know that there is a harmony, a perfection, a glorious wonderful
magnificence in the structure of them all : we are "fearfully and
wonderfully made," and as His works are marvellous in the world
of nature, so are they no less marvellous in the world of grace.
All the joints and members of His mystical body are "fitly framed
together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth." As
every muscle and joint of the body, contributes to the perfect
growth and completion of the frame, so, every member of the
church of Christ contributes to the model of perfection which the
Lord Jehovah has Avrought, and is continually working in the
church for his own eternal glory.
Why should I dAvell on this again in this place ? Because I do
not know anything that is more necessary to dAvell on. And al
though it is more properly strictly belonging to the last passage,
yet it is as we shall see the motive and argument of the Apostle
by which he presses on believers the duty enforced in these verses
which form the subject of our consideration.
It is one of the strongest temptations of Satan. — It is one of the
most ensnaring corruptions of our hearts, to be discontented Avith
our respective circumstances, to desire to leave the place in Avhich
God has fixed our lot, to get out of our sphere and the present
trials we endure instead of reflecting thus : —
" In whatever place I am this day, — this day is all I can call

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 375
my OAvn, to-day is the only portion of time on which I have a right
to reckon, and this day, it is my privilege to serve my Father here,
where He has placed me, and to know that I am placed here by
the ordinance of my Father's will."
This ought to be the Christian's language and the Christian's
principle — to learn " in whatsoever state we are therewith to be
content." Phil. iv. 14 — and there to serve and glorify our Lord. He
will surely place us in our proper sphere, and it is ours to glorify
Him there. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will di
rect thy paths." Prov. iii. 6. This is the real receipt for true
happiness to the believer : as the Apostle shows at length Phil. iv. 4,
"Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice. Let
your moderation," — that is, your gentleness, forbearance — "be.
known unto all men" — -hianifested in your whole life and conver
sation— "The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing ; but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. iv. 4 — 7.
Therefore, observe, where we really enjoy this happy, patient,
gentle, submissive, thankful, prayerful acquiescence in the Lord's
dispensations, and are looking by faith to Him, you see the blessed
fruits of it, happiness and peace that passeth understanding. What
unity must there be in the body if all the members were thus—
surely " the whole body, fitly framed together, and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual work
ing in the measure of every part," must thus " make increase of
the body unto the edifying of itself in love." Imagine a house
hold, in which the master, mistress, children, and servants, were
all servants of God — imagine a household, in which the master
and mistress were setting, as they ought, an example to their fami
lies of reverence and love to their Lord and Master, in the sphere
in which He was pleased to place them ; — the children brought up
" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," and touched by
the grace of God, trained in His fear, and manifesting by His
grace the power and influence of His truth in their obedience, their
diligence, their humility, their love in the service of God : — imagine
the servants of that household, in spirit and truth the Lord's ser
vants, serving their earthly master and mistress " with good will,
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." ch. vi. 7, — imagine
the master and mistress treating them as " remembering that their
master also is in heaven," — in fact, walking in the ways in which
the Lord is pleased to point out for His children in His word. — ¦
Imagine this, and conceive how every member of that family
would help and edify one another, and comfort one another in
love. And wherever there is a body together, consisting of high
and low, young and old, rich and poor, if the course of conduct
and the principles that are here laid down were carried out, con
ceive if you can what a blessing it were for every part of the
Church of Christ, and therefore for the whole. Oh, how different

376 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
the Church of Christ would be in itself, and would appear to the
world !
It is the more necessary, as it appears to me, to dwell at greater
length on this subject, because it is the foundation of the solemn
and emphatic exhortation contained in the 17th and succeeding
verses. The union of the members of the Church of Christ, with
Christ and with each other, form the premises of the conclusion,
which the Apostle presses on the saints at Ephesus, as to the
manner in which they should walk, to serve and glorify their God.
"This I say, therefore ;" mark the word " Therefore," —
that is — because you are united to this glorious Head — because
you are members of so glorious a body — so blessed a brotherhood
— because you are children of your Heavenly Father — " brought
nigh by the blood of Christ," and members of the body of Christ
— because you are so — "this I say, therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." If the
Gospel of Christ Avere to make no difference in this world between
man in his former state and his redeemed state, what blessing
would the Gospel confer on this earth ? What moral capability
could an unholy being possess of happiness in the presence of a
holy God, if he had not been taught to feel that holiness and hap
piness are inseparable to a redeemed spirit ? But we say on the
authority of all the Word of God, that wherever the Gospel does
reach the sinner's heart, it must make a difference and a mighty
difference too — " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,
old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new."
2nd Cor. v. 17. So he says '¦' I testify that ye henceforth
WALK NOT AS OTHER GeNTILES WALK, IN THE VANITY OF
their mind." They who are ignorant of God, mark how they
walk. — Ye, who know God, how ought ye to walk ? How do
they walk ? In the vanity of their mind, in the ignorance, guilt,
folly, wickedness, corruption, of their natural heart. All vanity :
^—" Spending their money," as the Prophet saith, "for that
which is not bread, and their labor for that which satisfieth not."
Isa. Iv. 2. But he describes their state more particularly, " hav
ing the understanding darkened." You see, here is the
first place where sin, and the power of sin is manifested in the
fallen heart of man, " Having the understa:, ding darkened."
—That was the first proof of his fall that Adam gave ; — he ran
to hide himself from the Lord among the trees of the garden.
What must have been the prostration of his intellect, what the
blindness of his understanding, when he could have become such
a fool as to think, that he could hide himself from God ! — to forget
the Omniscience, — Omnipresence, — Omnipotence of his Creator !
We see in all his fallen children how this blindness of the under
standing pervades the race of men from infancy to the grave.
The child thinks if he can hide himself from his parents or his
teachers, that it is no matter what he does. If he can escape
their observation he is content — that is, his natural mind — his

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 377
understanding being darkened, the child does not reflect or know
that God sees him. Let him but think that the eye of his parent
or teacher, or of any person who will give them information of
his misconduct, is fixed on him, he immediately stops whatever
he is doing that he is afraid should come to their knowledge, or
that his conscience tells him is Avrong, but the thought that God
sees him, never enters his mind, his understanding is darkened.
So it is with man in his natural state, wherever he is ; — that
principle which is illustrated by the child, is the same in the man.
His moral condition in this respect is described by the Psalmist,
" God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous.
Thy judgments are far above out of his sight. He hath said in
his heart, God hath forgotten. He hideth his face, he will never
see it." Ps. x. 4, 5, 11.
Look at him again in the objects of his worship, — the idols he
sets up. What can exhibit the desperate fall and blindness of
the human mind more than the idols of the Gentiles ? The idol
formed by them of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, or Avhatever it
may be, they mould that image, whether large or small, they place
it in their mighty temples, as Jupiter at Rome — Juggernaut in
Hindostan — Diana at Ephesus — Minerva at Athens — the Virgin
at Loretto — or they keep in their chambers or houses, be they
large or small, it is no matter — they form these idols and bow be
fore them with reverence, and worship them, as if these things, or
some real or imaginary beings identified with them, or represented
by them, as if these had made the heavens, or could intercede for
them or deliver them — they bow before them as God. They
would not say to the idol, although it is present to their eyes,
" regulate my house, rule my children, govern my servants."
They would feel the absurdity of asking the idol, or supposing it
competent to perform a single act which a child, or a servant, or
even a beast could perform — they are not so foolish as to say that,
to an inanimate thing — yet they boAV before it — worship it, and
say that this thing made the world. What could exceed the
blindness, the ignorance, and folly of Aaron and the Israelites,
when he made their calves for them—" These be thy Gods, O
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Exod.
xxxii. 4. Such is the sort of being they worship, though they
know it could not really perform one act of a human being, or
even of a brute. What then must be the desperate blindness and
darkness of the human heart !
This is what the Apostle says, " Having the understanding
darkened." Every man on the earth has his understanding in
a spiritual sense perfectly dark ; the nominal Christian has no
more spiritual light — no clearer spiritual view of the real character
of God than the Pagan idolater. He is accustomed to call a
Being whom he imagines in his own mind, and of whom he has
read in the Bible, or heard of— God — but he has no more notion
of the real Scriptural character of that God than the heathen.
He knows indeed that the gods of the heathen are but the work

378 Lectures on the ephesians.
of men's hands, wood and stone, and that the God who made the
world is an invisible Almighty being — but this gives him no
knowledge of God's moral character as just, holy, merciful, faith
ful and true. Even the attributes of God which he acknowledges
and believes as abstract truths are of no spiritual use to him, and
he has no real understanding of them. He calls God Omniscient
and Omnipresent, but has no regard for Him — no sense of his
Omniscience and Omnipresence. If, like the child of Avhom Ave
spoke, he escapes the eye of man, he cares not for the eye of God.
He has no more sense of the wickedness of his own heart and
thoughts, desires and imaginations, which are all open before
God, than if there were no God. He is so blind as to God's moral
character and government, that he thinks God is pleased with
some punishment inflicted on his body for his sins, and that some
deeds which he calls good, will atone for others Avhich he knows
to be evil, and that the justice of God is satisfied with this, and
with the outward form of service, when his heart is far from Him.
If you were to* ask him, would you be satisfied or pleased, if a
servant or one in an humbler situation in life were to approach
you with great reverence, and to ask Avith great apparent submis
sion and sincerity, and in most respectful and decorous language
some petition, while you knew that that man disregarded and
slighted you, and did not care for either you or what he asked for,
or whether you granted his petition or not, how would you receive
such a petitioner ? He would answer, I would turn him away as
a hypocrite and an impostor. Yet that is the way in Avhich he
himself approaches God ; — that is the way in Avhich an uncon
verted man who is called a Christian, goes to Church to worship,
or to the Sacrament, or to read his Bible, or to say his prayers, as
he calls it. He kneels down, mutters a portion of prayers, and
never thinks or cares whether God hears him or not. If you
speak to such a man, and ask him, Does God hear and answer
your prayers ? Does He grant what you pray for ? Do you
Avatch for, or expect an answer to your petitions ? He will say,
you are an enthusiast or a fanatic for even supposing such a thing.
So blind and ignorant is the natural understanding of man.
" There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh
after God, they are all gone out of the way, they are together
become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
Rom. iii. 11, 12.
So here " Having the understanding darkened ;" — and
Avhat is the consequence? "Being alienated from the life
of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because
of the blindness of their heart ;" blindness of the under
standing necessarily produces alienation from the life of God ; —
there is no such thing as the worship or service of God, no fear, no
love, nor any knowledge of God, while the understanding remains
darkened. This exactly corresponds with the description given of
the Gentile world, in Acts xxvi. 18, where the Apostle Paul recites
the words used by the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, when He ar-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 379
rested him on his way to Damascus, and declares the commission
Avhich he had received from the Lord, when He sent him as His
Apostle to the Gentiles. It was this — " To open their eyes, to turn
them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God."
They are "alienated from the life of God, through the
IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM, BECAUSE OF THE BLINDNESS OF
their hearts," and therefore, the first thing is, " to open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light." This is the same
blessing which every sinner wants — to have his eyes opened.
You require not only to have the Word of God set before you —
but to have the Spirit of God opening your eyes and enlightening
your mind to receive the sense of God's eternal truth — you require
to have your understanding enlightened, that you may know and
believe the plain meaning of the words you read or hear. The
angel with the draAArn sword Avas before Balaam, but his eyes were
Minded, and he could not see or fear him, Num. xxii. 31. — The
chariots of fire were round about the Prophet and his servant, but
the servant's eyes must be opened by the Lord before he could see
them, 2d Kings vi. 17. So it is with the sinner in his natural
state— the sword of justice and the golden sceptre of mercy — death
and life — condemnation and salvation are in every page of the
Bible, but he neither sees nor regards — neither fears nor hopes, he
is " alienated from the life of God." His heart is ignorant
and blind.
I do not know any greater change exhibited in the sinner by
conversion than in his understanding. His will and his affections
are not more effectually renewed in their purpose and objects than
his understanding ; he is improved and advanced by the illumina
tion of God's Holy Word — he learns to see at once the difference
between truth and falsehood — he has got a standard of right and
wrong — good and evil — a sound judgment of what renders a man
happy and unhappy — of what renders a character excellent or
wicked. He learns to form a right estimate of man, of books, of all
principles which he had not before. He receives and exhibits the
proofs of an intelligent understanding which no other instruction
could possibly bestow. No education in sciences, classics, languages,
literature, nothing on earth can enlarge or enlighten the mind of
a sinner so much as the light of the Gospel. The real character
of the most enlightened man on earth, if he is not enlightened by
the Word and Spirit of God, is that given by the Apostle here,
"Having his understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of god through the ignorance that is in
HIM, BECAUSE OF THE BLINDNESS OF HIS HEART ;" and the poorest,
the most illiterate creature in the world, who never read anything,
but the Bible, or who, perhaps, cannot read at all, — that poor sinner
if brought to Christ, and reconciled unto God, through the blood
of the covenant, has more real understanding than all the uncon
verted, learned men on earth ; for his understanding is enlight
ened, he is " turned, from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God," he has " received forgiveness of sins, and

380 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
inheritance among them that are sanctified, through faith, which
is in Christ Jesus." Therefore, when the Apostle exhorts that
" THEY HENCEFORTH WALK NOT AS OTHER GENTILES WALK,
in the vanity of their minds," — he then gives the real and
universal source of the wicked walk of men, — they have " their
UNDERSTANDING DARKENED, BEING ALIENATED FROM THE
LIFE OF GOD THROUGH THE IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM,
BECAUSE OF THE BLINDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS." You perceive
the very same truth set forth in 2d Cor., chap, iv., 3, 4, in which
the Apostle speaks of the state of those Avho do not know the
Gospel, " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; in
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is
the image of God should shine unto them ;" — this is their natural
state. — Noav observe the converted state in the 6th verse, " For
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." You perceive the
difference here stated betAveen the converted and unconverted
man ; the one lost — unbelieving — blinded by the devil — his un
derstanding all dark ; the other enlightened by the same power
which " commanded the light to shine out of darkness," — his un
derstanding illumined by the Divine Spirit — the light that shines
is, a " light of knowledge," — the subject of that knowledge, — is
" the knowledge of the glory of God :" and the knoAvledge is
revealed, " in the face of Jesus Christ," — in the glorious face of a
crucified Redeemer, bowed in death on the cross for our sins,
blotting out our transgressions, "receiving us graciously, and
loving us freely," forgiving all our iniquities, bringing us nigh to
God by His precious blood, as a reconciled Father — then the sin
ner sees indeed the blessed light of eternal day, when " the Sun
of righteousness ariseth on his soul with healing on his wings."
Mai. iv. 2.
But now mark the necessary result of the blindness and aliena
tion from God here spoken of — "who, being past feeling,
HAVE GIVEN THEMSELVES OVER UNTO LASCIVIOUSNESS, TO
WORK ALL UNCLEANNESS WITH GREEDINESS." Such is the
result of this dark and blinded understanding. " Being past
feeling," — no sense of fear, or shame, or remorse — conscience
stifled and hardened, so that it is only fear of consequences with
out, and no compunction from within, that holds them back from
any sin. He mentions these peculiar sins ;— but every sin is
exactly the result of the same thing. The Apostle enumerates
the various iniquities that deform the Avorld, under the head of
the fruits of the flesh, Gal. v. 19—21, and in Rom. i. 29—31.
These are sins that are manifest— they "work all uncleanness
with greediness," or as the word is also " covetousness" — swallow
ing down iniquity as water — so Job saith — he " drinketh in ini
quity like water." Job xv. 16. All that man wishes for in his
natural state is this, power to fulfil the desires of his flesh and his

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 381
mind, Avhatever they are ; — the greediness, the covetousness, the
great ambition, of the natural mind is this, — "Oh, that I was able
to do Avhat I like to do !" This is the master-desire of the natural
heart — and from the child that hates the restraint of his parent,
of the servant that attends, or of the teacher that instructs him —
to the man Avho hates the restraints of the laws of his country that
will not allow him to act according to the wicked disposition of his
mind — or Avho trembles at the law of opinion lest he should lose
or injure his character, and so he should be consigned to contempt,
which he fears more than he loves his lusts — I say, from the infant
to the full grown man, the natural, the universal, the absorbing
desire of the mind is, " Oh, that I was able to do what I like to
do" ! ! !
But how widely different the principle of the true Christian !
He knows he would like to commit sin — his natural, corrupt heart
would follow after'sin — but he has received a purer and higher
principle — a holy and heavenly desire. He is now reconciled to
his God, and at peace with Him — he remembers that the eyes of
God are on him, and he says, " Oh ! that my God may ever keep
me from doing what my natural heart Avould like to do ! Oh !
that He may subdue my iniquity — conquer, and bring into subjec
tion my wicked lusts ! Oh ! that my God may cast doAvn every
imagination that exalteth itself against the knoAvledge of Christ !"
So, David, " Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes !"
Psalm cxix. 5. So, that, though man's laws never reach or touch
the believer — yet God's law is written in his heart. So, this
Apostle, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man ; But
I see another law in my 'members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is
in my members. O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death ?" Rom. vii. 22 — 24.
Hence, the conflict of the believer — hence the walk of the be
liever — -hence his strength to mortify his corrupt affections. Hence
the exhortations in the Bible — to mortify his members — to crucify
the flesh. Hence the struggle in the believer ; there is a deep
struggle. The warfare commences from the time he is brought to
his God — and against Avhom? — against himself. You see, the
unregenerate " who being past feeling have given themselves over
unto lasciviouSness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."
But, saith the Apostle to the believers, " Ye have not so learned
Christ." We shall see hereafter what this means.
I trust the Lord will teach us these lessons — sanctify His blessed
instruction — and seal it to our souls. Think of these truths, dear
friends !
And now, let us review this — let us consider our place ; what
ever that place be in which the Lord has been pleased to appoint
our lot — Let us glorify him there with our body and spirit which
are His — Let us commit ourselves — our souls and bodies to Him
in well doing — Let us wait on Him, "As the eyes of servants look
unto the hand of their masters ; as the eyes of a maiden unto

382

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

the hand of her mistress ; so let our eyes wait on our God."
Ps. cxxiii. 2.
Let us consider well whether we are yet in darkness or
brought into the light. If indeed "we are children of the light
and of the day let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch
and be sober." 1st Thess. v. 5, 6. "Let ns lay aside every weight,
and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus."
Heb. xii. 1, 2.
And if we are " looking to Jesus," let us not walk as those who
know Him not ; let us manifest the difference in our principles—
our state — -and our hopes by our conduct. Let us remember, it is
only by our works that we can prove Ave are the servants of God
— works do not make the sinner a servant of God, but they prove
that he is a servant of God ; it is grace, washing him in the blood
of Christ — covering him in the righteousness of Christ, the Spirit
testifying of Jesus in his heart, this makes him a son by adoption
and grace ; but we can only prove ourselves children of God, by
loving and serving our Lord and Heavenly Father.

THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.

Ephesians IV— 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

" But ye have not so learned Christ ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus : that ye put off. concerning the former conver
sation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed
in the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness."
It has been universally admitted by all persons professing to call
themselves Christians, that the wickedness of the human heart
and of human conduct ought to be corrected by true religion ; and
this is indeed the very principle on Avhich men affect, even at this
very day, to make light of the doctrines of religion. " Because,"
they say, " since it is on all hands agreed, that people ought to live
a holy and godly life, and that religion ought to produce good
works, we should all unite in that practical point," as they call
it, " in which Ave are agreed, namely, that religion ought to pro
duce good works, and not dispute about doctrines in which we are
not agreed." This is one of the delusions of the devil, by which
all true religion is sought to be subverted under the name of Chris
tian peace and Christian charity.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 383
But, although all men who call themselves Christians agree in
this, that good works ought to be the fruit of true religion, yet, they
do not agree with God's Word in this principle, that there is but
one means of producing these good Avorks. They do not agree,
that these good works can be produced alone by good principles,
and that these good principles can only be such, as are given to us
in the Word of the living God. Therefore Ave never can admit,
that we are to assent to the opinion of ungodly men, that good
works are to be the result of true religion, and yet abandon the
only principle on Avhich these works can be produced, namely, the
doctrines of truth as they are revealed in the Gospel.
Nothing is more absurd than for a man to suppose, that, as long
as men hold false principles, they can produce good fruits ; there
fore we have to contend for two things, we have to contend, first
for principles, and then, we have to contend for the fruits of these
principles. Nothing can more clearly illustrate this than the passage from
which our Lecture commences this day. The Apostle shows, as
we have seen in our preceding Lecture, that those who believed in
Jesus were all one body, united together, under one head, Christ
Jesus, and because they are so, he presses upon them the conse
quent obligations. " This, I say, therefore, and testify in the
Lord." You see as we proved that he draws the inference with respect
to their conduct— that they should not walk as other Gentiles
walk, from the premises he had laid down, namely, their position,
their union with Christ, and with each other in Christ. " This I
say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk
not as other Gentiles walk." Then he shows how they, the Gen
tiles walked, "in the vanity of their mind, having the under
standing darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through
the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
hearts, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." This is
his description of the Gentile world. Now observe the contrast
which he presses on the minds of his believing brethren at
Ephesus, " But" saith he, 20 v., " ye have not so learned
Christ ;" — he does not say, ye have not so learned the law, be
cause the law could give them no help whatever against the sins
of the Gentiles. The law as the Apostle saith " was weak through
the flesh." Rom. viii. 3. The Jews Avho had learned the law
were not strengthened by the law against practising the sins of
the Gentiles ; on the contrary, it is the Lord's complaint of them,
" they were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works."
Psa. cvi. 35. So he does not say, "Ye have not so learned the
laAV," he does not say, " ye have not so learned your duty to God,"
because the knowledge of our duty will never enable us to per
form that duty ; but he says, " Ye have not so learned
Christ ;"' — as much as to say, that is the only means by which you
can be kept from following the conduct of the unconverted world.

384

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

And so it is, Ave never can have the course of our conduct changed
unless our hearts are renewed again by the Spirit, " created anew
in Christ Jesus ;" we never can serve God till we are made his
servants, made " children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal.
iii. 26. Therefore he says, " ye have not so learned Christ,"
because the knowledge of Christ is the only means by which you
can be delivered from the ungodly walk of an ungodly Avorld.
We never then can admit the principle, that doctrines, the only
principles of virtue, are not to be contended for, and that certain
practical duties constitute true religion. We must contend for
principle, both in others and in ourselves ; for if we would culti
vate fruit, let us remember, it can only be produced by making
the tree what it ought to be ; if we would produce any fruit unto
God, it only can be by being grafted into Christ : so our blessed
Lord himself tells us, " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me."
Therefore he saith, "Ye have not so learned Christ, if so
BE YE HAVE HEARD HIM, AND HAVE BEEN TAUGHT BY HIM AS
the truth is in Jesus." That is to say — As surely as ye have
" learned Christ," As surely as ye have been " taught by
him as the truth is in Jesus," so surely a vast and mighty
change from the principles, the life and conversation of the Gen
tiles is, and must be, produced in you. He then proceeds to show
what instruction is to be derived from the truth as it is in Jesus ;
namely, v. 22, " that ye put off, concerning the former
CONVERSATION, THE OLD MAN, WHICH IS CORRUPT, ACCORDING
to the deceitful lusts." This is the description of the natu
ral heart of every one of us, which is to be put off, — v. 23, 24,
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that
ye put on the new man, which, after god is created in
righteousness and true holiness."
You see here the lesson that is derived from the knowledge of
Jesus, — "That ye put off, concerning the former conver
sation, the old man," that is, that ye put off, concerning your
former habits in your unconverted state, which were the same as
those of all unconverted men ; — the fulfilling of your natural evil
propensities whatever they be — "that ye put off, concern
ing your former conversation, the old man."
The " old man" is called in Scripture by various other names ;
— sometimes, it is called " The flesh," as for instance in Galatians
v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other, so
that ye cannot do the things ihat ye would."
Sometimes it is called "the carnal mind," as in Romans viii. 7,
" The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Sometimes it is called " The natural man," as in 1st Cor. ii. 14,
15, " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know
them ; because they are spiritually discerned." Here it is called

lectures on the ephesians. 385
"The old man." "That ye put off, concerning the
former conversation the old man," that is, your own natu
ral disposition, the natural corrupt inclinations of your own wicked
heart. That is— If ye have learned Christ, If ye have been taught
of Jesus, this is the lesson ye have learned, that ye put this off.
Now, there is a sense in which " the old man" is completely and
forever put off by the believer : and there is a sense in which the
" old man" is to be put off every day. These are two important
points for us to attend to. There is, I say, a sense in which " the
old man" is put off completely and forever by the believer. This
subject I have entered into very often at length, I shall therefore
only now call your attention to it to-day, by reminding you of
a passage in Romans vi., on which we dwelt so much at large, and
in which the Apostle says, " We are buried with him by baptism
into death ; that, like as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also, should walk in newness of
life ; for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, know
ing this, that our old man" (observe now) " is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we shoidd
not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." Rom. vi.
4 — 7. In that sense, " the old man" is crucified with Christ, the
body of sin is destroyed, that is, all the sins of the believer, all the
guilt and corruption of his sinful nature, all the condemnation and
curse due to his iniquity, is put away forever with respect to its
power to condemn his soul ; all his iniquity, past, present, and to
come, is cancelled forever on the cross of Christ : Christ " bare our
sins in his own body on the tree." 1st Pet. ii. 24 ; and in that
sense he has "finished transgression, and made an end of sin ;"
— Ave are reconciled to God — " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin." 1st John i. 7 — in that sense, as the Apos
tle says, " the old man is crucified with him, the body of sin is de
stroyed ;" in that sense, we are to " reckon ourselves dead indeed
unto sin." Rom. vi. 11. This is a blessed refuge for the believer,
so that, though 1 feel my sinful, corrupt heart — my vile, wicked,
carnal, earthly affections — my rebellious will, although I feel these
things Avorking in me, and struggling in me against God's will,
and lusting within to turn my heart from God continually, to this
vile earth, — though I feel these things in myself,— and therefore
feel myself to be a poor, vile, helpless, sinful worm, unfit to lift up
my eyes to God, yet it is my privilege by faith, to look out of sin
and self to Jesus, and to rest on Jesus Avhose precious "blood
cleanseth from all sin :" and I therefore can "pour out my heart
before him," because " God is a refuge for me." Psalm lxii. 8,
and I therefore can bring all my sins, and pour out at His feet,
those sins and that wickedness that 1 could not acknowledge to
any felloAV-sinner — those sins that I feel in my own wicked heart,
— I can pour them all out at the feet of my blessed Lord and
Saviour, because He is a Refuge for me, because He is the Salva
tion of my soul ; therefore I may count my body of sin and death,
26

386 lectures on the ephesians.
dead with Jesus ; — therefore, I may say with the Apostle, " God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world, is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world." Gal. vi. 14.
Therefore I say, there is a sense in which the old man is put
off forever — made an end of — dead with Christ, — he has no power
whatever, with all his working and struggling, to condemn the
sinner ; because " there is no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Rom. viii. 1. He may fight and rage, as he does continually
within, and Satan may take advantage of his dispositions and
propensities as he does, to tempt us, but still, it is the privilege of
the believer to say, " This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith," 1st John v. 4, and to say, " The life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. It is his privilege thus
to look unto Jesus, still to believe and trust, and still to hope, in
spite of sin and self, that none shall pluck him out of the hand of
his Lord and Saviour : for He saith of His sheep, " / give unto
them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is
greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 28, 29.
But now there is another sense in which the old man is never
entirely put off, and in which he is to be put off every day — I say,
though he is completely made an end of, as to his power to con
demn, he is not made an end of in the corrupt workings of our
own sinful hearts ; therefore the Apostle shows them what the}'
have learned from Christ if they are " taught by him as the
truth is in Jesus;" "that ye put off, concerning the
former conversation, the old man which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in
the sptrit of your mind." Now, observe — you know he had
told his believing brethren, as Ave have seen, that they were
" blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
chap. i. 3. He had told them, that they had " obtained an inher
itance in Christ Jesus, being predestinated, according to the pur
pose of him who worketh all things, after the counsel of his own
will." chap. i. 11. He had told them, that they " who were some
times afar off, were made nigh by the blood of Christ," chap. ii.
13, that they were "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-
citizens with the saints and of the household of God, built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner-stone." chap. ii. 19, 20. He had told them,
that " they were builded together for an habitation of God, through
the Spirit ;" v. 21 ; therefore, observe the state in which they were
— "kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." 1st
Pet. i. 5.
Yet, he exhorts them, on this very ground — if they had learned
Christ, "If so be they had been taught by him, as the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 387
truth is in Jesus ;" to " put off, concerning the former
CONVERSATION, THE OLD MAN, WHICH IS CORRUPT, ACCORDING
to the deceitful lusts." Therefore, I say, in every one of
these men — these saints at Ephesus — this "old man," as it is
called, that is, this natural corrupt heart existed; and they were
called on, every day, to put it off. And there is not one of you
who believes the Gospel of Christ, Avho does not feel that it is in
yourselves — as it is in every one of you. It is a subject of grief-
it is a burthen and trial to you ; and you have often learned, by
fatal experience, the workings of this corrupt "old man." He
says, you see, it " is corrupt, according to the deceitful
lusts." Now, that is the statement of inspiration, the old man
" is corrupt." We have all our lusts in our hearts, and they
are all naturally "deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked," and we do not knoAV their iniquity, we are not aware of
their deceits ; we are tempted and tried in various ways ; and the
deceitful lusts of our heart are drawn out in ways that we have
not anticipated, and by temptations that Ave never thought of.
One man is tempted to one iniquity, another to another, and they*
find evil inclinations arise, as temptations are presented to them —
inclinations in their own sinful hearts, to yield to these temptations
whatever they be. There are temptations to various sins, covet-
ousness — self-righteousness — pride — anger — ambition — vanity —
vain glory — impurity — intemperance — and excess of various kinds ;
we are tempted to these and countless other sins, in various ways,
and as temptations are presented, Ave find the inclinations in our
selves to give way to them ; and according as Satan sees our pe
culiar points of natural corruption, and where our hearts are most
easily tempted and deceived, there Satan is sure to ply us with
temptations, just exactly as a skilful sportsman lays his snare, or
his trap to catch his game ; or as a fisherman will bait his hook
or tie his fly, in whatever way he thinks most likely to allure the
fish it is his object to take, so will Satan bait his hook to catch us,
or he will lay his trap, or his snare, to deceive us in whatever way
he thinks he is most likely to entice us, that we may not see him
and be deceived. So saith David of him and his emissaries, "He
lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den : he lieth in wait to
catch the poor : he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into
his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may
fall by his strong ones." Psalm x. 9, 10. Therefore our great
need of the armor of which we read in the 6th chapter of this
Epistle, and the great blessing, as the Apostle saith, that we be
not "ignorant of his devices." 2nd Cor. ii. 11, — othenvise we are
entrapped before we are aware, and know not until we find our
selves caught in some snare by Satan. The old man is " cor
rupt according to the deceitful lusts." If sin was pre
sented to us by Satan in its own natural, hideous shape, we would
start back from the monster. The devil knows this well ; just
exactly as if the trap were presented without any bait to the bird
or the wild beast, they would run away from it ; so, if sin was

388

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

presented to us in its naked deformity, Avithout some lure for our
"deceitful lusts," Ave would run away, Ave Avould avoid it.
When the trap is covered or baited with something that the
animal likes, then it is caught : — so it is Avith us ; — the sin is
hid, the end of sin — the evil of sin — the deformity — the bitterness
— the remorse — the curse of sin, is hid from us, Ave do not see —
we do not suspect, it : something is presented to allure and to en
tice us, and so, the devil gains an advantage over us. He told our
fallen mother, " You shall not surely die." He concealed death —
expulsion from paradise — the misery — the curse — the ruin of her
self, her husband, and their posterity, from her vieAV — and he only
presented to her the fruit, "good for food, and pleasant to the
eyes, and to be desired lo make one wise." Gen. iii. 6. Which of
you who knows the Gospel of Christ, Avho has not fallen a hun
dred times, not, perhaps through mercy, into sins and iniquities
that would expose you to man's judgment or the penalty of human
laws, but who among you has not fallen in your own heart, and
been wounded in your own consciences, and heavily afflicted
under the sense and burthen of sin? This is "the old man,
WHICH IS CORRUPT, ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFUL LUSTS,"
that continually harasses us and draAvs us aside. Consider this,
and think Avith Avhat bitter triumph the enemy of our souls rejoices
if he can allure us into snares and evils. And therefore you see
the exhortation of the Apostle, "That ye put off, concerning
THE FORMER CONVERSATION, THE OLD MAN, WHICH IS COR
RUPT, ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFUL LUSTS, AND BE RENEAVED
IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND, AND THAT YE PUT ON THE NEW
MAN, WHICH AFTER GoD IS CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND
TRUE HOLINESS."
If these are great and solemn duties — let us never forget how
they are to be performed ; — " Ye have not so learned Christ.
If so be ye have heard him, and have been taught by
him, as the truth is in Jesus." There is no use in pressing
duties on others or on ourselves, no exhortation Avill bo efficacious
to help us in the discharge of them, unless we have the means
prepared by God, and use those means Avhich the Lord prescribes,
and with which He supplies us : — and you see the mighty instru
ment — "The truth as it is in Jesus." What is the poAArerby
which to overcome the malice of the devil? Only the Lord Jesus
Christ. So the Apostle John says in the Apocalypse, speaking of
the brethren Avhom Satan accuseth day and night before God,
"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of his testimony." Rev. xii. 11. We shall see — if Ave are permitted
to consider that beautiful chapter, the 6th, in which the Avhole ar
mor of God is presented to the Christian to take for defence against
his foe, — we shall see, that every part of that armor is only another
name for Christ. "Having your loins girt about with truth."
What is truth? The Lord Jesus Christ, — "I am the way and the
truth, and the life'' John xiv. 6. " The breast-plate of righteous
ness." What is that ? Christ — " The Lord our righteousness."

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 389
Jer. xxiii. 6. " Your feet shod with the preparation of the Gos
pel of peace." What is that? Christ — "He is our peace." chap.
ii. 14. "Take the helmet of salvation." What is our salvation?
Christ — "Behold God is my salvation." Isa. xii. 2. "And the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word, of God." Who is the
Word? Christ — John i. 1. He is the Word, and the poAver of
the Scripture is in the revelation of Him. "Above all, taking the
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one :" Faith in whom, but in Christ as our
Redeemer ? The only AVay to conquer our sin, or our enemy, is
to take the shield of faith ; to say thus, " True, I am guilty, I am
such a vile sinner, my spirit trembles under the power of this sin,
or this lust or corruption, but I fly to my Lord and Saviour, I rest
beneath the cross of my Lord and Master, I come to my Redeemer
and lean on Him, I will ' come up from the wilderness leaning on
my beloved' Satan tempts me into evil, and then charges me
with it, he draws me into sin, and then makes sin an accusation
against my conscience, to turn me aAvay from Christ ; but I will
meet Satan with Christ — I will take Christ by faith, and meet the
foe — I will resist the devil in the strength of my Lord and Mas
ter." And so, when the Apostle here exhorts to put off the old
man, and speaks of the guilt of the Gentiles, who Avere walking
in darkness, he says, "Ye have not so learned Christ:" —
as much as to say, This is the poAver whereby alone you can be
able to conquer your sins or yourselves, and to fly from the sins
of those who know not His salvation.
And thus, dear friends, you see that the Lord, by the riches of
His mercy, overrules the various evils and corruptions of His peo
ple, to teach them more of His own love, otherwise we never could
comprehend the grace or the love of Christ. It is in dangerous
diseases Ave learn the skill of the physician, and it is in the trials
aud temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, that we
learn the character and glory of our Heavenly Physician. The
Lord overrules even the workings of sin in us to make Himself more
precious to our souls, and to teach us deeper experimental lessons
of His power, faithfulness, truth and love, and so to draw forth from
us more and more of love to our Lord and Master.
Therefore, what need we have to watch and pray that we may
learn more and more of Christ, that Satan may have no advan
tage over us ! If, in our temptations we come to Christ, bring all
our inward trials, conflicts and sins by faith to Christ, Satan shall
have no power against us. Let us therefore bring " the old man,
WHICH IS CORRUPT, ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFUL LUSTS," to
Christ. Let us cast him down, as it were, at the feet of Jesus,
and say to him thus,
" Ah, thou art crucified ! — Thou wicked heart — thou vile na
ture, — thou corrupt, rebellious will — ye grovelling affections,
earthly, sensual, devilish — although I feel you all within, a body
of sin and death — yet Christ hath made an end of you — you shall
never condemn me — you were all hung on the cross with Christ,

390

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

there you are crucified, dead with Him, who died to bear the curse
you have brought on my soul. True, I feel your power within,
but that power cannot extend to condemn my soul, I fly to my
Lord and Saviour. 'He that believeth on him is not condemned.'
John iii. 18, — as I receive from his salvation pardon for your guilt,
so shall I gain strength to stand against your power : ' Nay, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us.' Rom. viii. 37."
Thus, though we are tried and afflicted with sins and corrup
tions, if we bring them to Christ, and cast them on Christ, we feel
their poAver conquered in the strength of Jesus — so saith the Apos
tle, chap. vi. 10, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might," — thus Ave learn more to feel what a privilege it is for a
sinner, to be able to know that he has such a precious Saviour as
this, one who is " able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him" Heb. vii. 25, and of whom he can say Avith the
Apostle, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthen-
eth me!' Phil. iv. 13.
But he not only says, "That ye put off the old man,
WHICH IS CORRUPT, ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFUL LUSTS," but
he adds, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind."
Noav, they had been renewed, they had been born again, for " Who
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." 1st
John v. 1. And so the Apostle says to these Ephesians, " We are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
chap. ii. 10, and though they were so, yet he says, "Be renewed
in the Spirit of your mind ;" as the Apostle says in another
place, " Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day." 2nd Cor. iv. 16. We need refreshing grace
and strength every day. As we require continually, daily nutri
ment, and nightly repose for our bodies, so do we need daily spir
itual food, " The Bread of life ;"— daily drink, " The Fountain of
living waters ;" — daily air, the breath of the Holy Spirit of God —
daily repose, rest in Jesus : — we want these all for our souls every
day, and we cannot do without them ; and none but those Avho
are renewed in spirit, know their need of daily reneAval. So Da
vid, "He restoreth my soul." Ps. xxiii. 3.
This truth is fully and beautifully set forth in our Collect for
the Sunday after Christmas Day : —
" Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon
him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin, — Grant that we being regenerate,
and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy
Spirit, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the self same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen."
Satan tries by all means to hinder us from these blessings ; and
just as an enemy who thought he had it in his power to starve us,
would use his best efforts to do so, thus our foe tries to hinder us
from feeding on the "Bread that cometh down from heaven, and
giveth life unto the world." John vi. 33. He tries to draw us
aside from " The Fountain of living waters, to hew out to our-

LECTURES on the ephesians. 391
selves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jer. ii. 13.
He tries to hinder us from " entering into his rest." Heb. iv. 1.
Therefore the constant need of the exhortation, " Be reneaved
in the spirit of your minds," look for, aim at continually,
watch and pray for the constant renewal of the Holy Ghost in
His poAver and influences on your heart and spirit.
What a comfort the believer has, when he remembers, that this
is not a thing to be attained by his OAvn struggling ; — the Lord is
engaged in it for him ; the Lord — his covenant God, has under
taken it, for him, and will carry him through all his trials, conflicts,
and difficulties, till he brings him at last to the haven where he
would be. But the Apostle explains the effects of this renewal ;
he shows what he means by it, "And that ye put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness." The knoAvledge of Jesus teaches two
lessons. To put off the old man — and to put on the new man.
A true change of mind must necessarily superinduce a change of
habits. The sins of the natural disposition — the old Adam — the
fruits of the flesh, are to be put off. The holy will of the Lord —
the new man — Christ, and the fruits of the Spirit, are to be put
on. So the Apostle says, in Romans xiii. 14, "put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the
lusts thereof." So here, " Put on the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Now the Apostle says, " put on the new man," although they
had put him on, because the same Apostle teaches us, Gal. iii. 27,
"As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on
Christ ;" and yet he says here, " Put on the new man." For just
as the old man, in the sense I have mentioned to you, was forever
crucified and made an end of, yet they were called upon to " Put
off the old man ;" so they had been united by faith to the Lord
Jesus Christ, and had put on Christ ; yet they are called on here to
"Put on the new man." For as there is a sense in which sin is
made an end of, — in which the believer is severed forever from the
" old man," yet is called daily to watch and fight against him. So
there is a sense in which he is made one with Christ forever, yet
is daily called to put on the Lord Jesus, or the " neAV man :" " Put
ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH AFTER GoD IS CREATED IN RIGHT
EOUSNESS and true holiness." — He says, " Put on the new
man," — that means, put him on as a robe. This is an image fre
quently used in Scripture, to indicate the completeness with which
the gift or attribute belongs to a person. It is used in reference to
God Himself. " The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty.
The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded
himself." Psa. cxiii. 1. So the Prophet saith, "He hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation ; he hath covered me with a
robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decketh himself with his
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." Isa.
lxi. 10. So the Apostle applies it in several places to putting on
Christ — Which is used for putting on His righteousness, as by the

392 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Apostle for himself, Phil. iii. 9, by our Lord to the Church at Lao-
dicea, Rev. iii. 18. But it seems here, as Avell as in Rom. xiii. 14,
quoted above, to mean that you are to put Him on, in your prac
tical walk and conversation ; we might say as the Avhole habit of
your life. We are called on therefore, to "abhor that which is
evil, and cleave to that which is good." Rom. xii. 9 ; Ave are called
on, therefore, to mortify our corrupt members and affections, to
"deny ungodliness and worldly lusts." Tit. ii. 12; not to "yield
our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." Roin.
vi. 13. This implies a continual solicitation on the part of sin, as
there is both from temptation without and corruption within, — we
are solicited to do what is wrong by the world, the flesh, and the
devil. There is a crowd without us, saying, " Come Avith us, enjoy
yourselves Avith us," and there is a croAvd of sins within ready to
lend an ear, and to go. But Ave must deny — Ave must resist — we
must remember him who saith, "My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not." Prov. i. 10. We must " Put off the old
MAN, WHICH IS CORRUPT ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFUL LUSTS,
AND PUT ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH AFTER GoD IS CREATED IN
righteousness and true holiness." We must Avalk in prac
tical godliness ; " yield not your members," saith the Apostle, " as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your mem
bers as instruments of righteousness unto God." Rom. vi. 13.
So the believer should say, " Let me yield my tongue to God, let
me no more speak in the Avays of sin, let me not give my tongue
to Avickedness. Let me yield my hands, my feet, to God, — let me
yield my eyes to God, — let me pray, " Turn away mine eyes
from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way!' Psa.
cxix. 37 ; — let me yield all my members to God, for "/ am not my
own, I am bought with a price." Let me therefore "glorify God
in my body, and in my spirit, which are God's ;" 1 Cor. vi. 20 ;
let me "Put on the neav man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness;" or " holiness of the
truth," as in the Greek. This seems to refer to v. 21, " If ye
HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AS THE TRUTH IS IN JeSUS  PuT ON THE
NEW MAN, WHICH AFTER GoD IS CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
AND HOLINESS OF THE TRUTH." The " TRUTH AS IT IS IN
Jesus" brings forth the righteousness and holiness that are de
rived from it and belong to it — true practical godliness of life, —
true separation from the world of sin, and true devotedness to
God. The difference between holiness and righteousness appears to
be this. Righteousness is the practical fulfilment of the law of
God. Holiness is a state of separation unto God, a state of devot
edness to God. As the vessels of the temple were said to be holy,
because they were devoted, consecrated to God, — so believers are
said to be holy, because they are sanctified in Christ, as I ex
plained to you fully when on the term saint — sanctified in Christ
Jesus, and set apart unto God ; and therefore, as we are set apart

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 393
to God if we be his people, let us walk in the ways of God, " in
righteousness and true holiness." Righteousness of life is
the effect of holiness unto God.
The Apostle proceeds aftenvards to explain the practical details of
the righteousness and true holiness in which believers are to walk.
And noAV, dear friends, what need we have of continual exhor
tation on this subject ! Avhat need to have the blessed Word of
God lying continually open before us, showing us, not only our
sin, but the glorious remedy for sin ! Oh, what a blessing that
the Word of God does not come, like a rough, unskilful, unfeeling
surgeon, to probe and to tear open the wounds of a guilty con
science, and to leave them then to bleed and fester unto death ;
but that, Avhile with skilful hand it comes to probe the wound, it
comes, too, like the good Samaritan, to pour in balm, and oil, and
wine, to heal it ! We can have no earthly sin, trouble, sorrow.
which, if we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, the precisus blood of
Christ is not a sufficient balm to cure. Let us think of this ; hoAV
precious is the balm of Immanuel's blood ! Oh, may it be applied
to our consciences ! Let us pray that it may be applied to our
hearts, that we may be enabled to know the blessing of the
Gospel of Jesus ! that our hearts may " rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh," Phil. iii. 3, — and that thus
Ave may feel ourselves " strong in the Lord, and in the power of
His might," chap. vi. 10, — and be made " more than conquerors
through Him who loved us." Rom. viii. 37.
May the Lord apply this to your heart and mine and sanctify
it to us according to our several necessities ! He knows our
Avants, and He is able to make His word efficacious to bless, to
heal, and strengthen us — to enable us to live to Him who hath
lived, and died, and risen again for us. To whom be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen.

THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE

Ephesians IV. — 25, 26, 27, 28.

"Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor : for we
are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the sun go down upon
your wrath : Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more : but
rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have
to give to him that needeth.
In our last Lecture, you recollect the double exhortation given
by the Apostle to his Ephesian brethren, from the 22nd to the

394

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

24th verse. The first — " That ye put off, concerning thefoimer
conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the de
ceitful lusts ;" and the second — " That ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
The Apostle now proceeds in the passage where we commence
to-day, 25th verse, to explain his meaning, and he shows Avhat
they are to understand both by putting " off the old man," and by
putting " on the new man." Therefore, let us look through these
verses to the end of the chapter, and see the character of the " old
man," which the. believer is called upon to put off, — Lying, — Ven
geance, — Giving place to the Devil, — Stealing, — Uttering corrupt
communication, — Grieving the Holy Spirit of God, — Bitterness, —
Wrath, — Anger, — Clamor, — Evil-speaking, — Malice, — these are
the characteristics of the " old man," Avhich the Apostle exhorts
his brethren to put off.
Then again, let us observe the characteristics of the " new man,"
of which he speaks, and we find, instead of Lying — Truth. In
stead of Vengeance — Cessation from Wrath. Instead of giving
place to the Devil — Not giving him any. In opposition to corrupt
Communication, " That which is good lo the use of edifying, to
minister grace unto the hearers." In opposition to Grieving the
Holy Spirit of God, not to grieve or wound Him. In opposition to
Bitterness, Wrath, Anger, Clamor, Evil-speaking, and Malice, —
Kindness, Tender-heartedness, forgiveness of each other for their
various wrongs ; — " Even as God for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you." v. 32.
Let me first call your attention to the principle which the
Apostle ever maintains as the groundwork of these exhortations.
You find this in the last verse. " Even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you," so do ye. Always remember, that ex
hortations to the performance of moral duties are only addressed
in the Apostolical Epistles, and can only be scripturally addressed
to believers, as such. The Moral Law is indeed of equal obligation
upon all. No unbelief — no rejection of God's Holy Word, can in
the least exonerate from that obligation. The belief of the Gospel,
while it can scarcely, in one sense, be said to add to an obligation
which is, and must be, full and perfect on all mankind, yet in
another sense, may be said to increase it, by adding the further
obligation of love to Christ for His redemption. " If ye love me
keep my commandments," John xiv. 15, — and thus supplying the
motive to obey.
But the Law to the unbeliever must ever come, not only Avith
its obligation, but its curse. So it came to the Young Man, who
Avas so blind and ignorant as to tell our Lord he had observed it
from his youth, Mark x. 17 — 22. So to the LaAvyer, who stood
up to tempt our Lord, Luke x. 25 — 37. So must the Law ever
be to man in his unregenerate state — and therefore it but blinds
and deceives men, to exhort them to perform their duty as if they
were servants of God, until they are first made servants of
God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must call on men

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 395
first to " repent and believe the Gospel," to flee to Him Avho " hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law." Gal. iii. 13. How absurd
to exhort a man under sentence of death for his crimes, to dis
charge the duties of a good citizen ! His first object must be to
obtain pardon of his Sovereign — then Ave must press on him
the duties of a citizen, when he is restored to the liberty and priv
ileges of that state. So, it but tends to deceive and blind a man
in his unregenerate state, to tell him that he can serve or please
God. " They that are in the flesh cannot please God," Rom. viii. 8
—that is the testimony of Scripture. Therefore Ihe first point
for our conscience is, to have it settled within, that we are believ
ing in Jesus, and that faith in His salvation and love to Him is
the motive which we acknowledge of obedience to God ; not to
purchase salvation from Him, but because of the salvation which
is freely given to us through Christ Jesus, who has died to pur
chase it. Let us never forget this, my dear friends, for a moment :
we cannot take one step in the Christian life, as I have often en
deavored to impress on you, till our minds are enlightened and
settled in that truth. No efforts to serve God on false principles
are, or can be, but displeasing to Him. We must have the prin
ciples that God inculcates before we can pursue the conduct that
God commands. Therefore, knoAV your motives, — watch your
motives, and carry those that are true, through all your conduct —
your motives are the best test of your state, in the sight of God.
Let us now consider the characteristics of the " old man" which
are to be put off, and the principles of the "new man" which are
to be put on by the believer.
" Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man
truth with his neighbor." Lying is the first characteristic
of the "old man" mentioned here, and certainly it is one of the
most indigenous and precocious vices, if I may use the expression,
of the human heart. As certainly as the earth brings forth thorns
and thistles, so certainly does the natural heart of man bring forth
its innate corruptions, and lying is among the earliest seeds of sin
that burst in the spring of life from the infant mind. "The wicked
are estranged," saith the Psalmist, "from the womb ; they go
astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Psa. Iviii. 3. I
dare say, that all here who are parents will agree with me, that
this is one of the first vices we discover in the heart and conduct
of our children. Lying is the necessary consequence of sin, it is
the refuge of an accusing conscience from the fear of accounta
bility to judgment. The child is conscious it does what is wrong,
what it has been forbidden to do ; it knows it is accountable to its
parent, and it hopes to escape the penalty of its fault by conceal
ment, therefore it tells a lie. The first thing Adam did, you know,
was not indeed to tell a lie, but to act a lie. Instead of going,
when he heard the voice of his God in the garden, instead of going
to confess his sin, " Lord, I have sinned against Thee," he tried to
conceal himself, "I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid
myself." Gen. iii. 10. That was a lie, — it was not because he was

396

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

naked, but because he kneAv he had violated the commandment
of his God, and he was afraid to meet his Judge.
But it is not only in concealing faults and sins that lying is
evinced in our heart and conduct, but also in justifying ourselves,
in palliating; and excusing the evils of which Ave are conscious, or
even those of Avhich we are convicted. We see this also in Adam,
instead of acknowledging his sin Avhen he Avas convicted of it,
" Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee, that thou
shouldest not eat ?" Instead of at once acknowledging his sin, he
justifies himself, and throAVs the blame on his Avife, and through
her on God. "This woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she
gave me of the tree, and 1 did eat." Gen. iii. 12. As much as to
say, " I am not in fault, — I am not the person on Avhom the blame
is to rest, — the woman gave me of it, and the fault rests immedi
ately on her, and ultimately on you ; for you gave me such a wo
man. " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave
me of the tree, and I did eat." It is thus Avith all his fallen pos
terity. In the concealment of our sins,- in our self-justification, in
the palliation of our offences, the principle of lying is pre-eminently
exhibited in the natural heart and character of man. It is not
only discoverable in our children, as we have seen, but in our ser
vants, in all those who are placed in a state of accountability to per
sons whom they fear. It would be exactly the same in ourselves if
we were placed in similar circumstances. If we were accountable to
others, the very same principle would be manifested by us, in our
natural character, although there is, no doubt, a diversity in this ;
as falsehood, however general, is not equally conspicuous in all.
But Oh ! Avhat a common sin is lying throughout the whole world.
Simulation, that is the pretence or affectation of Avhat does not exist,
is lying — Dissimulation, that is the concealment of what does ex
ist, is lying. Every sort of artifice that is opposed to truth,
Avhether in word or deed, may be justly termed lying. If this be
so, how it shows that the intercourses of social life are carried on
too generally in the world by a system of hypocrisy, falsehood,
and deceit. The appearance of pleasure, Avhere pleasure is a
stranger to the heart — The affectation of enjoyment in the society
of others, whose company or presence is not only joyless, but irk
some — The ordinary intercourse that is carried on, as it Avere, in
masquerade, in the world, among those who knoAV not God, is dis
covered by these, the private detraction — the secret Avhisper — the
slanderous report — the satirical inuendo — the unkind expression —
the dark allusion — the malevolent hint, — as to persons whom we
have met Avith a face of blandness and civility, perhaps Avith ex
pressions of regard and friendship — all these things evince, Avith
what a system of lying and deception the social intercourse of the
world is carried on. This corresponds with the divine testimony,
"Full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things." Rom. i. 29, 30. So "serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 397
another." Tit. iii. 3. Now consider this — think of it. Is it not so?
There is not one sin of the heart of man which is more inter
woven Avith its natural deceit, than that of lying. When Ave con
sider the evil that defiles us in this, we may Avell say, " Who can
tell how oft he offendeth ? Oh, cleanse thou me from my secret
faults." Psa. xix. 12.
Not to speak of the deliberate and intentional falsehoods which
many persons tell Avithout remorse, are there not innumerable
" white lies," " harmless lies." Do we not hear these things con
tinually ? Do you not hear continually falsehoods glossed over
with such names? — as the Church of Rome calls them, "officious
lies, Avhich hurt nobody."
But " Putting aavay lying," is the command of Scripture, — ¦
that is the " old man," the corrupt nature. Let us remember this,
my brethren, the least lie that you or I have ever told, and Oh !
how many have we told ! — -the least lie that Ave ever told, Avould
cast us into everlasting death if there were not another sin to be
charged against us — and if God Avere to enter into judgment with
us, unless Jesus had hung on the cross to save us from eternal ruin.
When then a person is brought to believe the Gospel of Jesus,
his principles, as well as his conduct, are to be totally reneAAred and
changed ; not only wilful falsehoods, but also, the deceit — duplicity
— hypocrisy — insincerity — hollow profession — the lying mockery
of masquerade, in which the world walks, is to be put off from the
servants of God. There is no sin which is more particularly specified
through the Scripture as casting the soul into perdition, than lying.
'¦But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and mur
derers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake that burnetii with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death." And again, "And there
shall in no icise enter into it, anything that defileth, neither what
soever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which are
written in the Lamb's book of life!' Rev. xxi. 8, 27.
Let us then consider this, &nd see, not only that we cultivate,
(if Ave be servants of God,) the spirit of truth, and avoid any de
parture from strict veracity, but that we also, in our life and con
versation, evince that "simplicity and godly sincerity," — that
singleness of eye to truth in our life and conversation, Avhich be-
cometh those, and which we are expressly told must be the char
acter of those, who are really the servants of God. Remember,
that no determination to adhere, and no adherence to truth, can
purchase for you eternal life. But remember, if you be servants
of God, disciples of Him whose name is "Faithful and true,"
Rev. xix. 11, — lying is to be put away from you, as a proof, one
of the many proofs, that you are indeed the servants of God, as
you profess to be.
"Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man
truth with his neighbor." I remember reading a story,
when I was a child, Avith Avhich, perhaps, some who hear me may
be acquainted, but which struck me very forcibly even then as

398 lectures on the ephesians.
illustrating the deceit and wickedness of the human heart. It is
a tale. The tale was called " The Palace of truth." The Avriter
describes a place into which every person who enters is bound by
a certain spell, so that they speak actually the thoughts of their
hearts, whatever they be, while, at the same time, they are not at
all conscious of the power that influences them, or of the words
they utter, but imagine they are saying what they would intend
to say in the ordinary language of the duplicity or compliment of
the world. Therefore, when friends meet friends, and relatives
meet relatives, while they are carrying on the farce which in too
many instances they do carry on in social life, expressing, as they
imagine, regret or kindness, compliments or pleasure, they are
really giving vent to the genuine feelings of their heart. When
they are brought into the test of the palace of truth, the mask is
there torn off, and all the vain fantastic mockery of kindness, of
regard, or of affection, they had once professed, is now exchanged
for the genuine expression of envy, malice, hatred, or disgust, and
all the other passions which really possessed their breasts. Then
they are manifested in their true character to each other, and con
sequently all these evil passions produce their natural result, in
severing almost all the ties of social and domestic life. What a
blessing is the truth expressed in the language of the Poet : —
" Heaven's Sovereign saves all beings but Himself
That hideous sight, — a naked human heart."
The believer has learned to feel in some degree the burthen and
evil of his OAvn heart, and he knows the necessity of hearing the
Apostolical exhortation, " Putting away lying, speak every
man truth with his neighbor." And now mark the prin
ciple on which this is especially enforced by the Apostle. It
is the spirit of Christian love, of union by faith and love with
the Lord Jesus Christ and with each other, by which alone men
can really learn to speak the truth in sincerity. " For," saith
the Apostle, " we are members one of another :" we are
united to Jesus, and united to one another in Jesus ; therefore
the principle of faith in Christ, and love to Christ, union Avith
Him and with each other, is pressed throughout on the believer
as the motive of his conduct, and therefore, "Putting away
LYING, SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, FOR
we are members one of another." As one member of
our body will not hurt another member of our body, so, saith the
Apostle, as we are all members of one body, united under one
head, Christ Jesus, let us deal with truth, sincerity and love, one
Avith the other. Consider this, then, "Wherefore, putting
AWAY LYING, SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,
for we are members one of another." Hoav blessed are the
genuine fruits of true Christianity, where those who bear the name
are truly Christians, but when we see that the very fundamental
truths of the Gospel — the only hope of man's salvation, are rejected,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 399
denied, or neglected by those who are called Christians, it is hope
less to expect the fruit. " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or
figs of thistles?" Matt. vii. 16.
Another evil he mentions of the old man is anger, "Be ye
ANGRY, AND SIN NOT ; LET NOT THE SUN GO DOWN ON YOUR
wrath." You see, anger is an evil of the " old man," which is
to be put off, and restraining anger is the "new man," which is to
be put on. This is another corruption of the heart which we see
so prominent in the character of children. When they are left
unrestrained together, how soon they begin to quarrel and to con
tend with each other, how easily their angry passions are excited :
we see it pre-eminently in them, for this reason, they have not the
restraint over their tempers and passions that the laws of society,
education, or fear of the opinion of others, may impose. But anger,
wicked tempers, are not confined to children. What misery they
excite in every family ! Are there members of any family here who
have not in some way experienced it ? If you have not experi
enced it among the members of your OAvn family, and your own
immediate relatives and friends, surely, you have experienced it in
yourselves — there is no one who has not experienced it in their
own hearts. How easily are we excited to anger and revenge !
Some are more amiable in their natural temper than others, as
some are by nature more sincere and true, but there are few, if
any, who are not excitable to anger ; some are peculiarly irritable,
some are provoked by things that do not produce any emotion in
others, but anger is one of the corrupt indigenous principles which
has its seeds more or less prolific in their growth and progress in
the heart of every sinner. Now the natural propensity of every
individual among us is, to indulge our anger, — and you will see
persons where there is no restraint placed on them, where they
are not afraid, they will give way to their wicked passions and
tempers ; but where restraint is placed on them, where they are
afraid to show it, there it is quite the reverse. Now the Scripture
does not admit the principle of outward restraint as the means of
conquering sin — does not admit that wicked tempers are to be
indulged when the eye of man beholds not — and to be concealed
where character — fear of man — fear of1 the law — fear of reproach,
subdue or compel them to be still. All the commands of Scripture
bring the sinner before his God, teach him to feel, to think, to act,
as in the presence of the Lord of Glory, there to regulate his con
duct, and there to regulate his heart, " Be ye angry, and sin
not." Sin not as in the eye of men — but in the sight of God.
Persons differ on the exact interpretation of this verse ; some im
agine that it should be read interrogatively, thus — "Are ye angry?"
as much as to say, "Can you be angry, and sin not? Can you
be angry without sin ?" Some persons imagine that it is, " Be ye
angry, and sin not," admitting, that there are circumstances in
which you may be provoked* to be angry, and can be angry with
out sin. This, I think, is the proper interpretation of it ; there is
such anger, a righteous anger, a just anger. "God is angry with

400

lectures on the ephesians.

the wicked every day." Psa. vii. 11. The Lord Jesus represents
Himself as being angry — " The Master of the house being angry."
Luke xiv. 21. It is the same Avord as in this passage. Righteous,
holy indignation and anger, is a necessary part of real, solid,
Christian duty. We ought to be angry at that which is displeasing
to God, we ought to be angry at it in others, and more angry at it
in ourselves, but "sin not;" whenever anger exceeds that rule,
namely, that it is a holy, just, and righteous displeasure against
that Avhich is wi'ong, there anger becomes sin, and even in that
case we should AA'atch that it does not lead to sin. It is righteous
that a father should be angry at his disobedient child ; it is right
eous that a master should be angry at his disobedient servant ; it
is righteous that man should be displeased in the various rela
tions of life at those things that are wrong, "Be ye angry,"
but then, "sin not." Take care, it does not lead you into prac
tical transgression of the law of God, — take care it does not lead
you into the transgression of the law of God in your OAvn heart.
If you are angry with sin, take care you are not angry with the
sinner. "Be ye angry, and sin not," — this is a high standard,
dear friends, and one which we feel far beyond our attainment ;
for alas, let us remember how often by this very sin we have
brought on ourselves condemnation, eternal judgment, yea, a
thousand, and ten thousand times. Hoav often you and I should
have been cast into hell for this sin, if God had dealt with us after
our iniquities ! How often anger lias produced enmity, hatred, in
our breasts against the individual who has provoked us, Iioav often
have they burned in our bosoms ! Hoav often have we committed
murder in the Scriptural sense ! Our hands may not be stained
with blood, Ave may not have embrued them in the blood of a
fellow-creature, as I trust none of us have, but what saith the
Word of God? "Whosoever haieth his brother is a murderer."
1st John iii. 15. If this be, as it surely is, the spiritual meaning
of the LaAV, I suppose, there is not a single one in this room that
has not, in the Scriptural sense, committed murder. Hoav often
have we been provoked and angry at an individual, and felt hatred
towards that individual, though it might be but for a time, and
although we would not murder, we would be glad he Avere dead
out of our sight. Have Ave not felt so ? I am sure I have ; yea,
and I am sure you have. How often in this Law have we sinned
against God ! Alas ! Avhat vile, Avicked, ungodly, devilish tempers,
there are in the natural heart ! Oh ! my friends, what need Ave
have to receive continually strength and poAver from God, to re
strain the corruptions of our hearts, even in this one sin. But
look on a little, and see the rule the Apostle lays doAvn for this in
the last verse of this chapter, " Be ye kind one lo another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you." You remember the parable of our Lord, by
Avhich He illustrates this principle. You recollect the servant that
was brought to his Lord, "who owed him ten thousand talents ;
but forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 401
be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and pay
ment to be made" — and you recollect that servant coming to his
Lord, and asking him, " have patience with me, and I will pay
thee all" — -though he undertook to do what he could not do,
though he undertook to pay him what he could never discharge,
" The Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and
loosed him, and forgave him the debt." Then he went out, you
recollect, " and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him
a hundred pence, and he took him by the throat, saying, pay me
that thou owest." His fellow-servant used the same expostulation
and entreaty to him, " have patience with me, and I will pay thee
all ; and he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he
should pay the debt." And do you remember the remonstrance
and judgment of his Lord against him ? "O thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me : shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as
I had pity on thee ? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him
to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So," you see, our Lord adds, " likewise shall my heavenly Father
do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one
his brother their trespasses." Matt, xviii. 24-35.
Observe, this is the principle that the Lord keeps continually in
view in the hearts of His people ; you recollect in the Lord's
prayer, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres
pass against us."
Now do you suppose that forgiving others their trespasses is the
condition on which God pardons ours ? Never was a principle
more false than that, — and it is the natural, corrupt principle of
the human heart. I have heard that principle often professed on
the bed of death. Often and often have sinners said to me, Avhen
I have asked them, what is the hope you have in going before
God in expecting pardon for your sins ? I have often received for
answer, " I forgive all men, and am at peace with all the world."
I have heard that melancholy expression a thousand times, they
make a merit of pardoning others, by Avhich they think to pur
chase forgiveness from God. Nothing can be more false ; for if
this were so, forgiveness could not be by the blood of the Lord
Jesus. But it is charged by the Lord on the consciences of his
believing people, as a test of their sincerity in coming to Him for
pardon, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres
pass against us," — that is, can you come to the Lord " in spirit
and truth," Avith the sense of the weight of ten thousand talents
which you owe Him, on your soul ? Can you come to Him, and
ask Him for pardon, for that which your conscience tells you, you
owe to Him, when you are cherishing some unforgiving principle
in your heart to your fellow-sinner that owes you an hundred
pence ? There can be no sense of the depth and magnitude of
our own debt to God, when we come to Him for pardon, there can
be no sense of the magnitude of our debt, no genuine sincerity in
seeking forgiveness, if our conscience tells us that we have come
26

402

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

to ask God for the pardon of our own sins, with unforgiving tem
pers towards any of our fellow-sinners, — and therefore observe, the
Lord puts this test on the consciences of men in that prayer.
Therefore, "Be ye angry, and sin not." If you are excited,
if your tempers are excited, if your passions are excited, if you
are stirred up to indulge a wicked temper, beware how you cherish
it — go to the Lord, take it to Him — " Let not the sun go doavn
on your wrath," go to your Lord for pardoning grace, bring
your guilt, your debt of ten thousand talents, to the foot of the
cross. See, what a mighty debt you are forgiven ! what vast wick
edness ! what innumerable sins ! See all that debt cancelled by
the blood of the cross ; and beware, lest your heart accuses you,
and your conscience charges you with coming to God, with the
mockery of seeking such pardon — of trusting in such forgiveness —
Avhen you do not forgive the hundred pence your fellow-sinner
owes to you. Yes, dear friends, there is nothing that leads us to
estimate the provocations we receive from our fellow-sinners aright
so much, as this one reflection —
" Alas, Avhy should I be so angry ? Let me think of the provo
cations wherewith I have provoked my God !"
Let us remember this. In every relation of life, whatever in
juries we receive from our fellow-sinners, let us remember, what
is all that man can do to us, compared with the provocations with
which we have provoked God ! How this would humble us —
subdue our heart — bring us down to the dust, and enable us to
remember what we are, what a Saviour we have — what a God !
" who pardoneth iniquity, transgression and sin, and retaineth
not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy." Mic.
vii. 18.
" Neither give place to the devil." Do not allow the
devil any place in your mind — give him no quarter — grant him
not a moment's admission or entertainment in your breast. As
in contending against an enemy who was attacking you, you
would not let him gain an inch of advantage against you, — as
you would not let him plant his foot on a spot of ground Avhere he
could have a position of superiority, — as you would not let him
into your house, or to your door, or give him a place where he
could have an opportunity to wound or injure you — so, remember,
you have an enemy that is continually attacking you, "going
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1st Pet.
v. 8, — do not give him a point to stand on : if he gains entrance
into your hearts, thoughts, imaginations, he will have the advan
tage over you ; do not let him in for a moment. Perhaps you do
not understand how this can be done. When thoughts come
into your minds, when desires come into your hearts, that you
know in your conscience are contrary to God's word and God's
will, what do you do Avith them ? If you take them, and keep
them, and cherish them, and entertain them, you give place to
the devil ; you give the devil the advantage over you, of getting
into your heart with his temptations and suggestions, and you

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 403
give him a lodgment there. Now do not do this — do not give
place to him — do not allow him a moment's admission within
you; dismiss every thought— -every desire — every wish — as soon
as it comes into your heart ; bring it to the Cross at once, bring it
to Christ, bring it to the feet of Jesus, and say to him, "Lord, de
liver me ; make haste to help me." That is what we have need
to do. Therefore do not " Give place to the devil," for every
advantage he gains in this way, you give him a stronger hold, a
stronger position, a firmer lodgment in your heart, whence he can
more effectually attack you, and draw you into sin against your
God. Now this is one of the most remarkable features of the natural
mind. The natural man or woman — that is, man or woman in
their unregenerate state — believe, that, provided they do not carry
out their sins into practice, it is no matter what they may think,
or how far they may indulge their imaginations in sin. — Nay it is
our natural propensity to indemnify ourselves for subduing the
outward practices of sin, by the inward cherishing and indulgence
of it. We delight ourselves in the wicked and corrupt thoughts
and imaginations of our own hearts, we revel in them — we enjoy
ourselves in them, — and thus console ourselves by the secret in
dulgence of sins in our imagination, for not carrying them into
practical effect. We may be prevented from doing it ; the law of
the land — respect for character — the laws of society may not allow
us to do it ; but we cherish these sins in our hearts. It does not
occur to the natural man that these things are evil, he thinks he
is very good, if he is not practically indulging in wickedness. The
believer is taught to see that the power of sin is in his heart, that
there he is to meet the enemy — there to guard against the evil —
there to watch and "keep his heart with all diligence, for out of
it are the issues of life." Prov. iv. 23. It is there then, dear
brethren, in our hearts, as well as in our lips and lives, we are
specially to watch against the wiles of the devil.
These practical fruits which the Apostle inculcates on his be
lieving brethren, let us remember, are the exhibitions of the Gos
pel on earth, the manifestations of the Gospel of Jesus, — of the
fruit and power of religion in the heart. If religion were to con
sist in mere notions, mere speculative opinions, that Gospel would
produce no benefit in this world. If it were possible that man, by
the belief of the Gospel of Jesus, could enter into eternal life, and
that that faith were to be a principle totally inoperative on his life
here below, what blessing would the Gospel be to man on earth ?
or what difference would religion make between the servants of
God and the servants of the devil? None. But let us remember,
though the Gospel of Christ does proclaim that glorious truth, that
through the faith of it, man does enter into eternal life, let us re
member that the faith of that Gospel is practical. It "worketh by
love." The principle that is given into the heart is the faith of
Jesus, and the love of Jesus is the result ; to turn man "from
darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God," that he

404

lectures on the ephesians.

may live to that Redeemer, " who died for him, and rose again."
Therefore, consider this, and you shall see that these practical ex
hortations given in the Apostolic writings supply the manifesta
tions, — the only manifestations of the servants of Jesus on this
earth, as these principles are brought unto their hearts, and their
existence in their hearts manifested in their lives. Let us pray,
that we may have clear, full, simple views of the Gospel of Christ
for the hope of our souls, that our hearts may be enabled to em
brace Christ, to rest on Christ, in simplicity and sincerity as the
whole of our salvation, and that Ave may be able to manifest that
we do so, by living to Him, shoAving that we are the servants of
God, by turning from the service of the world, sin and Satan.
Let us apply through grace these practical exhortations to our
selves, "putting off the old man, which is corrupt, according to
the deceitful lusts," "putting on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness."
I may conclude Avith the words of the Apostle to the Philip-
pians, " This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment ; That ye may approve
things that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere, and without
offence, till the day of Christ ; Being filled with the fruits of
righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and
praise of God." Amen. Phil. i. 9, 10, 11.

THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.

Ephesians IV. — 28, 29, 30, 31, 32.

" Let him that stole steal no more : but rather let him labor, working with his hands
the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edify
ing, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice;
And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Again we must take up the principle on which these exhorta
tions are given by the Apostle. Let us never lose sight of it in
our hearts and consciences, either when we speak practically of
the Gospel, or think practically of our OAvn duty. This is the
principle to which I called your attention in our last Lecture,
which is to be found in the last verse of this chapter, " Be ye kind
one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

lectures on the ephesians. 405
There the Apostle is addressing those persons, Avho as believers in
Jesus, trusted on the Lord for the pardon of their sins. They
were not to do any of these things in order to obtain pardon,
which is the corrupt principle of duty in the natural heart of man,
but they were to do these things, and to love one another, because
they had received pardon, " Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Rom. iii. 21.
Therefore, remember this is always the point for the sinner to
have settled in his conscience, when he is coming to the Lord.
He should ask himself, — "Am I coming through the precious
blood of Jesus, leaning on my Lord alone for my salvation? hav
ing that blessed hope that all my sins are cancelled through that
great offering which he has made on the cross ? Oh ! let my soul
come thus to God ! let my soul bring nothing but the righteous
ness and blood of Immanuel ! let my soul repose Avith joy and
peace in Him, thus let me " heartily rejoice in the strength of my
salvation, Ps. xcv. 1. " Let me enter into his gates with thanks
giving, and into his courts with praise." Ps. c. 4.
Think of these things again and again, my friends. Observe,
he says, " Even as God, for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you." Mark the distinction. It is not, that God, for Christ's
sake may forgive y°u) — Dut ne says, " As God for Christ's
sake HATH forgiven you."
Well then, recollecting this, you will remember, that the Apos
tle is here drawing a parallel betAveen the old man and the new
man, that is, between man's own natural corrupt heart, and that
new heart which is given to him by the Holy Spirit through the
faith of the Gospel, " That ye put off the old man, which is cor
rupt according to the deceitful lusts," and "put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
We have seen that the Apostle is drawing a parallel in several
particulars betAveen the old man and the new man in their work
ings. We have seen Lying, and Revengeful Anger, and Admis
sion of Satan into our minds, contrasted with their opposite duties.
In the 28th verse we have Stealing as the work of the old man
— we have Honesty — Industry, as the work of the new man.
We have taken away by theft the property of others — and we
have that contrasted with giving in Christian love to the wants
of others. "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 to give to him
that needeth."
Stealing is the natural propensity of the old man. All men
covet — and many men steal. Let us remember that this sin may
be committed in many Avays that the law cannot take hold of.
Many a man who never in a legal sense stole a shilling, may have
stolen much in the sight of God. How many a man is pleased
with what he calls a good bargain, disposing of something he has
to sell, for more than in the sight of God he knows it to be worth ; or
getting something from his neighbor by some means or other, for

406 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
what in his conscience he knows to be less than its value — count
ing himself very clever if he skilfully and strongly depreciates
whatever he wants to buy, and as skilfully and deceitfully puffs
beyond its worth whatever he wants to sell. What a mixture of
theft and falsehood there is in some of your great bargain-makers.
"It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer, but when he is gone
his way then he boasteth." Prov. xx. 14. But remember the word
of God is, " That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in
any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such."
1 Thess. iv. 6. Then if I have been such an one, let me put off
that ; but let me manifest the life of the " new man," let me " la
bor, WORKING WITH MY HANDS THE THING THAT IS GOOD."
The Gospel of Christ, or true religion is anything but idleness, —
true religion inculcates industry, spiritual industry and temporal
industry ; — spiritual industry, " The soul of the sluggard desireth,
and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."
Prov. xiii. 4 — temporal industry, "Let him labor, working
with his hands the thing that is good." " When we were
with you, this we commanded you, that if any man would not
work, neither should he eat." 2 Thess. iii. 10. The Christian, in
whatsoever station of life he is placed, ought to be the most active
and diligent person in that station of life. The persons who are
placed at the head of a property ought to be most diligent in the
discharge of their duty as Christians. The duties that devolve on
them, having a number of persons depending on them, for exam
ple, for employment, for provisions, for education, — all these and
others are great responsibilities which God has laid on the man to
whom he has committed the talent of wealth in this world. The
persons who are to provide for their families in any profession
should be diligent and attentive to the calling of their profession.
The merchant at his counting-house, — the shopkeeper in his shop,
active in his business, faithful and upright in his dealings, accurate
in his accounts. The Christian soldier ought to be the best, the
most obedient and the bravest soldier. The Christian sailor ought
to be the man to nail his colors to the mast. The Christian ser
vant should be the most diligent in his labor, " not with eye-ser
vice, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart." chap. vi. 6, — not serving his earthly
master, but his Heavenly Master. Whatever station the Lord has
been pleased to place us in, our religion should be manifested in the
fidelity — in the zeal and activity Avith which we discharge our
duty in that situation. Therefore, while the Gospel of Christ does
not describe our works as having anything to do with the justifica
tion of our souls before God, you observe, that the Word of God
points out our duties or our works as being the means of both test
ing and proving the sincerity of our profession, and the only means
we have of manifesting it before man, and the mode in which it
shall be finally approved and tested before God.
Then again, it is not merely for our own support that we are
commanded to work, or for the due discharge of the duty that God

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 407
has been pleased to annex to our calling, whatever it be, but also
that Ave may be liberal, " Working avith his hands the thing
THAT IS GOOD, THAT HE MAY HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT
needeth." Christianity, you see, is not only industrious and
just, but it is generous too ; it opens not only the hand to Avork,
but the heart and the hand to give. If we remember what God
has done for us, and bestowed on us, and if We remember it as we
ought to do, we should be anxious to manifest love to our fellow-
sinners in whatever way we can, continually — effectually — liber
ally — according to our means, to help our poor brethren. Alas !
these are duties, that I am afraid are commonly neglected among
those who call themselves Christians, and even who are Christians.
We think a great deal too much of supporting ourselves in a cer
tain style, in the different circumstances in which the Lord has
been pleased to place us, we think many more things necessary
for us than really are. Hoav many are not contented with the
necessaries or even the comforts, but they must have the luxuries,
yea, the extravagancies of life, while their poorer brethren have
not even the necessaries. I do not mean that persons should not
maintain the station in life in which God has been pleased to place
them. There is not a more awful mistake than to suppose that
the Gospel of Christ was meant to level ranks or distinctions in
society. God has been pleased to establish order, and there is
nothing for which we- see Satan and the servants of Satan more
anxiously laboring, than to annihilate order, to lower rank, to level
distinctions, to establish what they call liberty and equality ; but
what in reality is anarchy and plunder. These are the doctrines
of the devil. Authority and order, that is the doctrine of God.
But generous liberality is the best security for rank and property
in a nation. If the rich by their liberality would teach the poor
to reverence and love them, no knaves could ever induce them to
revolution or to plunder.
Our positions in life are relative — we are higher in the middle
ranks of life than those who are placed beloAV us, as those above
us are higher than we are ; and in all our situations, whatever
they may be, let us remember, there is no way in which the duties
of high stations are discharged in such a real Christian manner,
as in kindness — humbleness — liberality — condescension to those
who are placed below us. "It is more blessed to give than to re
ceive," is a maxim of the Lord, and that is the very principle which
the Apostle sets forth to the elders of this church, the church of
Ephesus, when he called them together at Miletus, Acts xx., where
he shows his own blameless walk and conversation among them.
He says, " Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of
three years, 1 ceased not to warn every one night and day
with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give
you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. I have cov
eted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel ; yea, ye yourselves know
that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to

408 lectures on the ephesians.
them that are with me ;" — although he had power as an Apostle
of demanding support and maintenance from the church, yet so
far from doing this, we see he appeals to them — " ye yourselves
know, that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to
them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that
so laboring, ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give
than to receive." Acts xx. 31 — 35.
The Apostle here, you see, impresses on the elders the same
principle which we have here in the epistle to the church, "Let
HIM THAT STOLE, STEAL NO MORE ; BUT RATHER LET HIM LA
BOR, WORKING WITH HIS HANDS THE THING THAT IS GOOD,
THAT HE MAY HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH." You
observe the difference then here, between "the old man" and "the
new man," what we should put off, and what we should put on.
Again, the next principle is with reference to our conversation.
The principle of the old man is, " Corrupt communications
OUT OF HIS MOUTH."
The principle of the new, " That which is good, to the
USE OF EDIFYING, THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE UNTO THE
HEARERS." The principle of the old man is, " Corrupt communications
out of his mouth." Oh ! what a grievous state the world is in
from "that very sin, — " corrupt communications !" Hoav aw
fully is that exhibited in the human character from the earliest
period of life ! The Scripture, speaking of the ungodly, says,
" They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" — Psa,
lviii. 3, meaning, that as soon as they come to the use of their
tongue, that tongue is exercised in iniquity. So it is. — How pain
fully parents feel this ! how they continually hear the Avicked
words of their children ! how painfully we feel this in the educa
tion of our children ! we tremble to send our children to school
from the "corrupt communications" to which they are sub
jected there. The sinful principles — the blasphemy — pride — ob
scenity — disobedience — Avickedness of all kinds ; and that Avhich
is so readily imparted from the tongue of one is as eagerly re
ceived in the ears and hearts of others. " Evil communications
corrupt good manners." I Cor. xv. 33, there is no parent Avho has
thought at all, even if they have not any true religion — there is
no parent that has ever reflected, and who has felt as parents
must feel, anxious for their children, who has not felt the pain of
this. Then again, how awful is the example that children often see
in their relatives and even in their parents ! what " corrupt
communications," what ungodly, wicked expressions ! perhaps
Swearing ! Blasphemy ! Passion ! Rage ! Deceit ! Falsehood ! — all
the "corrupt communications" with which the world is full!
"filthiness, foolish talking," unseemly jests, which the Apostle
speaks of in another passage, these are the fruits of the natural,
corrupt heart of man ; " Of the abundance of the heart the mouth

lectures on the ephesians. 409
speaketh" Mat. xii. 34. " The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked," and the mouth speaks its deceits and
desperate Avickedness. Then he says, put these off, " Let no
corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth." That
is " the old man," put him off.
"But that which is good, to the use of edifying, that
it may minister grace unto the hearers." That is "the
new man" — put him on.
You perceive, that it is to the source of the evil we must go.
The unregenerate heart will speak its own unregenerate and wicked
thoughts ; the renewed mind, the renewed heart, will speak its re
newed thoughts, but then you see, both these hearts are in the
sinner, Ave have two hearts ; as the poor negro woman said, " Ah !
me feel me have two hearts, one heart to love my God, one heart
to hate my God ! "
This is the truth— we have " The carnal mind, which is enmity
against God" Rom. viii. 7, — and that new mind, which is the
work of the Spirit, and which loves God alwaysj — that heart
which "delights in the law of God after the inward man" Rom.
vii. 22, — that heart— that spirit which would pray that it might
never sin — which longs for holiness — loves to serve its God — ¦
pants to be delivered from the body of sin and death, that it may
serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness forever, — and that
corrupt and wicked principle which " wars against the law of our
minds, and brings us into captivity to the law of sin which is in
our members ;" Rom. vii. 23, — therefore, we have to watch against
the "corrupt communications" of the one, and we have to
watch that we may be under the influence and be breathing forth
the communications of the other. In our business — in our worldly
occupations — in our intercourse with mankind — in society, yea, in
all the relations of life, the natural heart is called forth ; it is pro
voked, for instance, by neglect — by disobedience of children — by
the conduct of servants; who again in their turn are stirred up to
anger — children by the treatment of their parents, and servants by
the conduct of their masters or mistresses. Relatives — neighbors
— friends — are mutually irritated or offended by the conduct of each
other ; and therefore, in these circumstances, the natural mind,
when it is excited, is ready to pour forth its displeasure- — opposition
— indignation — envy — revenge, or whatever feeling may be stirred
up within it.
Here then it is the Christian's business to watch, to pray, that
he may be kept in the midst of the world and in the midst of all
or any of these various trials, from having his heart involved in
them. Oh ! let us be in the world, but let us not be of the Avorld,
let not our hearts be engrossed with its pleasures or its cares.
Let us recollect that both alike choke the seed, " The cares of
this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
Mark iv. 19.
If our hearts be engrossed with the things of the world, our

410

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feelings will be stirred up, and excited when these go Avrong;
wicked tempers, ungodly expressions, "corrupt communica
tions" will be drawn out. Then " Can a fountain send forth
at the same place sweet water and bitter ?" " Out of the same
mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing." Jam. iii. 10, 11. You
see how the Apostle James speaks of this subject in his 3d chap
ter. That chapter we ought to read with much attention. " In
many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the
same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body"
There is nothing in which we are more ready to offend than in
word. What need have we then to pray Avith the Psalmist, "Set
a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips."
Psa. cxli. 3. For what purpose do we set a watch on a door? To
let no person go out, that ought not to go out of it. " Keep the
door of my lips." Oh, what a great and blessed mercy if the
Spirit places a sentinel of sobriety, holiness, reflection, to mount
guard, as we call it, on our lips, and before a word comes forth, to
challenge it, as it were : —
" Who comes there ?"
" Who are you that are coming forth ?"
" For Avhat are you going forth ?"
" What business — what object have you in passing out of this
mouth ?"
•'' Do you come as a messenger of a wicked heart?"
" Are you going forth to provoke, — to excite, — to corrupt ? Are
you going forth to dishonor God ? Are you going forth to in
jure your neighbor? Are you going forth in slander, in malice?
Avaunt — begone: — back to your den, — to be smothered there
forever." Oh ! what need have we, to have this watch set on our mouth,
to "keep the door of our lips!" Oh ! Avhat need we have to pray
for this !
Consider the description which the Apostle James gives of the
tongue. "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they
may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also
the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce
winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whither
soever the governor listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little mem
ber, and boasteth great things; behold, how great a matter a little
fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so
is the tongue among our members, that it defilelh the whole body,
and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of
hell." Jam. iii. 3—6. There is nothing on earth so aAvful as a
wicked tongue. And, though our tongue may not fall into the
extreme of Avickedness, yet, alas ! how often sinful and wicked it
is ! How far from what it ought to be ! Alas ! Avhat cause we
have to be humbled for our sinful tongues ! what innumerable
causes we have to be ashamed ! There is not one of us that has
not reason to lie down in the dust before God, and cry to Him for
mercy with shame and confusion of face for this very thing ; for

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 411
if there was not another member of our body that had sinned
against our God, our tongues would cast us all into the depths of
hell, where we would not have a drop of water to cool them !
Nothing but the blood of Christ could wash the sins of our tongues
as well as those of our hearts and lives. Dear brethren, let us
think of this, and let us pray, that God may guard us in this
respect !
So "Put off the old man," — " Let no corrupt communica
tion PROCEED OUT OF YOUR MOUTH."
"Put on the new man" "But that which is good, to the
USE OF EDIFYING, THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE UNTO THE
hearers." You see " the new man," what it means, — " That
WHICH IS GOOD, TO THE USE OF EDIFYING, THAT IT MAY MIN
ISTER GRACE UNTO the hearers." How can that be, if we
have not grace in our own hearts ? Hoav can we communicate
that which we do not know ? I cannot communicate a language
or a science which I do not know, a secret with which I am not
acquainted. I cannot communicate any knowledge which I do not
possess myself, — and how can we communicate with our lips, or
"Minister grace unto the hearers," if we have not grace
in our hearts ! Oh, what a blessed thing it is, if the heart is
renewed and instructed by the word and by the grace of God ! so
that " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth may speak,"
then indeed it will " Minister grace unto the hearers,"
when it is filled with grace itself.
It is my privilege, I perceive, to address a number of females in
this assembly. There is a sort of proverbial reproach on their sex
for the use, or rather the abuse, of their tongue. I mean not to
say how far this may in many instances be just or not. But Oh,
how blessed the use of the tongue of the female may be ! How
sweet the tongue of the mother communicating instruction to her
child, pouring into the infant ear the first accents of truth and
love from the word of God — distilling upon the earliest thoughts
that spring up and bud in the infant's breast, in " That sweet hour
of prime," those "doctrines that drop as the rain" that "speech
that distils as the dew," Deut. xxxii. 2, — of tender, faithful, holy
instruction from the sacred volume of inspired truth. This is the
greatest blessing that can be given to a child, to have a mother
who will teach it faithfully.
So, next to a Christian Mother, I do not think there is a greater
blessing in the world than a faithful Christian Instructress of the
infant mind. What a wonderful blessing are these very Infant
Schools.* The instruction that is conveyed to the children here,
is given in their infant years, identified with all their first and
earliest associations, when all their little thoughts and minds are
just beginning to expand beneath the opening dawn of reason,
these instructions will remain, even when those received at later
periods are obliterated from their memories. I remember things I
* These Lectures were delivered in an Infant School.

412

lectures on the ephesians.

learned Avhen I was a little child with far greater clearness and
intensity than I can recall those things Avhich I have learned since.
1 remember thoughts received, and sentiments impressed, and les
sons learned, when I was a child, while those of many a later
date have been completely swept away from my recollection.
What a blessing, I say, is the tongue of a tender Christian mother,
or that of a tender Christian instructress, who trains the infant
mind as his grandmother Lois or his mother Eunice, Timothy,
that "from a child they shall have learned the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make them wise unto salvation, through faith
which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 15.
Then, the tongue of a sister, if she has grace in her heart, how
sweet and blessed is its influence? — how she "may minister
grace "to her brother! hoAV, by her kindness and affection she
may allure him to his home, from evil company or from evil
habits !
The tongue of the wife, who can estimate its value, if "the law
of kindness is upon her lips:" Oh ! how sweet, hoAV winning is
that charm ! So the Apostle saith, "If any obey not the word,
they also may, without the word, be won by the chaste conversa
tion of their wives, while they behold your chaste conversation
coupled with fear." 1st Pet. iii. 1, 2.
How sweet the instruction, too, of the Christian mistress to her
servants ! When we compare this with the anger, the clamor, the
scolding of an impatient unreasonable mistress — the ill-tempered
and unruly tongue and spirit of a self-willed, ungovernable wife — -
the alternate caresses and corrections, alike ill-judged, excessive,
and injurious, of a foolish, Aveak, indulgent, injudicious mother.
When Ave compare too " the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price," with the scandal,
malice, gossip, tattling, slander — these curses, these pests of society
which too often are to be met with in females, — when Ave look at
the two characters, the character of a Christian female, and of an
ungodly, worldly female, — the character of one who is going on
her way to her Lord, and the character of one Avho is going on
her way to death, — Oh ! think of the solemn contrast ! and pray,
that you may be enabled to apply this practically. " Let no cor
rupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that
which is good, to the use of edifying, that it may min
ISTER grace unto the hearers," — " a word spoken in due
season," saith Solomon, " how good is it ?" Prov. xv. 23. And
again " a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of
silver." Prov. xxv. 11. Remember, how David blessed Abigail,
when she came to arrest him, by her tender, kind, judicious, and
well-timed expostulation — how she averted the heavy judgment
that was about to be inflicted on her wicked husband Nabal, for
his stinginess, hard-heartedness, and ingratitude — how she turned
away the sword of David, which was to be unsheathed against all
her husband's house— Recollect how David blessed her, and blessed
God, that God had sent her to arrest his hand that day !

lectures on the ephesians. 413
Then, there is another contrast betAveen "the old man" and
" the new man" There is another work of " the old man" — to
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, to weary, to provoke the Lord to
anger. So the Prophet Isaiah says, "Hear ye now, O house of David,
is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my
God also." Isa. vii. 13.
And again by the same Prophet the Lord saith, " Thou hast
made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine
iniquities." Isa. xliii. 24.
And again, " They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit ; there
fore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against
them." Isa. xliii. 10.
And so the Lord saith, before he poured out the deluge on a
guilty world, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for
that he also is flesh;" Gen. vi. 3, — man, by rebelling against God,
vexing and provoking, as it were, His Holy Spirit,— that is the
natural character of man.
What can grieve a parent so much, as to see his child notwith
standing his kindness, his tenderness, and his love, always provok
ing him — always doing what he forbids — always neglecting to do
what he desires — deceiving him — ever professing and promising,
and ever violating his word ; — Avhat can wound or grieve a parent
so much as that ? What can so Avound or irritate a man as to see
a servant to whom he has been kind, indulgent, considerate, affec
tionate, to see that servant robbing him — plundering him ; and
instead of rendering him any service, serving the man who is his
enemy? Yet this is a picture of man, a rebel against his God.
This is the Lord's complaint of Israel, as a child, "I have nourished
and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me."
Isa. i. 2. Such is man's treatment of God as a child. And as a
servant, not serving his Master, but serving his enemy — serving
the devil, instead of serving God — provoking Him in every way,
returning His kindness, love, long-suffering, compassion, and
mercy ; Avith ingratitude, rebellion, and enmity against Him. So
the Lord complaineth by another Prophet, "A son honoreth his
father, and a servant his master. If I be a father, ivhere is
mine honor ? and if I be a master, where is my fear?" Mai. i. 6.
Since this is the natural character of man, we need not wonder
to meet this exhortation to the believer, " Grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, avhereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption." Oh, think what that Spirit has done for you, if you
are indeed a child of God ! He has enlightened your eyes. He has
opened your heart, to see and to embrace the glory of the love of
God, he has taken you and bathed you in the blood of Jesus. Re
member, that the whole work of Jesus is all in vain for man, unless
the Holy Spirit of God takes of the things of Jesus, and shows
them to the sinner's soul. There is no testimony in the Scripture
of God's love — of the riches of His grace, — of the work that God
has revealed as being wrought by His beloved Son, — or of all that

414 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Christ hath wrought for the sinner, that could be of any i se to
man, more than to the beast that perisheth, unless the Holy Spirit
awakens the sinner's heart, and writes on that heart the blessed
testimony of God and of His Christ. It must be "written not
with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God : not in tables of
stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." 2 Cor. iii. 3.
Therefore, consider what the Spirit has done for your soul, if
you are indeed brought to know and rest on Jesus. Well then
the Apostle saith, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION."
Think what He hath done for you, — and grieve Him not. Re
member what you owe Him, — grieve him not ; He has sealed you
to the day of redemption ; He has set his seal on you — He has
stamped you — you are His — the Spirit of God hath executed the
covenant. It is an image taken from the sealing of a covenant,
or an agreement, or bond, which when sealed, and the person who
executes it says, that is my hand and seal, and I acknoAvledge
that as my act and deed, — Avhen he does that, it is executed, what
ever it be. So the Holy Spirit of God, bringing to the sinner's
heart the truth and the salvation' of Jesus, seals him ; he is sealed
with the blood of the everlasting covenant ; he is sealed by the
Holy Spirit of God. It is a seal of consummation — of security —
of finality. He who is sealed is made a member of that blessed
covenant, brought into covenant relation to his God ; no longer an
outcast and alien. As we had, you recollect, " You are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone. In whom all the building, fitly framed together,
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are
builded together, for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
This then is the Spirit's work.
Thus the Apostle saith here of the Spirit, " Whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption." As surely as you are
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is indeed the refuge of
your soul, so surely " Ye are sealed unto the day of re
demption." Are they not then redeemed already ? Yes, of
course, — certainly— they are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. But
"the day of redemption" spoken of here, is that final day
when the Lord's people shall be manifested, as redeemed both in
body and soul ; their soul redeemed from hell, as their body is re
deemed from the dust, and soul and body together, in resurrection
glory, rising to meet their Lord in the air. This is Avhat he
speaks of, as " the day of redemption," sealed for that glorious
day, sealed for that glorious hope, set apart for that glorious tri
umph " When the Lord shall come to be glorified in His saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe." 2 Thes. i. 10.
Since then you are sealed to that day by the Holy Spirit ; —
therefore grieve not that Spirit, — grieve not Him who hath sealed
you, — set you apart for such a glorious day ; grieve not that

lectures on the ephesians. 415
Spirit Avhereby you are brought into this blessed relation, and
whereby all the glorious work of your adorable Redeemer is ap
plied to your soul — grieve not that blessed Spirit who has sancti
fied you — set you apart as God's adopted children. Since " be
cause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
your hearts, crying Abba, Father." Gal. iv. 6. " Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God."
The Apostle proceeds to show how He may be grieved, " Tht
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," Gal. v. 22. Therefore a«
the Spirit lusteth against the flesh — to bring forth the fruits of
the flesh is to oppose and grieve the Spirit. So the Apostle
presses these admonitions, " Let all bitterness, and wrath,
AND ANGER, AND CLAMOR, AND EVIL-SPEAKING, BE PUT AWAY
from you, with all malice." Let all these, which are the
works of the flesh — of " the old man," " be put away from
you ;" and " be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on
the new man." "Be ye kind one to another;" instead of
" bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and CLAMOR," " BE
YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER, TENDER-HEARTED, FORGIVING ONE
ANOTHER." The Apostle does not suppose — the word of God does not sup
pose, that there will not be in the believer, as there are, numerous
faults. It is impossible that we can be together, it is impossible,
that we can be united in any bonds, no matter what they be, in
any relation whatever, hoAvever close or dear, as husbands, wives,
parents, children, brothers, sisters, masters, servants — or in social
relations, friends, neighbors, fellow-citizens, fellow-believers, fellow-
communicants, associating together — it is impossible we can be
united in any relations, and be much together in these relations,
that Ave shall not see in each other's character and conduct some
thing of what God sees, viz., that we are poor, helpless, weak,
miserable, sinners. And just in proportion to the natural temper
ament of our respective characters, so, in proportion will there be
evils developed in the conduct of one person that will offend, and
grate upon the feelings of another : some person will be wounded
or offended by some peculiarity in his relative, his connexion, his
friend, or his neighbor, that another person would pass by, and
with which he would not be offended at all. Hence it follows
that we shall have mutual causes of forbearance with each other
in all the varied relations of our existence. If a child must reve
rently forbear with many peculiarities in a parent — the parent
will have perhaps more frequent cause to endure the provocations
of the child. If the husband must treat with tenderness many of
the evils of the wife — the wife will have equal cause to exercise
forbearance Avith her husband. If the brother must have to bear
some of the peculiarities of the sister — the sister will be frequently
called on to forbear with those of her brother. If the master or
mistress require to exercise patience with the servant — the servant
will have no less need of patience with the master or mistress.

416

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

If one friend must pass over the singularities or failings of another
- — that other will have no less cause to exercise indulgence to
wards him. It is always the case. There is so much evil in all
our characters, that we shall have great need of forbearance, pa
tience, tenderness, kindness and indulgence towards each other ;
and so the Apostle saith, " Be ye kind one to another,
TENDER-HEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER,"  as much as tO
say, " you have many things to forgive, and to bear with in each
other." And so we have. And then why are they to be forgiven
¦ — what is the motive ? " Even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you." This is the great principle that is to ac
tuate the whole, you are forgiven by God, the Lord has blotted
out your ten thousand talents, therefore learn to forbear and for
give the hundred pence of your fellow-servant. And this, as Ave
have before observed, is a principle which the Lord puts, as a test,
on His people, in that prayer which he hath taught us to use,
"forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass
against us." I need not again remind you that we cannot con
sider it as a condition of pardon, for that were to overturn the
Gospel of Christ ; but it is a test of sincerity and truth put upon
the consciences of the children of God when they come to pray,
that they may say, as it were, thus —
" Am I coming, with all my mighty debt, to my blessed Master
for pardon ? am I coming in sincerity and truth to my Lord for
forgiveness for all my load of sin ? and am I cherishing an angry,
unforgiving temper or disposition to my poor felloAV-sinners for
their trifling offences against me ? Such an one has provoked
me ; treated me badly — ungratefully— cruelly — but am I coming
to the Lord for pardon for all my sins Avith a wicked temper, or an
ungodly, revengeful spirit against my poor fellow-sinner ?"
You see, the Lord puts it, as we have seen, as a test on the
consciences of men ; and Ave cannot come with sincerity, with our
mighty debt — with all our sins, to our heavenly Master, that in
finite love may blot them all out — if we are lifting up, as it Avere,
one hand for mercy to the Lord, Avith the other on the throat of
our felloAV-servant for his offences against us.
You see, the motive is put by the Avord of God into the heart,
"Forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you." What is this to aAvaken in the heart?
Love. It is from love to Him who loved us, and hath blotted out
our sins with His own blood, that our hearts are to be filled Avith
love to Him. This is the true and only motive of love to God
and our fellow-sinners. So we have it in the words of the hymn
we have just been singing, " Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
With all thy quickening powers ;
Come, shed aoroad the Saviour's love,
And that will kindle ours."
Think of this, and let us pray, beloved friends, that these
blessed truths may be written on our hearts. Pray for me, that

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS, 417
they may be written on my heart, that I may not be speaking of
love, and preaching of love, and all the blessed fruits of the Spirit
to others, but that I may have love in my heart and soul, engraven
by the Spirit of God, as practical lessons, practical rules for my
heart, my tongue, my life. Thus I trust I shall be enabled to
pray for you, that we may be Christians, not in name merely, but
in spirit and in truth, and that those Avho are connected with us
may " take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus." Acts
iv. 13 — that we love our Lord and Master, and manifest that love
by showing that it is a living principle in our hearts, developed in
a life of love, both to God and our fellow-sinners.

THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.

Ephesians V— 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

" Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children ; And walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let
it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this
ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man de
ceive you with vain words : for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience."
The first verse of this chapter evidently shows, that it is taken
in direct connection with the last verse of that which precedes it, — ¦
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children."
Wherefore ? There must be a reason. Return to the last verse of
the preceding chapter, "Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for
given you." You are forgiven — your sins are blotted out — your
iniquity is cancelled — you are reconciled to God — you are adopted
into God's family — "Because God, for Christ' s sake, hath forgiven
you." " Be ye therefore followers of God as dear
CHILDREN."
Noav my dear brethren, to bring this single exhortation into
practical experience in the sinner's heart, is the very sum and sub
stance of all true religion and all true happiness, — to bring this, I
say, so into practical experience, that the believer may be enabled
to do as he is here commanded, that is — to be a folloAver of God as
a dear child. I have had continual occasion to set before you, in
Lectures on the Scriptures, the great difference, or rather, the en
tire opposition that there is between the natural ideas that men
27

418

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

have on this subject, and the truth as it is in Jesus. The natural
mind of men, even of those who are the most religious in any re
ligion that is not that of the Gospel — I say the natural mind of
the most religious persons always adopts this principle — that they
shall endeavor to follow God, in order that they become God's
children. Now, this is the very reverse of the truth, and of this
text, because the truth is, that those Avho are really followers of
God, are followers of God, not that they may become his children,
but because they are his children. You see the total opposition
there is between these two principles. To endeavor to serve God, in
order that you may become his child. And to endeavor to serve God,
or rather to serve Him willingly, because you are his child already.
The objection that is immediately presented to the natural mind
on hearing this truth is, " Well then, if folloAving God is not to
make me His child, how am I to become His child ? how is man to
become a child of God, unless by folloAving Him and serving Him ?"
Here we come directly to the fundamental error of the natural
mind, and as directly to the principles of the Gospel which are op
posed to it. You are made a child of God, not by following Him,
— not by serving Him, — not by doing anything for Him, to recom
mend yourself to His favor, — for you cannot do any thing to make
yourself a child of God, — it js not in your power, — there is no
means which you can possibly adopt by which to attain any
righteousness that can commend you as a fallen sinner to God — ¦
there is no effort of your own by which you can possibly be made
a child of God, — or brought in the least degree into his favor.
You can only be a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. This is
the glory of the Gospel, — Christ Jesus hath wrought the work,
Christ hath finished redemption, — Christ hath completed salva
tion, — " Ye who were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of
Christ ;" — "Christ is all." Now mark again the last verse of the
preceding chapter, "Even as God, for Christ's sake, hath for
given you" Mark, I say, these words, if it be "for Christ's
sake," it cannot be for any other cause. If that be the cause
of your salvation, nothing else can be the cause of it : and
if you know that that is the cause of your forgiveness, then
here, and here alone, is rest for your soul, — "Ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 26. Trust
in Christ, and all the salvation of Christ is yours ; you are made
a child of God by faith in Jesus. Therefore if there are any here
Avho are not his children, Oh "Repent, and believe the Gospel."
As long as your mind is in doubt and ignorance on this subject, so
long you never can serve God freely or happily. You never can serve
God freely — because you never can serve Him in His appointed
way. You are in bondage under the law — you are forever labor
ing to perform a task Avhich you feel you are wholly unable to ac
complish. You never can serve God happily, because there is
always a burden on your conscience, — your conscience is always
afraid. There is always apprehension — fear — doubt — respecting
the acceptance of your soul with God ; and therefore, there is no

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 419
freedom, no liberty, no love, no peace, no consolation, no true,
genuine principle of solid, Christian obedience. If we are to obey
God, there is, as I have often shoAvn, but one principle that God
admits as a principle of obedience, and that is — Love. But it is
impossible that Love can exist in the heart, so long as the sinner
is striving to make himself a child of God by his own righteous
ness — or to make peace Avith God by his own efforts, instead of
coming boldly to God to obtain mercy, through faith in Christ
Jesus. As long as the sinner expects that he is to come for ac
ceptance to God in whole or in part through his own efforts or his
own righteousness, so long the consciousness of sin must ever shut
out all confidence in coming for acceptance to God. But Avhen he
comes through Christ, the consciousness of his sin and helpless
ness is the very ground on which he turns to his Saviour. Your
being a sinner cannot hinder you from being a child of God
through faith in Christ Jesus ; for, if it could, no living mortal
could be a child of God. Sin cannot come between the sinner and
God, Avhen the sinner comes to Jesus, — Avhen feeling his lost con
dition, and that no virtue, no labor of his own, can do anything for
his soul— he cries— "None but Christ"— "None but Christ." Sin
cannot therefore shut you out from God, when you come to Christ ;
because when you come to Christ, your sins are cancelled r when
you bring your sins to Jesus, they are cast into the fountain of his
precious blood, and blotted out forever, " their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." Heb. x. l7.
Therefore, let no terror of conscience prevent you from coming
to Christ, — but come with your burden to Him, and cast that bur
den on Him without doubt or fear. Then shall you see " The
Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings," Mai. iv. 2,
on your soul. " In him was life, and the life was the light of
men." John i. 4. He saith — " / am the light of the world : he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life." John viii. 12, " and if we walk in the light, as he is
in the light, we shall have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." I John i. 7.
Here alone is Rest for your conscience — here alone Refuge for
your soul. But it is a full, a perfect Refuge — and when you fly to
this, then learn, that " God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you."
Every sinner that looks to Jesus, God through Christ has forgiven
that sinner. If you are looking to Jesus — you are forgiven, it is a
present salvation.
You are not to live here, as you naturally think, in a state of
bondage to sin — of apprehension — and of guilty fear, till the day
of judgment clears up the doubt, as you imagine ; and then, it is
to be known who is to be saved, and who is not. Instead of living
in this unhappy state, your privilege, nay, your only true religion
is, to live in present pardon, in the enjoyment of present forgive
ness, peace, remission, complete remission of all your sins ; for if
you are indeed in Christ, they are completely cancelled ; and you
can look up, and come with confidence, and joy, and peace to your

420 LECTURES CN THE EPHESIANS.
reconciled Father and your God as his child ; — so " Be ye fol
lowers of God as dear children."
Noav let me intreat you, brethren, to ask your oavii consciences
this question — " Is this a settled truth in my heart to-day — that I
can come Avith confidence to my Lord, as a reconciled God and
Father through the righteousness and blood of Jesus ? Can I,
come with confidence, with all my sins — all my iniquity — Can I
come with confidence to my precious Saviour, and trust in Him
for all that are cancelled in His blood ? Can I lift up my eyes
(hrough Him with joy and peace to God ?"
If you cannot do so, rest satisfied either that there is some great
ignorance in your mind, of Avhat the truth is, or, though you may
know that such is the doctrine of the Scriptures, yet you are not
living by faith in the Son of God, and trusting in Him as you
ought to do. Either you do not know Avhat the ground of a sin
ner's hope is ; or else, if you know it, as a system of doctrine, you
do not believe it as a solid truth. What is the use of your know
ing that there is a refuge for the sinner in Christ, if you do not rest
your soul on His salvation ? or Avhat is to hinder you from resting
your soul on Christ ? You will find that self-righteousness lies at
the root of your unbelief. There is some pride of your OAvn heart,
that borrows the veil of humility, and imposes on you in that spe
cious garb.
" Oh, I am not fit— I am too great a sinner to trust in Christ for
pardon." See Avhat pride, self-righteousness, and unbelief is in that sen
tence. For what does it mean but this? "If I were but a little
more fit — a little better — if I had a little more righteousness — then
I might cotne to Christ." This seeming humility, is pride — this
seeming self-condemnation, is really self-righteousness. You are
thinking that some of your sins render you unfit to cast the re
mainder on Christ, and Avishing for some righteousness to entitle
you to do so ! How easily are Ave blinded and deceived by some
corruptions of Avhich we are not aAvare ! There is still some ex
cuse for unbelief that Satan is ever suggesting to the soul. You
are not simply taking God at His word, and going Avith all your
sins, whatever they are, and your unbelief, Avhich is one of the
worst of them, bringing that along Avith the rest of your sins, and
casting them all into the fountain of Immanuel's blood. Come,
yea, come boldly to the Throne of Grace, and trust your Lord with
confidence and hope, and joy and peace. Behold your sins as all
done away in Christ, and when you feel sin, as you continually
do, coining into your heart and conscience, bring it, as fast as it
comes, to Christ. " The life," saith the Apostle, " that I now live in
the flesh, Hive by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. Faith is not an act of the
mind that takes place, as it Avere, to-day, and then is done. Faith
is a, continual successive act — is a continual exercise of the heart
on God's word, a continual turning of the conscience for cleansing
to God's promises in Christ, producing in itss due effect an habitual

lectures on the ephesians. 421
trusting of the heart and soul on God's testimony. " Remember
the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to
hope," saith DaA'itl, Psalm cxix. 49. You have a constant neces
sity for the salvation revealed in the word, a perpetual need for
trusting in it, so Faith, in its right exercise, is a continual going
forth, as it Avere, of your heart on God's promises, and trusting in
these promises of Avhich you have need. You do not think of eat
ing once, and saying, this satisfies me forever; — there is a con
tinually-recurring feeling of weakness and hunger in your animal
frame, and you are obliged to supply your necessities with food
and drink, — so, there is a continual Aveakness — a continual sink
ing of the spiritual life — a fainting, a readiness to perish without
spiritual sustenance, and therefore it wants continual revival and
support Avith " The Bread of Life," Therefore, the Lord Jesus
Christ is set up before us under the emblems of bread and Avine ;
so we say, " Feed on him in your heart by faith with thanks
giving." " Feed on him." — You A\rant continually the support of
this food, and Jesus is " The Bread of life." " Feed on him."
" Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for
you, and be thankful." Remember, that that precious blood was
6hed for you, and that it " cleanseth us from all sin." So saith
our adorable Lord Himself, " I am the bread of life, he that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst." John vi. 35.
I know, that in one sense, the belief of the Gospel is an act done
once for all in the heart of the sinner ; so that, when the sinner
does believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is "justified from all
things," Acts xiiL 39, and there is no condemnation to him. But
though that is the case in one sense — yet, he requires, in another
sense, to have his soul continually going forth in the same exer
cise of faith and trust in his Lord, as if he had never believed be
fore. He requires ever to hold fast that blessed hope. " We are
made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our con
fidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. iii. 14. The truth that
first gives us peace and comfort, we must hold fast — steadfast unto
the end. Consider hoAV important it is to have the truth settled
in your mind. When we are exhorted to moral duties, we must
have the principles on which they are inculcated established in the
heart. I must continually press on you these •principles, for I
know how continually the heart forgets them.
Mark how they are implied in these first words, "Be ye there
fore folloavers of God, as dear children." " No more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God" as we had in chapter ii. You are no
more aliens, but children of God, and not only children, but "dear
children." As surely as you are a child,, you are a dear child
— then walk so. Let that point be settled in your consciences.
Trust in your heavenly Father. Come to your heavenly Father
— as a Father, and walk " as dear children" — in love, and in
the full confidence of your Father's love. " God commendeth his

422 lectures on the ephesians.
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us." Rom. v. 8. Therefore walk in the confidence of your
Father's love, and in the exercise of love to Him.
When you believe that God loves you — when you believe that
God pardons you — that God bears with you — that God keeps you
— Avhen you believe that God Avatches over you — that He contin
ually delivers you — when you believe He is your strength — your
refuge — your salvation — your peace — your all — When you under
stand Avhat He means when He says, " / will be their God, and
they shall be my people" — Avhen you believe, He is your God — -
your heavenly Father ; — this it is, that draws out the affections of
your heart, and teaches you to love your glorious Master. It is
not the work of a slave, to serve the Lord — it is not the Avretched,
heartless, mournful obedience of a Pharisee — of an ascetic, who is
continually denying himself almost the necessaries of life — morti
fying , and punishing himself — leading, Avhat he calls a holy life,
thinking he serves and pleases God by making himself miserable
— No — it is our pleasure — our joy — our happiness — to serve the
Lord, when we know that God is our Father. It is the true, the
solid enjoyment and liberty of life to serve our Father. It is not
mortification. We are desired indeed to "Mortify our members which are upon
the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil con
cupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry ;" Col. iii. 5, but it
is pleasure to do so ; yea, the greatest pleasure that a believer can
enjoy, is the subjugation of his evil propensities, for his Lord and
Master. Travail is pain, — toil is pain, — Aveariness is pain ; — but
if travail, toil, and weariness are undertaken and endured for one
we love, they cease to be pain ; — they are turned into pleasure. It
is a delight to undergo any labor, or any toil, for the person we
love. The toil is forgotten, the pain is turned to enjoyment.
Although it may be pain and toil considered in itself — it is no pain,
no toil, considered in reference to our own hearts Avhen Ave love the
person for Avhom we undergo it. So, mortification of sin, self-
mortification, is no mortification when we mortify sin for the love
of our heavenly Father. Then it is a pleasure to deny ourselves
anything for our Lord's glory and service — anything — however it
would be for the gratification of the flesh. Therefore mortification
ceases to be mortification — labor, labor — toil, toil — in that sense ;
because all is love. So, Avhen the heart is set at liberty by the
knowledge and love of Jesus, then it is at liberty indeed, set free
from the bondage of ihe law and of fear, to serve its God ; so the
Psalmist saith, " / will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy precepts."
" I will run in the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt
enlarge my heart." When the heart is set at liberty from the
bondage of sin — of the dread of death and hell, then it is at liberty
to serve its God. So saith the Apostle, "But now, being made
free from, sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit
unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Rom. vi. 22. So

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 423
saith our Lord, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed." John viii. 36.
"Be ye therefore followers of God as dear chil
dren." Walk not, and live not in slavery, in, a slavish fear and
apprehension of your judge ; but " walk in love," the love of
your Father, — your reconciled Father, — your gracious Father, — -
your tender Father, — who hath so loved you — of your dear Lord
who hath given Himself for you ; " Walk in love, as Christ
ALSO HATH LOVED US, AND HATH GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US, AN
OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE TO GoD FOR A SWEET SMELLING
savor." Therefore, you see, the great joy, the great privilege the
believer possesses is this, that his sins being pardoned, being ac
cepted Avith his God, being reconciled to his God, duty becomes
pleasure, for His " service is perfect freedom."
This it is that accounts for that, which is wholly unaccountable
to the natural mind, namely the difference that exists between the
pleasures of the believer and the pleasures of the world.
A worldly man or woman, when they see a person become relig
ious, says, "Oh that person has given up the world, he has given
up all the pleasures, the enjoyments of life."
And there are many persons whom I have known and heard,
who say,
"I would not become religious — or I must give up all my
pleasures, and all my enjoyments ; surely there is no occasion for
this." So, they really think that persons give up enjoyment and hap
piness, because they do not go into the pursuits in Avhich the world
takes pleasure, as public amusements, balls, theatres, races, revel-
lings of various kinds. I just mention these sort of things, because
they are worldly amusements, and Avorldly men say, " If I Avere
to become religious, I should give up all these — all my pleas
ures, company, "enjoyments, and they actually think that a relig
ious person undergoes great mortification and pain in giving up
such things.
Now, it is totally the reverse. It is true indeed, persons Avho
are religious do not enter into these things. But why? In the
first place, they have really no pleasure in them, they could give
them no enjoyment. It is not only that they knoAV that such things
are in opposition to God's Avill, and to God's word. But they know
that, from such things, God is totally excluded, and therefore, they
can have no pleasure in them. They do not give up pleasure,
they do not renounce gratification, for these things would not
really please them. Would it be enjoyment to you to be in a com
pany where, if the name of the person who was dearest to you on
earth was mentioned, it would be scoffed at, or thought not fit to
be spoken of there ? Now a believer can have no pleasure in a
place, where, if he should mention the Lord Jesus Christ — the
blessing of serving his Lord and Master — the glory of His salva
tion — it would be considered a perfect mockery of the person whom
he addressed, of all the persons present, and of all that the people

424

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

were doing. Suppose a man standing up on a race-course to ask
God's blessing on a race ! — or in a theatre, to invoke the blessing
of God on a Tragedy — a Comedy — or a Farce ! — Suppose, if you
can, a man standing up in a ball-room to supplicate a blessing on
a Quadrille — a Waltz — or a Polka ! Would it not seem a mock
ery of God ? Surely every one present Avould exclaim, " There- is
a time for everything" — " What business has religion here ?" No
business at all, certainly, and therefore the person Avho has any
true religion has no business there — no happiness, no enjoyment
there. Can a Christian be happy where the very name of his
Lord were an intrusion ? — Avhere to ask His blessing were, a mock
ery? If a person were to say to me, "Would you have me give
up such an amusement — or such another pleasure ?" I Avould
answer, " Do you believe in your heart, that this amusement or
this pleasure is consistent with your character as a servant of
God? If not — then if it is a question Avith you, Avhether you are
to give them up or not, — if your heart is in them, it is to be feared
it is not right with God. It is to be feared you know nothing of
Christ. But deal honestly with yourself. Let conscience do her
office. Let me ask you one question — Can you conscientiously
kneel down in your closet, and ask the Lord to accompany you
there ? Can you expect His presence and His blessing there ? If
He shall come, or summon you, can you be ready there ? If not
— then if you are a Christian, most certainly you can have no en
joyment there." As the flowers must droop and wither Avhen
placed where the sun cannot enter, so must the believer's heart
where there is no place for Him who is his " light and his salva
tion." Psal. xxvii. 1.
Therefore, to " walk in love" rectifies all these things in the
believer's heart and conscience. He sees and knows at once, by
the test of love, what he is to do, and what he is not to do. Love
is an instinctive judge of that which Avounds its beloved, and thus,
is really the. test. " Shall I go here, into this society ? Shall I go
there, into that amusement 1 Is my Master there ? Will my
Lord be present? Can I look for His smile? Can I ask my
Saviour's blessing in it? Can I lift up my eyes to Him without a
blush, and say, 'Lord, here am I?' If I cannot, Avhat pleasure
can I have? what enjoyment can it be to me?" That one
thought, that one single thought decides the matter. — If Jesus is
not there — If I cannot expect His presence or implore His blessing
— then what pleasure is there for my soul ? What is the Avorld
to me?
Ask one who has inhabited and enjoyed the sunshine of a trop
ical clime, " Will you come and enjoy the pleasures of a Polar
night ?" " What !" he would say, " Is not the sun excluded there?
— Is not the light of heaven shut out? — and do you bid me leave
my happy glowing clime, where I am accustomed to bask in the
light and heat of the sun, and seek for happiness in regions of
eternal frost, of darkness, and the shadow of death ?"
So might the believer ask, " Do you bid me seek for pleasure

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 425
where the Sun of Righteousness never shines? — Avhere all the
passing gleams of earthly pleasure and enjoyment are like the
fitful flashings of the northern lights, that faintly flit along the
sky, to supply the absence of the sun in the dreary polar night?
How shall the children of light have pleasure or enjoyment in the
place where darkness reigns?"
This test settles the case satisfactorily to the conscience of the
believer, gives him at once a standard of judgment for his pleasures.
This proves, that to become religious is not to give up happiness
and true enjoyment. Religion Avas never designed to abridge, but
to increase our happiness ten-fold ; yea, ten hundred thousand
fold. The believer has more true happiness in his darkest hour
of trial and sorrow, that the unconverted sinner has, or ever had,
in the greatest happiness he ever enjoyed, or can enjoy on earth.
The believer, in the hours of trial, sorrow, and affliction, Avhatever
they be, still has a refuge to which his soul can turn. It may be
night Avith him, yea, even a dark and stormy night ; but still,
though " heaviness may endure for a night, joy cometh in the
'morning." Dark and gloomy though the vista may be, of the
long and Aveary pilgrimage that is spread before him, there is a
blessed gleam of light — there is a star that shoots its ray through
out its length, " With its long- levelled rule of streaming light — "
even the Star of Bethlehem that guides and cheers him on his
way. But the poor, blind, ignorant, unconverted sinner ! — what has
he to look to? What light to cheer him when his day is gone?
His sun is about to set. The night is closing upon him. The
valley of the shadow of death — the bar of judgment lie before
him — where are all his pleasures and enjoyments then ? His
lamp is put out in death and outer darkness forever.
" Be YE THEREFORE FOLLOWERS OF GoD, AS DEAR CHILDREN ;
AND WALK IN LOVE, AS CHRIST ALSO HATH LOVED US, AND HATH
GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US AN OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE TO GoD
for a sweet-smelling savor." What a privilege to be able to
walk, not in guilt and terror, but " in love" toAvard God. And
not in malice and envy, but " in love" toward each other. " In
love" toward God, for Christ is our Surety. " In love" toward
each other, for Christ is our Example. " In love" toward God,
"As Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for
US, AN OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE TO GoD FOR A SWEET-SMELL
ING savor." The work of our glorious Surely and Covenant-
Head is accomplished. " It is finished." John xix. 30 — The offer
ing is accepted. — Salvation is completed. — The sacrifice has as
cended to God, and God receives it. — God is well pleased with it.
" This is my beloved Son, in whom lam well pleased." Mat. xvii. 5.
This is pardon. — This is peace. — This is salvation. — Come to your
reconciled Father, and " walk in love."

426

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

We need not envy monarchs their crowns — their kingdoms — all
that they enjoy, if thus we have peace, and can " walk in love"
with God through Christ Jesus. If we can enter into our closets,
and shut to the door, and pray in the confidence of faith and love
to our Father. — If Ave be thrown on beds of suffering and of sor
row, and can turn to our God as Hezekiah did on his bed of sick
ness — if we be afflicted — bereaved — despised and persecuted — yet,
if we can come and pray to our God, — and Avalk in humble faith
and love Avith Him, through our glorious Surety, — if Ave can do
this, dear friends, we need not envy all the monarchs of the world.
To Avalk in peace with God as a forgiven child — To walk in love
with Him on this assured and everlasting foundation, that " Christ
HATH LOVED US, AND GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US." This IS joy and
blessing for time and eternity.
But " Walk in love" not only toward God, but toAvard each
other, "As Christ also hath loved us and given himself
for us." Christ is not only our Surety, but our Example ; and
the example of His love in dying for us, is pressed on us as the
motive of love even to death, for the brethren. See how it is en
forced by the Apostle John, "Hereby," saith he, "perceive we the
love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought
lo lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this
worlds goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutleth up
his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him ? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we
are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 1 John
iii. 16-19.
So here the Apostle Paul enforces the practical power and in
fluence of love. "Walk in love." That is, let Love direct
your steps. Let every movement be in the path of Love.
The Apostle then subjoins some of the proofs and testimonies
that believers are to give in the purity of their life and conversa
tion that they really walk in love. So he saith, "But fornica
tion AND ALL UNCLEANNESS, OR COVETOUSNESS, LET IT NOT BE
ONCE NAMED AMONG YOU, AS BECOMETH SAINTS, NEITHER
FILTHINESS, NOR FOOLISH TALKING, NOR JESTING, WHICH ARE
NOT CONVENIENT, BUT RATHER GIVING OF THANKS ; FOR THIS
YE KNOW, THAT NO WHOREMONGER, OR UNCLEAN PERSON, OR
COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATER, HATH ANY INHERITANCE
IN THE KINGDOM OF ChRIST AND OF GoD. Let NO MAN DE
CEIVE YOU WITH VAIN WORDS, FOR BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS,
COMETH THE WRATH OF GoD UPON THE CHILDREN OF DISOBE
DIENCE." verses 3 — 6. He shows that these things which consti
tute the prevailing sins, pursuits, and pleasures of the world in
practice and conversation, are all to be excluded from the conver
sation and practice of the believer, — " Fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness." We need not dwell on each
of the vices that are here specified. The Apostle had thus described,
as we saw in the preceding chapter, the state of all the nations,

lectures on the ephesians. 427
" Who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lascivi-
ousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." iv. 19. The
word there translated "greediness" with which, as it were, they
coveted the indulgence of every evil passion, is here translated
"covetousness," and while some learned men have contended
that it should here be used in a similar signification, I shall follow
the simplicity of our translation, and take it just as it is, " covet
ousness." Now let us consider this sin. The whole world is occupied,
more or less in every sphere of life, in contriving how they can
gain, hoAV they can best improve their condition, from the servant
who leaves his place in hopes of getting a better — to the master,
whatever be his rank, who is striving to obtain some increase of
Avealth, to enlarge his estates or his establishment — to aggrandize
or to make a provision for his family, or something of that sort.
Money is the God of this Avorld ; the human heart is worshipping
it in every shape in which Satan chooses to mould it, no matter
what that shape may be. The universal prevalence of the sin
precludes it from observation, and in many cases from suspicion.
Many persons say, " Such a man is not covetous, on the contrary
he is a liberal man," meaning, that he gives perhaps his money
very liberally. But the very man who does so may be as covet
ous as any miser on the earth. When our Lord saith, " Take heed,
and beware of covetousness," He does not illustrate the admoni
tion by the parable of a miser, but of a rich and liberal man, "/
will pull down my barns, and build greater, and there will I be
stow all my fruits and my goods." He was a man who spent his
money, and employed many laborers. " And I will say to my
soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Noav he could not be merry
alone ; so, probably he had abundance of company. Yet he was
a poor, covetous fool, see Luke xii. 15 — 20. Some men desire to
get money to hoard it — some to spend it. One man to lock it up
in his chest — another to squander it in pride, in vanity, or in am
bition. One man will starve himself to death to save a farthing —
another will squander thousands on his friends, neighbors, or de
pendants, to gratify or entertain them. It matters not which they
do, the heart is covetous alike in both ; whether it desire to possess,
for display, for pride, for pomp, for vanity, or accumulation; it does
not signify what it is, — the heart of the spendthrift is as covetous
as the heart of the miser before God. The spendthrift who covets
to spend, in Avhatever way he spends his money, desires to possess
it to spend in that way. But the man who wishes to accumulate
and hoard it up, accumulates it for his own lust of wealth, and
hoards it for another to spend. How many hearts, yours and
mine, — yea, our own vile hearts have been exercised Avith it ! de
siring sometimes one thing and sometimes another — thinking that
if we Avere in such and such circumstances, — placed in such a
situation, or had some certain means — how much happier, yea,
perhaps, how much more religious Ave should be ! This is our

428

lectures on the ephesians.

corrupt, vile, natural heart which is inclined to covetousness, as
Avell as to countless other sins which Ave know by experience pos
sess so much of our thoughts.
But the Apostle, speaking of these things, saith, " Let them
not be once named among you, as becometh saints." There
is but one treasure you are permitted to covet, — " The unsearcha
ble riches of Christ," — one inheritance on which you are allowed
to set your heart, — "the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." 1 Pet. i. 4.
This Christ has purchased for you. This God is keeping for you,
and as surely as your heart is set upon it, here is ample scope for
the vast desires, the immense ambition of an immortal soul.
The Apostle continues, " Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, avhich are not convenient." Who
could ever suppose that offences like these require to be guarded
against by a Christian ? Yet, indeed there is deep necessity for
such exhortation. When the propensities of the heart are wicked,
the tongue when unrestrained is ready to give vent to them. The
Avord translated "filthiness" is the substantive of that used by
the Apostle in the 12th verse — shameful, " It is a shame even to
speak of those things which are done of them in secret." What
is shameful to do is shameful to speak of. But Avhile, in the so
ciety of persons who are Avhat is considered respectable, the ex
hortation may not be necessary : the other terms " foolish talk
ing and jesting, which are not convenient," too constant
ly apply to them. For there are multitudes Avho call themselves
Christians, Avho are continually guilty of offences such as these in
their conversation. Indeed, purity of language, and purity of sen
timent, require to be cultivated and guarded, even in that which
ought to be the most refined and best society. For in these days,
" in this adulterous and sinful generation" Mark viii. 38, it is, and
has long been, very much the fashion to dress up ideas, in lan
guage of poetry for example, from Avhich the mind and ear of
modesty Avould revolt, if they were put into plain prose ; and yet,
they can be clothed, in poetry — read — admired, and sung by per
sons who would be much displeased if their religion, or the purity
and modesty of their conversation were called into question. Yet
if their books, poems, and songs, Avere brought to the test of the
holy Word of God, they would be cast into the fire as not fit to be
admitted into society which bears the name of Christian.
The word here translated "jesting," literally signifies an ex
pression which can be easily turned, as it were, into another mean
ing, and which corresponds to that species of Avitticism called double
entendre, in which, under the guise of one sentiment, another not
fit to be plainly expressed, is conveyed. This is one of the com
monest and most corrupting modes of giving vent to the Avicked-
ness of the heart, and is here enumerated amongst those Avhich are
"not convenient," — that is most unbefitting, most unseemly.
And surely what can be more so, than that the profane jest — the

lectures on the ephesians. 429
indelicate insinuation — should be modulated in sounds of polished
language, and spoken in the ear which never ought to hear, or
pronounced by the tongue which never ought to speak them ?
"Let it not be named among you, as becometh saints"
- — is the Scriptural command. We may consider this to include
all absurd, vain, foolish, trifling talking; and indeed we all, espe
cially those of light and buoyant spirits and vivid imaginations,
have need to watch against ourselves in this particular: — for as
the Apostle James, speaking of the tongue, saith, " In many things
we offend all." chap. iii. 2. — -The flippant remark — the sharp re
partee — the satirical jest — all things that excite and wound the
feelings of others, or turn them into ridicule, to which some of us
are naturally so inclined, these and various other things that ob
tain so much in ordinary conversation, may be classed among those
that are "not convenient," that is not suitable, not befitting the
saint. The Apostle adds, " But rather giving of thanks." The
Avord translated "giving of thanks," as applied to conversation,
may perhaps be considered to imply as a contradistinction, which
the Apostle evidently means, to the evils which he had specified, —
that which tends to the praise and glory of God — as the former
tends to dishonor God — so let your conversation rather be such as
tends to His praise and glory — expressive of gratitude to God rather
than dishonor to Him.
He proceeds to the reason of this — "Fortius ye knoav, that
no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ or of God." He gives this as a reason
against such conversation, justly implying, that men who are
ready to speak of sins in their ordinary discourse, prove thereby,
that they are inclined to commit them ; and he argues from the
effect to the cause; he shows when these things exist in the con
versation and conduct, they are totally incompatible Avith the faith
and love of the Lord Jesus Christ; and therefore, "those who
do such things have no inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ or of God."
And if any should be inclined (as no doubt many were then as
Avell as noAv) to abuse the doctrines of grace, and to conclude
against the Apostolic truth, that they might "continue in sin
that grace may abound." Rom. vi. 1. The Apostle is most clearly
explicit on the subject against all such deceivers and perverters of
the Gospel. " Let no man deceive you with vain words,
FOR BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS COMETH THE WRATH OF GOD
on the children of disobedience." Let no man make light
of sin ; — •" Fools make a mock at sin." Prov. xiv. 9, let no man do
so, and "Let no man deceive you with vain words." For,
all these sins and various others, are the causes why God's judg
ments are visited on the ungodly world ; and therefore remember.
that those who live in the practice of sins such as these in their
life and conversation, can " have no inheritance in the

430

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

kingdom of Christ and of God." They are not God's children
— they have the mark of their master the devil upon their fore
heads — therefore, "Know ye not that to whom ye yield your
selves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey!"
Rom. vi. 16. " The wages of sin is death." Rom. vi. 23, and if ye
serve the Master, ye shall be sure to obtain the Avages ye have
earned. Therefore, consider these things. Think, Avhat evils Ave have
to watch against in ourselves, and if we must watch against them
in ourselves, how anxious should Ave be to guard against them in
our associates. As Ave see the Apostle adds, " Be not ye therefore
partakers with them." That, Avhich those Avho are ignorant of
Christ, will pass over, and which will give them no offence in the
society of the Avorld, will be exceedingly painful and Avounding to
the ears and feelings of a Christian. Therefore, not only avoid
these evils yourselves, but avoid all participation and association
with those persons, whose conversation is such, as the Apostle here
commands believers to watch and guard against. "Be not de
ceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." 1 Cor. xv. 33.
Avoid them. — Study the Word of God. — Cultivate the people of
God. — Give yourself to secret prayer and communion with God, —
Wait on the ordinances of God. — Pray that you may have your
heart filled Avith the precious knoAvledge of His love, and with
those principles and motives under the teaching of the Spirit, by
Avhich you may be enabled to guard against the evils here enu
merated, and "Let no man deceive you with vain words,
FOR BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS COMETH THE AVRATH OF GOD
UPON THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE."
You see, my dear friends, how the practical principles, are in
separably connected with the doctrinal truths of the Gospel. The
idea, of taking out these rules of virtue and a holy life out of
their place in the Bible — separating them from Christ — giving
them to be a guide to men for their conduct, — preaching them to
a congregation, — teaching them to children — pretending to set
them up as the rule or standard for men to Avalk by ! ! ! — You
might just as Avell erect a manufactory in a church-yard, and call
on the dead to arise and work it, as take the moral precepts of
the Gospel, and give them as the rule of life, to those Avho are dead
in trespasses and sins, and think they will or can put them into
practice. Hence mere moral books — moral precepts taken out of the Bible
—the very holy Law of God itself, hung up in schools by way of
teaching children to obey it, or the corrupt mutilation of God's
Truth, selecting the moral parts of Scripture, and separating them
from the great doctrines of the Gospel of Christ, as they stand
identified Avith them in His blessed Word, by way of instructing
the souls of children or grown persons, is all the mere blindness,
ignorance, folly, and Avickedness, of worms of the dust, assuming
to be Aviser than the Omniscient God.
We require all the poAver of the Gospel brought into our heart

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 431
by the Holy Ghost, to bring the practical influence of the moral
precepts of the Gospel into our lives. We require all the power
of the Gospel by the Holy Ghost over our wills and affections,
to regulate our conduct, and constrain us to live to Him who died
for us. We must have the precepts of the Gospel and the prin
ciples of the Gospel, not only as God has incorporated them in
His Word, but they must be incorporated by the power of the
Spirit in our own hearts ; otherwise they never can be manifested
in our lives, and instead of being "Followers of God, as dear
children," we shall be servants of Satan to the end of our ex
istence. May the Lord bring all these truths home to us, dear friends !
May the Lord Jesus write them on our hearts by the power of His
Spirit! make us "Followers of God, as dear children," and
enable us to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and given himself for us." Amen and Amen.

THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians V. — 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

" Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but
now are ye light in the Lord : walk as children of light ; (for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth ;) proving what is acceptable unto the
Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather re
prove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them
in secret." It is a truth ever to be reiterated, and ever to be remembered,
that every practical duty of the Gospel' of Christ, must be always
enforced on the principles of the Gospel. It is wholly impossible
that genuine Christian obedience can either ever be properly en
forced by a minister of Christ, or ever be attained by his hearers
unless on sound Christian principles. This is one reason why it
has always been Satan's policy to undermine — to corrupt — and to
depreciate the doctrines of the Gospel. This policy, the Prince of
this world seems to have succeeded in embodying very generally,
indeed, almost universally, into the public opinion of the present
day ; by Avhat is denominated Liberalism — that is, that we are to
be extremely liberal, as it is called, respecting the opinions that
men may hold on religion ; because it is not of much importance
Avhat doctrines men entertain on this subject. These are called
mere opinions of theory — mere abstract sentiments — mere points
of belief— mere matters of individual concernment — with which
we have no right whatever to i •.terfere ; and therefore, which it is

432 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
not our business at all to notice. But, as it is universally admitted,
that the great end of the Christian religion in this world, is to pro
duce, as far as man's social intercourse is concerned, good fruits,
or good works ; that all we have to attend to, is the practical part
of religion — the morality of the Gospel — and that as to the doc
trinal opinions, which men hold, it is entirely a matter of indiffer
ence what they are.
This, I say, is the policy of Satan — this is one of his favorite
modes of sentiment, which he seems to have succeeded in diffusing
so extensively into the minds of men, at the present day. The
great mass of those Avho call themselves Christians, either hold or
affect to hold these opinions.
Now this strikes at the very root of all true religion ; for there
is no such thing in any individual on earth, as Christian practice
without Christian principle. Man must have the principle of the
Gospel in his heart, before he can have the fruit of the Gospel in
his life. You may think, I unnecessarily reiterate this assertion,
but as often as men are called to act, so often, ought they to be
called on to examine their principle of action. God admits but of
one principle as the motive of moral action in man, and where
that principle does not exist, there can be no such thing as genu
ine moral conduct. It is impossible. We may well require to
have ever repeated in our ears, that which ought to be the habitual
motive of our actions in the sight of God. These remarks, you
perceive, are particularly applicable to the very point at Avhich our
Lecture this day commences. The Apostle, as you remember,
had been warning believers against the ungodly practices— the
ungodly principles — the ungodly conversation of the Avorld, "For
nication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once
named among you, as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor jesting, ivhich are not convenient, but rather
giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, or
unclean person, or covetous man who is an idolater, hath any in
heritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man
deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh
the wrath of God on the children of disobedience."
Then the Apostle proceeds — " Be not ye therefore par
takers with them." Why? What is the principle on Avhich
they are called, not to be partakers Avith such persons? " For ye
WERE SOMETIMES DARKNESS, BUT NOW ARE YE LIGHT IN THE
Lord, walk as children of light." Observe, how he com
mences the chapter, "Be ye followers of God, as dear children."
Observe the motive, to be His folloAvers. "And icalk in love, as
Christ also hath loved us." Then, having enumerated the differ
ent sins of practice and conversation which I have read, you see
he brings forward again the same principle, " Be not ye there
fore PARTAKERS WITH THEM ; FOR YE WERE SOMETIMES
DARKNESS, BUT NOW ARE YE LIGHT IN THE LORD, WALK AS
children of light." The principle on which he enforces these
moral practical precepts is this, that they have been formerly in a.

lectures on the ephesians. 433
state which he calls " darkness," and that they are now in; a
state which he calls "light in the Lord." Therefore, I say,
the principle on which Christian duty is here enforced, is this, that
of a man being brought, by the Gospel, out of his natural dark
ness into the light of Christ's salvation, and he can no more walk
in the light of truth, or in the ways of truth in his natural state
of darkness, than a man can walk in the light of noon when it is
midnight. Impossible. — He must have the principle in his heart,
or he cannot have the practice in his life. L-
This is so important, that Imust dwell on it for a moment.
Let me suppose a person here to ask, hoAV do you prove that?
Do you mean to say, that a man may perform — for example, an
action, which you admit to be an act of Christian duty — of Chris
tian kindness, or benevolence. Suppose — This person gives a
large sum of money to benefit the poor — to feed the hungry— to
clothe the naked — to heal the sick— to erect an hospital— some
thing of that kind, which you yourself acknowledge to be an act
of Christian benevolence ; nay, that it is more than a man can
be said to be bound to do, and that he does it voluntarily and
liberally ; and suppose he hopes that this will conduce to his
salvation. Another man, on what you call Christian principle, for the love
of Christ, does the same. Do you mean to say, that one of these
men who acts on what you call Christian principle, does really a
good moral act, and that the same act performed by some man,
who does not act on what you call Christian principle, is not a
good act ?
I mean to say exactly so.
The acts considered in themselves, or considered in their bene
ficial effects to the poor, are both the same; but considered in ref
erence to the individuals who perform them, the one is an act of
duty to God and to man — -the act of a Christian, and accepted
before God — the other is the act of an unconverted sinner, and
the wrath of God, which abides on him by nature and practice, is
not lessened in its weight or certainty a single iota, by that, or a
thousand acts of the same kind. The motive of his act is false,
it is an offering of ignorance and pride, and never can be accepted
before God. Is that salvation which is the gift of God, which
could be purchased from eternal justice, only by the blood of Jesus,
to be bought with money to build hospitals or churches ? A man's
person (remember this) must be accepted, before his works can be
accepted. His person must be accepted before God' — his sins must
be pardoned — he must be justified from his iniquity, by the right
eousness and blood of Jesus — he must be in a state of peace and
reconciliation with his God, before any act that he doescan ever
be received or accepted by Him. It is the acceptance of a sinner's
person, through Christ, by faith in His salvation, that makes his
works acceptable— and it is not his works being accepted through
Christ, that leads to the acceptance of his person. This is a point
of thfe very vital essence of Christianity. This is a fundamental
28

434 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
principle of truth, if you do not understand this, you do not know
the foundation of the Christian religion ; and therefore, those
principles on the subject 0f religion noAV so prevalent in the world,
called liberal principles, Avhich deciy as bigotry, the assertion and
maintenance of the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel, as if all
those doctrines were mere speculative opinions, are all founded on
falsehood— they strike a direct blow at the root of the Christian
faith — they are propagated by the Prince of darkness, and their
direct immediate tendency is to subvert the truth and the salva-
_ion of the living God. There is no such thing as Christian mo
rality, but that which springs from Christian principle ; it does
not rise above the level of mere Pagan ethics ; there is no such
thing as one moral action accepted before God that proceeds from
an unconverted sinner.
Does he bring forth no fruit ? He does ; but he brings forth
fruit unto himself. So saith the Lord by the Prophet, " Israel is
an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself." Hosea x. 1 ;
every unconverted man brings forth fruit unto himself, not to
God. Our blessed Lord is distinct and express on the point, " As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine,
no more can ye except ye abide in me." No, " ye were some
times (or once) darkness," saith the Apostle. But every un
converted man is here called "darkness." Why? — If a man
cannot see Avhere he is going, he must be in darkness, so saith
our Lord, " He that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he
goeth ;" John xii. 35. Either he is blind, or else, there is no Ugbt
around him ; if he cannot see .where he is about to place his feet,
he is in darkness. Now, every unconverted man is exactly so, he
cannot see Avhere he is going, death is before him — eternity is
before him — the bar of God is before him — eternal judgment is
before him — hell is before him — the wrath of God is upon him —
the gulf of perdition yawns perhaps at his feet — his next step may
be into it — but he cannot see it — he knoAveth not whither he
goeth ; and if you tell him of it, if you warn him, he scoffs at
your admonition — he does not see any spiritual truth — he does
not know his own character in the sight of God — he does not see
himself a sinner — God's laAV is not the rule of his conduct, nor the
standard of his judgment — he is wholly ignorant of its spiritual
character — he does not know the iniquity that defiles his best
deeds — he is ignorant of the sins of his tongue — he never dreams
of the deceit and desperate wickedness of his heart — on the con
trary, you will see almost all unconverted men, console themselves
for the sins of which they confess they are more or less practically
guilty, on the principle of the goodness of their hearts. They
mean thereby, that they have a certain intention of reforming and
amending their lives at some future time, and they hope and
intend that they will yet do right, and weighing these good inten
tions against their practical sins, they console themselves for their
pins by the self-complacent conviction, that their heart is so good.
Now a man in his natural state cannot see the evil of his heart ;

. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 435
he cannot believe that so far from being good, it is indeed the
source of all his course of sin ; he cannot see the natural corrup
tion of his heart, life, and conduct ; he knows nothing of the char
acter of God ; he has, as he thinks a confident hope in God's
mercy ; but tell him of his justice, holiness, and his certain deter
mination to punish sin, he neither knows, nor believes, one tittle
on the subject. " He flattereth himself in his own eyes," as
David saith Ps. xxxvi. 27. He thinks himself so superior to mul
titudes around, that he secures himself by asking, " What will
become of the world if he were to be cast aAvay ?" He infers, that
this book Avhich reveals his own character and God's character to
him, is a dark, enigmatical, unintelligible book ; and the reason
why he finds such difficulties in the Bible is this — that the plain
statements contained in that Word are in such flat contradiction
to the natural opinions of the human mind, that, because man
cannot reconcile the truth of the Bible with his own principles, he
thinks there are enormous difficulties in the Bible. This is the fact.
Whereas, although it is true, that the Bible contains depths of
Divine Wisdom, wonders and mysteries, both of glories that are
past, and of those that are to come, Avhich the human intellect can
not now fathom — although the Bible is a book of such infinite
wisdom, such infinite glory, that the more a man advances in the
knowledge of it, the more does he feel that it is the book of God
in the hands of a child — although this is the character of the
Bible in many respects, yet the Bible is in many other things, the
plainest Book on earth ; in all things, I may say, that concern
man's salvation and his conduct in this world. There is not in
all Theology a single book written which contains in itself clearer.
plainer, principles of truth, than those written in this blessed Word
of God. But the difficulty of the Book consists, to the unregene-
rated man, not in its abstruse passages, but in its plain and ob
vious truths ; because those truths come with such direct, explicit
contradiction to the natural opinions — the natural corruptions and
pride of the human heart ; therefore, man in all things connected
with his spiritual state — his present condition — his future pros
pects — his own character, and the character and attributes of God,
in all these he is in darkness, he knOAVs nothing of them ; and
until the grace of God shall have visited him, and until the light
of God's eternal truth shall have shined into his heart, or as the
Apostle says, until " God who commanded, the light to shine out
of darkness shines into his heart, to give him the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" — he
continues in that darkness. And then observe, there is the very
process by Avhich he is brought out of it, consider that text, 2 Cor.
iv. 6 ; observe the same Almighty power that said when the
world was in darkness, " Let there be light, and there was light,"
must say to every individual sinner's heart, " Let there be light"
in that sinner's heart, and there shall be light. What is the light
which God commanded to shine on the darkness of a created
world? The Sun. What is the light that God commands to

436 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
shine out of the moral darkness to lighten the sinner's heart?
" The Sun of Righteousness." Unto "you that fear my name
shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings ;"
Mai. iv. 2. So, when "God who commanded the light lo shine
out of darkness," shines into the sinner's heart, He gives " The
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ," he enables the sinner to see the glory of God in that
blessed face — the glory of God's justice in punishing sin — the
glory of God's mercy in pardoning sin, yea, the chief of sinners^-
the glory of God's faithfulness in fulfilling all His promises, which
are all " yea and amen in Christ Jesus." When "the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ" shines into the sinner's heart,
then he is " light in the Lord." — So the Apostle saith, " ye
WERE SOMETIMES DARKNESS, BUT NOW YE ARE LIGHT IN THE
Lord," this is ordinarily produced under the Divine blessing by
the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, the light shines into the
sinner's heart, through the belief of the testimony of the Gospel
of Jesus, I trust it may shine into the hearts of some of my dear
hearers to-day.
Yes---perhaps there may be some of you into whose hearts- the
light of this knowlege of Christ has not shined as yet, and I trust,
that God may make use of His Word in my unworthy lips to-day,
to shed that light into your hearts, even at this time.
Some of you may be saying within yourselves — "It is very true,
I am going to death — I am going to judgment — to eternity— but
know not Avhither I am going ! — It is all uncertainty Avith me, like
a man Avalking in darkness and not' knowing where his foot is
next to fall, so it is all uncertainty with my soul. I know not, if
I were to die to-day where my foot is tp rest, whether I should
plant it on the Rock and enter into life, or Avhether I should step
on the quicksands and sink into eternal death !"
Perhaps there are some of you here, who must come to this sad
conclusion, of your OAvn state. Alas ! then, if so, you are in dark
ness ; but now, by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus — -by the
proclamation of pardon through the blood of the Lamb — of salva
tion through him who died for sinners — of the riches of God's par
doning grace in sending His Son to be the Saviour of the guilty
— and the glory of Christ's grace in coming to die and " bear our
sins in his own body on the tree," 1st Pet. ii. 24. Perhaps, I say,
through the preaching of this blessed truth, the light may break
into your heart, and that you may be enabled to say, "Oh then, I
see Christ is a Refuge for a sinner like me. If this be true, I may
lean on Jesus, here is salvation for my soul in Christ — here is sal
vation for me in the blood of the Lamb." Well then, if this be so,
if God shall teach you thus, then, though " you were sometimes
darkness," even this morning — when you know and trust in
Jesus, then you shall be " light in the Lord," even this very
day/ There is no light— no salvation in any other. "Jdro the light
of the world," saith the Lord Jesus,.*' He that followeth me shall

lectures on the ephesians. 437
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life," John viii. 12.
Thus saith the Psalmist, looking to this light, " The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall I fear, the Lord is the
strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid." Ps. xxvii. 1.
This is what St. Peter says, , speaking of the state of man by
nature, and by grace, ," Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show
forth the praises of him, who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light." 1st Pet. ii. 9. You see the result of calling
men into light is, that they should " walk as children of
light," and manifest that they are of the light, so you observe
what our Lord says to His disciples, when he tells them, " Ye are
the light of the world," He adds, "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." Mat. v. 14 — 16.
Whose servant are you? What an important — what a mo
mentous question ! We cannot serve God and Mammon, and we
must be servants of one or the other — of the "Father of lights" —
or of the "Prince of darkness."
One great use and blessing of light is that Ave should walk in
the light ; if you are a child of light, what is it for but that you
should walk in the light. This is what the Apostle says, "Ye
WERE SOMETIMES DARKNESS, BUT NOW ARE YE LIGHT IN. THE
Lord, walk as children of light." This is an image re
peatedly used in the Scriptures, as in 1st Thes. v. We have it
there also practically .applied, both to the present walk, and the
future prospects of the Church at the coming of the Lord. Let us
refer to the pa.s93.ge^~"But of the times and the seasons, brethren,
ye have no need that I write unto you ; for yourselves know per
fectly, that, the day of the. Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
Look iioav at the state of those in darkness— ''For when they shall
say peace and safety, then, sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape."
"When they shall say, peace. and safety" when the Avorld ia
laughing at religion, mocking at those who are speaking of it, and
calling: their principles mere "religious opinions," "theoretical
opinions," scoffing at them, "Scoffers,: walking after their own
lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming" 2nd Pet.
iii. 3, 4- When they are saying this, and as our Lord describes
those of old, " They were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
and knew not until the flood came and took them all away ; so
shall also the coming of the Son, of man be!' Mat. xxiv. 38, 39.
"As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the
Son of man," huke xvii. 26, " when they shall say peace and
safety, then:. sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." 1 st Thes.
v. 3. , Then shall their eyes be opened, and when their eyes are
opened,. what. a fearfuLsight shall they behold ! " The Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."

438 lectures on the ephesians.
Mat. xxiv. 30. Then comes that dreadful hour, when " The kings
of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every
freeman, shall hide themselves in the dens, and, in the rocks of
the mountains, and shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb." Rev. vi. 15, 16. For these
are they on whom " When they shall say peace and safety, then
sudden destruction cometh" — these are they that are in darkness.
" But ye brethren," adds the Apostle, " are not in darkness, that
that day should overtake you as a thief, ye are all the children
of light, and the children of the day, we are not of the night, nor
of darkness." Light consists in the knowledge of Him, through
whom we are prepared for that time, so, in being prepared — ready
for that day — in knowing that sin is blotted out — in knoAving hoAV,
and through whom it is blotted out — in knowing that the very
God who shall come in His glory to judge a guilty Avorld, is the
God of our salvation — our Refuge — our Hope — our Peace — that
Saviour whom we have knoAvn so long as our only comfort, and
to whom our heart has continually turned as all our Hope and all
our Salvation.
These are they of whom the Prophet speaketh, when he saith,
" It shall be said in that day, Lo this is our God, we have waited
for him, and he will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited
for him, we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation." Is. xxv. 9.
To these saith the Apostle, " Ye are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief, ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day ; we are not of the night, nor
of darkness." 1st Thes. v. 4, 5.
But now mark the practical application of it — "Therefore, let
us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober," verse 6 ;
let us not give ourselves up to spiritual indolence, to sleep — to
sloth — to apathy — to negligence, But let us watch and be sober ;
for they that sleep, sleep in the night ; and they that be drunken,
are drunken in the night." These are the people that are in
ignorance — in blindness — in darkness, "But let us who are of the
day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and
for an helmet the hope of salvation." We are engaged in a war
fare, but it is in daylight — let us avail ourselves of the light to
fight. We are in an enemy's country — surrounded Avith foes, — Ave
have a constant battle to Avage — but it is under the Captain of
our salvation. Our enemies are without and Avithin, the world,
the flesh, and the devil — therefore, "Let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an
helmet the hope of salvation." Why? "For God hath not ap
pointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord-
Jesus Christ." If we be believers, if we are looking to Christ, if
Christ is our Refuge, let us remember that this is the testimony of
God, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 439
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him,
wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even
as also ye do." 1 Thes. v. 9, 10. We see here the state of those
who believe the Gospel of Jesus, we see what blessed privileges
belong to them and their consequent duties ; and you may per
ceive, that this is merely an expansion of the principle laid down
here in this passage before us, Avhere the Apostle tells them not to
be partakers with the " children of disobedience." The reason
you see is, "for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are
ye light in the lord, walk as children of light j (for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and right
eousness AND TRUTH.")
The fruit which the Spirit produces in the believer is " in all
100DNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUTH." The fruits of the
Spirit, like those of the garden are produced and ripened in the
light of day. This fruit is directly contrasted in Galatians v. 16,
17, with the Avorks of the flesh, " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
not fulfil the lusts of the flesh ; for the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary
the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." _
That is — your natural disposition, your natural corrupt wicked
tieart is always lusting against the Spirit of God; "The flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh."
The Spirit of God is always in opposition to the natural inclina
tions and corruptions of man ; " Arid these are contrary the one to
the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." The
believer " Delights in the law of God after the inward man," Rom.
vii. 22 ; the law is written on his heart by the Spirit. He would
fulfil that laAV according to the dictates of that blessed Spirit, if his
natural corruption allowed him, but he cannot. Let him do what
he may, he feels that he never can do Avhat he would — he never
can pray, as he would — read the Word of God, as he would — medi
tate on it, as he would — believe, as he Avould — or do a single ordi
nary action, much less perform his best spiritual duties, as he
»vould. So that the Apostle not only records the dictates of in
spired truth, but the responsive experience of every servant of
God,* when he says, " Ye cannot do the things that ye would"
ye know — ye feel that ye cannot. But he adds, " If ye be led by
the Spirit, ye are not under the law," ye are not condemned for
these things ; ye are under the covenant of grace and peace in
Jesus. " There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus," Rom. viii. 1; " Ye are not under the law, but under grace."
* The experience of Bishop Beveridge furnishes a remarkable commentary on this
in his "Private Thoughts," Art. IV., in which he says, " I do not only betray the in
bred venom of my heart, by poisoning my common actions, but even my most religious
performances also with sin. I cannot pray but I sin. I cannot hear or preach a ser
mon but I sin. I cannot give an alms or receive the Sacrament but I sin. Nay, 1
cannot so much as confess my sins, but my very confessions are still aggravations of
them — my repentance needs to be repented of — my tears want washing, and the very
washing of my tears needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Re
deemer. '

440 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS*
Rom. vi. 14. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest which
are. these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idol-
atryY witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations; wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like, of the lohich I tell you before, as I have also told
yon in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God." Gal. v. 19-21. They are manifestly walk
ing after the flesh, and therefore are servants not of God, but of
Satan. .- Now observe, " The fruit of the Spirit is love f that is the
first, mark then the precept in the beginning of this chapter, "Be
ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love."
When we know what Christ has done for us, Christ must be pre
cious to our- souls. It is the chief office of the Spirit to testify of
Christ to. the soul, therefore " The fruit of the Spirit, is love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance : against such there is no law. And they that are
Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
Gal. v. 22, 23. Therefore, we are walking at liberty, whenever
we are brought truly to seek God's precepts, " I will walk at
liberty," saith the Psalmist, "for I seek thy precepts," Ps. cxix.
45. Whenever the. sinner is made Avilling to do the law of God,
then he is. not walking under constraint, against his inclinations,
but walking at liberty, to do what he desires. A man is always
at liberty when he can do what he likes, and Avhen man likes to
do what he ought to do, he is Avalking at liberty — he is no longer
a slave— he is a freeman — he is set at liberty, Avhy? because
his heart is brought to know and love his Lord. He is not as a
slave striving against his will to keep a law that he hates, and to
obey the God whom he detests; laboring- reluctantly to do what
he does not wish to do, and abstaining as reluctantly from what
he would idesire to do. The best religion of the unconverted man
is, labor to be religious; striving to deny himself what he Avould
like to do, and laboring to do what he would wish to avoid. But
the liberty of the believer, consists in this. He has been taught
to Jove his Lord. He desires to serve his Heavenly Master. His
lusts— his sins^-these are the tyrants that he detests — he groans
under their yoke. The service of his God is the liberty he loves
—and he desires to walk in that liberty — he desires to Avalk in
loveo The natural corruptions of his heart, are, as it Avere fetters
that bind his liberty; and he wishes if he eould, to escape from
these chains into the light and freedom of perfect holiness to the
Lord. Therefore the walk of the children of light is a walk of
love, and. so the Apostle shows by the next words Avhich are in a
parenthesis, in which he intends, as it were, to remind them of
what he means by walking as children, of light,,", Walk as chil
dren of, light, (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all
GOODNESS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TRUTH)," as much as to
say, " yon know what I mean by this; You know how the chils
dren of light— those who are born of the Spirit, and called unto

LECTURES ON THE .EPHESIANS.! 441
the glorious light of the Gospel — ought to walk." As he saith in
another place, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit," Gal. v. 25, and if ye "walk as children of light"—
that is, if you " walk in the Spirit," ye know that " the fruit of
the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and
truth." Let your walk be one of universal obedience, not par
tial in some tilings, and careless or criminal in others — not like a
tree with fruit on one bough and all the rest barren — but " in all
goodness," in all " righteousness," and in all " truth," — the
power of the Spirit pervading your heart,, and the fruits of the Spirit
manifested in your life — thus "walk as children of light,"—
"proving avhat is acceptable unto the Lord." "Prov
ing," that is, manifesting^-demonstrating it to others — to your
selves — to the Lord.
To others — so saith our blessed Master, "Let your light so shine
before mem, that they. may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." Matt. v. 16. So saith the Apostle
James, " Show me thy faith. without thy works, and I will show
thee my faith by my works." . James ii. 18. So the Apostle Peter,
"So is the will of God, that with well-doing ye put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men." 1 Peter, ii. 15.
Proving it to yourselves — as saith the Apostle to the Romans,
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. vi. 16.. So saith the
Apostle John, "Hereby we know that we are of the trutli, and
shall assure our hearts before him. For if our hearts condemn
us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,Jhen, have we confidence
toward God." 1 John iii. 19, 20, 21.
Proving it to the Lord as Peter, " Lord, thorn lcnowest all things ;
thou knowest that I love thee." John xxi. 17. This is to "walk
in the Spirit" — to "walk in love" — to " walk as children of
LIGHT." But it is not only necessary in this Avorld of sin and temptation
to know what Ave ought to. pursue, but what we ought to avoid,
The children of light are surrounded by the children of darkness-r-
the servants of Christ by the servants of the prince of darkness-r-
therefore the Apostle instructs them in this. too.
"And HAVE NO fellowship with the unfruitful works
OF DARKNESS, BUT RATHER REPROVE THEM, FOR IT IS A SHAME
EVEN TO SPEAK OF THOSE THINGS: WHICH ARE .DONE OF :THEM
IN SECRET."
We have here a double exhortation^ and then a reason for it. —
First to "have no fellowship with them." He does not say
do not practice them— but " have no fellowship with them."
It is a vulgar but an infallible adage, " Tell me your companyand
I'll telly ou what you are." It is universally true that men love
associates like themselves. -The Apostle when he describes the
various iniquities that defile the world— Rom. i. 29,— 31— giving

442

lectures on the ephesians.

a condensed catalogue of the vices, corruptions, and profligacies of
mankind — adds this, as an universal characteristic of the human
race, " Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which do
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have
pleasure in them that do them." v. 32. There is a blessing, not
only in avoiding evil conduct, but evil company. So the Psalmist,
" Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the un
godly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of the scornful." Psalm i. 1. So, too, his son Solomon, "Enter
not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil
men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."
Prov. iv. 14, 15.
So the Apostle here exhorts: — First, to "have no fellowship
with them" — but secondly, " rather reprove them." To
reprove an offender is not only a sure way of avoiding his com
pany, but the best way of insuring that he will be anxious to avoid
yours. This exhortation, however, is more conditional than posi
tive, there may be persons and circumstances Avhere reproof to an
offender could not be well administered by a servant of God. So
the Apostle saith, but "rather reprove them" — "rather,"
than accept their invitation to do what is evil or folloAV their exam
ple, show your disapprobation by reproof, " For," — the reason is —
that "it is a shame even to speak of those things that
are done of them in secret." And if a shame even to speak
of them, how much more to do them — to join in them — or to have
fellowship with them. Why should those who are enlisted in the
service of the Lord of Glory — Avho have taken the name and pro
fess to fight under the banners of the Great Captain of their Sal
vation — why should they give that which ought to be consecrated
to Him, whose they are, and whom they ought to serve, to the
servants or to the service of the Prince of darkness ?
In the rebellion of 1798, the rebels took prisoner a little drum
mer of the king's troops, and they desired him to beat the drum
for them. The little boy laid his drum on the ground and leaped
into it, smashing the parchment into atoms — "God forbid," said
he, " that the king's drum should ever be beat for rebels." The
ruffians piked the little hero, but they could not obliterate the re
membrance of a deed, worthy of a place in the noblest records of
courage, loyalty, and fidelity — an example which, if it were imi
tated in a spiritual sense by the Christian, Avould best illustrate the
fulfilment of the Apostle's exhortation here.
: But now, my dear friends, the application of this to ourselves is
the grand subject for consideration, and so the great question
arises— to which class do you really belong ?
Are you in darkness, or are you in the light ? If you are in the
light, you will perceive, that certainly a great change has taken
flace in your sentiments — vieAvs— opinions — -feelings— and desires.
f you really are brought out of your natural darkness, into the mar
vellous light of God's truth ; it is not — it cannot be concealed from
you. You must know that you are totally different, in many

lectures on the ephesians. 443
respects, from what you once were — though you feel you are
very far from what you would aim at, and desire to be. " If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2nd Cor. v. 17. I know
that the corruption and Avickedness of their heart is a constant
source of pain to believers. I know they often think and reason
thus : —
" Alas ! I cannot believe that I can be a child of God. I feel
myself so vile, so guilty, how can I be called His child, or His ser
vant?" Well, that is a great change ! For the time was, that you did
not feel or reason thus — that you saw no sin, or but little, com
paratively, in yourself — rather, probably, that you thought you
were very good. This, then, is a great change. This appears to
be a great symptom that the Lord has taught you to see yourselves
in the light of His Holy Law. For, as the Apostle says, in the
very next verse, " Whatsoever doth make manifest is light." That
which manifests your own sin and wickedness to yourselves, must
be the light of God's Holy Law which hath shined into your heart.
That is a great change ! So it was exactly with the Apostle, as he
tells us, in his OAvn experience, "For I was alive without the law
once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and Idled."
Rom. vii. 9.
Again, believers are not always conscious to themselves of being
in a state of acceptance with God — they are often Avalking in
darkness, and mourning over their sins and their unbelief. There
fore, although the knowledge, and assurance of their acceptance
with God, and the happy confidence of faith is their blessed priv
ilege, and one, which they ought to aim continually to enjoy;
yet it is not their privilege always to enjoy it. But whether you
enjoy it or not, a great change has taken place, and you must be
conscious of this in some particulars. You are perhaps, sad,
afflicted, unhappy under a sense of your own sin; well, that is a
great change. You may say, I do not enjoy the light of God's
countenance, if it was so, if I was able to rejoice in Christ, I
should be happy, — that is a great change too. Christ was of no
value to you once — you did not regard the light of God's counte
nance, it was no regret — it was nothing to you whether He smiled
or frowned, " God was not in all your thoughts," Ps. x. 4. Your
soul desires now to enjoy the light of your Redeemer's counte
nance. That is a great change ! Christ is precious to your soul.
We prize what we long for, as much as what we enjoy. The
Apostle Peter gives this as the mark of a believer, " To you that
believe he is precious." 1st Pet. ii. 7. Who showed you that
Christ Avas such a blessed object ? Who showed you that the
light of God's countenance was the light of life in which your
soul desired to bask? None could show this to you, but the
Holy Ghost. Therefore, though you may be often downcast and
oppressed, take courage ! It may be the " day of small things"
with you, in comparison of the advanced experience of other be
lievers. But if we speak of that experience, let it not be a subject

444

lectures on the ephesians.

of distress to any person Avho is "asking, his way to Zion, with
his face thitherward." God will not despise "the day of small
•things." If there is one faint and feeble, but sincere desire in
your heart to come to God— it must be by the power of His Spirit
.-—there can be no such desire in the sinner's natural heart.
Therefore, I say, take courage ; and remember, the Lord says,
" Who hath despised the day of small things?" Zech. iv. 10 ; as
much as to say, " Certainly, I have not despised it ;" — and, if. the
Lord does not despise it, then do not you despise it. Take cour
age— -p ray to the Lord — search His Word — "Enter into thy
closet ; and,, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly." Mat. vi. 6. Oh ! think what a privilege it
is, to have a. God who sees and knoAvs the weakest desire- — who
hears the faintest cry, from the poor sinner's heart! "Because ye
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, I'ather." Gal. iv. 6.
It may be but a faint and feeble cry — but however weak — as
the mother's ear is very quick, and she hears the cry of her little
babe that does not see her, though she is watching over it — her
eye — her ear are all alive to watch the slightest movement — -and
catch the feeblest cry; — yet. not a thousandth part so quick,, as the
ear of the Lord to hear the cry of his poor children, hoAV weak
or faint soever it may be. " The eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers." 1st Pet. iii.
12>; The song of the redeemed around the throne in glory —
".The voice of many angels round about the throne" — and of. the
"ten thousand times ten thousand," Rev. v. 11, cannot intercept
the feeblest cry that comes from the lips of him who calleth.
"Abba, Father."
We have a tender— gracious — compassionate Father! Let us
come to Him ; yea, and come boldly, for " We have a great High
Priest, who . is passed into the heavens ; Jesus, the Son of God."
And, though we may have many doubts — fears — distractions — -
difficulties— tmany hard conflicts— and, though Ave may feel, ihat
our prayer does not deserve the name of prayer, and that we are
often unable to pray, — yet, if there is the least cry of sincerity
in the heart, to God-^-that cry must have come from God, and
that cry returns to Him. Think of this ! And therefore let us
pray to have all His truth engraven on our hearts. May the
Lord write it there by His Spirit, for His name's sake ! Amen !

THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.

Ephesians V.— 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

" But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light : for whatsoever
doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
The Apostle was speaking, in the passage of Scripture Avhich
Ave considered on the last day, of the difference between man in a
state of spiritual darkness, and man in a state of spiritual light,
and of the duties of those who are in the light, " Ye were some
times darkness but now are ye light in the Lord, walk as children
of light."
He had been warning his brethren against the works of dark
ness, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them."
He had been contrasting these with the works of light; "The
fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and
truth," and he exhorted his believing brethren, instead of having
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness to reprove them ;
that so far from being associated with them practically, they should
remember that even the very mention of them Avas a shame, "It is
a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret." He now shows Avhat that is, which tests the works of darkness,
and the works of light ; and he says, that which reproves, and
thereby brings them forth as it were into light, this makes them
manifest, and it is this that tests them. "All things that are
reproved are made manifest by the light : for what
ever DOTH MAKE MANIFEST IS LIGHT. WHEREFORE HE
saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the
DEAD, AND CHRIST SHLL GIVE THEE LIGHT." Those Who had
been in darkness, had been brought out of darkness into light —
their darkness had been made manifest by the light ; " For what
ever doth make manifest is light." The change that takes
place in the sinner's mind, when the light of divine truth shines
into his heart, is like the change that takes place to the eye of a
person when he has been in a dark room, where he has not seen
anything within it — until the Avindow is opened, and the light
allowed to enter, and all its contents are exhibited to his view.
And if, when the light broke into that dark and unseen chamber,

446 lectures on the ephesians.
he saw that he was surrounded Avith objects disgusting and appall
ing to his sight — hoAV horrible Avould the scene appear ! — hoAV he
would loathe !— how he would desire to fly from it ! When the
light of divine truth breaks in upon the sinner's heart, and shows
him the corruptions and abominations that are there — not more
horrible would the most disgusting natural objects appear to his
eye, than the spectacle presented to his moral sense, when God
gives hiin power to see it — Avhen God sheds light upon it. We
see ourselves full of sin and corruption — Ave see our hearts as
He describes them, " deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked." Jer. xvii. 9. We see we must be as loathsome in the
eyes of a pure and holy God, as a corrupting carcase would be in
our own. We are brought doAvn to the dust under a sense of our
OAvn iniquity— Ave say Avith Job, "/ have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye seeth thee : Wherefore I
abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job, xiii. 5, 6. The
light of God's truth shining into our hearts and consciences gives
us to see the meaning of this text applied to ourselves as well as
to others, "all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light, for whatsoever doth make manifest is light." Now, God's
W°i'd and God's Spirit make manifest, to the enlightened con
science, that which God's judgment shall make manifest, when he
shall bring every Avork into judgment. Yet sinners read and hear
that word continually, without even deriving any light or knowl
edge of their own state from it. Persons will read over and over
again, for example, God's testimony concerning their own hearts,
that "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not sub
ject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7.
After having read that statement, and heard it frequently, they
have not the least light shed into their own hearts, concerning its
truth as applied to their own state — -they do not believe that their
"heart is enmity against God."
I have frequently quoted that text, and read it from the Script
ures, and asked persons, " Do you believe this is the state of your
heart ?" ' And they have answered, " No, I do not feel any enmity
against God, I do not think that is the state of my heart." Now,
the reason is, that those persons, Avhen they hear the Word of
God, have no light from the Spirit of God shed on their own heart
or understanding, to make manifest, by the light of the Word,
their own guilt and sin. They do not understand the nature of
God's Holy LaAV, to which their heart is not subject ; for when its
full requirements are set before them, then they evince their en-1
mity against its strictness and spirituality.
If a blind man were brought into a dark room, or into a light
room, darkness and light would be the same to him, he wants the
sense to see. Thousands, and tens of thousands, yea, multitudes
of most learned men, in the midst of the light of Revelation, are
as blind to the moral character of God and their OAvn spiritual
state, as any Pagan in the darkest regions of Heathen ignorance
can be. The blind sinner, brought into the light of God's truth, sees

Lectures on the ephesians. 447
nothing — his eyes must be opened — God's Word, when his eyes
are opened, then makes manifest to him the truth, he sees it in the
sacred pages as a person Avho had received sight sees objects
clearly. A man in a dark room, with his eyes open, cannot see
anything. The eyes are as necessary for the use of light, as light,
is for the use of the eyes. So man requires, not merely the poAver
of the Spirit to give him sight, but the light of the Word, that he
may see — not merely the sense to see — but the light to enable him
to use that sense. The illumination of the Spirit, and the light
of God's Word, are both alike indispensable. The Spirit is first
given and enables him to attend — to think — to understand — to
believe — to see — and derive from the Word, the knowledge of the
corruption of his own heart. The Word of God makes manifest,
and the Spirit of God makes manifest, truth concerning the sin
ner ; and whenever the sinner is brought to see the corruption and
evil in his own heart — he knows, and he understands, that God
sees it too. The ungodly, as we read in Scripture, " hath said in
his heart, God hath forgotten : he hideth his face ; he will never.
see it." Psalm, x. 11. The believer says, "Thou hast set our
iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy counte
nance" Psalm, xc. 8 ; or with the Apostle, " All things are naked
and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Heb.
iv. 13. When the sinner sees himself, and his sins in the light of
God's countenance — and knoAvs that God's bright face is shining
upon him — and that the eye of God is looking upon all his guilt
and sin — he sees that his sins must be blotted out by the " Foun
tain opened for sin and uncleanness," Zech. xiii. 1, that his
nakedness must be covered Avith " white raiment" that will bear
the light of God's countenance — or else, that he must be lost for
ever. This is Avhat makes the righteousness of Christ precious to
the sinner. This is the reason, why Christ saith to the Church
in Laodicea, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest
be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ;
and, anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." Rev.
iii. 18. "
" That the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." How
ashamed Ave should be, if our hearts were laid bare in the sight
of man ! You see men very anxious to avoid the inspection of
their fellow-creatures — to conceal from their fellow-worms, what
they really are. How carefully we conceal the thoughts of our
hearts — the Avorkings of our minds — our evil desires, propensities,
and passions, from our fellow-creatures. But the moment the
sinner is brought to see, and to feel, that though he may conceal
these things from his fellow-creatures, they are naked and open
to the eyes of God ; — Oh ! then he sees the blessedness of having
a refuge to flee to — of having such a Saviour, who receives the
poor and wretched — those whose consciences are taught to know
that they are wholly lost, convicted and condemned — who receives
those Avhose only fitness is, that they are sick and need a Physi-

448 lectures on the ephesians.
cian— are lost, and have need of Him who " came to seek and to
save that which was lost," Luke xix. 10 — he sees the blessedness of
having such a Saviour as this to fly to.
The judgment of God shall make manifest at last, to all,
that truth which His Word makes manifest to His people now.
So, the Apostle saith, "Judge nothing before the time, until the
Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and
then shall every man have praise of God." 1st Cor. iv. 5. So our
blessed Lord saith, " Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall
be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in the ear
in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops," Luke xii. 3.
Therefore, when the sinner is brought really to know this — when
he is brought to look for the judgment that shall reveal and make
manifest his actions— his words, however secret — yea, the very
thoughts of his heart — he knows, that there is nothing that can
give him hope or rest, but to fly to that Saviour — in whom there
is salvation— full and free salvation, for all. "Wherefore, he
saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the
dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
The light that makes manifest our danger would be a melan
choly light indeed, unless it were to shine upon the refuge too.
It would have been a melancholy thing, for a poor manslayer
among the Jews, when the morning was beginningto rise, to be
hold the avenger of blood at his heels, Avith a weapon to slay him,
unless the same blessed sun that revealed his pursuer to his eye,
should have also showed him at the same time the way to the
city of refuge. Therefore, the light that makes known to a sin
ner his spiritual state, were a melancholy light, if it did not make
manifest to him the Refuge for his soul, and show him the way
to the City, Avhere he can find pardon for his iniquity, even in
Christ— in Him, who is "A refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in
times of trouble," Ps. ix. 9 ; then he is enabled to say, "God is
my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore
will I not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake
with the swelling thereof," Ps. xlvi. 2. Wherefore, O! thou
guilty sinner, that art insensible on the brink of ruin, "awake
THOU THAT SLEEPEST. AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST
SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT."
Christ Himself is the light, because he gives life, " In him was
life and the life was the light of men." John i. 4 ; it is the par
dons—the salvation — the life — that is in Christ, that gives light to
the sinner's sold. So saith the Prophet, " The people that walked
in darkness have seen a great light, they that dwell in the land
of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isa.
ix. 2: and so saith the Prophet Malachi, iv. 2, "Unto you that
fear: my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with heal
ing., in, his wings." Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness, and his

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 449
rising on the soul is said to bring healing and salvation ; "Where
fore," he saith, "awake thou that sleepest, and arise
FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT."
Now, if that which I am saying is not intelligible to you, as
applied to your own case, and to your OAvn circumstances, you are
of those who are yet in darkness. If you do not see your OAvn
sin and misery, and if you do not see Christ as your Refuge, you
are yet in darkness and in death, therefore, "Awake thou that
SLEEPEST AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE
thee light." It is in the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus, and
in the command the Gospel gives to come to Christ, when accom
panied b)r the Holy Ghost, that we have life ; it is in the com
mand, the power is conveyed. We know, that the sinner has no
power in himself to awake — -that a dead man has' no poAver in
himself to arise from the dead. Notwithstanding, Jesus said to
the man with the withered hand, " Stretch forth thine handj and
he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole as the other."
Mat. xii. 13. Jesus said to the man who had been lying four days
in his grave, " Lazarus come forth. And he that was dead
came forth." John xi. 43, 44. The man with the withered arm
had no power to stretch it out ; and Lazarus had no power to get
up from his grave, but, in the command of God, power Avas con
veyed to the withered hand, and life to the dead body. There is
no power in man to do good or to awaken himself, but in the com
mand from God to the sinner's heart, "Awake thou that sleep
est," in that command, when accompanied by God's power, there
is power to the weak, and life to the dead. The Lord's command
to the Prophet is, "Prophesy upon their bones and say unto them,
O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." Ezek. xxxvii. 4.
Wherefore, we say,- "Awake thou that sleepest and arise
FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT."
Awake to the sense of your own guilt and wretchedness, your own
lost condition, and your misery, and arise from the dead. You
are in the Avorld, that is, dead in trespasses and sins — surrounded
by those, your felloAV-creatures, Avho are dead in trespasses and
sins^— and if you are ignorant of Christ, you are dead, as the rest,
yourselves. Come out then, with Lazarus — come forth from the
grave, ", Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the
DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT."
The pardon that is proclaimed to the sinner, in the blood of Jesus,
conveys life to the soul. Again, remember the text, "In him was
life, and the life was the light of men." John i. 4. It is the life
that comes from Jesus, that gives light to the soul. Just as when
Lazarus came forth — when he received life from the Word of the
Lord — his eye met his Redeemer — and he beheld once more the
light of day — -and he saw all those who stood around his grave.
So when God grants to the sinner " repentance to the acknowl
edgment of the truth,"- — when the sinner is taught by the Spirit
to repent and believe the Gospel, the sinner receives life with light,
and light with life— and he beholds and flies to the Lord Jesus, as
29

'450 lectures on the ephesians.
a refuge for his soul, "Wherefore he saith, awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light."
Oh ! my dear friends, what a blessing from God it is, for a sin
ner to be given the light of life in Christ Jesus ! Alas ! if any of
you are Avalking in darkness, as "he that walketh in darkness,
knoweth not whither he goeth," — so the sinner that is walking
without light in Christ, knows not, as we remarked the last day,
whether the next step may not be over the precipice of eternal
death ! Oh, consider ! then — reflect on this !
Then, what is the practical use of awaking from the dead, and
receiving light from Christ ?
What is the practical use of the sun, and of eyes to behold its
light ? — Is not one use, — that man may see where he is going —
that he may direct his course by the light ? So, this is the very
use to which the Apostle applies it — this is the Spirit's practical
application, — "See then, that ye walk circumspectly,
NOT AS FOOLS BUT AS WISE, REDEEMING THE TIME BECAUSE
the days are evil." The use of the light of day is to guide
you in your course — the course wherein you ought to Avalk in all
your daily occupations. So the use of the light of " The Sun of
Righteousness" shining upon your soul, is to "guide your foot
steps into the way of peace." This is the very expression used in
that beautiful passage, the Song of Zacharias ; in which, address
ing his son, John the Baptist, by the Holy Spirit, he saith, "Thou,
child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt
go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways ; To give
knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their
sins, Through the tender mercy of our God ; whereby the day-
spring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into
the way of peace." Luke, i. 76 — 79.
And so, " To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by
the remission of their sins" — that is the means, you perceive, by
which " the day-spring from on high" visits the soul.
What a beautiful image of Christ ! " The day-spring from on
high." A glorious light arising on a dark world. And recollect,
that as the sun arises in the firmament of heaven upon this dark
earth, the whole light of that orb arises on the sinner's eye that
beholds him; so as the fulness of the glory of Jesus, rises in the
firmament of revelation on a guilty world, to the sinner who is
given eyes to see Him, the glorious " Day-spring from, on high"
rises on his sight and his soul too ; he sees the glory of the Lord
Jesus, just as if there Avas no other eye in the whole Avorld to be
hold Him ; just as the sinner who beholds the natural sun arising
from the ocean, sees the fulness of his glory as much as if no
other eye saw him. All the sun is his own, Avhen he beholds him
emerging from the Avaves — all Christ is his OAvn, when he beholds
Him rising on his dark soul. What a blessed truth ! that all the
fulness of Christ belongs to every individual sinner, as if there

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 45*1
was no other sinner in the world ; He is a full complete Saviour—
an all-sufficient Saviour for the soul.
The Psalmist uses a somewhat similar expression, " The en
trance of thy word giveth light," Ps. cxix. 130. And so he says
in that beautiful Psalm, in Avhich he is comparing the light of the
sun to the moral light of God's Avord, " In them," (the heavens)
" hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run
a race ; his going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his
circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof." Then he applies the image to the word of God, " The
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, the testimony of
the. Lord is sure, making wise the simple ; the statutes of the
Lord are right, rejoicing the heart ; the commandment of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." As the sun giveth light to
the world, so do the beams of God's truth give light to the sinner's
soul ; and as the sun is to guide the feet of man, by the natural
light that beams on his eye, so the " Sun of Righteousness" is to
guide the feet into the way of peace by His heavenly light, that
beams upon the soul.
So, if ye be " Children of light," " See then, that ye walk
CIRCUMSPECTLY, NOT AS FOOLS BUT AS AVISE, REDEEMING THE
time, because the days are evil." When you are walking in
the light of the sun, you will not step into any place where you
are likely to fall — you will not stand on ground that is likely to
sink from under you — you will not stumble down a precipice — you
Avill not run into any danger — you will avoid or fly from it. So,
if you are walking in the light of God's countenance — in the light
and life that is in Christ Jesus, what must be the effect of it? to
hinder you from Avalking into temptation — to turn you away from
the fatal precipices of passion, arid of every evil lust — to warn you
from the destructive paths of sin — from the snares of ambition,
covetousness, pride, vanity, and folly — and to guide your feet into
the way of peace ; to teach you to walk with God — to walk in the
fellowship of your Lord and Saviour, and in the true communion
of His Spiritual flock. " This then," saith the Apostle John, " is
the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say
that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie
and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin." 1st John
i. 5, 6, 7.
To walk in the light as " children of light," is to Avalk in life
and love — to walk in the ways of holiness, and happiness, and
true wisdom, for "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, aud all het
paths are peace," Prov. iii. 17.
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise." How do fools walk ? Iioav do those who are igno
rant of God walk ? In the ways of sin and ignorance with- the

452 lectures on the ephesians.
ungodly workl — on the " broad way that leadeth to destruction,"
Mat. vii. 13. The sinner that is brought to the Lord Jesus Christ,
is brought, that he may not walk as they do — that he may turn
from the Avorld — that he may walk in "the narrow way that lead
eth to eternal life!'
What an aAvful thought it is, that sinners should console
themselves, as they constantly do, with the safety — the secu
rity of their spiritual state, because they are walking as other peo
ple are !
"If we are lost, what is to become of the rest of the world?—
we are not worse than our neighbors, and better than a great
number," &c.
The very ground of their hope, our Lord marks as the pledge
of their condemnation, for " Wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction., and many there be which go in
thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt.
vii. 13, 14.
If you are walking with the multitude, you are walking to de
struction. If you are walking with those with whom you have
all your life been walking in your natural state, you are walking
to destruction. There must be a difference between the walk of
the ungodly, and the walk of the godly, because they are goiDg
in opposite directions. Those persons that are going together,
you knoAV must reach the same place ; — if we go Avith the world,
we must reach the place to which the Avorld is tending. " We
know that we are of God," saith the. Apostle John, "and the whole
world- lieth in wickedness." 1st John v. 19.
If Ave go to the place to which the Avorld is not tending, we
must walk of course in the opposite direction. The Avorld is in
darkness, and knoweth not whither it goeth, " Ye were sometimes
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord, walk as children of
light."
" See then, that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise;" Scriptural Avisdom and folly, and worldly wisdom
and folly, are very distinct from each other. A man may be, in
the estimation of the world, one of the Avisest of its sons — and, in
the estimation of God, he may be a fool. A man, in the estima
tion of the world may be a fool — but, in the sight of God, he may
be wiser than the kings of the earth. Wherefore He saith, " If
any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool, that he may be wise." 1st Cor. iii. 18.
But alas ! my dear friends, what a melancholy thought it is,
how continually persons seek for all other Avisdom, but " the wis
dom that is from above." James iii. 17. Hoav anxious do you
see parents to educate their children in all kinds of learning — in
languages — sciences — literature — accomplishments, &>c, and how
careless they are about the things that belong to their everlasting
peace, i And if their children make a proficiency in these things —
if they are improved and accomplished in the learning of the world

LECTURES ON' the ephesians. 453
^-they are quite pleased and satisfied ; — forgetting, that if they are
ignorant of Jesus, "It were better for them, that a millstone were
hanged about their neck, and they were cast into the depths of the
sea," Mat. xviii. o. And so it is, alas ! with those who are young
themselves. Some are indolent and idle, and only think of in
dulging in amusement or sensuality. Some are very anxious to
cultivate their minds — to improve themselves in all things, except
in those that belong to their everlasting peace. But Oh ! my dear
young friends, remember that mighty question — apply all the
powers of arithmetic to calculate that stupendous sum, " What
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his sold ?''
Mark viii. 36. Oh ! remember that it is AATitten of man, "His
breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his
thoughts perish." Psalm cxlvi. 4.
The head of the ablest — the head of the most learned man- — of
the mightiest statesman' — of1 the most powerful orator, who had
guided the counsels of a nation — that head, whose
" Tongue had set the table in a roar,"
or commanded " the applause of listening senates," when its breath
goeth forth, it is as mute — as empty — and as Avaste as the skull
of a drivelling idiot. What then is genius ? What is talent ? What
is all the wisdom that man can. gain ? What is all the learning
that man can acquire, if he is not " Wise unto salvation, through
faith in Christ Jesus ?" Oh ! think of this, and " See then
THAT YE WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY, NOT AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE."
If you walk as wise, in this sense, it must be as being "wise unto
salvation." You must have this wisdom— or you must walk as
a fool ! And where are you to find it 1 "From a child," saith
Paul to Timothy, " thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faithywhich is
in Christ Jesus." 2nd Tim. iii. 15.
And here, we may observe the awful system of ignorance that
is set up amongst us now,* on high authority, hy way of education
for immortal beings, in our country. You hear men of high rank
— men of great ability — men of great learning,. and great power,
who occupy a large space in the public eye— you hear these men
standing up, and talking of the advantages of instruction for the
nation. They will expatiate on the improvement of the people—
the progress of knowledge — the " march of intellect" — *f the spirit
of the age," as they call it. We hear them talking of these things
— setting up schools for national education ; we hear, too, of different
institutions for science, such as Mechanics' Institutes; — of numer
ous publications — cheap magazines— cheap newspapers, to convey
knoAvledge to the people! We hear long speeches, which some
persons will say are full of learning, and wisdom, and talent — we
see large sums of money voted in our senate, for the education of
> *' Irish National Board of Education, established 1832.

454

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

the pountry ! But the Word of the eternal God— which alone can
make an immortal being anything in the sight of God, beyond a
fool — alone can deliver him from folly, sin, misery, death, and hell
— that Blessed Word is dishonored, and forbidden to be made the
standard of education for this unhappy nation. Yet man educated
without the knowledge of God's Word — trained up Avithout relig
ion — must be trained up in the service of Satan. Men are always
trained up in the service of Satan, when they are not trained up
in the truth of God. It must be so ! Every course — however
specious and harmless it may seem — in which man can be trained
on earth, is the way of Satan ; when God's Word is excluded from
his education. For if he is not trained up in the knoAAdedge of
that Book, all the sciences, and all the arts, and all the literature
that could be conveyed into the human mind, cannot deliver man
from the power of Satan ! Nothing can deliver him from this, but
the truth that is in Christ Jesus, as revealed in that Book. There
fore, when the Scriptures are not made a part of the education of
men, they cannot but be educated in the worst ignorance. Men
Avould say, a child could not be educated without Grammar, Arith
metic, History, or Geography — but count it no deficiency, to be
educated without the Bible ! ! !
Take the wisest — the most learned man on earth — give him
all the genius, all the talents, with which man was ever gifted—'
Cultivate those Avith all the learning that ever was accumulated in
one individual — and just ask one question : —
Is he " wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ
Jesus?" 2nd Tim. iii. 13.
If he is not — all his genius — all his talents — all his gifts — all
his acquisitions, — the higher they exalt him, the deeper the
plunge with which they precipitate him into perdition ; because,
the more he knows, the more he ought to have learned, that the
God who gave him genius and talent — and the God who was the
God of nature and science — and the God of all that can be worth
knowing on earth, Avas the God whom he ought to have knoAvn
and served — the God whom he ought to have worshipped — the
God to whom he ought to be reconciled in Christ Jesus, as a guilty
sinner ! Therefore, there is not a principle that comes more di
rectly from the Prince of darkness, than this : — that men can be
improved by education, Avithout the Bible. And all men who have
any religion themselves, ought " to set their face, like a flint,"
against such an infidel principle, as they fear their God, or love
their fellow-creatures. Every man, every woman, in their depart
ment in life, minister and layman — master and mistress, father,
mother, and children, ought to set their faces against it. And it
proves awfully, the state of miserable apostacy from divine truth
— from the standard of our pure and holy religion, into which the
nation has fallen, — since such a principle can be entertained for a
moment, much less carried into operation, in the country ! — since
it is not scouted out of the land, from north to south, from east to
west ! — that the nation is to be instructed, Avithout the Word of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 455
the eternal God ! Men are fools ; and they must walk as fools,
whatever be their rank or station — no matter who or Avhat they
are — they must be walking in. ignorance and folly, if they are not
Avalking in the wisdom of God's sacred truth ! There is no wis
dom on earth, that deserves the name, but that which comes from
the God of truth. Oh, think of this — consider it for your own souls.
If you are not walking with God — if you, are not walking wisely
in the truth of God's Word — you cannot be walking happily in
the light of God's countenance. If you are not, you have no wis
dom — you are in darkness — you are a fool, if you were the Head
of a University, or Prime Minister of the Empire. Then I say
solemnly, consider this ; because it is a matter of personal, practi
cal religion, with every human being. We ought to consider,
daily, hourly, momentarily, hoAA^we are to walk. "See then
that ye walk circumspectly." If so, Ave must look where
we are going. Let us remember, wheresoever we are walking in
this world, that we are walking on the road to eternity.
If a friend met you in the street, or on the road, and asked you,
" Where are you going ?" — and that you replied, " Indeed, I do not
know." Would not that be the answer of a fool? But when
asked, as you hasten to eternity, " Where are you going ?" and
that you must answer, "I do not knoAV," — is that walking like a
wise person, or like a fool? Are you Avalking Avithout God — not
in a state of peace with God — but at enmity with God? Alas,
what a fool you must be ! What a fool that man is, who is walk
ing at enmity with God! Is he not the Avorst of fools? And
every man is walking at enmity with God, Avho is not reconciled
through Christ. Therefore, if you "walk circumspectly," you
must both know where you are going, and look Avell hoAV you are
walking to your destination. And to see this, you must have the
light of God's truth shining on your path — you must have " the
Sun of Righteousness" arisen on your eyes, even Christ Jesus,
the Lord ! — or otherwise, you are walking in darkness ; and walk
ing not wisely, but as a fool. " See then, that ye walk cir
cumspectly, NOT AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE, REDEEMING THE
TIME, BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL."
"Redeeming the time." Dear friends, how little Ave think
of the importance of time ! How criminally we waste our precious,
irrevocable hours ! We would think it a sin to throw away our
gold — to squander our silver— we should say, that a man Avho did
so, must be a fool. But let us remember, that all the gold in the
world cannot buy back one moment of mis-spent time. It cannot
recall — it cannot purchase back one moment you have given to
Satan, or one moment you have taken from God. Remember,
that all your time is due to Him, who gives it to you. You receive
your hours, as if they Avere taken by the hand of God, and given.
to you — as if He said, " Here is another day bestowed on you,
here is another hour granted to you," And will you take these
hours and days from God. and spend them in the service of the
Prince of darkness ? Is it too much to say, that the time which

456. lectures on the ephesians,
we receive from God, should be redeemed for God ? I do not know
anything, in which a Christian has more cause to be ashamed of
himself, and to feel more his sinfulness— his criminal forgetfulness
of God — .than in that one evil ! — how little he values, how little he
redeems his time. Alas ! if the precious time that we have given
to sin, to vanity, and folly, had been devoted to the service of God
— to the study of His Word — to the practical discharge of the du
ties that He has enjoined on us — to the happiness of our fellow-
sinners, — how different were the state of every one in this room,
at this moment ! What spiritual treasures had we gained ! What
spiritual advancement had we made ! What spiritual comforts
had we enjoyed ! Alas!, how we have squandered time! precious
time ! !
The Avretched dying Infidel is reported to have said to his phy
sician, "I will give you half my property, if you can give me
another day." But all the world could not buy a moment. King
doms can be bought and sold, but all the kingdoms of the earth
cannot buy one moment of time. Think of that — how precious
it is ! While time is yours, you have Avhat kingdoms cannot buy
—time squandered is throwing aAvay what kingdoms could not
purchase. " See then, that ye walk circumspectly, not
AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE, REDEEMING THE TIME, BECAUSE THE
DAYS ARE EVIL."
Recollect, then on the whole, first, what it. is that gives light —
the Word of God.
Recollect, that the command of God goes forth to those who are
asleep — to those who are " dead intrespasses and sins" — "awake
THOU THAT SLEEPEST AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST
SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT."
What a blessed mercy.it is, that while the command of God
might be' justly addressed to you and to me, " depart into ever
lasting darkness," God says to us this day, "awake thou that
SLEEPEST, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL
GIVE THEE LIGHT."
Then, again consider, what is the use of light? That you may
learn to "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
REDEEMING THE TIME, BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL."
Remember, that all wisdom Avithout the Bible is folly and mad
ness—all that, the Avorld calls wisdom, is comparatively ignorance
and folly.. ¦¦ How wisely some men walk to hell ! how learnedly —
how pompously they strut into perdition ! Thus saith the Prophet,
" Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her. mouth
without measure : and their glory, and their multitude, and their
pomp, and he that rejoiceth shall ascend into it." Is. v. 14 — and
what is the use. of their wisdom when they get there! Every
man that is ignorant of the Bible-r-of the way of peace and
reconciliation with his God, with all his wisdom, he is going
straight to everlasting death. Therefore consider-?-" See then,
THAT YE WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY, NOT AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE."
Look before you— look around you— watch and walk in the light

lectures on the ephesians. 457
of God's truth, "redeeming the time because the days are
evil." The Apostle might say so in his day, and surely Ave may
say so in ours. Every servant of God may say so in all ages of
the Avorld, " the days are evil." But surely if ever there were
days of evil — of sin — of wickedness, and of departure from God,
they must be the days, of a nation, bearing the name of Christian,
yet refusing to have the Word of Christ as the standard of Educa
tion for their children.
May God, in His infinite mercy, not deal with this guilty Em
pire after its iniquities !
May the Lord give to us the light of His countenance ! May
He cause His face to shine upon us, and bring His blessed Word
with power to our souls, that we may not walk in darkness, but
in the smile of His favor and His love, through time to eternity.
Amen !

THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.

Ephesians V— 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

" Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And
be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess ; but be filled with the Spirit : speaking to
yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord ; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear
of God."
A difficult and a- dangerous way, in an enemy's land, re
quires vigilant attention and careful circumspection, in the soldier
on his march, or the traveller on his journey. Therefore the
Apostle, as Ave have seen, exhorts his brethren to "walk circum
spectly, not as fools, but as wise,, redeeming the time, because the
days arc evil."
Evil days— evil circumstances — an evil world — an evil foe —
evils Avithin — evils without, are like the dangers— the difficulties —
the ambuscades of a journey or march through an enemy's
country. Therefore, the Christian must ever be on his guard —
ever on the watch — must ever walk circumspectly. The days of
his pilgrimage are few, and evih— .therefore he must redeem. the
time, because -those . days are evil. "Wherefore," adds the
Apostle, "be ye not unwise, but understanding what the
will of the Lord is." In a strange country, a man gets a map,
to direct his steps-^-in an unknown sea, a chart, to direct his voy
age. God's Word is the chart and compass, whereby the believer
is to steer his course^— the map, by\ which he is to direct his

458 lectures on the ephesians.
journey, " Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ?
by taking heed thereto, according to thy word." Ps. cxix. 9.
This keeps from sinning against God, " Thy word have I hid
in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." v. 11.
The study of this guides in the Avays of God, " I will meditate
in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways." v. 15.
This gives happiness and solid counsel to the soul, " Thy testi
monies also are my delight and my counsellors." v. 24.
This strengthens and comforts the heart in distress, "My soiu
meltelh for heaviness : strengthen thou me according unto thy
word." v. 28. "This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy wora
hath quickened me!' v. 50. "I remembered thy judgments of old,
O Lord ; and have comforted myself," v. 52. " Thy testimonies
have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing.
of my heart." v. 111.
This gives true wisdom, and gives us really to understand, and
be guided by the Avill of the Lord, " Through thy precepts I get
understanding : therefore I hate every false way." " Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
" The entrance of thy word giveth light : it giveth under
standing unto the simple. Thy word is true from the beginning:
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever,"
vetses 104, 105, 130, 160.
"Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord is." It is by the Lord's Word,
alone, that we can understand the Lord's Avill ; and by the under
standing of His will, alone, that we are to direct our steps. There
fore, Ave must ever consult and study the Word of God, if Ave Avould
not be unAvise, but understand His will.
We have this sentiment expressed in different parts of Scrip
ture ; as for example, where the Apostle is exhorting his brethren
in Thessalonica, in the same way, respecting their Avalk, he says,
" We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus,
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please
God, so ye would abound more and more." Observe, he saith,
"ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God,"
that is, we taught you true Avisdom — we taught you His will.
" For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord
Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification."
1st Thess. iv. 1, 2, 3. The sanctification of His people — that is
His will. If they understand " what the avill of the Lord
is," they will understand this. Here the term, " sanctification,"
is used in its secondary sense ; that is, with respect to its practical
application to the believer's life and conversation. It is here taken
for the sanctifying power and influences of the Spirit ; and this is
what persons mean, if they speak scripturally, by progressive
sanctification. Just exactly, as a man would seek to make progress
in his journey, when he Avas going to his home. So we should
make progress in our spiritual journey, on our Avay to that " rest
tlial remaineth for the people, of God." Heb. iv. 9. So Ave should-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 459
seek to make progress in the sanctifying power and influences of
the Spirit of God. But you must ever bear in mind, that this is
quite a distinct thing from that sanctification, of which we spoke
at the beginning of this Epistle, when we considered the character
of the saints of Christ ; for all believers, as you recollect, I ex
plained to you, are completely, in that sense, sanctified, and all
alike sanctified in Christ Jesus. All Avho believe in Christ, are
sanctified in Christ — set apart in Jesus — and evermore consecrated
to God — members of His body — branches of the Vine. Such as
the Head is, such are the members ; such as the Tree is, such are
the branches — all sanctified in Christ. Therefore, I again repeat,
that the Lord Jesus is said to " sanctify the people with his own
blood." Heb. xiii. 12. Therefore, it is said of the will of God, " by
the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ, once for all." Heb. x. 10. In that sense, all be
lievers are saints in Christ Jesus : that is, all are sanctified per
sons. Then to all such, their sanctification in life and conversa
tion is the will of God. The will of their Heavenly Father is,
that as they are saints, they should walk as saints, "Be ye there
fore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love,"
verse 1. Therefore the will of God is, that they should be sancti
fied in their Avalk. So again, the Apostle tells the same church,
" In everything give thanks : for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you," 1 Thess. v. 18, and this appears to be the
idea which the Apostle expresses in this passage before us.
"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the lord is, and be not drunk with
wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit."
They had been necessarily taught by the Spirit, they must have
been so taught, or they could not have been brought to Jesus ;
" For no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost," 1st Cor. xii. 3 ; and " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is
the Christ, is born of God," 1st John v. 1. But then the Apostle
is speaking here of the sanctifying power and influences of the
Holy Spirit, contra-distinguishing, as it were, the effects produced
by drinking the intoxicating poison of wine, from those produced
by drinking from the " wells of salvation," Is. xii. 3.
As we had before, " They that sleep, sleep in the night ; and
they that be drunken, are drunken in the night ; but let us who
are of the day be sober," 1st Thes. v. 7, 8. So here, ye who are
"children of light," "be not drunk with wine wherein is
EXCESS, BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT."
The office of that blessed Spirit is to testify of Him, who saith,
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink," John
vii. 37.
" He that cometh, to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst."
" Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" John vi. 35, 54, 55. Where-'

,460 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
fore it is He who saith, "Eat, O friends ; drink, yea, drink abun
dantly, O beloved." Cant. v. 1.
Wherefore then ye children of light, " Be not drunk with
WINE WHEREIN IS EXCESS, BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT,"
and so instead of the " Song of the Drunkards," Ps. Ixix. 12, ye
shall be "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns,
AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINKING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR
HEART TO THE LORD J GIVING THANKS ALWAYS, FOR ALL THINGS
UNTQ GODAND THE FATHER, IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JeSUS
Christ, .submitting yourselves one to another in the
fear of God." So again, " Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. . For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you," 1st Thes. v. 16, 17, 18. It is his will that His people shall
be sanctified, that they should rejoice evermore in Him, " Rejoice
in the Lord alway, and again, I say, rejoice." Phil. iv. 4 ; It is his
will, that they should "make melody in their heart to the
Lord," and "in everything give thanks," 1st Thes. v. 18. "Giv
ing THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS UNTO GoD AND THE
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."
We need not dwell in any detail on the exhortation that is clear
and explicit, and can require no commentary. " Be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess." We may observe briefly on
this, that it is very important that all Christian practice should be
regulated on Christian principles. We hear now much of Temper
ance Societies, and I dare say they may have done some good, in
reclaiming men outAvardly from drunkenness, and may still do some
goqd, in their way ; but it seems a gross delusion, among those who
call themselves Christians, that they are not founded on Christian
principles. They ought to be so; and they ought to be so con
ducted, that people never could- deceive themselves, by thinking
ihat temperance, sobriety, or good conduct, is in any Avay the means
of bringing a. sinner to eternal. life* If the sinner's soul is brought
to Christ — sobriety, temperance, and all the fruits of a Christian
life, are to be enforced as here by the Apostle, on Christian prin
ciple; but it is a very great mistake, if these things are ever sub
stituted for the principles that ought to produce them, or for
Christian holiness.
We see; there is no part of Christian conduct that is not marked
out in, God's eternal Word, "Be not drunk with wine where
in is excess." Persons indulge in intemperance frequently for
the very purpose of exhilarating their spirits, trying, as they call
it, to drown care. But Qh ! how different are all the means that
the unhappy sinner makes use of to banish oare from his heart,
from, those prescribed, in the Word of Life ! All the expedients
indeed to which the votaries of the world resort to amuse them
selves,, and to drown care in ch&ripation, are only another species
of intoxication, another mode of trying to exhilarate their miserable
spirits by the. stimulants distilled- from the alembic of this Avretched
world. But they awake as the inebriated man wakens from his
drunken reverie to shame-r-to sorrow^— rto poverty — and to remorse.

LECTURES, ON THE EPHESIANS. 461
"As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the
fool." Eccles. vii. 6. It is a bright blaze, but very soon extin
guished, and so, "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and
the end of that mirth is heaviness." Prov. xiv. 13. There are
many persons Avho would pride themselves on their sobriety, and
who are indeed, in one sense, in reference to wine, perfectly sober ;
but Avho live nevertheless in a state of as continual intoxication—
as perpetual, as constant excitement, by the use of false stimulants
to the intellect — to the imagination — to the feelings— and by a
prostration of their intellectual and moral powers, with reference
to all things that are really worth understanding — worth loving —
and worth living for, as the man who is sunk in a habitual state
of inebriety, and who drags on his existence, degraded to a level
with the beast. The intoxication of pleasure — folly— ^vanity-
dissipation — is in a spiritual sense, in no degree removed from
the intoxication of the wretched drunkard that rolls or staggers
through the streets. Consider, then, the means which the poor
sinner takes of exhilarating his spirits ; alas ! how different they are
from those prescribed in the Word of God. "Be filled avith
THE SPIRIT, SPEAKING TO YOURSELVES IN PSALMS AND HYMNS
AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR
heart to the Lord." The singing of psalms and hymns — the
praises of God — prayer and supplication to the Lord — these are
counted by the worldling among the most gloomy occupations of
man. "Psalms and hymns" are sad, depressing subjects to the
natural heart of the sinner. The feast — the song — the dance — -
in these he expects to find exhilaration of his spirits. But
"psalms and hymns" he considers sombre, mournful, melan
choly, to the last degree. He never voluntarily listens to such
themes, unless it should be on Sunday, when perhaps he goes to
Church, and endures to hear the praises of God, thinking that the
good work, if not the penance and mortification of giving so much
time to religion, must be doing something for the benefit of his
soul. He may perhaps submit to listen to them, yea, enjoy them,
if indeed the music is so SAveet and harmonious, that it diverts him
from the melancholy consideration of the words ; on such occasions,
at an oratorio, he may sit perhaps, .

-" Content to hear;

(O ! wonderful effect of music's power !)
Messiah's eulogy  for Handel's sake."

OtheiAvise, the natural heart of the unhappy sinner cannot endure
the praises of God, gloomy and melancholy is all their sound for
him. How different it is in God's word as contradistinguished from
the exhilaration of drunkenness. "Be not drunk with wine
wherein is excess," "but," if you want to be cheered— to be
comforted — to be exhilarated — to rejoice — "Be filled with
the spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, -singing. and. making melody in your
HEARTTO THE LqRD." .

462

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

Ah ! my dear friends, the poor creature that seeks for the ex
hilaration of his spirits in the world, feels that he must fly from
himself. The drunkard must sit doAvn with his companions, his
head must reel amidst the jests that fly around, and he must try
to forget his miseries and himself. The votary of pleasure that
runs into the giddy croAvd of company, folly, dissipation, does so,
because he feels he must make an effort to fly from himself. The
worst companion in the world, is a refuge from the misery of his.
own reflections. There are some men who at all times, and all
unconverted men at some times, must fly from themselves, and
from their thoughts, and forget them in the follies, the vanities,
the masquerade of the world's amusements, in the hollow mockeiy
of compliment of those that surround them, "deceiving and being
deceived." But the happiness the Word of God bestows on the
sinner, is a happiness enjoyed in his own soul — a peace that the
world cannot give — a joy that no man taketh from him. When
you have embraced that blessed hope, which gives you to enjoy
this pleasure, " Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY
in your heart to the Lord ;" you have not to fly from your
OAvn thoughts — nay — it is in your OAvn thoughts of your Lord,
derived from His Word that you are enabled to find peace. If
you knoAV the Gospel of Jesus, it is your privilege to say with the
Psalmist, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy com
forts delight my soul." Psalm xciv. 19. " Speaking to your
selves IN PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING
AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART TO THE LoRD." Man
flies from himself in his unconverted state, from thought, and from
reflection, because he must fly from God. His spirit, Avhen it re
flects, is fearful of the presence of the Omniscient, Omnipresent
Being, and that is a thought that he is unable to endure ; there
fore the reflections of his OAvn spirit and his OAvn heart are sad and
melancholy, for God Avill intrude into them. Though Ave Avere
walking through an earthly paradise in a fallen state, his con
science will hear the voice of God in the garden, in the cool of the
.day. It will say, " Where art thou ?" Man like his fallen fore
father must fly to hide himself. This is the true secret, Avhy he
cannot bear reflection — Avhy he flies from himself and his own
thoughts. It is, because, God will break in upon his heart.
Eternity will force itself an umvelcome intruder on his thoughts,
and therefore, he can only have peace in flying, from Avhat he
cannot otherwise escape, and what he is unable to endure.
But Oh ! how different when the sinner is enabled to come
to God as a reconciled God in Christ Jesus — Avhen he is able
to look up to Him as a God Avith whom he is at peace — a God
who loves — Avho pardons him — a Saviour Avho washes him from
all his offences— who has given Himself for him — his Blessed
Saviour — his Heavenly Father. Then he is enabled "to ha*e
rejoicing in himself, and not in another," he is enabled, in his
own heart and conscience, to turn to God, and find peace with hi?

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 463
God through Jesus Christ. Then he understands this exhortation,
"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spir
itual SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART
To the Lord." He can have God for his companion, instead of
sitting doAvn to be " drunk with wine," and to drown care and
thought over a bottle, Avith wretched companions in sin and folly
like himself: forgetting himself, or it may be, and often is, vainly
trying to do so. O ! Avhat it is to be able to sit with your God !
*o retire with your God — to " Commune with your own heart in
your chamber, and be still" — to " Offer the sacrifices of righteous
ness, and put your trust in the Lord." Ps. iv. 4, 5. You recol
lect, David had the very same idea, in the next verse of that
Psalm, " There be many who say, who will show us any good."
It is the inquiry of every poor sinner's heart, " Who will show us
any good?" How shall I enjoy myself? Where shall I have
profit, pleasure or amusement? How can I best indulge my own
desires and propensities ? — This is every man's natural inquiry.
But do you remember what David adds, " Lord, lift thou up the
light of thy countenance upon us." Psalm iv. 5. Be Thou my
.tappiness ! — Thou my enjoyment !— Thou my good ! — Thou my
glory ! — These are the ideas that Doddridge combines in his cele
brated Epigram : —
" Live while you live, the epicure will say,
And take the pleasures of the passing day.
Live while you live, the sacred preacher cries,
And give to God each moment as it flies. —
Lord, in my view let both united be,
I live in pleasure when I live to thee."
" Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." That
is the real goal of happiness ; — when you are able to say this
from the heart, then you can understand the exhortation before us,
"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spir
itual SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART
to the Lord," not flying from Him — not trembling at the thought
of Him, but praising Him, rejoicing in Him, as this Apostle saith
to the Philippians iv. 4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway and again
I say rejoice." For, saith he also to them, " We are the circum
cision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil. iii. 3. Oh !
dear friends, how different this is from the ignorant imagination
of unconverted sinners, that religion is a gloomy subject ! It is
the only happiness in the world. There is no happiness what
ever except in true religion. It is only false religion that makes
men gloomy, true religion cannot but make all happy who under
stand and believe it. If you are not happy in religion, then the
reason must be, that there is some ignorance or error in your
mind, concerning the truth. You may rest satisfied, that there is
some point of truth, which you do not understand or believe.
You do not know the hope of the Gospel — the good tidings of
great joy.

464 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
¦ Perhaps you may say, " Alas ! if this be so, I am afraid I am
not a believer at all, for I am so unhappy. I often doubt, whether
I can be a child of God, I feel so miserable."
Well — various may be the causes of spiritual uhhappiness and
dejection : for example, indulging in any known sin — allowing
ourselves in the violation or neglect of known duty ; these are
incompatible Avith peace; for they are testimonies to the con
science, that Ave are not truly and sincerely trusting in our Father's
love and mercy in Jesus. But, if you are indeed, sincerely look
ing for peace, and find it not ; then you may rest satisfied though
you may be a child of God ; it is because you are not looking
simply and believingly to the truth ; there is some point of igno
rance in your mind, you are looking into yourself for comfort,
into your OAvn heart — expecting to find it improved, and good ;
and disappointed, and unhappy, because you feel it is not so. If
you are looking there for peace, you will never find it — never — as
long as you live. The more you look to yourselves, the more
cause you will have for sorrow, and not for joy — for humiliation,
and not for comfort. You may rest satisfied, there is something
Avrong in your view, or belief of the truth, Avhen you are not re
joicing in the Lord Jesus Christ ; either you are not looking really
and simply to the object of faith, or your faith is very weak ;
therefore, you are not living up to your privileges and rejoicing in
the Lord Jesus Christ as you ought to do. Consider it well.
It is your privilege, your duty to rejoice in your Lord and Saviour,
to make melody in your heart to the Lord, "This is the will of
God in Christ Jesus, concerning you," 1st Thes. v. 18 ; " Re
joice in the Lord alway, again I say, rejoice," Phil. iv. 4 ; it is
His will you should do so, " singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord." But oh ! how different this is
frorri the joy of the world ! — the deceitful countenance of the
worldling — noAv often it wears a sunny look, Avhile the heart is
sad ! How often there is a delusive smile upon the cheek, while
there is a pang of agony and anguish writhing in the bosom ! In
the Words of the song— (even the writer of a song is sometimes
constrained to express a solemn truth) : —
" As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow.
While the tide runs in darkness and coldness below —
So the cheek may be tinged with a warm sunny smile,
While the cold heart to ruin runs darkly the while."
It is so continually. The world smiles. Go into company, all is
smile— all grace — all affability — all good humor and happiness.
But if you could look into the hearts of those Avho compose that
seemingly happy circle, Ah ! there you would see sadness — sorrow
— discontent — covetousness — ambition — consuming passions —
envy--jealousy, all the evils that are enumerated in Scripture, as
belonging to the natural heart of the unconverted sinner.
But'it is not in making melody with a smile on your cheek, in out
ward show — it is not sitting down to sing foi others, Avhile your

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 465
own dark miserable heart is full of sorrow, but " singing and
making melody in YOUR HEART, TO the Lord." Oh ! that is
the thing, "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance ;" It
is not the hypocritical semblance of a cheerful countenance, when
there is within a sad and heavy heart. There ought to be a
meny heart, if you are looking to the Lord as you ought to look
to Him. If you are going to the Lord Jesus, and rejoicing in
your God and Saviour, you ought to be "singing and making
MELODY IN YOUR HEART, TO THE LORD."
It is there we ought to make melody — there we ought to be at
peace AATith God — resting on our dear Redeemer, and loving Him
" Who loved us, and gave himself up for us."
Well — but a believer may say, " It is easy to talk thus, still,
there are so many things calculated to make us sad and gloomy
here — so many things both within and without continually press
ing on us that make us sorrowful — that afflict — that cast us down
— distress — oppress — overwhelm us, that we may say, "How can
we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?" flow can you de
sire us to be cheerful and happy at all times, and under all cir
cumstances? — Well, Does not the Lord know all this? Certainly
he does, yet you see, He has provided for it too. Mark what he
saith by the Apostle, not only "singing and making melody
in your heart, to the Lord," but moreover, "giving thanks
ALAVAYS, FOR ALL THINGS UNTO GoD AND THE FATHER, IN
THE NAME OF THE LORD JeSUS CHRIST."
What ! " GIVING THANKS ALWAYS ?"
Yes, always !
What! "for all things?"
Yes ! for all things !
Does not the Lord know what He means, when He says,
"giving thanks always for all things?" When He says
"all things," does He not mean "all things?"
How can that be ? Because it is your privilege to do so, if you
are looking to the Lord as you ought to do, because "All things
are yours," 1st Cor. iii. 21. "All things are working together
for good to them that love God, to them that are the called, ac
cording to his purpose" Rom. viii. 28.
When a wayward child is ill, and requires to have some medi
cine, perhaps very unpalatable, administered to it — when it re
ceives the cup from the physician, you will see it very unwilling
to take it, putting it away from its lips, crying, angry, rebellious at
the idea of having to take such an unpleasant draught.
But you will see a person grown up, if he is a person of com
mon understanding, knowing that he is ill, and requiring the aid
of medical skill — when the physician comes — if he is one in
whom he has perfect confidence — one who has come to him often,
and Avho has as often administered medicine that was blessed to
relieve him of his pain — when this Physician puts a cup into his
hand, instead of putting it away from him, and acting like the
child, he takes the cup, however unpalatable the medicine — he
30

466 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
thanks the physician for it — and not only willingly, but gratefully
takes it, and blesses God for it— and esteems it as a good — and as
a mercy from His hand. So you may see many a silly child of
God, (many of His children are babes and silly inexperienced
creatures), not considering — not thinking of the skill of the Physi
cian — the tenderness of the Father — the inveteracy of the disease
— the necessity, and the efficacy of the medicine — when their Lord
gives them a cup to drink, put it away from them — repine — mur
mur against the dispensation — and rebel when they are forced to
drink it. But the believer, Avho is trained to maturity in the
school of Christ — who is taught of God — who knows, as he ought
to know, the skill — the power of the Physician — the love of his
tender Father — the sure and certain blessing that is, and must be
contained in the cup that is given to him by such Wisdom, and
such Love — he receives it — he takes it — he finds balm and health
in the prescription — and so, see what the Apostle says, " And not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also." Why ? Is it because
they are pleasant? No such thing, they are not, but mark the
reason, "Knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and pa
tience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,
by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us," Rom. v. 5.
The Holy Ghost teaches the sinner the love of God, that love
— that rich, sovereign, and everlasting love, the Holy Spirit testi
fies of that to the believer's heart ; and knowing that love, the
knowledge of that love enables him to rejoice in tribulation ; and
although it is true, that " no chastening for the present seemeth
to be joyous, but grievous," Heb. xii. 11 ; yet there is no time,
when the believer who is experienced in the School of Christ, sees
more cause to bless his Father's hand, and to give thanks, than
when that Father's hand is graciously pleased to chasten him in
any way, by any trial, or any dispensation. Therefore, it is his
privilege to " give thanks always, for all things, unto God
and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Hannah More tells a story, in one of her Tracts, of a poor col
lier, who was a faithful servant of God, and Avho had a habit of
saying, " Thank God," an all occasions. He used it as a kind of
common expression, and was frequently laughed at by his profane
companions, for this expression of thankfulness. One day, the
men were sitting on the edge of a coal-pit. eating their dinner,
which had been brought to them, and this poor man had laid his
dinner beside him, and a dog ran away Avith it ; his companions
all laughed at him, and cried out, " Will you thank God for that?"
He got up to pursue after the dog ; before he returned, the time
came when they were to go down into the coal-pit ; when they
did so, the chain gave way, and they were every one precipitated
into eternity. By this circumstance, this poor man had his life
saved. The writer relates the story to illustrate the Providence
of God, watching over the poor soul who was enabled, in every
thing to thank Him.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 467
I think, I may appeal to the conscience and the recollection of
any Avhom I address, and Avho know the Lord as their Refuge — I
may appeal to them, for the truth of this, that in looking back on
their lives they will admit, that the circumstances which they
have thought most painful, disastrous, or bitter at the time — they
have been afterwards taught to see as blessings, that they could
not have anticipated, blessings that they had cause to be thankful
for, and to praise the Lord for to this day. I am sure, if I were
asked, "For what I think I have most reason to be thankful in all
my life" ? I should say, bitter trials, severe afflictions, visitations
that have weighed heavily on my heart and soul. Therefore, we
ought to know, that il is our privilege, "In every thing to give
thanks," or, as here, to " give thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father, in the name. of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
How often is sickness a blessing to the children of God !
How often are they taught sober reflection, patient submission^
and deep experience of their Father's love ! How often faith, and
confidence, and hope, that they could never have otherwise expe
rienced or enjoyed, had they not been laid on beds of sickness !
How often have privation and poverty been made the means of
turning the sinner's heart to seek for, and to find " the unsearch
able riches of Christ !"
How often have bereavements been blessed to the sinner's soul,
by the taking aAvay of earthly props and idols, and teaching him
to return and lean on the bosom of his God !
How often have many of the visitations, which the Lord has
been pleased to send on us for our sins and follies — how often
have they been made the means in His hand, of bringing us again
to our right mind — healing our backslidings — lifting us up from
our falls— and leading us again to sit, in faith, repentance, and
humility — in grateful thankfulness and love, at our Master's feet!
Therefore it is our privilege to " give thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ."
You see, it is " in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,"
we are called on to give thanks. All our blessings come to us
through Jesus. All our covenant mercies are given to us through
Christ. He is the channel of every good to the sinner. He is
himself the Great Dispenser of every blessing. "All power is
given to Him in heaven and in earth," and " He is head over all
things to His church ;" as we had, chap. i. 22, " He is the head
over all things" that are good, to give them. their portion of bless
ings and mercies — " He is the head over all things" that seem to
be evil, to cause them to work for good to His people, because it is
in His covenant, " All things are working together for good to
them." Rom. viii. 28. It was this that supported Him Himself
through all His trials. Do you not remember His Avords, when
the cup of trembling was put into His blessed hands, do you not
remember His expression upon that occasion ? " The cup which

468

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?" Oh ! Avhat a
privilege, if the believer is able to say, "The cup which my Father
hath given me, shall I not drink it" — how bitter soever it may be
to the taste, when we remember it comes from the hand of a
Father, it is sweet to the spiritual soul — lo the enlightened con
science — to the subdued will. It is sweet to the sanctified affec
tions of the heart, " The cup which my Father hath given me,
shall I not drink it ;" that sweet spirit of submission and thank
fulness — not only the spirit of submission to God, but to one an
other—So the Apostle adds — -
"Submitting yourselves, one to another, in the fear
of God." This is the reverse of the natural mind. The natural
mind is— not submitting itself to another in the fear of God — but
setting itself up above another, without either fear of God, or re
gard of man. The natural mind is, what we call — " holding our
own," and we pride ourselves on that sort of disposition, that will
hold its own. That is the principle on which the natural heart
plumes itself. In other Avords, the natural pride, corruption, and
wickedness of the heart, is completely opposed to the Spirit and
will of God. This is his command, "submitting yourselves,
ONE TO ANOTHER, IN THE FEAR OF GoD."
" My dear friends, if we do not think ourselves inferior to any
other fellow-sinner, we know there can be but one reason, and
that is, because Ave do not know ourselves ; for eveiy individual,
that knows himself, feels himself really more vile than any other.
Paul saith, speaking of sinners, "Of whom I am chief," 1st Tim.
i. 15, the chief of sinners ! Every believer who knoAvs himself,
knows himself to be the same thing ; and the reason is clear. — It
is this — because he sees in himself, what he cannot see in anybody
else — that is, the working of a corrupt heart. He sees, in himself,
more sin than he can see in all the world beside — he can only see
the actions of others, or hear their words, but he can see the
corruptions of his OAvn vile heart, and therefore, he feels, from
this knowledge of himself, and sees himself to be the chief of
sinners. This beats down the natural pride of the heart — Avhere it is ex
perimentally taught to us, by the Spirit of God. It gives us an
humble spirit ; and therefore, as Christians groAV in grace, they
grow in humility — that is the exhortation here, " submitting
YOURSELVES, ONE TO ANOTHER, IN THE FEAR OF GoD."
Luther illustrates this, by a story of tAvo goats, that he saw
meeting together upon a narrow stick, placed like a bridge across
a deep ravine, or chasm. The tAvo goats were going in different
directions along this stick, they met one another ; they could not
turn about, and they could not go doAvn, for to fall was death, and
he saw one of them lie down, to let the other go over him, and so
they passed safely their respective Avays along the stick. This
story may illustrate this very text, "submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of God." If Ave have the spirit
of one of these goats, we will lie down to let our fellow eo bv. If

lectures on the ephesians. 469
two men had been there, one probably would have endeavored to
knock the other doAvn. The goat lay down. "Submit your
selves one to another in the fear of God." Oh ! the
spirit of submission, of lowliness, is a rich blessing, " In lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than himself" Phil. ii. 3.
And see what peace that gives, instead of the spirit of contention
and jarring with each other, yielding submission, lowliness of mind,
see how immediately it produces peace.
This is not meant, of course, to affect or interfere with the just
exercise of authority and rule in those, in all relations of life, whose
duty it is to command others, and to whom they are bound to sub
mit. On the contrary, to all in subjection, this rule enjoins con
scientious and religious submission, in the fear of God. And the
Apostle proceeds from this general admonition, to the details of
subjection, in the varied relations of life. But, I think, it is intended
to enforce also, that lowliness and humility which may exhibit a
Christian spirit in the highest station, which makes authority
gentle, and obedience affectionate, and gives the spirit of the law
of love, that is of the Law of God to both.
I remember hearing of a dear friend of mine, a minister in Lon
don. Mr. Howells ; that he Went once to visit two of his flock,
husband and wife, they were contending in a bitter spirit, and they
both complained to him. " Well," said he, " I advise you, let the
innocent forgive the guilty, whoever is conscious, to themselves
that they are innocent, let them pardon the other." It silenced
both, of course.
Cultivate that spirit of forbearance ; if Ave be in the right, instead
of holding ourselves up, let us give way. If you think you are in
the right, then, be humble — you will be still more in the right, if
you give way, if you yield, if you submit. A spirit of tenderness
— yielding— submission to each other — love to each other — Oh !
with Avhat a charm it allays all the contentions that disorder soci
ety, not to say domestic life.
Think of this — "submitting yourselves, one to another
in the fear of God." But then, that never can be, as long as
your eye is fixed on each other's faults. " This person wronged
me, and that person wronged me, and I must do so to them." The
only power that can subdue this is "the fear of God." When
the Lord Jesus comes into the stormy heart — -when He lifts up His
head in the storm — when He says, "Peace, be still," then, there is
a great calm. Oh ! how often the sinner has to say, when he sees
and feels, what storms that raged within and without are allayed
— how often he has to say, " What manner of man is this, that
even the winds and the sea obey Him ?" Oh ! then, consider these
things, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things !
May the Lord apply His Word to our hearts, and bring it home
practically to each of us, according to our manifold necessities, for
His Name's sake. Amen.

FORTIETH LECTURE.

Ephesians V— 22, 23, 24.

" 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 chureh ; and He is
the Saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church vt subject unto Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in everything."
The Gospel of Christ places all those who believe it, quite
in a new position, both with respect to God and their fellow-
creatures. It places the believer in a new position with respect to God.
From being an enemy — a condemned criminal, he becomes a
child, a dear child ; as the Apostle saith here, "Be ye followers of
God, as dear children," — delivered from all condemnation — his
soul acquitted from all iniquity — washed in the precious blood of
the Lamb, and presented, as we see in this portion of Scripture, a
member of His Church, "A glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing." A church being composed of indir
viduals, a spotted individual would make a spotted church, and
therefore, when the Church is without '¦ spot or wrinkle, or
any such thing," every individual in the church must be so:
therefore, every believer is placed in this condition, with respect to
his God, he is presented to Him spotless and perfect, in Christ
Jesus. " Whom we preach," as the Apostle saith in another place,
" warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ;
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
Col. ii. 28. Therefore, the Gospel places the believer in a new and
glorious position, Avith respect to his God ; he is a spotless child
of God — an heir of glory through his precious Lord and Redeemer,
" Who hath loved him and washed him from his sins in his own
blood." Rev. i. 4.
So it places the believer also in a new position, with respect to
all his fellow-creatures. Whenever the Gospel enters truly into
the sinner's heart, it enters in its power into all the ramifications
of his existence — into every relation of his life. The Gospel, like
the mainspring of a watch, is to be the moving power that regu
lates arid governs the Christian's heart, in every relation, whether
as parent, child, husband, Avife, brother, sister, relative in any de
gree — master, servant, friend, neighbor, sovereign or subject — gov
ernor or governed — high or low — rich or poor — in every imaginable
position in which an individual can be placed — in every possible

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 471
relation, in Avhich he can stand to his fellow-creature, the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to carry its influence — its power —
and its motive into his heart, for the discharge of his duty, in that
position, whatever that duty be. Therefore, the objections that the
ungodly are continually raising against the Gospel, that the doc
trine of salvation by faith in Christ, opens a door to licentiousness
of conduct, arises, we reiterate again and again, from the ignorance
of the individual Avho makes the objection. A person who speaks
thus, can knoAV no more of the Gospel of Christ than the beast
that perisheth. " The kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power," 1 Cor. iv. 20. Whenever the Gospel of Christ comes, it
must come with power. That poAver, is indeed, greater or less in
different individuals, and in the same individual at different times ;
yet it always comes with power — with constraining power — and that
power is " The love of Christ," so saith the Apostle, " The love
of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge." (Now, observe,
how the Apostle brings motive into operation,) " The love of Christ
constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all,
then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live,"
(that is — they who derive life from Him — who believe the Gospel
— to whom the Gospel comes with power) " should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose
again," 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Therefore, it is very important, that you
should always recollect, that which I must continually impress on
you, that throughout trie Apostolical epistles, you should ever vieAV
the individuals that are addressed in them, as believers. If you
do not look at them so, you cannot understand the Scriptures at
all. That is one of the many modes by which men deceive them
selves. They will read religious books, the religion of which, is
not the religion of Christ — books that teem with Scripture, and
bring forward a great variety of passages out of the Apostolical
Epistles. And they say, "This is the Word of God, here the
Apostle desires us to do so and so." The Apostle desires you to do
no such thing ; the Apostle desires you to do so, only on the ground
of your being a believer in the Gospel. Look at this chapter, how
it commences, " Be ye followers of God, as dear children." All
the Epistles of Paul are addressed to saints. This is addressed
" To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in
Christ Jesus." How can persons be saints, if they do not believe
the Gospel ? How can they be " faithful in Christ Jesus," if they
are not in Christ at all —if so far from being in Christ, they do not
depend on the Lord Jesus as the Refuge for their soul?
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children," because
you are God's children, and because you are delivered from all your
sins ; follow your Heavenly Father — that is the language of the
Gospel of Jesus. But what is the principle of falsely religious
books, and falsely religious men? It is this — "Be ye followers of
God, that you may be made the children of Christ Jesus."
The two things are as different as light and darkness.
The one is — "Because ye are the children of Christ, redeemed,

472 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
delivered from all your sins — because ye are washed — because ye
are presented without spot to God — Be ye followers of Him as
such." The other is — "Be ye followers of God, in order, that by your
conduct, and by following God, ye may become such." Surely,
two principles cannot be more directly opposed to each other, than
these. In the one, the moral conduct is made to be the cause of
being in Christ — of Leing saved. In the other case, the moral
conduct is made to be the effect of being saved. The principles,
therefore, are as different as cause and effect. Consider it well —
for, if you do not thoroughly know this, you cannot understand
the very fundamental principles of the Gospel of Jesus. "Be ye
followers of God, as dear children." Because you are children —
because the Lord has loved you, and pardoned you — because He
has washed you in the "Fountain opened for sin and for unclean
ness," therefore, be ye followers of the Lord. Think Avhat a
Father you have ! What a Redeemer you have ! What love
your Father has manifested to you ! and therefore, love Him : let
your service to Him be a service of love — let your service be a
service of joy — of peace — a service of glorious trust, and confi
dence, and hope, because your Lord has done all these things for
you. Receive with grateful hearts, what He has done for you, and
trust Him still for more. " What shall I render unto the Lord
for all his benefits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation,
and call upon the name of the Lord." Ps. cxvi. 12, 13. Thus
speaketh the man who holds the true principle.
But what is the language of him who holds the other ? Let
your service be a service of hesitating hope, and trembling fear,
and anxious doubt — that is in truth, the service of a slave, Avho is
trying to earn a reAvard, which he never can earn — which he
tremblingly fears that he shall lose, and scarcely dares to hope he
can gain.
Salvation on such terms, is not doubtful, it is impossible. It
shuts out Christ from its plan. " If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. "Christ is be
come of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the
law, ye are fallen from grace," Gal. v. 4.
This is not an abstract opinion, it is a principle that must come
into every motive of the heart, every hope of the soul ; it must be
as intimately blended with every expectation of eternal life, and
every single motive of the conduct, as the air that you respire is
blended with your lungs, when it enters into and inflates them ;
it must be the moving principle that actuates the Avhole man, or
else it is nothing at all.
We must always consider thus, all the practical duties of the
Gospel. All the practical duties of the Christian's conduct, must
be brought to the test of the true Scriptural motive, or they can
not be the genuine fruits of holiness, for, saith the Lord, " As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no
more can ye, except ye abide in me," John xv. 4.

lectures on the ephesians; 473
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as
unto the Lord." You might just as Avell use that exhortation,
in the Scriptural sense in which it is here applied, to an ungodly
Avoman, as you might to a dead woman ! You might as well go
into a church-yard, and speak to a dead woman in her grave, as
speak to an ungodly woman according to the motive of the Gos
pel of Christ. She cannot understand you. The Avife may see
that it is her duty to submit herself to her husband, and there are
many wives that do so from a sense of duty, a mere moral sense
of duty. Strict education — self-denying habits — proper discipline,
without any true religion, may do much in the training of the
female mind, as well as in the training of a man's mind ; and I
have known many individuals, in this sense, excellent Avives, kind,
amiable, benevolent, and indeed, fulfilling to all outward appear
ance, the letter of the Scripture precept on this subject — I have
known them to do so, from what we may and do consider a natur
ally amiable disposition, and from being well-trained, and well
brought up. If a mother brings up her daughter as she ought to
do, she will, generally speaking, be more or less capable of dis
charging the duties of a faithful wife, but I have known them to
do so Avithout a particle of religion. One of the most naturally
amiable Avomen I ever knew, was one of the greatest opponents
of the Gospel of Christ. In such characters the motive of love to
the Lord, has no more to do in the regulation of their conduct,
than it has in the guidance of the horse that is driven in their
carriage. They have no principle of the Gospel, to inspire them
with a motive. How is it possible they can, when they do not
believe the Gospel? And you might address any unconverted
woman — no matter if the wickedest woman in the Avorld — you
might as well address her on Gospel motives— as the most amia
ble Avoman in the world, if she does not believe the Gospel. She
could not understand you. She might know and feel, that it Avas
her duty to submit herself to her husband, and she might do so.
But as to the sense in which it is here impressed on the Christian
wife, and the argument drawn from Christ and His Church to en
force it — of that she has not the slightest notion. There is a^
certain sense, no doubt, of her duty to God, mingling with her
duty to her husband, but it is as far from the principle laid doAvn
in Scripture, to a Christian female, as darkness is from light.
" 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." Now, where a female is well
educated, even in an ordinarily moral sense, and her mind Avell
disciplined, and when she is naturally of an amiable temper, this
may be, humanly speaking, an easy task. But if, as is generally
the case with all of us, and certainly so with the vast majority,
who are not under the direct influence of sound Gospel principles,
if they be not well disciplined, and their tempers and wills not
brought into proper subjection ; if that be the case, then if thia

474 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
motive does not enter into the mind of the female, and regulate
her deportment to her husband, she cannot, and will not pursue
the line of conduct laid down, even outwardly — putting the prin
ciple out of the question — she will have no spirit of submission — •
she will have a will of her OAvn ; and if that will cross the will
of her husband, it must be a source of trial, and grief, of pain and
misery to both of them.
Therefore, recollect, this is addressed to a godly woman — to a
converted Avoman — to a woman, who brings her duty to her hus
band, always into direct connection with her duty to the Lord her
God. Her own will may be crossed — her own temper may be
tried — she may be, as no doubt will be the case Avith all conditions
of humanity, where we have to do with one another, vile, selfish
sinners as we are — she may be tried in several Avays ; but she has
her Lord to come to — she has her Redeemer to fly to — she has her
Saviour as her " strong hold whereunto she may continually re
sort," she has her Lord always to direct — to guide — and to enable
her, according to His blessed Word, thus to regulate her conduct.
Now a female must be placed in one of these two positions, as
a Christian wife — either married to an ungodly or to a pious hus
band. If she be married to a pious man, and that they both have
the Lord's Word, as the guide and rule of their conduct, then, that
is indeed, a happy and blessed union; for it is God that maketh
persons to be of one mind in an house ; there is no union of spirit,
of heart, so firm, so strong, so blessed, so indissoluble, as Avhere
hearts are one in Christ Jesus. Then both will keep their places
to each other, in duty, and in love. The husband will keep his
place, Avith the Lord's Word to regulate and govern him — the Avife
will also keep her place, they Avill walk together hand in hand to
eternal life. This, is indeed, a blessed state for husbands and
wives ; and if there be any of you here, who are married, Oh !
consider, what happiness — what peace — Avhat comfort can you
have in this poor world, if you love one another, aud if the pros
pect at the end of it is, that you must be severed forever. Oh !
think, the true happiness of the wife consists in this, Avith respect
to her husband, that he is Avashed in the blood of the Lamb, and
going on the path to eternal life. And the happiness of the hus
band must consist in the same, in reference to his wife ; thus they
ought to dwell with each other " According to knowledge, as
being heirs together of the grace of life," 1st Pet. iii. 7.
But then, there is a very different position in Avhich a female
may be placed, she may be married to an ungodly husband. I
have known many a pious woman married to an ungodly man.
If a religious Avoman marries, from any motive, a man that is ig
norant of the Gospel of Christ- she runs into a fatal snare!
" What communion hath light with darkness ?" 2 Cor, vi. 14.
There is nothing more awful, than for a young person, man or
woman, who knows the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to marry
a person that is ignorant of that Gospel. It is, indeed, a fearful
pitfall ! that a man or woman, servants of God, should unite them-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 475
selves with one who must be, as not being a servant of God, a ser
vant of Satan ! — what prospect of happiness can there be? It is
often the case that one or the other is brought to the knowledge
of the Gospel of Jesus, after they are married ; one is taken, and
another left. The Lord sometimes calls the wife, and leaves the
husband, sometimes calls the husband and leaves the wife, " It is
not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy." Rom. ix. 16. But suppose, from any circum
stances, a pious wife is married to an ungodly husband, her duty
is clear, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own hus
bands as unto the Lord." I have known some wives, making
a profession of religion and married to ungodly men, and I have
known them to make religion odious to their husbands, by the
manner in which they conducted themselves towards them ; think
ing, that because they were religious, and their husbands not so,
therefore, they should regulate, and govern and order everything
in their own Avay. I have seen persons making a profession of
religion, and acting thus, render it hateful, by such conduct. Let
a Avoman remember that her husband's character, as being a be
liever or unbeliever, does not change her relation, nor consequently
her duty to him. She should, if possible, be only the more scru
pulous and careful in the discharge of that duty. It is a grievous
evil, when the effect of religion is to lead persons Avho profess it,
to exhibit neglect of duty, or unamiability of temper. I have
known, on the contrary, a pious woman married to an irreligious
man, so to adorn the doctrine of Christ, that she made religion
sweet, even to those who knew it not — made them respect and honor
the influence of true religion in her, though they did not honor it
for its own sake. Such is the command of the Apostle, 1st Pet. iii.
1, 2, " Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands ;
that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word, be
won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste
conversation coupled with fear." You see what a blessing is
promised to a godly wife, even though she may be married to an
irreligious husband, when even without the word, the husband
may be won by her chaste and gentle deportment.
But nothing can carry her through this but the Lord. So you
see she is referred here to her God, " Be subject unto your
own husbands, as unto the Lord." It does not mean that
the wife is to put her husband upon an equality with God. for
there is one plain rule to be observed here, as in all other cases of
subjection, and it is this — whether wife or husband, child otf
parent, servant or master, subject or sovereign, there is one law to
regulate obedience in all things, and that is this— That whenever
the authority of man clashes with the authority of God, man's
authority is to be postponed to that of God. If a husband should
endeavor to make his wife do anything contrary to the plain com^
mands of God, she is to be subject to God in this, and not to her
husband ; she must obey God rather than man. Therefore, if her
husband were to turn her out of doore, she is to be turned out of

476

lectures on the ephesians.

doors rather than disobey God. So, if the child is commanded to
do anything contrary to the will of God, the child is to refuse such
a command. So, if the servant is commanded to do anything con
trary to the will of God, his Master in heaven is to be prized be
fore his master on earth. So, if the subject is desired to do any
thing contrary to the will of God, by the laws of his country, he is to
set his face, like a flint against those Iuavs, he must not obey the
laws of his country in such a case — he is not to obey any power,
if contrary to the will of God. Therefore, the Christian is to hold
up God, and God's authority ; and no law or authority of man, is
to make him violate, in any relation of life, his duty to his God;
that is the only standard, and that the only exception in all cases
of subjection. In all other cases, obedience is a duty. But,
when that clashes with God's authority — there, obedience to any
human poAver, is to be conscientiously refused, and God alone is to
be obeyed and honored. Therefore, this is the standard by which
the conscience is to be regulated — "Wives, submit yourselves
UNTO YOUR OWN HUSBANDS AS UNTO THE LORD." All authority
that is delegated by God, is to be honored for God, and honored as
God's appointment. God is the head of all authority, all power
that is exercised on earth, in every station and sphere, ought to be
exercised as it is derived — from God ; and this is a great principle
to be kept continually in view, in studying the practical parts of
God's Word. This is a principle, against which, infidelity and
anarchy are fiercely setting their faces, all through the world, at
this moment. It is denied that God is the Source of power — that
God is the Giver of authority. But in whatever Avay you consider
it, whether in respect to the government of a country or a family
— in respect to the government of a sovereign or a constitution —
whether it be the rule of a father — husband — master — magistrate,
or any government — Autocrat — Oligarchy, or Democracy — it does
not signify in what point of view you look at government, you are
not a Christian — or you do not know the Word of Christ — or you
do not obey the Word of Christ, if you do not look at that author
ity as delegated by God, from whatever secondary source it may
be immediately derived. And therefore, the principle that is now
so much set up, namely — " That the people is the source of
power," is a principle of the Prince of darkness, a principle which
the devil sets up against the government and authority of Jehovah.
For as God is the lawful Ruler of the world, there is no source of
authority but God. All who exercise it, shall give account of
their rule — and all over Avhom it is exercised, of their subjection.
The representative of any body of electors, is as directly intrusted
with his power by God, and shall give an account of his discharge
of that solemn trust to God, just as much as an hereditary peer, or
the heir of an hereditary throne. " There is no power but of
God ; the powers that be, are ordained of God ;" Rom. xiii. 1 2 •
and therefore, you see, religion is despised — God's Word and His
authority are laid aside, or trodden under foot, in proportion, as
men, not only adopt, but succumb to such a principle, or verge to

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 477
it in any way. There is no verging to it Avithout departing from
God, there is no listening to it — no compromising with it at all.
Jehovah — God over all, is the standard of all authority. His
Word ordains its exercise, and His Word commands subjection to
it. It is thus, He ordains that it should be carried into the heart
of every servant of His— of every wife to her husband, as here.
She should remember, that the authority of her husband is the
authority of God, and she should carry her obedience to him
always, as a matter of conscience unto the Lord— she should dis
charge it as a duty to her God. The Apostle gives this as the
reason of his command. " 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 J THEREFORE, AS THE
CHURCH IS SUBJECT TO CHRIST, SO LET THE WIVES BE TO
THEIR OAVN HUSBANDS IN EVERYTHING."
The Apostle, throughout this portion of his Epistle, which Ave
shall have another day to consider, draws a parallel between the
relation of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Church, and that of the
husband to his wife — and when he brings that principle home to
the heart of the believing Avife, see how beautifully it is brought to
bear on her conduct, by the reason assigned. " For the hus
band IS THE HEAD OF THE WIFE, EVEN AS ClIRIST IS THE
HEAD OF THE CHURCH, AND HE IS THE SAVIOUR OF THE BODY."
Now, since this relation betAveen the husband and Avife, is con
tinually set forth as emblematical of the relation betAveen Christ
and His Church. Let us consider Avhat it is —
When a man marries a woman, whatever the station of that
woman may have been, however Ioav, however mean compared
with that of her husband ; if, for example a king chooses to marry
a beggar, as soon as the ceremony is performed, and he is united
to her, instantly her own rank is totally merged, arid she is raised
to the rank of her husband. If 1 say, the king marries a beggar,
she is as completely a queen, when his Avife, as if she Avere the
daughter of the greatest monarch in the world. See then, Avhat an
image this presents with respect to Christ and His Church. What
is the difference between Christ and the sinner ? Surely, the
greatest monarch that ever sat on a throne, is not so far raised
above the poorest beggar, that ever lived — or the best human
being that ever breathed, above the vilest av retch that ever Avore a
human form, as the Lord of glory is raised above sinners — vile,
guilty sinners, such as we are. Yet the moment the Lord Jesus
Christ, washes a sinner in His precious blood, and clothes him
with His righteousness, making him thus one with Himself; that
moment, the sinner is delivered from all his guilt — that moment,
the sinner is made righteous, as Christ is righteous — pure as
Christ is pure — exalted as Christ is exalted — heir to the very king
dom of glory that Christ himself inherits. As the Apostle saith,
" Wlio hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Col. i. 13. For
¦saith he again, " Ye are the children of God, by faith in Jesus

478 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Christ," Gal. iii. 26 ; " And remember, if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii. 17; " If a
son, then an heir of God, through Christ," Gal. iv. 7. " There is
neither Jew, nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female, but ye are all one in Christ Jesus," Gal.
iii. 28, 29.
How beautifully the Lord Jesus Christ sets that forth in John
xvii. 20, in His prayer, " Neither pray I for these alone," (His dis
ciples) " but for them also, which shall believe on me through
their word. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one even as we
are one ; I in them and thou in me ; that they may be perfect in,
one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them as thou hast loved me." John xvii. 20 — 23. As
then the Avife becomes one Avith her husband — one, essentially in
every sense, "they twain shall be one flesh," raised to his station
¦ — enriched Avith his fortune — ennobled Avith his dignities — crowned
with his honors — in all things identified Avith her husband. So it
is Avith the church of Christ. And Avhen a Avoman is enabled to
look to her Lord and Saviour, as being one Avith Him in spiritual
life and union, how sweetly His commands come to her heart, to
act in relation to her husband as unto the Lord.
One point more. Suppose a woman before her marriage over-
Avhelmed in debt, suppose she is apprehensive that she may be
taken and put into prison for her debts ; (I have knoAvn such a case
as I mention, an unmarried woman overwhelmed Avith debt,) the
moment she is married, she does not OAve a farthing — all her debts
are transferred to her husband — he becomes responsible — no cred
itor can bring any demand against her — she cannot be put into
prison "for anything she OAved — her husband must bear all the bur
then—she is AArhat is called in laAV, a femme couverte, a Avoman
covered or sheltered beneath her husband ; she is under the wings
of her husband, he is the debtor — she is quite clear. Oh ! what a
blessed view is this of the Church of Christ ! She is a femme
couverte — she is under the shadoAV of the Immanuel's Avings !
The sinner, the moment he is brought to Christ, and united to
Him by faith, is clear of all his debts — his mighty debt is paid —
his ten thousand talents are cancelled — Christ has become ansAver-
able for all, as the Prophet says, " It was exacted, and he an-
swered ;" Is. liii. 7. (Loioth) so, " He bare our sins in his men body
on the tree," He paid our debts — He cancelled them all — they are
all blotted out by the blood of Jesus. As the mute whom Charlotte
Elizabeth mentions in her interesting little Tract, called "The
Happy Mute." This little deaf and dumb child was brought to
the knoAvledge of the Gospel, and the little boy, describing the
pardon of his sins, says, " The Lord Jesus drew a pen, dipped in
His own blood, across my debt, and scored it all out." Now, when
a woman is aile to look to the Lord Jesus Christ as her Refuge

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 479
and Hope, when she can understand this, " Thy Maker is thy
husband, the Lord of hosts is his name ;" Is. liv. 5 , then, she is
happy indeed — then she can understand and bring the principle
of love to Jesus, into her duties to her earthly husband. What a
glorious image then, is the image of Christ, as one with His
Church !
We must not forget that the husband becomes the protector, the
guardian of his wife. An insult offered to her, is an insult to him
self. Is she in danger, he will fly to protect her with his life — he
Avatches over her — he takes care of her — he feels she is dependent
on his guardianship. His feelings— his love — his honor — his char
acter — his promise — his all are engaged to protect — to cherish — to
maintain and support her. So it is with Christ and His Church,
" He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye ;" Zee. ii. 8.
" He is the head over all things to his Church," as Ave have in the
1st chap. 22. And in all her afflictions he is afflicted. As the
husband is the head of his wife, so is Christ also the head of His
Church — the Protector — Defender — Guide — Guardian of all His
people. Every sinner that looks unto Him, may look to Him as
a Avife looks to her husband, as her guardian, protector, defender,
her all.
Therefore, this is the Apostle's reason for the precept to wives,
and for enforcing it as he does here, " 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."
" Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ,
so let the wives be to their own husbands in every
THING." Let wives remember, that "as Christ is the head of the
church, the Saviour of the body," and as therefore, in every
point of view, it is her happy privilege to trust Him — to lean on
Him — to repose in His faithfulness — to rest in His love— to cast
herself into His protection — and to rejoice in His power, so that
the Lord adopts the conjugal state, as an image and illustration
of His own relation to His Church, and calls on every Christian
wife, to remember, that she ought to glorify Him as a Avife, in
obeying her husband, as she ought to glorify Him as a Christian,
in obeying Himself.
Consider, noAV, that this blessed relationship which is set forth
between Christ and His Church, is a relationship, into which, if
you have not already entered, you are invited to enter this very
day. Christ sends His Gospel to call sinners, as Abraham sent
his servant to get a wife for his son Isaac. That is a beautiful
history of a servant, going in the fear of the Lord, to discharge
his duty to his earthly master; Genesis xxiv. When he makes
knoAvn his message, he says, "And now if ye will deal kindly
and truly with my master, tell me ; and if not, tell me, that I
may turn to the right hand or to the left," verse 49. Now, I may
say, I am come with my Master's proposals, I invite you, in His
Name, to come this day to be one with Christ, and now I say,

480 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
" If ye will deal kindly and truly with my Master, tell me."
Now, I say to you, that as Abraham's " servant brought forth
jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them
to Rebekah, and gave also to her mother, and to her brother, pre
cious things," v. 53, so I have laid before you this day, some slight
sketch of the riches of the glory of Christ, as the husband of His
Church ; that is, as the Saviour of lost and guilty sinners, and I
come in my Master's name, with a proposal to all of you. Come,
cast in your lot with " the Bride, the Lamb's wife !" Come to be
one with the Lord Jesus Christ ! Come to Him — come to be
united to Him — to be a partaker of His love, and an heir of His
glory ! Come to have all your debts cancelled ! Come to be
raised up to the honor of your Lord and Master — " To be raised
up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ !" chap. ii. 6. Come to be made partner of His kingdom !
Come to be protected by Him — guided by Him — strengthened by
Him, all your life through, that you may be one Avith Christ, as
Christ is with the Father. " And now, if ye will deal kindly and
truly with my Master, tell me." Will you come to Christ ? Oh !
my dear fellow-sinners, will any of you say,
" No, go aAvay, tell your Master I Avill not listen to His pro-
fosals, I will not ghTe an ear to them — I will not come to the
jord Jesus."
Will any of you say so ? Oh ! consider ! The Son of a King
sends to demand your hand ! Yea, the Son of the King of kings.
Come to Him — He holds out his hand to you, and remember — the
hand that Christ holds out to you, is the hand that Avas " Wounded
for your transgressions, and bruised for your iniquities." Oh !
look unto Him, come, come to Jesus, come to Jesus ! May the
Lord teach you ! May the Lord grant that we may all be found
united to the Son of God, washed in His blood, clothed in His
righteousness, and " Kept by His power through faith, unto sal
vation." Amen, and Amen.

FORTY-FIRST LECTURE.

Ephesians V. — 25, 26, 27.

" 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 j
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not havinw spot, or wrinkle, or
¦ny such thing ; but that it should be holy, and without blemish."
We cannot too frequently remember, and repeat, that it is the
object of the Gospel of Jesus, that the principles of that Gospel

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 481
should be called into operation in every act, word, and thought,
¦of the child of God. It is only by this means, that the practical
effects of Christianity, can be seen and felt in their influence by
the World.
For, just exactly, as in making the tree good, the manure is in
tended to cherish and improve the sap that circulates through it,
and imparts succulence, verdure, and fruitfulness to the plant —
and, as thus a physical change and improvement is produced in
that sap, that circulates through every ramification of the tree —
so the principle of the Gospel of Jesus, Avhich is to work effectually
in the sinner's heart, " to bring forth fruit unto God," ought to dif
fuse itself throughout the whole of the sinner's spiritual life,
through his heart — his affections — his understanding — his will —
his principles — his motives — -the Gospel of Jesus ought to pervade
them all. Therefore, you observe, that in all the relation^ of life,
in which the precepts of the Holy Scripture ought to be obeyed in
the sinner's conduct — the truth ought to be brought home to the
sinner's conscience, to work and fructify in his heart. All the
power and influence of the Gospel of Jesus, ought to be identified
with his motives, and embodied in them all.
As we saw this in our last Lecture, in the duties of the wife to
her husband ; so we have it here, in the duties of the husband to
his wife. " Husbands, love your wives." On what principle?
It is not, that you may enjoyyour life comfortably and happily.
It is not, that all the blessings which flow from union of heart and
spirit may be yours. These, indeed, will be likely to follow ; but
these are not the motives. No, but " as Christ loved the
church" — that is the principle that is brought into the heart of
the husband ; just exactly, as we saw in the last Lecture, the
principle that was brought into the heart of the wife was, that she
should be subject to her husband, as the church is to Christ ; so
here Ave see, the husband is to love the wife, as Christ loved the
church. Christ's love to His church, is to be the exemplar and
the measure of the husband's love to his wife.
I need not remark to you, how utterly inapplicable all these
precepts must be, to the mind of an unconverted sinner. Recollect,
that the moral precepts of the Gospel of Jesus, are no more to be
applied to the unconverted sinner, as commands that he is sup
posed to admit, and precepts that he is able to obey in his own
strength — on his own motives — or his own principles — no mote
than they are to be addressed to dead men. The principle must
be implanted in the heart, before the principle can be called into
action in the life. How absurd, to expect to find grapes on a
branch severed from the vine ! Nor is it less so, to expect Christian
principles and Christian fruits on those who are not in Christ.
There can be no use in pressing a principle, which has no place in
the heart. Our Lord asks, " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or
figs of thistles' —and we have too, on the same Divine authority,
that " A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Mat. vii. 16 — -18.
31

482 lectures on the ephesians.
I cannot go to a poor man and say—" Conduct yourself, as be
ing heir of a throne" — the man is not the heir of a throne. I can
go to the son of a king, and say—" Conduct yourself as the heir
of a throne" — for he is the heir of a throne. I cannot say to an
unconverted sinner — " Conduct yourself as a child of God"— be
cause he is not a child of God, he is yet in his sins ; I must first
endeavor to show him his guilt and misery, and to lead him to the
salvation of the Gospel of Jesus, and then, if the Lord leads him
to himself, apply to such persons precepts like these — " Walk as
children of light" — " Be ye followers of God as dear children."
Now recollect this — carry this principle into your consciences, or
rather, pray, that the Spirit of God may carry it into your con
sciences — so that you must, in all things, come directly to Christ,
to test your motives, and to prove your principles ; you must look
directly to Jesus, in the discharge of all your duties.
Remember, these are considerations that must devolve on us
every day, through all our lives —through all the details of our
existence. The duties of our several stations and relations, neces
sarily devolve or us; and therefore, the true principles, and
approved motives of these duties, on which alone they can be
acceptable to God, should always be present in our hearts. The
true motive of love to Jesus, springing from faith in Him, sanctifies
duty — yea, it makes duty a pleasure, even though it might be
painful in itself. Duty is always pleasant when it is done in the
name of the Lord Jesus ; and when the affections of the heart are
lifted up to Him. The service of the Lord is always light, when
the heart is warmed with grateful love to its Lord and Saviour.
Then, indeed, it is easy to do a thing heartily, as unto the Lord,
and not unto men.
So, observe, through all this you see, how the principle brought
before the heart of the husband is, the glorious Avork of Jesus — the
glorious salvation of Jesus. "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 j but that it should be holy
and without blemish."
We considered, on the last day, the relation in which the wife
was placed to her husband, by her union with him. That what
ever her OAvn previous rank had been, she was raised to the rank
of her husband. HoAvever overwhelmed in debt, all her debts Avere
immediately transferred to her husband, as soon as she Avas mar
ried. We considered these, and several other particulars, in the
emblem of a wife ; in reference to the blessed state of the sinner,
when brought to Christ — raised up from his ignorance — darkness
— guilt — and condemnation, to be united to his Lord and Saviour,
Christ Jesus — immediately raised to the glorious rank of a child
of the King of kings — immediately, all his debts cancelled, one
with God, and with Christ Jesus.

lectures on the ephesians. 483
Now, consider, there is a corresponding relation between hus
band and wife, " husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
ALSO LOVED THE CHURCH, AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT." As the
wife undertakes the duty of subjection to the husband, so he un
dertakes the regulation — the ordinance, and whole responsibility
of all things connected with his Avife. If he be on a throne, it is
for the honor of his throne, and his own, that his wife be main
tained in all the rank and dignity that is suitable to a queen. If
his wife had contracted debts previous to her marriage, and they
devolved on him, as they must, it is for his honor and dignity that
these debts should be immediately discharged, so that no charge,
no imputation of unpaid debt, can be brought against her — no re
flection cast on one, Avho is the partner of his throne, and his
bosom. If his wife, should be placed in any danger, it is the duty
of her husband, and not only his duty, but it is for his honor, and
not only his honor, but it is the instinctive feeling of his heart,
that his very life should be forfeited, rather than, that his wife
should perish or be in peril. All his friends — all his relations are
placed in the same relation to her, in which they are placed to him ;
his father, is her father ; his brother, her brother ; his attendants,
her attendants ; his ministers, her ministers ; they are all hers, as
much as his. Whatever he considers suitable to his own rank,
dignity, and honor — whatever he considers necessary for himself,
to maintain himself in the exalted rank and station, in which he
stands, considered as a king ; then all that is necessary for his
royal consort too. If it is fit, that he appear in royal robes, it is
fit, that his wife should be dressed in royal attire, like her husband ;
everything that is necessary for, and appropriate to him, is also
necessary for, and appropriate to her ; and it is her husband's am
bition, to take care, that she should have it all.
Oh ! consider then, dear friends, what a Avonderful subject this
is ! as it is applied here, the Apostle says, in verse 32, and Avell he
may, " This is a great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ
and the church," to think, that God, in the riches of His grace and
glory, should undertake to make Himself one with a vile sinner
like you ! For, recollect, that whatever is true of the whole church,
collectively, is true of every member of that church, individually.
Whatever is' true of the state of the whole church of Christ — what
ever view you take of her condition and glory, it is your privilege
to take that view of your own self, as a poor, guilty sinner, if you
are united by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider — that if
the husband is to undertake all things for the wife, Christ has be
come responsible for all things, for the church.
" For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is
the head of the church ;" and the most vigilant, tender, faithful,
loving husband, with the best regulated family — the best regu
lated household that ever was, or ever could exist on this earth,
never did, and never could, undertake to order everything for his
wife's security — honor — dignity — comfort — and happiness, as the
Lord Jesus Chris has undertaken to order, and does order every-

484 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
thing for the good, and the glory of every sinner that is brought
to look to Him. For it is His Covenant and His Word, " We
know," saith the Apostle, " that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to
his purpose," Rom. viii. 28. 'He is not like the master of a family,
whose knowledge and power are necessarily limited, and who is
himself a weak, imperfect creature-— many things escape his ob
servation — many things are concealed from his knowledge — of
many things, he sees not the evil or the danger — many things are
beyond his power to remedy, and to many things he has not the
wisdom, or the skill even to apply a remedy that is Avithin his
reach. But in all things, connected Avith every individual mem
ber of the Church of Christ, there is nothing that escapes the
vigilance of His Omnipresent eye — nothing that eludes the skill
of His Omniscient Avisdom — nothing that can contra vene the
ordinance of His Almighty power and everlasting love — all His
attributes are engaged for the everlasting blessedness of His church.
Therefore, " All things are working together for good to them
that love God." Oh ! my friends, if a sinner was able just to
take this one blessed truth, to take it by faith, and apply it to all
his circumstances — to repose his heart and conscience in the arms
of everlasting faithfulness and love — on the bosom of his Saviour
and his God ! Oh ! how unspeakably happy would he be ! How
blessed AVould it make him !
Just consider these words, " Husbands, love your wives ;
even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself
for it." Suppose a wife tenderly attached to a husband ; sup
pose her life in great and imminent dariger, suppose the hus->
band flies to her rescue — and suppose that in rescuing her, in de
fending her, he preserves her indeed, but at the expense of his own
life — Imagine, you behold her hanging in anguish, over his dead
body ; and suppose, that as Jesus came to the grave of Lazarus,
and said, " Lazarus come forth" — suppose, the Word of God, by
the exercise of His mighty power, should revive that husband
again, and give him back to her arms — how would all her tender
ness, and all her affection be increased if possible, ten thousand
fold! But "Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it ;" He did not endanger — He did not venture His life — He
" gave ' himself," and now " He is alive for evermore, and has
the keys of death and hell," Rev. i. 18. Oh ! when sinners are
able to know, that Jesus has saved them by standing in their
place, that Jesus has saved them, by giving his life for them, how
it endears that Saviour to the heart ! If a man flies to the rescue
of a friend, who is dear to him, and who is in any danger, he still
hopes and believes, that he will be preserved through it ; and that
in delivering his friend, he will also be delivered himself. But the
Lord Jesus Christ knew, in His love, that there Avas no deliverance
for him — He knew all that was before him — He knew all he
was to encounter — He knew that the cup could not pass from him
— and He gave His life — " he loved the church and gave

lectures on the ephesians. 485
Oh ! when the sinner is able to see this —
when he is able to knovp, that the love of Jesus Christ — of Him,
who gaVe Himself for his sins — orders everything for his good,
how it sanctifies all providences, trials, and dispensations of his
life ! How smoothly it makes the current of it glide along ! My
dear friends, if there be any of you who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and whose minds are troubled and bowed down, with either
spiritual or temporal distress ; your sins — your wants — -your trials,
or afflictions, whatever they may be — Depend on it, you are not
realizing by faith, and resting as you ought, on the truth set before
you in the everlasting Gospel, cpncerning the glorious offices of
your Redeemer, and His covenant love to all His people. For all
these things are working together for your good, the Lord Jesus
Christ is watching over you. As surely as He has brought you to
His feet — enabled you to look to Him — "Opened your eyes, and
turned you from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto
God" brought you to Himself and washed you in His precious
blood ; so surely, every trial, everything concerning you, must be
ordered for your good. Yea, even the very constant discovery of
evil in your sinful heart, that makes you ashamed, and that dis
tresses you, and under which you "groan, being burthened," the
Lord Jesus Christ will overrule it for your good. He will humble
you — He will prove you — He will make you know what is in
your heart. Thus saith Moses to the Israelites, " Thou shalt re
member all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty
years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee to know
what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his command
ments or no." Deut. vii. 2. It was their hunger led them to prize
the manna, and to learn their ingratitude after it Avas sent. It
was their thirst taught them to prize the water from the smitten
rock, when " they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed
them, and that Rock was Christ," 1st Cor. x. 4. He will bow
you down in humiliation at his footstool. He will bring you.
hungry and thirsty to the Throne of Grace, and teach you, in the
depth of your wants, to prize more and more the preciousness of
the Saviour. He will bring you to Him, in all your necessities
and sins. He will lead you to His precious blood, as unto a fresh
open fountain continually for healing, and grace, and strength.
Thus will he sanctify all his rods, and trials, and lead you to fly
from sin, and to love and serve Him, who has loved you, and
given himself for you.
Now, then, consider this — observe the end for which the Lord
Jesus Christ gave Himself for the Church. "That he might
SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE 1 V BY THE WASHING OF WATER, BY
the word." Noav, you see the end, and you see the means ; He
gave Himself for it, " That he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water ;" there is the end. The
church is to be sanctified and to be cleansed with that washing,
of which our Lord Himself appointed water as the sign and,

486 lectures on the ephesians.
seal, even washing in the blessed Fountain opened for sin and
uncleanness ; and then you see the means, " by the word."
The church of Christ is a sanctified church — it is set apart to
God. The wife is set apart to her husband, she is his alone,
" Keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live." The
church is sanctified, set apart to Christ, she is his alone. As He
saith to his people, " / will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I
will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and
in loving-kindness, and in mercies ; I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,"
Hos. ii. 20, 21. She is sanctified by the giving of the Lord Jesus
Christ for her. The giving of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
shedding of His own precious blood, has sanctified, all who believe
in His name.
I have explained to you before, at large, this primary sense of
the term sanctification, as we have it in Hebrews x., " By the
which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all ;" they are sanctified " Through the
offering of his body, once for all;" they are washed, cleansed,
purified, and thus set apart to God ; and the instrument by which
this is effected in the heart and conscience of the believer, is by
the Word ; they are brought by the Word to the fountain of
Immanuel's blood. The Word of Christ opens to them the Gos
pel of Jesus. The Word of Christ explains to them their own
misery — their OAvn guilt, and the salvation wrqught for them by
the work of their Redeemer, and by that Word they are brought
to Him ; so saith the Apostie James, " Of his own will begat he
us through the word of truth," James v. 18 ; so the Apostle Peter,
" Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever," 1st Pet.
i. 23. They are brought to Christ by the Word — that is, they are
born again by the Word ; for " Wliosoever believeth that Jesus is
the Christ, is born of God," 1st John v. 1. Any of you Avho have
been brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, have been surely brought
by the blessed Word of God having been set before you by some
means. It may be by a sermon — perhaps by a lecture — or by the
Book itself — or by a Prayer-book, containing a portion 6f that
Word — or it might be by a tract — yea, by a single text applied to
you in conversation, by a friend — or even by a single text being
brought to your remembrance by the Spirit. But by whatever
means, it must be by the Word of God as the instrument. There
is no other power by which a sinner can be brought to Christ, but
by the Word of God. It is — it may be applied in a thousand dif
ferent ways of Providence, or Grace by the Spirit, but there is
no other means, no other channel, through Avhich the sinner can
receive a knowledge of God's salvation, but by the revelation of
God's Eternal Word ; and therefore, by that Word he is brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the blood of Christ sanctified and
cleansed. You see, then, how important it is, that the Word of God

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 487
should be preached — that the Word of God should be read — that
that Word should be diffused. Where the Word of God is shut
up — there, there is a famine of the Bread of Life — there, there is
an intercepting of the light of Heaven from the sinner's soul.
Where the Word of God is open — has full course and is glorified — ¦
there, the people feed upon the Bread of Life — there, the light of
God's Eternal Truth shines into the hearts of sinners. Who
then, can duly appreciate the inestimable blessing, that the Word
of God should be known to sinners, to bring them to Christ?
But, this is what makes the study of the Bible precious to the soul
of the believer. As it is by the Word we are brought first to
Christ— so it is by the Word Ave are kept in Christ. The Holy
Scriptures are not only the means of quickening, enlightening,
regenerating, and converting the soul, but the sanctifying power
of the Spirit acts through the Word. So, when the Lord prays
for His disciples to His Father, you recollect His prayer, He says,
"Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word, is truth," John
xvii. 17. So it is His province to cleanse and purify the life and
habits of the sinner with it. " Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way ? by taking heed thereto, according to thy word,"
Ps. cxix. 9. You will see this principle set forth, in the most en
couraging and instructive manner in the Avhole Bible, in Psalm
cxix. The blessing and power of the Wdrd of God, as the means
of calling — -and keeping — strengthening — and directing — -comfort
ing — and building up the soul of the sinner. If there be any of
you, therefore, who are ignorant of Christ and His salvation, and
are, as you must be indeed, careless and negligent in the study of
God's Word. Oh ! consider, by what means can you ever be
brought to know the truth, but by the Word of God ! And, if you
know the truth of God, and yet are, as too many are, careless in
the study of the Bible — then you are proportionably uncomforta
ble, and barren in your own soul.
Recollect, the blessing of the man who avoids the ways of sin,
and cultivates the study of the Scriptures. "Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Mark
what he avoids.
Now see what he studies — -" But his delight is in the law of
the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Noav look to the result — " And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ;
his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper," Psalm i. 1, 2, 3.
What wonder then, that if you neglect the study of the sacred
Scriptures, your soul is not like a watered garden, and that you
bring forth but little fruit in your life ! How can the tree bring
fruit to perfection, if it is but partially under the genial influence
of the sun ! This is one of the reasons why profession so far
outstrips the practice of the present day. Persons acquire knowl
edge through the preaching of the Word of God — they acquire a

488 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
knowledge of the doctrines of salvation, but there is an absence of
the study of Scripture — a want of devotion to the Word of God,
which leaves the souls of professors barren and unprofitable in
their life and conversation. We cannot come fresh from the faith
ful study of God's Holy Word, and enter with a relish into the
levities, and follies, and vanities, of an ungodly world. If we
have, indeed, the Word of God in our hearts — of the abundance
of the heart the mouth will speak, and the world will take
knowledge of us, that Ave have been with Jesus — if indeed we
have been with Jesus. The face of Moses shone brightly when
he came down from the mount.
" The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing, but the
soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Prov. xiii. 4. If we study
the Word of Life, Ave shall experience the blessing of this latter
promise. But if not, then the soul of the sluggard shall be like the
garden of the sluggard, ovetgroAvn Avith briars and thorns. What
wonder that in such a neglected soil, " The cares of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things en
tering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." Mark iv. 19.
To return then more directly to the passage. Do not forget
the means by which the church is cleansed. "Christ loved
THE CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT J THAT HE MIGHT
SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE IT WITH THE WASHING OF AVATER,
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." As an affectionate husband desires that his wife shall
enjoy all the privileges, and all the blessings, that he himself feels
and knows to be either suitable to his rank and dignity, or that he
wills to have for himself, so, our Lord Jesus Christ wills that His
church shall enjoy all those blessings — those privileges — and that
glory Avhich belongs to Himself. Hear His own words, " And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they also
may be one, even as we are one," John xvii. 22. So here, " 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." Well
might the Apostle call it a great mystery — to think of a poor
Avretch, a vile sinner like one of us, being glorious.
If we are indeed taught of God, we cannot look at ourselves in
the mirror of God's pure and holy law, without beholding ourselves
all unclean, and feeling ourselves abashed, ashamed, and con
founded, when we look within. As the Apostle saith, when he
was ignorant of the spiritual nature of God's holy law, " / was
alive without the law once." Not certainly, without the letter, for
he had been trained from his infancy in that ; and while he only
knew that, " he was alive" — that is, he thought so — he considered
himself so — he thought he had spiritual life, and he had a good
hope of gaining eternal life by his obedience to the law. "But"
he continues, " When the commandment came, sin revived, and I

LECTURES Otf THE EPHESIANS. 489
died." Rom. vii. 9. When I knew the spiritual nature of the law,
and how it was not merely a rule of outward conduct, but that it
reached to the very thoughts, intents, and desires of the heart-
that is, " When the commandment came," with all its true spiritu
ality and power, then " sin revived and I died." I sa.v the full
extent of my own sin and vileness, and that I was a lost and
wretched criminal.* That it is our privilege to be really glorious
in Christ Jesus — that, though we are in ourselves, as' the Apostle
describes himself, suffering under the consciousness of our inward
corruption — that, though we feel in ourselves " a law in our mem
bers, warring against the law of our mind, and bringing us
into captivity to the law of sin that is in our members" that,
though we feel corruption working Avithin— evil thoughts — wicked
propensities — evil desires — evil passions, rising up, and continually
corrupting and defiling the best Ave do — -that, though we must
always feel our uncleanness in the sight of God, yet, it is our privi
lege to look by faith out of self, to Jesus — and by faith to believe
that all this body of sin and death is completely put off for ever — .
that Ave may — yea, that we are commanded to " Reckon ourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord," Rom. vi. 11 ; and that we stand before our God
complete — washed from all our guilt in the precious blood — and
clothed in the meritorious righteousness of our blessed Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ — this — this is, indeed, a great and glorious
mystery, which the angels may well " desire to look into," 1st Pet.
i. 12. The Lord when speaking by the Prophet, of His bringing the
church of His people Israel, from its natural state, describes it like
ihat of a new-born child, cast out on a field to die. Imagine, a
child just born, cast out and. left on the open field ! What must
become of it ? It must perish directly ! Such is the state in
Avhich the Lord represents His church in Ezekiel, xvi. 5, 6, " Thou
wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person, in
the day that thou wast born ; and when I passed by thee, and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou
wast yet in thy blood, Live. Yea, I said unto thee when thou
wast in thy blood, Live."
This is palpably applied to their spiritual state. Our spiritual
state is just as hopeless — as helpless as that of a new-born child ;
we have as little poAver to save, or to do anything for ourselves, as
* Man comparing himself with the law, in his natural state, is like a blind deformed
leper sitting before a mirror. The mirror is there, and he is there — he can touch it,
and call it a mirror— but he does not see the loathsome image which it reflects — even
himself. But give him his sight, and then he beholds his true picture at once, and re
volts from the disgusting object. So is a self-righteous Pharisee or Moralist, when he
talks of his virtues and his excellence, "-He is alive without the law" — he is wholly
ignorant of its spiritual nature. The mirror is before him — but he is blind, and can
not see that it reflects his inmost, thoughts. But when God opens his eyes to see the
truth, then he sees his real character — " When the commandment comes, sin revives,
and he dies" — he beholds his real deformity in the sight of a Holy God, and in tha
mirror of His holy law— and confesses in spirit and truth, that he is a " mweraiii
tinner."

490 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
a child has to provide for itself, to get up and walk. We are vile —
helpless — lost. And if we are brought out of that state, it is be
cause God in His love, passes by and says, unto us, " Live."
If you read the beginning of that chapter, you will perceive, He
gives a description of the Jewish people as in that state ; and if
true of the church collectively, it must be true of every individual
of that church. What is true of a church, as in a state of sin, is
true with respect to every individual of that church ; what is true
of a church, as in a state of grace, is true of every individual in
that church. If the church is accepted, the sinner is accepted — if
the church is righteous, it must be, that every sinner that belongs
to that church is righteous ; it could not be said of the Avhole
church, that the church is " a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," if one unglorious,
spotted, wrinkled sinner belonged to it ; therefore, what is true of
the Avhole church, is true of every believer in it.
If it is presented to God "a glorious church, not having
SPOT, OR WRINKLE, OR ANY SUCH THING," but " HOLY AND
without blemish," then every poor sinner, Avho is indeed a
spiritual member of that church, is presented a glorious believer to
Christ, "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,
but holy and without blemish." Though he is vile, and
feels his own vileness, yet it is his privilege to look out of himself
to Jesus, and then he beholds himself complete in Christ, as the
Apostle says, Col. ii. 10, " Ye are complete in him," and as it is
said in this chapter, " Then washed I thee with water, yea, I
thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil, I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod
thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen,
and I covered thee with silk, I decked thee also with ornaments,
and I put bracelets upon thine hand, and a chain on thy neck,
and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thine ears,
and a beautiful crown upon thine head ; thus wast thou decked
with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk,
and broidered work ; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and
oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper
into a kingdom, and thy renown went forth among the heathen
for thy beauty ; for it was perfect through my comeliness which
I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God," Ezek. xvi. 9, 14.
Under the image of a bride, He shows how He made Jerusalem
to prosper and grow into such a glorious kingdom, and under the
image of Jerusalem as a bride, he shows His love and grace to
His church.
Their beauty was " perfect through his comeliness," and so the
beauty of His church is " perfect through his comeliness." " I
am black, but comely," Cant. i. 5 ; black as the tents of Kedar —
comely as the curtains of Solomon— polluted, yet spotless— un
clean, yet clean — lost, yet saved — condemned, yet justified — sold
under sin, yet delivered from all evil, and brought to glory.
The paradoxes of the Bible, how unintelligible they are to the

lectures on the ephesians. 491
unconverted sinner — how glorious to the believer ! To feel what
men are in themselves, and to know what they are in Christ Jesus,
as here — "that he might present it to himself a glori
ous church !" Now, Avhat is the glory of the church? I think,
I quoted a passage in our last Lecture, in reference to this subject,
but it. bears quotation again. That may well be quoted again and
again, Avhich shall be the theme of everlasting joy to the redeemed
church of God throughout eternity. We should quote these texts
over and over again, in our own hearts — Ave should cherish them —
we should feed on Him, Avhom they set before us every day, and
rejoice in Him as all our salvation. Now then, let us mark the
Gospel of St. John, xvii. 22, it is a portion of the prayer of out-
Lord Jesus Christ, He saith, " The glory which thou gavest me I
have given them, that they all may be one, even as we are one."
What is the glory of the church of Christ? — the glory of Christ
Himself. What is the glory of the Avife ? — the glory of her hus
band. What is the glory of the queen ? — the glory of the king.
What is the glory of Christ's church? — the glory of Christ Him
self. " The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that
they be one, even as we are one."
Dear friends, is it not a wonderful thing to think, that a poor
sinner, like you or me, can ever be really glorious ! Our glory
now is the glory we possess by faith ; you see no glory in me, and
I see no glory in you. We may be permitted to glorify God, if we
are enabled to live to God, and devote ourselves to His service as
we ought to do. If Ave " let our light so shine before men, that
they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in
heaven." But there is no glory to be seen in us. But oh ! let us
think, that that which we now have by faith, if we are indeed of
the church of Jesus, we shall soon have in reality, "our citizen
ship," says the Apostle, "is in heaven, from whence also we look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." — and what then?
" Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is
able even to subdue all things to himself." Phil. iii. 20, 21.
That same glory which He possesses, shall then be the visible
glory of every individual of His church — and so the Apostle John
assures us " Behold what manner of love the Father hath be
stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; there
fore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." Christ's
glory was veiled when He was on earth, the glory of His church
is veiled too. " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1st
John iii. 12.
" We know" — mark Avhat the privilege of faith is — " We know"
because our God has told it to us. " We know" — because
"He is faithful that promised." It must be true. "We
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is." So, you have the same truth in 1st'

492 , LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
i Corinthians xv., where adverting to the resurrection glory — speak
ing of the resurrection of the body, the Apostle saith, " There is
one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in
glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead ; it is sown in cor
ruption, and raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it
is raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ;
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 1st Cor.
xv. 41, 42, 43. It is raised from the corruption — the dishonor —
the weakness — the natural decay into the dust of death, to the
incorruption — the glory — the power — the spirituality of a raised,
renewed, regenerated resurrection body, even the glorious body
that shall be given to the church, such as Christ Himself is
clothed with.
We have the same glorious truth, given as a subject of con
solation in 1st Thessalonians iv. 16 — 18, " The Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall
rise first, then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore, comfort one
another with these words." So He presents His church to Him
self, "A GLORIOUS CHURCH, NOT HAVING SPOT, OR AVRINKLE, OR
ANY SUCH THING, BUT HOLV AND WITHOUT BLEMISH." Go,
look at that church-building which is in process of being built
noAv in this neighborhood — you Avill see nothing on the spot but
some stones of various shapes and sizes, scattered in disorder,
lying here and there, and many are yet undraAvn, many still un-
quarried. If you try to lay these' stones in their intended order
in the building, you could not attempt to do it — if you try to con
ceive the plan of that Church, you cannot even imagine it. The
architect has it in his own eye — he sees, he knows the whole or
der, parts, proportions, plan, and elevation of it — it is all complete
before him in his mind's eye, just as complete as it shall be Avhen
erected. So is it with the Church of Christ ; the members of it
are scattered, not only noAv throughout the earth, but the consti
tuent parts of it are dispersed afar, through climes and ages past,
and still to come : the eye of man cannot see, nor the heart of
man conceive their glory in their union, and their elevation ; but
it is all complete in the eye of Jehovah — the Lord Jesus beholds
it all— the Church is glorious in his eyes, and there shall not be
a single stone wanting — not one that is to fill the smallest crevice.
each one shall be there — each one fitted in its place, for shape, for
strength, for stability, for beauty, honor, and glory, at the appear
ing of Jesus Christ. Then shall it be seen finished by the Mighty
Architect, "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
OR ANY SUCH THING, BUT HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH."
Surely, this is not now your case or mine ; do we not feel that
it is not? do we not feel, that we are anything but glorious?
do we not feel, that in ourselves we are spotted, wrinkled, and

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 493
defiled— that we are poor, vile, miserable sinners ; but it is the
privilege of the Christian to look with the eye of faith, at what
he is before God in Christ now, and what he shall be before the
throne forever. " Even as David also describeth the blessedness
of the. man to whom God imputed righteousness without works,
saying — Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and
whose sin is covered — blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin." Roth. iv. 6, 7, 8.
Our blessedness consists then in a life of faith now, in taking all
Ave have and all Ave are to the feet of Jesus, and looking unto
Him, and Casting ourselves on Him — taking His blood to bathe in
— His righteousness to cover us — His power, faithfulness, and love,
and all his precious promises, to sustain us — and living by faith
on them, to look for and haste unto His coming.
We are struggling and conflicting with these bodies of sin and
death, that we may be enabled to glorify our God, in mortifying
them — crucifying them — during our stay here ; looking for that
glorious time, Avhen we shall see Him face to face — when His ser
vants shall serve Him without spot — and when Ave shall really be
what now we hope to be, by faith. When Ave shall really be what
we expect to be — yea ! Avhat we know we shall be, if we believe
the glorious promises of our God.
This is what Christ then does for His Church — that " He may
PRESENT IT TO HIMSELF A GLORIOUS CHURCH J NOT HAVING
SPOT OR WRINKLE, OR ANY SUCH THING, BUT THAT IT SHOULD
BE HOLY, AND WITHOUT BLEMISH."
Remember, as the husband is bound to undertake everything
for his wife, and to do everything for her, as he ought to do — so,
Oh ! wondrous truth ! Christ is bound to His Church, in that same
blessed relation. He is bound in an eternal covenant of love — He
is bound by an eternal union — by the eternal promises ; for all
these promises in Him are yea, and in Him amen. What a bless
ing then it is, for a poor sinner to have such a Saviour to look to !
Oh ! that we may be enlightened to look thus to Him — and then,
if we are enabled to carry this blessed faith into our different rela
tions of life — it is thus, and thus alone, that Ave can be strength
ened to discharge the duties of these stations. Therefore, you
see they are brought home to His people continually, in all their
circumstances. Parents, children, servants, masters, husbands,
wives, all referred to Christ — all referred to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their principles and motives are all referred to Him. in Avhom
alone they have spiritual existence ; and from whom alone they
can derive spiritual life or strength.
May the Lord our God bring His truth to our hearts ; and ena
ble us to know and rejoice in Him, and in the strength of His
salvation, and in every relation of life to glorify Him with our
bodies and spirits which are His. — Amen.

FORTY-SECOND LECTURE.

Ephesians V— 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.
" 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 cher-
isheth 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. This is a great mystery : but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in par
ticular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her hus
band." In our last Lecture but one, we considered the relation in which
the Avife stands to her husband, as compared with that in which
the Church stands to Christ.
In our last we considered the relation in Avhich the husband
stands to his wife, as compared Avith that in which Christ stands
to His Church. And here we have the same subject continued in
the last verses of this chapter. May the Lord enable us to under
stand the spiritual application of it to our souls ! May He enable
us to see the Avonderful privileges here set before the Church of
Christ — that we may learn to prize them for ourselves, and discover
more and more of the riches of that glorious Redeemer, who is
the Author and Finisher of this, and all covenant blessings to His
people. The Apostle pursuing the subject of the duty of husbands to
their wives, presses it still farther from the intimate union, the
absolute oneness that subsists between them. '• So ought men
TO LOVE THEIR WIVES AS THEIR OAVN BODIES. He THAT LOV
ETH HIS WIFE, LOVETH HIMSELF. FOR NO MAN EVER YET
HATED HIS OAVN FLESH J 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." He shows
here, that the duty and affection of the husband to the wife is
such, that it is actually identified with his love and duty to his
own person; and that his affection should be founded exactly on
the same principle on which he would loAre himself. " So ought
MEN TO LOVE THEIR WIVES AS THEIR OWN BODIES. He THAT
loveth his wife loveth himself." And certainly, the hus
band stands, as we considered on the last day, actually identified
with his wife in all circumstances, so that everything that brings
reproach on her, brings reproach on him ; and everything that
tends to honor and exalt her, tends to honor and exalt him ; so
that if he would save himself from reproach, or exalt himself to
honor — if he would deliver himself from evil — if he would pro-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 495
mote his own good, or his own happiness, he is called on in the
same proportion, and on the same principle, to save his wife, and
deliver her from any evil, and promote her honor — her glory — her
happiness, even as his own ; " 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."
Noav the Apostle says, " This is a great mystery." We
can form a conception of this union, as applied to the relationship
of husband and wife. But it is a marvellous mystery indeed,
when we consider it as applied to the Lord Jesus Christ and the
Church. To think, that sinners like you and me, can be taken
and actually identified with the Lord of life and glory ! That the
Lord Jesus can take a vile sinner like any one of us — that He
can take us and so identify us with Himself, and Himself with us,
that actually His own dignity — His own honor — His own glory is
promoted and established by all the blessing— all the dignity — all
the honor — and all the glory that He can bestow on us ! ! Surely
this is a great mystery !
The husband freely takes the wife, from his own love ; he loves
her, and he takes her because he loves her. There is this dif
ference, however, between man and wife, and Christ and His
Church :, — that there is always something that either really is, or
seems attractive — something that draws forth affection on the
part of the husband to his wife ; and he chooses her because he
sees something in her that pleases him, or that is lovely in his es
timation. But here indeed there is no parallel. For Christ sees
nothing whatever in the sinrer, to make him attractive in His
sight. There can be nothing lovely whatever in the fallen, unholy
creature, to attract the affection of the Lord Jesus Christ — noth
ing ! The love of Christ to the sinner, without anything what
ever to call it forth, springs spontaneously from the bosom of the
Eternal God. Therefore, it is not a love that originates in time.
The love of a man to his Avife originates when he sees the indi
vidual, and beholds something in her that attracts him. But the
love of Christ to His church does not originate in time — it is not
awakened by the development of anything in the character, after
the individual is born, that could be supposed to attract Christ. It
is no such thing, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love."
Jer. xxxi. 3. It begins in eternity, as the Apostle says in this
Epistle, " God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ ; (by grace ye are saved ;) and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus : that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us
through Christ Jesus." chap. ii. 4, 5, 6, 7. So we are said to be
chosen by the Father in Christ, before the world began. " Ac-
cording as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the

496 lectures on the ephesians.
world." chap. i. 4.* And so the love of Christ commences from
eternity — it flows from the fountain of eternal love, in the eternal
bosom of Jehovah Himself. This is considered ; and of course to
any of you Avho do not knoAV the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and who do not know yourselves, it must be considered a very
strange doctrine. So are all the doctrines of grace. All the dif
ferent truths of God are unintelligible to the natural, unenlightened
heart of man. Perhaps they may be so to some of you. The
eternal love of Jesus to His church, in all its purposes and all its
developments, is the great subject matter of Divine Revelation.
You may, perhaps, disbelieve — despise — disregard — or make light
of this. But, surely, if you do, you do not know the Gospel. For
if you knew the Gospel of the Lord Jesus— and if you knew your
selves — you Avould knoAV that the fountain of your consolation is
derived from the free and sovereign love of God. For if you do
not know that truth — and if you consider that the love of Christ
springs, as it Avere, from something of good foreseen or foreknown
in the sinner — what is the result ? Why it is that the love of
God is exactly like earthly love, like the love of man. Men find
themselves too often disappointed in the qualities that they imag
ined were possessed by the object of their affections. If they Avere
attracted by personal beauty, they see that beauty fades like a
drooping flower. The sparkling eye grows dim, and the love that
it excited wanes and grows cold, when the sickly lamp that kindled
it begins to flicker in the socket.
Thus if a sinner can believe that there is anything in himself
that is considered to draw forth the love of God, when he is taught
to feel that he is vile, and therefore the deserving object, not of
God's love, but of his judgment, then, if he has that false view of
the love of his Lord, that it depends on some good in his own
character, or something to be approved in himself, he is driven to
fear, to doubt, or to despair ; because as he becomes better ac
quainted Avith himself, he sees, that so far from being an object, of
love to God, he should rather be an object of divine wrath and
judgment. For thus every sinner that knoAvs himself, feels and
knows that, such is his own character.
But when he has learned that the love of Christ is an everlast
ing love, not aAvakened by any qualities in himself, not deriving
* Some persons, who, unwilling to admit the utter corruption of man, and the
freeness of God's election, and who are constrained to confess that the plain language
of the Scripture must have some meaning ; imagine that they reconcile the Scripture
with their own schemes, by supposing that this election of sinners " before the foun
dation of the world" is dependent on the foreseen excellence and good conduct of the
individuals. But surely they might see that this but removes the sovereignty of God,
from the exercise of one act to the exercise of another. For, suppose this to' be true—
What sovereign power gives those imaginary qualities of excellence so worthy to be
loved ? — Who maketh one sinner to differ from another? — It merely shifts the diffi
culty. But indeed the experience of every servant of God denies and denounces such
Ignorance and folly— for he well knows, that while he finds nothing in himself that he
must not be ashamed of, and condemn ; there can be nothing which a holy God
can admire and approve. As the old woman before cited well remarked, " I am sure,
unless God saw something in me, to love, before I was born ; He never saw anything
in me since."

lectures on the ephesians. 497
its origin from any traits of foreseen excellence in his own charac
ter ; but just as I have said, springing purely— gratuitously from
the fountain of God's own bosom of eternal love to His church,
then no discovery of the evil of his own character leads him to
doubt the faithful, everlasting love of his Redeemer and his God.
He Sees, that as there was nothing in him to attract in the first
instance the love of his Redeemer, so the discovery of the evil in
his own character will not cause that Redeemer to cast him away.
There are no imaginary qualities in him in which Christ is disap
pointed, no beauty in him that fades away from before the eye of
his Redeemer. God forekneAV he would be a sinner — He knoAvs
he has been a sinner, and He knows he is a sinner, Jesus loved
him as a sinner, before the foundations of the world were laid,
called him as a sinner, in time, loves him as a sinner still, and
will save him as a sinner. Therefore, the knowledge of his own
character does not lead him to doubt the eternal faithfulness and
love of his glorious Lord and Saviour. " I have loved thee,"
saith the Lord, "with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-
kindness have I drawn thee," Jer. xxxi. 3, and " having loved his
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
John xiii. 1.
What was there in the character of Mary Magdalene, that drew
forth the love of Jesus ? Was it the seven devils that possessed her ?
What was there in the character of Peter, that drew forth the
love of Jesus ? Was it that he denied his Master with an oath ?
What was there in the character of Thomas ? Was it that he
said, " Except I shall see in his hands the print Of the nails, and
put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand
into his side, I will not believe ?" John xx. 25.
What was there in the character of any of the disciples ? Was
it that they " all forsook him and fled ?" ,
What Avas there in the character of the thief on the cross ? Was
it that even Avhen he was hanging on the cross, he joined the mul
titude and his felloAV-thief in blaspheming Christ?
What Avas there in the character of Saul? Was it that he was
" breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord?" was it this that dreAV forth the love of Jesus?
And now, let us leave them all, and come to ourselves. What
is there in your character, Avhat is there iri my character, if indeed
we are brought, through grace, to know Christ, what is there in
us that has drawn Him to love us ? Surely the more we know of
ourselves, the more we learn the certain testimony of this truth,
" the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,
who can know it ?" Jer. xvii. 9. And that is our own heart and
character, and therefore, so far from there being anything in us to
draw Christ to us, there is everything in us to repel Him from us,
and to banish us from his presence. Notwithstanding all, His
grace aboundeth — His love is an everlasting love, and Avhen in the
riches of that grace and love, He hath taken the sinner, and brought
his heart to Himself — Avhen he hath said to his soul, " Turn, O
32

498 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
backsliding children, for lam married unto you, and I will take
you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to
Zion." — Jer. iii. 14. Mark what does he say of the character of
the very sinners to whom He gives this gracious invitation, " They
say, if a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and be
come another man's, shall he return unto her again, shall not
the land be greatly polluted ?" But then see what he adds, " But
thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again
unto me, saith the Lord." Jer. iii. 1.
Oh, my friends and fellow-sinners, this is love beyond all the
love of an earthly husband. If the love of Jesus was not an un
changing and eternal love, what would become of sinners ? what
would become of you or me ? we should have been in hell long
ago; — so should all that have ever belonged to His church. If
the love of Christ was not an everlasting love, there is not a sinner
that ever descended from fallen Adam, that should enter the gates
of glory. But His love is an everlasting love, " / will never leave
thee nor forsake thee," is His word. Heb. xiii. 5. He saith again
of His sheep, " I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father
who gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father's hand. land my Father are one."
John x. 28. Therefore, that is a most blessed doctrine, the doc
trine of God's sovereign, unchangeable and everlasting love, while
it is unintelligible to the natural mind. And while the sinner who
is ignorant of God cannot approach to the understanding of it at
all, — those, Avho are brought to the knowledge of Christ, and who
understand clearly the doctrine of justification by faith in the
righteousness and blood of a crucified Redeemer, know that it is
their only refuge — that the eternal faithfulness and covenant love
of God is the only security they see for their everlasting salvation.
Therefore, the love of Christ is totally contrary to anything that
the unconverted world thinks, as that God foresaw something good
in those persons who are saved, and so they deceive themselves,
and flatter themselves with the hope that they are God's elect, be
cause there is something good in them.
Alas ! what total blindness, ignorance, and stupidity that is
concerning the truth of God's word. You cannot explain it to
such persons. But the fact is directly the reverse : it is because
there is no good in them, nothing attractive, nothing excellent,
they are altogether vile, and the salvation they receive from Christ
is the salvation of free, full, glorious, covenant, and everlasting love.
It is indeed a " great mystery" — just consider it yourselves.
Look into your own heart, and see is there anything good in you.
Remember that all religion to be learned, must be personally and ex
perimentally learned. Men are lost in reasoning on abstract theories
of religion, and talking about third persons. If you want to learn
truth, speak not of others, but of yourselves before God ; — bring your
selves to God's word, apply God's truth to your own souls and to your
own consciences, and that is the only way you can ever learn the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 499
truth. As long as persons give up their minds to abstract reasonings
and theories about religion, they will never learn it. Religion is a
solemn, personal, constant, experimental transaction between God
and the sinner's own soul. Therefore, my dear friends, consider
this, look into yourselves, and see, is there anything in you that
you can think attractive in God's sight ? anything that can attract
the love of Christ ? Let me put it to you in this point of view,
just let me ask you this question, what would you take and let
your heart, your real naked heart — your thoughts — imaginations
— desires — be opened before the friend who loves you best in the
world ? what would you take and let these hidden monsters out ?
Do you think he could love you if he knew of you what you know
of yourself? could he love you, if he could really see the workings
of your heart within? your actual thoughts, imaginations, desires,
feelings, passions? do you think the person who loves you most
on earth, could love you if he saAv you as you see yourself? Do
you not live — do you not carry on your state of existence in society
on this principle, that you conceal what you really are ? If we
would give vent to the thoughts of our hearts, to the thoughts that
come into our minds, Ave would be intolerable ; — the best of human
beings would be insufferable, if they did not conceal the thoughts
that come into their minds, their wicked desires — their wicked im
aginations — is not that the truth ? do you not know that it is true ?
Well then, if Ave could not bear inspection — if the open exposure
and development of our hearts would make us insufferable to our
dearest friend, what must we be in the sight of a holy God? or
what can there be in us to attract God to us? Surely nothing.
Well then, dear friends, consider, is it not a great blessing that
the glorious Gospel of Jesus is just sent to us as sinners — as we
are — that while there is nothing in us to attract God, but every
thing to repulse Him, there is no species of crime or wickedness in
the poor, guilty sinner's heart, for Avhich the Gospel of Jesus does
not bring a remedy, fulness of salvation, pardon through the blood
of Christ, " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shoidd not perish,
but have everlasting life," John iii. 16, and " the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1st John i. 7. Oh !
behold then, what manner of love is the love of Christ to sinners !
a full, free, finished salvation brought to us, — how? by his OAvn
precious blood. " Unto him who hath loved us," is the language
of the redeemed, " Unto him who hath loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father, unto him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen" Rev. i. 5, 6. Here is hope for the sinful
heart, for the guilty, conscious, self-convicted sinner.
You see how different this is, from the wretched condition of
the miserable, unconverted sinner, who is trying to live in the
same hypocrisy with God, as he does with his fellow-creature ; to
patch up the same hope from his own miserable righteousness, as
he patches up a character for himself before man. If there be

500 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
any;of you here who do not know the Gospel of Christ, that is
just what you are doing ; you are trying to make yourselves some
thing that God can approve of. But—" Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23.
I would just lay this thought on your consciences. Do your
best — force yourselves as far as you can — " Wash thee with nitre,
and take thee much soap," as Job saith — make yourselves as clean
as you can — and then refer to your own thoughts, enter into your
own bosoms, and think thus, " Well, with all I do, Avhat would
become of me, if every one saAV me as I really am, if every one
could see as I see, my own naked heart ?"
Then remember, you must say of God, with Moses, " Thou
hast set. our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of
thy countenance," as we have in the " Prayer of Moses, the man
of God," Psalm xc. 8. Remember, that thy heart is in the light
of God's all-seeing eye. There it is — brought into the sunshine
of that light that is far above the brightness of the sun ; and there
the Holy God is looking at you. What then are you doing?
what will you be? what will you do in the end thereof? Shall it
be found at the last that there was anything in you to attract the
love of God ? But, blessed be God, my dear friends and fellow-
sinners, — we know this is not the Gospel — the Gospel takes your
heart Avith all its vileness, all its guilt, all its abominations, and
says, Come to Christ, how weary soever and heavy laden you
may be — Come — because you are a sinner. Come — because you
are guilty. Come — because you are vile. Come — because there
is no good in you. " If righteousness come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. If you could save yourselves
by anything in yourselves, " Christ is dead in vain." He came
to save sinners, that we poor sinners might come to Him, and as
surely as He inclines our hearts to do so — as surely as our
heart is awakened — yea, if the Avord I am now speaking shall
awaken any true reflection never aAvakened there before— if you
are even this day led to think thus — -
"Ah ! this is true, it is all true, I am vile! What shall I do, if
God brings me into judgment? It is a great blessing that there
is salvation and mercy for a poor sinner like me — it is a blessed
thing that there is such a Saviour as Christ — O let my heart turn
to Him, and lean on Him and trust Him, even now — "
I say, if these reflections, or such as these, are aAvakened truly
in your hearts and consciences by God's blessed word and truth
this very day, take courage— go on— pray that God may enable
you to see more of yourselves, and to debate the case Avith your
own consciences, spiritually and faithfully in the light of God's
word,— and then, as surely as you are brought to do so, this glori
ous love of Christ is beginning to work in your soul, if you really
are taught to feel yourselves sinners, and are led to look unto
Jesus. Oh consider what a great blessing that is! what a blessing is

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 501
the breaking in of one beam of light into the poor, darkened sin
ner's mind! And if one beam of the true light thus breaks into
the mind — if it even be but a beam — if it be true light, it is like a
beam of the morning sun breaking in the grey dawn through the
trembling, flying shades of night on the sinner's eye. As that is
a sure harbinger that the sun himself is rising, so is a beam of
heavenly light, that the Sun of Righteousness shall arise on the
sinner's soul, with healing in His wings. Oh think of this, what
a blessing the love of Christ is ! that it is love to man, not as he
seems, but as he is ! and that it is an everlasting love ; not origi
nating in time, and therefore not to be destroyed by time ; but
flowing forth from eternity — and therefore flowing on to eternity.
So the Psalmist saith in that beautiful contrast he draws, "As for
man, his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field, so he fiour-
isheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the
place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting, upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do
them." Psalm ciii: 15, 16, 17, 18.
"To such as keep his covenant." Mark — that is the first thing.
You cannot know the commandments of God, till you are brought
first to keep His covenant. You must be hrought into covenant
relation to God before you can keep His commandments, or even
know Avhat they are in their spiritual sense, and what it is to keep
them. When we speak of the everlasting love of Christ to His Church,
we must understand that that love is developed in time by its act
ings to the church. This is seen in the image used by the Apostle
here. "No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nour-
ISHETH AND CHERISHETH IT, EVEN AS THE LoRD THE
church." So in his character of Shepherd, Isaiah xl., "He shall
feed his flock like a shepherd ; lie shall gather the lambs with
his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those
that are with young." Isa. xl. 11. This illustrates " Nourisheth
AND CHERISHETH IT, EVEN AS THE LORD THE CHURCH." And
see, Avhen the Lord,, in sending Nathan the prophet to David, is
describing the relationship in which Bathsheba stood to her hus
band, he says, there was " a poor man who had nothing save one
little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished up : and it
grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of
his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom,
and was unto him as a daughter." 2nd Sam. xii. 3, thus he de
scribes the relationship between the husband and the wife ;-^and
here, the Apostle saith "He nourisheth and cherisheth it,
EVEN AS THE LoRD THE CHURCH : FOR WE ARE MEMBERS OF
HIS BODY, OF HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES."
That is a wonderful character in which the Lord is represented
in Scripture, as " The head of the body, the church." Who are
the members of Christ ? - if a man takes a member of his body,

502 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
if he looks at his own hand, or at his own limb and says, Is not
this united to me? Is not this part of myself? Shall I hurt
this? Shall I injure this ? Shall I wound this? Shall I not
keep it? Shall I not preserve it? Shall I not protect it ? If I
injure this, does it not give my head and all my body pain ? do I
not feel it in every other member ? do I not feel pain in every
single member of my frame, if I wound or injure this one mem
ber? Shall I not, therefore, preserve, protect, and keep it? "No
MAN EVER YET HATED HIS OWN FLESH ; BUT NOURISHETH
AND CHERISHETH IT, EVEN AS THE LoRD THE CHURCH."
So, when a man thinks of his own members, he may say ;
" Thus Christ looks at every individual member of His church ;
thus He looks at every poor sinner that He has brought to Him
self, and washed in His own precious blood, and clothed in His
OAvn righteousness, as a man would look at a member of his own
body. So Christ saith, " He that toucheth you, toucheth' — not
only a member, but the most sensitive member of the body, that
member the very touch of which is pain, "He that toucheth you,
toucheth the apple of his eye." Zech. ii. 8.
"Well then," (the believer may say) "if this be so, how does
it happen that I feel myself so wounded — so tired — so heavily
afflicted in all the course of my pilgrimage ? If I am so precious
to Christ how is this the case ?" This exercises the heart of every
believer more or less. How heavily David was exercised Avith
this trial we see in Psalm lxxiii., he says, he was so tried with
this affliction that it almost shook him from his faith. He says,
" As for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh
slipped ; for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the pros-
ferity of the wicked." verses 2, 3. He had even gone so far in
is murmuring and discontent as to say, "Verily, I have cleansed
my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all
the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning."
But he adds — taught by the Spirit the experience of God's
children. " If I say I will speak thus, behold I should offend
against the generation of thy children." verses 13, 14, 15. And
it is so. Believers are often tempted to doubt the love of their
Lord, when they feel themselves so tried, they think, " If I was
loved by Christ — if all I hear is true concerning the love of Christ
to His Church, and if I were indeed a member of that Church,
how could I be so afflicted — tried — burthened — cast down as
lam?" Oh ! my friends ! Oh ! for the eye of faith to see the covenant
love of Christ, in, and above, and beyond every affliction ! There
is not a single trial you can meet with, not a single affliction you
can endure — that is not a proof, (if you could only see it so), of
the very love of Christ. It is the part of love to watch over and
correct evil in those beloved. It is the part of a parent's love to
his child, to watch over and to correct the evil of that child. It
is the part of a husband's love to his wife to watch over and cor
rect the evils of his wife. It is not the part of the husband, if he

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 503
is married to a wayward wife, to give way to her temper ; out it
is his duty, if he can, to correct and repress it. Men may not be
inclined to correct the evils of their fellow-sinners, their Avives,
their children, their servants, or any others. But it is a proof of
the everlasting love of Jesus, that He will correct the evils of His
children, it is a proof of His love to you or me, to correct and to
conquer the evil that is in us.
Men may not be able to correct the evils of others — not so
Christ, He is able to correct His Church — He is the Faithful Hus
band, the Faithful Father. He is able — and He will — and does
correct. There is also another difference — namely, that our corrections,
even of those we love, proceed often from selfishness. ' " We have
had fathers of our flesh," saith the Apostle, "which corrected us
and we gave them reverence ; shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live ? For they verily
for a few days chastened us, after their pleasure, but he for our
profit that we might bepartakers of his holiness." Heb. xii. 9, 10.
Christ, when He corrects His Church, makes no mistake — there
is no selfishness — there is no indulgence of any temper : it is not
because He is wounded — not because His temper is excited — not
because He is angry at some reproach brought on Himself by the
conduct of His wife, the Church — but it is the faithful correction
of infinite wisdom, and everlasting love ; and therefore, in holy,
righteous, gracious, tender faithfulness, the hand of the Lord
Jesus is stretched out to correct every one of His children, or (to
preserve the image), to correct His beloved wife, His Church, just
because He loves her, and just because it is needful for His glory
— for His honor — and for her everlasting happiness. Yes, and
my dear friends, the Church shall see and confess this — you shall
see it. Let me speak not of the Church collectively, but of every
individual member. Let me say, that every individual member
of the Church shall see and know this. Look back at your own
experience — Oh ! believer ! you whom Christ hath loved, and
whom Christ hath condescended to draw to Himself — to wash in
His blood, and to clothe in His righteousness — -to justify — to save
— to keep — and bring to His feet. Look back to your own expe
rience in all the days that are past. You have gone through
many trials — you have endured many perplexities — you have
encountered many difficulties — you have suffered many sorrows —
you have wept over many bereavements — many a sigh has burst
from your anxious heart — many a tear from your unsleeping eye
— many a deep and bitter exercise of soul have you nearly sunk
under in the solitude of your own chamber — in the exile of your
own bosom, from the sympathies of all the world. But if they
are passed, if they are gone, and if you can look back now at
them without present suffering — without the cloud that came be
tween you and the Sun of Righteousness now passing, as it were
before your eye, and therefore hindering you from seeing the
brightness of His glory — if it is all past — then, look back at it all,

5Q4 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
and say, is there one trial you ever suffered— one visitation that
ever afflicted you — one perplexity— one difficulty — one sorrow —
one bereavement — one sigh — one tear— one exercise of soul, how
ever deep and bitter it may have been — is there one, of which
you cannot say — of which you do not know and feel at this mo
ment, " He hath done all things well." " I needed it. It Avas
necessary for me. My case required it. I know not what I
should have done without it. I feel it Avas for my good. The
cup was bitter — the medicine was unpalatable— but the love and
skill of my Heavenly Physician mingled it, I know it was for my
good. I recognize in it my Father's hand. The tender hand of
love gave it to me. My blessed Redeemer, my precious Lord
held it to my lips in love." ,
Oh! then, if even noAv you can say this, and whether you
know it or not, it is as surely true as God is in heaven, and you
on earth — if you know it now, Avhat shall it be at the last? — Oh !
" There is a secret in the ways of God
With His own children, which none others know,
That sweetens all He does. And if such peace,
While under His afflicting hand we find,
What shall it be to see Him as He is.
And, past the reach of* all that now disturbs
The tranquil soul's repose — to contemplate
In retrospect unclouded, all the means,
By which His wisdom has prepared His saints,
For the vast weight of glory that remains ! "
Oh ! yes, " We are members of his body, of his flesh, and
of his b(jnes," and the very trials that make us in our unbelief
and folly doubt the Lord's love in our behalf, shall be manifested
to be the proofs of that very love which they led us to doubt.
" Wherefore, lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble
knees," and be assured, that as surely as you are brought to knoAV
Christ as your Refuge and Hope — so surely the Lord Jesus loves
and cherishes you, as one of the "members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones."
When Christ " bowed his head and gave up the ghost," all His
body, all His members were dead. So it is with His Church — all
who believe in Him are dead with Christ, "Buried with him by
baptism unto death," Rom. vi. 4 ; all their sins cancelled — all
their iniquity blotted out — dead — buried forever !
When the stone was rolled away from the supulchre, and when
Christ came forth again into the light of heaven, all his members
rose with Him. So it was with His spiritual mystical body — they
rose with Christ — they are risen again Avith Him. Thus they are
to believe — to reckon themselves.. So saith the Apostle, "Like
wise reckon ye also yourselves, to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 11.
As certainly as every one of His bodily members rose from the
grave, so surely every mystical member rose in the councils of the
Eternal Jehovah, and though they were not then born, or are not,

lectures on the ephesians. 505
yet born— if millions of ages were yet to roll over the earth, all
the unborn church of Christ rose in Christ, Avhen Christ rose from
the grave, all His members — one with Himself— His Church— His
bride, rose Avhen Christ rose, her life was bound up with the life
of her glorious Lord, she " is dead, and her life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ who is her life shall appear, then shall
she also appear with him in glory," Col. iii. 3, 4.
" 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." Christ is here represented as com
ing to take His church, to be united to His Church on this earth
as His bride, as a man leaves his father and mother and is joined
to his Avife. Christ is represented as leaving His ¦ glory to come
down to this earth, and take His Church as His bride, and that
His bride is to be one with Him forever. Well may it be added
indeed, " this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the church."
What a Avonderful subject this is ! after a person has lectured
or preached on it — thought — meditated on it again and again,
after all we must shut the Bible and say—" How little have I
done ! How ignorant I am ! What need I have to know more
of my precious Lord and Saviour ! What need have I to receive
more and more of the Spirit of God to teach and instruct me in
His blessed Word ! What need have I that my Heavenly Father
should bless all the riches of His grace to me ! What need have
I to trust my glorious Redeemer, more and more — to lean on Him !"
" Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness leaning on her
beloved!" Cant. viii. 5. Is it not His Church? Is it not some
poor weary heavy-laden soul like mine, that is taught to lean on
Jesus as its Hope and Refuge ? Come then — Come up out of the
wilderness, leaning on your beloved! Look unto Jesus — think
what blessed consolation there is in this subject, whatever point
of vieAV we take it in! See the blessed union that subsists be
tAveen Him who died for sinners, and those sinners who look to
Him! Oh! search the Scriptures— pray, that you may learn
more and more of this most wondrous salvation.
And now, my dear friends, if there are any of you here who
have never thought of these truths, or to Avhom they are foolish
ness, and who are just dragging on your existence without God in
the Avorld, ignorant of Christ, and who think — as many called
Christians, think, that the subject on which I have been speaking
is all mere rhapsody ^-fanaticisms-enthusiasm or folly — this very
fact, if it be so indeed, is a lamentable proof of your state as
being last,; and blind, and " dead in trespasses and sin's," chap.
ii. 1.
If the Gospel be foolishness, it is so to them that perish.
: When. "Holy men of old spake as they were moved by: the
Holy Ghost," 2d Pet; i. 21 ; when it was not man who was speak
ing, but God in man — this is God's testimony concerning His

506 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
preached Gospel, " Who hath believed our report ?" saith the
Prophet, Is. liii. 1. So saith the Apostle, " the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness," 1st Cor. i. 18; and again
" If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom
the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God should shine unto them." 2d Cor. iv. 3, 4.
Therefore, if this is foolishness to you, and if you are still, as I
have said, dragging on your existence without God in the Avorld —
you are vainly resting on your own imaginary moral character,
expecting to qualify yourselves to gain salvation by your own
righteousness, and flattering and deceiving yourselves that you
are as well as the rest of the world. Alas ! alas ! my friends,
what ignorance and folly ! Yours is the mere natural religion, or
rather irreligion of the human heart. If this be your case, " What
will you do in the end thereof?" Jer. v. 31.
You are hastening to the judgment seat of Christ, you may be
summoned ere an hour. Perhaps before you go home, you may
lift up your eyes to the clouds of heaven and behold Him coming
in His glory ! How shall you meet your God ? You must be
aware, that if what we say upon this subject, be foolishness to
you, it must be because this Word is foolishness to you. You
cannot open your Bible and read for instance this chapter, and
understand the meaning of its plain words — for the words are very
plain, though the subject is " a great mystery."
Just take this passage which I have read, and spoken on.
What is the meaning of this ? What does God mean by this ?
You cannot understand it. It is foolishness to you. If you admit
this to be God's revelation — if you know it to be His Word, and
if when you go to read it, you find such and such passages all
foolishness to you — that you cannot understand — that you cannot
comprehend them ; there must be some great blindness over your
mind. God's Word must have a meaning — must be true. There
must be in it, not merely wisdom, but infinite wisdom, and if it is
foolishness to you, what must be your state ? What must be your
prospects ? Again, I ask in the language of the Prophet, " What
will you do in the end thereof?" Jer. v. 31.
Oh ! let me entreat — let me beseech you to consider, " To day
while it is called to day," these things that belong unto your
peace. Perhaps this subject which is brought before you to-day
through God's mercy, is brought before you to make you feel and
reason thus :
" Well, I must confess this is unintelligible to me. I knoAV not
what means this union with Christ, these privileges in Christ,
this exaltation to the glory of Christ. This is indeed, not only a
mystery, but all darkness to me. And if it is unintelligible to me,
what must be my state ? If I cannot understand God's Word, so
as even to know what the mercies are, in which His servants seem
to rejoice, then how shall I ever understand my own state before

lectures on the ephesians. 507
Him ? How shall I stand in judgment in His presence ? How
can those mercies belong to me ?"
Oh ! think of this ! Pray, that you may know and understand
the great truths that are revealed concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the great salvation of His Church — the great salva
tion He promises to poor sinners through His own precious blood
and righteousness.
May the Lord bring it home with poAver to your hearts and to
mine, that we may lift them up with joy and glory at His coming
and His kingdom ! Amen.

FORTY-THIRD LECTURE.

Ephesians VI. — 1, 2, 3.

" 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."
The Apostle continues in this chapter his practical exhortations
to his Ephesian brethren ; on the duties of their various relations
of life. And let us recollect that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is intended, not only to bring eternal life to our souls, but
to direct and guide us in all our circumstances and conduct in this
world. There is no greater abuse of Divine Truth, than to suppose
that religion consists merely in the adoption of a particular creed.
Where the truth is really believed, it must produce its fruits.
Religion that is not practical is no religion — and therefore, the
Apostle asks, " What doth it profit, if a man say he hath faith
and hath not works, can this faith save him?" Jam. ii. 14. " This
faith," as it is in the original, that is, a faith that he merely says
he has.
There are these two evils, between which Satan is continually
endeavoring to mislead the church, and in which he holds his own
servants for the most part captive in these nominally Christian
lands. One, making the performance of religious duties the hope
of their soul. The other, adopting the profession of a form of
godliness, without its practical influence or power. He makes
some to rest on their own works or merits before God. Others to
make a mighty profession of believing the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, while their lives and conversation prove that that
Gospel has no influence whatever on their hearts ; "Having" as
the Apostle saith, " a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof," 2nd Tim. iii. 5.

508

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

I say, between these two evils, Satan is continually endeavor
ing to mislead the Church of Christ ; and all Avho profess, to be
long to that Church, and do not really belong to it, ate sunk in
one or other of these abysses of evil. They are either like the
great mass of professing Christians who are ignorant of the Gos
pel of Jesus, setting up their own merits, or some vain refuge of
lies for the salvation of their souls ; or else they are, as is too fre
quently the case where the Gospel has been long and faithfully
preached, adopting the profession of the faith of Jesus nominally,
so that they will be able clearly to discriminate between doctrines
that are true and false, while their life and conversation manifest
that the Gospel of Jesus is really not embraced in their hearts.
For wherever there is genuine faith in the Gospel, that faith must
Avork by love. Therefore, you see, the Apostles are not more clear
in setting forth, fully and explicitly, the Gospel, and disentangling
it from all sophistry and falsehood, that would turn the sinner's
soul to any refuge but Christ, than they are in enforcing practi
cally the various relative duties of life, on those Avho believe the
Gospel, as the only test of the truth of their profession.
Therefore, you will recollect that the Apostle is addressing
young persons who Avere professing the faith of the Gospel of
Christ. He saith, "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."
Now, this laAV of God comes, like all other laws of God, to every
sinner on earth, who hears it in two ways. It comes to them in
an unconverted state, to their utter condemnation — to the ruin —
to the destruction of their souls, as " The ministration of death"
2nd Cor. iii. 7. Or it comes to them in their converted state, as
the holy rule of their lives, according to which they are called
upon to regulate their conduct, in liberty and love without fear.
Now we shall consider it for a few moments in these two points
of view.
It conies, I say, to unconverted sinners, as " the ministration
of death" to destroy their souls. Noav, I see several children
here. Although we, a great number of us, have grown to a time
of life when we cease to be called children, yet let us recollect,
that that is a relation in which Ave all have stood or do stand ; and
the law of God, "honor thy father and thy mother,"
comes to every one of us, if we be not brought to the. knoAvledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ to condemn us. .There is not a single
child now in this room, or a single one of us, whatever be our
time of life, against whom that law has not, or does not Avrite
judgment and condemnation, if we were to be tried only on that
ground before God, putting all our other sins out of the question.
If tried before the bar of God only on that one ground — our duty
to our parents — we should perish. from the presence of God for
ever. Recollect that. And therefore, dear children, remember,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 509
when you learn that command, "Honor thy father and thy
mother," ask your OAvn souls, have I kept this commandment?
Have I obeyed my parents ? Do I obey my parents ? Do I honor
them ? Your conscience ansAvers, No ! then the wrath of God
abides upon you, if you are yet in your sins.
Remember, that God's laws, every one of them, are capital.
This is a capital laAV — you are guilty. I mean by a capital laAV,
a laAV that brings on the soul condemnation and death with its
violation. You have violated that law — therefore you have in
curred the sentence of death at the tribunal of God. Consider
that. Noav, then, as a child, if you are at a time of life that you
can understand what I say — that you are a rational and account
able being, so that your father and mother punish you, and justly
punish you for your offences, and that you feel and know the
difference between right and wrong in your own conscience — if you
are at that time of life, then remember, that the holy laAV of God
which commands you — "honor thy father and mother,"
brings the curse of God upon your soul for the violation of it. You
have broken that law, you are a rebel against God. And remem
ber, it is not your father's and mother's command alone that you
violate when you disobey — remember, you are violating the com
mand of God. It is God's laAV. It is not only your father or
mother who desire you to do so, but God commands you to obey.
There is only one exception — one single point in Avhich you are
not to pay implicit obedience to your parents. If your parents
should command you to do anything contrary to God's law, to
commit an act that you knoAV to be contrary to His holy command
ments, then you are bound to disobey them. There are some
poor children taught to steal, and taught to tell lies— their parents
teach them to do so. Now it Avould be an act of obedience to God
in such a child to refuse to obey his parents. So, in any case in
which the command of the parent is contrary to the holy will of
God, there the child is bound to disobey. As I stated before to you
— that is the rule of all government, public and private, that when
ever a person is commanded to violate the law of God, there he is
bound to disobey, and there only. All authority comes from God
— and all authority is to be honored as from God. Recollect, then,
that this commandment condemns your souls. If you had never
committed another sin against God except the violation of that one
law, there is not a single one of you who should not be cast into
everlasting death on this one ground.
Here then, you have to observe the riches of the grace of the
Gospel of Jesus. Here you have to mark the blessedness of that
provision for man's salvation, which caused your glorious Redeemer
to be born of a woman.
Christ might have been formed as Adam Avas formed, from the
dust of the earth — Christ might have come down from heaven,
and a human body might have been formed for him by the Lord
as for Adam.
Or He might have come down from heaven in a human form,

510 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
and appeared on the earth as man; and He might have been a
righteous man, a holy man — living as He did on the earth — and
He might have died as He did. But if He had done thus, where
would have been salvation for children ? Observe, the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are told, was " Made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5. The Lord Jesus Christ Avas
" made of a woman, made under the law." A child oAves obedi
ence to God's law from the moment it can obey, from the moment
that the dawn of reason comes to its heart, from the moment it
becomes accountable to God. That is a moment which no one
can presume to determine, we cannot say what that moment is,
when the Judge of all the earth shall consider a child accountable
to Him. But from that moment the child is responsible for obe
dience to God's laAVs.
Now a child knows, and that at a very early age, when it does
wrong. Very early it is conscious of its sin. This is equally im
portant to the old as to the young, but it is especially important to
children. You know, my dear young friends, that when you offend.
against God — -when you do what your parents or teachers tell you
is wrong, you strive to hide it, to excuse yourselves. You will do
a thing when your parents or your teacher are not present, which
you would not dare to do if they Avere. What makes you do so ?
Your conscience tells you, you are wrong — that you are violating
your duty — doing what you know is forbidden — and therefore, your
conscience tells you, you are justly condemned. But reflect — If
you are justly condemned in the judgment of your parents or your
teacher, how much more must you acknowledge, that you are
'ustly condemned before a Holy God !
But when you do not feel — when you do not fear condemnation
before God for an offence, Avhich you would tremble to commit be
fore your parents — see what ignorance and blindness of under
standing and heart that exhibits. It is as much as to say, " I do
not care whether God sees me or not. If my father, or mother, or
teacher do not see me — I do not care about God. When they do
not see me, I will do so and so, and all I care for is that I shall
not be detected."
See, how this shows the natural inbred wickedness of your heart.
How this marks the truth of God's Eternal Word, " The wicked
are estranged from the womb : they go astray as soon as they be
born, speaking lies ;" Ps. lviii. 3 ; and that is one of the first ways
your wickedness manifests itself — your conscience accuses you of
doing what you know to be wrong, and when you are detected and
accused, you will deny it, if you think you can escape by your
denial. Now then, dear children, just consider what condemnation this
ought to bring on your conscience ; and Oh ! how blind — how
hardened — how rebellious does it exhibit our hearts to be, that
children, as they grow up, through all the stages of their life, if
they can conceal their sins from those who are placed over them,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 511
their crnscience does not carry with it, as it ought, the sting of
having violated God's law — or accuse them of sin committed in
God's presence — nor have they any care or fear of God's righteous
judgment abiding on them.
See, then, my dear children, what a state of sin is this ! How
inevitably it must, bring guilt and condemnation on your soul. If
you are saved, you can only be saved by this, that there is some
person to stand in your place, to become responsible for you — to
answer to God for your sins, and to fulfil as your Surety the law
you have broken, and give you a righteousness which you have
not of your own.
See then, the blessedness of having that glorious Saviour, who
came on earth, to become a child to be " made of a woman, made
under the law." Gal. iv. 4. From the moment you were born,
you owed obedience to the law, and the blessed Jesus was born
that He might pay obedience to the law from the moment of His
birth ; so " Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor
with God and man." Luke ii. 52. He was " the holy child Jesus,"
Acts iv. 27, 30 — the spotless child Jesus. There is but one in
stance, in which the Lord Jesus Christ seems to have been charge
able with an act of neglect to His mother and His reputed father
— that was this, when they went up with Him to Jerusalem, and
He remained behind after their departure. When they returned,
and were looking for Him, and they found him in the temple, and
Mary said : —
" Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us, behold thy father and
I have sought thee sorrowing ?"
Do you recollect our Lord's answer ? " How is it" — said He —
" that ye sought me, wist ye not that I must be about my father's
business ?" Luke ii. 48, 49. " That I must be occupied in the
service of my Father, you might have known that I could not be
occupied in anything else, than in the service of my Father and
my God." That was an appeal to His mother — an appeal to her
knoAvledge of Him before God and man, that she had such con
stant and uniform experience of His obedience primarily to God,
and subordinately to her, that she might have felt certain He
could only be engaged in the business of His Heavenly Father.
Oh ! What a blessed thing it is, that children have the child
Jesus as their Surety to answer for them ! that little children have
the child Jesus to stand between them and God, through all the
stages of their sins.
flow old are you ? However young you may be — remember,
Jesus was the same age.
You are a sinner, in every stage of all your life. Jesus was
righteous, from the manger to the cross. You are condemned —
justly condemned as a sinner. Christ came to save, he is the
Lord your Righteousness, as a child, as well as the Lord my
Righteousness as a man. " This is his name whereby he shall be
called, the Lord our righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6. In Avhat
ever stage of sin you are — at whatever time of life you are —

512 lectures on the ephesians.
Christ must be your only righteousness before God, " Who of God
is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification,
and Redemption," 1st Cor. ii. 30.
What a blessed consolation that we have such a Saviour as
this! Alas! dear children, if you are not looking to Christ — if
you are not brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, as all your hope of
salvation. Then, this command of God, "Honor thy father
and thy mother," if there was no other commandment in the
Avhole Bible, this one command must cast you into everlasting
death ; you are lost under this one law, if you are not looking to
Jesus. Think, what a blessed encouragement it is to you to look to
Jesus, that He was "made of a woman, made under the law,"
and that He Avas " the holy child Jesus." We are told, " In all
things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he
might be a merciful and faithful high-priest" Heb. ii. 17, and
He was like His brethren as a child, as He was like them as a
man. Remember, whatever you read of the holiness and purity
and perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ — Avhatever you hear of
Christ as a man, remember, he was the same as a little child —
the holy, spotless Lamb of God. Oh ! what a blessed thing it is
for you to have such a Saviour !
Now then, my dear children, if you are really looking to that
Saviour and Redeenier — when you feel disobedience to your pa
rents in your own hearts — when you find your OAvn will rebellious
against their commands, much more if you are led to do any act
contrary to those commands — then you will come to the Lord Je
sus Christ, and pray to Him for the pardon of your sins — you Avill
bring that rebellion of your heart — that Avickedness of your will,
by faith to the Lord Jesus, you Avill look to Him for salvation — for
deliverance and pardon for your sin, and you will come to Him for
strength, that you may be enabled to obey your parents — you will
feel thankful, that your blessed Saviour has delivered you from the
curse, and that the law shall not condemn you ; though you feel
and confess you break it, it shall not condemn you — Why ? because
Christ kept it for you — Christ fulfilled it for you — Christ obeyed i(
for you— ^and died for your sin — it shall not condemn you ; "For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth." Rom. x. 4.
Now, my dear children, consider how very important this is,
there are several of you, that can fully understand what I am
saying. The time Avhen children become responsible, so that they
are condemned before God for their offences, unless they look unto
Jesus, that time, I say, Ave cannot tell — we cannot tell how soon.
I believe that all children that are called from this world, before
they are held responsible and condemned for their oavu iniquity,
are all washed in the precious blood of the Lamb of God who
taketh away the sin of the world, and I believe that all such shall
swell that countless multitude, and join in the everlasting song of
"Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that

lectures on the ephesians. 513
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever."
Rev. v. 13.
But though we do not know, and dare not pretend to define, at
what time children become accountable to God. and are condemned
for their sins, if you read some histories of those Avho have been
early brought to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, it would
seem that they are early held accountable, and condemned both
in conscience and in fact. For it is quite clear, that when children
can see the salvation of the Gospel of Jesus, and fly to Him as the
refuge for their souls — it is quite clear, that at that time they
could not do so, unless they Avere conscious of their guilt and
wickedness — unless they feel that their souls are justly condemned
for their rebellion before God ; and every rational being who knows,
in this world, that his soul is justly condemned for his rebellion
against God, must say amen to the sentence of that condemna
tion, which he shall hear pronounced from the mouth of the Judge
of Heaven and earth.
Here too you see, the Apostle is addressing believing children,
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord," in all things
that they command you, according to the will and Word of God :
"obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."
There is one rule for all — all things that your parents command
you to do, not contrary to God's law.
This, I think, might serve to supply to many young persons a
standard of their conduct in many things about which they may
be in doubt. There are many young persons, Avho, as they are
groAving up, are brought to the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus,
and Avhose parents are ignorant of the Gospel — there are many
such cases, and these young persons are very often at a loss to
know what they shall do, when their parents Avish them to act in
a way that is contrary to their conscience. They are desirous
often, especially that their daughters should go into scenes, and to
places of public entertainment, Avhere they feel that a Christian
ought not to go — where they feel that a servant of God is out of
his place and character — where they feel they cannot consist
ently or in faith ask God's blessing or presence with them there ;
and they are very often in distress of conscience, " What shall I
do ? my parents wish me to do so and so, and it is quite contrary
to .ray conscience, and to my sense of duty to God, and I feel
quite miserable." I have known several young friends of my
OAvn — I do not knoAV whether there are any here — Avho are in dis
tress about this.
Well, the rule is clear : " obey your parents in the Lord."
If your parents want you to do anything which your Bible teaches
you, is contrary to God's will ; then you must obey God, rather
than man — that is your plain path of duty. And if children do
so in a right spirit — do so as Christians — if children make their
parents knoAV and feel, that they do so, not setting themselves up
against their authority — not because they wish to Avound them —
or to refuse obedience, not only to any command, but any wish of
33

514 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
theirs — and that it is pain to them to be obliged to disobey them
in anything — and if their parents see that they act thus, as a
point of conscience before God — and if they speak with the respect
and tenderness that they ought to do, on the subject, and show,
on all other occasions, the alacrity of loving and dutiful obedience,
as they ought — they will find, in all probability, from experience,
that their difficulties will all vanish. For, if it be true even of an
enemy, how much more of a parent? "When a man's ways
please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with
him." Prov. xvi. 7.
Sometimes, it may not be so. I have a dear friend, who was
turned out of her father's house, on the wide world, at eighteen years
of age, because she would serve her God ! She Avas left, with some
small sum that was her own, to earn her bread. She went out,
like him of old, from her kindred — she set up a school, and she
kept her school as a servant of God ; and the Lord blessed her,
and the Lord brought many, under her teaching, to the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many who are in glory, who
received the Gospel of Jesus through her; and there are many
now alive who can stand up and call her blessed, and who know
that they received the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, from her
teaching. The Lord has blessed her. too, as to worldly things ;
she is at ease in the world — she has retired from her office, with a
competence to support her declining years— and she noAv spends
her time, as she can, in endeavoring to teach the children of the
poor around her, and to bring them to the knowledge of the Gos
pel of Jesus. The Lord blessed her more than all, in allowing
her to see both these parents who had turned her out, die in the
faith of Christ. Whenever persons do, in the service of their
Heavenly Master, what they ought to do, the Lord's blessing will
rest upon them. Therefore " 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."
Now this passage, beside other important truths supplies a clear
and conclusive answer to the very false ungodly principle, that
abounds among many who make a high profession of the Gospel;
and who say, that the Law is not the rule of life for believers.
They say, " These ten commandments were commandments
given to Moses ; but the Moral LaAV is not the rule of life for be
lievers ; we are to take our rule of life, not from the Moral LaAV,
but from the precepts of the Gospel." This principle is, in every
tittle, absurd — as if there Avas any difference between the Moral
Law and the precepts of the Gospel; or as if God gave one law,
as a Moral Law, a law of duty to the JeAvs, and then, another
law of duty to Christians — as if what was sin at one time, Avas
not to be sin at another— as if the moral character, the govern
ment, the law of God, could ever vary. Our blessed Lord says,
"Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise

lectures on the ephesians. 515
pass from the lata," What law ? He is speaking of the Moral
LaAV, "till all be fulfilled." Matt. v. 18.
But here we see the Apostle — that is, the Holy Spirit by the
Apostle, quotes the Moral Law — quotes one of the commandments
of the Decalogue, and thus asserts the Decalogue as the rule of
life ; and quotes this command, as a command to be observed, and
the promise annexed to its observance.
Thus also in Romans, xiii. 9, Ave have the words of the Deca
logue quoted, " For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou
shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false
witness, Thou shalt not covet ; and if there be any other com
mandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Here, the Decalogue
is quoted, verbatim — and yet, these persons say — " The Law is
not the rule of life !" What a gross perversion of Scripture it is !
What an awful thing it is, for sinners to set up their own whims
and fancies against the plain simple light and letter of God's
blessed Word ! It is because too many will not receive the king
dom of God as a little child — because they will not receive God's
truth, in its plain simplicity. Men choose to be wise, not only
above Avhat is written, but even contrary to what is Avritten. And
therefore Ave hear so many novelties and absurdities started against
the plain letter of God's eternal Word. We should pray to be
kept from these evils — -from all false refinements, and vain specu
lations — and to come to the Scriptures, AATith this prayer in our
hearts, " That which I know not, teach Thou me." I know per
sons, who hold this principle, whom I believe to be servants of
God, who endeavor to Avalk in the precepts of the Gospel, which
is in fact walking in the law. But although they may be kept,
through God's mercy, from allowing their false principle to break
out in sin in their own lives — they are, nevertheless, setting up a
false principle, which may mislead, and does mislead others.
Hence the doctrine of Antinomianism, which is a denial that the
law of God is the rule of life for believers. And this, when it is
acted on, carries out the principle that is objected to the Gospel,
by gainsayers and blasphemers. " Let us continue in sin, that
grace may abound" Rom. vi. 1.
I have heard that system awfully maintained, by those who
have made a profession of believing the Gospel of Christ. Oh !
it is very needful for us, to pray that we may be kept walking
steadily, according to the blessed light of God's Holy Truth. It
is a great mercy, to be kept learning at the feet of Christ, and not
seeking to refine away and speculate on God's Word. It is clear
and simple, " A lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths."
Psalm cxix. 105.
Therefore, remember, that those Avho believe the Gospel are
called to walk in the commandments of God. How plain are these
words " Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for
THIS IS RIGHT. HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER ; WHICH
THAT IT MAY

516 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
BE WELL WITH THEE, AND THOU MAYEST LIVE LONG ON THE
earth." I have not the least doubt that those who walk in the
Lord's Avays,. will always find God's promises fulfilled. Noav, there
is a very remarkable instance of this in Scripture, Jeremiah xxxv.
There you n :d the Lord saying to the Prophet, " Go unto the
house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them
into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give
them wine to drink." Here, observe, the Lord commands His
prophet to go to the Rechabites, and to bring them to the house
of God, and give them Avine to drink. Now, Ave should not sup
pose, there was anything wrong in that. So the prophet calls
them, and brings them to the house of God — he does not com
mand them to do anything wrong, he gives them Avine to drink —
he says, " Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son
of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole
house of the Rechabites ; and I brought them into the house of
the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son oflgda-
liah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes,
which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum,
the keeper of the door : and I set before the sons of the house of
the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups ; and I said unto them,
Drink ye ivine.
" But they said, We will drink no wine : for Jonadab the son
of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no
inine, neither ye, nor your sons forever : neither shall ye build
house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any : but all
your days ye shall dwell in tents ; that ye may live many days
in the land where ye be strangers." Jer. xxxv. 2-7.
This Jonadab the son of Rechab, Avas a servant of God ; for if
you recollect, in the history of Jehu, when he Avas anointed king
to fulfil the Lord's commands, he said to Jonadab the son of
Rechab, " Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ?
and Jehonadab answered, It is." Then Jehu asked him, "Come
with me, and see my zeal for the Lord." 2nd Kings, x. 15, 16.
So he took him into his chariot, and he accompanied Jehu in ex
ecuting the commands of God. Jonadab's heart Avas more right
than Jehu's ; he Avas a true servant of God, and he commands
his children thus, and you see hoAV they obeyed his voice. So
they proceed.
" Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab
our father in, all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all
our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; nor to build
houses for us to dwell in." Now this Avas about 277 years subse
quent to the time that Jonadab accompanied Jehu, and they say,
"neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: but ive have
dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that
Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came to pass, that
when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land,
that we said, come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 517
of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so
we dwell at Jerusalem." v. 8 — 11.
" Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Go and tell
the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will ye not
receive instruction to hearken to my words ? saith the Lord.
The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his
sons not to drink wine, are performed ; for unto this day they
drink none, but obey their father's commandment. Notwithstand
ing I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking ; but
ye hearkened not unto me." 12 — 14.
The Lord commands the Rechabites to be brought into the
Lord's house, that their example of obedience to their father may
be exhibited to the Avhole house of Judah, and that the house of
Judah may see, that while these men are obedient to the com
mands of their father, given nearly three hundred years previously
— the whole house of. Judah are disobedient to the command of
God given even at that moment by the Prophet — hear then Avhat
the Lord saith to the Rechabites : —
" Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your
father, and kept all his precepts, and done according lo all that
he commanded you : therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a
man to stand before me forever." 18, 19. This is before Christ
about 607 years, and it is noAv 1837 years after Christ, and to this
day, more than 2400 years, that promise of the Lord stands good.
For Jonadab the son of Rechab, does not to this day, want a man
to stand before the Lord.
In the journal of the Rev. Dr. Wolfe, he informs us that he has
met the Rechabites. He tells us, that to this very day, they
quote the words of the Prophet — -they quote the promise of God
to their fathers, " Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a
man to stand before God forever." — and to this day they obey the
commandment of their father, to drink no Avine. To this day, the
Rechabites are living monuments of the truth of this promise ;
and the descendants of Jonadab shall stand as God's witnesses,
when the descendants of that people to whom they were proposed
a3 an example, the rebellious Jews, shall be brought back again,
and Avhen "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah xi. 9.
Then "Honor thy father and thy mother, that it
MAY BE AVELL WITH THEE, AND THOU MAYEST LIVE LONG ON
THE EARTH."
Here, I say, is a remarkable proof of the truth of God's Word,
in this command. This instance of obedience to God's Holy
Law, has been honored by God's gracious mercy and providence,
fulfilling those promises to the descendants of Jonadab, the son of
Rechab, to this day.
Well, I trust that this subject, of the obedience of children, has
been profitable to us. I hope it is profitable to you, my dear

518 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
children ; and that you will attend to these things. Let us recol
lect it — let us always remember, in our relation of children, which
we have passed through, that the oldest individual among us, as
well as the youngest, has reason to bless the living God, that
Jesus was a child — and that the righteousness of Jesus, as a child,
is " the end of the law for righteousness," to every believing child.
The righteousness of Jesus as a child, and the precious blood of
Jesus, are just as needful to deliver our souls from hell, as
children, as they can be our only salvation at any part of our lives.

FORTY-FOURTH LECTURE

Ephesians VI.— 4.
" And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Having enjoined oh all children who belong to the Church o.
Christ, the duty of walking in the commandment of the Lord, in
obedience to their parents. The Apostle proceeds to impress on
all Christian parents, their correlative duty to their children.
Although there be but one verse in the chapter on this subject,
it is yet a verse of the most ample and comprehensive meaning.
Let us, therefore, consider to-day, this admonition of the Apostle
to parents, in connection with his admonition to children.
" Ye FATHERS, PROVOKE NOT YOUR CHILDREN TO WRATH ."
BUT BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE
Lord." There are two points which are here insisted on by the
Apostle, in his admonition to parents, (for we need scarcely remark,
that both parents are included in it), —
First — What they are not to do, " Provoke not your chil
dren TO WRATH."
Secondly — What they are to do — " but bring them up in
THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD."
First, "Provoke not your children to wrath." How
does this admonition happen to be necessary for fathers ? Because,
when they undertake to instruct their children — to educate, and
train them up — it is an evil into which they are too likely to fall,
to irritate and provoke their children to wrath. We are vile crea
tures — very unwilling to render obedience, where obedience is due
from ourselves to others — -and very ready to exercise authority, and
to exact obedience, where it is due from others to us. And thus
there are these two faults — two extremes, into which parents are
apt to run. One, neglecting the instruction of their children — not
bringing them up with steady discipline, as they ought to do — suf
fering them to be idle and indolent — petting them, and giving Avay

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 519
to their tempers — their wills — their follies — their sins. Another,
when they do endeavor to teach and govern them ; exercising au
thority so as to provoke their children to wrath, by correcting them
when they displease them on points that wound themselves, and on
occasions that interfere Avith their own authority, and that excite
their own feelings — and not with a calm and single eye to the
good of their children, and Avith reference to their God.
Children easily see through the motive for correction. They
easily see, Avhy they are reproved or punished — they are very
quick-sighted — they will instinctively observe, Avhen their parents
reprove or correct them, whether it is done in a sober, calm, tender,
affectionate, faithful spirit — or rather in an angry one — an irritated
temper — because their children have provoked and incensed them, by
their misconduct ; and that because they are provoked and incensed,
therefore they correct and punish their offences. This, so far from
producing a good effect on a child, rather stirs up its Avicked tem
per against its parent, and excites it to Avrath. And this appears
to me, to be the evil against which the Apostle is warning parents,
where he says, " provoke not your children to wrath."
You will see this set forth, in Hebrews xii. where the Apostle,
speaking of the chastening of parents, adverts to this evil. He
says, verse 9, " We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them reverence : shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live 1 For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure ;" — for their
own objects — for their own views — perhaps their wills or tempers,
as seemed good to them, " but he for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness." You perceive the contrast, God has
but one view in the correction of His children ; but one aim, one
object, and that is, " our profit." Earthly parents have, too often.
another view, and that is, the mere maintenance of their own au
thority in punishing their children, or avenging on them the Avrong
they have done.
I have known parents, who would indulge their children shame
fully, and give Avay to their tempers and their fancies, or their
caprices, and allow them to act in a way that Avas quite intolerable to
others ; and then, when those children would exhibit the temper
which these parents had cultivated, towards themselves, and would
do something to irritate — to provoke them — to put them out of their
way — then, they would be exceedingly angry, and punish their
children vindictively for this. This, so far from doing good, quite
destroys the principles and tempers of children. And therefore, it
is a very good plan, if a parent knows that his own temper is
hasty, to defer reproof or chastisement to the children for some
time after the fault is committed ; then say to the child, " Now,
you have said so and so, you have done so and so, you have acted
in such a manner as you know provokes my displeasure extremely ;
but I shall not pronounce sentence of punishment upon you, for
such a time — one, two, or three hours, to-morrow, perhaps — in or
der that you may see that I do not punish you, because you dis-

520 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
please me, or because I am offended ; but that I punish you, after
grave and sober consideration, for your OAvn sake, for your own
misconduct." Now, that sort of punishment, deliberately inflicted
in that way on a child, produces an efficient and lasting effect —
the child sees and feels, this is for its good — the child sees and
feels, that the parent does not punish it from excited temper, but
with judgment — soberly, wisely, faithfully — this produces due effect
on the mind of a child. "Ye fathers, provoke not your
CHILDREN TO WRATH."
Besides, exciting their tempers, precludes the right cultivation
of their principles or their affections. The child will always re
spect and love the parent who wisely corrects it, far more than the
parent who indulges it. The affections of a child will be more
drawn out, as reason unfolds and judgment is formed — he will
necessarily approve and love that parent more, because the love
that proceeds from, and is united Avith respect, is always a feeling
stronger, more durable, and more influential on the heart, than the
love that proceeds merely from selfish gratitude for Aveak indul
gence. Therefore, I say, children will love, their affections will
be drawn out more to the parent who corrects them Avisely, than
to the parent Avho indulges them without correction. You will
always see what is called a petted child, turn away with ill temper
and disrespect, from the parent who has spoiled it.
But with the prohibition, " Provoke not your children to
wrath," we see,
Secondly — the command, " but bring them up in the
NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD." They should be
trained according to the Word of the Lord. Their feelings and
affections should be draAvn out towards God, by faithful Christian
instruction in His Holy Word. Now, if you provoke their tempers,
in your mode of treating them — you excite their feelings against
that which it is your first duty to cultivate in their hearts ; you
do them thereby an incalculable injury. You should endeavor to
draAV out their affections to God, and therefore you should endeavor
to make the instruction you give them, as little calculated to call
forth any opposing feeling as possible. There is, alas ! enough of
natural enmity in the heart, to God, without cultivating it, by in
judicious treatment. This is, however, a subject, in the detail of
Avhich, it is almost impossible for any preacher or lecturer to lay
down general rules. It is a subject, in which every parent will
find great difficulty. I have felt great difficulty in it, myself. It
is extremely difficult to give to religious instruction, all the weight,
all the importance, all the time you feel it requires ; and, at the
same time, not to give it so much as to injure your child's mind,
and to excite disgust or dislike to the very truth which you wish
to inculcate, and against which the natural mind is already opposed.
I do not know any subject, in which a parent requires more
wisdom; and I could not pretend to instruct you, because I cannot
instruct myself. I feel I want instruction from God ; I feel I re
quire continually to pray to God, for direction. If I were to lay

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 521
down any rule on the subject, the circumstances of various persons
might make adherence to that rule unwise and injudicious. Very
difficult questions might arise for a parent to determine. No indi
vidual can lay down any general rule, even for himself, in his own
family. Every regulation must be modified by the different circum
stances both of parents and children. Conduct, wise and proper
with respect to one child, would be injudicious and improper in the
case of another ; while one requires to be drawn out — encouraged
— brought forward ; another requires to be held back and repressed.
So we may say, in this, as in all our duties, " Who is sufficient
for these things ?" We require to be taught of God.
And I would say to those children who are here, or to any young
persons present, who may perhaps not be brought to the knowledge
of the Gospel of Christ — I would say to you, my dear young
friends, consider, if your parents know and love the Gospel of Je
sus, and if you know in your own hearts that you are not religious,
and do not embrace the truth — I say, consider, my dear young
friends, the pain and difficulty which your parents or teachers
must necessarily feel, in dealing with you. They feel, that every
thing else is utterly insignificant, compared to God's Word — all
your learning — all your accomplishments — all that you could pos
sibly acquire, is like the dust under your feet, compared with the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not know him,
you know nothing — if you shall not be brought to know Him, "Ii
were better that a millstone were hanged about your neck, and
you were cast into the depths of the sea" — it would be good foi
you, if you had never been born. If your parents know and feel
the value of the Gospel, and you know and feel it not, your heart
is pulling against them, and straining to follow the world. The
Avorld wears a very deceitful aspect in your eyes. You think it is
all pleasant — all delightful — and that if you were in such and
such circumstances, and like others who are enjoying it, you
would be happy. Your parents know it is a delusion. You are
anxious to go one way — they, another. Your temper is excited,
you are displeased, when they do not give Avay to you. Now,
consider the difficulties in which your parents are placed. Con
sider the great responsibility laid on them. Consider the deep, affec
tionate anxiety of their hearts, concerning you. If you had a pet
lamb, or a favorite dog, and that you saw it endeavoring to go
where you knew it would be devoured or torn — -with what anxious
efforts would you endeavor to prevent it; and shall not your
parents feel, when they see the child of their love rushing into the
jaws of him, who, " as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour ?" 1st Pet. v. 8. Oh ! what an awful
responsibility is laid on young people, when they have instruction —
when they have the means of knowing and learning the Gospel —
when they have parents that are most anxious to " bring them
UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE Lord" — and
when the language of their heart is, "Depart from us, for we
desire not the knowledge of thy ways." Oh ! think, my young

522 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
friends, if I address such, hoAV awful the responsibilities that are
daily accumulating on your heads, for the instruction you refuse
to receive, and the admonitions you refuse to obey. How, when
it is thus presented to you, can you answer to your OAvn con
sciences? How shall you ansAver at the judgment seat of Christ?
"How shall you escape, if you neglect such great salvation ?"
Heb. ii. 3.
The Apostle saith, in another place, "Fathers, provoke not your
children to anger, lest they be discouraged." Col. iii. 21. He
gives, you perceive, the same admonition, and gives a reason for
it, " lest they be discouraged." The mode in which religion should
be set before children, is, as it really is, the only means of true
happiness. It should not be connected with unkind, painful con
comitants of instruction — but set before them, as if it were equally
your pleasure and your duty, to impart to them, that which con
stitutes your own real, solid happiness.
For observe, when you are commanded to " bring them up
IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION of the Lord," there are
two things you must consider. These are — First, the instruction
you are to convey to your children. Secondly, the example you
are to set before them. It is in vain, to tell your children that re
ligion constitutes the real happiness of the sinner, if your children
see that it does not constitute your happiness — if they see, that
your heart really takes pleasure in the Avorld, instead of the things
that belong to your eternal peace. How can they believe you,
when you tell them that true religion alone constitutes true hap
piness — if you set, by your example, a stumbling-block in the Avay
of your precept? You cannot suppose, that your children Avill
follow your precepts, and disregard your example ; or, that you,
can convince them, by setting before them \A-hat you say you be
lieve. Avhen their senses contradict your precept, by Avhat they see
you do. Recollect, that their hearts are all naturally inclined to
follow the example that would lead them to the Avorld, and disin
clined to follow the precepts that Avould warn them from it ; and
if your example draws them in the opposite direction of your pre
cepts, you cannot lead your children to God, by the one, when
you practically lead them from Him, by the other. "Bring
THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LoRD."
These two terms have a distinct meaning. "Nurture," refer
ring to the principles implanted in the mind — the truth in which
they are to be instructed, as he saith to Timothy, "Nourished up
in the words of faith and of good doctrine." 1st Tim. iv. 6.
"And admonition," reminding them continually to bring these
principles and truths into practice.
Then observe, they are the principles and practice of Divine
Truth. "The nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Surely if the proper end of man's existence is to be brought into
the service of his God, the' proper end of his education is, that he
should be trained for that service.
Accordingly, there is scarcely any command in the Scriptures,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 523
that is more frequently insisted on by their Divine Author, than
the instruction of children in " The nurture and admonition
of the Lord." We have it set before us, in Deuteronomy, where
the Lord speaking by Moses to the children of Israel, saith, "For
what nation is there so great, that hath God so nigh unto them,
as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ?
and what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judg
ments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this
day ? Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently,
lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest
they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but teach
them thy sons and thy son's sons." Deut. iv. 7, 8, 9.
It is utterly impossible we can be anxious to teach our children
that Avhich we disregard ourselves. A mother is exceedingly desi
rous that her child should excel in accomplishments — she places a
high estimate on them. Accordingly, she will spend her time, her
efforts, her labor, her money, in striving to have her child well
instructed in these. Another parent is anxious that their child
shall excel in languages and sciences, and they use every effort
they can, to have their children instructed in these. Others again
consider it of primary importance, that their children should excel
in industry, and in providing for themselves in their profession, or
their business, whatever it may be ; and you see parents spend
their anxieties, and all their energies, to instruct their children in
these things. Why ? — -Because they are uppermost in their own
thoughts, because they are the things they value most, on which
their own hearts are set, in which their own time is occupied.
The mother is anxious to set off her child to the best advantage,
she wishes that she and her family should appear well in the eyes
of the world. The father is very anxious that his son should be
distinguished in literary attainments, and make great progress in
the learned professions, therefore it is the desire of his heart to
spend his thoughts, and time, and money, on these. The mer
chant — the shopkeeper — the tradesman, are very anxious that
their children should excel in the business or trade to which he
Avishes to bring them up, and therefore he devotes his time and
labor to this. But if the parent really feels that God and his
Truth — His Word — His LaAV — His Gospel— His Salvation— His
Service, are the first and most important things for his own soul ;
and that everything else is comparatively insignificant, as it is ;
he will impress the truth of God on the heart of his children, and
his children will know from both his precept and example, that he
does count it the most important thing for himself and for them,
that it is the first desire of his soul to fulfil this precept, and
to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord."
Dear friends, what signify all the things of this world for our
children ? What would it profit if our children possessed all the
accomplishments— beauty — learning — talents — wealth of the
world — what are they all ? I would rather see my child covered

524 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
with sores, like Lazarus — carried from door to door — desiring to
be fed Avith crumbs that fall from the tables of the rich — I would
rather see my child thus, and enjoy the blessed hope that his soul
was leaning on Jesus — than see him at the head of an empire,
and have the misery of thinking that he was on the road to
everlasting destruction. Oh ! think of this, consider this. Alas !
if you saw, as perhaps you may have seen or yet may see,
your children laid on a dreary bed of illness, if you saw them
lying cold in death before you — if conscience tells you, and bitter
memory ratifies the accusing voice of conscience, that instead
of endeavoring to bring your children to God, Avho has sum
moned them away, you trained them up for the Avorld, which
they have left to darkness, to despair, and to you — " What will .
you do in the end thereof ?" What will your feelings be ? When
you think that your children through your criminal neglect, may
have gone to everlasting death — that you neglected their souls ;
and that all your anxieties and cares, were expended in laboring
for their progress and advancement in this wretched Avorld. Alas !
Alas ! the bitterness, the anguish of the thought ! my child, Alas !
my child — my lost, neglected child !
But, it is in vain to talk of the education of children, if the
hearts of the parents themselves are not impressed with true re
ligion. Therefore the Lord saith again in Deuteronomy, " These
words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart,
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt
talk of them ivhen thou sittest in thine house ; and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou
risest up, and thou shalt bind, them for a sign upon thine hand,
and, they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt
write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
Deut. vi. 6—9.
You see, you must have the truth in your own heart, before
you can impress that truth on the minds of your children. Dear
friends, if your children are children of God, the Lord will take
care of them. If my children are children of God, I have no
anxiety about their temporal concerns ; because I knoAV they shall
have the portion, not of my children, but the portion of the
children of the King of kings — the Lord will give them the por
tion of His children — the Lord will take care of them — " Jehovah
jireh." The Lord will provide — is settled on them for an everlast
ing inheritance. All things are working for their good — everything
is ordained for their happiness, because they are the children of God.
The Lord may be pleased to bring them low in the world, to
bow them down, to afflict them Avith difficulties and trials ; but if
He does, that is the path in which He calls them to glorify Him,
that is their inheritance. His eye — His hand — His heart — are
over them, His power and love are engaged in their behalf; I do
not care, it would not cost me a thought about their temporal con
cerns, let me but know that they are saints of the living God, mem
bers of the King's household. And if I commit my own cares, my

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 525
own soul, all I value in time and eternity to the hands of my God,
can I not commit my children to Him too ? All the happiness I have
for my own heart, I can have for my children, (I can have no
happiness in the earth more than this) if I am able to look to the
Lord Jesus Christ, as my Hope and Refuge. If I am, I know
that the Lord will order all things for me. I may be encompassed
with trials and perplexities, but they must all be good for me,
" We glory," saith the Apostle, " in tribulation also, knowing
that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost,
which is given unto us." Rom. v. 3, 4, 5.
This is the portion of the Lord's children, they are provided for
in time and in eternity. Oh ! what a load it lifts off Christian
parents ! what a mountain it rolls off our hearts ! Indeed it does !
And what a blessed v illustration of the truth that "Godliness is
profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is
and that which is to come." 1st Tim. iv. 8.
And then, my dear young friends, consider this for yourselves.
If you are brought to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
" All things are yours." Your hearts may be delivered from all
care about temporal concerns ; if you have the one thing need
ful, the promise is express and direct, " Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you." Matt. vi. 33.
If you are brought like Mary to sit at the feet of Jesus, and to
choose that better portion, then, it. " Shall not be taken away from
you." Luke x. 42. Oh ! think of this, and what is the compara
tive value of anything else? Can you say of anything else in
the Avorld, it shall not be taken from you ? What is it ? Youth ?
Beauty? Accomplishments? Health? Wealth? Fame? Friends?
Those that are dearest on earth ? Life itself? Alas ! all, all,
are passing away, "And like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave
not a wreck behind."
But if you are brought to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you are taught to choose that better portion, this, this
shall not be taken from you forever ; Christ does not decay, Christ.
does not fade away, Christ does not vanish like a shadow, like the
things of time and sense, Oh ! no — Jesus, the Lord of glory, is an
everlasting treasure, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day
and forever." Heb. xiii. 6. This — this is the portion for our sons,
and our daughters, even "The unsearchable riches of Christ."
Then consider this my dear young friends, and " Seek the Lord
while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near,"
Isa. Iv. 6. This is His promise, and this is His testimony : " /
love them ihat love me; and those that seek me early shall
find me. Riches and honor are with me ; yea, durable riches
and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine
gold ; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of
righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment ; that I

526 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
may cause those that love me to inherit substance ; and I will
fill their treasures." Prov. viii. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
The Lord shoAvs, that the instruction of children is so import
ant that He gives this as one of the reasons for His statutes and
His ordinances, He says : " And when thy son asketh thee in time
to come, saying, what mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and,
the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you."
The Lord supposes the children of the Israelites, to see as they
groAV up, the daily sacrifices, the feast of the passover, and the
different ordinances of the Lord, and to ask, " What is the mean
ing of this sacrifice ? What is the meaning of that ordinance ?''
" When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, what mean
the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the
Lord our God hath commanded you ? then thou shalt say unto
thy son, we were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt : and the Lord
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand : and the Lord
showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes : and he
brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give
us the land which He sware unto our fathers." Deut. vi. 20. 21,
22, 23. They Avere to instruct their children, what were the ori
gin, end, and object, of all these ordinances.
We see the same thing in Joshua, Avhen the Lord commands a
man of every tribe, to bring out twelve stones, a stone for every
tribe, out of the midst of the river, and there erect these stones
into a monument; He says, " That this may be a sign among
you, that when your children, ask their fathers in time to come,
saying, what mean you by these stones ? Then ye shall answer
them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of
the covenant of the Lord ; when it passed over Jordan, the waters
of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial
unto the children of Israel forever." Josh. iv. 6, 7.
You see the ordinances that the Lord appointed, and this Avas
one especial use of them, that they should be ahvays a means of
instructing children, and teaching the Avays, the truth, and the
dealings, of the Lord Avith his people. Thus there is nothing more
strongly set forth throughout the Avord of God, nothing more
strongly impressed, on the people of Israel than this, that they
should teach and instruct their children, diligently in the ways of
the Lord.
And as it belongs to the Father of lights to enlighten His peo
ple, and to impress on them the deep necessity there is for instruct
ing their children in the things that belong to their peace ; so it is
one of the first aims of the prince of darkness, to intercept the
light of truth from the young mind, and to prevent children from
being brought up " in the nurture and admonition of the
lord." We have a melancholy example of this in our own coun
try. Look at this miserable land — one of the heaviest blows, that
Satan can aim at the existence of the Christian religion in a
country, is to prevent the children from being taught in the knowl-

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 527
edge of God. See how he has succeeded in this country at this
moment, so as to set up a system of National Education — to shut
out the light and authority of the Holy Scriptures, from the schools
and cottages of the poor — to supersede in every National School,
this very command of God ; and to secure to parents under the
Papal yoke, the pretended right to disobey ; and that they shall
not bring up their children " in the nurture and admonition
OF THE LORD."
Now as it is God's work to bring up children, " in the nur
ture AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD," it is the WOrk of the
prince of darkness to prevent it ; because if the youth of a Nation
are brought up, " in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord" — if children are educated in the knowledge of divine truth — •
if God's Holy Word is made the standard of their instruction, we
may hope and expect under the Divine blessing, that true religion
shall make a corresponding progress in the nation ; and that the
nation shall consequently derive a blessing, from God's sacred
truth. But if the Word of the Living God is shut out from the instruc
tion of a nation, the necessary consequence must be, that the na
tion must grow up in ignorance of God and of true religion ; and
therefore, it is the policy of the enemy of souls by every means,
to exclude the light of truth from the soul. Yet the cry is noAv,
" Educate, educate the people, let knowledge be diffused and cul
tivated among the rising generation, to the utmost. But God's
authority shall not be asserted — God's Word shall not be made an
authoritative standard of instruction in any school — the law of
the school shall be, that every child shall have a right to refuse
subjection to the authority of God." That is in plain English, let
Satan have unrestricted power to corrupt and pervert the minds
of children, let God's government, and God's authority be shut out
of their hearts. That is the plain state of the case.
To educate the human mind without the Word of God, is to
cultivate man's intellect at the expense of his principles. To
improve his reasoning faculties at the expense of his moral quali
ties, is to increase his power of indulging his natural evil pro
pensities, to the exclusion of the only counteracting power of
good. We hear on every side the common cant : — " Surely, if men
will not receive education in the Bible, it is better to give them the
education they will receive, than to give them none at all. Better
to educate them without the Bible, than to leave them in utter
ignorance." No principle can be more destitute of truth. Intellect cultivated
without religion brings man nearer to the devil. It gives power
and activity to evil. It would not be difficult to name men of this
or of any age, exalted by their talents and destitute of religion, of
whom it may truly be said, it were a blessing to themselves and
their country if they had never learned to spell.
Many will, I know, consider this a barbarous sentiment; they

528 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
will tell us that the refinement — the improvement— the very civi
lization of mankind must depend on education. I know it ; but
when religion is not the basis of that education, it but aggravates
responsibility and guilt, to go intellectually and learnedly to per
dition. Unsanctified education — unsanctified refinement — the progress
of ungodly men in arts and sciences ; but gives to man increased
capability and power of promoting evil and opposing good. So, it
is seen at this very moment. Never was irreligion more rife in
the British empire, than it is at this day. Whatever may be said
of the increase of religion among individuals, never was the na
tion, as a nation, more awfully irreligious, than it is at this moment ;
and there can be no greater proof of it, than, not merely the tole
ration, but the progress of that one wicked, anti-christian princi
ple — let men be educated without the Bible. The command of
the mighty God to parents for their children is, " bring them up
IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD." The Com
mand of the prince of darkness is, bring them up without the
nurture and admonition of the Lord.
God's command is, " Bring them up for me." The devil's com
mand is, "bring them up for me" — and if they are brought up
without religion, the devil is obeyed ; they are brought up for the
devil and not for God.
Think of this, my friends ! No man considers the subject as he
ought for himself, Avho does not consider it as anxiously for his
country. And there is no greater proof of the want of pure, sound
religion, among the Protestants of Ireland, than the passive apathy
with which they have sat down under a system of National Edu
cation, that shuts out God's Eternal Word from the instruction of
the children of their country. There is no man, Avho deserves the
name of Christian, whose protest ought not to be loud — Avhose
voice ought not to peal from north to south, and east and Avest of
this island, against a system so dishonoring to God as this. As
suredly, it must end in the destruction, the utter desolation of a
land which dares to say — Jehovah shall not exercise the authority
of His Word, to instruct and rule the minds of the inhabitants of
their country. Assuredly, a nation that casts off the authority of
God, may well begin to tremble. Let not the Protestants of this
nation, or this empire, flatter themselves that God Avill guard the
establishments of their religion, when they abandon the founda
tion of that Eternal Word, on which alone, it is, or ought to be,
established. Their laAvs — their institutions — their properties —
their liberties — all that is, or can be dear to men, shall be like the
driven stubble before the hurricane, Avhen Jehovah shall lay His
hand on them for their wickedness. O think ! thus saith the
Lord, " Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in
the day that I shall deal with thee ? I the Lord have spoken it.
and will do it." Ezek. xxii. 14.*
* The Author's sentiments expressed in this Lecture in the year 1837, continue un
changed at the end of ten years, when they are now issued from the press. The

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 529
How men are to "bring their children up in the nur
ture and admonition of the Lord," the Scripture leaves us
at no loss to determine. The Apostle fully instructs us in 2d
Tim., and now observe what he says, he addresses his beloved
Timothy thus : — " Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of
thy tears, that I may be filled with joy ; when I call to remem
brance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in
thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice ; and I am per
suaded that in thee also." What a blessed thing it is to have
a pious grandmother and a pious mother ! I lost my mother
Avhen two years old, and I was consigned to the care of a beloved
grandmother, a servant of her God. She brought me up at her
knee ; taught me much of this blessed Word as the earliest lesson
of my childhood. What a gracious mercy ! A woman may be
very old, very infirm, very feeble — she was very feeble and infirm ;
she was an invalid for thirty years ; she could hardly move across
the room Avithout assistance ; but she could teach me the Word
of God — she could teach her grandchild to commit passages of the
Holy Scripture to memory ; and I bless those sainted lips that
taught me lessons in infancy, which I remember to this day.
So you perceive the genuine spirit of faith, of which the Apostle
speaks : " Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy
mother Eunice ; and lam persuaded that in thee also." 2 Tim. i. 5.
Writer is convinced, that it is presumptuous in man to assume, that he can certainly
specify any national sin, as being the direct cause of God's judgments being poured
out on a nation. In truth, unless God were to reveal it, it can scarcely be said, with
Scriptural propriety, that any one given sin is the cause of them.
The sins of nations, as of ungodly individuals, are not the mere occasional lapses
of those who are servants of God, but the workings and evidences of growing wicked
ness, and increasing alienation from Hiai, which mark the character and constitution
of the national mind, and of which, manifestations of greater or less magnitude appear
from time to time, till they accumulate to fill the cup of a nation's guilt ; and the Lord
pours out His judgments when the measure of its iniquity is full. Herod slew James,
and apprehended Peter with intent to slay him also : this murder and persecution of
the Lord's disciples, might justly have been supposed to call down judgments on the
murderer; but it was not, till the pride of his heart, which human eye never saw,
appropriated to himself the glory due to God, for his gift of eloquence, that the meas
ure of his iniquity was filled up, and the hand of God smote him with worms.
Acts xii. i
But it is most just and lawful for ministers of Christ to mark out and specify acts
of national guilt, which are calculated from their iniquity to call down judgments on a
nation, and to fill up the measure of her guilt, which have a necessary tendency to
insult the Majesty of God. and to provoke the Divine vengeance.
Of such a nature, the Writer is conscientiously satisfied, is the Board of National
Education in Ireland ; and though it would be presumptuous, and he thinks untrue,
to specify this, which is but one among a series of great and growing national crimes ;
yet he thinks, it is one of the many, which have provoked the Lord to stretch out His
hand in judgment, and take away the stay of bread from the country.
It is to be remembered, that in that very year, when in defiance of all remonstrance,
and all entreaties for Parliamentary aid, in promoting Scriptural Instruction for Ire
land, not only was it peremptorily refused, but the System of National Education waB
incorporated in this country, which interdicts the authoritative distribution of the
" Bread of Life" in every National School ; and establishes a counter authority to in
terdict its reception by every child, on the pretence of a parental right to do so, but
realty to maintain the power of Apostate Rome.— It is to be remembered, that in that
very year, God has taken away the means of support from the people, and made all the
inhabitants of the land to feel the might of His arm, and the terror of His righteous
visitation. 34

530 lectures on the ephesians.
And how was Timothy instructed ? We read in the third chap
ter: "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and
hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them /
and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is
in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 14, 15, 16. The doctrine of the
prince of darkness is, that "experience teaches us that more evil
than good, results from the unrestricted reading of the holy script
ures."* Hence the pretence that the Bible is a book too difficult
for a child. Yea, hence from a pretended reverence for it, it is too
holy to be tossed about, as a school book. Those who follow the
precepts of the prince of darkness, and walk in his ways, they say
the same things, and act on them too ; but Jehovah saith, " bring
THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LoRD,"
Jehovah teacheth how this is effected too, "From a child thou
hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." What
matter what the world or the prince of this world — or all the rulers
of the darkness of the world say, when God saith so? What is
the answer ? "Let God be true, but every man a liar,-" Rom.
iii. 4. He saith, His Holy Scripture is able to make children wise
unto salvation, His Word is " the nurture," His Word is the
"admonition of the Lord."
What a blessing it is for a mother to train up her child in the
holy Scriptures ; to nourish up ber child in the word of the Living
God. Oh ! what a blessing is promised — and what a blessing
rests upon her instruction !
What a blessing for a sister to teach her little brothers and sis
ters the Word of God ! there is no way in which you learn more
of the Scriptures yourselves, than by teaching them to others.
God blesses you : "He that watereth shall be watered also him
self," Prov. xi. 25. That is His testimony, and His testimony is
true, and you' shall find it so, you shall find a blessing in teaching ;
for in teaching others, you shall be taught yourself of God, the
Lord will be teaching you when you are teaching His precious
Word. I never learned more of Scripture than in teaching young
persons in a Sunday School ; and you will find, by experience,
that a blessing rests on it.
A parent or a teacher cannot teach a child the simplest text in
the Bible, that they are not learning a lesson they require as much
themselves. You have God's Word to encourage you, and dear
friends, when we have the Lord's Word to lean on, with what
confidence may we go on in anything ! Let us have but the
Lord's Word — the Lord's testimony — the Lord's assurance of any
thing on earth, and we may go on straight forward, without caring
or thinking of Avhat man says, or looking to the right hand or to
the left. " Thus saith the Lord," that is enough. On that we
may venture all in time and all in eternity. Therefore O ye
* See Rule IV. of the Papal Index Lib. Prohib.

lectures on the ephesians. 531
parents! "bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord." This divine instruction is to the mind, as nour
ishment from the mother's bosom to the child, thus saith the
Apostle : "As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby," 1 Pet. ii. 2, as a babe grows from the
nourishment it draws from its mother's breast ; so the soul grows
from the nourishment it derives from God's Word — "Desire the
sincere" (that is the pure, unadulterated) " milk of the word that
ye may grow thereby."*
Now the growth of a child — the strengthening of a child is
gradual, continual, but imperceptible to the child ; so the growth
in spiritual strength and spiritual knowledge through the Word of
God is gradual; it is imperceptible to the person who is receiving
nourishment, but still it is certain, they are still growing. The
child, at the end of a year, or two years, Avill be able to see and
feel that it can walk, and can do many things — that it has strength,
much greater than it had one or two years before, though on no
one given day, could the child feel it had gained strength by the
nourishment of that day. So, persons Avho feed on " the sincere
milk of the word" will be able to feel that they have derived power
— strength — refreshment from its divine and life-giving nutriment,
though they cannot feel its sensible increase on each successive day.
When you open your Bible, and read your allotted portions, you
may not feel you have derived any spiritual strength or made any
spiritual progress ; — nay, you may feel directly the reverse — you
may feel it has been a sealed book to your soul, and yet, if you are
a child of God, you are making progress all the while.
How can that be? I will tell you how.
You open your Bible, as perhaps you often do, and you sit down
to read — and you read — and you close your Bible, and you find —
what? that you have not derived one particle of profit from a sin
gle word you have been reading — nay, that you have not been
able to apply your mind to it, or to give it the least attention, that
your heart has been wandering after some vanity, or folly, in which
you really feel no interest — you awaken as it were from a wan
dering dream, and you feel but self-conviction and condemnation
as all the profit that you have derived from reading your Bible.
* I cannot but record here, as I heard it from a brother Clergyman, a specimen o
that struggle which the powers of darkness are carrying on in unhappy Ireland
aided, I lament to say, as the National Board and the Endowment of Maynooth
testify, by those who ought to be the last to patronize and promote the reign of igno
rance and falsehood, through the instrumentality of spiritual taskmasters, against the
poor Roman Catholics, who are longing for the light and liberty of God s blessed
truth. A Priest was threatening a poor Roman. Catholic, who. he was informed, presumed
to have a Bible in his possession, and told him amongst other reasons, why he had no
right to have it, that, ,; He had no business with the Bible, for St. Peter said, it was
not the Word, but the milk of the Word he ought to have" — and he confirmed his
assertion by this text, 1st Pet. ii. 2. " I know that well, please your Reverence,"
replied the poor man, "but for fear the mijk should be adulterated, I like to keep the
cow that gives it with me in the house." Neither Popish Priests nor those who help
them, can be able to keep such a- people long in spiritual slavery, if those who are the
servants of God, will be faithful to use the talents entrusted to them.

532 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
" Alas !" you say, — " What have I been thinking of? I cannot
bring my mind to apply even to a single chapter of my Eirye, my
vacant eye has been floating over the page, while my in <irt has
been wandering like the fool's eye to the ends of the earth. I have
read my Bible only to condemn me, I have derived no ber.'-.fit from
this blessed word at all."
Such may be your exercise — such I know has often been my own.
Well noAv, can I truly say in this, I have derived no benefit from
this painful exercise? no profit — no instruction from the Bible?
nay, but on the contrary — much benefit — much experimental
knowledge of the letter and spirit of the Bible.
How so? How can this be? Because that Bible tells you,
" the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
who can know it ?" Jer. xvii. 9. Noav you have been learning the
truth of this lesson of your own wicked vile heart, and you have
been learning practically, from experience however painful, the
truth of God's Word, as to the vileness of that heart ; and even in
that way, Avhen you feel you have derived no profit from the Bible,
you have derived great profit, because you have learned your own
wickedness, and helplessness, and that you can do nothing, with
out the Spirit of God, — that you may read your Bible over and
over, and at the end be as ignorant as when you began, if you are
looking to your OAvn wisdom and leaning on your own understand
ing. You have learned that the Word of God is a dead letter
without the Spirit of God to teach you to know it — that you must
look to God, Paul might preach to you the very Avords you read,
but God must open your heart, as he did that of Lydia, to attend
to them. All your strength must be derived from God, and you
must learn, by experience, that the very Bible itself is a useless
book unless God the Holy Ghost brings the truth of that Bible
home to your heart and conscience. Therefore you are learning
a great and important lesson when you learn the corruption — the
ignorance — the impotence— the folly of your own sinful heart.
But to return, " bring them up in the nurture and admo
nition of the Lord." You, my dear friends, Avho may be dis
couraged in teaching your children, in sowing the seed ; and who,
often with an aching heart, shut your Bible, and sigh and say,
'' Alas ! my dear child, I endeavor to teach him the word of God ;
but I see, I cannot make the least impression at all, he is just as far
from God as ever, I am unhappy and miserable about his state.'*
Ah, my friend ! you learn both from yourself and your child,
that Paul may plant, and Apollos Avater ; " But God giveth the
increase," 1st Cor. iii. 6, you learn the important lesson of your
own unprofitableness for your children, as well as for yourself ; and
you learn, that you must come to God for every blessing for their
souls, as for your own. But still go on in faith, and sow the. seed.
Hoav often they that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.
As the root of the lily* sleeps in its bed of earth, through all the
* This image cannot but be familiar to those, who have read the beautiful lines, on
the lily, by the author of Psyche.

LECTURES ON 1HE EPHESIANS. 533
winter; and while many a storm blows over it, and while it sleeps
as dead, and never puts forth a bud till spring-time comes — yet
then the silken leaf bursts forth, in vegetative life and beauty — ¦
then it unfolds its snowy petals, in the vernal sun ; and He who
clothes it testifies that " Even, Solomon in all his glory, was not
arrayed like one of these." So, dark, unpromising, and cheerless,
may be the wintry season, in which the seed a parent's care and
love has sown, may lie to all appearance dead in the cold and
sterile heart ; but He who can alone give vegetative life and power,
who clothes the lilies of the field, and causeth the earth to bring
forth and bud, can in His own spring-time speak the word ; and
then the blessing shall be given — and then the fruit of all the care
and love shall appear — and then though years may have elapsed
— yea, though the parent may never live to see the blessing here,
though they may not see it even, till the morning of the resurrec
tion ; yet then, even then, the blessed fruit of a parent's anxious
care and trouble, shall burst to light and life ; and the seed sown
in tears in time, shall spring up into glory for eternity. There
fore, "BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF
the Lord."
I forget where I read the story of a pious minister, a faithful
servant of God, Avho had three sons, and he had taken great
pains Avith these three sons, and he saw no fruit whatever, no
blessing attending his labors ; and they were a grief to him as long
as he lived. He died, and all his sons came to visit him on his
death-bed. They saw their father die. It pleased God that he
should die under a cloud, his mind was not at liberty, he was not
able to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, Avith any sort of sensible
joy, he was rather sad and depressed, and expired in this unjoyous
frame of mind. His sons saw this, and while they were sitting
in the room where their father's corpse wras lying, one said to the
others, " If our father — -such a man — such a servant of God as he was
— if he has died without joy, without sensible consolation, how
shall Ave meet death, Oh ! what will become of us ?"
God blessed that one solemn reflection, to the hearts of these
three sons ; and that which all the instruction of their father could
not convey to them in all his life, the cloud that was thus sent a
messenger of mercy, at his death, brought home to their con
sciences ; and they were brought to think, and brought to repent,
and brought to Christ, by seeing their father die, without comfort
in the prospect of death. So go on, " In the morning sow thy
seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou
knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that." Eccles. xi. 6.
Thou canst not tell, whether God will bless it morning or evening ;
for He alone can do so. " Cast thy bread upon the waters : for
thou shalt find it after many days." Eccles. xi. 1. Go on, in
struct your children, " bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord," instruct them diligently in the truth,
and keep them continually in mind of it.

534 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
There are a great variety of important truths connected with
this sacred duty, which, if time permitted, I might bring under
your consideration, and I hope you do not think Ave have dAvelt
too long on the subject. It is exactly the same with ministers as
Avith parents, and every person who teaches divine truth. We
are nothing— we have nothing — we know nothing — we can do
nothjng ; but if we are enabled, in simplicity, to learn, to think,
to speak, and to walk according to God's truth; God, who can do
all things, can bless our humble efforts. He can both enable us
to teach His truth, and He can bring home the truth Ave teach to
our congregations, and the truths they teach, home to the hearts
of their children.
I trust the Lord will bless these remarks to those who hear this
day, and enable us to endeavor to bring up our children, or those
who stand towards any of us in any similar relation, whether we
are parents, guardians, or teachers, " in the nurture and ad
monition of the Lord."
May the Lord teach and help us to do so, and impress on our
hearts the solemn responsibility of having God's Word as the
standard of all instruction for ourselves, our children, and for out-
country. — Amen.

FORTY-FIFTH LECTURE.

Ephesians VI. — 5, 6, 7.

" 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 eye-service,
as men-pleasers ; 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."
We come next to consider, the duty of Christian servants.
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your mas
ters ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING,
IN SINGLENESS OF YOUR HEART AS UNTO CHRIST."
" Verily, Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise
of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." 1 Tim. iv. 7.
Consider here, that the persons addressed in this are believers —
true Christian servants ; for these exhortations could not be ad
dressed to any who were not servants of Christ. These words :
" IN SINGLENESS OF YOUR HEART AS UNTO CHRIST." these,
can only be addressed to those who belong to Christ. " The saints
and faithful brethren at Ephesus," Avhether husbands or wives
masters or servants, parents or children, these are the persons ad
dressed through this Epistle. It is as vain to press on unchristian

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 535
servants, the discharge of their duties, on Christian principles, as
on children, parents or masters, who are not Christians. You
cannot enforce moral precepts on unconverted sinners, from Christ
ian motives ; they do not understand them — they cannot put
them into practice. This is one of the reasons, while we are con
tinually upbraided for it, why Ave do not enforce moral duties in
discriminately on our flocks. We know that a great proportion
of those who hear us are not competent to perform moral duties.
Moral duties they ought to perform, obedience to God's laAV is
necessary — the first duty of man. But how false to flatter his
pride, and strengthen him in his natural presumption and ignor
ance, by telling him that as a fallen sinner who has violated it,
he can possibly be able to recover himself by its observance ; or
to delude him with the hope that he may be able to do so. I
must repeat, if it were the thousandth time, that the first lesson
to teach him is, that he is condemned under the law for not ful
filling it ; and until he is brought out of that state of condemna
tion, through Him who died for the guilty, into a state of peace
with God, he cannot perform one acceptable duty. You might as
well tell a dead body to discharge the functions of life, as tell a
dead soul to discharge the duties of a Christian. Therefore, I
say whatever duties are enjoined, or whoever be the persons, mas
ters or servants — you must be Christians, before you can act on
Christian principles, or discharge one duty acceptably to God.
Education will not make you Christians, outward instructions —
means — ordinances — sacraments will not make you Christians,
nothing can make you so, but the power and Spirit of God, bring
ing home the truth as it is in Jesus to your souls ; then, when
born again, when born of the Spirit, made children of God through
faith in Jesus Christ, then, and not till then, you are Christians
in spirit and in truth.
If we teach not thus, we are not faithful ministers of Christ.
Therefore, if you are not at peace with God, if you are not look
ing to Jesus, as the rest and refuge of your souls, do not deceive
yourselves, with the vain imagination, that you can ever advance
one step, in the way of salvation, by your efforts, to perform the
moral precepts of the law of God ; you cannot do it — it is a way in
which thousands and tens of thousands blind themselves, and go
on blindly to eternal death, salving their consciences with their
efforts to perform their duties to God, while they are really dead
in trespasses and sins, unpardoned — without peace — without
hope — without God in the world.
Therefore as this precept refers to servants, remember it must
be to servants as believers in the Gospel, they must be servants
of Christ, so I say that " Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is
to come." And Oh ! what a blessed thing it is, if a Christian
master have Christian servants ! What a comfort it is to have a
servant, whom you have good reason to know to be a child of God,
so that you can regard them, not as a servant, but as a brother in

536 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Christ, or a sister in Christ ! Avhat a blessed privilege it is to have
those, as members of your household, who are " Fellow-citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God," chap. ii. 19, to
Avhom you are bound, in the bonds of Christian fellowship, and
Christian love, with whom you hope to pass an eternity of bless
edness as fellow servants of the King of kings. Therefore to such
persons — to such servants as these, you see the command of God
to discharge their duties, comes as a privilege and blessing. " Ser
vants, BE OBEDIENT TO THEM THAT ARE YOUR MASTERS, AC
CORDING TO THE FLESH, WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING, IN SIN
GLENESS of your heart as unto Christ." Now here is an
important truth brought before us, that the Gospel of Jesus, while
it brings men in all relations of life, into the closest bond of Christ
ian and brotherly union and love, and places them in one sense
completely on a level before God, does not in the slightest degree
break in upon, or dissolve the bond of social order. The child that
is a Christian child, is a brother with his parents, they are brethren,
they are one, they are united as brethren together in Christ. But
the bonds of duty — the parental authority — the filial subjection
are not in the least degree weakened by this, but rather strength
ened, the subjection of obedience is strengthened. It is true in
deed, it flows from love. The authority of the Christian parent
is the authority of love — the obedience of the Christian child, is
the obedience of love — but still, the duty remains unbroken. So
again, the Christian servant — the Christian master or mistress —
are brethren, they are sisters, they love one another, in the bonds
of Christian fellowship. So the Apostle very beautifully sets be
fore us in his Epistle to Philemon, Avhere he speaks of Onesimus,
his slave, who had run aAvay, and whom the Apostle Paul sends
to his master with this most beautiful Epistle, no longer noAv as a
Pagan slave, but as a Christian brother, " For perhaps, he there
fore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for
ever." How beautifully this shows that the very sins, into which
the poor sinner falls, the Lord can make them, in His own Avon-
drous providence, the means of bringing that sinner into his fold
forever. His offence in running away as a fugitive slave from his
master, by which, under the Roman laAV, he had forfeited his life,
and deserved to be crucified — that very offence Avas overruled by
God, as the means of bringing him within the reach of the Gos
pel of Christ, proclaimed to him by the Apostle Paul ; and he sent
him immediately back to his master, Philemon. See the effects
of the Gospel ; he had been a blind idolatrous Pagan — a fuo-itive
slave — he hears the Gospel — God enlightens him to believe it 
and then the first act of his life, is to discharge his duty to God
and to his master, he sees his error — he acknowledges his sin • and
the immediate effect of the Gospel, is to lead him to come directly
back to his master, and to return to the discharge of his duty.
Back he comes : but, Oh ! what a change the Gospel has wrought
in the relation between him and his master ; so the Apostle saith,
" Perhaps he departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive

lectures on the ephesians. 537
him forever ; not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother
beloved, specially to me, but- how much more unto thee, both in
the flesh and in the Lord," Philemon, 15, 16 ; especially beloved
of me as my own child — my own son in the faith, but how much
more of thee as his master so long, and now as his brother.
With AArhat exquisite taste, if we may use the expression as ap
plied to words of inspiration, does the Apostle write here to Phile
mon. There is not I will affirm within the whole compass of
human language, a more perfect specimen of exquisitely eloquent
and finished taste, than this Epistle of Paul. See how he em
bodies all the power of the love of the Gospel, in the sentiment in
which he commends Onesimus to Philemon. "Not now as a ser
vant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but
how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord."
You see then the Gospel does not dissolve the bonds of duty :
therefore he saith to servants, " be obedient to them that
ARE YOUR MASTERS, ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, WITH FEAR
and trembling." He does not mean that they should be in a
state of fear and trembling, or unhappiness in the service of their
masters ; but that they should have a respectful and humble fear,
of both doing their duty, and offending against their master. For
you see it is, " in singleness of heart as unto Christ."
Which shows that as brotherhood does not dissolve the bonds
of order and obedience, so that obedience does not dissolve the
bonds of Christian love. The Christian love that necessarily
springs up between master and servant, from their union in Christ
does not dissolve nor relax the bond of subjection in the one, or
authority in the other. So the Gospel does not, in any degree,
tend to weaken the bonds of social order. This is a very great
mistake, and much to be guarded against, when those in the
humbler classes of life, think they may presume on their Christian
fellowship, so as to forget the station Avhich the Lord has been
pleased to allot them. Or when those in the higher ranks of life,
think that they should leave the duty of their appointed sphere,
so as to abandon the position in Avhich it has pleased God to place
them. Such principles are in flat contradiction to the whole
course and tenor of the Scriptures, both in the Old and New Tes
tament. God is the Author of order, and not of confusion. So
ciety is held together by order. Government — both in public and
domestic authority, and subjection in all stations of life, the Gos
pel does not dissolve, but strengthens and establishes in them all ;
and as in this passage, in all the relative duties, makes the dis
charge of those duties, both in authority and subjection, a test
and evidence of the conduct and character of a Christian, to his
Heavenly Master.
Whenever there is a departure from this, there is a departure
from the Word of God. Therefore you see, when Satan sets up
a system of irreligion, and when you see a contempt of religion
in the world, you see also that contempt of religion, accompanied
with a contempt of order — of discipline — of authority and subjec-

538 ' LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
tion. So you see, at this moment, that is the very principle that
is threatening to dissolve the framework of society, striking at the
very root of all social order ; and tending to bring on that time,
which I believe is nearer than we think : of which our Lord tells
us, such a time was not since the Avorld was, and never shall be.
You see a tendency to the confusion, the awful confusion, the tre
mendous anarchy that shall precede the outpouring of God's judg
ments, throughout the world at this very moment, in that very
principle, that authority is to be despised and trampled on — men
are, as they call it, to govern themselves — the government of man,
as the institution of God, is to be abolished — and the government
and authority of Jehovah's Word is to be made light of, and aban
doned. You see, in every part of Scripture, that principle is completely
opposed by the authority of God. Here, in families, when you
see individuals brought together, masters and servants, in the com
mon bond of Christian love — you perceive they are especially com
manded, to discharge their duties to each other, as Christian
brethren, and you see that order, subjection and authority are to
be carefully preserved — the servant's duty is to preserve his subjec
tion ; as the master's duty is to preserve his authority, but both as
unto Christ, "be obedient unto your masters, in single
ness of your heart, as unto Christ."
Noav you see what a principle of obedience is here given, and
let us recollect that in all our relations in life we are to be in sub
jection. Every one is in subjection — we must be so. Children
are in subjection to their parents — servants are in subjection to
their masters — masters and families are also in subjection to all the
constituted authorities, and therefore, the principle of obedience is
to be the same in all. It is to be in all "in singleness of
HEART AS UNTO CHRIST."
There is one single principle that should regulate and govern
the sinner's heart, and that is this, that he should discharge his
duty to his fellow man as unto his God. It is not because he
desires to please man, it is not because he desires to flatter or grat
ify man, but because he desires to serve and please his God in
singleness of heart. There should not be any mixture of motives.
A mixture of motives generally leads to expediency. If servants
Avish to please their masters, to court their favor, then " the fear
of man bringeth a snare," and if their masters or mistresses be
persons who have not the fear of God before their eyes, to please
them, would be peihaps to displease God; therefore that Avould
lead a servant to shuffling in his duty to God, it Avould lead him
to a sort of compromise in which he would not have a single eye
to his Heavenly but to his earthly master. It is a system of
pleasing man that leads men in all stations of life to accord with
ungodly and unchristian policy, they have not a single eye, a
single heart, they do not desire to serve God, Jehovah's service is
not the object at which they aim, but pleasing men, therefore,
u the fear of man bringeth a snare," and also bringeth a curse;

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 539
for the result is, that God is thrown off, and man is set up as the
ruler of the heart, and the being to be pleased. Whenever that
is the case, contempt and misery must follow, in all stations in
life, from a family to an empire.
"In singleness of heart as unto Christ," that is the
standard for every one, by which to regulate their duties, in all
situations. I have known Christian servants, who did their duty
" in singleness of heart as unto Christ."
I have known Christian servants, to deal faithfully with their
masters ; and refuse to do what was contrary to the will of God,
I have known them to set a faithful example to their masters,
because they could not please them, without disobeying the will
of God. I had a servant once myself, whom God was pleased to
bring to the knowledge of His Gospel, in my service, with whom
circumstances obliged me very reluctantly to part. He hired after
wards into the family of an English gentleman of property, and
lost an excellent situation, as far as emolument was concerned :
because, when his master went to London, he peremptorily refused
to say, that he or his mistress were not at home, when he knew
they were. They foolishly lost a servant who did his duty to
them as unto God. And what a blessed thing it is when a ser
vant has that principle in his heart ! So if we have that single
ness of heart, if we desire to please God, our object, our heart's
desire will be to serve Him and to serve any authority under which
we are placed, in singleness of heart as unto Christ.
Then you see what a blessing the Gospel brings to servants in
the discharge of their duties, " not with eye service as men
pleasers," not merely when your master's or mistress's eye is
over you, but as unto God. A child or a servant that is merely a
man-pleaser will do what they think they ought to do, if the eye
of the parent or master is over them ; but as soon as that eye is
withdrawn, there is no influence to make them do their duty, they
idle, they will not do what they ought to do. But where God is
set up in the heart, when they are brought to believe the Gospel,
and are become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ,
then it is " not with eye service as men pleasers," it is not
because their parent's eye or their master's eye is over them— but
they Avill do their duty, " as the servants of jChrist with
GOOD WILL, DOING THE WILL OF GoD FROM THE HEART."
That is the promise of the Lord, Psalm xxxii., where he saith,
"I will guide thee with mine eye." When the believer cometh to
Christ and saith, "Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve
me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of de
liverance,-" Psalm xxxii. 7. Then as much as to say, " Dost thou
come unto me ? — Then thou shalt not come in vain"— The Lord
answereth, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way wherein
thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mineeye/'Vsaim xxxii. 8; or,
as the -margin reads -it, t"I will counsel thee, mine eye shall- be
upon thee." A servant, who is a man-pleaser, will do his service
for his master ; or a child, who is a man-pleaser, will obey the

540 LECTl.RES ON THE EPHESIANS.
command of his parent, just when the eye of the master or parent
is upon them. But when the believer remembers that promise, "/
will guide thee with mine eye," or, "mine eye shall be upon thee,"
that is, " Thou shalt remember that thy Lord is looking on thee,
thou shalt remember thou art pleasing me, serving me," — then this
leads him to serve, " in singleness of heart as unto
Christ," — this leads him to " do the will of God from the
heart." For he remembers that the eye that looks on him, Avas
closed in death for him — that blessed head Avas bowed in death
for his salvation — that glorious Lord, to Avhom he runs, as to a
hiding place, is the same Avho hath loved him, and given Himself
for him. fio the eye that guides, is the eye of his Redeemer. He
is not his own — he is bought with a price, and that price Avas that
Redeemer's precious blood.
Therefore, Oh ! believer, remember thy Lord's eye is over thee,
thy Redeemer's eye is folloAving thee, thy Shepherd's eye is
Avatching thee, and then thou shalt go on, not with eye service,
as pleasing man, but heartily as unto God even as the servants of
Christ. You see what security this gives for obedience, universal obedi
ence, and willing obedience.
For universal obedience. — Because wherever the sinner is,
when he is enabled to remember that his Lord is near, there he
remembers the principle of his duty.— What is that principle ? —
Love. Therefore his obedience is a willing obedience. — If a parent or
master is loved, they will be Avillingly obeyed, but then mere
earthly affection is fleeting, fickle, selfish, and therefore, that love
is at best very unequal and inoperative ; for although a child may
love a parent, or a servant a master, they love themselves more,
the selfish love of the heart is stronger than their love to others.
But where " the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, which is given unto us," Rom. v. 5, this draAvs out
the sinner's love to his Lord, then there is " good will, doing
service, as to the Lord, and not to men." There is uni
versal obedience, for the Lord is everyAvhere — and Avilling obedi
ence, for it is the obedience of love — and that, not to man but
unto God.
What a blessing then it is, to cultivate our privileges ! God is
graciously pleased to make the correlative duties of this life, and
the discharge of those duties, a blessing to us. And thus the Lord
makes the exertion of a Christian master or mistress, who faith
fully labors for the salvation and enlightening of their servants,
the means of conferring important blessings upon themselves !
Not that this is a Christian's motive — it is no part of the motive
— but I only say, that the Lord does make the correlative duties
of life a blessing, to those who faithfully discharge them.
There are not many here, in the situation of servants ; but I
address masters and mistresses. Now I ask you, do you take pains,
t<? instruct yourservants in the things that belong to their eternal

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 541
peace, so that the principles of their obedience may be Christian
principles? Do you endeavor to instruct your family in the Word
of God ? Have you family prayer ? Have you the worship of
God in your household ? If you have, do you merely go through
it as a sort of duty ? Do you call your servants into prayer — and
having so done, and having certain duties performed, morning and
evening, do you then think no more about it? Or do you really
endeavor to impress the Word of God upon the hearts of those who
are members of your household?
Consider, you have a most solomn duty to discharge. You have
a great responsibility laid upon you. Why are you in the situa
tion of master or mistress? Why has God been pleased to place
you in a sphere of life, in which you can have persons to serve you,
instead of being yourselves servants? Who hath made the differ
ence between you and the servant of your household? — between
you and the beggar in the street? " Who maketh thee to differ
from another," in temporal things as Avell as spiritual? Why
were you born in a sphere of life in which you can employ others,
instead of being put into a sphere of life in Avhich you should labor
for your bread ? God has placed you there, and God has given
you means, opportunities, and talents, and you are responsible to
Him for them. He has given you additional talents, and additional
responsibilities, if you know the Gospel of Christ. You know there
is a heavy responsibility laid on your soul, that you should en
deavor to instruct those who are placed under your care — that you
should endeavor to lead them to the knowledge of Christ. Has
He led you to the knowledge of Himself that you should be care
less of others ? — that you should be careless of the eternal salvation
of your fellow-sinners, even of those Avho are placed in your house
hold? Oh ! consider this ! How shall you answer to God, if you
neglect your duty ? How can you expect others to discharge their
duty to you, Avhen you neglect your duty to them? Are you occu
pying the sphere in which God has placed you, if you leave those
around you uninstructed, untaught in His holy Word ?
What wonder is it, that those who call themselves Christians —
Protestants — are in such a wretched miserable state as they are,
when there is such a total failureln the discharge of their duty to
God, and their duties to their fellow-men !
There are many persons — many of our poor felloAV-sinners, Ro
man Catholics, who think it is a dangerous thing to read the Bible
without the interpretation of their church — it is a sealed book to-
them. But, alas ! what multitudes there are who speak of the
Bible — Avho boast that it is their rule of faith — who vaunt that it
is their privilege, as Protestants, to read the Sacred Volume, and
that it is the standard of their Church, and so on. But, alas ! it
is neither the standard of their faith and hope, nor of their lives
and practice. It is not the standard of the instruction they wish
to receive themselves, nor to convey to others. What use are their
boasted privileges to them? They are nothing but an increase of

542 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
judgment, an accumulating weight of guilt and condemnation on
their heads.
An awful responsibility is laid on those, who make a profession
of the true religion, in this country. I firmly believe, if God does
not pour out a spirit of repentance, and of a deep sense of our great
responsibility upon us — if we do not make an effort to discharge
our duty faithfully before our God — I do believe, the awful retri
butive sentence for our neglect, will be poured out in judgment on
the head of this country ; and on none more than on the masters
and mistresses, who bear the name of Protestants, who neglect to
instruct those around them, and dependent on them, tenderly,
faithfully, sincerely, and affectionately, in the word of God. Think
what a blessing it is, if we are brought to know the privilege of
masters and servants being Christians — being all servants of God.
If we knew the value of the principles of the Gospel for our own
souls, we would surely be desirous to communicate that Gospel to
our felloAV-sinners. We must be so. Think then, Oh ! think of
your privileges — your responsibilities — and your duties — lay them
to heart. If there be any of you whose conscience testifies that you
neglect them, consider what I have been saying to you to-day ; your
conscience tells you it is true. Begin now, make it a subject of
prayer. Do you know the value of Christ, for your OAvn soul ?
Then if so, endeavor to communicate the knoAvledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ to all your household — to your children — to your ser
vants — to all your poor dependants. Reflect Avhat opportunities
you have, and, consider what a blessing, what a glorious privilege
it is, to be instrumental in leading one sinner, to the Lord Jesus
Christ. See hoAV Paul rejoices over Philemon, and over Onesimus
his runaway slave. When Paul was a prisoner, the Lord brought
this poor slave to him, by His gracious providence, and brought him
by the Apostle's instrumentality to himself; and the Holy Ghost
inspired and preserves on record this letter to Philemon, this blessed
letter, about this poor slave in this book ; and shall Ave profess to
call ourselves Christians, anc^say we have no regard for the souls
of our servants ?
If I address any servants here, what a blessed privilege you have,
if you be indeed Christians, to be exhorted thus to your duty, " not
WITH EYE SERVICE AS MEN PLEASERS ; BUT AS THE SERVANTS
of Christ." Oh ! think what a privilege it is, to be the servant of
Christ ! a servant of the King of kings ! Persons may be poor and
humble servants— in a poor and humble station ; but then if they
are servants of the Living God— Oh ! what a glorious privilege it
is !-r-How often are servants anxious "to better themselves" as
their phrase is, and to think if they could get out of their present
master's service, and get into a higher place, with more wages,
they would be better, and that the higher they get, the better the}''
are. How sadly disappointed do they often find themselves. But
Oh ! if a servant is a servant of the King of kings, and Lord of
lords, this is indeed the highest privilege to be attained ; to be a
servant of Christ, is to be higher than the kings of the earth — a

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 543
servant of Christ, is in His glorious time to be a king — to have a
crown of glory "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
aAvay." Whose servant are you? Oh ! if the person is able to answer,
" I trust I am a servant of the Living God." Or who is your
master? If he can say the Lord — the Lord of lords — what state,
what throne on earth, is equal to a station such as this — what
dominion in the compass of the world is equal to that blessed
privilege, to be " servants of Christ, doing the will of God
FROM THE HEART."
Then, what a burden it takes off-our heart, when Ave are ena
bled to serve God — when, whatever Ave do. we desire to do it to
the Lord ; Ave do not care whether this person or another person is
looking on us — we care not, we regard not the inspection of man.
Our Heavenly Master who saith, " I will guide thee with mine
eye," is watching over us, and it is therefore our desire to do our
duty to our God. If this be so, our duty Avill be done — -joyfully
done. The child will not say, — " My parent's eye is over me" —
the servant will not say, — " My master is watching me." It is
enough to say — " My Lord's eye is over me — I am desiring to serve
my God, my Heavenly Master." When this is the case, Avhat a
burden then, I say, it takes off the heart. We care not to please men
— but simply desire in singleness of heart to serve our Lord and
Master. How this relieves our heart from irksome toil ! Duty is
no longer a burden, it is our privilege, our pleasure. The service
of God constitutes our happiness.
This is what David says, — " i" will walk at liberty" — do you
remember the reason he gives ? " For I seek thy. precepts," Psalm
cxix. 43. " I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts." I desire
to do thy will, and therefore I walk at liberty. " He that commit-
teth sin is the servant of sin ;" when we have a task that we do
not like to perform, but desire to do something else, and yet are
obliged to do that task— that is the greatest slavery in the world.
But Avhen the task is one we lay out for ourselves to do, that we
wish to do — that we delight to do — then it is no more a task, it is
a pleasure — we are free — we freely do what we wish to do — and
when what we Avish to do is our duty, the obligation to duty is
freedom- The coincidence of will and duty is the highest happi
ness and liberty of man.
That man is always free, who desires to serve the Lord. Oh !
what a blessed privilege it is ! Think of this, and your hearts
Avill be set at liberty when you are brought to serve your God.
You will obey in every station of subjection, " Not with eye
SERVICE AS MEN PLEASERS, BUT AS THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST,
DOING THE WILL OF GoD FROM THE HEART."
And now, dear friends, though we may not be servants, there
are many relations in which we may seek to discharge our duties,
striving to please others, and so far as this is according to the
Lord's will, it is well to do so ; but in whatever sphere of life we
are, if we have " singleness of heart as unto Christ," then

544 lectures on the ephesians.
our duty becomes our privilege, and it is the truest enjoyment of
our lives.
Then what a blessing it is, in all our different relations — in our
different spheres of life — if, instead of seeking to change or alter
them — we remember, we are just in the sphere in which God has
placed us. The natural mind is forever saying, like a discontented
servant, " If I was in other circumstances — in a different condition
from that in which I am — then I would discharge my duty better."
This, as we considered on a former occasion, is a delusion of the
enemy of our souls — he wishes to make us murmur. We are in
the sphere, in Avhich the Lord has placed us. Let us remember
this, if we be His children, then in singleness of heart, let us serve
our God. Depend on it, it is in His service, and not in any pecu
liar station of life, that true happiness is to be found. I trust you
see, there is an important lesson to be derived by all, from these
instructions to servants, because you perceive that the same principle
is carried out into every situation, '•' with good avill, doing ser
vice as unto the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that
whatsoever good thing any man dotii, the same shall
he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."
We shall have to consider more on this subject, and refer more to
the duties of masters and servants.
May the Lord apply what has been said to all our hearts, that
we may be enabled in every situation of life, in all our stations,
whether of subjection or authority, to have a single eye to the
Lord's glory, to please all who are placed in authority over us, so
far as our service may consist with the service of our God ! that is
the scope and boundary of all human obedience, and of the happi
ness of man !

FORTY-SIXTH LECTURE

Ephesians VI.— 7, 8, 9, 10.

" With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men : knowing that
whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whe
ther he be bond or free. 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. , Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might."
We resume in the 7th verse the subject of the Apostle's exhor
tation to servants, " with good will doing service, as to the
Lord, and not to men." How different true religion is, from
every form of that which is false ! not more different in the princi-

lectures on the ephesians. 545
pies which it inculcates ; than in the doctrine it teaches — not more
different, in the motives it implants, than in the opposition that
there is between the Gospel, Avhich proclaims salvation freely to
sinners, through the " Redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and all
the various religions of man, which under every shape and form,
set up the false and wicked principle, that man is to be saved by
something which he is to do for his own soul. True religion, is
not more different as* opposed to all false systems, in any other
point, than it is in this ; that the practical principles of genuine
obedience to God, are brought by it into the heart and conduct of
man, in every relation of life. Every unconverted sinner takes up
his religion, at certain stated times, whether he be, for example)
Protestant or Roman Catholic. When the time comes, for going
to his place of worship, then, that is his time for his religion — he
willgo there. When the time comes, for going to the sacrament
— he will go there. When the time comes for going to any stated
public ordinance, he will go there. Perhaps, if he carries his' re*
ligion a little farther than some persons, he may-have stated times
for family prayer. Every true servant of God ought to have
family worship ; but several have family worship, who are not
servants of God ; but all such individuals, as soon as their religious
exercise whatever it be, is over — as soon as they quit their church
— their stated public ordinance — their stated form, for the time — •
then their religion is over, then they go back to the world again.
While he is in the world, he is of the world. While he is at his
religion, he is religious. When he is serving God, as he calls it —
then that is his time for serving God, that is the time for this occu
pation—Then, when this is over, the rest of his time is for busi
ness — pleasure — enjoyment, there is a time for everything, he says,
Avhatever it be, and quotes the book of Ecclesiastes, to support him.
While engaged in the duties of religion — that is the time for re
ligion ; but Avhen engaged in his business or amusement, religion
is not to intrude there, that is not the place for religion, religion
would be gloomy there.
If you speak to a man Avho is ignorant of the Gospel, he will
say, "Oh, surely, one cannot be always thinking of these things,
we must be doing our business sometimes. I really have not time
to be always talking of religion." Another person will say, " Oh,
this is no time for such solemn subjects, there is a time for every
thing, everything in its proper place." This is the language of
the unregenerate heart.
Now, true religion is not more different from this ignorance, in
principle, than in practice ; because it brings its principles into all
times, circumstances, occupations, and relations of life. Wherever
a man is, if he is indeed a servant of God, his religion is with
him. Whatever he is occupied about, whatever time he is en
gaged in other services, that is the time for his religion too. He
has no business with anything, where he cannot have his God
with him. He has no business in the discharge of any duty in
which the service of his God, is not the principle on Avhich that
35

'546 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
duty is to be discharged. There is not a more certain truth than
this, that a man who is not truly religious at all times, is never
truly religious at any time. Religion is an inseparable part Of
the character of the believer. It is an occasional part of the occu
pation of an unregenerate sinner. The religion of such a man is
like the assumed loyalty of a rebel, he acts the part at certain
stated times, and for certain purposes, and when the performance
of the part is over, he returns to his natural character : a man
who is really loyal, will have his loyalty in his heart, in his own
home, as much as in the palace of his sovereign.
Now, my dear friends, consider this. See how religion is
brought in this chapter, into all the relations of life, the husband —
the wife — the parent — the child — the master — the servant. — On
what principles are all the relative duties to be performed? On
the principle of love to their God. God is to regulate the duties,
between husband and wife — between parents and children — be
tween masters and servants — between friend and friend — between
neighbor and neighbor. God is to be the Regulator of all their
conduct in all religious, political, social, and domestic relations.
When this is really the principle of the heart, there you see true
religion ; so that as for instance, in the relation of which we are
speaking to-day, whatever the servant is doing, no matter what
it is, no matter how he is occupied, if he is employed in the most
trivial or menial occupation, Avhatever it be, he is to remember this
principle: "with good will doing service as to the Lord,
and not to men." This is the word of Him who "Took upon
Him the form of a servant," Phil. ii. 7, for our sakes — this is the
word of Him, in whom there was no sin, Avho says, "I have set the
Lord always before me : because He is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved." Psalm xvi. 8. Mark then, Iioav impossible, how
utterly impossible it is to bring this principle into operation in any
heart, except the heart of a genuine Christian. When we are
afraid that God is angry with us — when we are at enmity Avith
God — when we are striving and working like slaves, to save our
souls — when Ave blindly imagine, that the good which we think
we do on one occasion, atones for the sins and omissions of another,
or makes us acceptable with God — Avhen therefore we hate God,
because our conscience tells us, we have not done enough even to
satisfy our OAvn convictions — when this is our religion, and this is the
religion of every Unconverted man, how can we bring this principle
into practice ? Impossible ! totally impossible ! This is the reason
Avhy, when an unconverted man has done Avith the business of
religion, he has done with God for the day. Therefore, love to
God is never brought as a practical principle or motive, into his
life. Christ must first be in our heart, and dwell in our heart.
" The love of Christ constraineth us," saith the Apostle, 2nd Cor.
v. 14, we must have "Peace with God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ," Rom. v. 1. We must be able to look to God, as a recon
ciled God and Father in Christ ; and then the service of God is
easy ; " Take my yoke upon you," saith Christ, " my yoke is easy,

lectures on the ephesians. 547
and my burden is light," Mat. xi. 29, 30. Why is it easy ? Be
cause it is a yoke of love. A yoke of love is always light. We
can bear any burden, when we are harnessed to it, so to speak,
with a yoke of love. So Christ saith, in those verses, "Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy
and my burden is light." Therefore, when Ave love Christ, Ave
can have Him in our hearts, our thoughts, and Avhatever our ser
vice be, to our fellow men, Ave know and feel the principle : " with
good will doing service, as unto the Lord and not unto
men," and the Apostle gives a general principle, as a reason,
"KNOWING, THAT WHATSOEVER GOOD THING ANY MAN DOETH,
THE SAME SHALL HE RECEIVE OF THE LoRD, WHETHER HE BE
BOND OR FREE."
Now, Ave have here a principle brought before us, which is impor
tant for us to consider. "Knoaving that whatsoever good
thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the
Lord, whether he be bond or free."
Noav, an objection arises immediately, in the mind of the unen
lightened sinner. "Do not you see here," he says, "we are to
receive for every good thing Ave do, and if we are to receive for every
good thing Ave do, how can you say, that the good things we do are
not essential to our salvation ? Are not these the words — ¦" whatso
ever GOOD THING ANY MAN DOETH, THE SAME SHALL HE RE
CEIVE of the Lord, whether he be bond or free?"
This brings us again to the principle which I so often endeavor
to impress upon your mind, that you must consider to whom this
is addressed. Do you mean to draw a conclusion from this, that
the Apostle is here speaking to unconverted men ; and that there
fore, whatsoever good thing unconverted men do, they shall receive
of God ? I answer to that, there is no such thing in the Bible, as
an unconverted man doing any good thing, for it is written of the
whole race : " There is none that doeth good, no not one." Psalm
xiv. 3. It is expressly declared, " They that are in the flesh, cannot
please God." Rom. viii. 8. " Without me" saith Christ, "ye can
do nothing." John xv. 5. And that is one of the means, Avhereby
sinners blind themselves continually, in reading the Scripture, they
do not consider to whom the various parts of Scripture are ad
dressed. Look again at this Epistle. To whom is it addressed ?
" To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus." Chap. i. Read again what Ave have gone over as to their
spiritual state. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Je
sus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in
heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in, Him,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to
the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His
grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

548 lectures on the ephesians.
according to the riches of His grace." Chap. i. 3 — 7. Such was
their state — now look at their faith. "In whom ye also trusted,
after ihat ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salva
tion, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise." Chap. i. 13. Again see their former
and present state : "God who is rich in mercy, for His great love
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ, that in the ages to come He might show the ex
ceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness to us by Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of your
selves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast." Chap. ii. 4 — 9.
Look through all the Epistle, see what characters these persons
were : and here is all the difference, between the moral duties im
pressed on him who is a servant of God ; and the vain ideas that
men who are not His servants conceive of their own powers.
Hoav can another man's servant do the work of your house? no
more can he who is a servant of Satan, do the work of God. Our
Lord is explicit on this point : " No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other, ye cannot serve God and
mammon." Matt. vi. 24.
Works are throughout the Scripture, declared to be the test of
man's salvation, " We must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
This is the universal testimony of the Scripture. Works are de
clared to be the test of man's salvation, before God and before man.
But works that men call good, or that ate comparatively so, no
more can purchase man's salvation, than those that confessedly are
wicked. Let us come to facts, and examine the principle. Who
for example, will deny, that honesty is better than theft — truth than
falsehood-^sobriety than drunkenness — liberality than covetous
ness? But these virtues can no more save, or help to save the
soul, than the vices that are opposed to them ; because the man
whois most honest, most true, most sober, and most liberal on
earth, is still a sinner before God — he can no more stand the test
of God's law, than the man whose character is most opposite to
his own, the best he can do must condemn him, if God were to
enter into judgment with him. He must fly to the Blood of his
Redeemer, as his ransom ; and to the righteousness of his Re
deemer, as his only merit.
But here is the point. The believer, accepted — justified— -ac
quitted^-" accounted righteous before God, only for the merits of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for his own works or de-
servings" — Art. x., washed from all his sins, by the precious blood,
and clothed in the full merit of the spotless righteousness of Christ
— standing complete in Christv^pure and accepted in Him? —

lectures on the ephesians. 549
" Without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing" is brought into the
glorious relationship of acceptance, adoption and sonship, with his
God. Then the works of that man are done entirely on a new
principle — the whole of his morals are transported to a new foun
dation — not one act is done to save his soul, he never performs a
work with the hope that it can save him, or deliver him from hell,
he never does an act to appease the wrath of God ; his whole
hope, all his joy, and all his salvation is this, that Christ has
wrought salvation for him. What then is his principle of action ?
Love to his Lord. He loves his Lord, and therefore he serves
him. Hence his works are necessarily taken, as the test of judg
ment of his soul — as the genuine proof of his being a servant of
God. This is the motive given to His disciples, by the Lord Jesus
Christ : " If you love me, keep my commandments," John xiv. 15.
Hence too he saith, " Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to
drink, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall
not lose his reward." Mark ix. 41.
Now, mark this. There is not an unconverted sinner on earth,
that ever did. or ever will give, as much as a cup of cold water,
to another fellow-sinner, because he belongs to Christ. A man
that does not believe the Gospel, has not the slightest notion of
any such relationship, as that of belonging to Christ, nor of any
such principle of conduct. Such men may give food, raiment,
money, to their fellow-creatures ; and many of them do so largely,
liberally, abundantly. But why ? Some of them do it, that it
may help to obtain salvation, in their ignorant perversion of the
text that " Charity covereth a multitude of sins," because they
think they are to be rewarded for it. Some because they are of
a liberaL generous disposition. Some from feelings of compassion,
to relieve the wants of the poor — there are various motives. But
to give it to a fellow-sinner, a fellow-disciple, "because they belong
to Christ," and from love to Christ, such a principle never entered
their head — they Could not do it — they have no idea, not the
slightest conception of that bond of union, that unites the disci
ples of Jesus to each other, and to all their felloAV-sinners. " Be
cause they belong to Christ !" — nay, that is very often the reason
why a man, ignorant of the Gospel, would turn such a person away
from his door ;; they Avould perhaps call them, or at least consider
them methodists, canters, hypocrites, yea, even those who were gen
erous and kind to worthless characters, who would give charity to
others abundantly, would do so. I remember well Avhen such were
my own feelings — I hated what I thought a hypocritical affectation,
of being more religious than others. All men who are ignorant of the
Gospel, dislike the religion of Christ. They cannot endure to hear
it asserted that all their charity, and all their gifts, and all they
can possibly bestow, can do nothing for their salvation, that " all
their righteousnesses are as filthy rags" before God, unable to cover
the nakedness of their poor souls; and that they can afford them
no ground of hope, before the bar of Christ. Their real opinion
and principle is, that their Avorks are to be adduced, for the justifi-

550 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
cation of their persons, instead of the proof of theii faith, as
being justified by the Lord Jesus. They do not like, nay, they
hate that doctrine.* They do not like to be told, much less do
they know, that they " are wretched, and miserable, and poor,
and blind, and nuked," Rev. iii. 17. They Avill not hear Christ's
counsel, " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear."
Rev. iii. 18. They know not, alas ! that the only hope of their
acceptance must be, the righteousness and blood of the crucified
and risen Saviour. Therefore, all such persons so far from gain
ing a reward for all their morality and all their religion, are merely
Avhitewashing the sepulchre of a blind, unrenewed, proud, ignorant,
self-righteous heart. Such were all the works of the Pharisees in
our Lord's day ; and such are the works of every Pharisee, from
the day of our Lord to the present moment. But such Avorks can
never stand the test of God's judgment, because the Avhole princi
ple on which they are done is false. Love to Christ is no part of
their motive — they know not for what to love Him — they are
afraid of Him, and tremble at the very thought of His coming.
And such works, so far from being adduced as a test of their faith,
the very motive of their performance is a proof of their unbelief.
They do not prove the soul to be in a state of salvation, but they
prove it to be in a state of condemnation ; to be alienated from
God and in utter ignorance of Him.
But not so, the believer, " Knowing, that whatsoever good
THING ANY MAN DOETH, THE SAME SHALL HE RECEIVE OF THE
Lord, avhether he be bond or free." There is not a single
act done by such a servant of God ; there is not a single work
done from love to his Master, however small it be, that the Lord
does not receive, accept and reward ; and therefore eternal life is
spoken of in that sense as a reward. "God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed for
his name sake, in that ye have ministered to the Saints, and yet
do minister." Heb. vi. 10. But observe this, that in order to make
it a work of this character, the principle of the work is, that so far
from thinking it good, the believer considers it defiled and worth
less, and not fit to be named in the presence of God ; the best
thing he could do, he brings to be Avashed in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore, whatever he does, Avhatever labor he goes through,
whatever alms he bestows, whatever he does for his felloAv-creatures,
or for his God, in his own estimation of it, it is, as indeed in itself it
is, vile and worthless, and not fit to be presented in the presence
of his God. He feels that he must cast it all into the fountain
* This is the very vital essence of Popery, their whole religion is built on the anti-
thristian principle ; that man is to be justified by his works, moral, ceremonial, sacra
mental, penitential, &c. Hence, the whole system is antiehristian ; whether the word
is taken as implying that which is opposed to Christ, or put in the place of Christ ; and
this is the foundation of the whole Tractarian heresy — hatred of the fundamental
principle of the Gospel, that a sinner is justified only and fully, by the righteousness
and blood of our glorious, and ever blessed Redeemer.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 551
opened for sin and uncleanness, and that it must be washed in the
blood of his Redeemer. This is the principle of the believer for
all his works.
We see this clearly illustrated in Matthew xxv., where our
blessed Lord brings forward all the nations as arrayed on His right
hand and on His left, on the day Avhen He shall come in judg
ment, " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all
the Holy Angels with him ; then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he
shall separate them one from another, as a. shepherd divideth the
sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right
hand but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Now mark, he makes their Avorks the test and proof of their sal
vation, — "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took
me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was in prison, and ye came
unto me."
Now, observe the ansAver of the righteous : " Then shall the
righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hun
gered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? when
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? naked, and clothed
thee ? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
thee ?" So far from bringing forward anything that they have
done as the ground of their hope ; they are not conscious that
they have done anything for their Lord ; and they ask, " When
did we do so?" Our Lord replies, "Verily I say unto you, Inas
much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me." You have evinced your love
to me in your love to the least of these my brethren. So far from
having the slightest hope, the slightest confidence in anything
that they have done, they think they have done nothing ; but the
Lord himself brings fonvard their works as the manifestation of
their character as His servants, and adduces their love of Him
evinced in their conduct to the humblest of his disciples, as a test
and proof of the sinner's acceptance before God ; because it is a
test of his love to his Lord and Master, and therefore of that
"Faith which worketh by love," Gal. v. 6. Therefore, the Apostle
says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maran-atha," 1st Cor. xvi. 22. Now, no man can love
the Lord Jesus Christ, but the sinner that knows Him as the
Refuge and Salvation of his soul. You see every portion of di
vine truth brings us back to the simple, "Truth as it is in Jesus."
We must resolve all pure light of doctrinal and moral truth into
the glorious effulgence of the Sun of Righteousness ; as all the
light that illuminates and vivifies the earth, converges to the glo
rious orb of day.
If our views are clear on the simple principles of Divine truth,
the Bible is an unsealed and open book to us ; and if we are blind

552 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
and ignorant of these, it is all shut ; it is a sealed book to us. We
are all confused and dark in every point of doctrine and every
principle of morals. Therefore, how important it is in reading the
Apostolical Epistles, and perceiving works enforced on the hearts
and consciences of Christians; — How important it is to keep in view,
that persons there so addressed are Christians in spirit and truth.
Do not say, " Oh ! we are all Christians."
None of you are so, if you are not brought to Christ : you have
a name to live, but you are dead — you are not Christians in spirit
and in truth, if you are not really looking unto Jesus. If you are
not washed in the blood and clothed in the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you are looking to yourselves — to your own
righteousness, you are yet in your sins^-you " have neither part
nor lot in this matter," Acts viii. 21.
Consider this, Oh ! consider it diligently — meditate on it — ex
amine it— pray over it — lay it to heart. May the Lord enable us all
to do so ! May we consider these great truths — for these are the
only truths to live by, and to die by, "Looking unto Jesus." And if we
are indeed looking unto Him, then let us know, " that whatso
ever goodthing ANYMAN DOETH, THE SAMESHALLHE RECEIVE
op the Lord, whether he be. bond or free." It is stated,
that for every good thing any man doeth, he shall receive a re
ward. But you see, that the object of receiving the reAvard, is not
the motive for his action ; it is his privilege to know that when he
is indeed '* Looking unto Jesus," the Lord forgets nothing that he
does — He neither forgets his sins to blot them out, nor his humblest
services to reward them ; so that the believer may rejoicein think
ing, that if it be but a cup of cold water given to a disciple in the
name of the Lord, it shall in no wise lose its reward.
Therefore, let no one, if he is ever so humble or poor say, alas !
I can do but little. Remember, that the poorest believer in the
world, laboring in the humblest sphere, is as highly esteemed in
the eye of God, if he really is serving him in spirit and truth, as
the person avIiq is laboring most conspicuously in His service. The
humblest member of any congregation is just serving his Lord and
Master, if he is a faithful servant, as much as peihaps the Minis
ter who is spending his life in laboring among that flock. Each of
them is living and laboripg in that sphere in which his blessed Lord
has placed him, and if serving faithfully, is serving acceptably. The
humblest work, if it be but a cup of cold water, is just as much
accepted before the Lord, and just as much reAvarded Avhen done
on the principle of love to the Lord- Jesus, as the greatest labor
that man can do ; for Ave can do nothing but as the Lord gives us
power, according to our different gifts, and talents; Ave can do
nothingfor Him but just what He bestows on us, " If there be first
a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and
not according to that he hath not." 2nd Cor. viii. 12. When the
Lord was pleased to give a widow but two mites, and gave her a heart
to cast it into the treasury ; she cast more into it in the Lord's estima
tion, than all the rich men jwho had cast in of their abundance, i

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 553
Therefore, you see what a blessing that principle is that is laid
down here for the Christian servant, " With good will doino
SERVICE AS UNTO THE LoRD AND NOT UNTO MEN ; KNOWINO
THAT WHATSOEVER GOOD THING ANY MAN DOETH, THE SAME
SHALL HE RECEIVE OF THE LoRD, WHETHER HE BE BOND OR
free." Whatever he is occupied about — whatever service he is
doing for his master, when he is doing it faithfully, earnestly,
anxiously wishing to do it, not with eye service, as pleasing men,
but as unto the Lord ; the Lord accepts it and rewards it as much
as any service of his master — it is equally regarded "whether
HE BE BOND OR FREE."
When he gives himself heartily to his master's service, because
he desires to serve the Lord — -he gives, himself in his sphere to the
Lord, and Avhatever he does on that principle — -whatever the dis
charge of duty to his master.be, as unto the Lord ; the poorest,
humblest service he renders for his Heavenly Master's sake, and
for his Heavenly Master's glory, is as much accepted before the
Lord as the labor of that master, if he were the greatest monarch
in the world. Think of this — Avhat a privilege it is — think with
what confidence the humblest creature in the world may look to
his Heavenly Father, and be satisfied, that Avhatever he does for
His sake is graciously accepted, because Jesus has died for sinners,
and he is looking to Jesus as the hope and refuge of his soul.
" The same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he
be bond or free." — So the Apostle saith in the Epistle to the
Galatians, "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptised into Christ,
have put on Christ, — -there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female :. for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus," Gal. iii. 27, 28. "All one," — The
master — it is his privilege to look on his servant as a brother,
when they are brethren in Christ. The servant — it is his privilege
to look on his master as a brother, Avhen they are brethren in
Christ. And as we remarked before, while they are brought into
this relationship to God and to each other ; so far from dissolving
the tie that subsists between them, or deranging the order of
society ; it establishes social order, on the only principle on which
it can be firmly established — the service of God, as a God of order,
authority, and obedience, as both derived from his ordinance, and
to be exercised for his glory.
"AND YE MASTERS DO THE SAME THINGS UNTO THEM," that
is, they are called on to discharge their duty to you, " in single
ness of heart as unto Christ," — "do the same things unto
them" — discharge your duty to them "in singleness of heart as
unto Christ." They are desired to do their duty to you, " not with
eye service as men pleasers;" therefore you are to do your duty
to them, " not with eye service as men pleasers," — not as if men
were looking on you and thinking well of you — not as if your
servants were looking at you and gratified with your conduct ; but
do your duty to them as remembering that your God is looking

554 lectures on the ephesians.
upon you. If they are to do service to you as " doing the will
of God from the heart, with good will doing service as
to the Lord and not to men." You are with good will to
exercise authority over them as to the Lord and not to men.
" Do the same things unto them." — As they are called upon
to discharge their duty in reference to God, exercise your authority
to them in reference to God.
" Forbearing threatening, knowing that your master
also is in Heaven." — Authority, in any circumstance, is a
dangerous thing to entrust to a poor sinner. Men too generallv
misuse their power. FeAV are fit to be entrusted Avith authority in
any way. Man almost always abuses his power at some times
and in some ways, in every relation of life. The only security
against the abuse of his power, is the continual remembrance that
he holds that power from God, and the deep conviction that it is
his duty to discharge the office Avith which he is entrusted as unto
God. For example, — the poAver of a parent over his child, he is warned
in this portion of Scripture against the abuse of that: "Ye fathers
provoke not your children to wrath." As much as to say, you
Avill be inclined to misuse your power over them — to exercise your
authority, not with a single eye to the good of your children, but
to indulge your own temper and provoke your children to wrath,
instead of doing them good.
Just so, in the case of the power of masters — they are warned
here against the abuse of that power — as much as to say, that
instead of "forbearing threatening," and remembering
"that your master also is in Heaven," and dealing with
your servants as brethren ; you will be inclined to exercise your
authority tyrannically— to threaten them — to exercise your power
harshly and severely over them — that is the natural disposition of
your heart, and you ought to Avatch against it.
" Forbearing threatening." — Do you not feel naturally
inclined to speak and act toward your servants in a manner that
you ought not to do, when they provoke you, as no doubt they will
provoke you with their disobedience, their neglect, their miscon
duct, their lies, their drunkenness, the various other evils into
Avhich too many of your servants fall? Are you not inclined to
exercise authority over them too harshly ?
The Apostle here supposes the relation of a Christian master
and Christian servant ; but Ave are called on continually — unfor
tunately — alas, to exercise, as masters, authority over servants that
are not Christians. See, how God is pleased to make the acts of
men's own Avickedness fall on their OAvn heads ! If the Protes
tants — the educated Protestants of the Protestant Church Avere
Christians in spirit and truth as they ought to be, if they served
their God according to their privileges as they ought to do, if the
Rulers of this Empire in the Church and Government — the States
men — the Bishops — the Clergy — the Protestant Landlords of this
country had been faithful servants of their God, as they ought to

LECTURES v N THE EPHESIANS. 555
be, the poor of this country, both Roman Catholics and Protes
tants, would not be, the one — so ignorant and ungodly in a true
Church, nor the other — so wicked and buried in the superstitions
and idolatries of a false Church, as they are. The country would
not be as it is, if men in their respective spheres did their duty to
their God as they ought to have done, and if we Avere Christians
as we ought to be.* There is nothing to be expected in individ
uals, families, nations, nothing to be looked for, or hoped for of
good,\ unless men are brought, individually and collectively, to be
servants of the living God.
But then, consider, in your relation and in your duty to your
servants as masters and mistresses — consider, how this principle is
forced on you ; you are to remember, that " your master also
is in heaven," — that you are to deal with your servants as be
fore God ; and let me again advert to a point, which I endeavored
to impress on you before — if that was your principle, how should
you act towards your servants ? What should be the first thing
that would occupy your mind with respect to them? Certainly
this,, that you should endeavor to bring your servants to the
knowledge of their Lord and Saviour. If you know the value of
Christ for your own souls, you cannot neglect your servants — you
cannot neglect them any more than your children — you cannot
neglect those who are placed in subjection under you ; and you
can have no better test of your own practical disregard of God and
His truth than this, that you disregard the souls of your servants.
Depend upon it, if there be any of you here who are disregarding
the souls of your servants, you are neglecting your own soul.
Depend upon it, your own soul is in an awful state before God — ¦
you are not thinking of your Lord and Master, as the Refuge for
your own soul, if you are neglecting the souls of your household.
How is it possible, you can be a servant of Christ at all? Think
of this, — if there be any among you to Avhose conscience this comes
home, who have neglected the salvation of your servants, let me
beseech you for God's sake, remember, " your master also is
IN HEAVEN, NEITHER IS THERE RESPECT OF PERSONS WITH
him." If you profess yourselves, as you do, to be servants of the
King of kings, then beware that you deal Avith your servants, not
* The Author anticipates that perhaps much offence may be taken at these senti
ments, and many may be inclined to reprove him for what they may term " unjust
charges" — " presumptuous assertions" — "audacious reproofs" &e. &c. But these senti
ments were uttered before God, in the discharge, as he believed, of his solemn duty as
a minister of Christ. And when committing them to the Press, at the long interval
of ten years afterwards, he soberly considers that every year establishes their truth.
The only question for him to determine, is not " Who will be pleased?" or " Who will
be offended?" but " What is truth in the sight op God 1" and therefore, the Author
dares not to cancel what he believes to be solemn truth. And he fears, that while
many are inclined to attribute the judgments of God on this land exclusively to Popery —
he thinks the guilty neglect of duty — the abandonment in theory and practice of the
principles to which they are pledged ori the part of Protestants, both in the Church
and State, is calculated even more than the crimes of Popery, to provoke the displeasure
of Almighty God. Those who call themselves Protestants, have been the instruments.
of carrying out, and carrying on the worst evils, and the worst systems, that defile tha
country and disgrace the British Empire.

,556 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
as unto man, but as unto God ; that you endeavor to instruct them
as you. value your. own salvation. Be assured, you shall find a
blessing to yourselves, in endeavoring to convey the knowledge of
the truth to them.
What vast responsibility is laid upon you ! Alas ! alas ! Avhen
one thinks of masters and servants — parents and children in Hell,
reproaching one another — -drawing forth the bitterness of everlast
ing remorse from the abyss of fell recriminating recollections ! ! !
"I was so long in your house — -I Avas so long in your service,
or still more awful, I was your child and you told me nothing, and
taught me nothing about God — you found me in ignorance and
sin — you brought me forth in sin — you brought me up in sin — you
kept me — you trained me — you left me in ignorance and sin —
here you are, and here I am."
Oh ! if one could give scope to the horrors of imagination, and
suppose parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and
wives, who had lived and died, serving the Devil in this world, with
the Bible within their reach — the Bible unopened in their houses
— a throne of grace to come to — a Saviour inviting them — Minis
ters entreating them to look unto Jesus ; — But no, they will despise
all — rthey will serve the Devil in time, and they are east away to
serve him and to suffer with him for eternity !
Oh ! think, what an awful thing it is for sinners to be living
without God in the world, in Avhatever relation of life they are !
What Avill signify all your occupations, your successes, your enjoy
ments, your gains, your being at ease in the world — what matters
it, that you have your comforts, your houses, your servants; that
you have everything in neatness and in order around you — that
you have children, relations, friends, more than all that your heart
can wish, while you are living without God in the world. — Christ
is not in your heart, or in your houses — among yourselves, your
children, your family, your servants, — in your draAving-room, in
your closet, your kitchen, — " What will you do in the end
thereof?" — Alas! alas! " what shall it profit a man, to gain the
whole world and lose his own soul ; or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul ?" *
Hear the word of God : — " Ye masters do the same things
TO THEM, FORBEARING THREATENING, KNOWING THAT YOUR
master also is in Heaven," — this is addressed to Christian
masters; — "Your master also is in Heaven, neither is
there respect of persons with him." What a solemn
thought ! — This is one of the many things we cannot realize at
all, — or that Ave find it so difficult to realize, that " God is no re
specter of persons." Respect of persons, Ave are so justly, in a cer
tain sense, and so> continually imbued with, from our infancy, that
we cannot think, that the sovereign on a throne, and the beggar
on .a dunghill, are just exactly the same before the Holy God ; and
that they shall just appear thesame before the judgment seat of
Christ, stripped alike of their robes of office and their rags, exactly
in one character, sinners : — the Kings, Queens, Princes, Lords, all

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 557
the great men — and the mighty men — and all beggars on the earth,
all the same ! — no respect of persons ;— the only difference between
them shall be : — the ornaments, the respectability, the rank, edu
cation, power, learning, opportunities, all the gifts that God gives
to men to exalt them in this world ; these shall press with accu
mulated weight of responsibility on their souls. The only difference
between them shall be, that a heavier judgment shall fall on the head
of those who have been great in all the various gradations of life ;
with all the talents committed to them ; and who have trampled
upon and neglected all the means of usefulness, and all the gifts
and opportunities that God had blessed them with on earth. It is
very difficult to realize, "neither is there any respect of per
sons with him," very difficult, but it is true — there is not a truth
more clearly laid down in His Holy Word. — Every individual stands
on a level with his fellow man — Sinner, is the name of each, and
Rebel, is his rank. Then, the only — the mighty — the everlasting
difference is this : whether or not, he is among the redeemed of the
Lord — brought to the feet of Jesus — washed in the precious blood
— and clothed in the righteousness of the Son of God.
I shall just read, and only read the 10th verse in conclusion,
because the Apostle refers us in it to the only ground on Avhich it
is possible for us to discharge any duty, to embrace any truth, to
trust on any promise, or to expect any blessing. " Finally, my
BRETHREN, BE STRONG IN THE LORD, AND IN THE POWER OF
his might," — as much as to say, you are all Aveakness — you have
nothing, and are nothing in yourselves, when these duties are
pressed on you ; all your strength can be derived alone from God.
"Be strong in the Lord," — you must be "in the Lord," be
fore you can " be strong in the Lord," — -you must bein Christ,
before you are strong in Christ — you must be looking unto Jesus
— you must be found in Jesus, before you can be strong in him.
Therefore, to believers alone, can it be said, " be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might." Well, dear brethren !
so we can be strong if we are looking to Jesus. — " / can do all
things through Christ, which strengthened me," Phil. iv. 13,
saith the Apostle.
May the Lord apply this to our hearts, and enable us to consider
the means by which the sinner alone can " be strong in the
Lord," even by putting on the whole armor of God. May the
Lord engrave this truth on our hearts, and seal instruction on our
souls, for Christ's sake. Amen.

FORTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.

Ephesians VI. — 1C, 11.

" Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put
on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil." We merely cursorily touched on the 10th verse, in our last Lec
ture. And we are to observe, that with this verse begins the con
clusion of this address from the Apostle to the church at Ephesus,
Avhere he comes to the close of all his exhortations to them, as he
does in this chapter.
" Finally^ my brethren". — That is, in conclusion — after all
I have written to you, "Finally, my brethen, be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might." As much as to
say,— " My brethren, I have now entered fully into the glorious sub
ject of the Gospel — the redeeming love of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. I have gone back to the everlasting love of Jehovah
to His Church. I have shown you the completeness of that Church
as redeemed in Jesus. " Chosen in him before the foundation of
the world," chap i. 4. I have gone back to the commencement of
your own spiritual life. I have shown you how you " were dead in
trespasses and sins" — "how God who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved you, even when you were dead in
sins, hath quickened you together with Christ ; (by grace are ye
saved) and hath raised you up together, and made you sit to
gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," chap. ii. 1 — 6. I have
shown you, " How in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar
off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." I have shoAvn you
the glorious privileges to Avhich you are raised — " No more stran
gers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God" — the glorious foundation on which you are
built, even " the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ, himself, being the chief corner-stone." I have shoAvn you,
how you have been heAvn out, and brought as living stones to this
foundation, and built up in Him, " In whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord," chap.
xiii. 19 — 21. I have shown you the glorious mystery, " Which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy Apostles and, Prophets by the Spirit,
that (you) the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same
body, and partakers of his promise in Christ, by the Gospel"

lectures on the ephesians. 559
chap. iii. 5, 6. I have prayed for you, " That he would grant you
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might,
by his Spirit, in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may
be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth and
length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that ye might befitted with all the ful
ness of God," chap. iii. 16 — 19. Having shown you all your
wondrous privileges, and prayed for all these blessings upon you, I
have exhorted you to " Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye
are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love." I have exhorted you to " En
deavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," chap.
iv. 1 — 3. I have shown you the glorious privileges that belong to
each of you, as members, different members of the body of Christ,
and that in all your several places, whatever place God has
appointed you in that body, you are all to keep your places, and
" Grow up unto him in all things, which is the head even Christ."
I have exhorted you, Iioav you ought to Avalk and to please God —
how you ought to "Put off, concerning your former conversation,
the old man which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and
to be renewed in the spirit of your minds" chap. iv. 22, 23— -to
put off all your sins, and vanities, and deceitfulness' in which ye
walked as Gentiles. I have called you to holiness. I have called
you to put aAvay every evil deed, and every evil Avord — to "Let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto thine hearers." I have exhorted you " Not to grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of re
demption" chap. iv. 29, 30. I have exhorted you to " Be follow
ers of God as dear children," and " Walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and given himself for us," chap. v. 1, 2. I have
called you to remember that you should avoid every sin, every un
clean act, in deed, word, and thought, and that you should " Let
no man deceive you with vain words," as that ye might walk in
these, and still be of Christ's body; for that "Because of these
things, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience."
And shall the members of Christ have license to commit the sins
that condemn His enemies ?
" I have exhorted you, in all your several relations of life, as
Husbands, Wives, Parents, Children, Masters, Servants, in all your
various circumstances and positions ; I have exhorted you, and
delivered to you how you ought to walk, to serve and glorify your
Lord and Master : but after having done all these things, I come
to the close of all my testimony, and all my admonitions to you,
and now remember, that in all these things you are weak — nay,
utterly impotent in yourselves ; unable to understand any princi
ple—to comprehend any mystery — to believe any truth — to em
brace any hope — to enjoy any promise — to perform any duty that
I have laid before you— and that all your strength must be derived

560 lectures on the ephesians.
from the Lord. Therefore, "Finally, my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
Oh r what an important exhortation is this, with which to close
this inspired Epistle. I say, what an important exhortation it is ! —
an exhortation commended to the experience of every Child of
God, who has ever read, or understood a syllable of its sacred
truth. For there is one lesson we are continually learning, as
long as we are being trained in the school of Christ ; and that
lesson is this, our own continual weakness ; our utter inability to
do, say, or think anything for our God, as of ourselves ; we are
learning the lesson which the Apostle speaks of, Avhen he says,
" Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of
ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." 2nd Cor. iii. 5. He
does not merely say, to do, or to speak — but '•' to think anything
as of ourselves." And if such was the experience of the Apostle,
surely such must be yours and mine ! I do believe, if a Christian
watches himself, that there is not one night he lies doAvn on his
bed, if he reflects on his actions, Avords, and thoughts, during the
day, that he will not have to feel, that in every single instance he
was perfectly weak in himself, and incompetent to any good ; that
in fact he could do nothing — that whenever he Avas able to do
anything — to think of anything aright^ he must know, and feel
more and more daily, that it could come alone from God. There
fore, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and
IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT."
There are two points to be considered here : first — our own
weakness; our inability to do anything of ourselves, — this is a
subject of self-examination, of self-abasement, leading to humilia
tion and to prayer. The second thing is — our strength, the
strength of the believer in Christ. " Be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might." — This is a subject of rejoicing.
Here we are to look out of self — to lift our eyes above self — to look
beyond self — and look up to our glorious covenant God. — "Be
strong in the Lord," — as much as to say, when you are weak
est — remember, strength is provided — your help is laid on one that
is mighty, — so saith the Lord, "I have laid help on one that is
mighty." Psalm lxxxix. 19. Mighty to succor, and mighty to
save. God has laid our help on Christ ; therefore Avhen he saith,
"Be strong in the Lord," think, Avhat a consolatory reflection
that is to the poor believer — that it is his privilege to be so — that
his Divine Master's strength is provided for him, so that he is never
to be discouraged under any sense of his own weakness ; because
there is such glorious encouragement for him continually, and
strength in the power of his Lord ; as much as to say, — remem ¦
ber ! Oh ! believer, your own weakness — but Oh ! remember, the
strength that is laid up for you — remember, Avhat is provided for
you ; you are weak indeed, but Christ is strong, though you are
weak. And remember, that the strength that is provided for you
in all these things, is the strength of omnipotence. Therefore,
"Be strong in the Lord." Ah! dear brethren, this is a very

lectures on the epHesiAns. 561
difficult liesson for us to learn ; but, the Lord teaches it to us, by
many a hard experience ; for we are never content to derive our
strength from God'; we are always ready to lean more or less on
bur own ; and if we find Ave have any spiritual strength, we are
just as apt to be proud of it, as strong men are of their muscular
power, they are proud of their strength, and they call it their
own — we are proud of our spiritual strength, and call it our OAvn ;
and therefore, one of the many ways we are often taught our
own weakness, is by letting us feel it — leaving us to ourselves.
There is no way in which a sinner is more immediately taught
his own weakness, than when he is left to himself. We are like
children just beginning to walk — the parent holds the child by the
hand, and then the child, Confident in its fancied strength, supported
by its parent, thinking it is supporting itself, and proud of its own
imaginary power, desires to walk alone— it is left to make the
effort for a moment — -it falls, and cries to its parent, to lift it up
again. This is exactly the state of a self righteous — weak — self
confident believer ; his whole strength is derived from the support
of the hand of his God, Avho holds and keeps him by his power.
Then he thinks he is able to walk alone — sometimes he is left to
try the experiment, he does so — then he learns his weakness, by
many a heavy fall — many a severe wound, of which, perhaps, the
world knows nothing, but which he deeply feels within. Does he
not ? — Oh believer ! have you not felt it thus ? Have you not had
many a severe fall, that no one ever knew, but that has wounded
your own conscience ? Oh yes ! yoUr own experience testifies
what grievous falls you have suffered — what deep — what heavy
falls — wounding your conscience — bowing down, perhaps your
head like a bulrush — making you cry with the Psalmist, "My
wounds stink and are corrupt through my foolishness. — I am
troubled — / am bowed down greatly ; I go mourning all the day
long!' Psalm xxxviii. 5, 6. The world may never know any
thing about it ; but you and your God have known it. The cause
is your own pride — your fancying yourself strong in your OAvn
strength. Do you recollect how the Apostle Paul was taught and
trained in this school of trial ? — Do you recollect, where he speaks
of the spiritual revelations vouchsafed to him, and the danger of
spiritual pride resulting from these? He says, "Lest I should be
exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted, above measure." 2nd Cor. xii. 7.
Some persons consider, that this Avas some bodily affliction ; but
they who say so, seem, I think, to know but very little of the spir
itual experience of the believer. "A thorn in the flesh /"— " The
messenger of Satan!" — It is much more probable, it was Some
deep temptation — some hard spiritual trial — some sin — Some strong
besetting sin, under the power of which he groaned, being bur-
thened. This is often the case. When we are not at all aware
of the existence of some particular sirt in our hearts— some temp
tation brings it out at once ; and Satan sends a messenger to stir
36

562 lectures on the ephesians.
it up — to stir up as in a muddy pool, the sin that lies at the bottom
of the heart.
Some men, for example, may think their tempers very much
subdued. But an irritation — a provocation they did not expect,
or anticipate, shows them, in a moment, how easily they may be
excited, and what a vile temper and spirit they are of, if the Lord
Avould leave them to themselves.
Some persons imagine, that their minds are abstracted from the
world, and that they have got rid of covetousness, or of ambition ;
a temptation is thrown in their way, they run greedily after gain —
they tremble for something they are afraid to lose — they are dis
appointed in something that they expected to attain, and then,
their heart is brought to see how worldly, and how full of covetous
ness or ambition it is.
Some think that they are very honest — they are tempted and
overtaken in a snare.
Some flatter themselves, that they are very pure and chaste —
they are tempted, and are taught to feel how unclean they are,
and that there is no health in them.
Some think they are resigned to the will of God ; they are soon
taught how full of murmuring and rebellion their heart is. Thus,
by some temptation — some thorn in the flesh — some fall, they are
brought to discover, and to feel their vileness, their wickedness,
their weakness, their utter impotence to stand in then own strength,
or to do anything that is good.
Then, they desire to get rid of this — they desire to- conquer it —
they hope to subdue it. So did Paul, "For this thing," he says,
" J besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me," —
this trial,— this temptation— this thorn whatever it Avas ; and this
is what the believer does — he wants to get rid of the thorn. —
" Oh !" saith he, " if I could get this sin out of my heart — this
accursed sin — if I could conquer it — if I could get my heart deliv
ered from it — free from it, what relief, what a mercy it would be
to me !" Perhaps he prays for this like Paul, that it may depart
from him. But no ! he must learn a lesson — he must learn the
lesson that Paul learned ; — the Lord's answer- to his prayer for
deliverance, was this, " He said unto me, my grace is sufficient
for thee." That is, it is not in the departing of this thorn in the
flesh that you are to take comfort ; it is not in this that you are
to find rest ; you must find it in my grace — you must bring the
evil to my grace — you must come to the blood of Jesus — you must
come humbled, bowed down, wounded, as a helpless sinner; it is
in my grace alone, you can find rest and salvation, and not in
your conscious deliverance from your own trials, and your own
corruptions. Yes, and that grace is the only means by which corruption can
be conquered ; it is in the sufficiency of grace alone, that Ave can
find the power to conquer sin ; for it is there we learn to be strong
in the Lord. — " Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus," 2nd Tim. ii. 1. So the Apostle saith,

lectures on the ephesians. 563
"Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ." 2nd Pet. iii. 18.
If this thorn had departed from Paul, he would have thought
he was strong in himself; and if we were enabled to get rid
sensibly of the corruptions that are in ourselves — to conquer our
own sins, and to banish our OAvn iniquities, we should imagine we
were strong in ourselves, and Ave should be proud of our own
strength ; but Ave must learn, that it is in the grace of our Lord
alone, that Ave can find poAver to conquer; that is, in the humilia
ting prostration of ourselves at. the feet of Jesus, as sinners. To
live in pardon of sin, is to live in victory over sin. We are thus
learning more deep, humiliating lessons of our own vileness, noth
ingness, weakness, and learning to live out of self, and in Christ —
" The life which I now live in the flesh," saith Paul, " i" live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for
we." Gal. ii. 20.
These are lessons, dear friends, which we are brought to learn
through many deep and humbling trials, and experiences of our
own evil hearts. The more we learn of ourselves — our own Aveak-
ness, helplessness and sin, the more Ave learn that which our Bible
teaches us : — " The heart is deceitful above all things, and des
perately wicked, who can know it ?" Jer. xvii. 9. We think we
have fathomed our hearts to-day, and to-morrow we find depths
of sin within them, beyond the line of all our former knowledge ;
so the Apostle learns the lesson most gladly ; "My grace is suf
ficient for thee, my strength is made perfect in weakness." If
Ave had any strength of our own, we Avould call it our OAvn
strength — we avouU glory in it, as in our own strength. But God
teaches us our weakness, that we must learn to glory in His
strength — in His grace, to rejoice, not in ourselves, but in our God.
u We are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit; and
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil.
iii. 3. Learn to be strong not in yourselves, but in your Lord.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord," — and so
the Apostle saith, " Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2nd Cor. xii. 9.
Oh ! that is a wonderful lesson for a sinner to learn — to be able
to feel his own infirmities — his OAvn sins — his own corruptions —
his own wants ; — and to be able to go out of them all, into the
righteousness and blood — the strength and power of Christ ! to be
nothing, and take Christ for his all. It is then he is taught to un
derstand experimentally this exhortation : " Finally, my breth
ren, BE STRONG IN THE LoRD, AND IN THE POWER OF HIS
MIGHT." Consider, then, these two points : your own weakness, and the
strength of the Lord ; and consider, what a glorious privilege it is
for the believer to knoAV, that that strength is free — full — all-suf
ficient for him — complete — perfect. — " My strength is made per
fect in weakness." Alas ! how much Ave live by sense ! — how

564 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
littlci we live by faith ! — -how continually we are apprehensive of
ourselves ; dreading — distrusting — doubting — falling — because we
are leaning on our own will and understanding, and confiding in our
own strength. But if we are brought to know and feel our ownAveak-
ness experimentally, and to leara to lean on the strength of Jesus —
dear friends, that is the real life of faith. Live on the strength and
fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ; that is the faith that gives love
— that is the love that gives power — that is the power that moves
and actuates the man ; so that the whole of a believer's life ; all
his spiritual life, and all his practical life, is derived from the
strength of his Lord ; and living in that strength, he is "Strong
in the LoRd, and in the power of his might." Therefore,
the Apostle saith, " / can do all things." — How ? " Through
Christ which strengtheneth me." Phil. iv. 13. If we are really
able to come to Christ for strength, we shall be able to do all
things that we ought to do ; and we may rest satisfied, that if We
find ourselves unable to do what we ought to do ; it is because we
are not coming to our Lord for strength. Therefore, the Apostle
shows in detail, how we are to be strong for our warfare. " Be
STRONG IN THE LORD, AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT ; PUT
ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GoD, THAT YE MAY BE ABLE TO
STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL."
The Apostle then commences to speak of the power of the
enemy, with whom we have to contend, and he says, " Put on
THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GoD, THAT YE MAY BE ABLE TO STAND
against the wiles of the devil." He here represents the
life of faith in Christ Jesus, under the image of Christian Armor.
No doubt, you have often seen representations in pictures, or
statues, of the armor, or perhaps, you have seen the armor itself,
with Avhich Avarriors, in ancient times were covered from head to
foot, when they went out to battle. The Apostle says, "Put on
the whole armor of God." Not only the armor, but "the
whole Armor ;" we must be armed — we have need of armor in
every part for the battle in which we are engaged. The ancient
warriors would have considered that they were totally deficient in
preparation for the field, if they went out without any part of their
armor. If they went out without their helmet, their head Avould
be unprotected — if without their breastplate, their breast would be
unguarded — if without their shield, of course they Avould be alto
gether exposed to the foe — if without their greaves, their legs and
feet would be vulnerable. Whatever part of their armor they left
behind, they would be so far unprepared and unfit to go into com
bat with their enemies; therefore, he saith, "Put on the whole
armor of God."
The armor of God is complete, there is nothing wanting. It
furnishes the warrior from head to foot. It covers him altogether.
In that armor there is no imperfection, no weak part, as there was
in the armor of the ancient warriors. You remember the " Man
who drew a bow at a venture, and smote the King of Israel be
tween the joints of the harness." 1st Kings xxii. 34. — There are

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. £65
no joints in the armor of God. It is complete armor. If you put
it on, you are invulnerable to all the weapons and power of your
enemies. We shall see this I trust, if we are spared to examine
the different parts of the armor which the Apostle enumerates in
the rest of the chapter. But let us mark the necessity of the ex
hortation, — he saith, " Put on the whole armor of God, that
YOU .MAY BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE
devil." He here sets before the church the enemies with whom
they have to contend, " That ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil." Dear friends, the greatest
dangers that accrue from the temptations of the devil, are his
wiles. — " Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any
bird:" Prov. i. 17. The man who goes out to trap game or birds,
what does he do ? He covers and hides his trap, so that the ani
mals that are to be caught may not see it; he covers it over in
such an artful way, that the animal does not suspect any trap or
snare is laid for him there. If the animal were to see the trap, he
would never be caught, he Avould flee from it ; therefore, " Surely,
in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird." The devil
knows this, — he knows how to catch us, better than the game
keeper knows how to trap his birds ; and therefore, he lays his
snares so that we cannot see them. If we could see the evil of the
sin into which we are led — if we could see the abomination of that
sin in the sight of God, to which the devil tempts us — if we could
see how from one sin we are gradually led on to another; — .how
one false, step, tends to involve us in a precipitous course of evil;
and if we could see hell yawning at the end of that course, then
no one would be led into sin. If Ave could see the reality of the
spiritual evil, and the spiritual judgments that are annexed to that
evil by God, we would no more run inte sin, than we would run
into a fiery furnace ; but the devil deceives us — he does not allow us
to see that— he does not allow us to see, either the real nature or
the end of sin ; he says it is not evil— he calls it good. The delu
sions that Satan practises on us, he covers over, so that we cannot
see them; we cannot see the end— ^the issue ;— we cannot see
whither we are goings — he completely blinds and. deceives us ; and
just exactly as a lure or bait is placed on a trap by the person who
wishes, to deceive his prey, so Satan always has some lure to pre
sent to our hearts, that he knows is peculiarly, tempting to us.
There, is not a single one of us here, for whom the devil has not
some particular lure or temptation, Avhich he knows is most espe
cially suited to each of our tastes. He will supply a temptation
that will gratify the vanity of one .person— the pride of another —
the palate of another — the ambition: of another, and so on. He
will set his snares-^his allurements exactly to what he knows to be
their peculiar inclination. These are the;wiles with which the devil
ensnares us. That which would be a temptation to you would be
none to me. That, which would he a great snare to me might be
pone to you. , One person will feel inclined to run into a sin, for
which another; has not, any inclination. No person is prone to all

566 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
sins. Peihaps, the best man in the world may be inclined to some
sort of excess, from which the very vilest of the human race is en
tirely exempt. All have their peculiar inclinations — their besetting
sins, and for all these, the devil has temptations exactly suited to
their taste. These are some of the wiles of the devil.
But there is no way in which the devil succeeds more effectually
Avith mankind, than by tempting them to the disbelief of his own
existence and his power. Unbelief, with reference to the devil, is
just as prominent an evil in the human heart as unbelief with
reference to God. The same word of eternal truth proposes to our
belief the facts concerning the devil, that proposes to our belief the
facts concerning God. We learn the devil's character — power —
Aviles — temptations — and success with the human race, on the
same authority that we learn everything connected with God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And the rejection
of revealed truth, in reference to the devil, is, I repeat, as marked
a proof of the unbelief of the heart, as the rejection of revealed
truth concerning God. Both alike, are a rejection of God's testi
mony — both a rejection of the truth of His written word. There
fore, all unenlightened men who know not the Gospel, are just as
unbelieving respecting the devil, as they are respecting God.
They speak of Satan as a sort of imaginary being. All those Avho
believe the Gospel, on the contrary, have their belief in the exist
ence, agency, and power of the devil, increased in direct proportion
as their faith in Christ is increased : — we grow in faith, in all that
God reveals to us of the devil, as we grow in faith in all that He
reveals to us of Christ ; we grow in the knowledge, faith, and ex
perience of the devil's wickedness — of his power — of his devices —
and his wiles — and of all the attributes of his character and nature,
as we grow in the knoAvledge and faith of our blessed Lord and
Master, in the experience of his power and of his love. And there
fore, while to speak experimentally of the temptations and snares
of the devil, is considered by the ungodly just as enthusiastical or
fanatical, as to speak experimentally of the grace and love of the
Lord Jesus Christ— the knowledge of these things — the knowledge
of the devil, is just as experimental, as practical and true in the
believer, as the knowledge of his Lord and Master.
The influences and power of the devil are felt — they are known
to the believer as experimentally as the influences and poAver of
the Spirit of God ; — they are known thus. — You cannot perhaps,
speak of some particular operation in your OAvn mind, as contra
distinguished from your own natural corruption, and say— "This
is the devil ;" just as you cannot speak of some particular opera
tion in your own mind, to the exclusion of your own will, and
faculties, and power, and say — " This is the Spirit of God." The
spirit and power of the devil, and the Spirit and power of the Lord
are discernible more in their effects, than in their immediate
operations upon us. Thus, our Lord saith, — " The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 567
born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. The processes of spiritual influ
ences and operations on our minds, either of good or of evil, are
as unknown to us as the beginnings and terminations of the course
of the wind ; but the effects are discernible as those of a storm or
a calm. We know and feel the influence and the poAver of sin —
we feel, that it is often not only involuntary, but against our will.
We feel, that " when we would do good, evil is present with us.''
Rom. vii. 21. There is a power — a potent influence — counteract
ing the motions of good within us. So saith the Apostle also :
" To will is present with me ; but how to perform that which is
good I find not." Rom. vii. 18. We find, thus, Avhen Ave kneel
down to pray, distracting thoughts are brought to our memory —
diverting illusions before our imaginations, over which we feel Ave
have no possible control, but which quite intercept and interrupt
the capability of prayer. We find vividly, brought back to our
recollections, some scenes, follies, vanities, absurdities of days gone
by, that we were not dreaming of when we knelt down to pray ;
brought too, with a power to our minds that. Ave cannot possibly
account for, when it is against our will and our prayer. We find
some foolish, vain, absurd, ridiculous ideas suggested to us, — we
feel our heart going forth after some sinful lust — some silly day
dream, perhaps of imaginary happiness or misery. Our fancy,
building, (as we say) some " castle in the air." We feel these pre
sented to our minds, like the shifting of scenes in a theatre — and
especially, when we would pray, or engage in any spiritual exer
cise, we feel this to be so. I will venture to say, that there is no
believer present, who has not felt it to be so. Alas ! how often
have I found myself rising from my knees, and saying to myself —
"Where am I? Where have my thoughts been wandering?
Where have I been straying from my God ? I knelt down to call
upon my Heavenly Father, and my mind has been running after
some foolish train of thought, that turns me away with a thousand
trifles. My heart has been Avandering, 'like the fool's eye to the
end of the earth.' "
Now, without at all extenuating our sin, or palliating our impiety
and- corruption, I say, this is the power of the devil. This is
mingled with the agency and influence of an unseen spiritual
power, that is more or less at intervals, working on the mind ; and
especially so, at the very time, and under the very circumstances
when the mind would most desire to devote itself to God. I ven
ture to say, that you have never felt the power of Satan in this
particular, more exerted on you than at that very time when you
would most wish to be delivered from it. When you Avould go to
prayer — Avhen you would sit down to read your Bible — when you
would desire to profit by a sermon, or a lecture — perhaps, some
word spoken even by the minister, by whose instructions you wish
to profit, might suggest to you some train or association of ideas.
Nay, it may be the case with some here, at this very moment, and
when you next turn to listen to the subject, you find you had lost
everything that he Avas saying in the intermediate time — you find

56S LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
your attention has been turned after some, other vain, pursuit, and
that the subject has been obliterated from your thoughts.
This is the Lord's testimony concerning the preaching of the
word. Do you remember what He saith in the parable of the
sower, — "Some fell by the way-side; and it was trodden down,
and the fowls of the air devoured it." And then He explains it, —
" Those by the way-side are they that hear ; then cometh the devil,
and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved." Luke viii. 5, 12. Now I say, the very
same testimony that teaches you to believe that the person who
spoke these words was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of life and
glory, should lead you to believe the word He spoke ; and that the
word He spoke was the word of truth concerning Satan, as well
as what He saith concerning Himself. And when He saith, "the
devil cometh, and taketh away the word out of their heart," we
must believe that the devil does come and take the word out of
the heart.
Noav to illustrate this, perhaps some of you may have come here,
as no doubt you have, not thinking or caring about the power of
the devil, or not believing in his influence over the human mind. —
Now if you go away, and continue to disregard and disbelieve it — -
if you say, " Oh ! these things about the agency of the devil, can
not be really as they are represented, I do not believe that the devil
ha*s any power over my mind, I should be sorry to think the devil
had any power or influence over me." If you say or think this,
I say then, it is the devil that leads you to think so. He does not
allow you to receive the Avord of Christ into your heart — he takes
it away like the seed on the wayside. This is one of his wiles, —
he does not allow you to see or believe his power, as the man who
attends a decoy, does not allow the wildfowl to see him. The
" strong man armed keepeth.his palace, and his goods are in peace."
He has quiet and peaceable possession of your soul, he has peace
able possession of your conscience, and there can be no surer proof
than the fact, that you do not know or fear or understand his
power, at least to a certain extent, for none of us understand it, or
fear or guard agains't it, as we ought to do. If we did, Ave would
walk through the vvorld as men would walk near an Indian jungle,
or an African forest, watching, lest a tiger or a lion should spring
out on them, we Avould be always on our guard, so saith the
Apostle Peter, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may de
vour." 1 Pet. v. 8. "Be sober, be vigilant." If you heard there
was a lion, prowling about the fields in this vicinity, if you went
out to take a Avalk in the fields, and that it was impressed on your
minds he might be near you, you would Avalk very cautiously, if
indeed you Avalked at all, you would keep your eyes very carefully
about you. Now, there is a lion Avorse than the fiercest monster
in the deserts of Africa, that "goeth about, seeking whom he may
devour" The Lord commands you " be sober, be vigilant^ for
that very reason, There he is represented as a roaring lion, going

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS,. 669
about, and ready to spring upon his prey. Here he is represented
in another character. We read here of "the wiles of the
devil ;" here he is a wily antagonist and look at the power as
cribed to him, and the fearful odds against us — "we wrestle
NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES,
against powers," not one, — his name is Legion, they are many ;
"against the rulers of the darkness of this world."
The rulers of darkness, they rule in darkness, and they rule by
darkness, — " against the rulers of the darkness of this
WORLD, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES," Of
heavenly places " against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies."
Satan is called in another place, as you recollect, Ave had it before
in chap ii. 2, " the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience." This name implies
his subtlety and power, he is called, " the Prince of the power of
the air," from his all-pervading subtlety ; that, as there is no place
in which you can be, which can exclude the intrusion of the air ;
so there is no place, that in the same way, can be able to keep out
Satan, there is no crevice in your room that the air will not pene
trate ; and there is no crevice in your room — there is no crevice
in your heart, that the devil will not get through — no moral chem
istry can seal you up hermetically from the devil. As he is called
" the Prince of the power of the air," in the 2d chapter, so here
he is called the "spiritual wickedness in heavenly places," meaning
in the regions of the atmosphere, the regions of the air above your
head. Have you ever seen a hawk or kite hovering in the air-
resting on the wing— looking down with his piercing eye on all
the fields beneath him — watching every hedge till his eye fixes on
his prey, and then like lightning he pounces on it? Well, his eye
is not half so quick, or his wing half so swift, or his stoop half so
rapid, as the eye and wing and power of the devil ; and remember,
this is just exactly how Satan rules in the heavenly places, in the
regions. of thei air, watching as it Avere with his legions of fiends
over the human race. And Oh ! how often he darts upon us ! and
if it was not for the mighty hand that sustains and shields us —
for the mighty hand that keeps the people of God, we never
should escape the strength and subtlety of Satan. But our God
will keep us. And therefore for this reason, " be strong in the
Lord, and in the .power of his might ;" " for" he saith " we
WRESTLE NOT- AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRIN
CIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE
DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS
in the heavenlies," as if there was a continual warfare, a
continual conflict going on between the soul and Satan, as there is
between the soul of the believer and sin.
Now, consider this— consider the enemy with whom you have
to contend— think of him—consider, and pray over these verses.—
Pray that you may learn to believe the truth concerning the devil
— that is, pray that you may believe God's testimony concerning
the power— the malice — the wickedness— the wiles of your enemy:.'

570 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Pray that you may learn to believe in God — that is — Pray for
faith in all that is revealed of His Divine nature — character and
attributes — His justice — His holiness — His mercy — His love — His
power — His truth — His great salvation. Pray for faith in all that
is revealed of the character of God ; and pray for faith in all that
is revealed of the character of Satan, — that as you may know in
the one. whom you have to avoid or to resist — you may know in
the Other, whom you have to fly to and to trust ; that as you
may know in the one who is the enemy of your souls, you may
know in the Other, who is the Refuge and the Friend of sinners.
The more you examine — the more you reflect on yourselves — the
more you consider God's Word — His Divine testimonies of the
character and power of Satan — the more you will see what need
you have for sobriety, vigilance, and faith. And the more you
know of the power of Satan, the more will you learn to feel your
need of the armor of God — to prize the grace of Christ, and the
ric.es of the glory of Him who has come to destroy the works of
the devil. Remember! that "For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
1st John iii. 8. And therefore, our belief in the very work of
Christ, includes our belief in the Avorkings of that foe, that Christ
was manifested to destroy.
May the Lord enable you and me to know — to understand — to
believe — to watch and pray — and to stand, as we have such need
tO do " AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL," thlOUgh OUr gfo-
rious Redeemer. — Amen.

FORTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.

Ephesians VI.— 12, 13, 14.

" 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. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteous
ness." Before I commence the passage on which I have to speak to
day, I wish to make a few observations on some expressions in my
last lecture, which I hear were misconceived by some Avho were
present. It has been represented as very extraordinary doctrine,
to teach, as they say, faith in the devil. If any persons have
made this remark, I take it for granted that they misunderstood
the subject. Though I do not write m - addresses to you, I hope

LECffURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 571
and trust, that I do not speak unadvisedly, — I desire to use "sound
speech that cannot be condemned." And I might have concluded,
that I had failed in this, and that I had not sufficiently explained
myself, if I had not the means of ascertaining exactly what I said.
But I have received from the reporter who attends here, an exact
transcript of my words, and on the most careful consideration of
them, I must say, that I see nothing that I could alter in the sub
ject. On the contrary, I am glad that it has fastened on the minds
of any, in order that you may be led more soberly and attentively
to consider it.
I endeavored to impress on your minds, that we can know noth
ing of the character of Satan, unless what God has revealed to us.
Everything we learn of our enemy, we learn on the authority of
God. Therefore, to believe all that God tells us of that enemy,
against whom we are to watch ; and of whom the apostle is ex
pressly speaking here, and instructing us, that those who believe
in Christ, are to take " the whole armor of God" for the espe
cial purpose of being "able to stand against the wiles of
the devil." To believe — I say, in Satan — that is, in all that
God reveals of him, is to believe God's word,— God's testimony, —
God's truth. Now I am glad, that you should think of this.
There is no subject of which we have more occasion to think.
Even now while we are speaking of it — Avhile we are reading in
God's word about it, the enemy is busy with our souls, as he is at
all times. This formidable enemy — this " Prince of the power of
the air" — this "Ruler of the darkness of this world,"
is always on the watch, — not only to keep those fast who are his
servants, but to pluck, if he were able, those who believe the Gospel
of Christ out of the hand of their Shepherd. Therefore I am glad,
that we should dwell on the subject ; we have great reason to do so.
We are ignorant of the devices of Satan, by nature, just as we
are ignorant of the character of God and of Christ. The natural
man disbelieves the character of Satan, just as much as he disbe
lieves the character of God the Father, and of Christ ; and I repeat
what I told you before, that we grow in the knowledge of the
wiles and power of the devil, just as we grow in the knowledge
of the grace and power of our Lord ; and I have no doubt, the
experience of every true child of God practically bears out this
assertion. I told you, there is no Avay in which the devil succeeds
more effectually against the human race, than by tempting them
to the unbelief of himself. Unbelief with respect to the devil is
just a similar evil in the human heart, as unbelief with respect to
God, because it is the same word of eternal truth, that proposes to
our belief the facts concerning the devil, that proposes to our be
lief, the facts concerning God. — Is it not so ? We learn the devil's
character — his power— his wiles — his temptations — and success
with the human race, on the same authority that we learn every
thing connected with God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost ; and the unbelief of the heart in reference to the-
devil, just as the unbelief of the heart in reference to the chaiac-

572 lectures on the ephesians.
ter of God, exhibits an evil heart of unbelief, as in both instances
we reject God's own testimony.
:, How could we possibly receive the divine revelation concerning
fallen spirits, or the fall of man ? — How the various testimonies in
all the Old and the New Testaments ?— The trials of Job ?—
The temptations of David ? — The lying spirit of the false proph
ets? — The ,temptations and miracles of our blessed Lord? — -All
the predictions concerning Satan, as to his association Avith the
man of sin ? — The mystery of iniquity ? — The nature and power
of Antichrist — papal, and infidel, or both? — The snares and tempr
tations of believers, against which they are now called to watch
and pray, and against which, as developed in the character of Sa
tan, they -are called on as here, to contend in the whole armor of
God ? — How could we understand the promised blessings of future
glory in this world, one part of which will consist in the binding
of the enemy of mankind, that he will not deceive man as he
does now?— In short, hoAV can we either understand or believe the
Bible ? — How can we believe God, if we do not believe in the devil ?
— We might just as Avell say, a general or a soldier is not called
to understand and believe all that he can learn of the character,
positions, plots, and machinations of the foe, against whom he has
to contend for his life ; as that the Christian is not called on to
understand, and to know, and to have implicit faith in every word
of; God, concerning the existence, character, nature, power, plots,
and malice of the devil. Therefore, my beloved friends, I hold it
a minister's bpunden duty to teach his flock to pray that they may
beheve in the foe, as well as in the Friend. of their souls, for their
security, and their salvation.
I. trust that there is not one here who does not agree with, this
statement ; and I should rejoice that any expression was miscon
ceived, if the explanation and enforcement shall lead you more
deeply ;to think on the subject, and that it may be brought home
more effectually to your understandings, your hearts and con
sciences. It was my earnest wish that it should so rest on your
minds, that you ;might ask yourselves, " Do I believe in Satan as
God has revealed him ? Do I really believe what God says ?"
I think, my dear friends, that we have the deepest need, every
moment, to pray that God, by his Spirit and word, should give
us light on this subject; , for Oh! what an enemy we have
to deal with! I You recollect, I quoted to you our Lord's OAvn
expression on the subject, in the parable of the sower,, where
He expressly, tells us, that Satan and his emissaries are continu
ally occupied to blind sinners, and especially in the preaching
of His word. Every sinner who goes away from hearing the
truth of the Gospel, and that that word produces no effect on
his mind,--the Lord Jesus Christ expressly tells you, that, "Then
cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved." Luke viii. 12. . And, the
aame truth is most emphatically reiterated by the Apostle, thus,
¦ ¦ V Ifiour Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 573
the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them." 2nd Cor. iv. 3, 4. So
that you see inspired testimony demonstrates the powerful agency
of Satan in every unbeliever who rejects the word of life.
And if he has the power of preventing the effect of God's word
at all on the hearts of those that hear it — he has the power, and
a tremendous power too, in tempting, deceiving, and drawing aside
from God, those Avho are God's children ; and those who knoAV
most of their own hearts, and the power of sin, know most of the
awful power that Satan can exercise over them. Therefore, I
hope, as in many other instances, that Satan has overreached him
self as he continually does, in leading any of us to have miscon
ceived anything on the subject; so that we shall only be led to
think more oHt to-day, and that so far from being able to produce
any error or any difference among us, Ave shall only leani the
more vigilantly to watch against our fearful foe, and be led more
to pray — to study God's blessed word, and to " put on the
WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO STAND
AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL."
And let us remember most constantly, the reason ; " For we
WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRIN
CIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE
DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS
in high places," or in the heavenly places.
I endeavored to illustrate this by the image of a bird of prey.
The eagle will soar into the air far above the reach of human eye ;
though the human eye cannot see the eagle there, the eagle can
see the smallest object of his prey on earth, and he will dart down
from his lofty flight like a flash of lightning and pounce on the
object on which his eye is fixed. So, Avith the enemy of our souls,
he soars in the region around us — all the earth is beneath him.
So, the Lord testifies concerning our foe, in order that we may be
on the watch against him. Wherefore, you see this is the reason,
because we have such a foe, because we have such a vigilant and
powerful enemy, because this enemy is in the high places, as " the
prince of the power of the air," sometimes going about like a
roaring lion among us, sometimes exalted over our heads, watch
ing us, ready to dart on us and destroy us, " 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." "The whole armor of God"— all that God has
given to sinners for their protection, in the conflict that they have
with their spiritual foe.
Consider, dear friends ; the time when a man becomes really a
Christian in spirit and truth — when he is brought to know and be
lieve the Gospel — then begins, for the first time, that which is
called in Scripture, his warfare — the conflict between the flesh and
the spirit. There is no warfare in the natural mind; there are
sometimes compunctious visitings of conscience — there are some-

574 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS,
times secret Avhispers, or it may be, more than whispers — some
times, a voice of thunder within the breast of the sinner, that will
make him tremble before God. When Paul Avas reasoning of
" Righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trem-.
bled" — there was a voice within the breast of that hardened Pagan
sinner— a voice that God had placed there as a witness that echoed
the language of the holy Apostle, and made him tremble at, its
sound ; but that was "like the morning cloud, or like the early
dew, that passeth away." Felix, though he trembled then, con
tinued the unenlightened, hardened Pagan still ; and he sent for
Paul afterwards, not to hear his words and receive instruction—
but, as the Divine testimony tells us, making a pretext of holding
conversation with him, but really expecting, that the Apostle Avould
give him money to release him. Herod, Ave know, "heard John
gladly, and did many things" under his instruction, but beheaded
him at the last. So there may be such workings in the sinner's
heart, though he may remain hardened and unconverted. But
there is a conscience within the breast, that Avhen the sinner comes
before the tribunal of the living God, will be summoned and stand
forth as a swift Avitness against him ; so that he will be compelled,
by that very testimony which he is forced to give against himself,
to say, " Amen," Avhen God shall pronounce the sentence of eternal
judgment on his soul. But, that is very different from the warfare
of the Christian. All the visitations and compunctions — all the
stings and the terrors of conscience that may, and often do, harass
or overwhelm the bosom of the unconverted sinner, are totally dif
ferent from the warfare which is commenced and carried on in a
believer's heart.
In the first place — the Avorkings of an unenlightened sinner's
conscience, generally take place in reference to outward acts of
sin. A man's conscience reproaches him for certain deeds of evil,
which perhaps may have entailed punishment or disgrace in their
train, for which he, probably, may have lost, or may fear to lose,
his character. Remorse of conscience, in such persons, is often
rather regret for the consequences of sin, than contrition for the
evil of sin.
Sometimes, there are terrible agonies and horrors of conscience
even in the mind of the ungodly — as in the case of murder, where
the murderer, although he has escaped detection, has come for
ward to acknowledge his crime, and surrendered himself up to just
ice. In such a case as this, the terrors of conscience have made
life a burthen to the sinner.
Sometimes, there are fearful agonies of conscience, under certain
awful visitations of Providence — for instance, in a thunder storm
— in a hurricane — in a storm at sea. Sometimes it is seen on
beds of sickness — beds of death ; there, there are sometimes terri
ble compunctions of conscience ; the sinner is alarmed, when he
is shaken, as it were, over the pit of hell ! He trembles to think,
how he shall meet the judgment of his God !
But again, very often, the unconverted sinner dies without any

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 575
terror or fear. I have seen men die without the least apprehension
on their minds, while their language in their lives never gave the
slightest hope of their salvation. But so saith the Psalmist,
" There are no bands in their death," Psalm lxxiii. 4, speaking of
unconverted men. They had no fear of God before their eyes in
life, and they have none in death as the children of God have.
But all these states of the natural conscience are totally different
from either the warfare, or the peace in the sinner's heart Avhen
hrought to God ; for then, it is not merely the visitings of con
science for certain acts of sin, but his conscience, now enlightened
by the spirituality of God's holy laAV, testifies against his acts,
Words, and thoughts — against his holy things, as well as against
his sins ; his conscience testifies against the workings of his natu
ral heart, at all times — against the continual iniquity and contin
ual corruption that he feels within ; for then his conscience, illu
minated by that holy Avord which is a " lantern td our feet and a
light unto our path," takes the lamp of divine truth, as it were,
into the depths of his heart, and holds it, as you would hold up a
lantern to survey a cavern, and turns his eye within, to the dark
recesses of sin that are concealed within his soul, and he shrinks
back with horror at the sight of himself. So Paul saith, " when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died."
There is no converted sinner on earth, that does not recoil with
disgust from the sight of his own vileness, his own corruption. He
feels, indeed, that the language expressive of his own experience
is beautifully and scripturally put into his mouth in our admirable
Liturgy, when it teaches him to confess on his knees — " We have
erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep ; we have fol
lowed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts ; we
have offended against thy holy laws ; we have left undone those
things which we ought to have done, and we have done those
things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health
in us." — " No health," no spiritual health in us. The believer
feels that, therefore, there is a continual conflict between the Spirit
and the flesh, between the spiritual corruptions of which he now
is conscious, and the holy law, which he desires, through the Spirit,
to fulfil. This is accurately described by the Apostle Paul, " the
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh,
and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would." Gal. v. 17.
Now, the devil always takes part with the world and the flesh,
against the Spirit, and he uses them as weapons in the conflict.
He has thus always this advantage against us, that he finds a
traitor in the camp, in our heart within, against the Spirit ; there
fore he is brought before us here not only as our spiritual foe, but
as one against whom nothing but God's armor can enable us to
stand, and against whom we have this warfare continually to
carry on. And now, my friends, if there be any of you who do
not feel this conflict within, you may depend on it that you are in
darkness and ignorance concerning your real state before God,

576 LECTURES ON THE' EPHESIANS.
The testimony of God in his word concerning man is, that " every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually."
Gen. vi. 5.
That " the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked, who can know it ?" Jer. xvii. 9.
That " the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7.
This is his testimony in all his word by Moses, Prophets, and
Apostles. Now if you do not know this to be true — if you do not
feel it to be true — then you are blind and ignorant as to your own
natural state. For you may depend on this, that God does not
make a statement respecting your heart in His holy Word, that he
will not demonstrate to be true at the last day. His testimony of
your heart is true, as He Himself is true, and if you do not know it
to be so — it is not that God's word is in error, but it is that you are
ignorant and blind. It is not that God is Avrong, but that the
guilt, the unbelief and darkness of your heart is proved, in your
not knowing Him to be right.
This is only one lesson that the believer is continually learning,
and it is one of the means whereby he sets to his seal that God is
true, in all his testimony concerning him. He is constantly learn
ing that he cannot fathom the depths of his own sin, not only that
" his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."
But he understands the force of the question, " Who can knov) it?"
The language of the believer's experience is, " My God, I feel I
cannot know it." Oh yes ! for alas ! when perhaps Ave think that
we have conquered some sin — when we think we have subdued
some iniquity — we shall find another break forth that we did not
even suppose existed in ourselves — we shall find that iniquity
draAVn forth, so that we shall be constrained to say, " Alas ! I little
thought my heart Avas so vile and wicked as I feel it." Peihaps
the very sin that we thought had been subdued Avithin us, Satan
will bring some fresh temptation to blow on it, like the blast of a
furnace on half-smothered embers, and out it bursts again in all
its power within, so as to overwhelm us with shame and confusion
of face under the sense of our own iniquity. I appeal to the ex
perience of your own hearts, if indeed you see them in the light
of truth Avhether these things are not true. Therefore, whatneed
we have to hear the Apostle's admonition, to " take unto us
THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GoD, THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO WITH
STAND IN THE EVIL DAY, AND HAVING DONE ALL TO STAND."
" In the evil day;" — What day is that ? The day of conflict
and the day of 'peace. — The day of affliction, and the day of
ease. The day of temptation, and the day of rest from it. — The
day of the power of sin and Satan, and the day of fancied victory
and triumph. — The day of tribulation, and the day of prosperity. —
The day of persecution, and the day of conquest over our
enemies. — The day of health, and the day of sickness. The day
of life, and the day of death. — Every day we live, and to the very
hour Ave die, we have need to "take unto us the whole

Lectures on the ephesians. 577
armor of God, that we may be able to avithstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand."
We can never put off our armor as long as we are in this world.
We are in an enemy's country, as long as we are in the body.
We are surrounded with foes — we are like soldiers campaigning in
a foreign land where we have subtle, powerful, mighty foes sur
rounding us ; and where there are snares — pitfalls — ambuscades —
hidden enemies ready to dart on us and attack us every moment.
We know not where to turn that we can be safe from the assaults
of our foe, we are not safe from them any moment — under any
circumstances — or in any place.
Retire into your closet, shut to your door, take your Bible, and
go on your knees,— Satan will enter there.
Assemble your family to prayer — Satan will try to impede the
blessing. Come to any public means of grace — come sit down as here to
listen to lectures on the word of God — go to Church — join in the
public worship — hear the Gospel, if Paul himself were the
preacher — go to the Lord's table, if the Apostles administered the
ordinance — Satan is there. You find him, wherever you go,
always trying to counteract the blessed influences of the Spirit,
and to oppose the will, the word, and the ordinances of God. You
cannot escape from your subtle and mighty foe, he will attack you
in every place, and most of all when and where you are most
anxious to serve your God. But you are promised this blessed ar
mor of God ; you are told to " resist him, and he will flee from
you." James iv. 8. He will meet and attack you, but if you re
sist him, he will flee from you. Let us proceed to examine the
parts of the armor we are called to put on.
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth." Now, if you examine this armor as we go through it,
you will find that every portion of it represents Him in whom
alone the sinner stands complete before God ; you will see, that
every portion of the spiritual armor represents our glorious Lord
and Master Jesus Christ. "Stand, therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth." That is, as men going to run
a race, to go out to battle, or to enter into any active exercise,
Avould gird up their robe that it should not entangle or incommode
them, so he says having your loins, "girt about with truth,"
and in another place the Apostle Peter, "gird up the loins of your
mind," 1 Pet. i. 13, as your body is girt in going into battle, which
implies preparedness, watchfulness, readiness for the encounter; so
your minds must be girt in entering on your spiritual warfare,
" HAVING YOUR LOINS GIRT ABOUT WITH TRUTH." You might
apply this term to all God's word, that is, that you are to take all
the truth, all God's truth, as a means whereby you are to be pre
pared to enter into your spiritual conflict. But there is One of
whom it is said by Himself, "I am the truth !" The Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Apostle says in another place, "put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ," Rom. xiii. 14. If you go tr resist the poAver of Sa-
37

578 lectures on the ephesians.
tan and his allies, that is the Avorld, the flesh, and the Devil, you
must take Him who saith, "/ am the truth," as the girdle of your
loins, you must "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." It is he of whom
David saith " thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle,
thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me,"
Psalm xviii. 39. "Blessed be the Lord my strength," saith he
again, "who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight ;"
Psalm cxliv. 1. It is only as you have Christ, as it were, girt
about you, that you can be safe from the assaults of Satan, or be
able to discharge any active duty in the service of God, so the
Psalmist again, " he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall com
pass him about." Psalm xxxii. 10. You cannot serve God, till
you have taken Christ, as the refuge and salvation of your souls,
you must be brought into a capacity to serve, before you can serve
him ; you are not in a capacity to serve him, till you are recon
ciled to God in Christ, you can make no resistance to Satan
whatever, or be able to serve your God, unless you are found in
Christ. There are none, perhaps, here, who have arrived at any matu
rity of understanding, who may not be able practically to admit
and feel the truth of this. Even those Avho know not the Gospel
of Christ. I would appeal to those, I care not who they be, sup
pose any individuals here, however careless, thoughtless, or igno
rant they may be of divine truth, I would appeal thus to their
consciences. You have often felt compunctions for sins from which
you have desired to refrain in future. I am sure there is not even
a child Avho has not felt the same ; — you have felt that speakiDg
falsehood, disobedience to parents, giving way to wicked tempers,
and many other sins have brought you into disgrace and affliction,
so that you Avould desire to refrain from them afterwards, and I
say with confidence to each of you, you have often promised to do
so, — you have often inwardly resolved — you have sincerely deter
mined in your own minds to do so. I am sure I can say for my
self, before I knew anything of the Gospel of Christ, I have felt
sin a severe burden to my conscience, and often resolved, — resolved,
with what I thought a most irrefragable resolution, that I Avould
not commit such or such a sin that had oppressed and afflicted me
again. But let me ask, have you been able to keep your resolutions ?
Have you been able to carry your most sincere intentions into
effect? I appeal to all who hear, and I feel confident that every one
who hears will answer, No — those, who knoAv the Gospel have
most felt their own weakness and their OAvn impotence, Oh, hoAV
often ! Now, when the sinner is brought to know Christ, to lean
on Christ, for pardon and salvation — when the sinner is enabled to
cast his burden on his blessed Saviour, he finds that he is'girded
with strength unto the battle. Have you not found in yourselves,
power and strength not only to resist certain sins, but that those
very sins to which you felt most inclined were peculiarly hateful to
you ? Have you not felt strength to watch against your besetting

lectures on the ephesians. 579
sins ? I knoAV, O believer, you have on many occasions. It is
true, they will return again, and again — you will feel the corrup
tion rise with power within you. — The enemy of your souls will
attack you in various ways, and present fresh temptations to call
it forth, but still, whenever you gain a conquest over any sin, it is
the very same victory of Avhich we are told in the book of Revela
tion, and which the servants of Christ achieve over their foe. —
All their victory is through Christ ; — "I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ ; for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down which accuseth them before our God, day
and night ; and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony." Rev. xii. 10, 11. Look at
the power of Satan there spoken of! The continual accuser before
God of his people ; always tempting and trying to lead them into
sin, and always accusing them like a traitor who tempts men to a
crime, and then informs against them. Ahvays accusing them of
the sins to which he tempts them. "But they overcame him."
How ? "By the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tes
timony." There is no conquest recorded of God's people over
Satan, but through the salvation of the Lord Jesus. The testi
mony of the revealed truth of God, for all God's children, is this, —
that " they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." Therefore,
if you have been able to overcome sin and Satan, it is by the love
and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through faith in his
blood. If you have been girded with strength, it is because you
have been girded with truth — if you have been girded with truth,
it is only as you have been girded with Christ — for in Him alone
we have victory ; as saith the Apostle, of all the hardest conflicts,
in which we can be engaged, — "Nay in all these things we are
more than conquerors, through him that loved us." Rom. viii. 37.
Again the next part of the armor enumerated by the Apostle is
the breastplatei. — " Having on the breastplate of right
eousness." What righteousness ?
Is it our own righteousness ? Is our righteousness a breastplate
which will defend us from the assaults of Satan ? Observe— One
of the attacks of Satan is accusation — one of the means whereby
Satan keeps possession of the soul is accusation. He brings a
charge against the sinner's conscience, and this is one means
Whereby he keeps the sinner from Christ. Sinners think, in their
natural ignorance, that there is something which they must do in
order to prepare and fit themselves to come to Christ, and that
they cannot avail themselves of the privileges and blessings of the
Gospel, till they are,— what they call, fit to do so. Now Satan
.charges them with sin, whenever Christ is presented to them.
The Gospel is preached,— salvation proclaimed.— Satan says, "Oh,
you are too guilty a sinner,— you are not fit to come to Christ ;—
you have neither humility enough, — nor contrition— nor penitence,
—nor do you feel the burthen of sin enough— nor have you any

580 lectures on the ephesians.
love to God. You love such and such a sin — you must be a very
different man before you are fit to come to Christ." Such is his
language. See, hoAV he turns away men from the Lord's table in the same
way ! He persuades them, that they are not only, not fit to come
to Christ, but not fit to partake of the emblems and memorials of
our blessed Redeemer's sufferings — they hope they will be fit some
time before they die.
This beyond all doubt is the work of the Devil. He tells sin
ners they are not fit to come to Christ — he accuses them of sin,
and at the very same time, he flatters them with the vain hope
and expectation of their self-righteousness. He deludes the Phari
see. — " Oh ! now you are fit to come — you have abstained so long
from sin — you are so good — you have prepared yourself — now you
are fit. You have performed such and such things — you have
prayed so much — -you have refrained so long from indulgences in
the world — you have gone through a Avhole ' week's preparation'
— you have been so charitable — have done so much good — you
must be fit to come to Christ." He thus accuses some, and builds
up others, (perhaps the same persons again,) in self-righteousness.
So you recollect when our blessed Lord dined Avith Simon the
Pharisee, when the poor woman came behind Him and poured out
her tears like rain on his feet, as the original so beautifully conveys
it, and wiped them with the hairs of her head ; the Pharisee said
"within himself," — (he did not venture to say it aloud,)" This
man, if he were a Prophet would have known who and what man
ner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner." Luke
vii. 39. Now, what was the meaning of that ? That was as much
as to say, — " It is very fit He should come into my company —
come and dine Avith me, — but it is not fit, that that woman should
even pour out her tears on his feet — nay, if He were a Prophet,
He would have known Avhat a vile creature she is, and he would
not allow her even to touch him. There you have the self-right
eousness of this Pharisee. A counterpart of the language of an
other of his brethren, in another parable : — " God, I thank thee,
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even, as this publican," or this vile woman. Luke xviii. 11.
Now, the breastplate of the Pharisaical heart, is self-righteous
ness ; and let me ask, is this righteousness fit to guard us against
the assaults of Satan? When Satan accuses of sin, is our right
eousness such as that we can challenge Satan, and can say, we
are not sinners ? When Satan builds us up in self-righteousness,
is our righteousness such, that we can believe Satan, and take
that righteousness as clear, and challenge God, to try it at his bar
when we appear before him ? No, — a man might as Avell take a
breastplate made, (to use the Prophet's expression,) of old rags, to
protect him in battle! What does he say of our righteousness?
"All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isaiah lxiv. 6. It is
not this righteousness we can wear as a breastplate, in conflict
with our spiritual foe. But there is a righteousness Avith which a

LECTURES on the ephesians. 581
sinner can cover himself, as Avith a breastplate, and meet the
assaults of Satan, — even the righteousness of Him, of whom it is
said, " This is his name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our
righteousness." Jer. xxiii. 6. That righteousness of which the
Aposlle speaks, when he saith, " Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them
that believe," Rom. iii. 22. — That righteousness of Avhich he speaks,
when he says, " Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not hav
ing mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith." That is the righteousness which he here exhorts believers
to put on as a breastplate.
Satan charges a believer with sin.
" You have no righteousness before God — you are a vile sinner
— you are not fit to come to Christ."
What is the answer?
" I am a vile sinner — I know it well — I know I have no right
eousness, but I am fit to come to Christ ; for it is written,—' This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners! 1st Tim. i. 15. And
therefore you may tell me I have no righteousness — you may tell
me, I am ever so vile — you may bring against me all the corrup
tions of my vile heart, but you cannot tell me half, how vile it is.
You speak truth in this, though you are "the father of lies ;" but
you speak it for a lying purpose, when you speak to keep me from
Christ. For, just because I have no righteousness — just because
I am guilty— just because I am vile. I come to Him, Avho is " the
end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
Rom. x. 4. To him who " receiveth sinners." Luke xv. 2 — who
saith, " Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." John
vi. 37.
So when Satan endeavors to build up a sinner in his own self-
righteousness, the believer saith, " Do not talk to me of my own
righteousness, of what I have done, or can do, as a ground of
trust for my soul. I cast it all off. I bring all the filthy rags
of my righteousness to the blood of Christ. I cast my righteous
ness and my sins, all I have, and all I am, I cast them, into that
blood of the Lamb — that blessed fountain open for sin and un
cleanness ; and I take the righteousness of my Lord and Saviour
to cover the sins of my vile heart. That is the righteousness in
whieh alone I can stand before God, and in which alone, as I do
now, I can answer the devil."
That is the way to stand against the wiles of the devil. This
is to " have your loins girt about with truth, and to
have on the breastplate of righteousness." Oh ! that
is an impenetrable breastplate; all the darts of Satan cannot
pierce through it.

582 lectures on the ephesians.
No charge can get at the conscience, when the conscience is
covered with the breastplate of Christ's righteousness. No — and
no argument of Satan can persuade the believer to take his own
righteousness to cover him, when he can have the righteousness
of Christ to fly to. He will not listen to the counsel of Satan, to
take his own righteousness, when he has the glorious counsel of
his Lord to take His. " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in
the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear." Rev. iii. 18. — ¦" Their righteousness is of me saith the
Lord." Isaiah liv. 17. He will not plead his own merits or Avorks
before God, Avhen he has the finished righteousness of his Lord
and Saviour to plead. Now, consider these things, dear friends,
think of them ; and I hope and trust that the Lord will enable us
all to think of them — to know them — to feel them — to value and
do them — that we may be " doers of the word and not hearers
only, deceiving our own selves." James i. 22. Let us pray over
this passage of Scripture — let us pray, that we may be able to take
this whole armor of God, to meet and to conquer our foe. And
let us be assured, that we never can know enough of the danger
that surrounds us, and the power of that deadly enemy with
whom we have to contend. But blessed be our God — greater is
He who is for us than all Avho are against us, as we shall see, in
considering the remaining part of this armor ; if the Lord permits
us to go through it, we shall see the blessed salvation in which it
is the privilege of the believer to rejoice, who takes Christ as the
Alpha and the Omega of his hope — in whom, all who believe, are
covered with a glorious panoply, in which, when they contend
against their foe — they are more than conquerors — their victory
is secured forever and ever.

FORTY-NINTH LECTURE.

Ephesians VI. — 15, 16.
" And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all, taking
the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the

wicked

The Apostle, pursuing the image of the Christian armor, in the
15th verse, exhorts his brethren to stand not only " having their
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness," but he adds, "and your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace." That is, that we

lectures on the ephesians. 583
should not 'w ii/ipeded, entangled, ensnared or misled in our walk,
— that we 'l>9i»i«l be enabled to go in the right way, and that we
should wal'r 10 that way as Ave ought to walk in it, steadily, up
rightly, and perseveringly, unto the end.
If you were going to a place, through an enemy's land, three
things are nacsssary.
First, — that you should be on the right road, — Secondly, that
you should have a faithful guide — and Thirdly, that you should
walk on in the way guardedly and circumspectly, and steadily
pursue it, to your journey's end. Now so exactly is it with refer
ence to the believer's pilgrimage. — He must be satisfied first that
he is on the right path to eternal life ; secondly, that he follows
a faithful guide;— and thirdly, that he is walking along it to
his journey's end, — vigilantly, and guardedly in his way. 
For this purpose, you must have " your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace." That is that you
should be in the path of the Gospel, and walking as guided and
guarded by it in your way.
Our blessed Redeemer, you perceive, is typified under every part
of this armor. He is " The truth" as the girdle of the loins, He is
"the Lord our righteousness" as a breastplate, so He "is the
way" and " he is our peace" as the preparation for our feet. The
meaning of this figure is, that you should walk in the salvation
of that blessed Redeemer, as he is revealed in the Gospel of peace.
That Gospel is your guide under the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
Psalm, cxix. 10. That Gospel brings you to Christ who is the
only way. It reveals this to you as his OAvn authority — "I am the
way, the truth, and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me." John xiv. 6. It teaches you too, that in your warfare and
your dangers, in Him alone you can have peace. It tells you, this
was the announcement of His birth. — " On earth peace, good will
toward men." Luke ii. 14. That through Him is given " the
knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their
sins, through the tender mercy of our God ; whereby the day-
spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that ,
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into
the way of peace." Luke i. 77, 78, 79.
It tells you that " he is our peace." Eph. ii. 14. That He hath
" made peace through the blood of his cross." Col. i. 20.
It gives you His own consolatory commentary on His last con
versation with His disciples, before He suffered, "these things
have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace," He
warns them of the trials of their warfare, " in the world ye shall
have tribulation:" but He encourages them to confidence in
Him, " but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world!* John
xvi. 33.
So the Gospel of peace is the preparation for your feet : it shows
you the way in which you are to walk — the peace in which you
are to walk — the confidence with which you are to walk, — and so

584 lectures on the ephesians.
it encourages you to persevere unto the end, " as ye have therefore.
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and
built up in him,, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." Col. ii. 6, 7. So
it enables you in all your warfare to say, and to feel, " Though I
walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt
stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and
thy right hand shall save me." Psalm cxxxviii. 7. And so it
carries you on to the end — " Yea, though I walk through the val
ley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with
me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalm xxiii. 4.
This is that path, in which none can ever Avalk but those whose
feet are " shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace." Too many flatter themselves that they are in the right
way, but they only prove the truth of the passage — " There is a
way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death." Prov. xiv. 12. Unconverted persons generally
consider, the right way is their profession of religion, whatever it
may be. The Roman Catholic will tell you, the Romish Church
is the way. The unconverted member of the Church of England
will tell you, the Protestant Church is the way. An unconverted
Dissenter will tell you, his form of worship is the Avay. All un
converted sinners imagine, that by some outward form of worship,
they are to be led, or to be kept, in the right way to eternal life, —
but Jesus saith, " I am the way, the truth, and the life ; no man
cometh to the Father but by me." If you are not in Christ, you
cannot be in the way to eternal life ; therefore, Avhen the Apostle
in Heb. x. has set forth the fulness and completeness of the salva
tion finished by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross ; he uses the
image of Christ, as a Avay, he says, "Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the
vail, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an High Priest over
the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil,
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Heb. x.
19 — 22. If you are in Him you are in the right Avay, if you are
in Jesus you are not only in the right way, but in a holy way, "a
highway shall be there," saith the Lord, speaking of the way of
approach to his glorious Church, " a high way shall be there, and
it shall be called the way of holiness." You know, we testify
always in the strongest, most emphatic manner, that although
holiness never can purchase, in Avhole or in part, a sinner's salva
tion, — nor can help him on to his salvation, — that his whole salva
tion is Jesus, — that he is " the Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last," yet the Scripture expressly tells us, " without holiness,
no man shall see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. Why ? Because with
out holiness, we are not in Jesus as the way. Sin is hateful to
the renewed mind of an enlightened sinner. If the love of Jesus
is in the heart, sin will be hated,' and that is the reason why a be-

lectures on the ephesians. 58£>
liever is brought to hate and loathe himself, because he feels the
burden of his own sin. He feels sin, which is always hateful,
continually working within him ; hence arises the continual con
flict, the constant warfare which he has within himself, Avhich
makes this armor necessary against the foe, who attacks him
within and Avithout. He has the new principle, the principle of
the Spirit of God given to him, which lusteth against the flesh, and
he has also that flesh continually lusting against the Spirit of God.
" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. v. 17. Therefore,
although the way of the believer never can be a way of perfect
holiness, so that he never can be Avalking in a way in which he
does not feel deeply defiled with sin, yet the way of Avalking to
eternal life, and the Christian walk, is a way of holiness ; — that is,
— The believer in Christ is set apart in Him and holy unto the
Lord, — he is totally different from his former self, and totally dif
ferent from the unconverted Avorld, and his holiness consists rather
in a continual conflict with sin, than in a fulfilment of righteous
ness, for to this he feels he never can attain, " ye cannot do the
things that ye would." Gal. v. 17.
But Oh my friends ! believers ought to be particularly Avatchful.
There seems to be, (I knoAV not hoAV it is,) such a profession of
religion now, that the world is ready, in some things, to conform
to the profession of a Christian life. It serves the cause of the
devil, to assume a degree of conformity to religion — his object in
this is to draw believers into the world ; and he seems to have
succeeded, to a great extent," by infusing such a mixture of world-
liness into the profession of Christianity, that those who profess
the Gospel of Jesus seem to be grievously drawn into conformity
to the world. Some of them seem to think, that they may go a
certain length Avith the world ; and in doing so, they flatter them
selves, that it is an adoption of the Apostolic maxim, a sort of
" becoming all things to all men, that they may by all means
save some." But this is, a disastrous mistake. The Christian
never gains by compromise of principle, in action, word, or thought.
He never gains for himself, or his Master ; he always loses for
both. — Always. He loses for himself. "Be not deceived: evil
communications corrupt good manners." 1st Cor. xv. 33. He
loses for his Master's cause. The world never respects a Christian
for condescending to its conduct— its conversation, its maxims, or
its motives; on the contrary, it uniformly despises him. The
Christian never can hold his standard too high for himself. This
standard is perfection. It cannot be a lower standard than per
fection, for it is the law of God. His attainments are, therefore,
always imperfect. He not only frequently violates his rule of
right in that which is positively evil, but he always falls short in
his best things, according to the language of the Apostle— "• The
good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that
I do." Rom. vii. 19. But his standard does not fall in his con*'

586 lectures on the ephesians.
science to the level of his conduct, no more than a rule can vary
with that which it measures. His standard is always perfection,
so the Lord saith : " / will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them." Heb. x. 16. And therefore the
believer has the standard of God's law as his only acknoAvledged
standard of good, although his conduct he feels to be ever trans
gressing, or ever falling short of it. Therefore, he always feels
himself a sinner — always deserving of condemnation. But when
he knows that Jesus is " the way," and comes to Jesus, then his
feet are " shod with the preparation of the Gospel of
peace." Oh ! my friends, let us always endeavor to hold in that
way, and to walk in that, way ; and thus, and thus alone shall
our "feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel
of peace." Thus, we shall be walking in Christ ; and thus out
walk shall be a walk becoming the Gospel of Christ. We shall
" be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises." Heb. vi. 12. We shall be followers of the Lamb.
" Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that we should follow his steps." 1st Pet. ii. 21. As the Apostle
saith in this Epistle, chap, v., " Be ye therefore followers of God,
as dear children, and walk in love ;" and in another place, — " /
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this
world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will
of God." Rom. xii. 1, 2.
You see the walk is a walk of peace, and a walk of love. The
Lord gives us motives to enforce His command. His command is
— love. — " The end of the commandment is love." 1st Tim. i. 5.
And the motive which God gives to His children to walk in His
commandments is love ; so that the motive and command become
one and the same in the heart of the believer. That is one of the
most wonderful dispensations of God, by Avhich, in His very method
of taking away sin — of pardoning the greatest breaches of His
commandments — He opens a way for the keeping of those com
mandments. It is by His own wondrous love in Christ Jesus, He
takes away the sins of the vilest sinner, and it is by that very
means He draws the heart of that sinner in love to Himself. His
love draws our hearts to love, — therefore, " Walk in love /' and
that your foe may not hinder you — walk " having your feet
shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace."
" The Gospel of peace !" — Then it should be a peaceful
walk, and a happy walk. A believing walk is a peaceful walk ;
and a believing walk, and a peaceful walk, is a holy walk, and
therefore, always a happy Avalk ; and an unbelieving Avalk, or an
unholy walk, or an uncircumspect walk, is always an unhappy
walk; and against these,how constantly ought the believer to
watch and pray. We say nothing of the unbeliever— the misery
of a creature Avalking in ignorance and uabelief of the Gospel of

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 587
Jesus. But when believers allow themselves in any sin, when
they are not zealously watchful against sin ; it is because of their
unbelief — because they have not gone forth with " their feet
SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE ;" and
they are walking proportionably, always unhappily. Allowed sin,
necessarily throws a doubt on the truth of their profession, in their
own mind. " If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things." 1st John iii. 20. It necessarily
makes them question their own sincerity, and their own state be
fore God; their walk must be uncertain and unhappy. — Thus
the Apostle saith, " / therefore so run, not as uncertainly ; so
fight I, not as one that beateth the air : but I keep under my
body, and bring it into subjection;" 1 Cor. ix. 26, 27. There
fore, my beloved friends, though our walk is never the least ground
of the hope of salvation, because all our salvation, I say again, and
again, is in Christ, and in Him alone, yet, "in keeping of his com
mandments there is great reward;" there is no reward for keep
ing them, but there is great reward in keeping them ; there is
blessedness and happiness in keeping them, and you Avill always
see that the happiest Christian is the holiest Christian ; and there is
not one of you who believes the Gospel of Jesus, Avhose own experi
ence does not testify that your own sins — your own carelessness,
your own want of watchfulness, have brought you into many
snares — many griefs — many doubts — much sorrow. Is it not so ?
Oh then, dear friends, let us watch and pray. Let us have " our
FEET SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE,"
be sure that walking in Christ, is the only holy walk, and the only
happy walk ; and it is happy even in the midst of trials. So in
the book of Habakkuk, you have a beautiful exposition of " the
FEET SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE,"
the faith and conquest which is connected with it ; " Although the
fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the
labor of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat,
the flocks' shall be cut off from the fold, aiid there shall be no herd
in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God
of my salvation." Hab. iii. 17, 18. Though there be heavy trials,
deep privations, bleak bereavements of all comfort, yet in spite of
all, " I will rejoice in the Lord, Iwilljoyinthe God of my salva
tion." Well, what follows ? " The Lord God is my strength,
and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me
to walk upon my high places." v. 19. When Ave are walking in
happy, holy confidence in the Lord — holy trust in the blessed
Jesus, in spite of all difficulties and trials, He will make the feet
of his people like hinds' feet. It is to this that the Song alludes ;
— "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes. O Prince's daughter,"
Cant. vii. 1. — That is, " your feet shod with the prepara
tion of the gospel of peace," Isaiah, so speaking of the mes
sengers of the Gospel, — " how beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,
that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvatiw>

588 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth," Isaiah Iii. 7. The feet
of those who preach the Gospel of peace, are beautiful, and so are
the feet of those who are shod Avith the Gospel they preach.
Now, if our feet are "shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace," wherever we go, we shall be sure to carry the
Gospel always with us. It is a bad thing to profess — to seem to
have the Gospel, as is too much the case in any place, and not to
have it in every place.
Some persons profess to have the Gospel at home, but they seem
as if they had forgotten it Avhenever they go abroad — and some, on
the contrary, profess to have it Avhen they go abroad, but appear
as if they had lost it, by the time they return home. A form of
religion in the family and an absence of its influence in all our
business in the world, or a profession of religion in the world, with
out any influence or power of it in the temper, habits, and conver
sation when at home, savors very little of the genuine servant of
God. One sees this in the intercourse of persons professing to be re
ligious, their conversation degenerates into a mere worldly gossip,
or, it may be religious gossip, as is very much the case. Religious
things and persons are spoken about by way of religion. Religious
men — preachers or missionaries — religious books — religious socie
ties—and subjects such as these, form a part or often the whole of
what is called religious conversation, and frequently comparing
and setting up one above another. Now remember, none of these
things are Christ, none of them bring peace to the soul. These
are not the Gospel. Preachers are not. Christ. And Avhen these
are set up as they generally are, one above another, according to
the tastes and opinions of men, it generally leads to divisions. See
how Paul treats this in the Church at Corinth in his day. —
" Every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I
of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? Was Paul
crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul ?
1 Cor. i. 12, 13. And again, " Who then is Paid, or who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every
man ? I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the in
crease. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that
watereth ; but God that giveth the increase." 1 Cor. iii. 5 — 7. So,
remember, ministers are not Christ. Religious societies are not
Christ. Religious books are not Christ. And yet, allow me to
ask, many of those who hear me, and Avho believe the Gospel, as
I trust many of you do, is not conversation of this sort a continual
substitute for the Gospel of Christ ? My dear friends, let us re
member that " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh," Mat. xii. 34, and the application of these various parts
of armor to the person, is but an image to imply the poAver and
efficacy of the truth as influencing, directing, and regulating the
heart — and, therefore, the whole life. The having the "feet
SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GoSPEL OF PEACE,"
expresses the power of the Gospel in the heart in directing our

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 589
walk. So to " walk by faith," 2 Cor. v. 7, to " walk in love," Eph.
v. 2, to " walk in Him," (Christ) Col. ii. 6, to " walk in the light,"
1 John, i. 7, to " walk in the Spirit," Gal. v. 16, to " walk hon
estly" Rom. xiii. 13, " walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we
are called," Eph. iv. 1, to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all
pleasing" Col. i. 10, are all so many expressions indicating the
power of the Gospel in the heart, and evincing in our walk and
our warfare — for our walk is a warfare, that our feet are " shod
WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE." Thus
AA'herever Ave go, the Gospel should go along with us, we should
walk in the Gospel — carry it in our hearts — it should direct our
steps and regulate our conversation, so shall Ave glorify our God,
and strengthen, help, and edify one another.
One cause of the divisions and dissensions among Christians, i3
this. The two grand principles of the Gospel, the pillars of all
truth for our salvation, for our Avglk, — Faith in our glorious Lord,
and Love to that Lord, and love to one another— these two great
principles are swamped, if I may use the expression, in the sea of
disputations and divisions about ordinances and Churches, and
forms, and ceremonies, and governments, and men. Man's tradi
tions and authorities, beggarly elements, which Avhatever be their
use in their OAvn place, have nothing to say to the great and glo
rious principles of faith and love. It strikes me as very singular
to hear men who seem to be sound in doctrine, talking as they
very often do, about certain " questions that gender strife," causing
divisions on these, and forgetting, that in that very thing, they are
violating the great principle, the very chief command of Jesus,
that " we should love one another." There is nothing on earth for
which these two great principles, faith and love, are to be sacri
ficed. — We cannot wander far from the path of Christian duty, if
we Avalk in these two great principles. If our heart is filled Avith
faith and hope in our blessed Lord, Avith love, to him and love to
our brethren, we cannot far diverge from the straight path. There
are many points in which our knowledge and attainments will of
course be very deficient and different from one another, and we
shall have our various besetting sins to conflict with, our several
prejudices, and our ignorances, to combat ; Ave shall all have these.
But if those who profess the Gospel held up these great principles
in their hearts, lives and conversation, Ave should be Avalking in a
blessed, happy state of unity, and not in a Avretched state of dis
union, discontent and division. The evils of this are best known
to those who have had most experience of them. Oh ! if the feet
of all who profess to know Christ were "shod with the prep
aration of the gospel of peace," they would stand in one
united phalanx against the common foe, instead of affording him
the advantage of dissensions and divisions in the hosts of the Lord.
Then indeed the Church of Christ would " look forth as the morn
ing, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners." Cant. vi. 10.
The next part of the armor the Apostle speaks of is, " the

590 lectures on the ephesians.
shield of faith." "above all, taking the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to q.uench all the
fiery darts of the wicked."
A shield was an instrument of defence of various dimensions.
It was generally of a circular form, made of strong brass or some
times of hides of oxen, from three to five or six feet or more in
diameter. It was carried by the warrior on bis left arm : — there
Avere two fixed rings in the inner part of it, through one of which
he passed his arm, and the other he grasped with his hand, and so
he had a firm hold of this shield, and could move it in every direc
tion, whether to intercept the arrows, darts, or javelins that were
hurled at him from a distance, or the blows aimed at him in close
combat with the foe. The shield Avas therefore a moveable part
of his armor, the other parts were fixed — the helmet fixed on the
head, the girdle on the loins, the breastplate on the breast, the
greaves on the feet, but the shield and the sword were two move
able pieces of armor. The sword in the right hand to fight with,
the shield on the left arm to protect the soldier in the battle.
Now you observe wherever the blow was aimed, there the shield
Avas opposed to it. If the blow was aimed at the head, the shield
Avas raised to protect the head ; if at the heart, the shield was
placed to guard the heart ; wherever the Woav was aimed, there
the shield was opposed to it. Now this is the image the Apostle
uses to express what he considers the most important part of the
armor. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, where
with YE SHALL BE ABLE TO Q.UENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF
the wicked." Noav we have an enemy to contend with, Avho is
always aiming his blows at every part Avhich he thinks most vul
nerable, where he thinks he can strike us best. Of course any
skilful opponent engaged in conflict always does so. If a man
were fighting, he would aim his blow wherever he thought he could
hit, wherever he thought his blow would tell, where he hoped the
shield could not save his adversary. So it is with Satan, the
enemy of our souls ; wherever he thinks he can wound us, there
he is sure to aim his blow. He aims it at the head — the heart —
the feet — at every part where he thinks Ave are most vulnerable,
and that he can most successfully strike us. Now Avhat is the
meaning of this ? How can Satan be said to strike a bloAV at the
head? He strikes at the understanding of man. He hopes to
overthrow his faith, by blinding and deceiving his reason. — Hence,
all the sophistries of superstition and infidelity — the casuistry of
Popery — the subtleties of Neology, Deism, Arianism, Socinianism,
and all the questions that are raised by Satan and his agents, to
puzzle and mislead the intellect of man, and through these means
to draw men away from God, if he can. For this he sends his
emissaries to make them doubt about the truth of divine revela
tion, and turns every subject on which the human mind can be
exercised, into an instrument for its seduction from true religion.
Of this Ave see many examples in the present day. He endeavors
to press every science into the service, and to pervert the very

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 591
phenomena of creation into arguments, against the Revelation of
Him who formed it. Geology furnishes a very wide field for the
suggestions of speculative infidelity. Phrenology too — nay, even
Astronomy itself, is perverted by the ingenuity and malice of the
devil, to oppose the truth and glory of Jehovah. Why should we
place a limit, to the just, legitimate investigation of the works of
God — of all the things that His hands have formed — -in the heavens
above or in the earth beneath — in the waters under the earth — in
the human form, or in all His wondrous works — all— all are wor
thy of investigation, all declare His glory, and show forth His
handy work. But the devil takes occasion by these means, to
suggest infidel doubts and infidel ideas into the minds of men.
When any then are puzzled, perplexed, and drawn aside by these
objections against Divine truth, Satan succeeds and hits them a
blow on the head. Well, how are we to meet him, " above all,
TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE
ABLE TO O.UENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED."
It does not signify what principle a false philosopher writes in a
book, or what principle he lays down in a lecture, or what specu
lative notion he suggests to the human mind, if it is opposed to
the plain revelation of God — the believer, if he just simply sees
this — if he knows that it is contrary to God's revealed truth, then
he justly and directly concludes without, further trouble that it
must be a lie. It is of no consequence to him how clever the lie
is, or how well argued the lie is, or how many learned men sup
port the lie, if it is against God's revealed Avoid, he knows it must
be a lie, it must come from the father of lies. Now, that settles
the question in the believer's mind at once, he opposes "the
shield of faith," to this blow aimed by Satan at his under
standing, what God has said must be true, " let God be true and
every man a liar." That is enough for him. Therefore, every
suggestion of Satan that tends to puzzle the understanding, if the
mind is only satisfied of this, that it is contrary to God's revealed
truth — that is enough. Then it is a lie. This satisfies the mind,
this quenches the fiery dart of the enemy — in a moment. — This
was our blessed Lord's mode of dealing with Satan "It is written."
"It is written again." This should be ours too — this is using
"the shield of faith." It is thus we learn to silence infidel
objections against all things connected with Creation, — " through
faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the word
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things
that do appear." Heb. xi. 3. So against the Lord Jesus, as the
Creator, "For by him were all things created that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created
by him and for him;" Col. i. 16. Now that one text, is enough
completely to overturn all the sophisms and lies of all those who
impugn the divinity of our glorious Lord and Master — the be
lieve "may simply repeat that text — or he may say, "In the begin
ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

592 lectures on the ephesians.
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him ; and without him, was not anything
made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and, dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only be
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John i. 1, 2, 3, 14.
These are simple texts — a child can understand them — know
them as matters of fact, know them as God's word. Therefore,
all cavils, all sophistries, all falsehoods, are most completely met,
by simple faith in God's word, God saith so — Jehovah saith so — ¦
and that is enough. This is to oppose " the shield of faith,"
to Satan's blows aimed at the head.
But the devil aims most chiefly, most continually, at the heart
of man. For one blow he aims at our head, he aims a thousand
at our heart, at our affections, our desires, our Avills, to draw them
aAvay from God, and this by a thousand ways. Sometimes he
excites us to murmur and rebel against the Lord's dispensations,
stirring us up to desire things that the Lord has not given to us,
as well as to murmur at things He has given us, exciting us to
turn to the creature, and to place those affections on the creature
that are due to the Lord alone, drawing us into that sin of which
the Lord speaks, when he saith, "My people have committed two
evils ; they have forsaken me the fountain of living vmters,
and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no
water." Jer. ii. 13. This is that to which the natural mind is
always inclined, therefore, Satan's great effort is to draw the heart
from God.
God's claim is on the heart of man. This is His divine law,
He hath a legal right and title to it, "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart."
The devil's object is to keep the heart from God. "My son
give me thine heart," saith the Lord. Prov. xxxii. 26. Nay,
" give me thine heart," saith the devil, or " give the creature thine
heart," or " give anything thine heart but God." It is of no con
sequence to what Satan can draw the heart, provided he can draAV
it from God. If the heart is not God's, it is no matter to Avhat
sort of idol it is given. It does not signify Avhether we bow down
to an image of wood or stone, or whether our hearts are fixed on
worldly things ; as our Lord saith, " take heed and beware of cov
etousness ;" Luke xii. 15; Avhich the Apostle tells us "is idolatry,"
Col. iii. 5. When our hearts are fixed on the creature, whatevei
the creature be, they are Avithdrawn from God ; and if the heart
•is turned away from God, the object of Satan is effected, therefore
he aims his blows continually at our hearts. Now, how is he to
be met? Only by the armor of God. "Above all, taking
THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE ABLE TO
•ClUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED." Tile means
<by which the heart is protected from being turned aside from God,
is by having the heart filled Avith faith in Christ. This draAvs it
to its proper object "faith worketh by love," love is produced by the
belief of the love of Christ to sinners. Therefore, faith in Christ

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 593
must produce love to Christ ; it cannot be otherwise, and therefore,
when you want to produce love, the way to cultivate love is to
cultivate faith. Love is the result of faith. Both are the fruits
of the Spirit. We cannot love the Lord, till we believe on Him.
When we believe in Him, we cannot but love Him. Therefore,
the way to have the affections kept fixed on Christ is to have the
heart fixed on Christ by faith, it will be necessarily drawn to Him
by love, if it be fixed on Him by faith. Why ? Because faith is
the belief of His love — the belief of His work — the belief of His
salvation— of His great and everlasting salvation. This necessa
rily brings happiness and peace to the soul — necessarily draws the
heart's affections to Himself. " We love him, because he first loved
us." 1 John iv. 19. He gains our heart because He gives us His
heart. He "gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair : He hid not His face from shame and
spitting." Isaiah 1. 6. He gave his hands to the nails, He gave
His heart to the spear for sinners, and He says to every soul who
trusts in His redeeming love — -" My son, give me thine heart."
When we are able to believe on Him — -to receive the gracious par
don — to look for the glorious inheritance purchased for us, by His
precious blood — then Ave learn to love Him — to trust Him as the
conqueror of sin and Satan — death and hell. It is this faith and
love of Christ that guards the heart from Satan. Stand therefore,
"TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE
ABLE TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED."
Thus, and only thus, can you guard your hearts and your
affections from the fiery darts of Satan.
But Satan aims those darts too, at the conscience of the sinner, —
He aims many fiery darts against the conscience as well as the heart.
Perhaps he is aiming at the consciences of some of my hearers
here to-day, and it is well to consider how he wages his warfare.
One mode of his attack is — he tells you — " you are not fit to
come to Christ, you are too bad." Perhaps he avails himself of
your besetting sin to tempt you to some evils, or perhaps, he injects
some corrupt imaginations, passions,' lusts into your heart, and
then makes use of these as arguments, to keep you from Christ.
He says " how can you be fit to come to Christ ? or how can such
a sinner as you be a child of God?" He tells you that " What
ever others may be, there are in your case certain aggravations,
with which he now charges your conscience, that both preclude
you from the hope of having ever been a believer in Christ, and
utterly unfit you to come to Christ. Noav, you must be delivered
from the power of such and such a sin — you must conquer such
and such a propensity — you must totally abandon such and such a
lust and become a new creature, before you can have any trust or
confidence in coming to Christ, and before you can possibly con
clude that you can be a believer." This is a fiery dart of Satan,
aimed at the conscience to keep the poor sinner from Christ, to
wound him so deeply, — to fasten that dart in his conscience, as a
barbed arrow that cannot be drawn, to hinder him from looking
38

594 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS,
to Jesus — to make him think, that the blood of Jesus cannot
pardon the guilt and heal the Avound. How now are we to meet
such an assault or quench such a dart as this ? " take the
shield of faith." Acknowledge your sins. When Satan mar
shals and parades your sins before your conscience, and numbers
the host that are against you — when he upbraids you with their
number and extent — when he endeavors to fasten the stings of
guilt in your conscience — to make you think yourself too bad to
come to Christ, that Christ cannot receive so vile a sinner, — -Then
"take the shield of faith," — acknowledge your sin — tell
Satan you know it all and more too — tell him you are viler than
even he can represent you to be — tell him that, liar as he is, he
cannot exaggerate your sin — that it is as great or greater than he
can make it. But tell him " This is a faithful saying and wor
thy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners." Tim. i. 15. Tell him, God declares that " The
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from sin." 1 John
i. 7. Tell him that the Lord, who inspired that word, knew
the extent — the nature — number and depth of all the sins
that ever should defile the human race, when He said "Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John vi. 37.
When He said, " Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy
laden and I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28. When He said,
" I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as
a cloud, thy sins." Isaiah xliv. 22. When He inspired the Prophet
to say, " Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
Mic. vii. 19. And if Satan could bring any sin on this side hell,
too great to be forgiven— too great for the blood of Christ to
cleanse — he must falsify all the truth of God — he must dry up the
Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, — he must be able to
prevent " the Lamb of God from taking away the sin of the
-world," — he must pluck the sheep of Christ out of his hand — he
must hurl God the Father from His throne of grace, and God the
Son from His throne of glory. Therefore, tell Satan that the
Lord is your Sun, and the Lord is your Shield, and that he must
overcome the Lord of life before he can conquer you, or pluck you
out of His hand. This is to use the shield of faith, and thus
" We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
Rom. viii. 37.
If the devil tries to turn the heart to vain hopes and to refuges
of lies — leads it to look to other means of salvation besides Christ
— if that single text, " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleans
eth us from all sin," 1st John i. 7, is brought home by the Spirit
to the heart, all other refuges vanish like the shades of night be
fore the rising sun. I remember a dear young friend of mine, a
Roman Catholic, who was often listening to the Gospel, to whom
I had constant opportunities of speaking on the subject, and I set
before him constantly the blessings of the Gospel, and he listened
and read his Bible. One day a clergyman, a friend of mine, came
to see me, and he was talking to this young lad. Amongst other

lectures on the ephesians. 595
things — he said to him, " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us
from all sin."
"What !" said the other, "is that in the Bible?"
" Yes," said the clergyman, " it is."
"Where?" he inquired.
My friend found the text and gave it to him.
He read the passage, " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin." " Then," said he, " if that be so,
everything else must be vain. Every other hope and refuge must
be false !"
The Lord brought the light of that text to his heart — and
therefore his heart fled to Jesus, rested on Jesus. Popery was
gone. He saw that every other refuge was false. The prejudices,
ignorances, and superstitions, in which his mind had till then been
trained, vanished from before him, all other refuges were renounced,
Avhen the Gospel proclaimed Jesus to him, and he beheld " The
Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." He be
lieved that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin, and the next
Lord's day he received the Communion, the commemoration of
the finished work of Christ, in the congregation of the Church of
England. If your consciences are, like his, delivered from fear
through the belief of the Gospel — If you are like him enabled to
come to Christ, and to cast your souls on Him, without doubt or
fear — If you are resting simply on the Lord Jesus Christ and his
glorious work for all your salvation, and for the security of an
inheritance of glory — If you are able to rest on that one truth,
" the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin," what is the
consequence ? Your language ought to be, " Return then unto
thy rest, O my soul ; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with
thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling." Psalm cxvi. 7, 8. " What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me ? 1
will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the
Lord." — " / will take the cup of salvation," I will receive the
blessed, glorious testimony of his everlasting Gospel ; I will look
to " the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world."
I will rejoice in the light of the Sun of righteousness, I will take
the Lord as my Sun and the Lord as my Shield. — This is "the
SHIELD OF FAITH WHEREWITH I SHALL BE ABLE TO QUENCH
ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED."
Again, there is no time that Satan aims such volleys of fiery
darts at a poor sinner, as when he catches him backsliding.
Satan will endeavor to deceive him, to make light of sin, that it is
only a small thing — a small deviation — a little compromise with
the world — a trifling concession on his part — it will not do him
any harm. He will say, " Don't be uneasy — don't be afraid," until
by suggestions such as these, he gradually draws on the sinner,
till he finds he has backslidden and fallen away from God. Then
he turns on him, and reproaches him bitterly with his fall. He
says, "Now you arj gone — you have brought reproach on the

596 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
Gospel — you have trodden under foot the Son of God — you have
fallen from grace, and there is no hope for you.
Well— Is there no armor against this fiery dart ? Is there no
shield to take hold of, or oppose to this accusation of Satan ? It
is written, " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal
your backslidings." Jer. iii. 22. We often fall when none see us
fall but God, ourselves, and the devil ; we often fall, Avhen our
own conscience is the only earthly witness ; Ave feel our own fall,.
and Satan aims volleys of fiery darts — of fierce accusations — -bitter
reproaches — blasted hopes, and unbelieving terrors, and all to
frighten us from Christ. But then, as at all times, gird your armor
close. "Take the shield of faith, whereavith ye shall
BE ABLE TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED."
Tell him, " True, I have fallen, yes alas ! I have fallen deeply,"
but it is written, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will
heal your backslidings." Tell him, what a glorious image the
Lord uses there, to show the riche3 of His grace in healing back
sliders ! " They say, if a man put away his wife, and she go
from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her
again ? shall not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith
the Lord." Jer. iii. 1. And will He put you away? Oh! no,
after all your ingratitude ! " Yet, return again to me, saith the
Lord." Oh ! Avhat love ! What mercy ! Christ is the only Hus
band that Would say to such a wife—" Yet, return again to me,
saith the Lord."
Tell Satan this, and shout unto him in the language of the
Prophet, " Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy : when I fall,
I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light
unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have
sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judg
ment for me: he will bring me forth, to the light, and I shall
behold his righteousness." Micah vii. 8, 9. Shout this, I say, in
the very face of Satan.
Understand then, what it is to take the shield of faith ! It is
to take God's Word — to take God's promises — to take God's truth,
and to answer the objections of sin, Satan, the world, death and
hell, with the salvation of Jesus. This is to " take the shield
of faith." Thus shall you " quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked ;" and Avhether they are aimed at the head, to
wound it with difficulties, doubts, and evil counsels — or at the
heart, to fill it Avith distractions, terrors, lusts, evil passions and
imaginations — at the conscience, to frighten it with sin — with all
the evils of the head — the heart — the life. No matter at what
vital part, or at what member of the body the fiery darts of Satan
may be aimed, guarded with all the armor of God in every part,
" above all take the shield of faith," wherewith you shall
be able to intercept and quench them all. That is, in plain, un-
figurative language, bring Christ, by faith, against Satan ; bring
Christ, His Word — His work — His righteousness — His blood — Hia

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 597
promises— His love— His power — His faithfulness and truth,
against all the power and malice of the devil, and you shall be
" More than conqueror, through him that loved you." This is
that which the Apostle says, " Whatsoever is born of God over
cometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the
world." What ? Not our resolutions — nor our strength — nor our
moral principles — nor our religious education — nor our privileo-e3
— nor our Church — nor ordinances — nor prayers — nor anythino-
we have or are, but it is this—" Even our faith. Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son
of God." 1 John v. 4, 5. He that believeth in Jesus — in all His
revealed character — His Word— His work — His offices ; He it is,
and He alone, that overcomes, and can overcome the world, the
flesh, or the devil. Therefore, "above all taking the shield
OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE ABLE TO QUENCH ALL
THE FIERY DARTS OF THE AVICKED."
Blessed, then, be our God ! He sends us this armor to buckle
on us ; and Oh! what need we have of it ! Every moment our
enemy is on the alert. — -always active — -always watchful — always
full of malice ; we have need continually, then, of an Almighty
power, and an Almighty protector. " We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers." So
David saith, " There be many that fight against me, O thou Most
High." Ps. lvi. 2. And you see, it is under the image of armor
that Christ is given to us, as our all in all — our Alpha and Omega.
For you observe, in all parts of the armor, every one of them is
but an image of Christ ; so that Ave may say with the Psalmist,
" Our soid waiteth for the Lord, he is our help and our shield"
Ps. xxxiii. 20 ; again, " Behold, O God, our shield," and again,
"the Lord is a sun and shield," Psalm lxxxiv. 9, 11. " The Lord
is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear ? the Lord is
the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid ? When the
wicked, even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up
my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should en
camp against me, my heart shall not fear ; though war should
rise against me, in this will I be confident." Ps. xxvii. 1 — 4. All
these passages in these Psalms — all that can give trust and con
fidence in our God, may serve to illustrate being clothed Avith the
armor of God, for in Him is all our strength, and all our salvation.
" He is a shield to them that put their trust in him.." Prov. xxx. 5.
Therefore, we may " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might," so shall we be " more than conquerors, through him
that loved us."
" Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all tfiat we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in
us. Unto him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, through
out all ages, world without end, Amen." Chap. iii. 20, 21.

FIFTIETH LECTURE.

Ephesians VI.— 17, 18.

" And take the hemlet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word at
God : praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."
Having shown, I trust in some faint degree, the figurative
meaning and spiritual use of "the shield of faith, wherewith we
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," we come
to consider in the 17th verse, the other parts of the Christian
armor, added by the Apostle — "And take the helmet of sal
vation, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD
of God." With these, to complete his armor, the Christian is
equipped for his warfare. He is armed here from head to foot.
His " loins are girt about with truth." He has on " the breast
plate of righteousness." He has his "feet shod with the prepara
tion of the Gospel of peace." He has " the shield of faith" upon
his left arm, to guard every part of his body which the enemy can
assault. And now his head covered with "the helmet of sal
vation, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD
of God," in his right hand, with which, in turn, he is to strike
and vanquish his foe.
What does he mean by the "helmet of salvation?" The
expression occurs again twice in the Sacred Volume ; once as
applied to the Mighty Conqueror Himself, the Lord Jesus, Isaiah
lix. 17; and again, as applied to His followers, 1 Thess. v. 8, "Let
us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."
It is here called " the^iope of salvation." We considered on the
last day, these two great principles of the Christian, faith and
love ; and here we have another joined with them, Hope.
" Hope springs eternal in the human breast,
Man never is, but always to be blest,"
said a Poet, who did not know, poor felloAv ! in what the hope that
really could alone support the soul of man consists. The princi
ple is true. It is the necessary condition of a rational, immortal
being, in a finite stage of his existence, that he should live on
hope. Man is formed to live on hope, and he does live on hope, every
human being lives on hope; and that last stage of mental

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 599
anguish, which our language supplies us with a word to describe,
is that of despair, which is derived from the very words which sig
nify, being cast down from hope. It is from the Latin words, de
and spero, as it were, de spe dejectus, that is, cast down from
hope, in despair, having no more hope.
From the moment that the mind of a child can form to itself
the anticipation of any enjoyment, which it can attain on this
earth, from that moment hope springs up in his breast. When
the child sees a thing and likes it, he hopes to possess it ; he
stretches out his little hand — he hopes and tries to gain it. And
so it is, when he grows up through every stage of childhood,
boyhood, youth, manhood, even to the last extremity of age.
Hope is the moving principle of the human heart. But, alas !
it appears that man in this, as in all other things, is fallen —
and fallen from his God. He has lost the only true and solid
source of happiness, and therefore, he has lost the true and solid
object of hope. We have found, every one of us, that our hopes,
as far as they have been confined to this world, have universally
ended in disappointment. We have hoped, and we have often
been disappointed in attaining our hopes, but, peihaps, man is
never more disappointed in losing the object of his hope, than he
is in gaining it ; for if he is disappointed in losing the thing he
hopes for, he is much more disappointed in finding, that Avhen he
has attained it, it was, at best, but a delusion ; and there is no
man more unhappy than the man who knows not God — whose
hopes of happiness are fixed on earth, and who has it in his power
to indulge himself in his vain pursuit of that happiness, by gain
ing the successive objects of his restless desires.
The man who can most easily gain the object he is continually
seeking for on this earth, as far as money and power can attain
it, is, generally speaking, the most unhappy man ; just exactly as
the child whose parents most indulge, and most desire to gratify
all its whims, and to procure for it whatever it wishes, is always
the most unhappy child in the world. And so a man — an indulged
man, if I may use the expression, a man that can indulge himself
in the things he desires, is, generally, the most unhappy sinner.
Therefore, the hope of the natural heart, resting, as it does, on
earthly objects, while it is the spring of human endeavor, is, at
the same time, the continual source of disappointment ; and never,
until man is restored to the right object of his hope — never until
his hope is fixed on that which does not disappoint, but satisfies
the soul — never till then, is he enabled to enjoy the happiness of
solid hope.
When man, then, is brought through the riches of the grace of
Christ, to believe the everlasting Gospel — when the glorious hope
of salvation is given to his heart — when he knows how that hope
is secured to him through the blood of the everlasting Covenant
— then, indeed, it is a hope in which he is enabled to rejoice — a
hope in which he never can be disappointed — a hope in which the
joy of fruition outstrips the eagerness of expectation. If we have

600

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that hope, we may place it as an impenetrable helmet on our
head, and stand Avithout a fear in the thickest of the hottest
conflict. The devil is continually holding out false hopes to men. It is
one of his innumerable wiles that he holds out false deceptive
hopes — and fills the head Avith vain delusive dreams and schemes
of happiness. Do you not knoAV something of this ? Do you not
know what it is to build castles in the air? Have you never built
them ? I am sure I have, very often. The devil seeks to employ
us in building these as much as he can. To delude — to deceive,
and to divert from sober truth, is Satan's constant aim. He de
ceived our first parents by holding out delusive hopes of imaginary
good, and preventing them from the belief of the real evil that
was before them. As he led them to hope, that God would not
fulfil His word. God is not so severe as He says. God will not
execute such a severe threat on you "Thou shalt not surely die."
So he deceived them, by leading them to hope foolishly for happi
ness, thus he added, "For God doth know, that in the day ye eat
thereof, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Gen.
iii. 4, 5.
Now, the excitement of false delusive hope, with which the devil
deceived our first parents, in this instance, is just an example of
the very same efforts that he is always making, to produce similar
delusions in the mind of all their posterity ; and the very same
disappointment of their hopes which they experienced, is an em
blem of the universal disappointment ever attending the hopes of
earthly happiness, with which he is continually deluding the
imaginations of men. They did know good and evil ; the devil
told them the truth, and he often tells truth in that way, but he
tells truth for a lying object ; the end of the devil's truth is a lie,
they did know good and evil, but they knew good and evil only to
be involved in one, and excluded from the other — to be involved in
sin, and to be shut out from Paradise. They knew good, the tree of
life was shut out from them, the light of God's countenance, the
blessing of His favor was turned from them, they knew evil,
they were driven out from Eden to condemnation, toil and death,
sentence of death Avas passed upon their body and their soul.
So it is with us Avhen all our hopes of happiness are fixed on
earth, disappointment, misery, eternal death succeed. Now, I say,
the devil fills the head of men with vain delusive hopes, — Avith
vain abortive projects, of happiness and peace on earth. And so
when the Lord would make His people conquerors, in their conflict
with their spiritual foe, He gives them one great and glorious hope
with which as it were to crown their heads, he commands them
to "take the helmet of salvation." Let all your schemes,
plans, objects, tend to that one glorious end, that blessed hope, in
which you shall not be disappointed. There is a hope secure and
solid, sealed by the blood, and ratified by the covenant, and by the
oath of God.
Oh ! consider, what the blessed object of that hope is — eternal

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happiness — eternal joy — eternal glory — an eternal inheritance in
the presence of our Covenant God at his coming — an "Inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." 1st Peter,
i. 4. " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat ; for the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes." Rev. vii. 16, 17. Oh blessed
hope ! — -This is that hope that is spoken of by the Apostle, when
he saith, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appear
ing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Tit. ii. 13.
Then consider, how that hope is ratified. We have it set before
us in Heb. vi. The Apostle, in that chapter is reminding believers
of the covenant promises that God made to Abraham. At the
11th verse he says, " We desire that every one of you do show
the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end."
Mark those words: " The full assurance of hope." It ought not
to be a vague hope — not a vain hope — but a confident — assured — -
solid hope. " The full assurance of hope" that is a solid assurance
that your hope shall not be disappointed.
It is quite necessary for the comfort of hope, that we have a
confident expectation that it shall not be frustrated. Therefore,
persons, before they allow themselves to entertain the hope of any
thing, ought to know on what grounds they cherish it. I must be
a fool to hope, if I have not solid ground on which that hope is
founded. And if we have solid ground for hope, in proportion as
we have, so Ave should indulge, enjoy and cherish it — so he saith,
" We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence, to the
full assurance of hope unto the end." You see the glorious hope
of the Gospel is one of which we may have full assurance ; and
then, as much as if the believer should say, what ground have I
for this! What ground is there for this full assurance? The
Apostle explains and enforces his meaning: — "That ye be not
shthful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience
inherit the promises." Heb. vi. 12. Hope is founded on faith ;
the hope that the believer has of eternal life, is founded on his
belief of the promises of God, by which that hope is secured ; so
he says, "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them, who
through faith and patience inherit the promises." That which
is promised is the thing we hope for. The ground on which we
hope for the thing promised, is the confidence we have in the per
son Avho promises it. So the promises of God are the security for
our hope, and our belief of the promises — our confidence in the
faithfulness and truth of God, is that, on Avhich our hope is built.
When we know, that when God has promised, He cannot lie ;
therefore we trust in His promises, and hope for that which He
promised us. Hence faith produces diligence — leads us to hope,
and to act on our hope, and here is the solid ground for them both.
"For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could
swear by no greater, he swa-e by himself, saying, Surely, blessing

602

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I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so,
after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." Heb.
vi. 13 — -15. God had promised him that seed, in whom " all the
nations of the earth should be blessed,-" and after he had patiently
endured throughout the time that elapsed between the giving
and the fulfilling of the promise, during the progressive age of
himself and his wife Sarai, see what cause of faith and patience
Abraham had; and so he says, "After he had patiently endured,
he obtained the promise." — Now observe ! "For men verily swear
by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end
of all strife. Wherein God willing more abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, con
firmed it by an oath." Heb. vi. 16, 17. He sware by Himself,
He gave His covenant promise, and He sware by Himself, that
that promise should be kept, saying, "Surely," that is, " as surely
as I exist" — " that by two immutable things in which it was impos
sible for God to lie," namely, God's covenant promise, and the oath
by which that promise was confirmed, — •" We might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us : which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
Heb. vi. 18, 19. Our hope is Avithin the veil — it is in the presence
of our God — we are "Kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation." 1st Peter i. 5. We depend on the covenant
promise of God ; and therefore, iii depending on that, we have the
full assurance of that, hope which is ratified by God's covenant
promise and God's oath ; and it is here called the anchor of the
soul — " which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." The
anchor is cast into the deep — it is out of sight — we cast it forth,
and Avhere the anchor gets its firm hold, and where the cable that
moors the vessel to the anchor is sure, the vessel will outride any
storm. The winds may blow, the sea may rage — but while the
anchor holds its grip, and the cable the anchor, there the vessel
rides in security. So when the believer has his hope cast within
the veil,, there it is out of sight — there it is fixed — fixed, fast as the
covenant promise, oath and power of a faithful and omnipotent
God can hold it, so we may say, "If God be for us, who can be
against us ?" — " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ."
Rom. viii. 34, 35. The winds may rage, the storm may howl, the
billows may foam, but it is the believer's privilege to outride every
storm, because God is his salvation, so he trusts and need not be
afraid. Hope is " the anchor of his soul, both sure and stedfast,
which entereth into that within the veil."
It is this glorious hope of salvation, Avhich is here called " the
helmet of salvation." It is placed as it were, on the head, for
this reason, I suppose, because the hopes of men are always de
rived from the vain projects, and imaginations of their brain, and
their own schemes of . earthly good. AH these are now to be, cast
aside, and there is to be but one scheme — one project — one hope

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of sure and solid happiness that is to fill the head — and it is this, the
glorious hope that is secured by the covenant promise and oath of
God in that which is to come. Therefore, the Apostle has a
beautiful prayer to this effect, in his Epistle to the Romans where
God is called " the God of hope." " Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace, in believing, that you may abound in hope
through the power of the Holy Ghost." Rom. xv. 13.
He is called the God of hope, because He is the God whose
promises alone can give all true, all solid hope, and in whose faith
fulness alone our hope can be confidently fixed, and whose power
secures the performance of His promises for his people. He is the
God Avho gives it, and the God who secures it ; whose grace cher
ishes and keeps alive that hope in the heart, — who shall never
disappoint, but shall fulfil it to the day of everlasting glory. So it
is the Holy Ghost who inspired the prayer Avhich He will Himself
fulfil. " The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in be
lieving, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the
Holy Ghost;" "fill you with all joy and peace in believing ;"
therefore, not only with hope, but with a sure, solid, abiding, yea,
and an abounding hope, ratified by the covenant promise and oath
of God. Therefore, you see, as long as a person is ignorant of the
Gospel of Jesus, he can have no hope ; he can have no peace nor
joy in believing ; and so, when the Lord describes in his Word, the
miserable state of the ungodly, as we have it in this very Epistle,
ii. 11, 12. He saith, " Remember, that ye being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands ; that at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common
wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world." Chap. ii. 11, 12.
Observe their state, " at that time," they had " no hope," and
were "without God in the world." Then, what gave them
hope ? " But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar
off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Chap. ii. 13.
When you have Christ to depend on, you have the glorious
hope that these promises ratify and confirm. You are warranted
to enjoy the full assurance of hope — you can put on " the hel
met of salvation," then you can say with the Prophet—" be
hold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid ; for
the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ; He also is
become my salvation." Isaiah xii. 2. You can say with the
Psalmist, " O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou
hast covered my head in the day of battle." Psalm cxl. 7.
Now then, dear friends, let me ask you this question— Have you
this helmet on your head? Is the one grand project of happiness
that fills your thoughts, that your soul should enjoy the eternal
blessings that are promised to you in the glorious Gospel ? Is
Christ your hope ? Is Christ all your salvation ? Are you look
ing for the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus, " who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His

604 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
glorious body," Avhen that earthly tabernacle, that so soon shall
be in the dust, shall arise again from its grave, a glorious body,
reunited to your spirit, and so you shall be ever with the Lord?
Is that the hope of happiness which you lay out for yourself? Or
are you putting away all these things from your consideration,
and is your happiness resting on something for which you are
looking in this world ? Oh ! my dear friends, if your happiness is
resting on this world, how vain is your hope ! How miserable are
your prospects ! How Avretched is your condition ! How naked
and unarmed you are ! How defenceless is your head in the midst
of your foes, a prey to them all— world, flesh, and devil !
Oh ! what a blessed privilege it is, to have a religious hope.
When the head is covered Avith "the helmet of salvation,"
we are more than conquerors over sin and death and hell !
See Iioav soon a person may be cut off! Youth, health and
strength are no securities from death. My dear friend and brother
— my young brother in the ministry, for whose afflicted family we
have been praying: — Mr. S. was cut off in a moment ; fever came
and swept him away, just when commencing the exercise of his
ministry ; just at the moment of entering on a post of usefulness,
where he was calculated in every respect, to be a blessing to those
around him ! In a moment he was cut off! But he had "the
helmet of salvation" on his head — Christ the hope of glory.
He was taken from the evil to come ; he was ready to go. Though
his mind was wandering much under the influence of fever, yet it
did not seem in the least to Avander from his Lord. This some
times happens to believers. But it Avas not so Avith him — " I am
happy," his last words Avere, '¦' I am thine and thou art mine."
What a blessed joyful hope ! — A hope that maketh not ashamed !
Alas ! my friends, if we are destitute of this hope when we are
well and strong, to what are we to look when death shall come
upon us? A time of fever, or of acute disease, is a bad time to be
gin to learn the hope of our salvation. Of Avhat use can a minister
of Christ be to a sinner who cannot understand him? Of Avhat
use is the Bible when he can neither read, hear, or listen to it ?
Of what use is prayer, Avhen he can neither attend or join in it ?'
Now is the time to ask, have you that blessed hope ? — that blessed
hope that is spoken of here — that glorious " helmet of salva
tion," — Christ the hope of glory? Oh! dear friends, " to-day»,
while it is called to-day," " take the helmet of salvation"
— put it upon your head. " The helmet of salvation !"
Think of that — no weapon can pierce through it. — " The hel
met of salvation" is impenetrable — it is cast in the armory of
God — it is complete — perfect — it can neither be perforated, cleft, nor
broken. Salvation is a finished Avork — a perfect Avork — nothing
can be added to it — nothing can be taken from it — Salvation is
complete as the Lord of Glory can make it. « IT IS FINISHED,"
was his own glorious testimony. " The helmet of salvation !"
— Oh, that you and I may have it on our heads ! We need not
fear any battle or any conflict, if we go with our heads armed Avith

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the " helmet of salvation," then may we boldly say, " The
Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall If earl the
Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ?
Psalm xxvii. 1.
This is the last part of our defensive armor ; but the warrior is
not to act, merely, on the defensive : he is to attack and conquer
his foe — He requires, therefore, weapons as well as armor — but he
is fully provided in the armory of God. So the Apostle adds,
"and the sword of the spirit, avhich is the word of
God ;" that is the weapon of our warfare. We must be engaged
in constant warfare, and "the sword of the spirit" is the
weapon with Avhich we are to carry on all our battles.
What is the meaning of that? What is meant by having
"the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God?"
The sword is an instrument, both of attack and defence ; it is an
instrument with which the combatant not only attacks his foe, but
parries the thrusts that are aimed at him by his opponent. So
the Word of the living God is not only that Aveapon by which we
are to attack our enemies ; but that Avith Avhich we ate to parry
the thrusts they make at us. Some blows and darts are to be
intercepted by the shield — some are to be Avarded off, and parried
by the sword. He knows but half the use of his blade, Avho cannot
guard as well as thrust with it. Some false principles are suggested
to us : How are they to be met ? By the word of God. Many
temptations are presented to us. Hoav are they resisted ? By the
word of God. We see The Mighty Warrior using this Aveapon in
a deadly conflict — a conflict on which the salvation of a world de
pended ; even the Captain of our salvation, we see him using
"the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."
When Satan came upon our blessed Lord, and found him suffer
ing under all the weakness of human necessity, of Avant, and
hunger : — He attacks our Divine Master, and takes advantage of
his sufferings as man to tempt his majesty as God ; " If thou be the
Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Noav, he
came into the world to manifest that He Avas the Son of God ; He
came into the world to manifest his mighty power as the Son of
God, to save, to show that he Avas the promised Christ — the
anointed Messiah, who was to " come to seek and to save that
which was lost." The devil puts Him here upon the proof of His
person and office as it were — he puts it upon Him, either to mani
fest His power, or to confess his inability to do so-— " If thou be
the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Mat.
iv. 3 ; as much as to say — " If you cannot command that these
stones be made bread, you must acknoAvledge you are not the Son
of God. If you comply, then I compel you to act at my order — if
you refuse, I force you to forego your poAver as the Son of God."
He places our Lord, as he supposed, in a dilemma, and thought,
that let Him do what He would, he must have the advantage over
Him. Look at the cunning, the malice, the audacity of the prince
of darkness, daring the Omnipotent to show forth His power — ¦

606 lectures on the ephesians.
daring the majesty of the Son of God to show forth the truth of
His claim to the title — so that it would seem as if His honor and
glory demanded, that He should comply with the suggestion of
the devil.
But how does the Lord meet him ? He answered and said,
" It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth .of God." Mat. iv. 4. The
devil tempted Him, you see, as God, — " If thou be the Son of
God ;" he dared His omnipotence. Jesus teaches the devil a les
son. He shows him, that he was alsc man. His answer was as
much as to say, " You dare me as God, but I am here as man, I
am God, but I am also man ; I am God manifested in the flesh—
I am Jehovah revealed in humanity, I have taken upon myself
the responsibility of man — I have taken upon me to fulfil the laws
of God for man — God's word is therefore my standard — God's Avord
is my Aveapon. The time shall come soon enough when you shall
know and feel that I am the Son of God, but I am now to make you
know and feel that I am a righteous man, and ' man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God! " How glorious it is to see the Lord Jesus Christ
putting forth the full actings of His nature as man — to see His
holiness as man — His sinless righteousness — His obedience as man
— His devotedness to God, His heavenly Father, as man — showing,
that it was His meat and His drink, to do the will of Him that
sent Him, and to finish His work. Here you see the mighty Con
queror, the "Captain of our salvation" Avith " the sword of the
spirit," parrying the attack of the devil. Satan is foiled — his
taunt against Jehovah manifest in the flesh, falls powerless, and
is retorted on his head, by the man, Christ Jesus. He had not
another word to say — he was silenced. It is a great blessing to
see the power of " the sword of the spirit !" To see it
wielded thus by our Divine Master, falling Avith one blow on the
head of Satan, that needs no second stroke to crush him ! There
is no argument that man can use, let it be ever so beautifully
composed — ever so logically arranged, and so exquisitely expressed
that can silence an adversary, no matter who he is, half so power
fully as one text of Scripture.
I recollect an eminent minister telling me, he had been thrown
into company with an infidel. He was bringing forth the objec
tions of infidelity against Christianity, Instead of entering into
any of his arguments, " I answered him," said he, " by quoting
text after text from God's word. Unable to answer the Scriptures,
and irritated at his own incompetence, he said,"
" But hoAV do you prove that this is the Word of God ?"
" Why," said I " when I use a sword and pierce my adversary,
and see him fall powerless at my feet, is it not absurd to ask me
' how do you prove this is a sAVord ?' I see, and you feel that it is
'the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.' "
But observe, how our Lord wields this Divine weapon again.
" Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him

lectures on the ephesians. 607
on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, if thou be the
Son of God, cast thyself down."
Noav mark— The devil, in the first place, tempted Christ from
His suffering — from His bodily suffering, and weakness. He was
weak with hunger, and he took occasion from that, to tempt him
as God to prove His omnipotence as Jehovah. Our Lord answered
him, by proving His faith, and His obedience as man, and quotes
the Scripture to silence him. Here the devil retorts on our Lord
with his OAvn weapon, he tempts now our Lord's faith in God's
power and providence as man. He tempts Him with the authority
of Scripture, and puts His faith in God's promise to the test, "If
thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." That is to say, " If
you have faith in the word of God, then here is a promise, ' For
it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and
in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash
thy foot against a stone! Mat. iv. 5, 6. If therefore you believe
the promises of God, here you are as a man ; now if you believe
the Avoid of God, — if you depend on the truth of God, — if you have
faith in the power of God, — if you are, as you profess, such a
righteous, faithful man — and if you shall live ' by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God,' now I put your faith and
obedience to the test ; ' Cast thyself down,' here is a ' Word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God,' to protect you."
Mark now, our Lord's next blow with the " sword of the
spirit :" "Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God." Mat. iv. 7. That is to say, " If I,
as a man, throw myself down from the pinnacle of the temple, I
tempt God. I do what is irrational, wicked, wrong in every respect
for any man to do. Therefore I tempt God — I violate God's laws
— I do that which any man doing, would commit an act of suicide.
God's word is to be trusted by man in the path of duty. To affect
to trust it to guard man in a violation of duty, is not to trust, but
to tempt Jehovah. Now, ' it is written, thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God! " Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ brings His
duty, as commanded by the word of God, to parry the thrust of
Satan who tempts Him to violate it in reliance on the promise of
God ; placing our blessed Lord in this dilemma, that if He refused,
it would prove His want of faith in the promise — and, if He com
plied, it would be an act of sin.
Mark how the answer of our blessed Lord dissolved his sophis
try and condemned his malice ! How important this use of the
Scripture is ! If false principles ever appear to be sanctioned by
an appeal to Scripture, a counter-appeal to Scriptural tmth and
Scriptural duty, is the only way to expose them. You will find
books that have the name of religious books, abounding with false
principles; and abounding with false applications of Scripture,
Avhich seem to support them ; and you require to have your minds
furnished from the armory of heaven with " the sword of the
Spirit which is the word of God," to keep you faithful and
steady in the path of duty— to regulate your conduct by the stand-

608 lectures on the ephesians.
ard of truth — and to resist false principles by its power, which
Satan often tries to make it seem to sanction.
Observe our Lord again in the next temptation. " The devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth
him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and
saith unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall
down and worship me." Mat. iv. 8, 9. There — the usurper, the
prince of darkness, tempts the God of glory, and tempts him by
what ? by the promise of ceding to Him His own rightful domin
ions — those dominions that are secured to Him, as His own inher
itance, of whom it is written, " I will give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy pos
session." Psalm ii. 8. The devil says, " They are now mine — I
now rule over them, but I will give them all to Thee, if Thou wilt
fall down and worship me." He had tempted him as God. He
had tempted him as man. Now he tempts the Lord as both — as
the God-Man who is the Ruler and Inheritor of all the kingdoms
of the earth. He affects to claim as his own rightful property that
glory which is Christ's own — His power— His authority — His right
ful dominion over the earth — and to bestow on Him the kingdoms
of the world ; to give them to Him, without that humiliation and
suffering by Avhich they were to be bought. He Avas to buy the
kingdom, he was to purchase, with his precious blood, that people
who should inherit it, — he Avas to purchase the travail of his soul,
by dying on the cross ; and Satan taunted Him to take His king
dom of glory without this ordeal of suffering. And surely both
the glory of God, and all the best and purest feelings of a holy
man would have demanded, as one should think, that Christ should
not have waited a moment longer, but have vindicated His OAvn
glorious majesty, and dashed the fiend into the fathomless abyss,
who dared to call on Him, the Lord of heaven and earth, to do
homage to him for His own dominions. But how then should
the Scriptures be fulfilled? — It Avas through death that Jesus Avas
to "destroy him that hath the power of death," and He was first
to triumph in his OAvn sufferings over Satan, sin, death and hell;
and soon the time shall come, when He shall crush the head of
this Prince of darkness, and all his principalities and powers, and
wrest all the nations of the earth from his grasp, when " the king
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever." Rev. xi. 15.
Hoav then does our blessed Lord answer him ? " Get thee hence,
Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve." He does not condescend to notice
his blasphemous audacity in insulting the majesty of His God —
He does not upbraid him with his guilt and wickedness. — He does
not deign to tell him of the glory with which He shall rend this
earth from his poAver, and cast him into the bottomless pit — but
as men bow down to Satan, and worship him for the things of
earth — He answers him, as a man with " the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God;" "It is written, thou

lectures on the ephesians. 609
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve." Here we see how the Captain of our Salvation wields " the
sword of the Spirit," leaving us an example how we ought
to wield it, and both to strike our foe, and to defend ourselves
against the attacks and assaults of Satan. And thus it is to be
wielded against all false principles, and all wicked companions.
Oh ! how little is this mighty and invincible weapon taken and
used in the conflict as it ought to be, either individually by believ
ers, or by the Church as an army !
If, when your friends or your companions would lead you into
that which is wrong, your mind were stored Avith Holy Scripture
as it ought to be ; and if you would say — " No, this is contrary
to the Word of God — God commands me to do so and so — I can
not disobey His Word." That is the right use to make of " the
sword of the Spirit" as a defensive weapon — and thus, all our
enemies Avithin, our own corruptions — our own evil propensities,
desires, passions, all the iniquity that we feel Avithin us, and all
the evil that is without us, should be met by " the sword of the
Spirit which is the word of God." It is by that alone we
can attack and conquer. The promises — the faithful covenant
promises of our God to which the soul flies in all her distress, and
all her wants, these are the Aveapons with which she is made more
than conqueror.
The fears of hell, how are they conquered ? By the promises
of God.
Our doubts, how are they dispelled? By the promises and
Word of God.
Our conduct, how regulated? By the holy law — the pre
cepts of God. Thus "the sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God," is the great weapon which we are con
tinually to use. It is in our hands. Oh ! that it may be in
our hearts! "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds."
2 Cor. x. 4.
Oh ! if that one weapon, " the sword of the spirit," were
but wielded as it ought in our land, Avhat mighty conquests would
it not achieve ! And where "the sword of the spirit" is left,
as it were, to rust in the scabbard, there is no hope, no prospect of
peace or happiness, either individually or nationally. The neglect
of wielding this weapon aright, has been the great guilt of the
Protestant Church in this country. The Protestant Church has
not wielded "the sword of the spirit which is the word
of God." She has used her laws — her power — the power of her
Protestant King — her Protestant Lords — her Protestant Com
mons — her Protestant possessions. She has used this power to se
cure her Protestant interests— her Protestant ascendancy. She
has not taken the armor of God— she has not wielded " the
sword of the spirit," against the Apostacy that surrounds her,
and therefore the heavy visitation of God has lighted on her. If
39

610 lectures on the ephesians.
she will not awaken it shall be more than a visitation^-I fear it
will be ruin and desolation. If she had taken " the sword of
the spirit" — if she had maintained the eternal truth of God, as
the one ground on which she was to stand — if that had been the
standard of- her kings— her parliaments — her bishops — her clergy —
her laity— in all their dealings with our poor benighted country
men around us— " the sword of the spirit" had long since
felled the dark Apostacy, and laid the superstitions of Popery pros
trate in. the dust. We should have been, long since, united in
heart and hand with our poor countrymen, instead ofrbeing, as we
are now, in a state of division, distraction, and misery, and exposed
continually to the sword of intestine war, that is generally, as it
were, suspended by a thread over our heads.
Oh ! that there was the power of the Holy Ghost, to awaken
those who profess the faith of Christ in the land, to use the
"sword of the spirit!" That is a mighty — an invincible
weapon. If that weapon were wielded as it ought to be,. wick
edness, ungodliness, superstition, idolatry, perjury, murder, and
other crimes, would not1 defile and blacken the face of the land,
and call down the judgment of God on our heads^-they would fall
before the power of "the sword of the spirit, which is the
word of God."*
..- May the, Lord put it into our hearts and hands individually,
and into the heart and hand of our Church ! May we learn
to put on "The whole armor of God!" May we be clothed
and cased in that armor, that we may " be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Amen and
Amen.
* The Writer has so often, and in so many ways, set forth his convictions, that the
only remedy for the miseries of this unhappy country, is to be found in the faithful
labors of. Missionary preaching, and fearless exposure of the awful evils of Popery, in
a spirit of Christian faithfulness and love to the Roman Catholics, that he only reit
erates it in this note, to record it in a Work, which, he trusts, may survive the passing
controversies of the day. It is now ten years since this Lecture was delivered, ana
every intervening hour only confirms and ratifies his judgment on the subject. The
prevalence of Popery that has been the curse and ruin of this country, is, through the
ignorance, the apathy, and the want of sound principle and sound truth amongst Prot
estants, spreading its influence into the heart of the British Empire and Constitution;
gradually breaking down the barriers that protected our Institutions and corrupting and
undermining the laws and liberties, of the realm. God has sent scourge after scourge
on the Church of Ireland, to awaken her to a sense of her duty. He has now sent
famine and pestilence to chastise the whole nation^andif for all this, instead of being
awakened to a sense of duty, Protestants go on compromising with the Apostacy, and
with the Prince of darkness, either God must change His dealings with men, from
those recorded in His Holy Word — or judgments must overtake the Church and Nation
of this Protestant Empire, that will serve as a lesson to other lands, as their desolation
and ruin ought to be a warning to us  1847.

FIFTY-FIRST LECTURE.

Ephesians VI. — 18—20.

" Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there
unto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints ; and for me, that utterance
may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery
of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak
boldly, as 1 ought to speak."
Our last, lecture concluded the several items of the Christian
armor, which the Apostle exhorted his brethren at Ephesus to put
on. But there is no use in a warrior clothing himself with armor,
if it were the best that ever was produced by the hands of the ar
morer, unless he has strength and skill to use his weapons. If he
has no power to use a shield or a sword, he might as well be with
out them. Now, the whole strength and power of the Christian
to use his spiritual armor, can be derived alone from God. " The
girdle of truths— the breastplate of righteousness— the prepara
tion of the Gospel of peace — the shield of faith — the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,"
.might just as Avell be proposed to the sinner to put on, whose heart
is unwakened, unquickened, unenlightened by the power of the
Holy Ghost, as the various parts of the armor of a warrior might
be laid before a dead body. Yon might just as well try to clothe
a corpse in armor and expect the dead man to use it, as set all the
blessings of the salvation of Jesus before the sinner whose heart
is dead in trespasses and sins, till the Spirit quickens him. A man
must have spiritual life and strength to use the heavenly armor,
as well as animal life and power to use carnal weapons. Life
must be given and sustained by the Holy Spirit — 'the soul of man
must not only be quickened into life, but supported by continual
supplies of strength from God. The manna gathered in the wil
derness, if the Israelites attempted to put it by, corrupted, and was
unfit to use the next day— so, all divine truth laid up in the heart
Ayp.uld necessarily, as it were, decay there, unless the Holy Spirit
of God was continually renewing the soul — renewing the spiritual
life and powers of man to profit by it, to use it, and rejoice in it,
to live on it, and to live to God.
Now God has appointed, that the communications of His Blessed
Spirit with power to the sinner's heart, should be given in answer
to prayer :-r-"Iwill yet for this be inquired of by the house of
Israel, to do it for them, saith the Lord." Ezekiel xxxvi. 37.
Therefore, you see, often in the first instance, the blessing of sal-

612 lectures on the ephesians.
vation communicated to the sinner, in answer to the inquiring cry
of distress and want. " What must I do to be saved ?" Acts xvi. 30,
was the cry of the Philippian jailor. "Men and brethren, what
shall we do ?" Acts ii. 37, was the exclamation of those assembled
on the day of Pentecost. When the Lord was pleased to send
Ananias to lead Saul of Tarsus to the knoAvledge of the Gospel,
He saith, " Go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus : for behold
he prayeth." Acts ix. 11. Peter was sent to Cornelius in answer
to prayer. The Lord is pleased frequently, to send His sovereign
grace and His word to the sinner's heart, in a hardened, rebellious,
prayerless, thoughtless state — to the sinner Avho is not thinking of
God — who is not looking to God. — "/ was found of them that
sought me not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked not
after me." Isaiah lxv. 1, saith the Prophet, and the Apostle re
echoes it, Romans x. 20. God is pleased to send His word to the
sinner's heart and to awaken him — to enlighten him — and bring
him to His feet — but when He does, He ahvays pours on the
awakened sinner a spirit of prayer. In fact, the Spirit teaches
him his want, and teaches him to cry. Therefore, prayer is called
the breath of the new-born soul ; that, as when a person is born
into the world, he begins to breathe ; so when the sinner is born
of God, he begins to pray ; he begins, for the first time in his life,
to cry unto God ; and there is no such thing as genuine spiritual
prayer to God, until the sinner is really touched by the Spirit of
God, and taught to pray. In our natural state, Ave " will not come
to him, that we may have life." John v. 40. — "No man," saith
Christ, " can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him." John vi. 44. But he adds, "Every man therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me"
John vi. 45. Therefore, the Apostle, when he exhorts his brethren
to put on the whole armor of God, closes his exhortation on this
subject in the 18th verse, in these Avoids, — "Praying always
WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, AND
WATCHING THEREUNTO WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUPPLI
CATION FOR ALL SAINTS."
We perceive two exhortations given in this verse : an exhorta
tion to prayer, and an exhortation to watchfulness. " Praying
alavays" — at all times — under all circumstances. When you
hear the Gospel, pray. Now, at this time, when you hear your
poor fellow sinner, with the word of God in his hand, endeavoring
to set before you the truths of that blessed word, your hearts
should be lifted up in prayer — you should pTay thus : —
" Lord enable me to profit by this Holy Word — let all that is
according to thy blessed truth — all that is spoken according to the
mind of the Holy Ghost, let it come with light and power to my
heart." So I ought to pray, that the things I speak to you should be
brought home by the Spirit of God to my own heart ; that while
I endeavor to feed you with the Bread of Life, the Lord would

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 613
feed my own soul. Unless the Lord feeds us all with the "Bread
that cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world,"
we must all starve, we must all perish. Therefore, I say, when
you hear the Gospel of Christ, you should pray — whatever you
feel your spiritual need of, you should pray for it.
Your heart is hard, you should pray that it might be softened.
Your faith is weak, you should pray that it might be strength
ened. Your understanding is dark in many points, you should pray
that it may be enlightened.
Your will is rebellious, you should pray that it may be con
formed to the will of God.
Your affections are " earthly, sensual, devilish ;" you should pray
that they may be lifted up continually to the Lord, that you may
be able to set them " on things above, not on things on the earth."
Your path in life, whatever it be, is, no doubt, encompassed with
difficulties. There is no human being on earth Avho does not feel,
more or less, that they are in a wilderness, and that their path is
perplexed and difficult ; you should pray that the Lord may make His
way plain before your face. There is no servant of God who does
not feel it for themselves. And then, if their relations in life are
multiplied, if they have husbands, wives, children, families — there
is not one who does not feel what multiplied need they have of
direction from God ; not only for themselves, but for all who are
dear to them. And therefore, in all these circumstances, what are
we to do but to pray ?
Then again, we are in danger, — we should pray for preserva
tion, every day we arise, Ave should pray to God to keep us through
that day in our bodies and our souls. " Who can tell what a day
may bring forth ?" How little my dear Christian friend and
brother, whom we have remembered in our prayer, anticipated
when going to take a walk Avith his little children, the awful vis
itation Avith Avhich he Avas to be afflicted !* How little any one
can tell, what a day or an hour may bring forth ! There is not a
day that passes, in Avhich numbers are not involved in difficulty
and danger from which there is no escaping. What have we to
do, then, but to pray that God may keep us, and as we are every
moment pensioners on His mercies, to pray that His grace may
prepare us for all the dispensations of His providence.
Then again there is nothing certain as to this life, but death.
Then what is there that we can have to comfort and cheer us in
"the valley of the shadow of death" unless our God is with us.
Then how ought Ave to pray, that we may be enabled to say,
" Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff
* This alluded to a truly pious servant of God, who with his children had been at
tacked and severely lacerated by an infuriated dog which was supposed to have been
mad a few days before this lecture was delivered, but he was kept calm and in perfect
peace, and it pleased God that it was but a trial of his faith ; the dog proved not to
have been mad, and he and his children were graciously preserved.

614 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
they comfort me." Psalm xxiii. 4. Every moment we need afresh
the application of the blood of Christ to our souls to pardon our
sins, and to "purge our conscience from dead works to serve the
living God." Heb. ix. 14. How are we to obtain these blessings ?
— By prayer.
But it is in vain that I should endeavor to enumerate all the
various circumstances in which we are called to pray. Let me
rather ask you — Tell me any circumstance in which we can be
placed at any moment of our life in which we do not need prayer.
If you tell me any moment that we need not God's pardoning
grace and merCy — His support and power — His love — and faith
fulness — and truth, to guard — and help — and bless us — to preserve
us from the assaults of Satan, then I will tell you a moment when
you do not need prayer ; but if you want these every moment;
then every moment we need this exhortation, though clad in " the
whole armor of God," " praying always with all prayer
AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, AND WATCHING THERE
UNTO WITH all perseverance." This is that which Teally
delivers the heart from care and burden. So the Apostle saith to
the Philippians, " The Lord is at hand, be careful for nothing."
How can that be ? How can it be that we Avho have so many
cares can be careful for nothing ? He tells us, " But in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God," and see then the blessed result —
" And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus." Phil.
iv. 6, 7.
And so saith the Apostle Peter, " Casting all your care upon
Him; for He careth for you;" — "Casting," you see, in the
present tense, it is an habitual work, a daily, hourly, momentary
operation, " Casting all your care upon him." And so here, it is
in the present tense, "praying always with all prayer
AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, AND WATCHING THERE
UNTO WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL
SAINTS." Here the natural heart in its blindness and ignorance asks —
" What ! Are we to be always praying ? — always on our knees ?
How are we to carry on the business of life if we are to be always
praying?" The heart of man in its natural blindness, has no idea
of spiritual religion in any sense, it knows nothing but mere form.
The believer can pray everywhere, in all occupations — at all times
and under all circumstances. A word — a look — a thought — can
carry a prayer to the Throne of Grace, that can bring down a
blessing' on the soul — " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean," Mat. viii. 2, delivered the leper from his leprosy. " Lord,
save me." Mat. xiv. 30, rescued Peter from the depths of the sea.
A prayer quick as thought, and but in thought, in the interval be
tween a: question from his Sovereign and the answer, brought to
Nehemiah, directions and wisdom from God, in a case in which
the interests of a whole nation were involved : Nehem. ii, 4. The

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 615;
mind can be in a spirit of prayerful dependence every moment, for ,
everything, though not a word escapes the lips on the subject.
The necessity of our continually praying to God, continually
waiting upon Him in prayer and supplication, looking to Him for
all things, is the first point that is brought before us in this verse.
But let us remember always that there is but one way of access to
the throne of God. — " No man cometh to the Father, but by me"
is the testimony of Christ. It is only in the way in w'hich God's
righteous government can be administered, His holy law fulfilled —
His holy attributes vindicated — His eternal justice satisfied — and
His glorious mercy opened in its tide of love to sinners, it is only
in that Avay, that God can hear or answer the prayer of the sinner ;
— therefore, the sinner who prays must come in God's appointed
way, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We all close our prayers with these words "through Jesus
Christ our Lord." Did you ever consider the reason of that ?
Did you ever think that it is impossible that your prayer could find
access to God, unless you come in Christ's Name? The Apostle,
I need not observe, addresses this to those who believe, to whom,
indeed alone, these exhortations could apply. None but those who
come through Christ can pray " in the spirit." And it is the
Spirit alone who can teach us to come through Christ. We must
have the Spirit to teach us the truth, through whom we are to
pray; and the Spirit to help us when we believe that truth, that
we pray.
Now it is the office of the blessed Spirit, to take of the things of
Jesus, and show them to our souls. And therefore, when our Lord
speaks of prayer, in that passage, in which he gives such delight
ful encouragement, to the sinner to pray, he speaks of the Spirit
of God, as the precious gift that is given in answer to prayer. I
allude to Luke, chap, xi., in which His disciples asked him, " Lord
teach us to pray," Luke, xi. 1. And then He teaches them the
Lord's prayer. Then, if you look from the 5th to 13th verse, I do
not know any passage in the whole Scripture, that is so encourag
ing to the weak and helpless sinner, to pray to God. I do not
know what we could wish to add to it. If you were given that
passage and desired to mention anything, which you could wish
the Lord to have added to it to encourage your own soul, I know
not what addition you could make.
Our Lord saith " Which of you shall have a friend, and shall
go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, friend, lend me
three loaves: for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me,
and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within
shall answer and say, trouble me not : the door is now shut, and
my children are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee. I
say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because heis
his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give
him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, ask, and it
shall be given you ;¦ seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you." Luke xi. 5—9. Now, you see, what eu-

616 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
couragement there is given here by our blessed Lord ; not only
for prayer, but for importunity in prayer. It is as much as to say
— " As a man would not be put off, who Avas in Avant at midnight,
by a friend, to whom he came in his distress — as he would insist on
his request, and use every importunity, that his friend, however
reluctant, should get up and give him what he needs ; — so, do you
come with earnestness — with repetition — with importunity in
prayer to God ; if you are not answered, go again — and again—
and again — and again — do not leave the throne of grace till you
receive what you ask for." Surely, here is encouragement, not
only to prayer, but to importunity in supplication. Now, look at
the character that is given of God (10th verse) ; It is an express
declaration of the God of truth : " For every one that asketh,
receiveth ; and he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that knock-
eth, it shall be opened." This is He, who hath the keys of Heaven,
and the keys of death and hell ; the Lord of life and glory — He
saith, " It shall be opened." What can you add to that ? Can you
add anymore to strengthen you in confidence? — to encourage you
to importunity ? Look at the gracious character of God drawn in
the next verses : — " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father, will he give hini a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent ? or if he shall ask an egg, will he
offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your
Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?"
verses 11 — 13.
Now, see the appeal that Christ makes here to the feelings of a
child and of a father. There is not a child in the world, and there
is not a parent in the world, whose heart must not respond to that
appeal. There are several little children here.
Little children, do you think, if you were to go to your father
and ask him for bread, would he give you a stone ? Or, for an
egg, would he offer you a scorpion ? Would he give you a poison
ous reptile instead of an egg ? You even smile at the thought,
because you know it is impossible. You know he could not do
so. You know, that if you went to your father or mother and
asked them for bread ; if they Avere hungry themselves, they would
rather first supply your wants. See how your Heavenly Father
encourages you to come to Him. Then again, the feelings of a
father's heart, or a mother's heart respond to this in a moment.
My children come to me for bread, could I give them a stone ? —
Could I refuse to a word, or even a look, that expressed the neces-
sity of hunger? If it was the last morsel I had in the world,
would I not give it to my hungry children ? Now the Lord Jesus
appeals to our OAvn heart, whether as children or as parents in
putting the character of God bofore us : "If ye, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."
Noav think, children, of what God says to you ! Think, what
an encouragement it is to you to pray to God ! — Call on him in

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 617
your own rooms, and you will prevail — call on God in prayer, and
he tells you in his word expressly, that if your parents would give
you bread if you were hungry, "how much more shall your
Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him"
Here is God's heart, as it were, set before us, with more than the
tenderness of a father's heart ; even, as our Heavenly Father is
higher than an earthly father.
Then think, what an encouragement this is to parents. How
can you answer to God, if you live without prayer? Without
calling on him ? What can you say ? Can you say, I was afraid
— I did not think you would hear ine, or answer me ? The Lord
would say, ' Did not I appeal to your own affections ? Did I not
tell you, that I Avas more ready to receive — to bless — to answer — ¦
to give you all you could ask, than your own hearts could be to
give bread to your own hungry children — -yet you disregarded ?"
" You would not come to me, that you might have life." Oh !
how shall the prayerless sinner be able to answer to God ? Now,
I defy you to add encouragement to this passage of Scripture. Sit
down, and think of any one image that you can use — any meta
phor — any expression, that you can possibly invent, to encourage
your own heart to pray to God. I defy you to add to what our
adorable Lord has spoken in that passage of Scripture in the way
of encouragement. Then, as there is encouragement to pray, see
Avhat is to be given in ansAver, " How much more shall your Heav
enly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!" This
is Avhat they Avant — the Spirit of God — so Christ hath promised to
send Him to his people : " If I depart, I will send him unto you."
John xvi. 7, to teach them all things— to instruct them — to guide
them into all truth — to reveal Christ — to glorify him — to comfort
them — to direct them — to help their infirmities in prayer — in their
Avalk — in their warfare — in all things — and this is the answer
promised to prayer, by Him whose office it is to baptize Avith the
Holy Ghost.
We are taught in this passage of Ephesians, that our prayer
and supplication must be " in the Spirit." This implies, of
course, our need of the Spirit. See how our Lord hath given the
promise of the Spirit. And then the help of the Spirit is set be
fore us in the Epistle to the Romans, on which Ave dwelt at large,
Romans viii. 26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmi
ties ; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that
cannot be uttered, and he that searcheth the heart knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints, according to the will of God." The Spirit of God, poured
into the heart of the sinner, crieth in prayer to God from the sin
ner's heart. If we utter or breathe one spiritual prayer acceptable
to God, it must be from the Spirit of God.
Then, I hope, my beloved friends, you will consider from these
words your need of prayer at all times — your great encouragement
to pray in all things — your incapacity to pray of yourselves, and

618

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

the exceeding great and precious promises that are given to you,
of the Spirit of God to help you, and teach you to pray — to teach
you to call on the Lord for all you can want, "praying always,
WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT."' And
then, there is another most, important addition — " And watching
THEREUNTO WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE, AND SUPPLICATION
FOR ALL SAINTS."
Now, this is a characteristic of the unconverted sinner, which
invariably attends him — that let him pray as often as he will, (for
unconverted sinners do certainly pray in their own way,) let him
pray as often as he will, he never watches, never looks for an an
swer to his prayer. Never ! There is no such thing as an uncon
verted man praying for, or expecting, an answer from God to his
prayer. He does not believe in God's answering prayer ; on the
contrary, I never knew an unconverted sinner that did not laugh
at the idea as enthusiastic and fanatical,' to think that God would
answer prayer. They pray as a matter of duty. That it is a
duty is very true, but still, the duty of prayer arises from this —
the necessity of the sinner, and the need of his receiving supplies
from God. Therefore, to pray without expecting an answer, to
pray without looking for or expecting these supplies, the need of
which makes prayer necessary, is. in itself, a gross absurdity, and
shows, even in this one feature, the blindness of the natural, un
converted heart. The unconverted sinner may pray — he does not
in spirit and in truth pray, but still he prays in his own way ; but
his prayer is. merely going through a form of duty, in which, he
thinks, he is actually rendering a service to God, and that because
he prays ; God must be, as it were, indebted to him. Noav, there
is no such thing as real genuine prayer, without Avatching for an
answer to that prayer. There is no such thing as real spiritual
calling upon God, without really thinking that God will hear and
answer that prayer. True religion is the most rational thing in
the world ; false religion is the most absurd and irrational. Now
applying this rule to prayer, you will find how irrational and
absurd the prayer of the unconverted sinner is. What would you
think of a man who went with a petition to his sovereign, for
instance, and who sent in his petition for something which he pro
fessed to say was of importance, and turned away, and never
again, thought of inquiring whether his petition was heard or an
swered ? What would you think of any beggar that asked you
for alms, and then, before you had time to answer him, turned his
back on you, and went away ? Would you not think the person
was mocking you ? Suppose a poor man sent a petition to your
house, and you should ask, "where is the petitioner?" and you
were told; that the moment he gave the petition he turned about
and went away, you would say, " What did he mean ? He came
with a petition here, and the moment he gave it to my servant, i
he turned and went away; he could not be serious— he could not
have wanted what he asks. He says^ he is in great need — in
great povertyn^-very miserable, and entreats I will relieve him; and

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 619
yet he went away the moment he left his petition at the door!
Why the man cannot want it at all !" You would naturally—
necessarily say so.
What are your forms of prayer ? What do you say when you
go to church? How do you cry to God for mercy, as a miserable
sinner ? How earnestly do you supplicate God to hear you ? Read
your prayer-book — consider what you say ! Then look at your
hearts when you go to public worship and utter these petitions ; —
Do you expect that God will hear your prayers, or answer them?
When you go to your rooms, you are, perhaps, in the habit of
saying your prayers, as you call it ; you kneel down and say
your prayers, morning and evening, and you get up, and think
the work is done, and there is no more about it. As surely as you
exist, this is your natural state, and your conscience must confess
that it is.
You see, then, that false religion is the most irrational thing in
the world. You would think it so contrary to all common sense
for a fellow-creature to send you a petition and not to wait for the
answer, and yet you are so absurd and foolish, that you send up
petitions, most importunately worded, to the God of heaven, and
you neither > expect, nor think, of His hearing or answering you.
Are such petitions true prayers? Or, do you mean anything you
say? Dear friends, consider these things— calmly, deliberately
reflect on them! If you call on God, in spirit and in truth, for
anything, then watch, that your prayer is heard and answered.
If you seek for faith really, and are taught by the Spirit to do so,
you will not be content till your heart is enabled to trust in Jesus.
If you really seek for spiritual instruction, you will use God's ap
pointed means for receiving that instruction, namely, the study
and the hearing of His blessed Word. If you pray for spiritual
comfort and strength, you will wait on the Lord. If you pray in
earnest against any besetting sin, you will wait- and watch for
strength against that sin; and against the temptations that lead
you to it. In fact, if you are sincere in prayer to God, watchful
ness must be part of the character of true prayer, so he says,
" praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perse
verance AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL SAINTS."
It is only this, my dear friends, that can enable us to enjoy the'
truth in our own souls. We may have a clear knowledge of the
doctrines of the Gospel, but if these doctrines are not spiritually
applied to the comfort and edification of our own spirits, to our
own personal direction and government, and holy life and conver
sation, if they are not so applied, they are nothing. They cannot
be so applied but by the Spirit of the living God, bringing them
home with power to our hearts. This is to be received in God's
appointed means by waiting on the Lord in prayer, see how encour
agingly that is set forth by the Prophet, "Even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail; but
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they

620

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be
weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah xl. 30, 31.
Noav see what encouragement there is in " praying always
WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, AND
WATCHING THEREUNTO WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUP
PLICATION for all saints," not merely for ourselves but for
others, for all the Church of Christ, it is our privilege and our
duty to carry them all in our hearts to our God. It is his will,
you are commanded to do so, and in this, is one of the most
blessed privileges of the Communion of Saints — Communion in
faith, hope, love, in our glorious covenant God, and our mutual
and everlasting glory in Him, and with Him, forever.
And now, I would remark, that there seems a great defect
among the servants of God, in this particular. They will pray
for the conversion of sinners, and of those whom they love ; but
they seem to think, that when they are converted, everything is
done. " Oh ! now they are converted — brought to Christ — now we may
be satisfied."
But, my dear friends, the very time that sinners most of all re
quire continual support from God, is when they are brought to the
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. If it could be possible,
that man wants help from God, more at one time than another —
he wants it more after his conversion than before. It is not indeed
a proper expression to use, because man is always alike dependent
on his God. But if we could use the expression, it might be spe
cially applied to his converted state ; for it is then first, his conflict
begins. Till then, he is dead in trespasses and sins. Satan, "the
strong man armed, keepeth his palace, and his goods are in peace."
But the moment he is brought to the knowledge of Christ, then
begins his warfare within and without ; his warfare against his
enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Then Satan who
flattered him, and soothed him, and kept him in peace before, turns
round to exhibit his enmity against him. Then he plies him Avith
temptations — spreads his nets for his feet— endeavors, if possible,
by eyery suggestion within, and temptation Avithout, to draAV him
away from his God. When does a soldier need his armor most ?
When need most watchfulness ? — most energy? — most activity ? —
the eye of his commanding officer to be peculiarly over him — di
recting him? Surely, it is in the battle. And Avhen does the
Christian soldier require it most? Surely, it is when he enlists in
his Heavenly Master's service, and begins his warfare here below.
He is in an enemy's land, surrounded by foes — foes within, and
foes without. Therefore he is called on to buckle on his armor,
and never put it off till he lays down his body of sin and death ;
till his spirit returns to his Lord and Saviour ; then, Avhen his war
fare is past, it may be said, "Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors." Rev. xiv. 13.
As the feeling of the necessity of prayer for ourselves, should

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 621
lead us instinctively, to see and feel the necessity of prayer for those
we love, — therefore, the Apostle joins intercessory prayer with
prayer for own souls—" supplication for all saints," — all the
children of Christ.
The Apostle shows, how great is the necessity for prayer for all
the saints of God, when he especially names himself, — " And for
ME, THAT UTTERANCE MAY BE GIVEN UNTO ME, THAT I MAY
OPEN MY MOUTH BOLDLY, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF
the Gospel." This great and eminent Apostle, called by such
a special and marvellous revelation of God — set apart by God, to
be his Avitness and his minister among the Gentiles ; speaking un
der the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God — this great
Apostle, calls upon his Christian brethren, in praying for all the
Saints of Christ, to pray, especially for himself — " and for me."
And now, what does he call upon them to pray for ? He brings
forward that very thing, for which, if we were to express our opin
ion on the character of the Apostle Paul, we should say, he was
most peculiarly eminent, and most peculiarly inspired and gifted
by God. He calls upon them to pray, especially, for boldness—
" AND FOR ME, THAT UTTERANCE MAY BE GIVEN UNTO ME, THAT
I MAY OPEN MY MOUTH BOLDLY, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY
of the Gospel, for avhich I am an ambassador in bonds :
THAT THEREIN I MAY SPEAK BOLDLY, AS I OUGHT TO SPEAK."
Surely, if ever there was a man on the face of the earth that
"OPENED HIS MOUTH BOLDLY TO MAKE KNOAVN THE MYSTERY
of the Gospel," that man was the Apostle Paul. We know
how at Damascus, after his conversion, " straightway he preached
Christ in the synagogues," Acts ix. 20, immediately and boldly
testifying against all his friends — all his prejudices — all his formel
habits — all the Jews. And Ave know the outcrying wrath of those
who were all now turned into enemies against him, " but he in
creased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which
dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ." Acts
ix. 22. We knoAV his testimony to the Elders of this very church
in Ephesus, at Miletus, though " the Holy Ghost testified that in
every city bonds and afflictions abided him" yet saith. he, "none of
these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry,
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify of the Gospel
of the grace of God." Acts xx. 24. Yet he calls upon them to
pray for him even in that very particular in which he had borne
such a testimony by his profession and life ; as much as to say,
even in these things in Avhich we are strongest — in which we ap
pear to others to be most safe, most secure, yea, most eminently
gifted by the Lord, even there we entreat your prayers and sup
plications. Oh ! consider, if this eminent Apostle required that
his brethren should bear him on their hearts even for this,
what sinner on earth does not require prayer and supplication,
from the heart of faith and love, to the throne of grace in his
behalf?

622

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

We may remark on this, that that, for which the Apostle espe
cially entreated their prayers, was, that he might be strengthened
in the service of his Master. L was not for any individual, per
sonal want of his own, but that he might be eminently strength
ened for the glory of his- God, and the salvation of his fellow-
creaturesj and that is, and ought to be, the first prayer of every
Christian. I think, that this is another point, my dear friends, in which we
are, in general, exceedingly negligent. When we are brought to
the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus, self still predominates too
much in our very religion, and we, ourselves, are chiefly, if not
solely, the subject of our prayers ; our own wants — our own fears,
trials, difficulties, interests, unbeliefs-all these, are the chief, if not
the only subjects of our prayers. This is all right to a certain ex
tent ; all our wants of body and soul are legitimate subjects of
prayer, and we ought to feel, deeply feel, our need of prayer and
supplication on these subjects, and on all things in which we are
entirely dependent on our God. But our own wants ought not to
be the first subject of a Christian's prayer. The first subject of a
believer's prayer ought to be the glory and kingdom of his Lord
and Master. I speak on the highest authority, on the authority
of our blessed Lord Himself. For, observe, the prayer which is
given to us as our pattern and model of prayer by our blessed
Lord, Avhen His Apostles asked Him, " Lord teach us to pray."
Look at the Lord's prayer, and observe the order of the petitions
as they occur in that prayer. What is the first subject that man
istaught to pray for? "Our Father, which art in heaven, hal
lowed be thy name,, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven." The glory of his God— the hallowing of His
Name — the coming of His kingdom — the doing of His will on
earth as it is in heaven ; these are the first petitions put into the
lips of God's servants when they are taught to pray scripturally,
and that, before the supply of their daily Avants, or pardon for their
sins; For then come the petitions, " Give us this day our daily
breadj and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that
trespass against us." Now, if this were the general spirit of
prayer in the Church, I firmly believe, religion would wear a dif
ferent aspect from that which it wears at present in the Avorld. I
believe, that all the genuine servants of God, would stand out more
clearly and separately from the world — they Avould appear more
in their true character — they would be more manifest as servants
of God—their hearts too, would be set more at liberty — they would
have. less occasion to pray for their own individual and personal
necessities, because they would feel them less — their spiritual state
would not be so sickly as it is, if they. were to pray more for their
Lord's kingdom, and to stand up faithfully and boldly for the ser
vice and glory of their Master. I firmly believe, if we were to give
ourselves more to speak of, and pray for, and labor for. the king
dom and glory of our blessed* Lord and Saviour, and for the salva
tion of our fellow men, we should not feel these doubtings and

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 623
misgivings, that arise from our own selfishness, and continually
moping over our own character, and poring over our own hearts ;
we should feel them, I say, far less, and have much more liberty
in the Gospel of Jesus — much more love to the brethren — much
clearer manifestations of the genuine character of the servants of
the Lord Jesus Christ. His Church, would exhibit a far clearer
light of His truth, and His salvation to the world. We do not
find the Apostle Paul asking those to whom he wrote, to pray
for him that he should be delivered from suffering. No doubt,
he did suffer-— Ave know he did deeply, as every poor sinner
must suffer from corruption within, but we do not find, that this is
the subject for which he entreats their prayers, but the glory of the
Lord's kingdom. He does not say to them, "Pray for me, that I
may be enjoying peace — that I may be enjoying tranquillity of
mind — that I may feel comfortable in the views of my own accept
ance with God= — that I may be satisfied , that my faith is strong —
that I may be enabled to enjoy so and so, and to feel so and so!"
He does not say, pray for these. No — but "that I may open
MY MOUTH BOLDLY, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE
Gospel." Pray, that I may stand out for my Master's cause — for
my Master's glory — that though I am " an ambassador in
bonds," in the midst of Nero's court — in spite of bonds, and in
spite of men, Pagans, idols, and devils, " that I may open my
MOUTH BOLDLY, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE GoS-
PEL, THAT THEREIN I MAY SPEAK BOLDLY, AS I OUGHT TO
SPEAK." See, what an example this is for us ! See, what an example
for the servants of Christ in this country ! If we were more em
ployed in the work of our Master, we should be thinking less of
ourselves, and doubting less of our own character than we are
when we are sitting down and doing nothing, moping about our
own concerns, whatever they are, and saying, "1 do not know
whether I am a Christian or not, or whether I am a servant of God
at all." No wonder men doubt so much about themselves and
their own spiritual state, when they are not engaged in the service
of their Master ! Surely, it becomes the servants of a Heavenly
Master, to be employed in doing their Heavenly Master's work.
This was the desire of the Apostle's heart, and the object of his
life, and therefore, he entreats their prayers that he may be enabled
"to open his mouth boldly^to make known the mystery
of the Gospel."
It requires boldness to do so — Why ? because the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, stands in eternal opposition to the natural
corruptions, ignorance and wickedness of man. Wherever the
Gospel of Christ is proclaimed, Avherever the Gospel is to be pro
claimed, it has to encounter rebellion^ opposition, hatred, contempt
in the heart of fallen sinners ; and therefore, the Gospel of Christ,
is an eternal controversy against man. There is no such favorite
principle of the devil as peace. Peace is the favorite watch-word
of the devil ; another is Liberality^ and Charity is a third, all these

624 lectures on the ephesians?
are favorite watch-words of Satan. " Let us have peace — let us
have no controversy. Peace, and liberality, and charity, towards
one another ! do not let us find fault with each other, " Judge not
that ye be not judged," for that is a favorite text of the devil, he
has many favorite texts in the Scriptures. " Let every man folloAV
his own way, Ave all agree that religion should lead us to avoid
contention — iet us all avoid contention — let us quietly pursue our
own religion, and as to what other men think, say, or believe, let
that be a subject of peace, — let us have no difference about that,
no controversy." This is the favorite doctrine of the devil on re
ligion, he is a great preacher of this sort of charity. It is thus
that, " the strong man armed, keepeth his palace and his goods
are in peace," and the peace he wants is, to let him alone, and
not disturb or awaken the world. But God's word must disturb
the Avorld ! God, has a controversy with the world ! " The
whole world lieth in wickedness," 1 John v. 19, or as it might be
translated " in the wicked one," asleep as it Avere in the arms of
the devil. And it is the business of the servants of the living God
to testify against the wickedness of the world — to testify, that the
wrath of God, abideth on the world — to proclaim to sinners the
glorious salvation that there is in Jesus, and to call on them thus
to turn to Jesus, that they may have life and peace. Therefore,
the Gospel is an eternal controversy with the ungodliness of a
wicked world ! so the Apostle calls on them to pray, " that
THEREIN HE MAY SPEAK BOLDLY, AS HE OUGHT TO SPEAK." If
Paul Avas alive in these days, he would be scoffed at, treated as
beside himself, a fellow that " turneth the world upside down," a
disturber of the peace, just as he Avas before. And wherever the
Gospel of Christ is faithfully carried forth against the ignorance,
the wickedness, and the false religion of man — there the same
principle in the corrupt heart of man Avill always give the same
reception to the glorious Gospel of Christ. And therefore, Avhen-
ever there is fidelity to the cause of Christ, there must be an eternal
controversy, with an ungodly world. The Christian ought to be
always tolerant, most tolerant, most kind, as to persons in Avhat
ever error they may be sunk, but the Christian ought to know no
toleration for false principles, however specious — or for Avicked
principles, however popular — for any principles opposed to the
Gospel of Christ. True Christianity is utterly intolerant of false
hood — it Avill not bear it. God's truth, God's Avoid, Christ's salva
tion, His cause — His honor — His glory — that is the object of the
man, that knows and loves, and serves his God. It ought to be
the object of every one. There is indeed a proper, wise, discrimi
nating, sound judgment always to be exercised in things that are
not essential to salvation, in things that do not oppose the vital
truth of God, in things that God has left at large, or indifferent
things that men may hold, or may not hold, without opposing
God, or dishonoring His word, or His Gospel ; and Avith respect to
these things, we are called on to be patient, kind, forbearing,
" endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace,"

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS; 625
that is the duty of those who are the servants of God, and herein
they are to exercise a sound scriptural judgment. But, with re
spect to all the great principles of God's eternal truth, the great
principles of the Gospel of Jesus — the righteous authority of His
holy word — the integrity and perfection of His sacred volume, as
the standard of man's salvation — the instructor of His youth, and
the guide of His age — the man who surrenders one tittle of these
principles, surrenders his religion, his God, everything that ought
to be most dear to an immortal being. This is a specimen of
Satan's peace, crying "peace, peace, where there is no peace."
But the servants of God can make no peace with Satan, they must
open their mouths boldly, " though briers and thorns be with them,
and though they dwell in the midst of Scorpions," Ezek. ii. 6, yet
must they set their face like a flint, and lift up their voice like a
trumpet, so for this, the Apostle entreats them to pray for him,
"that utterance may be given unto him, that he may
open his mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of
the Gospel, that therein he may speak boldly, as he
ought to speak."
This was always the case with all the servants of God. If you
look through the prophecies, look through the history of their lives
— their doctrines, and their fate, you will see that the Prophets
and Apostles, so far from being men of peace, (men of peace,
indeed, in one sense they were, and they ought to be men of
peace,) but you will see, that in fact they were men of contention.
So the Prophet Jeremiah saith, " Woe is me, my mother, that thou
hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the
whole earth." Jer. xv. 10. They, as well as the Apostles, were
obliged to contend ; and it is an Apostolic legacy to the Church of
Christ, to "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once deliv
ered unto the Saints." Jude 3. God's severest judgments were,
we see, denounced against the false Prophets who deceived the
people with the false principles of hollow charity and lying peace
— saying " Peace when there was no peace." Hear His Avords by
the mouth of the Prophet Ezekiel : — " Because, even because they
have seduced my people, saying, peace, and there was no peace ;
and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered
mortar." — That is, with false principles — false doctrines — skinning
over the wounds of the consciences of sinners — plastering them
over with lying flatteries, and deceitful hopes and vain delusions,
like a stone wall built and plastered over with untempered mortar,
which cannot endure the pressure of the storm. " Say unto them,"
saith the Lord, " Say unto them which daub it with untempered
mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower;
and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall ; and a stormy wind shall
rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto
you, where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?"
Where are your lying principles? — Where, your false peace?—
Where, your mock charity? — Where, your hollow liberalism, when
the eternal truth of the living God — the authority of Jehovah's
40

626 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
despised and neglected word, and the judgment of the great day,
shall fall like a tempest on your head 1" " Therefore thus saith
the Lord God ; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my
fury ; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger,
and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. So will I break
down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and
bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall
be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the
midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel
xiii. 13, 14.
Oh consider this ! — mark, how false is the peace which false
teachers speak to an ungodly world, and how certain the opposi
tion that must exist between that world and the testimony of God's
eternal truth ! So the Lord said to this Prophet : " Behold, I have
made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong
against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have
I made thy forehead : fear them not, neither be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house." Ezekiel iii. 8, 9. What
wonder, then, that the Lord Jesus Avas rejected and crucified !
What wonder, that the Apostle felt his need of the prayer of the
Church ! Whenever the faithful testimony of the Lord is borne
in an ungodly world, there must be an eternal opposition between
that ungodly world and that truth. There can be no peace be
tween God and the devil. The truth of God cannot make peace
with the falsehoods of Satan. And Satan's falsehoods cannot
make peace with the truth of God. Therefore, well might the
Apostle call on his brethren, when he was in bonds for the truth
of the Gospel, to pray for him, that he might be enabled " to open
HIS MOUTH BOLDLY, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE
GOSPEL, FOR WHICH HE WAS AN AMBASSADOR IN BONDS I
THAT THEREIN HE MIGHT SPEAK BOLDLY, AS HE OUGHT TO
SPEAK." It is most important for us to know, and to attend to these prin
ciples, because, really, in the present day it seems, as it were, to
be the perfection of charity to have no religion — to prove that men
have no sense of the value or importance of any religion for them
selves, by the avowal, that they consider it of no consequence,
what is the religion of any of their fellow-creatures.
Charity, falsely so called, is the sheep's clothing of the Avolf, that
preys on the Church and Nation at this day, which, with the cloak
of kindness and tenderness to men's consciences — -in keeping peace
with man, and having no disturbance on account of religion, would
trample upon truth and the Bible, in the land. But we must go
to our Bibles, we must remember it is written, "Let God be true,
but every man a liar." Jehovah's word must stand. Let man
think, or say, or do what he pleases. Let us remember, that God's
Word must have a controversy with man, and so must all those
who are servants of Jehovah. Men do not put on armor in time
of peace — we are called to put on Christian armor, because
Christianity is war — war against Satan— war against sitt^-war

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 627
not against sinners, but against sin, and the hardest battle of all
is to be fought in our own bosoms.
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds." 2 Cor. x. 4.
Men may wage war for earthly objects, and with carnal weapons,
but the weapons of the warfare of the Christian, are God's truth,
God's Holy Word. Oh ! that Ave may be given to be clothed with
His armor, and armed with His weapons, and that we may be
enabled at the last, to say with the Apostle, "I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : Hence
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : and not to
me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim.
iv. 7, 8. Amen and Amen.

FIFTY-SECOND LECTURE

Ephesians VI. — 21 — 24.

" But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother
and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things : whom I have
sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might
comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Amen."
The boldness of the Gospel of Christ, in those who are really
eminent saints and servants of God, is, or at least, ought to be,
always tempered with gentleness, tenderness, and sympathy
towards our fellow-sinners. As the man who is the most truly
brave is always the most truly humane and benevolent ; so this
ought to be peculiarly exemplified in the spiritual mind of the
Christian. It was eminently so, in the character of the Apostle
Paul. For we see, while he entreats his brethren to pray, that he
might "Open his mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of
the Gospel," so that neither the bonds he endured, nor the city of
idolaters in which he suffered, nor the cruelty of a Nero, should
make him shrink from his duty to his Lord and Master. Yet he
exhibits the greatest kindness and tenderness of heart. So he
saith, "But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I
do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister
in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: whom
I .have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might
know our affairs, and that he might comfort your
hearts." The Apostle knew how anxious his dear brethren
were to know everything about him.

628

lectures on the ephesians.

" Our dear and faithful Paul ! Our beloved Paul ! Our beloved
Minister ! Our blessed Apostle, who was so long with us, and so
labored amongst us ! We wonder how he is ! We wonder how
he is enabled to stand ! Is his life in danger ? How does he get
on in the Heathen Emperor's court? Who supplies his Avants?
Who attends to them ? Has he any that would be glad to minis
ter to him as we would ?"
All these anxious inquiries he knew Avere in the heart of his
Ephesian brethren, therefore, he says, " that ye may know my
AFFAIRS, AND HOW I DO, TyCHICUS, A BELOVED BROTHER AND
faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you
all things." How sweet and delightful these touches are
throughout the whole of God's Word, in which we see such tender,
affectionate sympathies that come home to our own hearts ! We
know how much we feel ourselves, for those we love when in
danger. We know how beloved flocks feel when their pastor is
removed from them — and see, hoAV the Lord knows we feel this.
These great servants and saints of God were men "of like pas
sions with ourselves," we see they were. And observe, how the
Lord is so gracious even in these things, that do not seem intended
to instruct us — that do not profess to teach us points of doctrine,
yet how beautiful they are, and how illustrative they are of the
true character of genuine Christianity, tender, faithful, sympathetic,
affectionate, loving. Such was this mission of Tychicus, by the
Apostle, " Whom I have sent unto you," he says, " for this
SAME PURPOSE, THAT YE MIGHT KNOW OUR AFFAIRS, AND THAT
he might comfort your hearts." There Avere many circum
stances, no doubt, which the Apostle would not, and could not
commit to writing, which Tychicus could easily communicate, and
much to refresh their hearts, with respect both to himself and the
eause of Christ, in the court of Nero, which it would have been
wrong to embody in a letter. But the Apostle sent Tychicus,
both to tell them all things and to comfort their hearts, building
them up in the Lord Jesus Christ, and enabling them to see, that
though in bonds at Rome, yet " That the things which happened
unto him, had fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gos
pel." As he saith to the Philippians, "So that," saith he, " my
bonds in, Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other
places." Phil. i. 12, 13 —all the distress aod difficulty through
which I have passed, in the end have been made the means of
making known the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to others ; so
that, though in bonds, though a prisoner, yet I rejoice in the Gos
pel of Jesus myself, and I have been through that very circum
stance, made the instrument of making known the Gospel, even
to those who are of Caesar's household — even in the midst of the
Pagan court of the cruel Nero !
What a privilege then — what a duty is intercessory prayer!
What a blessing it is, to ourselves and others ! We see how this
great Apostle, entreated the prayers of all his brethren at Ephesus,
and if he did, wha/ need have we of prayer ! What need have

lectures on the ephesians. 629
we poor vile sinners ! and above all, what need has every minister
to entreat the prayers of his Christian brethren ! If those in pri
vate spheres of life have need continually of the prayers of their
brethren, how much more do those who are engaged in spheres of
public duty, difficulty and trial, how much mote do they need con
tinually, the prayers and supplications, of all those to whom they
are known, as brethren and ministers of Christ! I am sure, if I
may ask a favor, a kindness, from you, my beloved brethren, it is
that you will remember me in your prayers, at the throne of Grace,.
praying the Lord Jesus, according to the riches of His grace, and
my deep necessities, to pour His Spirit into my heart, and O ! what
a blessed thought it is, that we have such an High Priest, "who
ever liveth to make intercession for all that come unto God by
him." I trust Ave shall be enabled to bear one another, in our
hearts to the throne of His grace.
The Apostle concludes, as he began, with a benediction.
The beginnings and conclusions of the Apostolical Epistles are
like the beginnings and conclusions of the life of grace in the soul
of the sinner. They begin, as we have seen, with the benediction
of " Grace and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ," as in this Epistle, " Grace be to you, and peace, from
God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ," chap. i. 2,
and they close, as Ave see here, " peace be to the brethren,
and love with faith, from god the father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. Grace bis with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, Amen."
So it is, my dear friends, with the life of a believer. His spir
itual life begins from grace, grace commences the work. His spir
itual life is carried on by grace, grace continues the work. His
spiritual life is closed by grace, grace consummates the work.
When the top-stone of the spiritual temple shall be laid, it
shall be with shoutings, crying, " Grace, Grace unto it," Zech.
iv. 7.
Grace brings peace to the soul, and so peace comes from God
the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The entrance of the
Gospel into the sinner's soul imparts to him the knowledge of
peace, from his God. The sinner is at war with God by nature,
and he thinks that God is at war with him ; his conscience tells
him, that he has provoked his God, that God has reason to be
angry with him, he would long to hide from Him — he is afraid of
His presence, and therefore he trembles to meet His Heavenly
Judge. But when his eyes are opened to see the glory of the
Gospel of Jesus, he sees it is a message of love from God, pro
claiming to him pardon and peace. Whenever the Gospel does
really come to the sinner's heart, this is the truth, the great truth
-^-the light that breaks in upon his soul. " Can this be true?" he
asks  « Is there, indeed, peace for a sinful wretch like me ? Is
there peace— is there pardon from my God? Is it indeed my
blessed privilege to look up to my Heavenly Father as a reconciled
God ? Can I come to Jesus as my friend ? Can I pour out my

630

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

heart before him ? Can I tell Him what I would not dare to tell
my dearest earthly friend ? Can I lay bare my iniquity before
Him, and be assured that He will not cast me out, but will cover
me with His righteousness, and wash me in His blood, and save
me, and take me, and bring me to Sion ? Can I be assured of
this ? Is this the Gospel ? Oh good news ! — Glad tidings of great
joy ! — Oh blessed peace !" It is then the sinner begins to under
stand the sacred Scriptures, when they speak the language of
peace to his soul. He comprehends something of our blessed
Lord's conversation with His disciples in the 14th, 15th, and 16th
chapters of St. John, which he closes with these memorable words :
— " These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of
good cheer ; I have overcome the world." John xvi. 33. He begins
to comprehend that passage on which we dwelt so long, in the 2nd
chapter of this Epistle : — " But now in Christ Jesus ye who some
times were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he
is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us ; having abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances ; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so
making peace ; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and came
and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that
were nigh." Chap, ii- 13 — 17. Peace is the language of the Gos
pel as addressed to the believer's soul. So the Apostle saith here,
— "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith,
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The
beginning of preaching is to bring peace. The end of preaching
is to bring peace. Not as if the end of God's glory was to be
found in the heart of the sinner. But the end of God's glory is
to bring up the sinner's heart to God — to bring the sinner's affec
tions to God — the sinner's will to God— the sinner's body and soul
to God — to bring him into the service and love of his Heavenly
Master. And how is this achieved? By peace with love and
faith; so he saith, "Peace be to the brethren, and love
WITH FAITH, FROM GoD THE FATHER AND THE LoRD JeSUS
Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity." Peace be to them from God
the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Love be to them
from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith be to
them "from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."
These are all his gifts, and they are all spoken of with reference
to their own peculiar ends or operations. Peace be to the sinner's
soul — a proclamation of pardoning mercy, and peace from God,
through Christ. Love be to the sinner's soul, the testimony of
God's love^-the proclamation of God's love, as the Apostle saith,
" Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
Romans v. 5. The Holy Ghost testifies of the love of God to the

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 631
sinner's soul — commends — proves that love to him, in that "while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Rom. v. 8. That love
from God produces love in the sinner's heart ; we have a common
phrase, " Love begets love," and it is a very true one. If our fel
low-sinners love us, and manifest their love to us, it will necessa
rily produce in our hearts love to them— we cannot but love them.
How much more, when " the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." When the
Holy Spirit testifies of the love, the exceeding riches of the love
of Christ, in pardoning our guilt — in bearing " our sins in his
own body on the tree," — taking us out of the midst of our iniquity
— washing us in his precious blood — keeping us by his power —
and bringing us to Sion. When the Spirit testifies of such love
to the sinner, it necessarily produces in the heart love to God.
Love, then, produces the fruits of love, that is, holy obedience — a
desire to love ; for we feel our love, alas ! so cold, and our best
obedience so defiled, compared with what it ought to be, that Ave
can scarcely feel it amounts to more than a desire to glorify Him,
and to manifest that we are his, as we ought to do. Therefore,
we have ever need to pray to Him, as in that beautiful thanksgiv
ing of our Church, that he will " give us such a due sense of his
mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that
we may show forth His praise, not only with our lips but in our
lives ; by giving up ourselves to His service, and by Avalking before
Him in holiness and righteousness all our days." There is — there
can be no such thing as godly practice, but that which springs
from godly principles. There can be no such thing as obedience
to God, but the obedience that comes from God. There is no
such thing as love to God, but that love which He imparts to the
heart, from the knowledge of sin blotted out by the blood of the
Lamb. The notion men have of loving God, from the loveliness
of God's nature— the amiability and goodness of God's character,
which is a favorite principle of the Church of Rome ; and as we
hear of, in what is called natural religion, is all a mere delusion
of Satan — a well-dressed lie, coming from the father of lies. There
is not a shadow of truth in it. " The world by wisdom knew not
God." 1 Cor. i. 21. And man cannot love a Being of whom he
is totally ignorant. The natural man cannot appreciate or under
stand God's character ! on the contrary, when God's character is
set before him, he hates the Divine Being. He loves a god of his
imagination — he loves the God of beautiful flowers, and waving
harvests, and sunny days, and moonlight nights— he loves the
God of the calm sea — of the lovely heavens and a smiling earth.
He loves the God of all these things, but he does not love the God
of earthquakes, darkness, whirlwinds, hurricanes, famines, and
pestilences— the God that shall rend the heaven and the earth, to
sit in judgment upon a guilty world, and " take vengeance on them
that know not God, and obey not the Gospel." Set forth God in
the holiness and justice of his character as a God that "will by
no means clear the guilty,"— he cannot bear that God. He loves

63J LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.
a God of Avhat he calls mercy — a god who will not punish sin ;
who will extenuate his failings, and make allowance for his faults
— who will allow for the religious amiabilities of his character,
and be satisfied with his efforts to please Him at some times, as
an atonement for his sin at others ; or who will be propitiated with
his self-inflicted penances and prayers for his sin — he likes a god
of that kind : — but he hates the righteous, just, holy God, who
declares, " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in
one point, he is guilty of all." — " Who denounces a curse on
every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the
book of the law, to do them." He abhors that God. Therefore,
when you set the real character of God, as revealed in His Holy
Word, before the sinner in his natural state, he hates the God of
the Bible as much as he was pleased Avith the god of his imagina
tion. The notion of loving God from the contemplation of God's
character, is a dream — a delusive dream of lying superstition, or
infidel philosophy ; it has neither truth nor Scripture to support it.
The only way in which a sinner can be brought to love his God
is by the knowledge of God's eternal word ; the knowledge of
God's truth bringing peace to his soul— by pardon for all his guilt ;
and that not on the false assumption of ignorance, that God will
not punish sin, but on the tremendous terms — the awful purchase
of the blood of our blessed and adorable Redeemer, " who bore our
sins in his own body on the tree."
When this conveys to the sinner's soul, the peace that flows
from the pardon of sin through the blood of Jesus, then indeed
there is love of God's character ; he can then behold Him, in the
most tremendous exercises of His attribute of justice ; and the very
justicerof God, endears and exalts his character to the conscience
of the vilest sinner, because he sees he can "be just and the justi-
fierofhim that believeth in Jesus ;" he sees that glorious Redeemer,
in whom mercy and truth meet together, in Avhom the righteous
ness of Jehovah's character, and still, peace to the vilest sinner,
have kissed each other ; then he understands the Apostle's word
in this place, " peace be to the brethren, and love with
faith." By God's love to you, your love is kindled and your
heart is draAvn to your God, that you may know, and love, and
serve Him. It is this that makes religion not a mere nominal
profession ; but, a vital principle, a genuine living principle in the
heart, " We love Him, because He first loved us," 1 John iv. 19,
we love Him " Who hath loved us, and given himself for us."
v. 2. Then death — death so horrible to nature — even death loses
its sting, because you know that He will walk with you, through
the valley of its shadow. And then the coming of your glorious
Master, the coming of that blessed Lord, to which the unconverted
sinner looks with horror, that is your season of true anticipated
joy — that is your harvest time of hope and glory, for " to them
that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin
unto salvation." Heb. x. 28. Then your body, raised up in the
glory of the resurrection, shall be reunited to your glorified spirit,

lectures on the ephesians. 633
and then you shall be Avith your Lord forever. Then peace, and
love, shall last for evermore.
Peace and love, can never come but with faith — through faith
alone we can receive the blessing of peace, it is " being justified
by faith, that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Rom. v. 1. It is by faith alone we can apprehend the
love of our blessed Lord, which thus makes faith Avork by love in
our hearts, faith can apprehend these now in a degree, but then
it shall be lost in everlasting joy and glory.
Therefore what a blessed benediction Avith which to close this
Epistle, "Peace be with the brethren and love with
faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ." Then shall the power of divine truth, the power of
the glorious Gospel be really manifested to your soul, and really
draw your heart from sin and Satan, the Avorld, the flesh, and the
devil, into the love and service of your Heavenly Master.
Perhaps, some one here may complain, as all are, more or less,
constrained to do. " Oh ! that I could but feel the power of love
within ! Jesus is my only Refuge — He is all my hope, and all my
Salvation — but, alas ! I feel so cold and dead, I never feel I love
Him as I ought to do."
My dear friends, you never can love the Lord Jesus Christ as
you desire to love Him ; but the very feeling, that you do not love
Him as you ought to do, proves that you do love the Lord Jesus.
Mourning for the absence of a person, proves our love to him, as
much as rejoicing in his presence. The soul that is cast down
under a sense of not loving the Lord, shows that it loves the Lord
as much as when it rejoices in the light of His countenance.
Therefore, be not discouraged when you look within, and when
you find yourselves full of sin, and pride, and deadness, and misery,
but lift up your eyes and look to your glorious Saviour. See,
Avhat a blessed ground you have, for loving and trusting your Lord
and Master ! You will find in the heart of Jesus, a Refuge from
the deadness, and coldness, and baseness, and ingratitude of your
own. Oh ! look to Christ ! What a precious Saviour He is to
poor, helpless, guilty sinners like us ! Oh ! " look unto him
and be ye saved!" "Peace be to the brethren, and love
WITH FAITH, FROM GoD THE FATHER AND THE LoRD JeSUS
Christ." See, again here, what a blessed thought the unity of the God
head is to the soul of the sinner ! You cannot look to God the
Father as an angry God ; and to God the Son as your Peace.
God the Father, and God the Son, are One in essence, in glory, in
will, and in all the covenant of Salvation, " / and my Father are
one," saith Christ, John x. 20. All the blessings that are pro
claimed to you in Scripture through Jesus, come to you from God
the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our blessed Lord sets
this forth most conclusively, where He shows that the Church of
His people, are the Father's gift to Him, that in their salvation He
fulfils His Father's will, " All that the Father giveth me shall

634 lectures on the ephesians.
come to me, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out ; for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but
the will of him that sent me. And' this is the Father's will that
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." John vi.
37—39. See, the love of God the Father is but manifested in the
love and salvation of Christ Jesus to the sinner, in his salvation
from first to last ! So the Apostle but sets forth the glorious cove
nant of the ever-blessed Trinity, when he saith, "Peace be to
THE BRETHREN, AND LOVE WITH FAITH, FROM GoD THE
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." What God the Father
giveth, the Lord Jesus giveth— what God the Son giveth, God the
Father giveth. Oh ! what a blessed love is that to the poor sin
ner ! All his salvation secure in the eternal covenant of God the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Then, it is remarkable, he says, "Peace be to the
brethren." But he had just been exhorting them, as we have
seen in the preceding part of this chapter, to put on the armor of
war — that they were in the midst of war, and to prepare for battle.
Yet, though he tells them they are in the midst of war and con
flict, he says, "Peace be to the brethren."
Well, and so there is peace in the midst of war — peace in conflict
—peace in battles — peace in the midst of enemies— peace, while
all the powers of darkness, earth, and hell are raging around the
sinner who is brought to trust in his Redeemer. There is peace
in the midst of all. Not peace with his own body of sin and death
—not peace with sin — not peace with the enemies of God — not
peace with the devil — but peace with God, in the midst of war with
them all. Oh ! if we have peace with God, it is no matter through
what conflicts we have to go — and if we have not peace with God,
poor and wretched is the miserable peace that sinners can enjoy
with the world, the flesh, and the devil. - " When he giveth quiet
ness who then can make trouble ?" Job xxxiv. 29. And when the
sinner has not peace with God — when he is at war with his God,
what matter with whom he can be at peace !
" When the strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods
are at peace ;" but that is a terrible peace, for the end of that
peace shall be eternal war with God. But when the sinner has
peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, then, all his con
flicts shall soon be past, and then, eternal peace and " everlasting
joy shall be upon his head." Oh ! my beloved friends, I trust the
Lord will give us all that peace " Peace from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."
He then concludes with a prayer for all the children of God
" Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Chrisi
in sincerity. Amen." This is the great bond of union be
tween God's people. It is not an outward unity of form. An
outward form presents a very slender bond of union indeed,
between those who bear the name of Christ. Many men, we see,
are united in outward form, whose hearts and principles are totally

lectures on the ephesians. 635
and diametrically opposite. They knoAV not, and cling not to the
Lord Jesus Christ. No form can graft men into The Living
Vine. And where there is no vital union with the stem, there can
not be a vital union between the branches. The great bond of
union is this — love to Jesus. " Grace be with all them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Now, observe,
he saith, " Grace be with them." Remember, that those who
most love and serve Christ, have just as much need of grace at the
last, as at the first. We cannot live for a moment without the
sovereign grace of God, freely pardoning our sins. We want par
don continually — we want grace to pardon us, and mercy to keep
us every day and every hour. We must, as we have often said,
begin, continue, and end with grace. Therefore, he says, " Grace
BE WITH ALL THEM THAT LOVE OUR LoRD JeSUS ChRIST IN
sincerity." And, my dear friends, that is given to the sinner's
heart through the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus.
It is love to Christ and love to His servants, which proves and
tests the genuine conversion of a sinner to God, this is the love of
those who love their Redeemer, "We know," saith the Apostle
John, "that we have passed from death unto life, because we love
the brethren," 1 John iii. 14, and that is as we have seen, the
grand principle, which is declared to us by the Lord Jesus Christ,
to be the test of man's salvation, in the day of His coming. "I
was anhungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink, naked and ye clothed me, sick and in prison, and
ye visited me," and then He illustrates His meaning, and the ap
plication of His principle, "In as much as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Matt. xxv. 40, as He declareth in another place to His disciples,
" Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name,
because you belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not
lose his reward." Mark ix. 41, but, no person can give to their
fellow men, even a cup of water, because they belong to Christ,
unless that person belongs to Christ, himself. Thert this is his
language, "Here is my brother, or my sister, who loves my Lord,
and Master — who "loves the Lord Jesus Christ in sin
cerity," therefore my heart saith, "grace be with them."
They are the children of my Father. They are one with my
Lord and Master, and one I trust with me for eternity. Shall I
not give to them because they belong to Christ? This is the
principle— the true principle of love. Hence how could the Apostle
more appositely conclude an Epistle, that breathes of grace and
love, than with these words, " grace be with all them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." This is the
principle that ought to animate the heart of all God's people If
we belong to Him, we shall surely love "all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."*
* Those who may remember the delivery of these Lectures, will perhaps observe
omitted here a dissertation, on the value and importance of Infant Schools, as early

636

LECTURES on the ephesians.

And now my beloved friends, I must bring my lectures to a close;
I cannot do so without expressing my gratitude to Almighty God,
for the privilege of having been permitted, when shut out of any
sphere of more active service in His Church, through a visitation
of .His own Almighty hand, to minister, hoAvever humbly, in His
Holy Word, now for so long a time among you. I trust through
His grace, these plain and unpretending efforts, to set forth in
simplicity the truth of His everlasting Gospel, may have been
blest to aAvaken — to help — to strengthen — to comfort and refresh
the souls of many among you, on your way to Zion ; and that so
His glorious Word may have been made a blessing to your souls.
I am sure it has often been a blessing to my own, to set before
you that truth which is all my own salvation ; and so far from
counting it a trouble to come here, be assured, my dear friends, I
have considered it a happy privilege. But having now, as you
know, other duties imposed on me, having undertaken a task
which I have not been able to attempt for many years,* I do not
think I could, under any circumstances, have been able to continue
my lectures among you ; and therefore, I trust, we shall all see
and feel, that as they were commenced through the Lord's provi
dence, so they are by His gracious dispensation, providentially
brought to a close. 1 have to express my sincere sense of grati
tude to your Rector, for his kindness in permitting me to conclude
these lectures on the Epistle to the Ephesians.
And now, my beloved friends, I speak to you who know the
Blessed Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ ; when we cease our min
istrations in any way, or when the Lord is pleased to close the
door of them by any of His dispensations — by removal, by death —
or by any other means, we ought to speak of it with thankfulness,
for the blessings we have enjoyed in any means of grace which
He has afforded to us.
When we meet at the right hand of the Lamb, before our glori
ous and adorable Redeemer, Ave shall look back with gratitude and
praise, at all the means we have enjoyed, whether domestic means—
or sermons in Churches — or lectures in School-houses, or in any
other way which His mercy has afforded us. We shall be enabled
to remember and recall all the means by Avhich the Lord has been
E leased to strengthen and help us, and build us up in our most
oly faith — teaching us to look for and haste unto the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. One means whereby the Lord very often
builds up his people is, by teaching them not to lean on an arm
of flesh — on broken cisterns. Dear friends, it is a blessing — a
comfort — a ground of joy, to those who are permitted in any way
to minister among the people, and to be of any use to them, that
instilling into the breast of childhood, the principles of the knowledge and love of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and an appeal to the inhabitants of Bray, to support that one in
which these Lectures were delivered. The Lecturer trusts they do not forget the sub
ject of that appeal, but, it would be irrelevant to retain it in this publication.
• The Author was just at this time appointed to the Church at Harold's Cross, in
1838 ; having been for many years unable, from inflammatory attacks in the trachea,
to undertake any stated service in the Church,

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 637
there should be a bond of union and affection between them, as I
think there is between us, and shall be, I hope, for eternity. But
like every other blessing, this one is often greatly abused. We
are alas ! too apt to lean on an arm of flesh, and to think of poor
instruments more highly than we ought to think. What are Ave?
Nothing, but poor, wretched, miserable earthen vessels ; the best
of us is nothing but a broken cistern. If we have the excellency
of the treasure of God's word within us, it is, that " the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us." And indeed, dear
friends, if Ave have taken sweet counsel together with, our teachers
at any time, or in any Avay ; and enjoyed the blessing of the Gos
pel in their ministrations, we are too prone to depend on them, and
to think of them above what is Avritten. And therefore, it is often
a great blessing, that the Lord is pleased to break these bonds, and
to teach us, that "neither is he that planteth anything, neither
he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase," 1 Cor. iii. 7,
to teach us that all are broken cisterns, that can hold no water ;
and therefore to make us turn to " The Fountain of living waters."
So dear friends, I hope Ave shall learn to drink more deeply of that
Blessed Fountain. That Ministry alone is truly blest which
teaches us to prize the Lord Jesus Christ more and more, to groAV
in grace — to study our Bibles — to pray to God more earnestly, and
more diligently to seek Him in His Holy Word. If you had Paul
to plant, and Apollos to Avater, God alone could give the increase.
No matter from what earthly source we may receive instruction,
we can receive no profitable instruction but from God. None.
Therefore, let me earnestly entreat you, as a parting admonition,
to study your Bibles — to search the Scriptures, in the length and
the breadth of them — to bring all human instruction "To the law
and to the testimony" — to pray earnestly and devotedly to your
Lord for yourselves — for your families — for all whom you are
bound to bear on your hearts to the footstool of the Throne of Grace.
If you are enabled to rest on the Lord, and to drink at the "Foun
tain of living waters," you will learn more and more that broken
cisterns are nothing — you will learn more, to "Cease from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted
of?" Isaiah ii. 22.
I have to return you my grateful thanks, (I have waited till now
to do so,) for the beautiful Bible with which you have been so
kind as to present me. I trust, I shall keep it as the most accept
able proof of your love — and as the most grateful token of your
affection. I trust I shall keep it with an affection, at least,
proportionate to the love with which I know it has been be
stowed. I have only one favor to ask, and that is, — I would
most humbly and earnestly entreat of you all, that I may have
an interest in your prayers, and be remembered at the Throne
of Grace.
My dear friends, every poor sinner needs the prayers and sup
plications both of himself and his fellow-sinners ; but of all per
sons, ministers need it most. We had, in our last lecture, St. Paul

638

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.

entreating the prayers of his Ephesian brethren ; and if an inspired
Apostle felt it needful to solicit the prayers of his Christian breth
ren, how much more may a poor unworthy sinner, such as I am !
Therefore, dear friends, I would most earnestly entreat your
prayers to the Throne of Grace, for my OAvn soul, and for my min
istry, especially, as you know, I am much engaged on subjects of
controversy, I would earnestly entreat your prayers in my behalf.
Controversy is a trial to the spirit of a Christian ; we are so very
apt to engage in it in our own strength; and we are so very apt to
forget even the highest and most important interests of truth,
unless our gracious God keeps us by His Spirit and His power.
We are too often, alas ! ready to forget them, and perhaps to con
tend for argument, and self, and victory rather than for truth — for
the glory of our God, and the salvation of our fellow-men. This
is a great evil in us ; but it does not make controversy, for the
cause of Christ, a less important duty. It is a most solemn duty
¦ — it is a most awful duty — imperative on every Christian in this
country, and I hope the'Lord God Avill raise up men to a sense of
their duty, till our poor fellow-countrymen are brought to the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus. But all who are engaged in it need
the prayers of their brethren, for their own souls — for the success
of their work and labor, which ought to be a labor of love, (and I
trust I can say I desire it to be so, as far as I can engage in it,)
for the souls of their poor fellow-sinners. And I would earnestly
call on you to pray, too, for our poor Roman Catholic country
men, that God would send out His blessed Word amongst them,
and bring them out of darkness into His marvellous light, and
out of the Apostacy of Rome into the bosom of the Christian
Church. And now, my beloved friends, let me speak a word to those of
you who know the Lord Jesus, as the whole salvation of your
souls, and who "have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set
before you." Heb. vi. 18.
How sweet is the consolation of the Gospel to the heart of the
believer ; how does it temper with love and mercy all the dispen
sations of God to his soul. If we part from those we love, but to
whom we are united in the bonds of Christian affection, how is
the trial tempered with the joyful hope, that it is but for a season,
that when we part from each other we have a blessed prospect of
being soon reunited, that " When Ghrist, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall we also appear with Him in Glory," Col. iii. 4,
when we " shall be ever with the Lord," when we " shall go no
more out," but dwell in the mansions of our Father's royal house,
which is our home and our rest, forever and ever. Therefore, the
very trial of parting from friends, with whom we have taken
sweet counsel, serves but to enhance the consolations of the ever
lasting Gospel, as the miseries we endure on a journey, or a
voyage, but give a double relish to the sweet prospect before us of
arriving at our journey's end; and at our happy home, wherefore,
let lis " comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. iv. 18.

LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 639
But, let me now say a few words to those among my hearers,
if there are, as I fear there may be, some who have been in the
habit of attending my humble ministrations, but who are still
without Christ, and without any hope or consolation in the
Gospel. It is now five years since I have had the privilege of carrying
on these Lectures ; and we have carefully considered two of the
fullest portions of the inspired instructions of the Apostle Paul —
his Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians. I trust I can say, I
have endeavored faithfully, however humbly, to set before you the
Gospel of Jesus ; faithfully to warn you of the guilt and danger
of remaining in an ignorant and unconverted state, and of reject
ing that glorious message of mercy and salvation, which is pro
claimed to you through the righteousness and blood of a crucified,
risen, and ascended Saviour. And now, alas ! my friends, is it,
indeed, the case, that you still continue to "neglect such great
salvation ?" Is it, alas ! too true, that the glorious mercy pro
claimed in your ears, is but " A savor of death unto death" to your
souls ! O ! consider, my dear fellow-sinners, " What will ye do
in the end thereof?" Must I part from you under the awful im
pression, that my humble efforts to instruct you in the Gospel of
Jesus, shall be but a fearful witness against you — that instead of
hoping to meet you through grace at the right hand of the Lamb,
if I am brought there through mercy, I shall be but a swift wit
ness against you at the bai of God ! O ! think — think, my dear
friends and fellow-sinners, while it is called to-day, think of Avhat
it is to have the very mercies of God but as barbed arrows of fire,
rankling in the conscience through an unchangeable eternity !
Oh ! think, that other weeks, and months, and years, perhaps,
may pass away — other opportunities may be neglected — other
ministrations and means of grace and mercy disregarded — and
all, all still but rise in awful judgment against your souls — and all
that the world, to which you are enslaved, shall leave to you, will
be but agonizing recollections of remorse, and anticipations of de
spair. The summons must come, and ye shall cry, " The harvest
is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jer. viii. 20.
Oh ! then, "to-day," this very day, "if you will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts." This day, let my last word be to your
souls, a proclamation of pardon, through the blood of the cove
nant — a message of mercy — a proclamation of salvation, through
Jesus, the only refuge — the only salvation of the lost. Come to
Him even at the eleventh hour — come to him while it is called
to-day. " The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hear
eth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. Come !
it is Christ who died, yea rather, who is risen again, who sends
you once again, an invitation of His glorious love and mercy —
"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb.

640 lectures on the ephesians.
xiii. 8. May God bless His Glorious Word to us all, according to
our wants. " Peace be to the brethren, and love with
FAITH, FROM GoD THE FATHER AND THE LoRD JeSUS CHRIST.
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
IN SINCERITY. AMEN, AmEN."

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60

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2 00

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