Ephesians 5
DODDEphesians 5:15-21
The apostle farther pursues his exhortations to a life of circumspection and usefulness, and to the constant exercise of temperance and devotion. Eph. V. 15—21.
EPHESIANS V. 15.
I HAVE been urging you to consider yourselves as children of light, and upon this account to have your conversation such as becomes those who have been happily awakened from the sleep of sin by Christ: and to pursue the exhortation, as ye thus are brought from darkness into light, see to it therefore that ye walk as accurately and circumspectly as possible.
EPHES. V. 15. SEE then that ye walk circum-
should beware of being drunk with wine ;
taking the most attentive heed to every step, and conducting yourselves, not as fools, who consider not what they are doing, but as wise men, who know that they have pressing dangers to avoid, and most important ends to secure. And in particular let your wisdom be discovered in redeeming the time, endeavouring to recover and buy back as far as possible what has been lost, by diligently making use of what remains, and studying to improve it to the best and most valuable purposes ; for which you should be careful to embrace the present opportunity, because the days we live in are evil, in which we are on every side surrounded with persecutions and perils, and God only knows how soon our liberty or our life may be taken away. Wherefore while these precarious blessings are continued, employ them for the honour of God, and the good of mankind ; and be not inconsiderate and thoughtless as you formerly were, but be concerned to have a right discernment of your duty, and to be understanding what [is] the will of the great Lord to whom you are devoted : endeavour to know your duty in all its extent, and knowing it to act agreeably to the obligations of it ; declining those unnecessary dangers to which it is not his will that you should expose yourselves, (Mat. x. 22,) and diligently laying hold on every opportunity of service.
And, that you may neither be insensible of the calls of duty, nor negligent of a due compliance with them, be continually careful that ye be not, even before you are aware, drunk with wine, in which there is so much danger
a Redeeming the time ] Grotius and many other commentators explain this of the caution to be used in avoiding persecution, that so they might draw out their time as long as possibly they could, and not provoke their enemies to cut them off : compare Dan. ii. 8. This to be sure was their duty, and it had been well if the zeal of some primitive Christians had regarded the precept in this sense. But I am persuaded this interpretation expresses only a small part of that Christian diligence and prudence to which the apostle meant to direct and exhort us. Mons. Saurin observes,
with his usual accuracy, that the wor- ἑγιωτέλωστι has a peculiar force, and implies (as the French word racheter and the English redeem also does) the recoverin what has been lost. (Compare Gal. iii. 13 ; iv. 4, 5.) And he apprehends there is an allusion to the enormities of their heathen life, in which so much former time had most unhappily been lost and thrown away See his Sermons, Vol. VIII. p. 196, 197.
b Be not drunk with wine ] It is highly probable that here may be a particular reference to those dissolute ceremonies called the Bacchanalia, that were celebrated
VOL. 5.
But should be filled with the Spirit, and sing
of a dissolute excess,ᶜ considering how grossly many abuse it, and abuse themselves by it, so as to run into all manner of extravagance and outrage, and into all that wild disorder and debauchery, for which the heathens are notorious at their idolatrous festivals: but be ye filled, as becomes your character, with the Spirit of God, and make it your concern to invite the quickening and the cheering influences of his grace, which are of so great moment in your Christian course; but which you will, by an excess of liquor, or any other gross sensualities, drive away from you, as he may be justly displeased with what is so directly opposite to his own pure and holy nature.
Let it be your endeavour therefore to engage the gracious visits of the Holy Spirit by the exercise of social devotion, in which he will delight to find you employed; and for which he will render you more and more fit, while in your cheerful moments you are speaking to yourselves and to each other in the psalms with which David and other inspired writers have furnished us, and in those new composed hymns of praise, and other spiritual songs, that is, songs on spiritual subjects, which the Spirit of God dictates and animates, with a variety adapted to the several occasions of the Christian life: and let it be your great care, that while you are thus tuning your voices, you be also singing and chanting in your hearts to the Lord, without which no external melody, be it ever so exact and harmonious, can be pleasing to his ear.
Yea, let there be a constant disposition for this duty, not only when you engage in social worship, but through the whole course of your
by the heathens in honour of him whom they called the god of wine. While these rites continued, men and women made it a point of religion to intoxicate themselves, and ran about the streets, fields, and vineyards, singing and shouting in a wild and tumultuous manner; in opposition to which extravagant vociferations the use of devout psalmody is with great propriety recommended. Plato somewhere tells us that there was hardly a sober person to be found in the whole Attican territories during the continuance of these detestable solemnities. ᶜ In which there is excess.] The word aeteria implies, not only exceeding the bound of temperance, which is the direct import of the English word, but that madness of licentious riot which is often the attendant of drunkenness. Wine is so frequently the cause of this, by the ungrateful abuse of the bounty of Providence in giving it, that the enormity is represented by a very strong and beautiful figure, as contained in the ver liquor.
could be always giving thanks or all things. lives; and let the mental songs, if I may so express it, that issue from the grateful sentiments of your hearts, be perpetual and uninterrupted; maintain a most affecting sense of the abundant matter which you have for praise, that, as new mercies are every hour descending upon you, ye may be always giving thanks or all things, for all the favours of God imparted to yourselves and others; and make it your employment at all times, not excepting your most afflicted moments, but filling even these with praise, and taking occasion from the tribulations and distresses with which a wise and gracious Providence may exercise you, to acknowledge the Divine goodness which directs all these painful dispensations by views to your truest advantage: and, on the whole, let all your praises, in order to their being acceptable, be offered in the prevailing name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God even the Father; who hath appointed him to sustain the character of the great Mediator, and is ready to receive the services we perform only in and through him. And, while you are thus careful in the duties of devotion to God, be not negligent in those which you owe to your fellow creatures; but in all the various relations in which you stand, and the respective stations in which you are placed, be subject to each other in the fear of God: let every one of you, whether he be a all things.] Dr. Barreportant sense to ing them for all pering were, “Consider ted to return to God due from the whole ess your daily thanksthose blessings he is down on your fellow creatures in general.” I. I. p. 257.) I have ds hinted at this genht, which is strongly cellent form of general english liturgy. h other in the fear of offers here a general scientious discharge of relative duties, from which he wards proceeds to the particular eration of the several relations of huand wives, of parents and children, a masters and servants; which he rather choose to insist on, as some ready to imagine that Christian co were released from any further obli to those who still continued in a st heathenism, and might consider the tion as dissolved between them. ( pare 1 Cor. vii. 19-24, and 1 Tim. vi. The apostle therefore presses it them, in whatever station they placed to shew a due regard to re duties, and to remember, that Christia ileges did by no means excuse them the duties resulting from natural an
Reflections on the
superior or inferior, endeavour to accommodate himself to the infirmities of those that are about him in a kind and respectful manner, so that if he be a superior, he may not oppress, or if an inferior, he may not rebel. This I shall further illustrate by descending more particularly to the duties of husbands and wives, of parents and children, of masters and servants; upon a regular attention to which so much of the order and comfort of society, and so much of the credit of Christianity with respect to its professors, apparently depends.
IMPROVEMENT.
Who can read the exhortation which we first meet with in this short but important section, without seeing cause for the deepest humiliation on account of his own careless and inconsiderate behaviour? Alas, the wisest have their intervals of folly; and they who walk the most accurately are not without their heedless steps. In how many instances are our thoughts dissipated, and how frequently are we quite forgetful of ourselves and our God! neither watching for opportunities of doing good, nor guarding against temptations to sin; but suffering the one to pass by us unimproved, and the other to seize us unprovided for resistance.
That precious time, on the right management of which eternity depends, and in the improvement of every day and hour of which, it is manifest, that at least the degree of our everlasting happiness is interested; that time which thousands on a dying bed, or in the invisible state, would gladly redeem at the price of the whole world; how little do we think of the value of it, and to what trifles are we daily sacrificing it! Yea, to what trifles do we not sacrifice it! In the several divisions of it, when we come seriously to reflect on the morning, the forenoon, the afternoon, and the evening, how remiss are we in the proper business of each! So that if the great business for which we were sent into the world, to understand what is the will of the Lord, and to act according to it, be not, as there is reason to conclude in many instances it is, entirely neglected, it is performed in a manner shamefully remiss and indifferent.
relations of life, but rather did enforce the obligation they were under to observe them. And if these duties were incumbent upon Christians towards relations of all kinds, even though they bore the character of unbelievers, much more were they engaged to practise them towards such as were related to them, not only by the ties of nature or of civil institution, but by the more endearing bonds of grace.
general neglect of these precepts.
If we are not drunk with wine, in which there is an excess, (from which, to the shame of Christianity, the followers of Mahomet totally abstain with resolute self denial, far more easily than Christians keep themselves within the limits of sober temperance,) yet how frequently are we quite intoxicated with pleasure, in which we forget the dignity of our nature, and the rules of our profession! And how seldom are we breathing after that quickening Spirit which alone can effectually remedy these disorders!
If our voices are employed in singing the praises of God in our public assemblies, (where, nevertheless, so many are constantly silent,) or if we practise it in our families, how little are our hearts engaged! How seldom doth God receive any cheerful sacrifice of praise from us, even in our most prosperous circumstances! And how much less in every thing! Where is the person that can say, “In the night is my song unto thee? amidst the darkness and distress of affliction I still praise thee, though thou correctest me, yea because thou correctest me with such paternal wisdom and love?”
And to conclude these melancholy reflections, How little subjection is there to each other in the various relations of human life! and where there is any of it, how much more frequently doth it proceed from other considerations than from the fear of God, and a religious regard to his injunctions! Yet these that have been mentioned are commands established by a Divine authority; and there is not a Christian in any age, country, or station, who is not by his profession solemnly obliged to observe them.
What shall we say then on the whole, but this? We lie down in our shame, and confusion covers us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God. (Jer. iii. 25.) And what counsel can be given to remedy these things, but this? If any man lack wisdom, of which these are some of the most important precepts, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth none with those instances of former folly which they sincerely lament, and which they labour to amend. (Jam. i. 5.)
Ephesians 5:22
The apostle recommends it to husbands to love their wives in imitation of Christ’s love to the church, and presses upon wives the correspondent duty of conjugal subjection. Eph. V. 22, to the end.
EPHES. V. 22. WIVES, submit yourselves un- EPHESIANS V. 22. I HAVE been recommending to you a mutual subjection to each other in the several relations of life, as a general precept of that holy
The love of hus ands to their wives
religion in which you are instructed by the gospel; and I shall now proceed to illustrate it by descending to some particulars. And, to begin with the relation between husbands and wives, I would first exhort you that are wives, that ye be subject with all humility and gentleness of submission unto your own husbands, not only from a principle of love and respect to them, but as a proof of your fidelity and regard unto the Lord, who has seen fit to place you in a state of subordination, and command you to be under obedience: (1 Cor. xiv. 34:) For the husband is by Divine constitution the head of the wife, and so is invested with the superior character, even as the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, which is committed to his care and government: and, standing in this near relation to it, he has shewn the greatest concern and affection for it, and is become the Saviour of the body, employing his authority for the most important and benevolent purposes, not only to deliver us from evil, but to supply us with all good, in such a manner as to make it manifest that our salvation and happiness depends upon our union with him and subjection to him. And this may hint at the kind purposes to which the superiority of the husband over the wife should be improved, in manifesting a concern for the defence and safety, and for the benefit and comfort of the wife: but I now mention it in the former view, and therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, and with a cheerful willingness submits to his authority, so also [let] wives [be] subject to their own husbands in every thing in which their commands are not inconsistent with those of Christ, who is the Head of both.
Yet far be it from me to insinuate any thing that should encourage tyranny and usurpation in
I would first exhort you that are wives.] It is observable, that in the several exhortations given here to the practice of relative duties (as likewise in Col. iii. 18, to the end, and iv 1,) the apostle first begins with the lower relations of wives, and children, and servants, before he proceeds in each of these instances to those husbands, and parents, and masters; which
it is probable, he might do, because the duties of inferiors are commonly most apt to be objected to, as what are thought most difficult to be complied with; and where these are well and faithfully performed the correspondent duties of superiors will be more readily attended to, and more effectually secured.
uld be like that of Christ to the church.
the husband : that equitably kind and generous Lord, who ought to be considered as a perfect model, hath by his own example taught a very different lesson. And therefore, on the other hand, I would exhort you that are husbands, that ye be sure to love your wives with constant tenderness and fidelity, even as Christ also hath loved the church : and O how astonishing is that love, and how delightful is it to reflect upon it ! For such is the affectionate regard that he hath manifested to the church, that he hath been pleased, when it was in a state of slavery and misery, to purchase it to himself at the most expensive price, and hath even given himself as a ransom for it ; That, having paid the price of its redemption by his blood, he might sanctify it by his Spirit, and cleanse it with the washing of water in baptism, and so having purged it from the guilt and pollution of sin, might form it for himself, and train it up in the exercise of every grace, by the discipline of his word :b That, being thus purified, educated, and adorned, as a bride prepared and adorned for her husband, (Rev. xxi. 2,) he might in due time receive it up to glory, and place it in his own immediate presence, a glorious church, arrayed in perfect righteousness, and free from all remains of sin, not having spot or wrinkle, or any thing of that naturec which could be called a blemish ; but that in every part and member of it it should be holy and without blame, and he might thus survey it completely pure, beautiful, and resplendent, in that great day, when the whole number of his elect shall be gathered together, and the marriage of
b With the washing of water, by the word.] I apprehend here is an allusion to the methods taken in eastern countries to purify the virgins that were to be presented to the royal embrace. (Compare Esth. ii. 3, 9, 12 ; and Ezek. xvi. 7—14.) And no doubt proper care was also taken to cultivate their minds, and form them to such knowledge as might render them more fit to become the dignity intended for them ; which was the more necessary, as some of those who appeared as candidates on such occasions were of low birth and education.
c Not having spot or wrinkle, or any thing of that nature.] How bright an idea does this give us of the grand plan and design of Christianity, to bring all the millions of which the church consists to such a state of perfect virtue and glory, that when the penetrating eye of Christ, its great and holy Bridegroom, shall survey it, there shall not be one spot or wrinkle, or any thing like it, in the least to impair its beauty, or offend his sight ! Where is such a scheme or thought to be found in the world, but in the New Testament, and those who have been taught by it ?
He that loveth his wife loveth himself
the Lamb shall be celebrated amidst the acclamations of the heavenly legions to whose blissful world his bride shall be conducted in triumph.
But to return to the subject from which this pleasing digression hath led me; such is the nearness of the relation I am speaking of, that husbands ought so to love their wives as they love their own bodies: and when we consider that the bond of marriage makes them both one, and remember what an inseparable community of interests it establishes, we may truly say, That he that loveth his wife loveth himself, and he that permits his affections to be alienated from her, knows little of his own true happiness. And this must surely have its weight with every considerate person; for no man in his senses ever yet hated his own flesh, whatever its infirmities or imperfections were, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, providing not only for the sustenance of it, but for its comfortable accommodation; even as the Lord nourisheth and cherisheth the church, supplying it with all things that may conduce to its welfare and happiness, with a tender concern for its infirmities, looking upon it as one with himself: For it is a most certain, as well as delightful truth, that he regards it in this view, and that we are esteemed by him as members of his body, united to him by one spirit, and therefore considered like Eve, when just taken out of Adam’s side, (Gen. ii. 23,) as making a part of his flesh, and of his bones; whom therefore he would no more permit to be separated from him, than a man would be willing to lose a vital part of himself. Now answerably to this, it is undoubtedly fit, that (as Adam was divinely inspired to declare on the first view of that delightful relation of which I now speak) all other ties should yield to this: so that, according as it follows there, (Gen. ii. 24,) “A man shall leave
ᵈ Answerably to this.] This is the exact import of the phrase αἴτι 75/8, which might also be rendered [on the other hand,] that is, taking the matter in a different but correspondent view.
ᵉ Adam was divinely inspired to declare. See note ᵈ on Mat. xix. 5, Vol. II. p. 218, and to the reason there is to conclude that Adam spake this in consequence of some extraordinary Divine Illumination.
ysterious union of Christ with the church.
his father and mother, and be inseparably joined to his wife, and they, though originally and naturally two persons, shall for the future be one flesh; shall be considered as one person, and, as it were, one soul in two bodies.”
This is indeed a great mystery, which was long unknown, and now it is in some measure discovered, is a matter of much admiration; but you will easily perceive, that in saving this, I speak not of the union between a man and his wife, but of that between Christ and the church: for that the Son of God should unite himself to a society of mortal men, and regard them as making a part of himself, on account of the intimacy with which they are joined to him in a community of Spirit and of interest, can indeed never be sufficiently admired. Nevertheless, you will not, I hope, forget the occasion which led me to touch upon this pleasing subject: I therefore renew the exhortation, and say, Let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, with such a cordial and sincere affection as he bears to himself; and let the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband, and be subject to him, not only as a necessary duty, but as led to it by affectionate choice, regarding him with inward respect and esteem, as well as paying him the honour of external obedience.
IMPROVEMENT.
LET the love of our blessed Redeemer to his church be daily celebrated with the most cordial gratitude, and that infinite condescension adored, by which he hath been pleased to unite us to
This is a great mystery.] Dr. Whitby thinks this refers to a tradition among the Jews, that the marriage of Adam with Eve was a type of the union between the Messiah and the church; and several remarkable passages of that kind have been produced. Bishop Burnet interprets this expression, as it were designed to signify, that this was a mystical argument of the main point the apostle was intent upon proving, that is, the union of the Jews and Gentiles in one church, since otherwise Christ being espoused to each might seem in a state of polygamy. (See Burnet on the Articles, p. 264.) But this conceit is so
far fetched, and the interpretation given in the paraphrase is so easy, that one would wonder so many difficulties should be raised on so obvious a point. The mystery certainly was, that the eternal Son of God, receiving the degenerate race of men into an union with himself, should have love them with an affection exceeding that which is to be found among the most intimate human relations. This sublime doctrine had long been concealed, and cannot now be perfectly comprehended; and therefore may with the greatest propriety be called a mystery in every sense of the word.
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Reflections on the love of Christ to the church.
himself in such dear and inseparable bonds. He is the Saviour xi. of the body; and O, in how wonderful a manner is he become so! verse he hath given himself for us, hath bought us from servitude and misery at the expense of his own life, and hath washed us from 23 our sins in his own blood, as well as cleansed us in the laver of bap- 25 tismal water; and intending us for the eternal displays of his love, as well as for the participation of his glory, he hath sanctified us by his Spirit, and formed us for it by his word; and thus is preparing us for that blessed day, when the whole body of his elect shall be brought forth, as the bride the Lamb’s wife, to those public espousals, which shall have their consummation in complete 27 and everlasting happiness. O what a noble and illustrious day! when the eye of Christ shall survey all the millions of his people, and placing them in his presence as one with himself, shall look with full complacency and delight on all the various members of that glorious church, and behold neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but all comely, fair, and lovely, all answering that perfect idea which he had formed, and that scheme which he had laid for raising them by perfect holiness to perfect felicity. In the mean time, let us think with delight on the proofs that he 29 gives of his constant love. He nourishes and cherishes his church; and with the most affectionate regard is tender of it, as we are of 30 the members of our own body, of our flesh, and of our bones. O that we may have a more sensible communion with him as our great Head, and may derive more continual influences from him!
For his sake let us love one another: and let those who are joined in the conjugal relation often consider it in the view in 25 which it is here represented. Let husbands see to it, that their love to their wives bear some resemblance to that which Christ 33 avows to the church: let wives pay a reverence to their husbands, 24 like that which the church is to pay to Christ: and let both take care to maintain that wisdom and sanctity in the whole of their behaviour, which may suit the relation which they bear to each other in their common Head, as well as render their intimate alliance happy, which it can never be but by an union of hearts as well as of hands. Vain will it be to think of dividing their interests when their persons are thus joined in such a manner as to 31 become one flesh. And can there be a stronger argument to the most tender love! He that loveth his wife, loveth himself: she that loveth her husband, and from love obeys him, loveth herself too: and every instance of unkindness on the one hand, or the other, is but arming the members with weapons against the head, or employing the head in contrivances against the members.
Children are exhorted to honour their parents;