The First Sermon on the First Chapter - Ephesians 1:1-3
out of so deep a gulf was through the singular and wonderful mercy of God. Whereas he speaks of the apostleship which was committed to him towards the Gentiles, he offers to strengthen them in the faith which they had once received because their calling into the communion of Christ's Church was wrought by the will of God.
Nevertheless, look how many sentences there are here, so many warnings are there to cheer up the Ephesians to acknowledge God's benefits. In the fourth chapter, he describes the means whereby our
Lord governs and maintains His church, namely by the gospel which is preached by men. Whereupon it follows that that is the very point of perfection, and that the church cannot otherwise be kept up.
Therefore, the apostle's meaning is to commend unto the Ephesians the ministry whereby God reigns among us. Afterwards, he speaks of the fruits of preaching, that is to say, of innocence, holiness, and of all duties of a Christian man. He not only teaches what the lives of Christians ought to be in general, but also interlaces particular instructions which concern every man's peculiar calling or vocation.
The First Sermon on the First Chapter 1. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to all you holy and faithful ones in Jesus Christ which are at Ephesus.
2. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly things in Christ. - Ephesians 1:1-3 When we read the Epistles which St. Paul wrote to various places, we must always consider that God meant they should serve not only for one time alone or for some certain people, but forever, and generally for the whole Church. Truly, if a man considers well the doctrine that is contained in them, it will be easy to discern that God's intent was to be heard in the things that are spoken there, even to the world's end. Also, He has had such a care for us that He has not overlooked or forgotten anything that might further our welfare and salvation.
The main aim of this Epistle, which I have now taken in hand to expound, is that St. Paul confirms those who had been trained in the Gospel before, so they might know that this is the foundation upon which they must rest, as the true, lawful, and perfect wisdom, and that it is not right to add anything thereto. He tells us that the benefits brought to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and whereof we are partakers, are so excellent that we must be exceedingly ungrateful if we seek to and fro like people who are never at rest nor contented.
Thereupon, he shows us also what we have in Christ, so that we should cleave to Him and not presume to seek help anywhere else, assuring ourselves that He has bought us all. Again, on the other side, he shows that Christ has so well provided for His Church, that if we have the wit to use the gifts of grace which He offers us, we shall have full and perfect happiness. Furthermore, he exhorts those who have been instructed in the truth of the Gospel to lead a holy life and to show that they have profited as they ought in God's school.
Now, these things serve not only for the city of Ephesus, nor for any one country, nor for any one age or time, but we need to be furthered
more and more, seeing that the devil practises without end or ceasing to thrust us out of the way. When he cannot lead us completely away from the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he labours to bring it out of favour with us by some means or other, and to entangle us in new curiosities, only to prevent us from being constant in the faith we have received, but instead always wavering.
Whenever our fancies are thus tickled, it is certain that a gap is opened to wipe out the remembrance of all that we had learned before, and to take in many follies and erroneous doctrines which serve to corrupt and pervert all the purity of our faith.
We see then that the doctrine contained in this Epistle is directed and dedicated to us at this day, and that God has by His wonderful providence so disposed things beforehand, that we not only have had the foundations of the Gospel upon which to ground ourselves, but also whereby our faith may from day to day grow and increase, and we go still forward, till we come to perfection.
First and foremost, St. Paul claims the authority which had been given him by God, to the intent that men should not stop at his person, as though it had been but a mortal man's saying. For in very deed, our Lord Jesus Christ is the only master at whose hand we must learn, for it is witnessed of Him from heaven that it is only He and none other whom we must give ear unto. It has always been
God's will to have the guiding of His own Church Himself, and that His word should be received without gainsaying, and He has not given that privilege to any creature. And whereas Jesus Christ is ordained in the place of God His Father, it is because He is God manifested in the flesh, and the infallible truth itself, and His wisdom which was before all time.
Furthermore, when men speak, they must not do it in their own name, nor allege anything from their own fancy and brain; they must faithfully set forth the things that God has enjoined them and given them in charge. Thus, you see why St. Paul almost everywhere uses this preface: that he is an Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. He holds it as a sure and absolute ground that if any man thrusts himself forward to speak in his own name, there is nothing but rashness in him. Why so? Because he takes upon himself something that belongs solely to God.
Again, forasmuch as our Lord Jesus Christ was purposely sent to be our last teacher, so that we might have such wisdom as is perfect and utterly without fault, St. Paul therefore calls himself an Apostle sent by Him. This presupposes two things: the one is that St. Paul had that charge committed to him, and the other is that he acquitted himself duly of it, by employing himself faithfully in the office that he was called to. For were a man the best able and most excellent in the world, yet if he thrusts himself forward of his own accord, he troubles all common order. We know that God will have order, and not disorder among us, as St. Paul says in the fourteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians.
He that speaks (at least to teach) must have a calling: that is to say, he must be admitted, and have his charge given to him, so that every man may not put himself forward out of an unadvised zeal, as I said before. Now, to speak any further of St. Paul's calling is not needful at this present. For we know how God gave record that He avowed him for His Apostle. Indeed, he does not dispute much of it here, because it was well known in the Church of Ephesus. But forasmuch as the Galatians had been troubled by deceivers, insomuch that St.
Paul's authority, yea, and the name of God Himself, had been disgraced there, we saw how he maintained his own status, telling
them that the reverence due to an Apostle of Jesus Christ could not be taken from him without overthrowing the order of God.
Therefore, it is enough for him here to have said in one word that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
Let us come to the second point which I touched upon, namely that it is not enough for a man to be called, unless he discharges his duty with a pure conscience and upright dealing in his office; which thing
St. Paul took upon himself as a thing out of all question and he had given sufficient proof of it. The deceivers may well boast themselves with full mouths that they are called, as we see they do. For all those who fight against God and His word, and sow trouble and darnel in His Church, would gladly make a shield of their calling, and also of their zeal, for they will needs be called Christians, yea, and more too.
But St. Paul had sufficiently proved that he came not of himself, nor sought anything else than to spend himself in the building up of the Church. And forasmuch as the same was well known in Ephesus (as we may gather from the story of St. Luke), yea, and that he had borne out many a hard brunt, therefore he thinks it enough to say in one word that he is an Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we are warned, first to hold ourselves to the pure doctrine which we know to have proceeded from God, for we cannot go amiss if we follow that rule. Because in our Lord Jesus Christ we have the fulfillment of all that is requisite and needful for our instruction, so that we need not doubt whether we may hold to the Gospel or add anything to it: let us be content to take the Son of God for our master, especially since He vouchsafed to stoop so low as to take that charge upon Him, and also protests that if we have profited well in His doctrine, we shall come to the true mark whereunto we should aim.
You see then that the first lesson which we have to gather upon this text, is that our faith must not waver one way or another, but have a sure and immovable foundation to rest upon, that is to wit, God's truth, even as it is contained in the Gospel. Seeing that St. Paul is sufficiently avowed unto us, let us not doubt that God's Spirit speaks to us at this day by his mouth. Neither let us hear the doctrine as though it were subject to our judgment; but let us imprison our own understanding and wits, and receive it without questioning, unless we willfully make war against God and advance ourselves above Him.
And so, that is one of the things which we have to mark upon this text.
Furthermore, so that this doctrine may not only be revered among us but also be amiable to us, let us note that Paul speaks in the name of Christ, who was sent by God His Father to bring us glad tidings of peace. Let us also bear in mind how he says elsewhere that he was ordained to bring the message of reconciliation and to beseech men in God's name to be reconciled to God. This was done to make the doctrine of the Gospel sweet to us, so that we might desire it and give ourselves wholly to it. When we hear that God speaks to us, it is enough to authorize all that He says. However, we might tremble at His voice and be weary of it, as many confess well enough that God deserves to be obeyed and to have all men subject to Him, yet they shy away and avoid Him as far as they can because His voice makes them afraid.
But when Jesus Christ speaks to us as the mediator between God and man, we may go to Him boldly. As it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are no longer at Mount Sinai, where lightning flashed when the law was given, so much that if a beast came near, it must die. The voice that God uttered then was terrible, but nowadays, seeing that He encourages us by the Gospel to receive the grace He
offers and is willing to wipe away the remembrance of our sins, let us allow ourselves to be justified by His free goodness. Let us be peaceable and obedient to Him, for that ought to move us to resort to Him like poor hungry souls, to be fed with the heavenly food He gives us.
Thus, you see, in effect, what we have to remember when St. Paul calls himself the apostle of Jesus Christ. When he adds that it is by the will of God, it serves to cut off all questioning, to prevent men from blaming him for presumption, as if he thought himself more reputable than others. For he protests that it was not for any worthiness of his own, but because it pleased God to choose him for that office. Indeed, it is no feigned humility that he says he was set in that place by God's mere grace and choosing, for we see how he protests in other places that he is not worthy of such honour, but rather had deserved utter damnation. Therefore, he wants to be taken as a mirror of God's infinite goodness, in that He exalted him so high, even though he had been a murderer of Christians, had shed the blood of martyrs, and had railed against God and His Word, as he himself reported.
We see then, that there was no faintness in this confession of his, where he says that he was set in that state and degree by the will of God alone. And this serves a great purpose still, to the intent that we do not esteem God's word based on the quality of those who bring it to us. For one of the ordinary policies which the devil uses to diminish the reverence of God's Word is to confront us with the persons who bring it. Now it is certain that we are frail vessels and have no value, yea, even as good as broken pots. What is there in those whom God has ordained to be the ministers of His word? But it is a treasure always inestimable, notwithstanding the despised nature of the vessels.
Then let us mark that when men come to warrant us the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation which we ought to hope for, our faith must ascend higher and not stand examining whether such a man is worthy to be heard or not, or inquiring about the manner of the person. Let us hold ourselves contented that God, by that means, intended to draw us to Himself. That is the way in which we must walk. And if we stray from it, we run astray and are on the highway to destruction. Then let us mark well that we must submit ourselves to God's will and ordinance and receive without hesitation the doctrine that is preached to us by the mouths of mortal men.
We must not be wise in the manner of those who demand whether God could not send His angels from heaven to teach us by revelations, nor like some busybodies who imagine they have the Holy Ghost within themselves. By means of which, they set up their own schools and seek to receive gifts as they are dealt abroad by God, lest we be bewitched by Satan after that manner. Let us note how it is said here that it is God's will that the gospel is preached by the mouths of men and that they are, as it were, witnesses of it unto us.
Whosoever exempts himself from that order is like one who thrusts back God's hand when He offers him a sure and infallible record of his salvation.
Thus, you see what we have to mark upon this text. Again, those who are called to spread God's word ought to take warning by St. Paul's example to walk in lowliness. For who are we if we compare ourselves with him? He shows us that he was not chosen for any sufficient merit or ability but because it was God's will to have it so.
Therefore, let us assure ourselves that we owe all things to Him and His mere grace, and we cannot claim anything for ourselves unless we intend to rob Him of His right. And we know that such unthankfulness is not to be tolerated.
Hereupon he says, "To all the holy ones that are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Jesus Christ." This expresses the aim of the epistle. But as I have touched on already, the doctrine is common to us all. God has ordained it for our use today, and we must receive it as if St. Paul were still alive and among us. We must not only have an eye unto him but also unto the party by whom he was sent. Although he died when he had finished his race, God's Spirit did not. However the case stands, we must, for our learning, bear in mind what St. Paul means when he speaks to the holy and faithful ones in Jesus Christ.
Although we are not of that time, nor of the country and people of Asia, yet, since it has pleased God to join us with those to whom St.
Paul wrote in his time, let us assure ourselves that it is our duty today to be strengthened in the faith we have received by the gospel. This was the intent and purpose of the Holy Ghost, to encourage all those to hold out who have been instructed in the gospel and are yet weak and need further confirmation.
Let us bear in mind these words: "the holy and faithful ones in Jesus Christ." St. Paul shows us that all the holiness of men is nothing else but lewdness unless God has applied them to His own service, dedicated and consecrated by faith. For we are all unclean by nature, and nothing can come from us but uncleanness. It is true that men can set a fair appearance upon things they have taken for as righteous as may be, and their virtues shall be commended everywhere. According to the prophet Jeremiah, man's heart is a dungeon of horrible confusion. We ourselves may not perceive it, but God does. So let us assure ourselves of this: all the holiness men assume to have is but corruption, utterly abominable before God, until they are made one with Him by belief in the Gospel.
Let us note this foundational point: no holiness is liked and allowed by God other than the holiness of believers. For unless we first become Christians, we are blind and can never yield God His due. If nothing else, this lewdness alone is enough to mar all the virtues we could have besides. Again, seeing that the spirit of perfection, the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of righteousness, and the spirit of purity abides and rests in Jesus Christ, it is certain that all who are separated from Him have nothing but vice and all manner of uncleanness, however much the world esteems them.
On the other side, let us mark also that all who boast of belief in the Gospel but are not sanctified by God betray their own hypocrisy and lying. They undo themselves by their own lives, whatever their mouths may say. As we see nowadays, many defile and unhallows the name of faith, which ought to be holy. Every man will say he is faithful, and those with the least faith are boldest to claim there is no faith but in themselves. Would God it were so bad in only half of us.
But among all who bear the name of Christians, their whole life is disordered and loose, mocking God to the full and despising all religion. Yet they think they have great wrong if they are not taken for good Christians and Catholics.
Yet for all this, we see how St. Paul ties these things together in an inseparable bond: if we have faith in the gospel, we must wholly give ourselves unto God and separate ourselves from the corruptions of the world. As we have seen in the Epistle to the Galatians, he says that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is to sanctify us by His blood to yield obedience henceforth in all purity unto God His
Father. As he says in another place, we are not called to uncleanness but to righteousness so that God's name may be honoured and glorified by us.
Thus, you see what we must remember in this preface, so we may be better prepared to receive the doctrine contained in this epistle. It should have the authority it deserves among us and be made amiable to us. We must understand how it is for our singular benefit to learn at Paul's hand, as he witnesses the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ unto us and leads us to God to be reconciled unto Him, whereas we are naturally the children of wrath.
The more that we may stand in His favor, so we may behold, call upon Him as our Father, and be sure that He also takes us for His children, therefore, with thanksgiving, we lift up all men's hearts to acknowledge how much they are bound and beholden unto God, especially considering that He has shown Himself so bountiful towards them, giving forth Himself in all manner of ways. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things, or in heavenly places in Christ.
For as much as the chief sacrifice which God requires from man's hands is that they should acknowledge His benefits and be thankful to Him for them, St. Paul considers first of all how this may provoke them to do their duty. For we are so reckless, it is a pity to see. We can well enough confess that our chief study and endeavor ought to be to have a well-ordered life, that is, to praise God. For if a man asks us why we are in this world, why God has such care of us, why His goodness feeds and cherishes us, and finally, why He, as it were, overwhelms us with the great number of benefits He bestows upon us, it is to the end that we should yield some acknowledgement of them unto Him. For as it is said in the Psalms, we on our side cannot profit Him at all, neither does He require anything else from us in exchange but thanksgiving, according to the 116th Psalm: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits I have received from
Him, but only to take the cup of salvation at His hand and to call upon His name?"
We see then that all we can bring unto God is to acknowledge ourselves bound to Him for all things. And yet, for all that, no man discharges his duty, not even a hundredth part of it, in that respect.
Instead, all of us, from the greatest to the least, defraud Him of it, inasmuch as through our lewdness, we bury His praise, which ought to ring out loudly from our mouths. For this cause, our Lord rebukes us for our negligence. Whereas the Holy Scripture exhorts us to praise God and uses so many words to that purpose, let us not think that they are superfluous. Rather, let us acknowledge them as many reproaches of our churlishness and unkindness for failing in that which is so requisite. And, as we should say, the principal point of our life truly is that the Holy Ghost often sets forth other reasons why we should magnify God's name: the order of nature, the fruits which the earth yields, the aid and help which God gives us, and such other things. Those are sufficient reasons to praise God.
But St. Paul leads us higher here and helps us to glorify God above all things because he thinks it not enough that God has set us in the world, cherished us here, and provided all things needful for this transitory life. God has also chosen us to be heirs of His kingdom and of the heavenly life. Thus, we are doubly bound unto God, and that much more strongly than the ignorant and unbelieving. Although they are sufficiently bound already, the good which He has done us in Jesus Christ is without comparison more excellent and noble because He has adopted us to be His children. Truly, as men, we are among the number of His creatures, which He has fashioned after His own image. But this image is defaced in us by sin and the corruption with which we are tainted by Adam's disobedience.
Now, what heritage have we but His wrath and endless death? To be sure, we are not worthy to be reckoned among the number of brute beasts if we abide in the state we have of nature. Now, then, seeing that God makes us members of His only Son and sets us in the array of the angels and prepares us to become partakers of His own nature and glory, as St. Peter says in his first epistle, ought we not to perceive this so high and noble grace, as should ravish us wholly in love with it? Thus, you see, the first thing St. Paul meant to say in this text is that we are here exalted to apply our whole endeavor to the praising of God. Verily, because we are too cold and slothful in that respect, we need to be driven and enforced thereunto.
Besides this, St. Paul had another intention, which was to feed us in such wise with the grace we have by the gospel, that we may more covet this thing. According to our ordinary manner, we see how fickle we are by nature. When God is so good unto us as to set His word before us, we will need to have some other things besides, and nothing can content us.
And what is the cause of it? It is because we are dull and never conceive nor understand what God shows us by His Word. For we shall see hereafter that those who know the love which God shows us in our Lord Jesus Christ have all that they can wish for, upward and downward, far and wide.
Also, St. Paul now calls upon us to bless God so that we may hold fast to the doctrine in which consists the fullness of all felicity, at least if we have the wisdom to use it to our profit. Furthermore, let us also note that not without cause, he says that it is in spiritual blessings.
For although we cannot eat a bit of bread nor drink a drop of water without acknowledging and confessing that therein God shows
Himself a true Father towards us, yet the things that concern this
body and our transitory life are nothing in respect to the things that serve for the everlasting welfare of our souls.
Indeed, St. Paul's exhortation to praise God for His heavenly blessings is in such a way that he gives us an inclination that we must be patient if we are pinched in respect of the flesh and do not have all things as we wish, but that God cuts us short of our petitions and handles us not as tenderly as we would like. Two things, therefore, are contained here. One is that we should learn to know where our true and perfect happiness lies, that is, in a life which we hope for and which is yet hidden from us, so that we are not tied to the world.
Note that for one point.
Secondly, if this world shakes us off, despises us, and men make a laughingstock of us, we must settle ourselves in patience. While the despisers of God vaunt themselves with pomp and flattery, and it seems that we are unhappy in comparison to them, inasmuch as some of us suffer hunger and thirst, and others are troubled and vexed wrongfully, we must look further. And why? Because we ought to content ourselves with the heavenly blessings which God has bestowed upon us. Then must this so great, so high, and so inestimable treasure make us overlook all the encumbrances that we can conceive, whensoever God exercises and tries us in this world by many afflictions, and would have us endure a scarcity and lack of many things. This is the effect of the things which we have to note in this strain.
Now, before we proceed further, let us note that this word "blessing" is taken in diverse senses when St. Paul applies it either to God or to ourselves. It is said that we bless God, and how does He bless us? In what manner does He bless us? We do not bless Him as He blesses us; we fall short of that, for as I have already mentioned from the
16th Psalm, all our services can do Him no good. And again, we must conclude that, as I have already mentioned from the 116th Psalm, all that we can bring unto God is no more than this acknowledgement that we are beholden to Him for all the good things we have. You see then that all our blessing is about yielding the sacrifice of praise unto
God. Let that serve for one point. But now, when God blesses us, is it only in words? No. It is in fulfilling us and bestowing all things upon us which we need so far as is necessary. And why is this word
"blessing" attributed to Him? Because He does not need to toil and take much effort to help His servants and to give them the things He knows to be expedient for them. If He does but say the word, that is to say, if He but utters His will, the thing is done. For as much as God, having created the world by His only word, has power also to do us good by His only bidding. Therefore it is said that we become rich by His only blessing, that is to say, by His showing Himself loving and favorable to us.
Now, let us see if we are to be excused when we defraud God of His due by disdaining to open our lips to confess how much we are bound and beholden unto Him, after we have received so many benefits at His hand. If all the blessings that all the men in the world can give unto God were laid in the balance against the only blessing with which He enriches us, His blessing would outweigh all. All that they can allege is that they must confess that they can neither do nor say anything that is of worth. Whereas on the other side, God shows us that He has all that is requisite for our welfare. Therefore it is not without cause that St. Paul says here that the faithful must give and apply all their wits and endeavors to bless God, seeing He gives them so great cause. Otherwise, they would be unthankful and utterly churlish.
Therefore, he speaks of two things: the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ. When he says, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," it must be understood in this manner, namely, that the God whom we feel so favorable toward us is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This circumstance deserves to be well marked. For therein, Paul helps us understand that God's benefits, especially those that belong to the heavenly life and the everlasting salvation of our souls, cannot come to us except through Jesus Christ, who serves as the conduit pipe of them, allowing us to be partakers of them for his sake. Therefore, let us mark well that we are shut out from all God's benefits and from all things that concern the salvation of our souls unless Jesus Christ becomes our means.
True, it is that the unbelievers do eat and drink and give themselves to the utmost, and the sunshine shines upon them. But yet, properly speaking, they do not truly enjoy any of the things that God gives them, because they usurp them without any lawful title to them. For the world was made for God's children, especially in respect of their head, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. To be sure, it is not without cause that Paul shows how God has given himself unto us, saying that it is because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But as I mentioned earlier, the matter is not about eating and drinking but about far greater and more precious things, namely, that God has adopted us as His children.
You see, in effect, what we have to bear in mind. For better understanding, let us note that we must bridle ourselves, lest we wander into diverse speculations when we know God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And why? Because people often have the word
"God" and the name "Jesus Christ" on their lips, but they disfigure Jesus Christ and utterly falsify the doctrine of his gospel. Thus, they have a god, albeit backed by confused imagination, and in the
meanwhile, they do not truly know Him. Truly, they do not know what god they worship, no more than the Turks do.
We know that our Lord Jesus Christ, in the fourth chapter of John, says that those who do not have the doctrine whereby to rule themselves do not know what they worship, but continually forge idols for themselves. Therefore, there is only one way to have good and infallible access to God: by beholding Him in His living image.
For His majesty is too high, too far off, and too deep for us, but Jesus Christ has communicated himself to us, applied himself to our weakness, and taught us all that is requisite to know so that we might come to God his Father.
You see, then, that we must have our Lord Jesus Christ as our way to avoid straying, for seeing that God is the Father of our head, and of him who is made one with us, you see how we may have access to come familiarly unto Him. Without that mediator, we are all shut out from Him, and the majesty of God would need to make the hairs of our head stand up in fear. But when we consider that He calls himself the Father of him who is our head, we know that He must also vow for us His children because He has bought us.
Furthermore, although some people sit down with only the word "spiritual blessings," St. Paul shows that God has shown Himself bountiful toward us in more ways than one. Therefore, he will make a larger declaration hereafter by laying forth the benefits we obtain by the gospel. For all this chapter is full of them. But however the case stands, Paul wants to give us to understand in this strain that God's giving of his gracious gifts to us is not in patches and parcels, and that his making us taste them is not with a wet finger and away, as they say, but that He has given us them so diversely and fully that we have cause to magnify Him in all respects.
Therefore, let us understand that seeing Jesus Christ is so given unto us, and in him, we obtain all that is available for our salvation, and to make us happy, according also to what Paul speaks of in Romans 8.
For if the only Son is given unto us, how should not all the benefits which he has in him be communicated to us with him and by his means? But however we fail, let us learn to favor God's spiritual gifts in such a way that all our wits may be gathered home to make much of them. For the bringing of this to pass, let us beware that we do not have our minds too much wedded to the world, for the very thing that draws us away causes us to perceive not a hundredth part of the good that God has done for us, nor can we apply His benefits to help us.
Offered is our own vanity because each of us beguiles himself with his own fond and wandering desires. Therefore, let us learn to shake off the things that stop us from coming to our Lord Jesus Christ. And although our naughty nature provokes us to seek the transitory things of this world, let us endeavor to withdraw from them so we may yield ourselves with a free heart unto God and be earnestly minded to obey Him, and to give ourselves wholly unto Him, for it is
His will to have us joined unto Him.
This is the thing we have to mark upon St. Paul, who, having spoken of the spiritual blessings, immediately adds "in heavenly places," or things, meaning to show that we are not able to receive the gracious gifts which are communicated to us in our Lord Jesus Christ, and which God would have us possess, until we know that there is nothing in this world that ought to hold us back. Therefore, when we once know that we are not created and made to dwell always in this world, but that we must be only as wayfarers in it, and that our everlasting heritage and rest are above in heaven, let us thereupon make our way and strive toward it more and more. And although we
are feeble, let us not faint, but take heart, and pray God to give us strength.
Moreover, you see that the reason why St. Paul sets down the word "blessings" is to show that whereas the devil lays many traps to thrust us out of the way, God will provide a remedy for them all. And why? Because He has such store of blessings that He can overcome and destroy all that may be against our welfare.
But now, let us fall down before the majesty of our good God with the acknowledgment of our faults, praying Him to touch us more and more with them, that we may be brought to true repentance. So that we may condemn ourselves and seek to our Lord Jesus Christ for all that we lack, and not just for one day or at a moment, but continually and steadfastly until our lives end. And that, whatever befalls us, we may always assure ourselves that we have cause to praise our God, and that if we are poor and miserable in this world, the heavenly felicity is enough to quiet us, and to sweeten all our afflictions and sorrows, and to give us such consolation that we may nevertheless have our mouths open to bless God for showing Himself so kindhearted and liberal towards us, even adopting us as His children and showing us that the heritage which has been purchased for us by the blood of His only Son is ready for us, and we cannot miss it if we go to it with true and invincible constancy of faith.
May it please Him to grant us this grace, not only to us but also to all people. Amen.