The Twenty Third Sermon,which is the Third upon the Fourth Chapter - Ephesians 4:6-8
concord that the devil shall not be able to win so much at our hands as to separate us from the flock, but we shall overcome all temptations, and where there be any vices and infirmities, we shall bear with them mildly and patiently, and continue in the holy union, whereunto we are daily exhorted by the Gospel and by the common
Baptism which we have received.
Now let us cast ourselves down before the majesty of our good God with acknowledgment of our faults, praying Him to make us so to perceive them that we may dislike more and more of them, and run back unto Him with true repentance to obtain such grace of Him as we may withdraw ourselves from all defilements, and by that means learn to be unabashed or undismayed for any assaults of Satan, and be able to overcome them all, with all the hardness that he can throw in our way to turn us out of the path of salvation. That it may please
Him to grant this grace not only to us but also to all people and nations of the earth. etc.
The Twenty Third Sermon, which is the Third upon the Fourth Chapter 6. "There is one God and Father of all, who is above all things, and through all things, and in you all."
7. "But grace is given to every one of us, according to the measure of Christ's gift."
8. "For which reason, he says, 'When he went up on high, he led a multitude of prisoners into captivity, and gave gifts unto men'"
(Ephesians 4:6-8).
We have seen before that God has not neglected any means that might knit us together in true concord and brotherhood. For He has dedicated us all to Himself by baptism (Galatians 3:27), wherein we put on Christ. As we have come together in the Church, just as we are called to one life to be heirs together of the kingdom of heaven, so ought we to know who is the Master that has authority over us.
In short, God is in such a way our Father, and we His children, that He will not have us be in discord; otherwise, it would only cause trouble in His own house and Church. Seeing that we are members of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is fitting that we should link together in true unity, or else we shall (as much as lies within us) tear His body into pieces.
Yet, to the intent that this unity might better touch us, Saint Paul adds now that God, being the Father of all the faithful, sheds His power and grace upon them and is above all things, as if to gather them into one. In short, He so dwells in them by His Holy Spirit that they must necessarily be one body unless they deliberately turn away from Him.
You see, then, that the reason God is our Father is not only because He has once created us or because He has begotten us again by His
Gospel, but because He has shed His grace upon us, as I said, and again, because He is above all. The means by which God links us one with another is His casting of His beams (as it were sunbeams) from heaven so that we must necessarily come together into one, knowing from where the things come that belong to our spiritual life, namely,
God's gifts toward us. And this is not to scatter us apart, but rather to gather us together into one body.
But the last words yet more clearly reveal the mind of Saint Paul, namely, that God is in us. Then, if each of us knows that God does him so much grace and honor as to take him for His house to dwell in, there is no excuse for us if we are in variance and hatred, and if each man would be separated from the other and live unto himself, to the utter overthrow of all order that God has set, if it were possible.
Now, to confirm the matter yet better, he says that every one of us has received grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Here,
Saint Paul shows us that God uses a wonderful manner to draw us to Him: by distributing His gifts among us in such a way that each of us needs to be helped and supported by our neighbors. For by ourselves, we are so attached to our own interests that none of us would be concerned for anyone else if it were not for the necessity that binds us to those whose help we need.
God, therefore, to correct the pride and presumption that are deeply rooted in humankind, has so distributed His gifts in measured portions that each person recognizes he is dependent on others for what he has received, and that there is no such perfection in himself that he can do without other people. Instead, we must communicate together with mutual goodwill, so that each of us endeavors to use the things that God has given him for the profit and benefit of his brethren, while also being willing to borrow from others and allow himself to be helped and supported by them as he sees the need for it.
This brings us back again to what we have seen before: that we shall never have agreement among us without humility and meekness. We see, then, what Saint Paul aimed at. He handles the same matter in the twelfth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. For there he
takes the analogy of a man's body to show that we are far out of our wits when each of us despises his neighbors and is only concerned with himself.
He asks, "How now?" Our members or limbs have no particular understanding by themselves. The hand has no wisdom to comprehend its purpose; neither do the fingers attached to it, nor the legs, nor the feet. No part of the body has any private understanding of itself. Yet, nevertheless, the hand willingly acknowledges its duty to serve all the rest of the body, never refusing to do so. If there is any ache, any disease, or any other need, the hand is always moving from side to side, up and down, continually engaged. The feet, too, without having any other understanding than only a secret selfmoving of nature, know how to bear up the rest of the body and are never reluctant or grieved at doing so. Likewise, the hand does not disdain to borrow help from the other members, knowing full well that it is not able to sustain itself alone.
See, then, what an interchangeable companionship there is among the members of a body. And now, has God called us to Him, that He would have us become all one in Jesus Christ, as has been said before? Does it then follow that each of us should be a whole body by himself? No, for we see, on the contrary, how God has given each person his portion and to all in general, so that it acts as a bond to hold us together in concord, so that we should not be puffed up with such foolish self-conceit as to say, "I have enough of my own; I care for nobody else."
God's will, then, is not that each person should be a whole and perfect body by himself, but that one should be as a hand, another as a finger, another as an arm, another as a leg, another as a shoulder, and another as a foot. In short, God has so distributed His gifts
among us that we must realize that if each of us tries to stand alone, he will immediately be as a rotten member, because he can have no firm continuance in the whole body if he insists on being separated from the rest of the members. And what will follow from it? It must inevitably perish. So it is with us.
That, therefore, is Saint Paul's meaning when he says that God's grace is given to every one of us.
He first shows that if we have any excellence, it serves not to make us proud, for we are indebted to God for it. We have nothing of our own, as we have already seen from his reasoning, to prevent anyone from presuming too much of himself, but instead to walk humbly and soberly, giving all the glory to God. So, then, he says again that whoever is most excellent has no reason to exalt himself above his neighbors, for he has nothing of his own, but must acknowledge that he has all from God. And in what manner? Even by confessing that it is His freely bestowed gift.
You see, then, that for the first point, Saint Paul intended to rid people of the vice to which they are so inclined—that every person might beware of exalting himself. True, there is not one of us who would not willingly be a master over others; but Saint Paul says to them, "You wretches, what are you? What is it that you can claim to say, 'I have this or that of my own'? For you hold all things from the mere free gift of your God." Therefore, cast down your heads, every one of you, and consider that there is none but only God who ought to have all preeminence. As for you, you must learn to submit to Him and be content with your own station, so that you may labor and endeavor to serve your neighbors and all the whole community or body of the Church.
Howbeit, Saint Paul adds moreover that it is according to the measure of Christ, according to what I have declared; that is to say, we shall not find perfection in any man alive, but every man has need to be supported, and that not only in respect of this common life. It is true that our Lord shows us beforehand that it is His will to keep us linked together because we would otherwise be too quick to separate ourselves. For not every one of us can be a baker, or a husbandman, or a cutler; there is no one who does not need the help of someone who may seem inferior, or even a rascal, in comparison to himself.
We could not live one day in this world without communicating with one another.
Our Lord bridles us in this way beforehand because He sees we are, as it were, harebrained and would hardly be kept in unity. But here, he treats of the spiritual gifts, by which God shows that He is a Father to us and holds us as the household of His Church. Let the most perfect man examine himself, and he shall find that his receiving of more than other men is in such a way that it is by measure. However the case stands, let none of us presume to have all; for it must needs be that a man is too much blinded with pride if he is of that mind.
But when we have our measure, let us consider the two points I have touched on before: namely, that he who has received the larger measure is more strictly bound to employ every bit of it to the common benefit of the Church. Moreover, he must help himself by his neighbors and consider that he cannot do without them; therefore, he should conform himself quietly to them and seek no more than to be a member of the body, so that all of us may hold on together to our head, desiring that Jesus Christ may have such preeminence over us as every one of us may obey Him, and He leads
us to God His Father. And so, you see what Saint Paul meant by speaking of the said measure.
Now, it stands for us to mark well how he says that it is in Jesus Christ because it is He in whom we are linked together. For (as has been shown before), what is our spiritual kinship? Although it springs from God as the fountain of all goodness, yet it could not flow down to us unless Jesus Christ were among us, and that we were gathered together by His means (John 14:6). As we have seen in the first chapter, it is His office to gather all things together, both in heaven and earth, that were scattered asunder before (Ephesians
1:10).
Let us mark, then, that since God has not given men such perfection that every one of us can live by himself alone, we must cling together in peace and concord. For it is certain that God could well have made us perfect immediately, so that nothing should be lacking in us; and He is no miser in enriching us with His goods, as far as He knows to be for our benefit. Seeing then that there is infirmity in us, why does
God not knit us to Himself at once? Why does He still hold us in such weakness? Why does He not give us an angelic power and perfection?
As I said before, He will have us learn to live wisely and with awe, knowing that it stands for us to have Him go through with the thing
He has begun. And with that, we must also live meekly and gently with one another, not being so proud as to despise others or to draw away from them, but rather consider that they may help us, and that there is not so base a person in God's Church who has not received something with which he may be able to serve his neighbors. That, then, is the thing we have already seen. Again, if we think that a poor, simple soul has no learning to teach us and that we can receive
nothing at his hand, let us beware that we do not prejudge the grace of God.
For it is certain that however many have any taste and feeling of the Gospel, we have a record that God dwells in them by His Holy Spirit.
For faith is the singular gift of God, and it is a sure token that God dwells in every man where we see any feeling and knowledge of the Gospel (Ephesians 2:8). Also, it is certain that every little drop of God's grace is worthy to be esteemed, so there is no reason in this regard for pride to hinder our linking together, or that we should not consider that all of us are members of one body. Let that serve for one point.
On the other side, let every one of us look well to himself, for we shall yield account of the benefits that God has bestowed upon us, and the more a man has received, the more he shall be blamed if he does not endeavor to discharge himself of his duty in serving his neighbors, as I said before. For the end of all God's gifts is always to edify one another, that God's Temple may grow among us and be raised to its full perfection (1 Corinthians 14:26). And so, you see how we ought to bestow the spiritual gifts we have received from God's hand.
For the same cause, it is also said that those who know the Gospel ought to show by the conversation of their whole life that they are the children of light, and not blind wretches that wander in darkness
(Ephesians 5:8). Therefore, let us learn to make God's gifts available in such a way that He may be glorified by them. And in that respect, mention is made expressly of measure, to the intent that we should not allege as our excuse that this man or that man gave us no good example.
For when it stands upon commendation, then every one of us bears himself in hand and would persuade the world to believe that he is
very excellent. Yet, in the meantime, we do not consider that God has bound us doubly, by vouchsafing to show such large bountifulness towards us, as to set us in a higher degree than our neighbors.
Therefore, let us think better of it, both generally and particularly, than we have done. Generally, because we have the Gospel freely preached here among us, and because we ought universally to be as a burning torch, to show the way of salvation (Philippians 2:15).
And particularly, by discharging every man of his own duty, so that we give no cause of stumbling to our neighbors, but rather endeavor to draw those who are far from God and His truth, and also take pains to confirm and encourage those whom God has already set in a good course and in the right way. But alas, men discharge themselves poorly of that duty. For, according to the extent of their gifts, each person wants to overmaster others and be worshipped as an idol; and so, in the meantime, the union is broken on nearly all sides.
Yet, as I said before, it is impossible for us to be truly linked in one without conforming ourselves to those who are of the Church, as to our own members. Without that, it is impossible for us to be truly united, yet every person desires to be held in high esteem. Again, when it comes to the edification of others, we do exactly the opposite of what Saint Paul tells us here. For in the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters to the Romans, he shows that we must act as if a strong man saw another man weak: he ought not to display his strength to the detriment of his neighbor but should rather help him up
(Romans 14:1-2, 15:1).
It is as if I had a little child to lead; I should not break both his arms and legs by running hastily with him. And if another man, much stronger than I, should tire me out under the guise of testing his ability against me, is it fitting that I should be cast down by him?
Therefore, we must (as I said) fashion ourselves in such a way to our brethren that the stronger do not push their weaker neighbors aside, nor vex them by laboring to overshadow them by force; neither should we be like the goats Ezekiel reproaches, which butt with their horns against the gentle lambs who intend only to be meek (Ezekiel
34:21). That is what we ought to do, and from which we are far removed.
Also, it is certain that the city of Geneva ought generally to be as a burning cresset, to give light to those who are still far off from the Gospel. But it appears how the world goes with us; I refer to yesterday's dealings. I must needs speak of it, for if I concealed it in the pulpit and, in the meantime, the country folk can make a report of it in the streets, and even give judgment of it, would I not be much to blame? Seeing then that the little children can sing of it, as they say, should I not be too much of a traitor to God and His people if I, and my fellows, should play the dumb dogs?
If a goldsmith should make a cross or a chalice, he should be punished, as he deserves. If some other man makes a thing that serves to popish superstition, it shall not be tolerated. If a merchant sells beads, he shall have his punishment as he is worthy. But if a man sells chasubles, albs, and all other trinkets of the Mass, that shall be suffered and borne with. Nevertheless, this has been done.
And in whose name? Even by those who ought to bridle others and punish those who have offended. And in what place? In the place which is dedicated and consecrated to God for the execution of justice.
Yet, it will perhaps be said that it was done through oversight, and I believe it. For had the party been well advised, surely he would have kept himself from doing so unlawful and utterly inexcusable a deed.
Therefore, let us beware, let us (I say) beware, that we do not allow ourselves to be blinded by Satan in such a fashion, and so rocked to sleep, that we do not consider what is told to us here. Namely, that if we have received any grace or gift from God's hand, we must set more store by it and put it to such use that God may be glorified and His Church furthered by it, or else we shall have a dreadful account to make for giving cause of offense to the weak.
It had been better that such filthy trash had been consumed a hundred times with fire than to have been so brought forth in an open place in the sight of all who lie in wait for us from afar. For, in truth, we know well enough that there are many who watch us and seek nothing but to find some cause to speak evil of us, not only to mock us for our labor (for we are worthy of that), but to blaspheme
God's name. Therefore, if a man has overstepped himself once, it is good that he should be warned of it, that he may take better heed hereafter. And that we, knowing that God has bound us so deeply unto Him by exalting us, and by doing us more honor than we deserve, in vouchsafing to have us be His people, and to make us glory in having the pure doctrine of His Gospel, may profit ourselves the better by it. We ought to fear lest, if we change after this sort, and become so reckless as to begin taking liberties to do whatever we please, God may show us that He is able to take away the things He has given us and to dispossess us of them when He chooses.
Now, Saint Paul adds here the manner how God is so liberal to us in Jesus Christ and yet, nevertheless, deals the gifts of His Holy Spirit to each man by a certain measure and not to every man alike, but as He Himself thinks good. He says that this was done by our Lord
Jesus Christ's ascending up into heaven. For then did He obtain sovereign dominion, and the Father gave Him a name which is above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow
(Philippians 2:9-10), as it is said in another place. Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ received all fullness of grace at His coming into the world, according to what Saint John says in his first chapter: "And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16).
That was the cause, then, why the Spirit was given to Him without measure, as it is said in the same text (John 3:34). And the faithful, because they are members of the Church, have received thereof, and God has given to every man his portion, according to the measure of His only Son. But as for Him, God has not given Him His Spirit by measure. And why? Because He is the head, and every man must take his life from there, and He, withal, has all power over us.
Wherefore, let us be contented that each of us has his portion so that we may walk in fear before God. And moreover, let us understand that the perfection is in Jesus Christ because God's Spirit rests in Him, and both great and small must repair to Him, acknowledging their poverty, to obtain there the things they lack, and not be ashamed to receive Christ's alms as those who are destitute of all good things.
Furthermore, although our Lord Jesus Christ showed Himself to be the only Son of God while He was in this world and proved the same by His wonders, miracles, and gifts, yet when He ascended into heaven, He showed Himself to be the very one indeed who had the commission of God His Father to give us all things we need (John
17:2). And that is the reason why it is said in the seventh chapter of Saint John that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39). It is very certain that our Lord worked even then by the power of His Holy Spirit. For when Saint Peter confessed Him to be the Son of the living God, it was answered him,
"Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17).
In short, we know well that there is nothing but evil in us, and that the good which God gives us is by His Holy Spirit. And all things are committed to our Lord Jesus Christ, and it belongs to Him to deal forth His doctrine unto us, as it is told to us that it is His office and that the Father has given Him a special commission to deal His gifts to us. Indeed, it is also the reason why the Prophet Isaiah says that God's Spirit rested upon Him (Isaiah 11:2), namely, to show that if we are separated from Him, we must perish as it were through drought and emptiness.
However the case may stand, we must always come back to this point, that the Holy Ghost was poured out upon all the faithful when our Lord Jesus Christ was exalted, as it is said in the other text (Acts
2:33). So then, let us mark that when our Lord Jesus Christ left the world and was received up into His heavenly glory, it was to the end that we should henceforth enjoy His goods so much the better. That is also the reason why He said to His disciples, "It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I tarried still with you, the Holy Ghost would not come" (John 16:7). It is true that our Lord Jesus Christ could well have given them His Spirit while He was still with them in a visible manner, just as He did when He had gone out of the world.
But we must not dispute this matter according to our own fancy; we must understand that our Lord Jesus was humbled for a time, yes, and utterly emptied, as we shall see more fully hereafter. Yet He was received into His heavenly glory, to the intent that He should have sovereign dominion, and be so exalted that all creatures might bow to Him. Thus, you see how our Lord Jesus Christ's will was to absent
Himself from us in His body, to the intent that we might the better feel His presence through His dwelling in us by His Holy Spirit. That is the matter which Saint Paul is treating of now when he says that for the same reason, it is said that He "went up on high and gave gifts
to men after He had led away His enemies prisoners" (Ephesians 4:8).
Now, this text (which is quoted from the sixty-eighth Psalm) shows that God is truly exalted in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed, in that song, David preaches and sings the praise of God, because, being established as King of Israel and bearing the figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, he had set up God's service in its purity again, redressed the great number of disorders that had been under the reign of Saul, and finally prospered in a great number of victories. In this way, God had poured out such grace upon him that it appeared plainly that his kingdom was not the kingdom of a mortal and transitory man, but rather that God intended to have His glory known there. That is David's proper meaning.
Therefore, whereas he says, first of all, that God is "gone up," he follows the common manner of speaking in the Scripture. For, inasmuch as all things had gone too much to havoc in the time of Saul, God seemed to have been asleep. Again, religion was as good as beaten down, and there was such excessive liberty of doing evil that a man would have said that God governed that people no more. David then shows a wonderful change in that he says, "God is gone up," meaning that He showed by effect that He had a care for His Church, intended to keep it under His protection, and meant to have His majesty known there. That is one point.
Hereunto he adds, "Thou hast led captivity captive," meaning thereby that God had subdued His enemies round about him, of whom there had been a great number, who sought nothing else but the ruin and desolation of the people. Therefore, David means that as soon as God went up, He immediately broke and bruised the heads of His enemies, so they came no more to trouble His people, as if they
had found by experience that all their practices, force, and assaults had availed them nothing at all.
Thereupon, he adds that immediately also He received gifts from men to show that those who had been so overcome had offered tribute to God, as to their sovereign King. True, this was done in David's person. Nevertheless, it was God's mind to have His glory shine forth in that man, whom He had so chosen and singled out, and whom it was His pleasure to have anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel
16:13). To be short, we see what David meant to declare in that verse.
Saint Paul, therefore, applies the same to our Lord Jesus Christ, and not without cause. For whatever was figured in the person of David must be referred to Jesus Christ because He is the truth and substance of all those shadows, and we have in Him a much more royal fulfillment of the things that are mentioned in that Psalm. Saint
Paul, therefore, did not misuse that text when he applied it to the only Son of God, saying that He was exalted on high. For (as he will declare hereafter) Jesus Christ was first abased and afterward exalted. You see, then, that God took as it were a new possession of His sovereignty, not over all the world, but over His own people, to the end that He might govern them with their own good will. And afterward, He took possession of it over His enemies too.
For in the Psalm it is said, not only that He received tribute and gifts, to the end that everyone should do Him homage, but also that He subdued the rebels (Psalm 68:18). For there are neither devils nor reprobates, but they are so beaten down by the mighty hand of God, that we may well perceive that our Lord Jesus Christ is He of whom
David was the figure. So then, Saint Paul tells us here, in effect, that although our Lord Jesus Christ does not dwell among us in the manner of men, nor do we see Him with our bodily eyes, yet we must
not, therefore, be separated from Him in mind. He has gone up to fill all things, not with His body, but with His benefits and gifts. For however great the distance may be between our Lord Jesus Christ and us, as in respect of the places of heaven and earth, yet nonetheless, He ceases not to dwell in us but will have us also to be all one with Him, which He shows to us by the gifts which He bestows upon us so that we ought of duty to be drawn to the union that He has spoken of.
This, then, is the effect of the things which we have to gather upon this point, for now, the matter must be broken off, but it shall be continued again hereafter.
But, however the case stands, let us mark for a conclusion that Jesus Christ is not so far from us nowadays, but that we may perceive by experience that we are knit unto Him, and that He makes us partakers of His riches, and that He fills us with them as much as is needed, at least according to the measure and portion that has been spoken of. Therefore, let us labor to serve our neighbors, let us foresee what may do them good, and let us follow the order that God has set among us, assuring ourselves that although our Lord Jesus has gone up, yet He is not therefore so far off from us that He has forsaken and given over His Church, but that He is exalted to the end that we should honor Him by acknowledging Him for our head. And seeing we are members of His body, we must serve one another and not be so unhappy as to bar ourselves from coming to Him, but rather, let every one of us come to Him and endeavor to draw others with us, so that the stronger sort discourage not the feeble and weak, but rather strengthen them, and the lusty sort bear the fainter, and those that are already in good forwardness lend their hand to those who come lagging after and have much ado to draw their legs after