Part 12
shadow), he dare not speak a word against them and has to remain silent. Now we have seen Paul's intention here.
Finally, he adds, 'And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy and upon the Israel of God.' By speaking of this 'rule', he implies that men may believe what they choose, and yet God will not give way to them, for he is immutable and will not yield to folly or be made to retreat. Paul tells us that such alteration is impossible. Whatever happens, the rule that God has established remains as it is, unchanging. This is something which we all accept on the surface of things. For who would not readily accept the fact that God is superior to us? We even feel that to say the contrary is to blaspheme. Thus we are all quite sure that God ought to reign, and that his law ought to be our rule for living. Yet, at the same time, see how men allow themselves to live without restraint! Each person invents this and that, and soon afterwards expects everyone else to hold to their inventions. Everyone wants to have their own separate rules. Whilst it may be true that not everyone in Popery follows the rule of St Francis, or of St Dominic, yet there is not a single foolish old woman or bigot in Popery who has not got his own rule. Just as there is not a single young calf who has not also his own rule for living. For all will say, 'This is the way I do my devotions.' And when they use the word 'devotion', they virtually push God into the background because they are really saying, 'I must have the liberty to do what I think is good, and God must content himself with that.'
What diabolical audacity men have! They compromise here and there, they talk wildly, they deviate first to one side then to the other. It is as if they make for themselves winding and crooked pathways, hoping that God will twist his rules and be pliable enough to bend to suit their own views. Therefore we have all the more reason to
observe carefully what is said here, which is that men may torment themselves all they like, but God's rule remains and will follow its own course and direction.
What is this rule? It is that we aim for the perfection that our Lord Jesus reveals in the gospel; not that we can attain this during our lifetime, but rather that we are not to step aside one way or another, to the right or to the left, but to aim always for the goal that God has revealed to us. This is how we can be new creatures, by denying ourselves and dedicating ourselves fully to God. Since this is the case, let us make a decision to submit to this rule, and conform our lives to it. For each one of us immediately picks up our feet and legs to run off here or there; but in order not to go astray, we need to learn to hold fast to all that God reveals and teaches us in his Word. Now when Paul asks that peace and mercy be upon such people, it is to declare that, even if all in the world were foolishly to condemn us, we could ignore it and refuse to let it bother us, pursuing our own course. If God is for us, that ought to be sufficient. For if we are shaken by the foolish judgments of the world, and the opinions that they spread about us, we are not rendering to God the honour that is his due. If folk say of us, 'Those people are not living good lives', and we get upset and seek to conform to their tastes, we will surely be moving away from God.
Therefore, let us take good note of what Paul says here, which is that if men condemn us and find things to criticise in that which we do (and it is obvious that the world will never be in harmony with God), it should mean nothing to us. It ought to suffice us that God has blessed us, and offers us complete happiness in this word 'peace', showing that he will have pity on us, however wretched we may be, and however much others may spit in our faces. Although we do not have all the virtues required of us, yet if we aim to follow God, we will
always find him to be merciful. He supports us in our weakness, and aids us in our wretchedness. If we have all this, it ought to be enough. On the other hand, although the Holy Spirit blesses those who submit to God's rule, we also know that he curses and detests and loathes all those who go astray, and who make their own imaginations their law. They seek to have liberty to follow whatever seems right to them, and harden themselves against the Word of God. However valued they are by the world, and however much they are intoxicated with pride and presumption, thinking they are ever so important, we can see that God still regards them as detestable. This is what we need to remember: there is only one rule by which we must live and that is contained in the gospel.
Where does this rule lead us? It will ensure that we do not offer to God that which seems right to us, or that which we have forged in our own heads. Instead, we will submit ourselves fully to him and to his Word. We will recognise that in Jesus Christ we have all perfection. Thus we will be content with him alone, especially since we know he is merciful enough to show us pity, and our lives will be blessed and made happy by him, if we follow him to the place where he calls us. Conversely, we will be cursed unless we follow the rule that Paul speaks of here, no matter what opinion the world has of us, or however much the world may praise us.
Now he adds 'the Israel of God', to prove that those who serve God spiritually, he will always be pleased to acknowledge as his people. For the enemies of Paul, against whom he has a quarrel in this whole epistle, wanted to maintain all the ceremonies, as it seemed to them that these were the marks of the true church, just as the Papists today want to keep the holy oil, and this and that. But the enemies of Paul had much stronger grounds than the Papists, and in comparison their case was stronger. Yet Paul still rejects it all, and
says that God does not concern himself with any of this. Whilst it is true that he had ordained the shadows of the law for a time, and they had their function, which was to lead the people to the Lord Jesus Christ, now that we have the substance and the truth in him, we must forsake it all. We have an even stronger reason, therefore, to say that the Israel of God are not those who appear in great splendour before the eyes of men, but those who bear the true mark of God. For when the Papists speak to us of the church, they must include the Pope with his three crowns, and the bishops, who disguise themselves in order to act out their farce. They are like horned beasts, and everything about them glistens; the priests and the monks are among them and they too dazzle the eyes of the simple. This is what the church of God consists of according to the Papists: in pomp and frivolous, useless nonsense. What of the sacraments? No, they need this or that extra thing — in short, they have their own marks which seem quite acceptable to them.
Yet we must look at the gospel. What do we find there? All simplicity. God does not want those who preach his Word and administer his sacraments to wear costumes or to make so many fanfares. Nor does he want the sacraments to be polluted by human inventions, because all these are worthless to God. Let us, therefore, retain the definition that Paul gives here of the true church, so that we are unmoved when people say to us, 'Look, we have many beautiful things here.' It is true, if we judge according to our natural senses, for we are carnal and earthly and are, therefore, more inclined to follow that which appears beautiful to our senses. But it is not for us to decide how we must serve God; we must hold fast to that which he has proclaimed, because his decree is irrevocable, and it is that we should find all our wisdom in Jesus Christ. This can only happen if we obey him, and not before. Thus, we are to recognise that we must no longer be attached to the external things which he
ordained at the time of the law; but we are to be content with Jesus Christ alone and the perfection that is in him.
Let us be sure to notice something else he says at this point: 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.' He exposes here that the world, due to its ingratitude, gives no thought to the riches which are offered in Jesus Christ. The gospel is preached often enough, and yet we all withdraw from it and turn away, as if we have decided to leave the good path that leads to salvation and throw ourselves headlong into ruin and perdition: What is the reason for this? It is because our spirits are empty, and the devil always gains entry; he entices us, he troubles us and makes us flutter about in the air. Indeed, until the grace of our Lord Jesus is with our spirit, we are like swaying reeds, without stability or foundation. This is what we need to aim for, so that God not only pours out his grace upon us, but that we also receive it into our spirit and heart; our spirit must become its throne and the place where it takes root, so that we might not be tied to this earth, but raise our affections and minds to God.
Now, because there will never be a time when this doctrine escapes contradiction, Paul here challenges those who would rise up against it, and says, 'From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus'. When he speaks of the marks of Jesus Christ, he sets them in contrast to all the armouries of princes, to all their diadems and sceptres, and to all that they possess to give them importance, and to obtain the worship and reverence of all. When a prince wants to be seen to be in control of his estate, he must be dressed in such a way that none dare look at him for fear of being bedazzled. They do this more often than not because there is nothing about them worthy of note, and so they need to rely on these borrowed means; the same is true of worldly people who give themselves to pomp and gallantry, and use this and that to acquire a
good reputation. In short, the worldly will use any means to get themselves noticed, although these things are vanity in and of themselves. But Paul shows that the marks of our Lord Jesus Christ are, as we know, worth so much more, and far more precious, having more beauty in themselves than all that is cherished by the world.
However, we need to consider what is meant by 'marks'. He has explained this to us before, when he said that he was beaten several times. He had been stoned at one place, put in prison in another, and had suffered hunger and thirst (2 Cor 11:23-27). In other words, he had been regarded as loathsome and was therefore rejected. According to the world, we must flee such ignominy. Yet Paul says that these marks are worth more than all the honour and splendour that we could ever enjoy. He says that because he bears these marks, others must not 'trouble him' by preventing him from following his course and fulfilling his duty.
Now Paul's intention in this passage has been, firstly, to show that if we are Christians and part of the true church of God, we must obey the command to be united to one another. How? Not with each person following their own imaginations; for there are indeed many who have a perverse spirit which makes it impossible for them to cooperate with others. Such people seek to keep themselves separate from everyone else, like wild horses, and it is to be hoped that there are monasteries and cloisters for such people who refuse to unite with others according to the command given to the church. Thus, having separated themselves in their pride from the company of believers, they can only really become monks of the devil! Whatever the case, we know why they hide themselves away: it is because the devil has them in his grip and possesses them. He simply seeks to persuade them to live separately from others so that he might eventually turn them away from God altogether.
Secondly, Paul shows us here that we must aim to keep this 'rule'; the Lord Jesus is to be our example, and we are to seek to conform to his image. When he speaks, may we submit to his teaching, so that each of us keeps his commands. Also, let us help one another. For we can boast about persecution, or this or that, all we like, but unless we seek to help others to enable the building of the spiritual temple to progress, it is certain that we are still serving Satan and are like slaves serving under his tyrannical rule. Let us learn to be of the same mind one with another as we submit to our Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, may those who are selfless and faithful in their walk with God despise all these pompous people who want to elevate themselves in their pride, introducing this or that; for Jesus Christ always recognises his marks. In other words, however contemptible we may be in the eyes of the world, we will always be acknowledged by the Son of God. Therefore, let us continue to walk, and let those who seek to hinder us know that God will beat them down, as we have seen previously (Gal. 5:12). It is only right that people should be put to shame and forced to scatter if they disrupt the unity of the church and refuse to serve according to their ability to the advancement of the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. God must send them to their ruin because of their pride and presumption. This is what we need to remember from this passage if we desire to persevere in the enjoyment of the riches that we possess, which were bought for us at so great a cost, through the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and which are offered to us daily through the gospel.
Now let us fall down before the majesty of our great God, acknowledging our sins, and praying that they would so grieve us that we would be made to tremble and seek his pardon. Then we will be transformed through true repentance and enabled to battle against all our vices and all the corruptions of our flesh, until he has
freed us from them altogether; then he will clothe us in his righteousness. Thus, we all say, Almighty God and our heavenly Father, etc.
The First Sermon on the First
Chapter
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. 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 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 a variety of places, we must always consider that God meant they should serve not only for one time alone, or for certain people only, but for ever, and in general for the whole church. And truly if a man considers well the doctrine that is contained in them, it will be easy to discern that God's intention was to be heard in the things that are spoken there, even to the world's end; and also that he has such a care for us that he has not passed over or forgotten anything that might further our salvation. The sum of this Epistle which I have now taken in hand to expound is that St. Paul confirms such as had been already instructed in the gospel, in order that they might know that that is what they must rest upon, as upon the true and perfect wisdom, and that it is not lawful to add anything to it.
Paul tells us that the benefits which are brought us by our Lord Jesus Christ and of which we are made partakers by means of his gospel are so excellent that we must surely be extremely unthankful if we scurry to and fro like people who are never at rest or contented. And then he shows us also what we have in Christ in order that we
should so cleave to him as not to presume to seek help anywhere else, but assure ourselves that he has procured everything for us.
Again, on the other side, he shows us that Christ has so well provided for his church that if we know how to use the gifts of grace he offers us, we shall have full and perfect happiness. Along with this, he warns such as have been instructed in the truth of the gospel to lead a holy life, and to show that they have profited as they ought to do 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 have need to be urged on more and more, seeing that the devil strives ceaselessly to turn us to evil. And when he cannot lead us completely away from the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he labours to make it distasteful to us some way or another, and to entangle us in new curiosities, only to bring to pass that we may not be constant in the faith that we have received, but give way to vacillation. Now whenever our fancies are so fidgety, it is certain that an opening is made to blot out the remembrance of all that we had learned before and to take in many follies, yes, and erroneous doctrines, which serve to corrupt and pervert the purity of our faith.
We see then that the doctrine which is contained in this epistle is directed and dedicated to us at this present 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 the means by which our faith may from day to day grow and increase, so that we may still go forward until we reach perfection.
First and foremost, St. Paul claims the authority belonging to him, which had been given him by God, in order that men should not
waste their time over his person, as though his word had been but the saying of a mortal man. For in very deed our Lord Jesus Christ is the only master from whom we must learn, for it is witnessed of him from heaven that it is only he and no other to whom we must listen [Matt. 17:5]. It has always been God's will to keep the guiding of his own church to himself, and that his Word should be received without contradiction. He has not given that privilege to any creature. And when 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 [I Tim. 3:16].
Furthermore, when men speak they must not do it in their own name, nor put forward anything of their own fancy and brain, but they must faithfully set forth the thing that God has enjoined upon them and given them in charge. Thus you see why St. Paul uses this preface, as it were everywhere, that he is an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence he holds it as a settled principle that if any man introduces himself to speak in his own name, there is nothing but rashness in him, for he takes upon himself what belongs to God only.
Again, since our Lord Jesus Christ was purposely sent to be our last teacher that we might have such wisdom as is perfect and utterly without fault, therefore St. Paul calls himself an apostle sent by him. This presupposes two things; first, that St. Paul had that charge committed to him; secondly, that he duly acquitted himself of it by rendering faithful service in the office that he was called to. For if a man were the most gifted and most excellent in the world, yet if he thrusts himself forward under his own impulse, he disturbs all order. And we know that God will have order and not disorder amongst us, as St. Paul says in the fourteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians.
He then that speaks, at least to teach, must have a calling, that is to say, he must be admitted and have his charge given him, so that every man may not put himself forward by reason of an unadvised zeal, as I said before. But to speak further of St. Paul's calling is not needful at this time, for we know how God gave testimony that he anointed him as his apostle [Acts 9:15]. And indeed he does not dispute much about it here, because it was known well enough in the church of Ephesus. But since the Galatians had been troubled by deceivers, so that St. Paul's authority, yes, and the name of God himself had been disgraced there, we see 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 divine order [Gal. I:13—16]. 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 upon which I touched, namely, that it is not enough for a man to be called, except he discharge his duty with a pure conscience and with integrity in his office, which thing St. Paul took upon him as a thing beyond all question, and he had given sufficient proof of it. The deceivers may well boast with full mouth that they are called, as we see they do. For all they who fight against God and his Word, and sow trouble and tares in his church, would fain make a shield of their calling, and also of their zeal, for they will insist on being called Christians over and over again. But St. Paul had sufficiently proved that he did not come of himself, nor sought anything else than to spend himself in the building up of the church. And since the same was well known in Ephesus (as we may gather from the history of St. Luke: Acts 19), and he had fought many a hard battle, therefore he thinks it enough to say in one word that he is an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we must take warning, first to keep to the pure doctrine which we know has proceeded from God, for we cannot go wrong if we follow that rule. And seeing that in our Lord Jesus Christ we have the performance of all that is requisite and needful for our instruction, so that we have no need to doubt whether we must keep to the gospel or add something to it, let us be content to take the Son of God as our Master, especially as he vouchsafes to stoop so low as to take that charge upon him, and also testifies that if we have profited well in his doctrine, we shall come to the true goal to which we should make our way.
You see then that the first lesson which we have to gather from this passage is that our faith must not waver one way or another, but have a sure and immoveable foundation to rest on, namely, God's truth, even as it is contained in the gospel. And seeing that St. Paul is sufficiently acknowledged by 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 if it were subject to our judgment. But let us subject our own understanding and minds and receive it without calling it in question, unless we will wilfully make war against God and lift up ourselves above him. This, then, is one of the things which we have to notice from this passage.
Furthermore, in order that this doctrine may not only be reverenced among us, but that it may also be pleasant to us, let us take note that St. Paul speaks in the name of Christ, who was sent to us by God his Father to bring us glad tidings of peace. Also let us bear in mind how he says in another passage that he was ordained to bring the message of reconciliation, and that he beseeches men in God's name to be reconciled to God [2 Cor. 5:20]. Now I told you that this was done to make the doctrine of the gospel sweet, that we might be desirous of it and give ourselves wholly to it. For whenever
it is told us that God speaks to us, truly it is enough to give authority to all that he shall speak. But yet we may tremble at his voice and at the same time be troubled by it, according as we see a great number confess well enough that God deserves to be obeyed and to have all men subject to him, but in the meanwhile they turn away and shun 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, for (as it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews) we are no more, as it were, at Mt. Sinai, where the lightnings flashed in the air when the law was published, insomuch that if a beast had come near to it, it must have died. The voice which God uttered at that time was terrible [Heb. 12:18—20; Exod. 19:12]. But nowadays, seeing that he encourages us by his gospel to receive the grace he offers us, and intends to wipe away the remembrance of our sins, let us allow ourselves to be justified by his free grace, and let us be peaceable and obedient to him. For indeed this ought to move us to come to him like poor hungry souls to be fed with the heavenly food that he will give us. Thus we see in effect what we have to remember when St. Paul calls himself the apostle of Jesus Christ.
Paul adds that he is an apostle by the will of God. This serves to place it beyond all doubt, in order that men should not blame him for presumption, as though he thought himself of better reputation than other men. He protests that it was not because of any worthiness of his own, but because it had pleased God to choose him for that office. And certainly it is no feigned humility when he says he was set in that position by God's mere grace and choosing [I Cor. 15:9; I Tim. 1:13—16]. For we see how in other passages he confesses that he is not worthy of such honour, but rather had deserved utter damnation, and therefore was to be taken as a mirror of God's infinite goodness, in that he had exalted him so high, even him who had been a
murderer of Christians, who had shed the blood of the martyrs, and who had blasphemed against God and his Word, as he himself reports it.
We see then that there was no pretence in this confession of his, where he says that he was set in that state and rank by the will of God alone. And this serves a great purpose still, in order that we may not esteem God's Word according to the worth of those who bring it to us. For one of the common artifices which the devil uses to diminish reverence for God's Word is to place before our eyes the persons who bring it. Now it is certain that we are frail vessels and of no value, yes, of no more worth than broken pots. What is there in those whom God has ordained to be the ministers of his Word But the treasure is inestimably great at all times, despite the contemptibleness of the vessels [2 Cor. 4:7].
Let us take note then that when men come to bear testimony to the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation we ought to hope for, our faith must rise up higher and not stand questioning whether such a man is worthy to be heard or not, or enquiring what manner of person he is. Let us content ourselves with the thought that God by that means intends to draw us to himself. This is the way we must walk, and if we step aside from it, we soon go astray and are on the way to perdition.
Let us note this well, then, that we must submit ourselves to God's will and ordinance and receive without hindrance the doctrine that is preached to us by the mouths of mortal men. For we must not be wise in the way that many people are, who demand whether God could not send his angels from heaven and teach us by revelations, nor in the way of some busybodies who make pretence that they have the Holy Ghost at their beck and call, [en leur manche (Fr.) (In their
sleeve)], for which reason they disdain to receive the gifts as they are dealt out by God. So that we may not be bewitched by Satan after this manner, let us take note how it is said here that it is God's will that the gospel should be preached by the mouths of men, and that they are, as it were, witnesses to us. Whoever exempts himself from this ordinance is acting as if he thrusts back God's hand when he offers him sure and infallible testimony of his salvation. Thus you see what we still have to take note of from this passage.
Again, they that are called to proclaim God's Word ought to take warning from 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 native sufficiency or ability, but because it was God's will to have it so. Therefore let us assure ourselves that we hold all things of God and his pure grace, and that we cannot attribute anything to ourselves, unless we intend to rob him of his right. And we know that such ingratitude is not to be tolerated.
Next the apostle says, 'To all the holy ones that are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Jesus Christ'. It is true that the name of the city is expressed here, but yet (as I have touched on already) the doctrine is common to us all, and God has granted it for our use at this day, and we must receive it as if St. Paul were still alive and among us. Yes, and we must not only have an eye to him, but to the Person by whom he is sent. For although he died when he had finished his race, yet God's Spirit is immortal. Whatever happens, we must, for our learning, bear in mind what St. Paul says here when he speaks to the saints and faithful ones in Jesus Christ.
Although, then, we are not of that time, nor of the country and people of Asia, nevertheless seeing it has pleased God to join us with those to whom St. Paul wrote in his time, let us assure ourselves that
it behoves us to be strengthened in the faith which we have received by the gospel, because it was the intention and purpose of the Holy Spirit to exhort to perseverance all those who have the rudiments of the gospel, and are still weak and in need of stronger confirmation.
But let us bear well in mind these words where it is said, 'the saints and faithful ones in Jesus Christ'. For St. Paul shows that all the holiness of men is nothing else but pretence until God has brought them to his own service and dedicated and consecrated them to it by faith. For we are all unclean by nature, and nothing but infection can come from us. It is true that, if men put on some fine outward show and appearance, they will be accounted as righteous as can be, and their virtues will be commended everywhere, just as we see that a man can acquire the reputation of great perfection if he but possesses some fair qualities. But we must remember that it is said in the fifteenth chapter of Acts that God cleanses men's hearts by faith [15:9]. And he had great reason to do so, for (as the prophet Jeremiah says) man's heart is a pit of horrible confusion [17:9]. We ourselves do not perceive it, but God has clearer eyes than me. Be that as it may, let us assure ourselves of this, that all the holiness which men imagine they have is but corruption and abominable before God, until such time as they are made one by the faith of the gospel. Therefore note it for a settled point that no other holiness is accepted and acknowledged at God's hand than the holiness of believers. For except we first become Christians we are blind and can never render to God his due.
Although there were no other sacrilege than this, would it not be enough to mar all the virtues that 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 abide and rest in Jesus Christ, it is certain that all such as are separated from him have
nothing else in them but vice and all manner of uncleanness, however much the world may applaud them.
On the other hand, let us note also that all such as boast of having faith in the gospel, and are not sanctified by God, betray their own hypocrisy and lying, and belie themselves by their own life, no matter what they may sing or say, just as we see many nowadays who defile and profane this name of the faith which ought to be holy. For every man will say that he is faithful, and they who have least faith are boldest to say that there is no faith but in themselves. And would God that it were so only by half! But we see even among all that bear the name of Christians that their whole life is disordered and loose, insomuch that they mock God to the full and despise all religion, and yet nevertheless in the meanwhile think (as I have said already) that they are greatly wronged if they are not taken as good and catholic Christians.
Yet for all this we see how St. Paul links these two things together in an inseparable bond, namely, that if we have the faith of the gospel, we must consequently give ourselves over entirely to our God and separate ourselves from the corruptions of the world, just as we have seen that in the Epistle to the Galatians [I:4; 4:5—7] he says that the coming into the world of our Lord Jesus Christ is in order that we should be sanctified by his blood, to yield obedience henceforth in all pureness to God his Father. And as he says in another place [IThess. 4:7] we are not called to uncleanness but to righteousness, in order that God's name should be honoured and glorified by us.
Thus you see what we have to remember from this preface, in order that we may be the better prepared to receive the doctrine contained in this Epistle, and that it may have such authority among
us as it deserves, and moreover be made pleasant to us, so that we may understand how it is for our special benefit to learn at Paul's hand. For the apostle testifies the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to us and leads us to God to be reconciled to him, whereas we are naturally the children of wrath. And furthermore he shows how we may stand in God's favour, so that we may be bold to call upon him as our Father and be sure that he also accounts us his children.
Next Paul uses a thanksgiving to lift up all men's hearts to acknowledge how much they are bound and indebted to God, especially considering that he has shown himself so bountiful towards them in giving forth himself in all kinds of ways. 'Blessed (he says) 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.' Since the chief sacrifice which God requires at men's hands is that they should acknowledge his benefits and be thankful to him for them, St. Paul considers first of all how the same may provoke them to do their duty, for we are so slack that it is frightful to see it. We can well enough confess that our chief study and endeavour ought to be to have a well-ordered life, namely, to praise God. For if a man asks us why we are found in this world, why God has such a care for us, why his goodness feeds and cherishes us, and finally why he, as it were, dazzles us with the great number of benefits he bestows upon us, it is in order that we should yield some acknowledgement of them to him. For (as it is said in the psalm) we for our part cannot profit him at all, neither does he require anything else of us in exchange, but thanksgiving, according as it is said in Psalm 116, 'What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits which I have received from him, except to take the cup of salvation at his hand and to call upon his name
You see then that all that we can ever bring to God is but to acknowledge ourselves bound to him for all things. And yet, for all that, no man discharges his duty, no, nor a hundredth part of it, in that respect, but rather, all of us from the greatest to the least defraud him of it, inasmuch as we do not cease through our baseness to bury his praise which ought to resound in our mouths. For this reason our Lord rebukes us for our negligence, for when the holy Scripture exhorts us to praise God and uses many words for that purpose, let us not think that they are superfluous, but let us acknowledge them to be so many upbraidings of our malice and wickedness for failing in the thing that is so requisite and (as you would say) the principal thing in life.
It is true that the Holy Spirit often sets forth other reasons why we should magnify God's name, as (for example) the order of nature, the fruits which the earth yields, the aid and help which God gives us, and other such things. And these are sufficient matter for which to praise God. But St. Paul leads us higher here, and will have us to glorify God above all things. He thinks it not enough to own that God has placed us in the world and that he nourishes us here, and that he provides all things needful during the passing of this transitory life, but he also says that God has chosen us to be heirs of his kingdom and of the heavenly life.
We are then doubly bound to God, and that, much more closely than ignorant and unbelieving wretches are. For although they are sufficiently indebted already, yet the good he has done us in Jesus Christ is beyond all comparison more excellent and noble, because he has adopted us to be his children. It is true, since we are men, that we are of the number of his creatures which he has fashioned after his own image. But what of that? This image is defaced in us by sin and by the corruption with which we are tainted by Adam's
disobedience. And now what other heritage have we than his wrath and eternal death?
In brief, we are not worthy to be reckoned among the number of brute beasts, if we remain in the state which is ours by nature. Now then, seeing that God makes us members of his only Son, and ranks us with the angels and prepares us to become partakers of his own nature and glory (as St. Peter says in his first Epistle, I:12) ought we not to perceive there so high and noble a grace as should ravish us completely.
Thus you see that of the things which St. Paul meant to say in this text, the first is that we are here exhorted to apply ourselves wholeheartedly to the work of praising God, just because we are too cold and indifferent in that respect, if we are not pushed and constrained to it. Besides this, St. Paul had one other intention more, namely, to feed us in such a way with the grace that we have by the gospel that we may no more covet this thing and that thing after our customary manner. We see how fickle we are by nature, and when God is so good to us as to set his Word before us, we insist on having some other things beside, and nothing can content us. And why not Because we are dull and have never conceived or understood what God shows us by his Word [Eph. 3:18]. For we shall see hereafter that such as know the love that God shows us in our Lord Jesus Christ have all that they can wish, high and low, far and wide. Also St. Paul now calls upon us to bless God with the purpose of keeping us to the doctrine in which consists the fulness of all happiness, at least if we know how to use it to our profit.
Furthermore, let us also note that it is not without reason that he speaks of 'spiritual blessings'. For although we cannot eat a scrap of bread or drink a drop of water without being robbers of God,
unless we acknowledge and confess that he therein shows himself a true Father to us, nevertheless the things that concern this body and this our transitory life are nothing compared with the things that serve for the eternal welfare of our souls. And in very deed, St. Paul's exhorting us here to praise God for his heavenly blessings is done in such a way that at the same time he gives us to understand that we must be patient if we are afflicted in respect of the flesh, and do not have all things according to our desires, and if God curtails our food and handles us not so tenderly as we could wish.
Two things therefore are contained here. The one is that we should learn to know wherein our true and perfect happiness consists, namely, in the life which we hope for and which is hid from us as yet, in order that we should not be tied to the world. Note that for one point. Secondly, that if this world rejects us and despises us, and makes a laughing-stock out of us, we must settle ourselves in patience; and while the despisers of God vaunt themselves with pomp and show and it seems that we are unhappy compared with them, insomuch that some of us suffer hunger and thirst, and others are troubled and unjustly molested, we must look further. And why Even because we ought to content ourselves with the heavenly blessings which God has bestowed upon us. This blessedness so great, so high, and so inestimable, then, must make us overlook all the encumbrances we can conceive, whenever God exercises and tries us in this world by many afflictions, and wills that we should know scarcity and the lack of many things. This is the effect of the things we have to note from this passage.
Now before we come to the rest, let us note that this word 'blessing' is taken in different senses when St. Paul applies it either to God or to ourselves. It is said that we bless God. And how As he blesses us. After what manner does he bless us We do not bless him
as he blesses us. We come far short of that. For (as I have shown already from the sixteenth psalm) all our services can do him no good. Again, we have to conclude that (as I have also shown from the one hundredth and sixteenth psalm) all that we can bring to God is no more than this acknowledgement that we are bound to him for all the good things we have. You see then that all our blessing is but to yield the sacrifice of praise to God. Let that serve for one point.
But now, when God blesses us, is it simply in words No! No! But it is a filling of us and a bestowing of all things upon us that we want, as far as is needful. And why is this word 'blessing' attributed to him? Because he does not need to labour and take great pains to help his servants and to give them what he knows is expedient for them. If he simply says the word, that is to say, if he only declares his will, the thing is done.
Since then God, having created the world by his word alone, has power also to do us good simply by commanding it, therefore it is said that we become rich by his blessing alone, that is to say, by his showing himself loving and favourable 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 indebted to him after we have received so many benefits at his hand. Let all the blessings that all the men in the world can give to God be laid in the balance against the blessing with which he enriches them; and which has the greater worth All that they can put forward is that it is needful for them to confess that they can neither say nor do anything that is worth while, whereas at the same time God shows us that he has all that is requisite for our happiness. Therefore it is not without reason that St. Paul says here that the faithful must fully devote and apply their minds and endeavours to bless the name of God, seeing that he gives them so great cause, for otherwise they would be unthankful
and churlish. Therefore he says 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 explained in this way, that the God whom we feel so favourable to us is the Father of our Lord Christ. This circumstance deserves to be noted well. For by it St. Paul makes us understand that God's benefits, especially those that belong to the heavenly life and to the everlasting salvation of our souls, cannot come to us, except Jesus Christ is, as it were, the channel of them, so that we may be made partakers of them for his name's sake. Therefore let us note 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 way.
It is true that unbelievers eat and drink and glut themselves to the utmost, and the sun shines on them. But be that as it may, to speak properly, they do not enjoy all the things God gives them, because they usurp them without any lawful title to them. For the world was created for God's children, even with respect to their Head, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, In brief, it is not without cause that St. Paul, showing how God has given himself to us, says that it is because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But (as I have already told you) it is not a question of eating and drinking, but of far greater and more precious things, namely, that God has adopted us as his children. And so you see in effect what we have to bear in mind.
Yet, that we may the better profit from this passage, let us take note that we must check ourselves lest we wander into many speculations when we know God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And why? The papists have this word 'God' often enough in
their mouths, and likewise the word 'Jesus Christ', but at the same time they have disfigured Jesus Christ and utterly falsified the doctrine of his gospel in which he should be seen. So they have a God, though but by confused fancies, and yet they do not know him. And truly, they can no more explain what God they serve and adore than the Turks do. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ (in the fourth chapter of St. John) says that they who do not have the doctrine by which to rule themselves well do not know what they worship, but continually invent idols for themselves. Therefore there is but one way by which to have good and infallible access to God, and that is by beholding him in his living image, for his majesty is too high, too much hidden, and too deep for us. But Jesus Christ has communicated himself to us, and applied himself to our weakness, and taught us whatever it was requisite to know, that we might come to God his Father.
You see then that we must have our Lord Jesus Christ for our way, in order that we might not stray. 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 freely to him. And surely without that mediator we are entirely shut out from him, and the majesty of God is bound to make the hairs of our head stand on end. But when we consider that he is entitled the Father of him who is our Head, let us know that he also is bound to own us as his children, because he has redeemed us.
Furthermore, although St. Paul here sets down in one word what our spiritual blessings are, nevertheless he shows that God has shown himself bountiful towards us in more ways than one. And of this he will make a larger exposition later by setting forth in particular the benefits which we obtain by the gospel, for the whole of this chapter is full of them. But be that as it may, here he gives us
to understand that God's giving of his gracious gifts to us is not sparingly, and that his causing us to taste them is not done with a finger-lick, [faire go tee leche doigt (Fr.)]. as they say. But he shows that God has given them to us so diversely and fully that we have reason to magnify him in every respect. Therefore let us understand that, seeing that Jesus Christ is so given to us, in him we obtain all that is necessary for our salvation and for our happiness, just as St. Paul speaks of it in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. For if the only begotten Son is given to us, how should not all the benefits which he has in himself be communicated to us with him and through him.
But be that as it may, let us learn to taste God's spiritual gifts in such a way that all our mental faculties may be concentrated to make much of them. And that this may come to pass, let us beware of having our minds too much wedded to the world. For the very cause that draws us away, preventing us from perceiving the hundredth part of the good that God has done us and from applying his benefits to our profit, is our own vanity, because everyone of us beguiles himself with his own foolish and extravagant lusts. Therefore let us learn to shake off the things that stop us from coming to our Lord Jesus Christ. And although our evil nature provokes us to seek the transitory things of this world, yet let us endeavour to withdraw from them, so that we may yield ourselves with a free heart to God and be earnestly minded to obey him and to give ourselves wholly to him, for so it is his will to have us joined to him.
This is the thing which we have to notice in St. Paul when, having spoken of the spiritual blessings, he immediately adds, 'in heavenly places (or things)', by which he meant 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, till
we know that there is not anything in this world that ought to hold us back. Therefore when once we know that we are not created to dwell for ever in this world, but that we must only be pilgrims in it, and that our permanent heritage and rest is above in heaven, let us thereupon make our way there, and press towards it more and more. And although we are feeble, yet let us not faint, but pluck up good courage and pray God to give it to us. Moreover you see that the reason why St. Paul sets down the word 'blessings' is to cause us to know that whereas the devil lays many traps to debauch us and to turn us out of the way, God has made provision for all that, for he has such a store of blessings that he can overthrow and destroy all that may ever be against our salvation.
But now let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgement of our faults, praying him to acquaint us more and more with them, that we may be brought to true repentance. And let us condemn ourselves and seek to find in our Lord Jesus Christ all that we need, and that not for one day, or for a mere brief moment, but continually and steadfastly to our life's end. And whatever happens to us, let us always assure ourselves that we have good cause to praise our God, and that even if we are poor and miserable in this world, the happiness of heaven is enough to appease us, to sweeten all our afflictions and sorrows, and to give us such content that we may nevertheless have our mouths open to bless God for showing himself so kindhearted and liberal towards us as even to adopt us as his children, and to show us that the heritage which has been purchased for us by the blood of his only Son is ready for us, and that we cannot miss it, seeing that we go to it with true and invincible constancy of faith. May it please him to grant this grace not only to us but also to all peoples.
The Second Sermon
on the First Chapter
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ: According to his choosing of us in him before the foundation of the world, in order that we should be holy and unblameable before him in love. - Ephesians 1:3-4
We have already seen how St. Paul exhorts us to praise and bless God because he has blessed us, and that not after an earthly manner but after a spiritual manner, so that we should content ourselves with God's showing of his fatherly goodness and love towards us in opening the gate of the kingdom of heaven to us by hope. Although we are subject to much misery in this world, yet there is good reason for us to content ourselves with God's choosing of us after that fashion and with his calling of us to himself, for it is witnessed to us by the gospel that he is our Father [Matt. 6:9; Lk. 11:2] inasmuch as he has joined us to our Lord Jesus Christ as members to their Head.
And now St. Paul brings us to the origin and source, or rather to the principal cause that moved God to take us into his favour. For it is not enough that God has revealed the treasures of his goodness and mercy to us to draw us to the hope of the heavenly life by the gospel—and yet that is very much. For had not St. Paul added that which we see now, it might have been surmised that God's grace is common to all men and that he offers it and presents it to all without exception, and, consequently, that it is in every man s power to
receive it according to his own free will, by which means there would be some merit in us. For if there were no distinction between men except that some receive God's grace and others refuse it, what could be said but that God has shown himself liberal to all mankind But they that are partakers of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ attain to it by faith. And so you see what might be judged of it. But St. Paul, to exclude all merit on man's part and to show that all comes from God's pure goodness and grace, says that he has blessed us according to his election of us beforehand. As if he should say that to exalt God's grace as becomes us, we must look upon the diversity that is found among men. For the gospel is preached to some, and others do not know what it is but are utterly shut out from it, as if God should make it rain in one quarter and allow another quarter to remain very dry.
Now if it is demanded why God pities the one part and forsakes and leaves and abandons the other, there is no other answer but that it so pleases him. Upon the preaching of the gospel in a place, some will be affected with lively faith in their hearts and others will go away as they came without benefiting at all, or else they harden themselves against God and betray the stubbornness that was hidden in them before. What is the reason for this difference Even this, that God directs the one sort by his Holy Spirit and leaves the other sort in their natural corruption.
You see then that the thing in which God's goodness shines forth most to us, is that by the preaching of the gospel to us we have, as it were, a token that he has pitied us, loves us, calls us and allures us to him. But when the doctrine preached to us is received by us with heart and affection, that is yet a further and more special token by which we perceive that God intends to be our Father and has adopted us to be his children. Not without reason, then, St. Paul says in this
passage that we are blessed by God even according to his election of us beforehand. For it is not that we have come to him; it is not that we have sought him. But the saying of the prophet Isaiah [65:i] must be fulfilled in every respect, namely, that God shows himself to such as did not seek him, and that such as were far off see him near at hand, and he says to them, 'Here I am, here I am. Although you have despised me, yet I vouchsafe to come to you because I have a care of your salvation'. Thus we see what St. Paul was aiming at in this passage.
In short, we have to note here that we shall never know where our salvation comes from till we have lifted up our minds to God's eternal counsel by which he has chosen whom he pleased and left the remainder in their confusion and ruin. Now then it is no marvel that some men think this doctrine to be strange and hard, for it does not fit in at all with man's natural understanding. If a man asks of the philosophers, they will always tell him that God loves such as are worthy of it, and that, since virtue pleases him, he also marks out such as are given that way to claim them for his people. You see then that, after our own imagination, we shall judge that God puts no other difference between men, in loving some and in hating others, than each man's own worthiness and deserving. But, at the same time, let us also remember that in our own understanding there is nothing but vanity and that we must not measure God by our own yardstick, and that it is too excessive a presumption to impose law upon God so that it would not be lawful for him to do anything but that which we could conceive and which might seem just in our eyes. The matter here, therefore, concerns the reverencing of God's secrets which are incomprehensible to us, and unless we do so, we shall never taste the principles of faith. For we know that our wisdom ought always to begin with humility, and this humility imports that we must not come weighing God's judgments in our own balances or
take it upon ourselves to be judges and arbiters of them. We must be sober because of the smallness of our minds, and since we are gross and dull, we must magnify God and say, as we are taught by the holy Scripture [Ps. 36:6], Lord, thy counsels are as a great deep, and no man is able to give an account of them.
You see then that the reason why some men find this doctrine hard and irksome is because they are too much wedded to their own opinion and cannot submit themselves to God's wisdom, to receive his sayings soberly and modestly. And truly we ought to take warning from what St. Paul says, namely, that the natural man does not understand God's secrets but regards them as stark foolishness [I Cor. 2:14]. And why Because we are not his counsellors but must have things revealed to us by his Holy Spirit, or else we shall never know them, and we must have them in such measure as he gives them to us.
St. Paul speaks here of the things we know by experience, namely, that we are God's children, that he governs us by his Holy Spirit, that he comforts us in our miseries and that he strengthens us through patience. We should not conceive any of all these things unless we were enlightened by his Holy Spirit. How then shall we understand that which is much higher, namely, that God elected us before the creation of the world? Since the matter stands thus, let us learn to put away all that we conceive in our own brain and put it under foot, and let us be ready to receive whatever God says to us, casting away our own judgment and assuring ourselves that we cannot bring anything from our side but utter stupidity. Thus you see what we have to bear in mind.
And, in fact, we see how St. Paul exhorts us to come to the same point. 'Who art thou, O man (he says) who contends against thy
God?' [Rom. 9:20]. After he had set down many replies we are accustomed to make, he says, 'O man'. By the word 'man' he meant to make us perceive our own frailty, for we are but worms of earth and rottenness [Ps. 103:14]. Now then, what audacity it is to open our mouths to reply against God. Is it not a perverting of the whole order of nature? Is it in our power to pluck the sun out of the sky, or to take the moon between our teeth, as they say? Much less is it lawful for us to contend with God and to advance reasons for controlling his judgments which we cannot comprehend.
There are those who will grant this doctrine of predestination, which St. Paul treats here, to be true, for they dare not contradict the Holy Spirit, yet they would it were buried so that it might never be spoken of. But they merely show themselves to be nothing but fools in controlling the Holy Spirit who spoke it by the prophets and apostles, and even by the mouth of God's only Son. For when our Lord intends to assure us of our salvation, he brings us back to this eternal election; and similarly when he intends to magnify the gift of faith, the one in the tenth chapter of John and the other in the sixth. And therefore that kind of people come too late to put God to silence and to efface from the holy Scripture the things which are shown there. For the whole Scripture is profitable [2 Tim. 3:16]. St Paul said that of the Law and the Prophets. Therefore we may also conclude that there is nothing superfluous in the gospel, nor anything which serves no good purpose and by which we may not be edified both in faith and in the fear of God.
But this doctrine is thus contained there, and the Holy Ghost speaks it loud and clear. They must be Manichees who intend to mutilate and take away from the gospel. For what they did not like they set aside and have forged a gospel of various pieces, allowing nothing but what they themselves thought good. Now if such heretics
have shown a devilish stubbornness against God in separating things which ought to be kept together in an inseparable bond, then they are also malicious and perverse who would nowadays have the doctrine of election kept silent. For they would stop the mouth of God, if it were possible, and seal his mouth whenever he utters anything they do not like.
Again, a man may clearly see their stupidity in that St. Paul did not have a better proof than this by which to magnify God's goodness. So then, if there were no other reason, it were better that the whole world should go to confusion than that this doctrine should be reduced to silence. For is it reason that God should set the infinite treasure of his mercies before our eyes and yet that they should not be spoken of, but be thrust under foot?
But there are yet two more reasons which show that this doctrine must of necessity be preached, and that we reap such great profit from it that it had been much better if we had never been born than be ignorant of what St. Paul shows here. For there are two things at which we must chiefly aim and to which it is fitting for us to apply all our studies and endeavours, and they are the very sum of all the things God teaches us by the holy Scripture. The one is the magnifying of God as he deserves, and the other is the assurance of our salvation, so that we may call on him as our Father with full liberty [Rom. 8:15]. If we do not have these two things, woe to us, for there is neither faith nor religion in us. We may talk well of God, but it will be but falsehood.
With regard to the first point, I have told you already that God's grace is not sufficiently known but by setting God's election, as it were, before our eyes. For suppose God draws all men alike, and that such as wish to obtain salvation must come of their own free will and
self-moving. If it be so, then it is certain that we deserve to be received at God's hand, and that he should handle every man according to his deserts. But how shall God's goodness be magnified Simply in this way, that he goes before us by his pure bounty and loves us despite all, without finding either in our persons or in our works any reason why he should love us. If this is true, then there must needs be election: God takes the one sort because he thinks it good to do so, and leaves the other. Thus you see it is a most certain point that God's glory does not appear and shine forth as is fitting, unless it be known that he sheds forth his goodness and love where it pleases him.
I said just now that the preaching of his Word is a singular benefit to us. And that is the reason why it is said so often in the Law and the Prophets that God has not dealt with any other nation as he dealt with the line of Abraham, in that he vouchsafed to choose and adopt them, to which the law gave sure testimony. So then the children of Israel were exhorted to praise God because he had vouchsafed to give them his law [Deut. 4:7], and, in the meanwhile, had let the poor Gentiles alone as people that did not belong to him after the same fashion. But it is yet a far greater and more special privilege when he makes us profit by that Word. For it is certain that our ears might be assailed daily with the things that should be told us and that we would never be the better for it, until God speaks to us by his Holy Spirit within us.