Spurgeon's notes on EPHESIANS
"Accepted in the Beloved."
The Epistle to the Ephesians is a complete body of
divinity, treating of doctrinal, experimental, and practical godliness, in
the most full and instructive manner. Its peculiar quality is sublimity. To
be truly understood it must be spiritually discerned. O Lord, enlighten us.
Ephesians 1:1, 2
Grace first, and peace as its consequence. That peace which does not come to us as the result of grace is false and dangerous. Note how he links the Father and the Lord Jesus together; for neither grace nor peace can come to us, except through God in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3, 4
All spiritual blessings come to us by the way of election, and have their fountain in eternal love; but we are not chosen that we may live in sin, God has chosen us to holiness.
Ephesians 1:5, 6
Adoption and acceptance in Christ follow upon the divine choice. Do we possess these priceless blessings?
Ephesians 1:7-10
Jesus is the center as well as the channel of all blessedness; all the chosen in Heaven and earth are to be gathered together in one in him.
Ephesians 1:11
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, we have it even now in its price, in its first principle, and in the divine pledge and earnest of the Spirit
Ephesians 1:13, 14
Have we the Holy Spirit? Then we have already a part of Heaven; yes, the very soul, mainspring, and glory of its infinite delights.
Ephesians 1:15-17
Where there was much good, the apostle prayed for more. We all need still further to advance in divine things. To stand still is impossible.
Ephesians 1:18-23
How enraptured the apostle is when he speaks of the glories of Jesus; and well he may be, for it is a theme far excelling every other. Let us muse upon it until our hearts burn with love and our souls bow in adoration at his feet.
Ephesians 2
We have already seen how Paul describes what God's grace has done for us; we shall now hear him recite what it has wrought in us if we are indeed saved.
Ephesians 2:1
we were without spiritual life, but now we are made alive unto God; regeneration is as great a wonder as if the corpses in the churchyard should burst their graves and begin life again. Grace is life, sin is death, conversion is a resurrection.
Ephesians 2:2, 3
What a humbling passage! The best of men were by nature no better than the worst. Satan found a willing servant in each one of us, and such we should still have been had not grace interposed.
Ephesians 2:4, 5
That little sentence, "By grace you are saved," is the key of true divinity. Study it well, and believe it thoroughly, and you will escape a thousand doctrinal errors. Carry this text in your heart, and you will be sound in the faith.
Ephesians 2:6
We grovel in the dust by nature, but grace sets us up above all earthly things. What manner of persons ought we to be who sit with Jesus in Heaven!
Ephesians 2:7
In saved men the love of God is more clearly seen than in all the universe besides. The new creation is the crown of all the works of God.
Ephesians 2:13
The distance was infinite, and the nearness is intimate. The blood of Jesus works marvels, it annihilates distance, breaks down partition walls, and transforms aliens into sons.
Ephesians 2:18
Here we have the Trinity in one verse all uniting to help us to pray. All the three divine persons must aid us before we can offer a single acceptable petition.
Ephesians 2:19-22
The saints of God are not so many loose stones, but they are parts of a building, and it is for each one of us to fill his place in the church for the good of others and the glory of the Lord, who dwells within his church as a king in his palace. Let us remember this, and seek above all things to promote the unity, edification, and holiness of all our brethren in Christ.
Ephesians 3
Paul with the chain clanking upon his wrist writes most jubilantly of his position and office, counting it more honorable to be "the prisoner of the Lord" than to be the favorite of Caesar.
Ephesians 3:8
The greater the saint the less he thinks of himself A very correct estimate of a mans worth may be gathered from his humility. Weighty materials sink, only "trifles, light as air" rise into the clouds.
Ephesians 3:10, 11
Even angels are to learn from us. Saints will be lesson-books in which the cherubim and seraphim will read with astonishment the wisdom and love of God; this was the eternal design of the great Lord of all, and he will not allow his purpose in any measure to be thwarted.
Ephesians 3:12, 13
See how he forgets himself, and is only anxious that they may not be distressed about him; after this manner ought we also to sink self, and live for the good of others.
Ephesians 3:15
It is delightful to think of Paul pausing in the middle of his letter to kneel down and implore a blessing upon his friends, feeling himself, even in his prison, to be one of an august family, which had its dwelling-place not only on earth but in Heaven also, and yet was one and indivisible. Let us devoutly listen to the apostles prayer and offer it for all believers.
Ephesians 3:19
Having prayed, Paul now turns to praising; the two holy exercises are very near of kin, and the one naturally leads on to the other. We should sing more doxologies if we offered more intercessions.
Ephesians 4:1-8, 11-32
So far from being ashamed of being shut up in a dungeon like a felon, Paul again repeats, as his choice title of honor, the words, "the prisoner of the Lord." It is inexpressibly delightful to be allowed to suffer for him who suffered to the death for us. Paul uses his afflicted condition as an affectionate plea with the Ephesians to give heed to his counsel.
Ephesians 4:1-6
True believers are one; Christ has only instituted one church, he has quickened it with but one Spirit, and set before it one sole hope. The Lord is the alone Head of the church, she has not two Lords, neither has Jesus revealed more than one faith, or commanded any other than one baptism: hence believers should anxiously maintain unity, and endeavor each one to promote the good of the whole.
Ephesians 4:11-13
All the ascension-gifts come to us for the building up, not of many sects, but of the Lord's one church. His choicest gifts are holy men, qualified for various gracious works, which they carry on for the perfecting of each believer, and of the whole body of the faithful.
Ephesians 4:24
Being made parts of a new body, of which the Lord Jesus is the head, we cannot act as we once did, or we should belie our profession altogether. Filthiness must be now abhorred, and holiness panted for; is it so with us?
Ephesians 4:26
We may be angry at wrong without sinning thereby, but if anger be a selfish resentment, it is always sinful, and if it lives beyond a day it cannot be justified. One of the hardest things in the world is to be angry and not to sin.
Ephesians 4:28
The cure for dishonesty is industry, and the remedy for a disposition to steal from others, is to learn to give to them.
Ephesians 4:29
Do we always attend to this? Are not some jests which are commonly heard very far from edifying?
Ephesians 4:32
Let this be written up in our chambers, and practiced in every room in the house. What a Heaven will our family then become.
Ephesians 5:1
followers or imitators
Ephesians 5:2
Here is a model at once so attractive and so perfect that we may love and copy it at the same time. We may not take the conduct of others for our model, and treat them as they treat us; the only pattern for a Christian is Christ.
Ephesians 5:3, 4
Sins of the tongue are fearfully common. Cheerfulness is a virtue, chaste pleasantries are the flowers of conversation, but those unholy allusions and unedifying jests which so often are commended as exceedingly clever should never obtain currency among the followers of the holy Jesus.
Ephesians 5:5
The covetous man is here placed in very disreputable company. This proves that the Holy Spirit judges lust for gold to be as vile a lust as any other; he sets the brand of Cain upon the brow of the greedy. We send missionaries abroad, and yet we do not sorrow over idolaters at home. If a man worships a God of gold, is he not quite as debased as if his idol were made of wood?
Ephesians 5:6-11
Avoid bad company. Choose only those for your friends who are also friends of God. How can we reprove sin if we take those who openly practice it to be our bosom friends?
Ephesians 5:14
Death hides in darkness, life loves light. We, therefore, who have spiritual life should never do anything which we should be ashamed to have published to the whole world. Christ has given us light, let us not hide it, neither let us shut our eyes to it.
Ephesians 5:15
Look all around, and be anxious that your conduct may do harm to no one, from any point of view.
Ephesians 5:19
Men filled with wine call for a song, and when believers are exhilarated by the divine Spirit they also should have their singing, but they must choose the songs of Zion, such as the Lord himself will account to be true melody.
Ephesians 5:20, 21
To make God great and ourselves little is our peculiar occupation; we are to give him glory in all that we do, and seek no honor for ourselves, but willingly take the lowest place among our brethren for the Lord's sake.
Ephesians 6:1
It is right according to nature, that those who have so long cared for children and nourished them, should be obeyed by them, and it is right also according to the will of God. It is right for the house, which cannot else be kept in order; and right for the children themselves, who will never be happy until they have learned to obey. Yet observe there is a limit—children are to obey "in the Lord," that is to say, so far as the commands of parents are not opposed to the laws of God.
Ephesians 6:3
It has been observed that God frequently prospers those who have shown a dutiful attention to their parents; at any rate, such children are in the right way, and we all know that the way of duty is the way of safety and happiness. On the other hand, unkindness to parents has often been remarkably punished in this life. Nothing shortens life like rebellion against parents. Absalom is a prominent instance of this general rule. Moreover, this sin is a dreadful sign of a graceless nature. He who does not love and honor his father and mother whom he has seen, certainly does not love the Lord whom he has not seen.
Ephesians 6:4
Undue harshness, and irritating severity are here forbidden, but holy discipline and religious training are commanded. Wise fathers will take note of this verse; it is not addressed to mothers, because they seldom, if ever, err on the side of severity. Fathers must not be ill-humored and morose to their sons and daughters, nor must they exact from them more service than they can render, nor ridicule them, nor show partiality to one above another, nor stint them in necessities, for this is to provoke them to anger.
Ephesians 6:5
or with diffident anxiety and self-distrust
Ephesians 6:6
Those who need looking after are but poor servants. True Christians care more for God's eye than their master's or mistress's observation, and they do their duty as well alone as they would with all eyes upon them. It is a mean thing to be diligent only when one is watched; it is a vice only fit for slaves.
Ephesians 6:11-24
We are about to read a peculiarly beautiful passage, in which the apostle represents the believer as a soldier, and urges hint to prepare for the battle by taking to himself all defensive and offensive arms.
Ephesians 6:11
Satan will assail every part of us, and therefore we need to be protected from head to foot, like the knights of old.
Ephesians 6:12, 13
If we fought with men we might be less guarded; wrestling as we do with subtle and spiritual adversaries, whose weapons are as mysterious as they are deadly, it becomes us to be doubly watchful lest in some unguarded point we receive wounds which will bleed for years.
Ephesians 6:14
A belt of sincerity keeps the whole man in marching order, and braces him up to meet the father of lies. An insincere man is a loose man, and a loose man is a lost man,
Ephesians 6:14
This will guard the heart. The righteousness of God, imputed and imparted, will protect the heart, and blunt the edge of Satan's temptations which he aims at the soul. Take notice that a breastplate is provided, but no backplate: we must never think of going back, we are bound to face the enemy, no provision is made for a retreat.
Ephesians 6:15
With a happy, calm, confidence, because the gospel has given us perfect peace, we shall march over the rough places of the way without becoming discontented or depressed. No pilgrim is so well booted as he who is at peace with God, his fellow men, and his own conscience.
Ephesians 6:16
Faith, like a shield, covers all and is therefore important above all. Look well to your confidence in God, for if this fails all fails.
Ephesians 6:17, 18
He who is truly saved and knows it will wear a "helm of health." The seat of thought and decision will be safe
Ephesians 6:17, 18
The Bible is a bright, keen, pointed, well-tempered weapon, for offence and defense, it cuts a way for us through all foes, slays sin, and chases away even Satan himself. "It is written" is the terror of Hell.
Ephesians 6:17, 18
This weapon of all-prayer will often serve our turn when all others are out of our reach. So long as we can pray we shall not be overcome.
Ephesians 6:19-24
He winds up with good wishes and prayers. A Christian should be known even by his letters; when other men use empty compliments, he should abound in earnest prayers and holy wishes. Let us take note of this next time the pen is in our hand.