Epistle Sermons Volume III Part 23

42. Paul desires Christ to be efficacious in the hearts of his followers unto the full realization of the promises of the Word--liberation from sin and death, and a.s.surance of grace and eternal life. It is impossible for the heart having such experience to be other than firm and courageous to oppose the terrors of the devil and the world. But the heart which has not yet arrived at this point is here advised what course to take, namely, to pray G.o.d for such faith and strength, and to avail himself of the prayers of others to the same end. So much in regard to faith; now follows the mention of love.

"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love."

LOVE, THE EXPRESSION OF FAITH.

43. This is an unusual way of speaking. Is it not in faith that we are to be rooted, engrafted and grounded? Why, then, does Paul here subst.i.tute "love?" I reply: Faith, it is true, is the essential thing, but love shows whether or no faith is real and the heart confident and courageous in G.o.d. Where one has an unquestioning confidence that G.o.d is his Father, necessarily, be his faith never so weak, that faith must find expression in word and deed. He will serve his neighbor in teaching and in extending to him a helping hand. This is what Paul calls being rooted and grounded in love--having the conscious experience of possessing true faith. Love is the test that determines the reality of faith. Peter says (2 Pet 1, 10), "Give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure." That is, proceed to good works that others may see and you experience that you have true faith. Until you do, you will always be uncertain, vacillating, superficial in heart, not rooted and grounded. So by these two clauses Paul teaches, first, that we should have in our hearts genuine faith toward G.o.d; and second, that faith should find expression in loving service to one's neighbor.

"May be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth."

TRUE CHRISTIANS FIND CHRIST EVERYWHERE.

44. These words represent another feature of the apostle's desire for his Christians to be established and comforted in G.o.d through faith, and rooted and grounded in love toward their neighbors. "When you are thus strengthened," he would say, "and are perseveringly pressing forward, you will be able to grasp with all saints the four parts, to increase therein and to appreciate them more and more." Faith alone effects this apprehension. Love is not the moving force here, but it contributes by making faith manifest.

45. Some teachers would make these words reflect and measure the holy cross. But Paul does not say a word about the cross. He simply says, in effect: "That you may apprehend all things; may see the length and breadth, the height and depth, of Christ's kingdom." This condition obtains when my heart has reached the point where Christ cannot make the spiritual life too long or too wide for me to follow, nor high enough or deep enough to cause my fall from him or his Word; the point where I may be satisfied that wherever I go he is, and that he rules in all places, however long or broad, deep or high, the situation from either a temporal or eternal point of view. No matter how long or wide I measure, I find him everywhere. David says (Ps 139, 7-8): "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there." Christ rules eternally. His length and breadth, his depth and height, are unlimited. If I descend into h.e.l.l, my heart and my faith tell me he is there.

46. The sum of the matter is this: Depressed or exalted, circ.u.mscribed in whatsoever way, dragged hither or thither, I still find Christ. For he holds in his hands everything in heaven or on earth, and all are subject to him--angels, the devil, the world, sin, death and h.e.l.l. Therefore, so long as he dwells in my heart, I have courage, wherever I go, I cannot be lost. I dwell where Christ my Lord dwells. This, however, is a situation impossible to reason.

Should reason ascend a yard above the earth or descend a yard below, or be deprived of the tangible things of the present, it would have to despair. We Christians are, through Christ, better fortified. We are a.s.sured that he dwells everywhere, be it in honor or dishonor, hunger, sorrow, illness, imprisonment, death or life, blessing or affliction. It is Paul's desire for the Ephesians that G.o.d give them grace and strength to have such heart-apprehension of his kingdom. He concludes the details of his prayer in these words:

"And to know the love of Christ which pa.s.seth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of G.o.d."

47. He means: "I desire you, in addition to having faith and apprehending the four proportions of Christ's kingdom, to know the love of Christ we should have--the love Christ bears toward us, and the love we owe our neighbor. This knowledge transcends all other, even familiarity with the Gospel; for, know as much as you may, your knowledge will avail little or nothing without love."

48. Paul's desire, briefly summed up, is that the faith of Christians may be strengthened unto efficacy, and that love may be warm and fervent, and the heart filled with the fullness of G.o.d. "Filled unto all the fullness of G.o.d" means, if we follow the Hebrew, filled with everything G.o.d's bounty supplies, full of G.o.d, adorned with his grace and the gifts of his Spirit--the Spirit who gives us steadfastness, illuminates us with his light, lives within us his life, saves us with his salvation, and with his love enkindles love in us; in short, it means having G.o.d himself and all his blessings dwelling in us in fullness and being effective to make us wholly divine--not so that we possess merely something of G.o.d, but all his fullness.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

49. Much has been written about the way we are to become G.o.dlike.

Some have constructed ladders whereby we are to ascend to heaven, and others similar things. But this is all patchwork. In this pa.s.sage is designated the truest way to attain G.o.dlikeness. It is to become filled to the utmost with G.o.d, lacking in no particular; to be completely permeated with him until every word, thought and deed, the whole life in fact, be utterly G.o.dly.

50. But let none imagine such fullness can be attained in this life.

We may indeed desire it and pray for it, like Paul here, but we will not find a man thus perfect. We stand, however, upon the fact that we desire such perfection and groan after it. So long as we live in the flesh, we are filled with the fullness of Adam. Hence it is necessary for us continually to pray G.o.d to replace our weakness with courage, and to put into our hearts his Spirit to fill us with grace and strength and rule and work in us absolutely. We ought all to desire this state for one another. To this end may G.o.d grant us grace. Amen.

_Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity_

Text: Ephesians 4, 1-6.

1 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one G.o.d and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

THE CHRISTIAN CALLING AND UNITY.

1. This, too, is a beautiful sermon, delivered by Paul to the Ephesians, concerning the good works of Christians, who believe and are obedient to the doctrine of the Gospel. In the knowledge of good works Paul desires Christians to grow and increase, as we learned in the epistle for last Sunday. The ground of all doctrine, of all right living, the supreme and eternal treasure of him who is a Christian in the sight of G.o.d, is faith in Christ. It alone secures forgiveness of sins and makes us children of G.o.d. Now, where this faith is, fruits should follow as evidence that Christians in their lives honor and obey G.o.d. They are necessary for G.o.d's glory and for the Christian's own honor and eternal reward before him.

2. Paul, remembering the imprisonment and tribulations he suffered because of the Gospel and for the advantage, as he before said, of the Ephesians, gives the admonition here. He would have them, in return for his sufferings, honor the Gospel in their lives. First he names a general rule of life for Christians.

"To walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called."

THE CHRISTIAN CALLING.

3. The chief thing that should influence a Christian's outward walk is the remembrance of his calling and appointment by G.o.d. He should be mindful of why he is called a Christian, and live consistently. He must shine before the world; that is, through his life and G.o.d's work, the Word and the name of Christ the Lord must be exalted.

Christ exhorts his disciples: "Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Mt 5, 16.

4. Similarly, Paul would say: "You have received G.o.d's grace and his Word and are a blessed people. In Christ all your needs are blessedly supplied. Be mindful of this and remember you are called to a far different and vastly higher life than others know. Show by your manner of living that you seek a higher good than the world seeks--indeed, that you have received far greater blessings. Let your lives honor and glorify the Lord who has given you such blessings.

Give no occasion for dishonoring your treasured faith, or for scorning his Word. Rather, influence men by your G.o.dly walk and good works to believe in Christ and to glorify him."

5. Let the Christian know his earthly life is not unto himself, nor for his own sake; his life and work here belong to Christ, his Lord.

Hence must his walk be such as shall contribute to the honor and glory of his Master, whom he should so serve that he may be able to say with Paul, not only with respect to the spiritual life--the life of faith and of righteousness by grace--but also with respect to its fruits--the outward conduct: "It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me." Gal 2, 20. The Christian's manner of life may be styled "walking in Christ"; yes, as Paul elsewhere has it (Rom 13, 14), "putting on" the Lord Jesus Christ, like a garment or an ornament. The world is to recognize Christ by his shining in us.

6. But the so-called Christian life that does not honor Christ makes its sin the more heinous for the name it bears. Every sin the people of G.o.d commit is a provocation of Jehovah; not only in the act of disobedience itself, but also in the transgression of the second commandment. The enormity of the sin is magnified by the conditions that make it a blasphemy of G.o.d's name and an occasion of offense to others. Paul says in Romans 2, 24: "For the name of G.o.d is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." So a Christian should, in his life, by all means guard the honor of G.o.d--of Christ. He must take heed that he be not guilty of blaspheming that name and of doing wickedness. The devil, aided by the world, construes every act, when possible, to reflect upon G.o.d's honor and glory. His purpose is to manifest his bitter hatred against Christ and the Word; also to injure the Church by charging offenses, thus deterring unbelievers from embracing the Gospel and causing the weak to fall away.

7. To guard against such disaster, Christians should be particularly careful to give, in their conduct, no occasion for offense, and to value the name and honor of their G.o.d too highly to permit blasphemy of them. They should prefer to lose their own honor, their wealth, their physical well-being, even their lives, rather than that these, their most precious possessions and greatest blessings, should suffer disgrace. Let them remember that upon keeping sacred the name and honor of G.o.d depends their own standing before G.o.d and men. G.o.d promises (1 Sam 2, 30), "Them that honor me I will honor." But pursuing the opposite course, Christians bring upon themselves G.o.d's sternest wrath and effect their own rejection and shame. For he says further: "They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." And in the second commandment G.o.d threatens certain and terrible punishment to abusers of his name; that is, to them who do not employ it to his honor and praise.

8. Well may every Christian examine his own life to see if he is careful to guard against offense to the Gospel and to regulate his words and conduct by G.o.d's first commandment, making them contribute to the honor and praise of the divine name and the holy Gospel.

Weighty indeed and well calculated to cause complaint are the sins to which every Christian is liable in this respect; well may he avoid them lest he heap to himself the wrath of G.o.d. Especially need we be careful in these last and evil times when the Gospel is everywhere suppressed by great offenses. Man was created to be the image of G.o.d, that through this his image G.o.d might himself be expressed. G.o.d's image, then, should be reflected in the lives of men as a likeness in a gla.s.s, and a Christian can have no higher concern than to live without dishonor to the name of G.o.d.

ADMONITION TO SPECIAL CHRISTIAN VIRTUES.

9. Such is the first part of Paul's admonition concerning the general life of Christians. He goes on to make special mention of several good works which Christians should diligently observe: humility, meekness, long-suffering, preservation of the unity of the Spirit, and so on. These have been specially treated before, in other epistle lessons, particularly those from Peter. Humility, for instance--mentioned in today's lesson--is taken up the third Sunday after Trinity; patience and meekness, the second Sunday after Easter, and the fifth Sunday after Trinity.

10. The text here presents good works sufficient to occupy all Christians in every station of life; we need not seek other nor better ones. Paul would not impose upon Christians peculiar works, something unrelated to the ordinary walks of life, as certain false saints taught and practiced. These teachers commanded separation from society, isolation in the wilderness, the establishment of monkeries and the performance of self-appointed works. Such works they exalted as superior to ordinary Christian virtues. Indeed, their practice amounted to rejection of the latter, and they actually regarded them as dangerous. The Papacy has in the past shamelessly styled the observance of Christian good works as worldly living, and men were compelled to believe they would find it hard to reach heaven unless they became ecclesiasts--for they regarded only the monks and priests worthy--or at least made themselves partakers of the works of ecclesiasts by purchasing their merits.

But Paul--in fact, the entire Scriptures--teaches no other good works than G.o.d enjoins upon all men in the Ten Commandments, and which pertain to the common conditions of life. True, these make not such brilliant show in the eyes of the world as do the self-appointed ceremonials const.i.tuting the divine service of hypocrites; nevertheless, they are true, worthy, good and profitable works in the sight of G.o.d and man. What can be more acceptable to G.o.d and advantageous to man than a life lived, in its own calling, in the way that contributes to the honor of G.o.d, and that by its example influences others to love G.o.d's Word and to praise his name?

Moreover, what virtues, of all man possesses, serve him better than humility, meekness, patience and harmony of mind?

11. Now, where is a better opportunity for the exercise of these virtues than amidst the conditions in which G.o.d destined us to live--in society, where we mingle with one another? Upon these conditions, self-appointed, unusual lives and monastic holiness have no bearing. For what other person is profited by your entering a cloister, making yourself peculiar, refusing to live as your fellows do? Who is benefited by your cowl, your austere countenance, your hard bed? Who comes to know G.o.d or to have a peaceful conscience by such practices on your part, or who is thereby influenced to love his neighbor? Indeed, how can you serve your neighbor by such a life? How manifest your love, humility, patience and meekness if you are unwilling to live among men? if you so strenuously adhere to your self-appointed orders as to allow your neighbor to suffer want before you would dishonor your rules?

12. Astonishing fact, that the world is merged in darkness so great it utterly disregards the Word of G.o.d and the conditions he designed for our daily living. If we preach to the world faith in G.o.d's Word, the world receives it as heresy. If we speak of works inst.i.tuted of G.o.d himself and conditions of his own appointing, the world regards it as idle talk; it knows better. To live a simple Christian life in one's own family, to faithfully perform the duties of a man-servant or maid-servant--"Oh, that," it says, "is merely the following of worldly pursuits. To do good works you must set about it in a different way. You must creep into a corner, don a cap, make pilgrimages to some saint; then you may be able to help yourself and others to gain heaven." If the question be asked, "Why do so? where has G.o.d commanded it?" there is, according to their theory, really no answer to make but this: Our Lord G.o.d knows nothing about the matter; he does not understand what good works are. How can he teach us? He must himself be tutored by these remarkably enlightened saints.

FRUITS OF ORIGINAL SIN.

13. But all this error results from that miserable inherent plague, that evil termed "original sin." It is a blind wickedness, refusing to recognize the Word of G.o.d and his will and work, but introducing instead things of its own heathenish imagination. It draws such a thick covering over eyes, ears and hearts that it renders men unable to perceive how the simple life of a Christian, of husband or wife, of the lower or the higher walks of life, can be beautified by honoring the Word of G.o.d. Original sin will not be persuaded to the faithful performance of the works that G.o.d testifies are well pleasing to him when wrought by believers in Christ. In a word, universal experience proves that to perform really good works is a special and remarkable grace to which few attain; while the great ma.s.s of souls aspiring after holiness vainly busy themselves with worthless works, being deceived into thinking them great, and thus make themselves, as Paul says, "unto every good work reprobate." t.i.t 1, 16. This fruitless effort is one evil result of the error of human ideas of holiness and the practice of self-chosen works.

14. Another error is the hindrance--yes, the suppression and destruction--of the beautiful virtues of humility, meekness, patience and spiritual harmony here commended of Paul. At the same time the devil is given occasion to encourage fiendish blasphemy. In every instance where the Word of G.o.d is set aside for humanly-appointed works, differing views and theories must obtain. One introduces this and another that, each striving for first recognition; then a third endeavors to improve upon their doctrine. Consequently divisions and factions ensue as numerous as the teachers and their creeds; as exemplified in the countless sects to this time prevalent in Popedom, and in the factious spirits of all time. Under such circ.u.mstances, none of the virtues like humility, meekness, patience, love, can have place. Opposite conditions must prevail, since harmony of hearts and minds is lacking. One teacher haughtily rejects another, and if his own opinions fail to receive recognition and approval, he displays anger, envy and hatred. He will neither affiliate with nor tolerate him whose practices accord not with his own.

15. On the other hand, the Christian life, the life of faith with its fruits, controlled as it is by the Word of G.o.d, is in every way conducive to the preservation of love and harmony, and to the promotion of all virtues. It interferes not with the G.o.d-ordained relations of life and their attendant obligations upon men--the requirements of social order, the duties of father and mother, of son and daughter, master and mistress, servant and maid. All life's relations are confirmed by it as valid and its duties as vital. The Christian faith bids each person in his life, and all in common, to be diligent in the works of love, humility, patience. It teaches that one be not intolerant of another, but rather render him his due, remembering that he whose condition in life is the most insignificant can be equally upright and blessed before G.o.d with the occupant of the most significant position. Again, it teaches that man must have patience with the weakness of his fellow, being mindful of how others must bear with his own imperfections. In short, it says one must manifest to another the love and kindness he would have that other extend to him.

16. To this Christian attainment, contributes very largely the single fact that a Christian is conscious he has, through Christ, the grace of G.o.d, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And these not for his own merits or peculiar life and works, but because he is, no matter how insignificant in condition before the world, a child of G.o.d and blessed; a partaker, if he but believes, in all the blessings of Christ, sharing equally with the most eminent saint. So, then, he need not look about for works not enjoined upon him. He need not covet those wrought in prominence and by the aid of great gifts of G.o.d--of unusual attainments. Let him confine himself to his own sphere; let him serve G.o.d in his vocation, remembering that G.o.d makes him, too, his instrument in his own place.

Again, the occupant of a higher sphere, the possessor of higher gifts and accomplishments, who likewise serves in his vocation received from G.o.d, should learn and exhibit harmony of mind. So shall he continue humble and be tolerant of others. He should remember that he is not worthier in the eyes of G.o.d because of his greater gifts, but rather is under deeper obligation to serve his fellows, and that G.o.d can use the possessor of lesser gifts for even greater accomplishments than himself can boast. Having so learned, he will be able to manifest patience, meekness and love toward his weak and imperfect neighbors, considering them members of Christ with him, and partakers of the same grace and salvation.