31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice,
but now put off, even ye, the whole -- anger, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, filthy talking -- out of your mouth.
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.
So then, my brethren beloved, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
of no one to speak evil, not to be quarrelsome -- gentle, showing all meekness to all men, for we were once -- also we -- thoughtless, disobedient, led astray, serving desires and pleasures manifold, in malice and envy living, odious -- hating one another;
be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your wrath,
Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;
Without wood is fire going out, And without a tale-bearer, contention ceaseth,
And they having heard, and having become full of wrath, were crying out, saying, `Great `is' the Artemis of the Ephesians!' and the whole city was filled with confusion, they rushed also with one accord into the theatre, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's fellow-travellers.
Each of his friend -- beware ye, And on any brother, do not trust, For every brother doth utterly supplant, For every friend slanderously doth walk,
All of them are turned aside by apostates, Walking slanderously -- brass and iron, All of them are corrupters.
A wise man is judged by the foolish man, And he hath been angry, And he hath laughed, and there is no rest.
By his lips doth a hater dissemble, And in his heart he placeth deceit, When his voice is gracious trust not in him, For seven abominations `are' in his heart.
Whoso is short of temper doth folly, And a man of wicked devices is hated.
All the city also was moved and there was a running together of the people, and having laid hold on Paul, they were drawing him out of the temple, and immediately were the doors shut,
having been filled with all unrighteousness, whoredom, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil dispositions; whisperers, evil-speakers, God-haters, insulting, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
for I fear lest, having come, not such as I wish I may find you, and I -- I may be found by you such as ye do not wish, lest there be strifes, envyings, wraths, revelries, evil-speakings, whisperings, puffings up, insurrections,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strifes, emulations, wraths, rivalries, dissensions, sects,
Women -- in like manner grave, not false accusers, vigilant, faithful in all things.
he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and word-striving, out of which doth come envy, strife, evil-speakings, evil-surmisings, wranglings of men wholly corrupted in mind, and destitute of the truth, supposing the piety to be gain; depart from such;
And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, ``Let us go into the field;'' and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.
And Esau hateth Jacob, because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau saith in his heart, `The days of mourning `for' my father draw near, and I slay Jacob my brother.'
And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, `Let us not smite the life;'
`Thou dost not go slandering among thy people; thou dost not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I `am' Jehovah. `Thou dost not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou dost certainly reprove thy fellow, and not suffer sin on him. `Thou dost not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of thy people; and thou hast had love to thy neighbour as thyself; I `am' Jehovah.
and he uttereth slander against thy servant unto my lord the king, and my lord the king `is' as a messenger of God; and do thou that which is good in thine eyes,
Thou sittest, against thy brother thou speakest, Against a son of thy mother givest slander.
Whoso slandereth in secret his neighbour, Him I cut off, The high of eyes and proud of heart, him I endure not.
A talkative man is not established in the earth, One of violence -- evil hunteth to overflowing.
Hatred awaketh contentions, And over all transgressions love covereth.
The words of a tale-bearer `are' as self-inflicted wounds, And they have gone down `to' the inner parts of the heart.
and at the same time also, they learn `to be' idle, going about the houses; and not only idle, but also tattlers and busybodies, speaking the things they ought not;
and the foolish and uninstructed questions be avoiding, having known that they beget strife,
for it behoveth the overseer to be blameless, as God's steward, not self-pleased, nor irascible, not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre;
aged women, in like manner, in deportment as doth become sacred persons, not false accusers, to much wine not enslaved, of good things teachers,
and chiefly those going behind the flesh in desire of uncleanness, and lordship despising; presumptuous, self-complacent, dignities they are not afraid to speak evil of, whereas messengers, in strength and power being greater, do not bear against them before the Lord an evil speaking judgment;
not as Cain -- of the evil one he was, and he did slay his brother, and wherefore did he slay him? because his works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.
Every one who is hating his brother -- a man-killer he is, and ye have known that no man-killer hath life age-during in him remaining,
In like manner, nevertheless, those dreaming also the flesh indeed do defile, and lordship they put away, and dignities they speak evil of, yet Michael, the chief messenger, when, with the devil contending, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring up an evil-speaking judgment, but said, `The Lord rebuke thee!' and these, as many things indeed as they have not known, they speak evil of; and as many things as naturally (as the irrational beasts) they understand, in these they are corrupted;
And I heard a great voice saying in the heaven, `Now did come the salvation, and the power, and the reign, of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because cast down was the accuser of our brethren, who is accusing them before our God day and night;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ephesians 4
Commentary on Ephesians 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
We have gone through the former part of this epistle, which consists of several important doctrinal truths, contained in the three preceding chapters. We enter now on the latter part of it, in which we have the most weighty and serious exhortations that can be given. We may observe that in this, as in most others of Paul's epistles, the former part is doctrinal, and fitted to inform the minds of men in the great truths and doctrines of the gospel, the latter is practical, and designed for the direction of their lives and manners, all Christians being bound to endeavour after soundness in the faith, and regularity in life and practice. In what has gone before we have heard of Christian privileges, which are the matter of our comfort. In what follows we shall hear of Christian duties, and what the Lord our God requires of us in consideration of such privileges vouchsafed to us. The best way to understand the mysteries and partake of the privileges of which we have read before is conscientiously to practise the duties prescribed to us in what follows: as, on the other hand, a serious consideration and belief of the doctrines that have been taught us in the foregoing chapters will be a good foundation on which to build the practice of the duties prescribed in those which are yet before us. Christian faith and Christian practice mutually befriend each other. In this chapter we have divers exhortations to important duties.
Eph 4:1
This is a general exhortation to walk as becomes our Christian profession. Paul was now a prisoner at Rome; and he was the prisoner of the Lord, or in the Lord, which signifies as much as for the Lord. See of this, ch. 3:1. He mentions this once and again, to show that he was not ashamed of his bonds, well knowing that he suffered not as an evil doer: and likewise to recommend what he wrote to them with the greater tenderness and with some special advantage. It was a doctrine he thought worth suffering for, and therefore surely they should think it worthy their serious regards and their dutiful observance. We have here the petition of a poor prisoner, one of Christ's prisoners: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you,' etc. Considering what God has done for you, and to what a state and condition he has called you, as has been discoursed before, I now come with an earnest request to you (not to send me relief, nor to use your interest for the obtaining of my liberty, the first thing which poor prisoners are wont to solicit from their friends, but) that you would approve yourselves good Christians, and live up to your profession and calling; That you walk worthily, agreeably, suitably, and congruously to those happy circumstances into which the grace of God has brought you, whom he has converted from heathenism to Christianity. Observe, Christians ought to accommodate themselves to the gospel by which they are called, and to the glory to which they are called; both are their vocation. We are called Christians; we must answer that name, and live like Christians. We are called to God's kingdom and glory; that kingdom and glory therefore we must mind, and walk as becomes the heirs of them.
Eph 4:2-16
Here the apostle proceeds to more particular exhortations. Two he enlarges upon in this chapter:-To unity an love, purity and holiness, which Christians should very much study. We do not walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called if we be not faithful friends to all Christians, and sworn enemies to all sin.
This section contains the exhortation to mutual love, unity, and concord, with the proper means and motives to promote them. Nothing is pressed upon us more earnestly in the scriptures than this. Love is the law of Christ's kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. Observe,
Eph 4:17-32
The apostle having gone through his exhortation to mutual love, unity, and concord, in the foregoing verses, there follows in these an exhortation to Christian purity and holiness of heart and life, and that both more general (v. 17-24) and in several particular instances, v. 25-32. This is solemnly introduced: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord; that is, seeing the matter is as above described, seeing you are members of Christ's body and partakers of such gifts, this I urge upon your consciences, and bear witness to as your duty in the Lord's name, and by virtue of the authority I have derived from him.' Consider,
In the midst of these exhortations and cautions the apostle interposes that general one, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, v. 30. By looking to what precedes, and to what follows, we may see what it is that grieves the Spirit of God. In the previous verses it is intimated that all lewdness and filthiness, lying, and corrupt communications that stir up filthy appetites and lusts, grieve the Spirit of God. In what follows it is intimated that those corrupt passions of bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, and malice, grieve this good Spirit. By this we are not to understand that this blessed Being could properly be grieved or vexed as we are; but the design of the exhortation is that we act not towards him in such a manner as is wont to be grievous and disquieting to our fellow-creatures: we must not do that which is contrary to his holy nature and his will; we must not refuse to hearken to his counsels, nor rebel against his government, which things would provoke him to act towards us as men are wont to do towards those with whom they are displeased and grieved, withdrawing themselves and their wonted kindness from such, and abandoning them to their enemies. O provoke not the blessed Spirit of God to withdraw his presence and his gracious influences from you! It is a good reason why we should not grieve him that by him we are sealed unto the day of redemption. There is to be a day of redemption; the body is to be redeemed from the power of the grave at the resurrection-day, and then God's people will be delivered from all the effects of sin, as well as from all sin and misery, which they are not till rescued out of the grave: and then their full and complete happiness commences. All true believers are sealed to that day. God has distinguished them from others, having set his mark upon them; and he gives them the earnest and assurance of a joyful and glorious resurrection; and the Spirit of God is the seal. Wherever that blessed Spirit is as a sanctifier, he is the earnest of all the joys and glories of the redemption-day; and we should be undone should God take away his Holy Spirit from us.