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6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
6:2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with
promise; 6:3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long
on the earth.
6:4 And, ye fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath: but bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to
the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as
unto Christ; 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 6:7 With
good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 6:8 Knowing
that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of
the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
6:9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing
threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is
there respect of persons with him.
6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might.
6:11 Put on the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of
righteousness; 6:15 And your feet shod
with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; 6:16 Above all, taking
the
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the
wicked.
6:17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit,
which is the word of God: 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and
supplication for all saints; 6:19 And for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to
make known the mystery of the gospel, 6:20 For which I am an
ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to
speak.
6:21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a
beloved brother and faithful
minister in the Lord, shall make known to
you all things: 6:22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose,
that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
6:23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the
Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
6:24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity.
Amen.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Ephesians
Book: Ephesians
Chapter: 6
Overview:
The duties of children and parents.
(1-4) Of servants and
masters.
(5-9) All Christians are to
Put On spiritual
Armour
against the enemies of their souls.
(10-18) The
Apostle desires
their prayers, and ends with his apostolic blessing.
(19-24)
1-4 The great duty of children is, to obey their parents. That
obedience includes inward reverence, as
Well as outward acts,
and in every
Age prosperity has attended those distinguished for
obedience to parents. The duty of parents. Be not impatient; use
No unreasonable severities.
Deal prudently and wisely with
children; convince their judgements and work upon their reason.
Bring them up
Well; under proper and compassionate correction;
and in the knowledge of the duty
God requires. Often is this
duty neglected, even among professors of the
Gospel. Many set
their children against religion; but this does not excuse the
children's disobedience, though it may be awfully occasion it.
God alone can change the
Heart, yet he gives his blessing to the
good lessons and examples of parents, and answers their prayers.
But those, whose chief anxiety is that their children should be
rich and accomplished, whatever becomes of their souls, must not
look for the blessing of
God.
5-9 The duty of servants is summed up in one
Word, obedience.
The servants of old were generally slaves. The apostles were to
teach servants and masters their duties, in doing which evils
would be lessened, till slavery should be rooted out
By the
influence of Christianity. Servants are to reverence those over
them. They are to be sincere; not pretending obedience when they
mean to disobey, but serving faithfully. And they must serve
their masters not only when their master's
Eye is upon them; but
must be strict in the discharge of their duty, when he is absent
and out of the way. Steady regard to the
Lord Jesus Christ will
make men
Faithful and sincere in every station, not grudgingly
or
By constraint, but from a principle of
Love to the masters
and their concerns. This makes service easy to them, pleasing to
their masters, and acceptable to the
Lord Christ.
God will
reward even the meanest drudgery done from a sense of duty, and
with a view to
Glorify him. Here is the duty of masters. Act
after the same manner. Be just to servants, as you expect they
should be to you; show the like good-will and concern for them,
and be careful herein to approve yourselves to
God. Be not
tyrannical and overbearing. You have a Master to obey, and you
and they are but fellow-servants in respect to
Christ Jesus. If
masters and servants would consider their duties to
God, and the
account they must shortly give to him, they would be more
mindful of their duty to each other, and thus families would be
more orderly and happy.
10-18 Spiritual strength and courage are needed for our
spiritual warfare and suffering. Those who would prove
themselves to have true
Grace, must aim at all
Grace; and
Put On
the whole
Armour of
God, which he prepares and bestows. The
Christian Armour is made to be worn; and there is
No putting off
our
Armour till we have done our warfare, and finished our
course. The combat is not against human enemies, nor against our
own corrupt nature only; we have to do with an enemy who has a
thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls. The devils assault us
in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the
heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve
By God's
Grace,
not to yield to
Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give
way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our
Leader, or our
Armour, we give him advantage. The different
parts of the
Armour of heavy-armed soldiers, who had to sustain
the fiercest assaults of the enemy, are here described. There is
none for the back; nothing to defend those who turn back in the
Christian warfare.
Truth, or sincerity, is the
Girdle. This
girds
On all the other
Pieces of our
Armour, and is first
mentioned. There can be
No religion without sincerity. The
Righteousness of
Christ, imputed to us, is a
Breastplate against
the
Arrows of Divine wrath. The
Righteousness of
Christ
implanted in us, fortifies the
Heart against the attacks of
Satan. Resolution must be as
Greaves, or
Armour to our legs; and
to stand their ground or to march forward in rugged paths, the
feet must be shod with the preparation of the
Gospel of peace.
Motives to obedience, amidst trials, must be drawn from a clear
knowledge of the
Gospel.
Faith is all in all in an
Hour of
Temptation.
Faith, as relying
On unseen objects, receiving
Christ and the benefits of
Redemption, and
So deriving
Grace
from him, is like a
Shield, a defence every way. The
Devil is
the wicked one. Violent temptations,
By which the soul is set
On
Fire of
Hell, are darts
Satan shoots at us. Also, hard thoughts
of
God, and as to ourselves.
Faith applying the
Word of God and
the
Grace of
Christ, quenches the darts of
Temptation.
Salvation
must be our
Helmet. A good
Hope of
Salvation, a Scriptural
expectation of victory, will purify the soul, and keep it from
being defiled
By Satan. To the
Christian armed for defense in
battle, the
Apostle recommends only one weapon of attack; but it
is enough, the
Sword of the
Spirit, which is the
Word of God. It
subdues and mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as
they rise within; and answers unbelief and error as they assault
from without. A single text,
Well understood, and rightly
applied, at once destroys a
Temptation or an objection, and
subdues the most formidable
Adversary.
Prayer must fasten all
the other parts of our
Christian Armour. There are other duties
of religion, and of our stations in the world, but we must keep
up times of
Prayer. Though set and solemn
Prayer may not be
seasonable when other duties are to be done, yet short pious
prayers darted out, always are
So. We must use holy thoughts in
our ordinary course. A vain
Heart will be vain in
Prayer. We
must pray with all kinds of
Prayer, public, private, and secret;
social and solitary; solemn and sudden: with all the parts of
Prayer;
Confession of
Sin, petition for
Mercy, and thanksgiving
for favours received. And we must do it
By the
Grace of
God the
Holy
Spirit, in dependence
On, and according to, his teaching.
We must preserve in particular requests, notwithstanding
discouragements. We must pray, not for ourselves only, but for
all saints. Our enemies are mighty, and we are without strength,
but our
Redeemer is almighty, and in the power of his might we
may overcome. Wherefore we must stir up ourselves. Have not we,
when
God has called, often neglected to answer? Let us think
upon these things, and continue our prayers with patience.
19-24 The
Gospel was a
Mystery till made known
By Divine
Revelation; and it is the work of
Christ's ministers to declare
it. The best and most eminent ministers need the prayers of
believers. Those particularly should be prayed for, who are
exposed to great hardships and perils in their work. Peace be to
the brethren, and
Love with
Faith.
By peace, understand all
manner of peace; peace with
God, peace of
Conscience, peace
among themselves. And the
Grace of the
Spirit, producing
Faith
and
Love, and every
Grace. These he desires for those in whom
they were already begun. And all
Grace and blessings come to the
saints from
God, through
Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Grace, that is,
the favour of
God; and all good, spiritual and temporal, which
is from it, is and shall be with all those who thus
Love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and with them only.