10 Single Volume Commentaries on Ephesians

 

1. Francis Foulkes
2. John Stott
3. H C G Moule
4. Charles Hodge
5. James M Boice
6. William Hendriksen
7. Harry Uprichard
8. Gordon Clark
9. Geoffrey B Wilson
10. Stuart Olyott

Every Chapter 02 - Ephesians

In every chapter of Ephesians you will find references to the Trinity - To God, to the Father, to the Son (Christ) and to the Spirit.

Chapter 1

1-4 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world … 5-17 … he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, … he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ... to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, ... you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, … I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. … 20 … he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, … 22, 23 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Chapter 2

… 5-8 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ... And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, ... it is the gift of God - … 10-13 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance … remember that at that time you were separate from Christ ... without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you ... have been brought near by the blood of Christ. … 16 ... in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. … 18-22 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are ... fellow citizens with God's people ... built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Chapter 3

1, 2 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles - Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, … 4-12 ... you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel ... sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. … Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, .... His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities ... according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. … 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, … 16-19 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you ... may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ... - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. … 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Chapter 4

3-7 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ... one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. … 11-16 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. … Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. ... 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. … 21 … when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. … 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption .... 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Chapter 5

1-6 Follow God's example, ... and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. … No immoral, impure or greedy person ... has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ... because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. … 14 ... "Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." … 18-21 Do not get drunk ... be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. … 23-25 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her … 29 ... no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church – … 32 ... I am talking about Christ and the church.

Chapter 6

… 5, 6 Slaves, obey your earthly masters ... just as you would obey Christ. ... as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. … 9 … there is no favouritism with him. … 11 Put on the full armour of God … 13 ... the full armour of God, … 17-19 Take ... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions ... keep on praying for all the Lord's people. … 23, 24 ... love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Aber Conference 2014 Don Carson 4

"Captured by Christ — A Life Worthy of the Lord" (Ephesians 4:1-16)

Aber Conference 2014 Don Carson 3

This is Don Carson on Ephesians 2b

Aber Conference 2014 Don Carson 2

This is Don Carson's second sermon - on Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1.

Aber Conference 2014 Don Carson 1

This is Don Carson's first sermon in the series of main morning conference addresses. He has decided to preach from Ephesians. This is from Ephesians 1.

Lloyd-Jones on being a pastor

I found this quotation here
Dr Lloyd-Jones

A pastor is a man who is given charge of souls. He is not merely a nice, pleasant man who visits people and has an afternoon cup of tea with them, or passes the time of day with them. He is the guardian, the custodian, the protector, the organizer, the director, the ruler of the flock

See his commentary on Ephesians 4:1-16 Christian Unity, p 193

Preaching Ephesians

We finished our studies in Ephesians last Sunday morning. This is the second time in my ministry here that I have tackled the book. I started this time about a year ago and I have  preached 33 sermons altogether. I broke off last summer and over Christmas and new year. We spent quite some time in the final chapter. I preached 11 sermons from it. This contrasts with Chapter 3 which I did in two bites. Thus the most verses dealt with in one sermon was 13 (3:1-13, 5:22-34) and the least half a verse (6:14b, 17a, 17b). It was typical for me to deal with between 3 and 8 verses. It's a great book full of doctrinal and practical matters from election to Christian warfare. It's been a blessing to preach it and, hopefully, to hear it.

Another Sunday

One of the anomalies of this blog is that although my main work is preaching the Word Sunday by Sunday, it rarely gets a mention.

Perhaps it seems too obvious. I must try and fix that. This last Sunday was a red letter day. In the morning I was continuing our studies in Ephesians, beginning on the last chapter where Paul addresses children and fathers, which has to be done with wisdom and care as probably more than half of the congregation would not fall into either category. I have two LTS students with me on placement at present so I had them read the Word and pray, which they did well. We then had lunch together, which we do every other month. It's always a good time, though hard on the waist line.

Then in the evening we had a baptism. A young woman of Nigerian background, a pharmacy student, whose family have been with us for years was baptised. It was nice to see a congregation almost as large as the morning one and to hear her testimony and to preach from the end of Matthew's Gospel.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 02

The scutum was the large door-like shield that Roman soldiers used in the first century. Opposed to Christianity at first, the presence of the Roman Empire was a dominant feature of life for the early Christians. In Ephesians 6 the Apostle Paul, no doubt seeing Roman soldiers on a daily basis in his prison, used them as a model for his description of the Christian armour including the Shield of Faith. More here and here.

Carey 2010 1

The opening session was taken by an old friend of the conference Kees Van Kralingen from the Netherlands 9from Papendrecht near Dordrecht just south of Rotterdam). His subject was the church and the Word. After a little gentle humour he earthed his remarks firstly in the context of current attacks on the doctrine of the church and of Scripture. He had three points

1.The church in Ephesus

This involved a description of Ephesus itself (250K and where the statue of Artemis was found, the Ionic games took place and where there was much wickedness) and then of the planting of the church by Paul as recorded in Acts. Paul's stay there at first was brief but he was followed by Apollos. Later Paul came for 2 or 3 years and lectured for some time. There was much opposition but soon the gospel had gone out to all of Asia. It is a very encouraging story. Paul's final address to the elders in Acts 20 is also of great interest. It seems that Paul did actually revisit Ephesus despite his fears. We get some idea of Ephesus from 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy as Timothy worked there. Epaphras at Colosse and John also had contacts with the church. In Revelation we read of their later heretical tendencies. The letter also makes clear how there were always problems to be faced.
2. The church and its biblical position and role
1 All we say of the church and what it should do must be dictated by Christ, the Head of the church. Too often today this is forgotten. Think of the images used in Ephesus and elsewhere - the body, the household of faith, Temple, etc.
2 The church is a pattern of the kingdom to come
3 It is the church that is God's instrument for bringing the gospel to the world
Hence the need for holiness, the Word, etc. The ministry of the Word is also very important as we see in Ephesians 4 (the chapter read by Erroll Hulse in the beginning).
3. Application
1 Keep the right view of the church and an emphasis on preaching of various sorts. This includes house to house visitation of different sorts.
2 Do not forget the importance of boldness or forget the importance of emotional involvement.
3 He referred finally to Revelation 2 and the way that the Ephesians forsook the Lord because they ceased to keep Christ as their first love
A short discussion followed.