Ephesians 2:18

Ephesians 2:18

In this text we have a declaration of the Holy Trinity; there can be no doubt about that. Here are all Three Persons together: the Father, unto whom we have access or introduction; the Son, by or through whom we are introduced; the Holy Spirit, in whom, in whose communion, we enjoy that access. But what is remarkable about the text is not the mere declaration of the Three Persons which is often to be met with in St. Paul's epistles, but the practical nature of the declaration. We have here no mere assertion of a doctrine, but the declaration of a fact, and that fact not set down as a thing which must be believed, but made mention of as a thing to be recognised with thanksgiving and dwelt upon with joy.

I. "We both have access," says the Apostle, "unto the Father," and for this word "both" we may substitute "all," since the great distinction of that day between Jew and Gentile has been obliterated, and only those numerous minor distinctions remain which race and clime and colour make within the fold of Christ. We all have access unto the Father this is thegreat and blessed fact, the practical sum of our religion; and this is the answer of the Gospel to all the seeking and questing of the natural man since the world began.

II. The Son, who is both God and man He, the Daysman desired by Job; He who is equally at home both in earth and heaven, who wasin heaven even while He walked on earth Heshall introduce us; by Him we shall have that long-sought-for, long-despaired-of access to the Father of our souls. Heshall take us (as He only can) by the hand, and lead us (as He only may) into that dread presence.

III. After that first difficulty Who shall lead us to the Father? there comes another question quite as hard to answer, and it is this: If we attain unto Him, how shall we bear ourselves in His presence? How shall we, defiled, stand in that holy place? If I have some one to show me the way to heaven, to introduce me there, yet how shall I be fit to appear, how prepared to dwell, in that all-holy presence? And the practical answer to such questing of the natural man is the revelation of the Spirit. In Him who ministers the gifts and graces and perpetuates the life of Jesus within the Church, in Him, the Lord and Giver of life, the Sanctifier, shall we have true access unto the Father.

R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions,p. 331.

References: Ephesians 2:18. Phillips Brooks, Contemporary Pulpit,vol. Hi., p. 318; Preacher's Monthly,vol. v., p. 291; W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxxiii., pp. 228, 250. Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 2:19. E. L. Hull, Sermons,1st series, p. 175.Ephesians 2:19. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,p. 19; Maclure, Church of England Pulpit,vol. xiii., p. 289; Ibid.,vol. xxi., p. 292.Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 2:20. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. iv., p. 32.Ephesians 2:19. H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. i., p. 217; Ibid.,vol. v., p. 390. Ephesians 2:20. Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 209; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxiii., No. 1388; Christian World Pulpit,vol. vi., p. 143.Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 2:21. F. Haines, Church of England Pulpit,vol. viii., p. 116; J. Vaughan, Sermons,8th scries, p. 125.Ephesians 2:20. E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation,p. 439. Ephesians 2:21. A. J. Griffith, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xv., p. 197. Ephesians 2:22. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. v., No. 267; Clergyman's Magazine, vol.i., p. 218; T.Arnold, Sermons,vol. i., p. 255.Ephesians 2:22. R. Tuck, Christian World Pulpit,vol. v., p. 125.Ephesians 3:1. Homilist,3rd series, vol. ix., p. 29.