Ephesians (Ironside Expository Commentaries)

Editorial Reviews. About the Author. H.A. Ironside () was an internationally Ephesians (Ironside Expository Commentaries) - Kindle edition by H. A. Ironside. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ leondumoulin.nl
Table of contents

This is a great mystery: Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself: Surely nothing could be plainer than that we are to understand the relationship of Adam and Eve at the very beginning was intended by God to set forth the great mystery of Christ and the Church.

Writing to the Corinthians at an earlier date, he said, "I have espoused you as a chaste virgin unto Christ," and Christian behavior is shown to spring from the responsibility connected with that espousal. The Church is viewed as an affianced bride, not yet married-, but called upon to be faithful to her absent Lord until the day when she will be openly acknowledged by Him as His Bride. It is this glorious occasion that John brings before us in the nineteenth chapter of the book of Revelation. It is of no earthly bride he is speaking, but of the heavenly.

After the destruction of the false harlot, Babylon the Great, the marriage supper of the Lamb is celebrated in the Father's house, and all saints are called upon to rejoice because the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife hath made herself ready. At the judgment-seat of Christ, she receives from His hand the linen garments in which she is to be arrayed at the marriage feast.

Notice that on this occasion we have not only the Bride and the Bridegroom, but we read, "Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Bible Commentaries

They of course are another group of redeemed sinners, namely, Old Testament saints, and possibly some Tribulation saints who have been martyred for Christ's sake. All down through the Christian centuries believers have revelled in the sweetness of the thought of the bridal relationship, setting forth, as no other figure does, the intensity of Christ's love for His own.

How truly we may sing:.

Easy Bible Commentary-Ephesians #1

How much we would lose if we lost this! And yet one is pained sometimes to realize how insensible Christians who ought to know better, can be as to its preciousness. I remember on one occasion hearing an advocate of the system we are reviewing exclaim, "I am not part of the Bride; I am part of the Bridegroom Himself. But after all, if Israel is a divorced wife to be restored some day, and the Church is also a bride, is there not ground for what some have called "spiritual polygamy? Similar figures may be used in each dispensation to illustrate spiritual realities; and then it is important to see that Israel is distinctively called the wife of Jehovah, whereas the Church is the Bride of the Lamb.

Israel's nuptial relationship is with God Himself apart altogether from any question of incarnation. Who would want to lose the blessedness of this? In the last chapter of the book of the Revelation, we have added confirmation as to the correctness of the position taken in this paper. The morning star shines out before the rising of the sun. And so here the moment the announcement is made which indicates His near return, the Spirit who dwells in the Church, and the Bride actuated by the Spirit, cry with eager longing, "Come," for the word is addressed to Him.

How truly absurd it would be to try to bring Israel in here as though the earthly people were those responding to the Saviour's voice during this present age! But so determined are these ultra-dispensationalists to take from the Church everything that is found in the book of Revelation, that they even insist that the letters addressed to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 are all for Israel too.

Ignoring the fact that the apostle John had labored for years in the Roman proconsular Province of Asia, that he was thoroughly familiar with all these seven churches, they nevertheless even go so far as to deny that some of these churches had any existence in the first century of the Christian era, when John wrote the Apocalypse, although Sir William Ramsay's researches have proven the contrary.

On the other hand ' they declare that all of these churches are to rise up in the future after the Body has been removed to Heaven, and that then the seven letters will have their application, but have no present bearing upon the consciences of the saints. I cannot conceive of anything more Satanic than this.

Here are churches actually raised up of God through the preaching of the Gospel. Ephesus we know well. Laodicea is mentioned in the letter to the Colossians. The other churches we may be sure existed at the time and in exactly the state that John depicts, and the risen Christ addresses these churches in the most solemn way, and seven times over calls upon all exercised souls to give heed to what he says to each one, crying, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

All this should have immense weight with us as believers, and should speak loudly to our consciences; but along comes the Bullingerite and, with a wave of his interpretative wand, dismisses them entirely for the present age, airily declaring that they have no message for us whatever, that they are all Jewish, and will only have their place in the Great Tribulation after the Church is gone! And thus the people of God who accept this unscriptural system are robbed of not only the precious things in which these letters abound, but their consciences become indifferent to the solemn admonitions found therein.

Surely this is a masterpiece of Satanic strategy, whereby under the plea of rightly dividing the Word of Truth, the Scriptures are so wrongly divided that they cease to have any message for God's people today, and the Word of the Lord is made of no effect by this unscriptural tradition. And yet the Lord in instructing John, says, "Write the things which are. It might be rendered, "The things which are now going on. Personally, I reject it as a Satanic perversion calculated to destroy the power of the Word of God over the souls of His people.

Clean Christians Ephesians 5: The city of Ephesus swarmed with iniquity of the vilest kind. It was therefore of great importance that the early Christians should be warned of the danger of following the ways of those still in their sins. And it is just as necessary today. The human heart is unchanged and with all our veneer of civilization, unmentionable depravity is seen throughout our land. The wickedness of the world is enough to cause every Christian heart to shudder and realize the importance of living very close to the Lord Jesus Christ that we may be kept from these evil things.

He took our place and bore our shame. He endured the judgment due to our sins-because of this, let us walk now in such a way as to express the gratitude of our hearts for this great salvation. This was done not only for the safety of those who were not yet infected, but also to preserve the holiness commanded by the law: We are called to imitate Him in holiness of life, imitate Him in purity of thought, and imitate Him in cleanness of speech as His dear children in whom He takes pleasure. You parents know how there are times when your own children, much as you love them, cause you sorrow and grief if they walk in disobedience and bring dishonor to the family name.

The least sin indulged in by His children grieves the Holy Spirit. The offerer came to God with a sacrifice, not merely to atone for sin he had committed, but because his heart was filled with thanksgiving and he wanted to present an expression of his loving adoration. And so there is one aspect of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that rises far above the mere meeting of our need; it has in view the glorifying of God in this world where He has been so terribly dishonored. And He went out to die.

Why did He endure that death on the cross? His first object was the glory of the Father. God had been terribly dishonored by the first man and all that had come after him, but here at last was a man who walked in this world in absolute holiness. He went there to settle the sin question for us, but above everything else it was to show that at least one Man had been found to whom the glory of God meant more than anything else.

The will of God meant more to Christ than any personal desires that He Himself might have had. He offered Himself for us. And since we have thus been redeemed, we ought to live holy and godly lives. The sensitive soul is shocked by these terms describing the vilest corruption of which the human heart is capable.

They are given that we may realize that all these sins must be judged if we would now walk with Him who has redeemed us to God. It is a disgusting greed for sensual gratification, the vilest thing of which the human heart is capable. Is it possible that saints of God need to be warned against these things? Yes, because in every believer there is the same corrupt nature that there is in the man or woman of the world. It is true that the saint has received a divine nature and the Holy Spirit of God has come to dwell in him, but nevertheless, he must always watch against the least stirring of that old nature lest he fall into sin.

Sexual immorality is in the very air around us. Modern literature is full of it, and the worst of it is that people glory in their vileness. And the world is fast getting to the place our Lord Jesus Christ predicted it would be just before His second coming. The days of Noah were days of great corruption and violence, and we are living in very similar times.

All of our boasted civilization has not changed the tendency of the human heart one iota, and the child of God is to guard against every evil tendency. The first approach to sin is always in the mind, and so God warns against indulging in impure thoughts. We are to guard against lust of every description. It breaks the hearts of parents who have tried to raise their precious children in the right way, when someone entices them away from the path of goodness and purity. Can you think of anything more dreadful than an attempt to break up a happy home by coming between husband and wife, turning one or the other aside from the path of faithfulness?

And yet these things abound everywhere. This is the greed about which the apostle warns us. The pathetic fact is that people look with such indifference at these things. If as servants of God we have to deal with such things, we find it necessary to get into the presence of God in prayer, for they leave their effect on our hearts and minds. Notice what we read in verse Ephesians 5: The apostle is not warning us against bright, happy conversation that leads people sometimes to exchange agreeable thoughts and lively clean humor.

He is not calling us to be long-faced, unhappy people who do not dare to tell anything that provokes an innocent laugh. In fact, I am rather afraid of people who are so holy that they cannot laugh. A good, hearty laugh is a healthy thing. God meant man to laugh. That is the one thing that distinguishes us from all the other creatures. God rejoices over His people. The apostle is thinking here about that kind of humor which is more subtle and dangerous.

Every Christian needs to be on guard against it. You know people who think it witty and smart to tell vulgar jokes and use words with double meanings, words that cause an innocent person to blush or enter the mind as a stumblingblock. The word jesting is really ribaldry, and is another word that implies in a deeper sense joking about things that should never be even talked about. Christians should be clean like their blessed Lord-clean in thought, in word, and in deed.

In place of these things, what should occupy the Christian tongue? The Greek for the one is eutrapalia , the Greek for the other is eucharistia. The apostle was balancing the one word against the other. Not eutrapalia but eucharistia ; that is, not ribaldry but thanksgiving, not vile talk but praising the Lord, not filthy conversation but that which brings glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

On one occasion I was attending a conference of Christians and a number of us were guests at the home of a very devoted believer. Is your story fit for Him? B-, I accept the reproof. I will never tell such a story again. Next, the apostle warned that if any reject this instruction and live in uncleanness, they simply give evidence that they are not Christians at all. They are children of the devil, merely wearing the uniform of the Christian.

Why does he couple idolaters with these other people? Because this kind of person worships only himself. What does he care if he wrecks young lives or breaks up homes? He must satisfy his own base cravings. He worships one god; that god is himself. It is absurd for a man like that to profess to be a Christian. Those of us who are ministers of Christ have heard the stories of hundreds of broken-hearted young women who have come to us.

They have told us of their betrayal, of the breaking down little by little of their higher ideals and the ruin that has come. I feel the greatest punishment that their betrayers could bear would be to have to listen forever to these sad stories and know that they were responsible for them. I have had fathers and mothers come and sit weeping as they have talked of a child who was once the joy of their home, the love of their hearts, and tell how that child had been lured away into sin. Their hearts were broken and they could no longer find the joy in their child they once did.

Sometimes they are in the church. More shame to them, coming under the cover of the church and pretending to be what they are not while continuing in their depraved, sinful way! Christians ought to be clean and pure because they are children of the holy One, the holy God. While we may pray for them, there is to be no fellowship with them, no condoning of their sinful deeds.

They should be made to feel that they are unclean lepers until their sins are confessed and judged, and they have given evidence of being delivered from them. As Christians we are to walk in love, that love which would never cause us to harm anyone else, but always to seek the good of others with Christ as our example. There is no hope until with sincere desire to be completely delivered from it they turn to Him who is the Holy and the True, and cast themselves in repentance and faith on His atoning work. Then, trusting Christ, they will find that He gives them a new heart and a new life, and makes them lovers of purity and goodness.

The Fruit of the Light Ephesians 5: This section immediately follows the exhortation to personal purity. Every natural man is in that condition.


  • Product details;
  • The X-Files: Ruins?
  • Ironside Expository Commentaries.

They are spiritually discerned. We were once in that condition, and when in that darkened state, we walked in darkness, and practiced things of which we are now ashamed. But having become children of the light, being born of God and made light in the Lord, we are to walk as children of the light. In the first chapter of John we read of our Lord: Even if He uttered not a word, His pure and holy life, always in obedience to the Father, was in itself the condemnation of all sinful men.

He is the eternal life and He has communicated eternal life to us.

See a Problem?

That life is now to be shown as light. Why, there was such godliness about him. He was reverent but not sullen. He showed holiness without gloominess. Our children simply loved him, and yet there was such intense godliness that soon the little things that they used to do and say carelessly, dropped away. They did not like to say in his presence what they would when he was not there; when he was looking they did not like to do those things that ordinarily they would do with utter indifference. The effect of his presence in our home was simply wonderful and yet he never reproved anybody by word of mouth for anything they did or said, but he displayed the life, and the life was the light.


  • Reifezeit (German Edition);
  • Shame: Theory, Therapy, Theology?
  • Ironside Expository Commentaries | Best Commentaries Reviews.
  • Submerged Rage.

I have had the privilege of having in our home all sorts of Christians. Some of them were loved by our children and were always welcomed because of their Christlikeness and devotedness. Others have caused the children to gnash their teeth when they saw them coming up the walk. I can recall one good man who seemed to think it was his business to run our house when he was there. You can imagine how they loved to hear a man like that preach, how they would want to see him as a visitor in our home!

It is not the person who goes around constantly finding fault with other people who accomplishes the best results. He only stirs up the flesh and arouses the hatred of the natural heart to things that are pure and good. But the man who lives Christ, the woman who exhibits life eternal in the home, among friends, in the church, these are the people whose testimonies really count for God. You remember how the apostle Peter emphasized the purity of life when he addressed wives who have unconverted husbands. He said to them in 1 Peter 3: Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. I wonder if women these days have ever noticed this passage.

Peter was speaking of a woman who had been brought to Christ, and her husband was still in paganism or Judaism, as the case may be, and she was deeply concerned over his conversion.


  • Ephesians: An Ironside Expository Commentary: H.A. Ironside: - leondumoulin.nl;
  • Ephesians by H.A. Ironside.
  • Bible Study Tools.
  • Get A Copy.
  • Product Information.
  • Ironside Commentaries.
  • Ephesians: An Ironside Expository Commentary.

A perfect resource for preaching and teaching from the English text of the Bible, these commentaries also provide the general reader with an excellent resource for personal study and spiritual growth. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Ephesians , please sign up. Lists with This Book.

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Mar 17, Nicholas Carpathia added it Shelves: I have never read a book by Ironside that did not teach me something, lift my soul, and bless my heart. After reading this book I can still state that as a truth. Excellent commentary on Ephesians- I detected this book's influence on several other commentaries on the same book of the Bible- that should tell you something.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Apr 09, Larry rated it really liked it. Dec 12, Rich rated it really liked it. In, through and by Jesus Christ. Be reminded of the riches we are called to in Christ Jesus Grailxx rated it it was amazing Mar 08, Sheba Akridge rated it it was amazing Jan 18, Linda Stuckey rated it liked it Jan 14, Linda rated it it was amazing Feb 12, Charles Donaldson rated it it was amazing Oct 23, Andy rated it it was amazing Nov 25, Chuck Musselwhite rated it it was amazing Jan 05, Srjohnson rated it it was amazing Nov 12, Brian Beyer rated it it was amazing Jul 24, F rated it really liked it Apr 24, Kelly Dunn rated it liked it May 05, How do you apply them to yourselves, your audience, and the community?

His commentary series should be required reading for every serious Bible student. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. As with all of Dr. Ironsides books, this has depth but is also very readable. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a serious study of Ephesians.

Ephesians 5 Commentary - Ironside's Notes on Selected Books

One person found this helpful. Takes your thoughts to Jesus. I have really enjoyed this commentary as well as all of the works from H. All his commentaries are good. Easy to read and very thought revoking. I must repeat myself for all of the Expository Commentaries written by H. The review is the same. Thank you for publishing and making them available to us.

I have many of his books, they are so biblically correct That I read as much of his writings as I can. See all 9 reviews. Most recent customer reviews. Published on January 12, Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Ephesians Ironside Expository Commentaries. Set up a giveaway. Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.

Would you like to report poor quality or formatting in this book? Click here Would you like to report this content as inappropriate? Click here Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? There's a problem loading this menu right now. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime.

Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. View or edit your browsing history.