Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. - Ephesians 6:1-4 Parents and children J. Lathrop, D. D. I. DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO PARENTS. 1. Children owe to their parents an inward affection and regard. Their obedience should flow from love, gratitude, and esteem. 2. Children are to honour their parents by external tokens of respect. 3. Children are to obey the just commands of their parents. 4. Children are not only to obey the express commands of parents while under their authority, but to receive with decent and humble regard, the instructions, counsels, and reproofs which they may see fit to communicate afterward. 5. Children are to remember, and, if there is occasion, also to remunerate, the favours they have received from their parents. II. DUTIES OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 1. Parents are to instruct their children in the doctrines and duties of religion. 2. Parents must not content themselves with giving their children good instructions; but endeavour, by arguments, exhortations, and reproofs, to form their lives according to their instructions. 3. Parents must regulate the diversions of their children. 4. Parents should maintain the worship of God in their houses. 5. Let parents set their children a good example in everything. ( J. Lathrop, D. D. )

Benson Commentary Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Ephesians 6:1-4 . The apostle, having explained the duties of wives and husbands, proceeds to the duties of children and parents, and then to those of servants, or slaves rather, and masters, with which he finishes his account of relative duties. Children, obey your parents — Even your unbelieving parents, in every thing consistent with your duty to the Lord. In all things lawful, the will of the parent is a law to the child: for this is right — Manifestly just and reasonable. Honour — That is, love, reverence, obey, assist in all things; thy father and mother — The mother is particularly mentioned, as being more liable to be slighted than the father. Which is the first commandment with promise — For the promise implied in the second commandment does not belong to the keeping that command in particular, but the whole law. Whereas the fifth is the first commandment which hath a promise annexed to it in particular. This observation concerning the promise in the law, to those who honoured their parents, was made by the apostle, to show that the honouring of parents is a matter of the greatest importance to the well-being of society, and highly acceptable to God. That it may be well with thee — In temporal as well as spiritual things; and thou mayest live long on the earth — A promise that is usually fulfilled to eminently dutiful children; and he who lives long and well, has a long seed-time for an eternal harvest. But this promise in the Christian dispensation is to be understood chiefly in a more exalted and spiritual sense. And ye fathers — On the other hand, (whom he names rather than mothers, as being more apt to be stern and severe; mothers, however, are also included;) provoke not your children to wrath — By any harsh usage, or rigorous treatment of them. Do not needlessly fret or exasperate them; but bring them up — With all tenderness and mildness, and yet with steadiness; in the nurture and admonition — ?? ??????? ??? ???????? , in the discipline and instruction; of the Lord — As these expressions stand connected with the word Lord, it seems reasonable to explain them of such a course of discipline and instruction as properly belongs to a religious education, which ought to be employed by those that believe in the Lord, in forming their children for him, by laying a restraint on the first appearance of every vicious passion, and nourishing them up in the words of faith and sound doctrine. Ephesians 6:2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) Ephesians 6:3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 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; Ephesians 6:5-8 . Servants — ?????? , bond-servants; or he may include also those that were in the station of hired servants; be obedient to your masters — For the gospel does not cancel the civil rights of mankind; according to the flesh — That is, who have the command of your bodies, but not of your souls and consciences. Or, the expression may mean, who are your masters according to the present state of things: hereafter the servant will be free from his master; with fear and trembling — A proverbial expression, implying the utmost care and diligence; in singleness of heart — With a single eye to the providence and will of God; as unto Christ — With that sincerity and uniformity of conduct, which a regard to the honour of Christ, and his all-seeing eye, will require and produce. Not with eye- service — Serving your masters better when under their eye than at other times; as mere men-pleasers — Persons who have no regard to the pleasing of God; but as the servants of Christ — As those that desire to approve themselves his faithful servants; doing the will of God from the heart — Performing that duty to your masters which God requires of you; or doing whatever you do as the will of God, and with your might. With good-will doing service — Not with reluctance, but cheerfully, and from a principle of love to them and their concerns; as to the Lord, and not to men — Regarding him more than men, and making every action of common life a sacrifice to God, by having an eye to him in all things, even as if you had no other master. Knowing that whatsoever good thing — Whether for kind or degree; any man doth — Though never so poor and mean, in one station of life or another; the same shall he receive of the Lord — That is, a full and adequate recompense; whether he be bond or free — A slave or a free-man; whether he be the meanest servant or the greatest prince. For God is the universal guardian and protector of his people, and esteems men, not according to their stations in the world, but according to their behaviour in those stations, whether high or low. Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; Ephesians 6:7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Ephesians 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Ephesians 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. Ephesians 6:9 . And ye masters — On the other hand; do the same things unto them — That is, act toward them from the same principle, and after the same just and equitable manner, having an eye to the will and glory of God, and endeavouring to approve yourselves to him; forbearing threatening — Conducting yourselves toward your servants with gentleness and humanity, not in a harsh or domineering way; knowing that your Master also — Namely, Christ; is in heaven — On the throne of God, and that his authority over you is much greater and more absolute, than yours is over any of your fellow-creatures; neither is there respect of persons with him — Whatsoever difference there may be in their stations on earth: but he will administer to all the most strict and impartial justice, rewarding or punishing every one according to his real character, and especially showing that he remembers the cry of the oppressed, though men may consider them, on account of the inferiority of their circumstances, as below their regards. Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Ephesians 6:10-11 . The apostle having delivered the preceding precepts respecting relative duties, now adds a general exhortation to the believing Ephesians, to be hearty and zealous in the performance of all their duties, which he enforces by the discovery of another deep article of the mystery of God; namely, that evil angels are leagued together against men, and are continually occupied in tempting them to sin. Finally — ?? ?????? , as to what remains; my brethren — This is the only place in this epistle where he uses this compellation. Soldiers frequently use it to each other in the field. Be strong in the Lord — Since every relation in life brings along with it corresponding duties, and requires vigour and resolution in the discharge of them, whatever therefore the circumstance or situation may be which you are in, see that you do not rely on your own strength, but apply to the Lord, for his strength, and arm yourselves with the power of his might — Confiding therein by faith, persuaded that nothing else will suffice to enable you to withstand the assaults of your spiritual enemies, and to do and suffer the will of God concerning you. Remember, that to be weak and remain so, is the way to be overcome and perish. Put on the whole armour of God — The Greek word here used, ???????? , means a complete suit of armour, offensive as well as defensive; consisting in the exercise of all those Christian graces with which we are furnished by God, to be used in his strength, as well to annoy the enemy, as to defend ourselves: and it appears, by the particular description which the apostle here gives of it, that it includes every sort of armour, and is adapted to the defence of every part liable to be attacked. He says, not armour, but whole armour; and the expression is repeated Ephesians 6:13 , because of the strength and subtlety of our enemies, and because of an evil day of sore trial being at hand. Macknight thinks the apostle contrasts the graces and virtues which he mentions, with the complete armour fabled by the heathen poets to have been fabricated by the gods, and bestowed on their favourite heroes. “That armour was vastly inferior to the complete armour of God. For, 1st, The Christian’s complete armour is really of divine workmanship, and is actually bestowed on the Christian soldier; whereas the other is mere fiction. 2d, The armour said to have been given by the heathen gods, consisting of brass and steel, could only defend the body of the hero who was covered with it; but the complete armour given by the true God, consisting of the Christian virtues, is useful for defending the minds of the faithful against all the temptations with which their enemies attack them. 3d, The complete armour of God gives strength to the Christian soldier in the battle; and therefore is far preferable to any armour made of metals, which may defend, but cannot strengthen the body of the warrior.” That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil — Against all his artifices and subtle methods, against all the snares he may lay for you, and all the rage and fury with which he may attack you. The original expression, ????????? , signifies crafty ways. The apostle does not simply intend the temptations which arise from the motions of the flesh, the love of pleasure, the fear of persecution, the contagion of evil example, the solicitations of the wicked, the sophisms of the philosophers and the unbelieving Jews, and the false glosses of heretical teachers in the church itself; but all these temptations as prepared and pointed against men, by such skilful, experienced, and malicious enemies as the devil and his angels. See the next verse. Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 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 . Ephesians 6:12 . For we wrestle not — Greek, ??? ????? ???? ? ???? , our struggle is not; against flesh and blood — Not merely against human adversaries, however powerful, subtle, and cruel, nor against fleshly appetites; but against principalities, against powers — The mighty princes of all the infernal legions: and great is their power, and that likewise of the legions which they command. Against the rulers of the darkness of this world — Greek, ???? ???? ????????????? ??? ??????? , ??? ?????? ?????? , against the rulers of the world, of the darkness of this age. Dr. Whitby explains this of “those evil spirits that ruled in the heathen nations which were yet in darkness,” and of “those that had their stations in the region of the air.” “Perhaps,” says Mr. Wesley, “these principalities and powers” (spoken of in the former clause) “remain mostly in the citadel of the kingdom of darkness; but there are other evil spirits who range abroad, to whom the provinces of the world are committed.” By the darkness of this age, that spiritual darkness is intended, which prevails during the present state of things. “Evil spirits,” Macknight thinks, “are called rulers of this world, because the dominion which, by the permission of God, they exercise, is limited to the darkness of this world; that is, this world darkened by ignorance, wickedness, and misery, and which is the habitation or prison assigned them, until the judgment of the great day, Jude, Ephesians 6:6 .” Against spiritual wickedness — Or rather, wicked spirits, as the Syriac translates the expression. The word ??????? , rendered wickedness, properly signifies malice joined with cunning, and is fitly mentioned as the characteristic of those wicked spirits with whom we are at war; and it is a quality so much the more dangerous, in that it exists in beings whose natural faculties are very great. And it must be observed, that they continually oppose faith, love, holiness, either by force or fraud, and labour to infuse unbelief, pride, idolatry, malice, envy, anger, hatred. In high places — Greek, ?? ???? ??????????? , in, or about, heavenly places. Those who translate it in the former way, think the expression refers to those places where they rebelled against the God of heaven, and drew in multitudes who were before holy and happy spirits, to take part with them in their impious revolt. But it seems more probable the sense is, about heavenly places; namely, the places which were once the abodes of those spirits, and which they still aspire to, as far as they are permitted; labouring at the same time to prevent our obtaining them. Dr. Goodwin, however, thinks that not heavenly places, but heavenly things are intended; namely, spiritual and eternal blessings, about which we may be properly said to wrestle with them, while we endeavour to secure these blessings to ourselves, and they to hinder us from attaining them. Ephesians 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. Ephesians 6:13-14 . Wherefore — On this account, because the prize for which you contend is of such great value, and the enemies that oppose you are so subtle, powerful, and malicious, and will assuredly exert themselves to the utmost to effect your destruction, again let me say, Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand — These dangerous enemies; in the evil day — The day of temptation and trial. The war, we may observe, is perpetual: but the fight is one day less, and another more violent, and may be longer or shorter, admitting of numberless varieties; and having done all — Having exerted yourselves to the utmost, and used the grace conferred upon you, and the means and advantages vouchsafed you, according to the will of God, which indeed it will be absolutely necessary for you to do; or, having gone through all your conflicts, and accomplished your warfare; to stand — Victorious and with joy, before the Son of man. Stand therefore, having your loins girt — And being in readiness for the encounter as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; with truth — Not only with the truths of the gospel, but with truth in the inward parts, without which all our knowledge of divine truth will prove but a poor girdle in the evil day. Indeed, as faith is mentioned afterward as a distinct part of the spiritual armour, truth in this place cannot chiefly mean those truths which are the objects of the Christian faith, but rather a true or unfeigned profession of that faith, in opposition to that which is hypocritical, and uprightness of heart in our whole behaviour toward God and man, and a sincere desire to know and do the will of God, in all things. “It has often been observed,” says Doddridge, “that the military girdle was not only an ornament but a defence, as it hid the gaping joints of the armour, and kept them close and steady, as well as fortified the loins of those that wore it, and rendered them more vigorous and fit for action. The chief difficulty here is to know whether truth refers to the true principles of religion, or to integrity in our conduct: and how, on the latter interpretation, to keep it distinct from the breast-plate of righteousness, or, on the former, from the shield of faith. But it seems probable to me, that it may rather signify some virtue of the mind, as all the other parts of the armour enumerated do; and then it must refer to that uprightness and sincerity of intention, which produces righteousness, or a holy and equitable conduct, as its proper fruit.” Thus our Lord is described, Isaiah 11:5 ; and as a man girded is always ready for action, and a soldier, who is girded with the military belt, is fitted either for marching or fighting; so this seems intended to intimate an obedient heart, a ready will. Our Lord adds to the loins girded, the lights burning, Luke 12:35 ; showing that watching and ready obedience are inseparable companions. And having on the breast-plate of righteousness — Imputed and implanted, justification and sanctification, or pardon and holiness. See on Romans 4:5 ; Romans 4:8 ; Romans 6:6-22 ; 1 Corinthians 1:30 . In the breast is the seat of conscience, which is guarded by righteousness imputed to us in our justification, implanted in us in our regeneration, and practised by us in consequent obedience to the divine will. In the parallel place, 1 Thessalonians 5:8 , this piece of spiritual armour is called the breast-plate of faith and love; justification being received by faith, and love being the source of all our holiness. Perhaps the apostle, in this passage, alluded to Isaiah 59:17 , where the Messiah is said to have put on righteousness as a breast-plate; that is, by the holiness of his conduct, and his consciousness thereof, he defended himself from being moved by the calumnies and reproaches of the wicked. No armour for the back is mentioned; we are always to face our enemies. Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Ephesians 6:15 . And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace — Let peace with God, and, consequent thereon, peace of conscience and tranquillity of mind, in all circumstances and situations, (for which ample provision is made in the gospel,) arm you with confidence and resolution to proceed forward in all the ways of duty, however rough and difficult, through which you are called to pass, and enable you to receive with resignation and patience all the dispensations of that wise and gracious Providence, which is always watching over you for good, and is engaged to support you under your trials, to sanctify them to you, and in due time to deliver you out of them. In this way, and in no other, will you be enabled to pass through all difficulties unhurt, surmount all oppositions which obstruct your progress, to endure to the end, and finish your course with joy. Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Ephesians 6:16 . Above all — ??? ????? , upon, or over all, these and the other parts of your armour, as a sort of universal covering; taking the shield of faith — Continually exercise a strong and lively faith in the truths and promises of the gospel, and in the person and offices, the merits and grace of the Lord Jesus, in whom all these truths and promises are, yea and amen, 2 Corinthians 1:20 . Wherewith — If you keep it in lively exercise; ye shall be able to quench — To repel and render without effect; all the fiery darts — The furious temptations, the violent and sudden injections; of the wicked — ??? ??????? , the wicked one, Satan, called so by way of eminence, because in him the most consummate skill and cunning are joined. Anciently they used small firebrands, in the form of darts and arrows, which they kindled and shot among their enemies. These were called ???? ?????????? , tela ignita, fiery darts. And in battle they were received by the soldiers on their shields, which were covered with brass or iron, in order to extinguish them, or prevent their effect. Or, as Dr. Goodwin and many others suppose, the apostle may refer to an ancient custom, still prevailing among some barbarous nations, to dip their arrows in the blood or gall of asps and vipers, or other poisonous preparations, which fire the blood of those who are wounded with them, occasion exquisite pain, and make the least wound mortal. And some Greek writers tell us, that it was usual for soldiers to have shields made of raw hides, which immediately quenched them. It is also certain that some arrows were discharged with so great a velocity, that they fired in their passage. See Doddridge. Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Ephesians 6:17 . And take the helmet of salvation — That is, the hope of salvation, as it is expressed in the parallel passage, 1 Thessalonians 5:8 . The helmet was for the defence of the head, a part which it concerned them most carefully to defend, because one stroke there might easily have proved fatal. Thus it concerns the Christian to defend his mind, courage, and fortitude against all temptations to dejection and despondency, by a lively hope of eternal life, felicity, and glory, built on the promises of God, which ensure that salvation to those disciples of Christ, whose faith continues to the end to work by love. Armed with this helmet, the hope of the joy set before him, Christ endured the cross and despised the shame. Hence this hope is termed ( Hebrews 6:19 ) an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, entering into that within the veil. Hitherto our armour has been only defensive: but we are to attack Satan, as well as to secure ourselves. The apostle therefore adds, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God — Here the apostle calls the word of God the sword of the Spirit, because it was given by inspiration of the Spirit; and because the doctrines, promises, and precepts of it, are the most effectual means of putting our spiritual enemies to flight. Of this efficacy of the word of God, we have an illustrious example in our Lord’s temptations in the wilderness, who put the devil to flight by quotations from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. And if we would repel his attacks with success, we must not only take the fore-mentioned shield in one hand, but this sword of the Spirit in the other; for whoever fights with the powers of darkness, will need both. He that is covered with armour from head to foot, and neglects this, will be foiled after all. We may observe here, with Beza, that all the parts of the complete armour of the ancients are elegantly introduced in the apostle’s account of the Christian’s complete armour. For there is, first, the military belt, called by the Greeks ?????? , and by the Latins balteus. This covered the two parts of the breast-plate where they joined. The breast-plate was the second article of the complete armour, and consisted of two pieces; the one reaching from the neck to the navel, and the other hanging from thence to the knees. The former was called ????? , the latter ???? . Accordingly, in the parallel passage, 1 Thessalonians 5:8 , the breast-plate is said to consist of two parts, faith and love. Next to the breast-plate were the greaves, which made the third article of the complete armour. They were called by the Greeks ???????? , and by the Latins ocreæ, and were made of gold, or silver, or brass, or iron, and were designed to defend the legs and feet against the strokes of stones or arrows. Thus Goliah had greaves of brass upon his legs, 1 Samuel 17:6 . The fourth article of the complete armour was the helmet, which likewise was made of metals of different sorts, and was used to defend the head against the strokes of swords, and missile weapons. Add, in the fifth place, the shield, and the whole body is completely covered. But, besides the defensive armour, just now described, offensive weapons were likewise necessary to render the soldier’s armour complete; particularly the sword, to which, as we have seen, the apostle alludes, in speaking of the Christian armour. They had darts, likewise, or javelins, referred to Ephesians 6:16 . This whole description, given by St. Paul, shows how great a thing it is to be a Christian: the want of any one of the particulars here mentioned makes his character incomplete. Though he have his loins girt with truth, righteousness for a breast-plate, his feet shod with the peace of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of hope, and the sword of the Spirit; yet one thing he wants after all. What is that? It follows in the next verse. Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:18 . Praying always — As if he had said, And join prayer to all these graces, for your defence against your spiritual enemies, and that at all times, and on every occasion, in the midst of all employments, inwardly praying without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:7 ; with all prayer — Public and private, mental and vocal, ordinary and extraordinary, occasional and solemn. Some are careful with respect to one kind of prayer only, and negligent in others: some use only mental prayer, or ejaculations, and think they are in a high state of grace, and use a way of worship far superior to any other; but such only fancy themselves to be above what is really above them; it requiring far more grace to be enabled to pour out a fervent and continued prayer, than to offer up mental aspirations. If we would receive the petitions we ask, let us use every sort. And supplication — Repeating and urging our prayer, as Christ did in the garden; and watching thereunto — Keeping our minds awake to a sense of our want of the blessings we ask, and of the excellence and necessity of them; and maintaining a lively expectation of receiving them, and also inwardly attending on God to know his will, and gain power to do it. With all perseverance — With unwearied importunity renewing our petitions till they be granted, Luke 18:1-5 ; 2 Corinthians 12:8 ; notwithstanding apparent repulses, Matthew 15:22-28 . And supplication for all saints — Wrestling in fervent, continued intercessions for others, especially for the faithful, that they may do all the will of God, and be steadfast to the end. Perhaps we receive few answers to prayer, because we do not intercede enough for others. Ephesians 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, Ephesians 6:19-20 . And for me also — See on Colossians 4:3 ; that utterance may be given unto me — Free liberty of expression, every inward and every outward hinderance being removed; that I may open my mouth boldly — May deliver the whole truth without any base fear, shame, or diffidence, considering how important it is to the glory of God, and the salvation of mankind, that it should be so delivered; to make known the mystery of the gospel — In the clearest and most effectual manner. For which I am an ambassador in bonds — The ambassadors of men usually appear in great pomp: in what a different state does the ambassador of Christ appear! The Greek, ???????? ?? ?????? , is literally, I execute the office of an ambassador in a chain. See on Acts 28:16 . As the persons of ambassadors were always sacred, the apostle, in speaking thus, seems to refer to the outrage that was done to his Divine Master in this violation of his liberty. Ephesians 6:20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 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: Ephesians 6:21-22 . That ye also — As well as others; may know my affairs — The things which have happened to me, and what I am doing at present: or, the things which relate to me, as the expression, ?? ??? ’ ??? , which occurs likewise Php 1:12 , signifies. The apostle means that he wished the Ephesians, as well as the Philippians and Colossians, to know what success he had had in preaching at Rome, what opposition he had met with, what comfort he had enjoyed under his sufferings, what converts he had made to Christ, and in what manner the evidences of the gospel affected the minds of the inhabitants of Rome. These, and such like things, he sent Tychicus to make known to them. Ephesians 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. Ephesians 6:23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 6:23-24 . Peace be to the brethren — That is, all prosperity in matters temporal and spiritual; and love — To God, one another, and all the saints, arising from God’s love to you; with faith — In God, in Christ, and his gospel, accompanied with every other grace; from God the Father — The original source of all our blessings; and the Lord Jesus Christ — Through whose mediation alone they are communicated to us. Grace — The unmerited favour of God, and those influences of his Spirit, which are the effect thereof; be with all them that love our Lord Jesus in sincerity — ?? ???????? , literally, in incorruption: that is, without any mixture of corrupt affections, or without decay; who continue to love him till grace shall end in glory. Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Chapter 27 THE CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD Ephesians 6:1-9 THE Christian family is the cradle and the fortress of the Christian faith. Here its virtues shine most brightly; and by this channel its influence spreads through society and the course of generations. Marriage has been placed under the guardianship of God; it is made single, chaste, and enduring, according to the law of creation and the pattern of Christ’s union with His Church. With parents thus united, family honour is secure; and a basis is laid for reverence and discipline within the house. I. Thus the apostle turns, in the opening words of chapter 6, from the husband and wife to the children of the household. He addresses them as present in the assembly where his letter is read. St. Paul accounted the children "holy," if but one parent belonged to the Church. { 1 Corinthians 7:14 } They were baptised, as we presume, with their fathers or mothers, and admitted, under due precautions, to the fellowship of the Church so far as their age allowed. We cannot limit this exhortation to children of adult age. The "discipline and admonition of the Lord," prescribed in Ephesians 6:4 , belong to children of tender years and under parental control. Obedience is the law of childhood. It is, in great part, the child’s religion, to be practised "in the Lord." The reverence and love, full of a sweet mystery, which the Christian child feels towards its Saviour and heavenly King, add new sacredness to the claims of father and mother. Jesus Christ, the Head over all things, is the orderer of the life of boys and girls. His love and His might guard the little one in the tendance of its parents. The wonderful love of parents to their offspring, and the awful authority with which they are invested, come from the source of human life in God. The Latin pietas impressed a religious character upon filial duty. This word signifies at once dutifulness towards the gods, and towards parents and kindred. In the strength of its family ties and its deep filial reverence lay the secret of the moral vigour and the unmatched discipline of the Roman commonwealth. The history of ancient Rome affords a splendid illustration of the fifth commandment. For this is right, says the apostle, appealing to the instincts of natural religion. The child’s conscience begins here. Filial obedience is the primary form of duty. The loyalties of afterlife take their colour from the lessons learnt at home, in the time of dawning reason and incipient will. Hard indeed is the evil to remove, where in the plastic years of childhood obedience has been associated with base fear, with distrust or deceit, where it has grown sullen or obsequious in habit. From this root of bitterness there spring rank growths of hatred toward authority, jealousies, treacheries, and stubbornness. Obedience rendered "in the Lord" will be frank and willing, careful and constant, such as that which Jesus rendered to the Father. St. Paul reminds the children of the law of the Ten Words, taught to them in their earliest lessons from Scripture. He calls the command in question "a first [or chief] commandment"-just as the great rule, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," is the first commandment; for this is no secondary rule or minor precept, but one on which the continuance of the Church and the welfare of society depend. It is a law fundamental as birth itself, written not on the statute-book alone, but on the tables of the heart. Moreover, it is a "command in promise"-that takes the form of promise, and holds out to obedience a bright future. The two predicates-"first" and "in promise"-as we take it, are distinct. To merge them into one blunts their meaning. This commandment is primary in its importance, and promissory in its import. The promise is quoted from Exodus 20:12 , as it stands in the Septuagint, where the Greek Christian children would read it. But the last clause is abbreviated; St. Paul writes "upon the earth’" in place of "the good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." This blessing is the heritage of dutiful children in every land. Those who have watched the history of godly families of their acquaintance, will have seen the promise verified. The obedience of childhood and youth rendered to a wise Christian rule forms in the young nature the habits of self-control and self-respect, of diligence and promptitude and faithfulness and kindliness of heart, which are the best guarantees for happiness and success in life. Through parental nurture "godliness" secures its "promise of the life that now is." Children are exhorted to submission: fathers to gentleness. "Do not," the apostle says, "anger your children"; in the corresponding place in Colossians, "Do not irritate your children, lest they be disheartened." { Ephesians 3:21 } In these parallel texts two distinct verbs are rendered by the one English word "provoke." The Colossian passage warns against the chafing effect of parental exactions and fretfulness, that tend to break the child’s spirit and spoil its temper. Our text warns the father against angering his child by unfair or oppressive treatment. From this verb comes the noun "wrath" (or "provocation") used in Ephesians 4:26 , denoting that stirring of anger which gives peculiar occasion to the devil. Not that the father is forbidden to cross his child’s wishes, or to do anything or refuse anything that may excite its anger. Nothing is worse for a child than to find that parents fear its displeasure, and that it will gain its ends by passion. But the father must not be exasperating, must not needlessly thwart the child’s inclinations and excite in order to subdue its anger, as some will do even of set purpose, thinking that in this way obedience is learnt. This policy may secure submission; but it is gained at the cost of a rankling sense of injustice. Household rule should be equally firm and kind, neither provoking nor avoiding the displeasure of its subjects, inflicting no severity for severity’s sake, but shrinking from none that fidelity demands. With much parental fondness, there is sometimes in family government a want of seriousness and steady principle, an absence in father or mother of the sense that they are dealing with moral and responsible beings in their little ones, and not with toys, which is reflected in the caprice and self-indulgence of the children’s maturer life. Such parents will give account hereafter of their stewardship with an inconsolable grief. It is almost superfluous to insist on the apostle’s exhortation to treat children kindly. For them these are days of Paradise, compared with times not far distant. Never were the wants and the fancies of these small mortals catered for as they are now. In some households the danger lies in the opposite extreme from that of over-strictness. The children are idolised. Not their comfort and welfare only, but their humours and caprices become the law of the house. They are "nourished" indeed, but not "in the discipline and admonition of the Lord." It is a great unkindness to treat our children so that they shall be strangers to hardship and restriction, so that they shall not know what real obedience means, and have no reverence for age, no habits of deference and self-denial. It is the way to breed monsters of selfishness, pampered creatures who will be useless and miserable in adult life. "Discipline and admonition" are distinguished as positive and negative terms. The first is the "training up of the child in the way that he should go"; the second checks and holds him back from the ways in which he should not go. The former word (paideia)-denoting primarily treating-as-a-boy- signifies very often "chastisement"; but it has a wider sense, embracing instruction besides. It includes the whole course of training by which the boy is reared into a man. -Admonition is a still more familiar word with St. Paul. It may be reproof bearing upon errors in the past; or it may be warning, that points out dangers lying in the future. Both these services parents owe to their children. Admonition implies faults in the nature of the child, and wisdom in the father to see and correct them. "Foolishness," says the Hebrew proverb, "is bound up in the heart of a child." In the Old Testament discipline there was something over-stern. The "hardness of heart" censured by the Lord Jesus, which allowed of two mothers in the house, put barriers between the father and his offspring that rendered "the rod of correction" more needful than it is under the rule of Christ. But correction, in gentler or severer sort, there must be, so long as children spring from sinful parents. The child’s conscience responds to the kindly and searching word of reproof, to the admonition of love. This faithful dealing with his children wins for the father in the end a deep gratitude, and makes his memory a guard in days of temptation and an object of tender reverence. The child’s "obedience in the Lord" is its response to "the discipline and admonition of the Lord" exercised by its parents. The discipline which wise Christian fathers give their children, is the Lord’s discipline applied through them. "Correction and instruction should proceed from the Lord and be directed by the Spirit of the Lord, in such a way that it is not so much the father who corrects his children and teaches them, as the Lord through him" (Monod). Thus the Father of whom every family on earth is named, within each Christian house works all in all. Thus the chief Shepherd, through His under-shepherds, guides and feeds the lambs of His flock. By the gate of His fold fathers and mothers themselves have entered; and the little ones follow with them. In the pastures of His word they nourish them, and rule them with His rod and staff. To their offspring they become an image of the Good Shepherd and the Father in heaven. Their office teaches them more of God’s fatherly ways with themselves. From their children’s humbleness and confidence, from their simple wisdom, their hopes and fears and ignorances, the elders learn deep and affecting lessons concerning their own relations to the heavenly Father. St. Paul’s instruction to fathers applies to all who have the charge of children: to schoolmasters of every degree, whose work, secular as it may be called, touches the springs of moral life and character; to teachers in the Sunday school, successors to the work that Christ assigned to Peter, of shepherding His lambs. These instructors supply the Lord’s nurture to multitudes of children, in whose homes Christian faith and example are wanting. The ideas which children form of Christ and His religion are gathered from what they see and hear in the school. Many a child receives its bias for life from the influence of the teacher before whom it sits on Sunday. The love and meekness of wisdom, or the coldness or carelessness of the one who thus stands between Christ and the infant soul, will make or mar its spiritual future. II. From the children of the house the apostle proceeds to address the servants-slaves as they were, until the gospel unbound their chains. The juxtaposition of children and slaves is full of significance; it is a tacit prophecy of emancipation. It brings the slave within the household, and gives a new dignity to domestic service. The Greek philosophers regarded slavery as a fundamental institution, indispensable to the existence of civilised society. That the few might enjoy freedom and culture, the many were doomed to bondage. Aristotle defines the slave as an "animated tool," and the tool as an "inanimate slave." Two or three facts will suffice to show how utterly slaves were deprived of human rights in the brilliant times of the classic humanism. In Athens it was the legal rule to admit the evidence of a slave only upon torture, as that of a freeman was received upon oath. Amongst the Romans, if a master had been murdered in his house, the whole of his domestic servants, amounting sometimes to hundreds, were put to death without inquiry. It was a common mark of hospitality to assign to a guest a female slave for the night, like any other convenience. Let it be remembered that the slave population outnumbered the free citizens of the Roman and Greek cities by many times; that they were frequently of the same race, and might be even superior in education to their masters. Indeed, it was a lucrative trade to rear young slaves and train them in literary and other accomplishments, and then to let them out in these capacities for hire. Let any one consider the condition of society which all this involved, and he will have some conception of the degradation in which the masses of mankind were plunged, and of the crushing tyranny that the world laboured under in the boasted days of republican liberty and Hellenic art. No wonder that the new religion was welcome to the slaves of the Pagan cities, and that they flocked into the Church. Welcome to them was the voice that said: "Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden"; welcome the proclamation that made them Christ’s freedmen, "brethren beloved" where they had been "animated tools". { Philemon 1:16 } In the light of such teaching, slavery was doomed. Its read option by Christian nations, and the imposition of its yoke upon the race, is amongst the great crimes of history, -a crime for which the white man has had to pay rivers of his blood. The social fabric, as it then existed, was so entirely based upon slavery, that for Christ and the apostles to have proclaimed its abolition would have meant universal anarchy. In writing to Philemon about his converted slave Onesimus, the apostle does not say, "Release him," though the word seems to be trembling on his lips. In 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 he even advises the slave who has the chance of manumission to remain where he is, content to be "the Lord’s freedman." To the Christian slave what mattered it who ruled over his perishing body! his spirit was free, death would be his discharge and enfranchisement. No decree is issued to abolish bond-service between man and man; but it was destroyed in its essence by the spirit of Christian brotherhood. It melted away in the spread of the gospel, as snow and winter melt before the face of spring. "Ye slaves, obey your lords according to the flesh." The apostle does not disguise the slave’s subservience; nor does he speak in the language of pity or of condescension. He appeals as a man to men and equals, on the ground of a common faith and service to Christ. He awakens in these degraded tools of society the sense of spiritual manhood, of conscience and loyalty, of love and faith and hope. As in Colossians 3:22-25 thru Colossians 4:1 , the apostle designates the earthly master not by his common title ( despotes ), but by the very word ( kyrios ) that is the title of the Lord Christ, giving the slave in this way to understand that he has, in common with his master ( Ephesians 6:9 ), a higher Lord in the spirit. "Ye are slaves to the Lord Christ!" { Colossians 3:24 } St. Paul is accustomed to call himself "a slave of Christ Jesus." Nay, it is even said, in Php 2:7 , that Christ Jesus "took the form of a slave"! How much there was, then, to console the Christian bondman for his lot. In self-abnegation, in the willing forfeiture of personal rights, in his menial and unrequited tasks, in submission to insult and injustice, he found a holy joy. His was a path in which he might closely follow the steps of the great Servant of mankind. His position enabled him to "adorn the Saviour’s doctrine" above other men. { Titus 2:9-10 } Affectionate, gentle, bearing injury with joyful courage, the Christian. slave held up to that hardened and jaded Pagan age the example which it most required. God chose the base things of the world to bring to nought the mighty. The relations of servant and master will endure, in one shape or other, while the world stands. And the apostle’s injunctions bear upon servants of every order. We are all, in our various capacities, servants of the community. The moral worth of our service and its blessing to ourselves depend on the conditions that are here laid down. I. There must be a genuine care for our work. "Obey," he says, "with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto the Christ." The fear enjoined is no dread of human displeasure, of the master’s whip or tongue. It is the same "fear and trembling" with which we are bidden to "work out our own salvation". { Php 2:12 } The inward work of the soul’s salvation and the outward work of the busy hands labouring in the mine or at the loom, or in the lowliest domestic duties, -all alike are to be performed under a solemn responsibility to God and in the presence of Christ, the Lord of nature and of men, who understands every sort of work, and will render to each of His servants a just and exact reward. No man, whether he be minister of state or stable-groom, will dare to do heedless work, who lives and acts in that august Presence, - "As ever in the great Task-master’s eye." II. The sense of Christ’s Lordship ensures honesty in work. So the apostle continues: "Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers." Both these are rare compound words, -the former indeed occurring only here and in the companion letter, being coined, probably, by the writer for this use. It is the common fault and temptation of servants in all degrees to observe the master’s eye, and to work busily or slackly as they are watched or not. Such workmen act as they do, because they look to men and not to God. Their work is without conscience and self-respect. The visible master says "Well done!" But there is another Master looking on who says "Ill done!" to all pretentious doings and works o eye-service, -who sees not as man sees, but judges with the act the motive and intent. "Not on the vulgar mass Called work must sentence pass, Things done, which took the eye and had the price." In His book of accounts there is a stern reckoning in store for deceitful dealers and the makers-up of unsound goods, in whatever handicraft or headcraft they are engaged. Let us all adopt St. Paul’s maxim; it will be an immense economy. What armies of overlookers and inspectors we shall be able to dismiss, when every servant works as well behind his master’s back as to his face, when every manufacturer and shopkeeper puts himself in the purchaser’s place and deals as he would have others deal with him. It was for the Christian slaves of the Greek trading cities to rebuke the Greek spirit of fraud and trickery, by which the common dealings of life ‘in all directions were vitiated. III. To the carefulness and honesty of the slave’s daily labour he must even add heartiness: "as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the soul, with good will doing service, as to the Lord and not to men." They must do the will of God in the service of men, as Jesus Christ Himself did it, -and with His meekness and fortitude and unwearied love. Their work will thus be rendered from inner principle, with thought and affection and resolution spent upon it. That alone is the work of a man, whether he preaches or ploughs, which comes from the soul behind the hands and the tongue, into which the workman puts as much of his soul, of himself, as the work is capable of holding. IV. Add to all this the servant’s anticipation of the final reward. In each case, "whatsoever one may do that is good, this he will receive from the Lord, whether he be a bondman or a freeman." The complementary truth is given in the Colossian letter: "He who does wrong, will receive back the wrong that he did." The doctrine of equal retribution at the judgment-seat of Christ matches that of equal salvation at the cross of Christ. How trifling and evanescent the differences of earthly rank appear, in view of these sublime realities. There is a "Lord in heaven," alike for servant and for master, "with whom is no respect of persons" ( Ephesians 6:9 ). This grand conviction beats down all caste-pride. It teaches justice to the mighty and the proud; it exalts the humble, and assures the down-trodden of redress. No bribery or privilege, no sophistry or legal cunning will avail, no concealment or distortion of the facts will be possible in that Court of final appeal. The servant and the master, the monarch and his meanest subject will stand before the bar of Jesus Christ upon the same footing. And the poor slave, wonderful to think, who was faithful in the "few things" of his drudging earthly lot, will receive the "many things" of a son of God and a joint-heir with Christ! "And, ye lords, do the same things towards them"-be as good to your slaves as they are required to be towards you. A bold application this of Christ’s great rule: "What you would that men should do to you, do even so to them." In many instances this rule suggested liberation, where the slave was prepared for freedom. In any case, the master is to put himself in his dependent’s place and to act by him as he would desire himself to be treated if their positions were reversed. Slaves were held to be scarcely human. Deceit and sensuality were regarded as their chief characteristics. They must be ruled, the moralists said, by the fear of punishment. This was the only way to keep them in their place. The Christian master adopts a different policy. He "desists from threatening"; he treats his servants with even-handed justice, with fit courtesy and consideration. The recollection is ever present to his mind, that he must give account of his charge over each one of them to his Lord and theirs. So he will make, as far as in him lies, his own domain an image of the kingdom of Christ. Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Chapter 28 ON THE APPROACHING CONFLICT Ephesians 6:10-20 . THE FOES OF THE CHURCH Ephesians 6:10-12 We follow the Revised reading of the opening word of this paragraph, and the preferable rendering given by the Revisers in their margin. The adverb is the same that is found in Galatians 6:17 ("Henceforth let no man trouble me"); not that used in Php 3:1 and elsewhere ("Finally, my brethren," etc.). The copyists have conformed our text, seemingly, to the latter passage. We are recalled to the circumstances and occasion of the epistle. High as St. Paul soars in meditation, he does not forget the situation of his readers. The words of Ephesians 4:14 showed us how well aware he is of the dangers looming before the Asian Churches. The epistle to the Colossians is altogether a letter of conflict. {see Colossians 2:1 ff.} In writing that letter St. Paul was wrestling with spiritual powers, mighty for evil, which had commenced their attack upon this outlying post of the Ephesian province. He sees in the sky the cloud portending a desolating storm. The clash of hostile arms is heard approaching. This is no time for sloth or fear, for a faith half-hearted or half-equipped. "You have need of your best manhood and of all the weapons of the spiritual armoury, to hold your ground in the conflict that is coming upon you. Henceforth be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength." It is the apostle’s call to arms!-"Be strengthened in the Lord," he says (to render the imperative literally: so in 2 Timothy 2:1 ). Make His strength your own. The strength he bids them assume is power, ability, strength adequate to its end. "The might of His strength" repeats the combination of terms we found in Ephesians 1:19 . That sovereign power of the Almighty which raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, belongs to the Lord Christ Himself. From its resources He will clothe and arm His people. "In the Lord," says Israel evermore, "is righteousness and strength. The rock of my salvation and my refuge is in God." The Church’s strength lies in the almightiness of her risen Lord, the Captain of her warfare. "The panoply of God" ( Ephesians 6:2 ) reminds us of the saying of Jesus in reference to His casting out of demons, recorded in Luke 11:21-22 -the only other instance in the New Testament of this somewhat rare Greek word. The Lord Jesus describes Himself in conflict with Satan, who as "the strong one armed keeps his possessions in peace,"-until there "come upon him the stronger than he," who conquers him and takes away his panoply wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils. In this text the situation is reversed; and the "full armour" belongs to Christ’s servants, who are equipped to meet the counter-attack of Satan and the powers of evil. There is a Divine and a Satanic panoply-arms tempered in heaven and in hell, to be wielded by the sons of light and of darkness respectively. {comp. Romans 13:12 } The weapons of warfare on the two sides are even as the two leaders that furnish them-"the strong one armed" and the "Stronger than he." Mightier are faith and love than unbelief and hate; "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." Let us review the forces marshalled against us, -their nature, their mode of assault, and the arena of the contest. I. The Asian Christians had to "stand against the wiles [schemes, or methods] of the devil." Unquestionably, the New Testament assumes the personality of Satan. This belief runs counter to modern thought, governed as it is by the tendency to depersonalise existence. The conception of evil spirits given us in the Bible is treated as an obsolete superstition; and the name of the Evil One, with multitudes serves only to point a profane or careless jest. To Jesus Christ, it is very certain, Satan was no figure of speech; but a thinking and active being, of whose presence and influence He saw tokens everywhere in this evil world. {comp. Ephesians 2:2 } If the Lord Jesus speaks what He knows, and testifies what He has seen concerning the mysteries of the other world, there can be no question of the existence of a personal devil. If in any matter He was bound, as a teacher of spiritual truth, to disavow Jewish superstition, surely Christ was so bound in this matter. Yet instead of repudiating the current belief in Satan and the demons, He earnestly accepts it; and it entered into His own deepest experiences. In the visible forms of sin Jesus saw the shadow of His great antagonist. "From the Evil One" He taught His disciples to pray that they might be delivered. The victims of disease and madness whom He healed, were so many captives rescued from the malignant power of Satan. And when Jesus went to meet His death, He viewed it as the supreme conflict with the usurper and oppressor who claimed to be "the prince of this world." Satan is the consummate form of depraved and untruthful intellect. We read of his "thoughts," his "schemes," his subtlety and deceit and impostures; of his slanders against God and man, from which, indeed, the name devil (diabolus) is given him. Falsehood and hatred are his chief qualities. Hence Jesus called him "the manslayer" and "the father of falsehood". { John 8:44 } He was the first sinner, and the fountain of sin. { 1 John 3:8 } All who do unrighteousness or hate their brethren are, so far, his offspring. { 1 John 3:10 } With a realm so wide, Satan might well be called not only "the prince," but very "god of this world". { 2 Corinthians 4:4 } Plausibly he said to Jesus, in showing Him the kingdoms of the world, at the time when Tiberius Caesar occupied the imperial throne: "All this authority and glory are delivered unto me. To whomsoever I will, I give it." His power is exercised with an intelligence perhaps as great as any can be that is morally corrupt; but it is limited on all sides. In dealing with Jesus Christ he showed conspicuous ignorance. Chief amongst the wiles of the devil at this time was the "scheme of error," the cunningly woven net of the Gnostical delusion, in which the apostle feared that the Asian Churches would be entangled. Satan’s empire is ruled with a settled policy, and his warfare carried on with a system of strategy which takes advantage of every opening for attack. The manifold combinations of error, the various arts of seduction and temptation, the ten thousand forms of the deceit of unrighteousness constitute "the wiles of the devil." Such is the gigantic opponent with whom Christ and the Church have been in conflict through all ages. But Satan does not stand alone. In Ephesians 6:12 there is called up before us an imposing array of spiritual powers. They are "the angels of the devil," whom Jesus set in contrast with the angels of God that surround and serve the Son of man. { Matthew 25:41 } These unhappy beings are, again, identified with the "demons," or "unclean spirits," having Satan for their "prince," whom our Lord expelled wherever He found them infesting the bodies of men. They are represented in the New Testament as fallen beings, expelled from a "principality" and "habitation of their own" { Judges 1:6 } which they once enjoyed, and reserved for the dreadful punishment which Christ calls "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." They are here entitled principalities and powers- (or dominions), after the same style as the angels of God, to whose ranks, as we are almost compelled to suppose, these apostates once belonged. In contrast with the "angels of light" { 2 Corinthians 11:14 } and "ministering spirits" of the kingdom of God, { Hebrews 1:14 } the angels of Satan have constituted themselves the world-rulers of this darkness. We find the compound expression cosmo-krator (world-ruler) in later rabbinical usage, borrowed from the Greek and applied to "the angel of death," before whom all mortal things must bow. Possibly, St. Paul brought the term with him from the school of Gamaliel. Satan being the god of this world and swaying "the dominion of darkness," according to the same vocabulary his angels are "the rulers of the world’s darkness"; and the provinces of the empire of evil fall under their direction. The darkness surrounding the apostle in Rome and the Churches in Asia-"this darkness," he says -was dense and foul. With Nero and his satellites the masters of empire, the world seemed to be ruled by demons rather than by men. The frightful wish of one of the Psalmists was fulfilled for the heathen world: "Set the wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand." The last of St. Paul’s synonyms for the satanic forces, "the spiritual [powers] of wickedness," may have served to warn the Church against reading a political sense into the passage and regarding the civil constitution of society and the visible world-rulers as objects for their hatred. Pilate was a specimen, by no means amongst the worst, of the men in power. Jesus regarded him with pity. His real antagonist lurked behind these human instruments. The above phrase, "spirituals of wickedness," is Hebraistic, like "judge" and "steward of unrighteousness," and is equivalent to "wicked spirits." The adjective "spiritual," which does duty for a substantive-"the spiritual [forces, or elements] of wickedness"-brings out the collective character of these hostile powers. St. Paul’s demonology is identical with that of Jesus Christ. The two doctrines stand or fall together. The advent of Christ appears to have stirred to extraordinary activity the satanic powers. They asserted themselves in Palestine at this particular time in the most open and terrifying manner. In an age of scepticism and science like our own, it belongs to "the wiles of the devil" to work obscurely. This is dictated by obvious policy. Moreover, his power is greatly reduced. Satan is no longer the god of this world, since Christianity rose to its ascendant. The manifestations of demonism are, at least in Christian lands, vastly less conspicuous than in the first age of the Church. But those are more bold than wise who deny their existence, and who profess to explain all occult phenomena and phrenetic moral aberrations by physical causes. The popular idolatries of his own day, with their horrible rites and inhuman orgies, St. Paul ascribed to devilry. He declared that those who sat at the feast of the idol and gave sanction to its worship, were partaking of "the cup and the table of demons". { 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 } Heathen idolatries at the present time are, in many instances, equally diabolical; and those who witness them cannot easily doubt the truth of the representations of Scripture upon this subject. II. The conflict against these spiritual enemies is essentially a spiritual conflict. "Our struggle is not against blood and flesh." They are not human antagonists whom the Church