[Papercut Press] 2004-10-11 - House Keeping

Ephesians 1:1-5

I am going to use the Monday devotional this week to supplement the Ephesians study we have been doing each Tuesday. In my continued attempt to provide unique and next to impossible material to find, I present these doctrines from the first five verses of Ephesians from Paul Bayne. Bayne died in 1617 and was known for having "great learning, a clear judgment, and a ready wit." While we do not see his wit here, in the first part of his work on Ephesians 1, he presents the doctrines that we should learn from each verse of the chapter. Like many worthy writers, his works have long been out of print, since 1643, and I just stumbled upon them this week. I wanted to present his thoughts on verses 1-5 as a supplement to what we have already covered in Ephesians. I will present the rest of his thoughts with the accompanying verses. I have made no changes to what he wrote except I have updated the text, not the spelling, to modern format. Here it is:

The doctrines gathered out of this Commentary, upon the first Chapter of the Ephesians

Verse 1

  1. Ministers must inculcate to themselves, and to those with whom they have to deal, that their calling is from God.
  2. The quality of the person that brings the matter of this Epistle to us, is that is an Ambassador of Christ.
  3. We must account it our greatest dignity that we belong to Christ.
  4. It is the will of God that doth assign to us our severall callings.
  5. All the members of the visible Church are to be Saints.
  6. In the most wicked places, God gathereth and maintaineth his people.
  7. It is faith in Christ alone which maketh men Saints.

Verse 2

  1. It is the duty of Christs Ministers to blesse the faithful children of the Church as in the name of God.
  2. The most holy and justified persons have need of grace.
  3. The most excellent thing to be sought for above all other, is the favour of God, that his Grace may be with us.
  4. True peace is a most singular blessing.
  5. All true peace is that which is bred in us fro(m) the knowledge of Gods love toward us.
  6. God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, are the authors of true peace.

Verse 3

  1. A good heart must be ready on consideration of Gods benefits to breake forth into praises.
  2. Every Christian heart is to magnifie God, in that he hath been the God of Christ our Lord.
  3. The sense & knowledge of Gods blessing us, it is which maketh God blesse us again.
  4. Our heavenly Father blesseth all his children.
  5. The faithful ones, and sanctified, are they who are blessed of the Father.
  6. Spiritnal benefits make the regenerate man thankefull.
  7. All our blessings are given us in the heavens.
  8. God dealeth literally with his children, giving them al kinde of spiritual blessings.
  9. Wee come to be blessed in and through Christ our Lord.

Verse 4

  1. Our election is a blessing worthy all thandefulnesse.
  2. The elect are such who have true faith and holinesse.
  3. The grace of election beginneth with Christ, and discendeth to us in him.
  4. Gods love borne us in Christ, is not of yesterday, but before all worlds.
  5. God hath of Grace chosen us to the supernatural life.
  6. God hath not onely chosen us to life, but to the perfection of it.
  7. God hath of grace taken us out this life, that we shal liue in his glorious presence.

Verse 5

  1. God doth first love us to life, before the meanes bringing us to life are decreed.
  2. God hath not onely chosen some but ordained effectual meanes, which shal most infallibly bring them to the end which they are chosen.
  3. Such we may say are predestinated, who have believed, and are sanctified.
  4. God hath determined before all worlds to bring us to this, that we should be his adopted children.
  5. The life which God hath ordained by meanes perpared to bring us unto, is a life comming immediately from his grace.
  6. God out of his meere good wil doth determine both the end and al the meanes by which he wil bring us to the end.

At least, two things are evident here. First, I have done a poor job in treating this section of Scripture to this point. I have not faithfully brought out these points and I resolve to do a better job while using his summary as a guide. Second, this book has a lot to say to every Christian no matter what your calling or station in life. What is presented here is a great comfort to the Christian to put aside the fleeting wooings of the world and live for Jesus Christ. In looking over the points Bayne brings out, I am humbled at how well he seeks to bring out God's glory and help the Christian to understand that God is to be our wonder in our salvation. The wonder is not only that we are saved, but rather primarily and foremost, in that wonder, is that God is the savior. We so focus on how salvation effects us that it is easy to lose sight of the priority we should be giving to God in accomplishing our victory over sin and subsequent life with Him in glory.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

[email tim] tim@cfdevotionals.org
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