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Date:         Fri, 24 Jul 1992 12:38:13 EDT
From:         Leo W <Leo_W@QM.CIRCA.UFL.EDU>
Subject:      Home & Business #1
X-To:         Christia <christia@asuvm.inre.asu.edu>

This series is reproduced with permission from a booklet, "Christ and the
Church in Home and Business (Eph. 5:22 - 6:9)," by Charles H. Welch circa 1964.
 Quoting from the forward on page one, "This booklet is sent forth in the hope
that it may help wives and husbands, children and parents, and servants and
masters, to see their proper relationship to each other, and thus to "walk
worthy of the vocation" wherewith they are called."

------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION

To those who have seen that Acts 28 is the dispensational boundary, the epistle
to the Ephesians is like the Magna Carta to English freedom.  There, the member
of the Body of Christ learns the nature and sphere of his high calling, and
with this epistle as his standard he can freely range all Scripture, receiving
blessing and illumination from Law or Prophet, from Psalm or Gospel, yet
without confusing the various callings or robbing others of their own peculiar
blessings.

The epistle divides into two main portions, chapters 1-3:13 being mainly
DOCTRINAL, chapters 4-6 being mainly PRACTICAL, the whole pivoted as it were
upon the great central prayer, chapter 3:14-21.  These divisions have been
worked out in some fulness in "The Testimony of the Lord's Prisoner".

The present booklet proceeds from the assumption that something of the earlier
part of Ephesians has been grasped, for there can be no "worthy walk", if the
nature of the calling has not been appreciated.  Part of this walk that is
"worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called", has reference to
relationships in the home and at business.  Husbands and wives, parents and
children, and servants and masters are all in turn mentioned by Paul, and
guidance is given as to their walk, in the light of the blessings already made
known in the doctrinal section of the epistle.

The practical section opens on this note of worthiness.  Now this word "worthy"
is used also in Philippians and Colossians, and is therefore to be considered
carefully:-

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk WORTHY of the
vocation wherewith ye are called" (Eph. 4:1).

"Only let your conversation be AS IT BECOMETH the gospel of Christ" (Phil.
1:27).

"That ye might walk WORTHY of the Lord unto all pleasing"
(Col. 1:10).

The underlying idea of the word, is fairly well demonstrated by the added words
of the A.V. in Romans 8:18:-

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy TO BE
COMPARED with the glory which shall be revealed in us".

This idea of weighing one thing against another, which is resident in this
word, is seen in 2 Corinthians 4:17:-

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory".

Hence the conception of balance is most evident:-

"Light affliction" over against "Weight of glory".

"For a moment" over against "Eternal (Age-abiding)".

With this meaning of "worthy" before us, we can easily see that the epistle to
the Ephesians has a perfect balance:

Three chapters of I WORTHY I Three chapters of
         DOCTRINE I        I PRACTICE

In order therefore to maintain this balance, it is naturally important to grasp
something of the "three chapters of DOCTRINE", before we can turn our attention
to the PRACTICE of chapters 4, 5 and 6.  We would urge upon the reader who
would "walk worthy", to become acquainted with the teaching of the first three
chapters of this wonderful letter, before proceeding to consider the
relationships of chapter 5:22-6:9.

With this brief introduction we turn to the section of the epistle indicated
above.

(TO BE CONTINUED)
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