proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
Parallel Translations
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proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
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Accept that which is pleasinge to the Lorde:
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Approuing that which is pleasing to the Lord.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Ephesians 5:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
- Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
- 1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.
- Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
- Romans 14:18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
- Philippians 1:10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ,
- 1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
- Jeremiah 6:20 To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”
- 1 Timothy 5:4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety toward their own family and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
- Philippians 4:18 But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
- 1 Samuel 17:39 David strapped his sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these; for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off.
- Isaiah 58:5 Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Ver. 10. Proving what is acceptable] By the practice of what you know. Let your knowledge and obedience run parallel, mutually transfusing life and vigour one into another.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Searching what the will of the Lord is, and…
Searching what the will of the Lord is, and approving it by your practice as the rule of your walking, Rom 12:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For it is a shame even to speak of…
For it is a shame even to speak of those things,.... This is a reason, why persons should walk as children of light; why they should prove what is acceptable to God; why they should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; why the apostle exhorts to reprove them, and yet does not express what they are; and why they should be reproved rather by deeds than by words: and he tacitly intimates, that if it is a shame to speak of those sins
which are done of them in secret, it is much more shameful to commit them; the persons the apostle refers to, are the unconverted Gentiles in general; such who have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, who deceive men with vain words, who are children of disobedience, who are in darkness, and destitute of the Spirit; and it may be that respect may be had to the followers of Simon Magus, the Gnostics, and such like impure professors, by whom the vilest things were done in secret; for sins, works of darkness, will not bear the light; there is a consciousness in men of the evil of sin, unless past feeling, and therefore they do not care that others should know their crimes; and besides, there is an imaginary pleasure in committing sin secretly; but then though these things are secret to men, they are not to God; nor will they always remain secrets, they will be brought to light, and therefore no fellowship should be had with them; and especially when they are of such a scandalous nature, that it is a shame to mention the very names of them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Proving what is acceptable] By walking in…
Verse 10. Proving what is acceptable] By walking in the light-under the influence of the Divine Spirit, according to the dictates of the Gospel, ye shall be able to try, and bring to full proof, that by which God is best pleased. Ye shall be able to please him well in all things.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord - That…
Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord - That is,” Walk as children of light Eph 5:8, thus showing what is acceptable to the Lord.” Rosenmuller supposes that the participle is used here instead of the imperative. The meaning is, that by so living you will make a fair trial of what is acceptable to the Lord. The result on your happiness in this life and the next, will be such as to show that such a course is pleasing in his sight. Dr. Chandler, however, renders it as meaning that by this course they would show that they discerned and approved of what was acceptable to the Lord. See the notes on Rom 12:2, where a similar form of expression occurs.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain With solicitude seek out what things are pleasing to…
With solicitude seek out what things are pleasing to God, and carefully perform them. (Estius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Proving--construed with "walk" (Eph 5:8; Rom 12:1-2). As we…
Proving--construed with "walk" (Eph 5:8; Rom 12:1-2). As we prove a coin by the eye and the ear, and by using it, so by accurate and continued study, and above all by practice and experimental trial, we may prove or test "what is acceptable unto the Lord." This is the office of "light," of which believers are "children," to manifest what each thing is, whether sightly or unsightly.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Proving—That is, testing by actual and practical trial…
10. Proving—That is, testing by actual and practical trial and experience.
Acceptable—By finding the witness of the divine Spirit approving our course.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. proving] Testing, by the touchstone of His declared…
10. proving] Testing, by the touchstone of His declared and beloved Will; putting every action, and course of action unreservedly to that proof, and unreservedly approving, in action, all that passes it. Cp. Rom_1:28 (where lit. “they did not approve to retain God, &c.”), Rom_12:2 (a close parallel here); 1Th_5:21.
acceptable] Better, as R. V., well-pleasing. The word is kindred to the noun rendered “pleasing” Col_1:10. The whole question was to be, “What pleases God?”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.—So in…
(10) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.—So in Rom_12:2, the “proving what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,” is the fruit of transformation “in the renewing of the mind.” “To prove” is to try in each case, by the full light of God, what is accordant to His will; it is a work partly of thought, partly of practical experience; and it always implies a searching examination of heart and action by the touchstone of God’s word.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. A general…
Proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. A general rule applicable to the whole walk. To prove is to ascertain by test and experiment. Our whole walk should be directed to finding out what things are pleasing to Christ, rejecting at once everything that is not so, and clinging to all that is. We are not to follow the tradition of our people, and not to take a vague view of duty; we are to prove the matter, to put it to the test. For the supreme practical rule of the Christian"s life must be to please Christ.
The experimental test of the Lord"s will.
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As the ninth verse is a parenthesis, the apostle states that it is by walking as children of light we are in a position to prove what is well-pleasing unto the Lord.
I CONSIDER THE TRUE STANDARD OF JUDGMENT AS TO RIGHT AND WRONG. The believer is not to discover it in whatever may be well-pleasing to himself, but in what is well-pleasing to the Lord. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord of the conscience to regulate all our thoughts and all our actions. He has a supreme lordship over our life as well as over our death: "For whether we live we live unto the Lord." He is thus not merely Savior and Example, but Director of his people in all the concerns of religious life. In difficult situations, therefore, the true casuistry of life is to ask Will this action be well-pleasing to Christ?
II CONSIDER THE SUBJECTIVE TEST OF THIS DIVINE WILL. Believers are enabled, in the clear light in which they walk, to discover the right path. It is through their being transformed by the renewing of their mind that they "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God". (Rom_12:2) Similarly we learn that "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God". (Joh_7:17) Light admitted into the understanding contributes to win the affections, and, the affections won, open wide the doors for the admission of more light. To know the law you love and to love the law you know is the best condition in which human beings can be. It is the union of clear light in the understanding with perfect purity of heart which distinguishes the kingdom of redemption in its final practical triumph. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Eph_5:10
Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
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The rule of the saints life
Darkness implies ignorance, for in deep darkness, where no object is recognizable, movement becomes impossible; as, for instance, in the plague of darkness sent upon smitten Egypt of old, we are told that none moved out of their place for three days. It implies suffering and sadness, and is one of the most familiar images which we unconsciously use to represent our times of sorrow (I was going to say, unconsciously repeating the image), the dark times of our life. But it implies also depravity and crime, for evil hides in the darkness, and has a natural sympathy with it. Who, then, are they who are said by the apostle to be dark? Are they the unlearned and untaught in human knowledge, in contrast with the wise and eloquent of the world? Evidently no. The word is palpably applied to all who are not Christians--those whom he describes in a preceding chapter of the same letter as dead in trespasses and sins. On the contrary, however, all converted men, all true Christians, all real believers in Christ Jesus, are not only enlightened but are light. That they are enlightened we shall all readily admit, for God hath shined in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. But the special lesson which is impressed here goes further. It is that they are light--that there is a positive power of light planted within them, capable both of guiding themselves and of being reflected upon others. It is not their own light primarily or meritoriously, but it is the light of God in Christ.
I. I ask your attention to the principle involved. It is that the law of a Christian life is to be found in that which is acceptable to God. In other words, our characters and conduct are not to be regulated by the bare outward letter of the law, but by something further. The result of the lesson is no doubt to raise greatly the standard of our Christian life; and who will deny that we need to raise it; who will not be conscious of the abyss of difference between ourselves and the apostles, between what we are, and that model of what we ought to be, contained in the Word of God?
II. But from the principle we must pass on to the practical application. How are we to prove what is acceptable to God? What, then, is the test? It is at least three fold.
1. There is the test of the Word of God, that sure rule by which everything else must be measured. But I do not mean the letter of the Word only, its direct, positive precepts. It is unnecessary to speak to you of these; whatever they command is of course right, whatever they forbid of course wrong. But I mean the indirect test of the Word. Does any given pleasure, or pursuit, or habit bring us into closer harmony with the Spirit and the mind of God? Then it is acceptable to God. Does it put us out of tune with it, and make it more difficult to keep the plain command? Then it cannot be acceptable to God.
2. The test may be found in the effect which any given course or habit has on our habits of devotion, and the souls loving communion, through the Word and through praise and prayer, with its Father in heaven.
3. Beyond this, I believe there is in a soul in a state of spiritual health, where the reason follows Gods teaching, where the affections find supreme delight in Him, and where the conscience is sensitive to inconsistency, an instinctive sense of what is right and wrong, a feeling on which aught dishonourable to God jars and is at variance, just as a harsh discord in the midst of a sweet harmony may offend the ear which is not skilled enough to detect its nature. (E. Garbett, M. A.)
Proving what is acceptable to the Lord
I. The act: proving. So to prove as to approve and practise.
II. The object: that which is pleasing, or acceptable, to the Lord. There is a difference between things.
1. Some things utterly displease God, as sin (2Sa_11:27).
2. Some things are not displeasing unto God, as all natural and indifferent actions, which are not forbidden, but allowed by Him (Ecc_9:7).
3. Other things are commanded by Him as a positive law, but have no natural goodness in themselves, setting aside Gods command.
4. There are some things which do most please God, as things eminently good are acceptable to Him in the highest degree; as, for instance, faith in Christ is pleasing to God, but a strong faith is more acceptable than a weak, which needeth props and crutches (Joh_20:29). That proving what is acceptable to God is one great duty which belongeth to the children of light.
I shall explain this point by these considerations--
1. Our great end and scope should be to please God, and be accepted with Him.
2. We please God by doing what He hath required of us in His Word. There are certain things evident by the light of nature which belong to our duty; these must not be overlooked (Mic_6:8). The things there mentioned are evident by the light of nature. That we should carry ourselves justly towards men, and with reverence and obedience to the Divine majesty, is evident by the light of nature, as well as Scripture. But the revelation that He hath made of our duty to us by the Word is more clear, full, and certain.
3. If we would know Gods mind revealed in His Word, we must use search and trial. Δοκιμάζοντες, proving, noteth great diligence and care that we may know the mind of God; for it greatly importeth us, and we are often pressed to it: Prove all things, hold fast that which is good (2Th_6:21). If we see but a piece of money that hath the kings image stamped upon it, we bring it to the touchstone to see if it be right: do so with doctrines and practices, bring them to the law and to the testimony, see how they agree with Gods Word (1Jn_4:1).
4. We must search and try, that we may walk as children of the light. The night was made for rest; the light is not given us for rest and idleness, but for work. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Believers must please God
The business of a Christian upon earth is not an independent one; he is not acting on his own account, but he is a steward for Christ. What if I compare him to a commission agent who is sent abroad by his firm with full powers from his employer to transact business for the house which he represents! He is not to trade for himself, but he agrees to do all in the name of the firm which commissions him. He receives his instructions, and all he has to do is to carry them out, his whole time and talent being by express agreement at the absolute disposal of his employers. Now, if this man shall lend himself to an opposition firm, or trade on his own account, he is not true to his engagements, and he has to bear the responsibility of his acts; but so long as he acts for his firm, and does his best, his course is an easy and safe one. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Entire consecration to God
That eminent ornithologist, M. Audubon, who produced accurate drawings and descriptions of all the birds of the American continent, made the perfection of that work the one object of his life. In order to achieve this he had to earn his own living by painting portraits, and other labours; he had to traverse frozen seas, forests, canebrakes, jungles, prairies, mountains, swollen rivers, and pestilential bogs. He exposed himself to perils of every sort, and underwent hardships of every kind. Now, whatever Audubon was doing, he was fighting his way towards his one object, the production of his history of American birds. Whether he was painting a ladys portrait, paddling a canoe, shooting a raccoon, or felling a tree, his one drift was his bird book. He had said to himself, I mean to carve my name amongst the naturalists as having produced a complete ornithological work for America, and this resolution ate him up, and subdued his whole life. He accomplished his work because he gave himself wholly to it. This is the way in which the Christian man should make Christ his element. All that he does should be subservient to this one thing, That I may finish my course with joy, that I may deliver my testimony for Christ, that I may glorify God whether I live or die. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. Proving. Showing by walking in the light what…
10. Proving. Showing by walking in the light what is acceptable to God.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
EPHESIANS
PLEASING CHRIST
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Eph 5:10
These words are closely connected with those which precede them in the 8th verse-’Walk as children of light.’ They further explain the mode by which that commandment is to be fulfilled. They who, as children of light, mindful of their obligations and penetrated by its brightness, seek to conform their active life to the light to which they belong, are to do so by making experiment of, or investigating and determining, what is ‘acceptable to the Lord.’ It is the sum of all Christian duty, a brief compendium of conduct, an all-sufficient directory of life.
There need only be two remarks made by way of explanation of my text. One is that the expression rendered ‘acceptable’ is more accurately and forcibly given, as in the Revised Version, by the plainer word ‘well-pleasing.’ And the other is that ‘the Lord’ here, as always in the New Testament-unless the context distinctly forbids it-means Jesus Christ. Here the context distinctly demands it. For only a sentence or two before, the Apostle has been speaking about ‘those who were sometime darkness having been made light in the Lord’-which is obviously in Jesus Christ.
And here, therefore, what pleases Christ is the Christian’s highest duty, and the one prescription which is required to be obeyed in order to walk in the light is, to do that which pleases Him.
I. So, then, in these brief words, so comprehensive, and going so deep into the secrets of holy and noble living, I want you to notice that we have, first, the only attitude which corresponds to our relations to Christ.
How remarkable it is that this Apostle should go on the presumption that our conduct affects Him, that it is possible for us to please, or to displease Jesus Christ now. We often wonder whether the beloved dead are cognisant of what we do; and whether any emotions of something like either our earthly complacency or displeasure, can pass across the undisturbed calm of their hearts, if they are aware of what their loved ones here are doing. That question has to be left very much in the dark, however our hearts may sometimes seek to enforce answers. But this we know, that that loving Lord, not merely by the omniscience of His divinity, but by the perpetual knowledge and sympathy of His perfect manhood, is not only cognizant of, but is affected by, the conduct of His professed followers here on earth. And since it is true that He now is not swept away into some oblivious region where the dead are, but is close beside us all, cognizant of every act, watching every thought, and capable of having something like a shadow of a pang passing across the Divine depth of His eternal joy and repose at the right hand of God, then, surely, the only thing that corresponds to such a relationship as at present subsists between the Christian soul and the Lord is that we should take as our supreme and continual aim that, ‘whether present or absent, we should be well-pleasing to Him.’ Nor does that demand rest only upon the realities of our present relation to that Lord, but it goes back to the past facts on which our present relation rests. And the only fitting response to what He has been and done for us is that we should, each of us, in the depth of our hearts, and in the widest circumference of the surface of our lives, enthrone Him as absolute Lord, and take His good pleasure as our supreme law. Jesus Christ is King because He is Redeemer. The only adequate response to what He has done for me is that I should absolutely submit myself to Him, and say to Him, ‘O Lord! truly I am Thy servant! Thou hast loosed my bonds.’ The one fitting return to make for that Cross and Passion is to enthrone His will upon my will, and to set Him as absolute Monarch over the whole of my nature. Thoughts, affections, purposes, efforts, and all should crown Him King, because He has died for me. The conduct which corresponds to the relations which we bear to Christ as the present Judge of our work, and the Redeemer of our souls by His mighty deed in the past, is this of my text, to make my one law His will, and to please Him that hath called me to be His soldier.
The meaning of being a Christian is that, in return for the gift of a whole Christ, I give my whole self to Him. ‘Why call ye me Lord! Lord! and do not the things which I say?’ If He is what He assuredly is to every one of us, nothing can be plainer than that we are thereby bound by obligations which are not iron, but are more binding than if they were, because they were woven out of the cords of love and the bands of a man, bound to serve Him supremely, Him only, Him always, Him by the suppression of self, and the making His pleasure our law.
II. Now, secondly, let me ask you to notice that we have here the all-sufficient guide for practical life.
It sounds very mystical, and a trifle vague, to say, Do everything to please Jesus Christ. It is all-comprehensive; it is mystical in the sense that it goes down below the mere surface of prescriptions about conduct. But it is not vague, and it is capable of immediate application to every part, and to every act, of every man’s life.
For what is it that pleases Jesus Christ? His own likeness; as, according to the old figure-which is, I suppose, true to spiritual facts, whether to external facts or not-the refiner knows that the metal is ready to flow when he can see his own face in it. Jesus Christ desires most that we should all be like Him. That we are to bear His image is as comprehensive, and at the same time as specific, a way of setting forth the sum of Christian duty, as are the words of my text. The two phrases mean the same thing.
And what is the likeness to Jesus Christ which it is thus our supreme obligation and our truest wisdom and perfection to bear? Well! we can put it all into two words-self-suppression and continual consciousness of obedience to the Divine will. The life of Jesus Christ, in its brief records in Scripture, is felt by every thoughtful man to contain within its narrow compass adequate direction for, and to set forth the ideal of, human life. That is not because He went through all varieties of earthly experience, for He did not. The life of a Jewish peasant nineteen centuries ago was extremely unlike the life of a Manchester merchant, of a college professor, of a successful barrister, of a struggling mother, in this present day. But in the narrow compass of that life there are set forth these two things, which are the basis of all human perfection-the absolute annihilation of self-regard, and the perpetual recognition of a Divine will. These are the things which every Christian man and woman is bound by the power of Christ’s Cross to translate into the actions correspondent with their particular circumstances. And so the student at his desk and the sailor on his deck, the miner in his pit, the merchant on ‘Change, the worker in various handicrafts, may each be sure that they are doing what is pleasing to Christ if, in their widely different ways, they seek to do what they can do in all the varieties of life-crucify self, and commune with God.
That is not easy. Whatever may be the objections to be brought against this summary of Christian duty, the objection that it is vague is the last that can be sustained. Try it, and you will find out that it is anything but vague. It will grip tight enough, depend upon it. It will go deep enough down into all the complexities of our varying circumstances. If it has a fault {which it has not} it is in the direction of too great stringency for unaided human nature. But the stringency is not too great when we depend upon Him to help us, and an impossible ideal is a certain prophet of its own fulfilment some day.
So, brethren, here is the sufficient guide, not because it cumbers us with a mass of wretched little prescriptions such as a martinet might give, about all sorts of details of conduct. That is left to profitless casuists like the ancient rabbis. But the broad principles will effloresce into all manner of perfectnesses and all fruits. He that has in his heart these thoughts, that the definition of virtue is pleasing Jesus Christ, that the concrete form of goodness is likeness to Him, and that the elements of likeness to Him are these two, that I should never think about myself, and always think about God, needs no other guide or instructor to fill his life with ‘whatsoever things are lovely and of good report,’ and to make his own all that the world calls virtue, and all which the consciences of good men have conspired to praise.
But not only does this guide prove its sufficiency by reason of its comprehensiveness, but also because there is no difficulty in ascertaining what at each moment it prescribes. Of course, I know that such a precept as this cannot contain in itself guidance in matters of mere practical expediency. But, apart from these-which are to be determined by the ordinary exercise of prudence and common sense-in regard to the right and the wrong of our actions, I believe that if a man wants to know Christ’s will, and takes the way of knowing it which Christ has appointed, he shall not be left in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
For love has a strange power of divining love’s wishes, as we all know, and as many a sweetness in the hearts and lives of many of us has shown us. If we cherish sympathy with Jesus Christ we shall look on things as He looks on them, and we shall not be left without the knowledge of what His pleasure is. If we keep near enough to Him the glance of His eye will do for guidance, as the old psalm has it. They are rough animal natures that do not understand how to go, unless their instructors be the crack of the whip or the tug of the bridle. ‘I will guide thee with Mine eye.’ A glance is enough where there are mutual understanding and love. Two musical instruments in adjoining rooms, tuned to the same pitch, have a singular affinity, and if a note be struck on the one the other will vibrate to the sound. And so hearts here that love Jesus Christ and keep in unison with Him, and are sympathetic with His desires, will learn to know His will, and will re-echo the music that comes from Him. And if our supreme desire is to know what pleases Jesus Christ, depend upon it the desire will not be in vain, ‘If any man wills to do His will he shall know of the doctrine.’ Ninety per cent. of all our perplexities as to conduct come from our not having a pure and simple wish to do what is right in His sight, clearly supreme above all others. When we have that wish it is never left unsatisfied.
And even if sometimes we do make a mistake as to what is Christ’s pleasure, if our supreme wish and honest aim in the mistake have been to do His pleasure, we may be sure that He will be pleased with the deed. Even though its body is not that which He willed us to do, its spirit is that which He does desire. And if we do a wrong thing, a thing in itself displeasing to Him, whilst all the while we desired to please Him, we shall please Him in the deed which would otherwise have displeased Him. And so two Christian men, for instance, who take opposite sides in a controversy, may both of them be doing what is well-pleasing in His sight, whilst they are contradicting one another, if they are doing it for His sake. And it is possible that the inquisitor and his victim may both have been serving Christ. At all events, let us be sure of this, that whensoever we desire to please Him, He will help us to do it, and ordinarily will help us by making clear to us the path on which His smile rests.
III. Again, notice that we have here an all-powerful motive for Christian life.
The one thing which all other summaries of duty lack is motive power to get themselves carried into practice. But we all know, from our own happy human experience, that no motive which can be brought to bear upon men is stronger, when there are loving hearts concerned, than this simple one, ‘Do it to please me.’ And that is what Jesus Christ really says. That is no piece of mere sentiment, brethren, nor of mere pulpit rhetoric. That is the deepest thought of Christian morality, and is the distinctive peculiarity which gives the morality of the New Testament its clear supremacy over all other. There are precepts in it far nobler and loftier than can be found elsewhere. The perspective of virtues and graces in it is different from that which ordinarily prevails amongst men. But I do not think that it is in the details of its precepts so much as in the communication of power to obey them, and in the suggestion of the motive which makes them all easy, that the difference of Christ’s ethics from all the teaching of the world beside is most truly to be found.
And here lies the excellence thereof. It is a poor, cold thing to say to a man, ‘Do this because it is right.’ It is a still more powerless thing to say to him, ‘Do this because it is expedient’ ‘Do this because, in the long run, it leads to happiness.’ It is all different when you say, ‘Do this to please Jesus Christ, to please that Christ who pleased not Himself but gave Himself for you.’ That is the fire that melts the ore. That is the heat that makes flexible the hard, stiff material. That is the motive which makes duty delight, which makes ‘the rough places plain’ and ‘the crooked things straight.’ It does not abolish natural tastes, it does not supersede natural disinclinations, but it does smooth and soften unwelcome and hard tasks, and it invests service with a halo of glory, and changes the coldness of duty into rosy light; as when the sunrise strikes on the peaks of the frozen mountains. The one motive which impels men, and can be trusted to secure in them whatsoever things are noble, is to please Him.
So we have the secret of blessedness in these words. For self-submission and suppression are blessedness. Our miseries come from our unbridled wills, far more than from our sensitive organisations. It is because we do not accept providences that providences hurt. It is because we do not accept the commandments that the commandments are burdensome. Those who have no will, except as it is vitalised by God’s will, have found the secret of blessedness, and have entered into rest. In the measure in which we approximate to that condition, our wills will be strengthened as well as our hearts set at ease.
And blessedness comes, too, because the approbation of the Master, which is the aim of the servant, is reflected in the satisfaction of an approving conscience, which points onwards to the time when the Master’s approval shall be revealed in the servant’s glory.
I was reading the other day about a religious reformer who arose in Eastern lands a few years since, and gathered many disciples. He and his principal follower were seized and about to be martyred. They were suspended by cords from a gibbet, to be fired at by a platoon of soldiers. And as they hung there, the disciple turned to his teacher, and as his last word on earth said, ‘Master! are you satisfied with me?’ His answer was a silent smile; and the next minute a bullet was in his heart. Dear brethren, do you turn to Jesus Christ with the same question, ‘Master! art Thou satisfied with me?’ and you will get His smile here; and hereafter, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord: The point…
5:10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord: The point is to obey God’s will, not simply to understand it (cp. Rom 12:2; Phil 1:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.