CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Ephesians 6:13. In the evil day.—Compare Ephesians 5:16. A day of great peril. And having done all, to stand.—“When the hurly-burly’s done” to find oneself unvanquished.
Ephesians 6:14. Stand therefore.—The words ring short and sharp as a bugle-call. Loins girt about with truth.—“To speak of a well-equipped warrior without a girdle is a contradictio in adjecto, for it was just the girdle which produced the free bearing and movement and the necessary attitude of the warrior” (Meyer). “Truth is a subjective conception corresponding with the eternal realities” (Beet). Breastplate of righteousness.—“As the actual warrior has protected the breast when he has laced the corslet over his chest, so with you righteousness … renders your breast (heart and will) inaccessible to the hostile influence of the demons” (Meyer).
“He is but naked though locked up in steel
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.”
Ephesians 6:15. Feet shod.—Ensuring agility and a firm foothold. Preparation of the gospel of peace.—“Preparation” might perhaps give way to “preparedness.” St. Paul does not mind a paradox. “What hast thou to do with peace?” said one soldier to another; but the herald was a soldier too.
Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield.—Large enough to block the entrance to a doorway—being about four feet by two and a half. The lighter missiles were harmless against a roof of these shields over-lapped. They were of wood, thickly coated with leather. Quench the fiery darts.—“Arrows tipped with inflammable material, and shot off after having been kindled” (Meyer).
Ephesians 6:17. Take the helmet of salvation.—For the large shield might leave the head exposed to the archer’s aim. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.—How effectual in fence and thrust it was in the hands of the Captain of our salvation, the “world-ruler” had experienced.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ephesians 6:13-17
The Christian Warrior equipped.
I. He is clothed from head to foot with defensive armour.—
1. The girdle of truth. “Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth” (Ephesians 6:14). The military girdle was the belt or cincture with which the warrior braced himself round the waist, to tighten and keep every part of his armour in its true place, that there might not be anything loose and trailing about him to encumber his movements. Everything about him must be tense and firm, that he may be prepared to receive the attack of the enemy, however suddenly and powerfully made, and to act with decision and concentrated energy. So the Christian warrior must be strengthened and sustained with the girdle of truth. The truth of the gospel must be known and conscientiously embraced, so that we may detect the numerous foes that error is constantly letting loose upon us, and be able to attack and conquer them. To cast away our girdle is to incapacitate ourselves for the combat, and to expose ourselves to wounds and defeat. Conscious integrity inspires the spiritual warrior with confidence and bravery. “Let this be my brazen wall, that no man can reproach me with a crime, and that I am conscious of my own integrity.” On the truth we take our stand, and by the truth we stand. If we keep the truth, the truth will keep us, and we shall not be “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” “The luxury of agnosticism, the languors of doubt, the vague sympathies and hesitant eclecticism in which delicate and cultured minds are apt to indulge; the lofty critical attitude as of some intellectual god sitting above the strife of creeds, which others find congenial—these are conditions of mind unfit for the soldier of Christ Jesus. He must have sure knowledge, definite and decided purposes—a soul girdled with truth.”
2. The breastplate of righteousness.—“And having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). The military breastplate or cuirass was the chief piece of defensive armour. It consisted of two parts or wings: one covered the whole region of the thorax and protected the vital organs of the body, and the other covered the back as far down as the front part extended. As the breastplate guarded the vital functions contained within the region of the thorax, so righteousness—the life of God in the soul of man—defends everything on which the spiritual existence and triumph of the Christian warrior depend. Righteousness—conscious integrity of character—is an impenetrable mail from which the missiles of the enemy fall pointless. Rectitude of life is an invulnerable defence against the most furious attacks of calumny and oppression: it is an immovable rock that breaks up the dark billows of opposition into clouds of helpless spray.
3. The greaves, or feet-guards.—“Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). The military greaves or brazen boots covered the shin or front of the leg. A kind of solen was often used which covered the sole and laced about the instep, preventing the foot from being wounded by thorns or rugged ways, and giving firmness and security to the foothold. Thus shod, the warrior would take his stand with safety, or move with alertness over all sorts of ground. Being “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” indicates that the Christian soldier is ever ready to move with expedition and willingness in publishing the good tidings of peace. The Israelites were commanded to eat the passover with their feet shod to show that they were ready for their journey. Christ commanded His messengers to be shod with sandals, that they might be ready to go and proclaim the gospel wherever they were sent. The Christian warrior is on his way through a strange and hostile country, and should be every moment not only prepared to proceed, but be every moment in actual progress, proclaiming peace on his way to the land of eternal peace. Progress in truth is made by being firmly established in its principles; every advancing step is taken with confidence and with the air of one who is assured of the ground on which he is treading. The gospel of peace establishes peace between God and man, and proclaims goodwill and peace to the universe. “The objection that the apostle is addressing the faithful at large who are not all of them called to preach the gospel is mistaken. Every believer should be prepared to witness for Christ so often as opportunity affords and needs a readiness thereto. The knowledge of Christ’s peace qualifies him to convey its message. He brings it with him into the strife of the world. And it is the consciousness that he possesses himself such peace, and has it to communicate to others, which enables him to walk firmly and with sure step in the way of faith” (Von Hofmann). We preserve the truth by spreading it; and the best defence against the enemies of the truth is to persuade them to accept the gospel of peace. The Christian warrior is not a fighter, but a peacemaker.
4. The shield of faith.—“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16). The shield signified is not the small round buckler or targe of the light-armed man, but the oblong, doorlike shield, measuring four feet by two and a half, and curved to the shape of the body, that the Greek hoplite and the Roman legionary carried. Joined together, these large shields formed a wall, behind which a body of troops could hide themselves from the rain of the enemy’s missiles. These military shields were made of wood, covered on the outside with thick leather, which not only deadened the shock of the missile, but protected the frame of the shield from the fire-tipped darts used in the artillery of the ancients. So faith is the shield of the Christian soldier, defending him from the fierce attacks of the foe, from within and without. By “the fiery darts of the wicked” the apostle may allude to the darts called falarica, which were headed with lead, in or about which some combustible stuff was placed that took fire in the passage of the arrow through the air, and often burnt up the enemies’ ships and engines, or stuck in the shields and set them on fire. The shield of faith cannot be pierced or destroyed by the fiercest fires of hatred or malice. The arrows of the wicked, flaming with cruelty, are caught on this shield, blunted, and extinguished.
5. The helmet of salvation.—“And take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17). The helmet was the armour for the head, was of various forms, and embossed with a great variety of figures. On the top of the helmet was the crest or ridge, adorned with several emblematic figures, either for ornament or to strike terror. The apostle may refer to a helmet which had an emblematic representation of hope—that the person who wore it should be safe, should be prosperous in all his engagements, and escape unhurt from battle. So the hope of conquering every adversary, and surmounting every difficulty by the salvation of the gospel, is a helmet that protects the head, and is of such impenetrable texture as the blow of the battle-axe cannot cleave. The hope of continual safety and protection, built on the promises of the gospel, protects the understanding from being confused by the subtle attacks of Satan or the sophisms of unbelief. Salvation guards the whole man, the head and heart, and is both helmet and shield.
II. He is armed with an all-potent offensive weapon.—“And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The military swords were of various sizes, and in the earliest times were made of brass. The swords of Homer’s heroes were all of this metal. Great dexterity was acquired in the use of the sword, and an expert swordsman was an antagonist greatly dreaded. The word of God is the offensive weapon wielded by the Christian combatant. It is called the sword of the Spirit, because it comes from the Holy Spirit, and receives its fulfilment in the soul through the operations of the Spirit, who alone can teach its potent use. Facility in quoting the word in times of temptation and trial enables the spiritual warrior to cut in pieces the snares of the adversary. The shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit are the principal armour of the soul. The enemies of the cross of Christ fall humiliated and defeated under the powerful strokes of the Spirit’s sword. There are times when the Christian soldier must not only stand on the defensive, but must lead the attack with unflinching bravery on the forces of evil. He is safe only by slaying the enemy.
III. He is fully prepared to resist and conquer his terrible opponents.—“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). Stand is the spiritual battle-cry. Being armed, defend your liberties, maintain your rights, discomfort your spiritual foes, hold your ground against them, never put off your armour, but be ever standing ready to repel any new attack. The defence is necessary, for the evil day is at hand, is already dawning. The early Church had its evil day of persecution and defection, and the Church of to-day is threatened by an evil day of subtlest error. The unwary and supine will go down before the forces of evil, and only the brave and steadfast will survive.
Lessons.—
1. The Christian armour is invulnerable.
2. The Christian warrior must attack as well as defend.
3. The Christian warrior can conquer only as he uses the armour provided.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Ephesians 6:13-17. The Christian’s Armour.—St. Paul lay in prison at Rome, bound with a chain to the Roman trooper who watched him day and night. He employed his prison hours in writing. It was very natural that his language, like his thoughts, should be coloured here and there by the objects around him; and we find that whilst writing this circular epistle to the Ephesians his eye had actually been resting on the soldier to whom he was chained. In the outfit of the Roman legionary he saw the symbol of the supernatural dress which befits the Christian. The ornamented girdle or balteus, bound around the loins, to which the sword was commonly attached, seemed to the apostle to recall the inward practical acknowledgment of truth, which is the first necessity in the Christian character. The metal breastplate suggests the moral rectitude or righteousness which enables a man to confront the world. The strong military sandals spoke of the readiness to march in the cause of that gospel whose sum and substance was not war, but spiritual even more than social peace. And then the large oblong, oval, wooden shield, clothed with hides, covering well-nigh the whole body of the bearer, reminded him of Christian faith, upon which the temptations of the evil one, like the ancient arrows, tipped as they often were with inflammable substances, would light harmlessly and lose their deadly point; and then the soldier’s helmet, pointing upwards to the skies, was a natural figure of Christian hope directed towards a higher and better world; and then the sword at his side, by which he won safety and victory in the day of battle, and which you will observe is the one aggressive weapon mentioned in this whole catalogue—what was it but the emblem of that word of God which wins such victories on the battle-fields of conscience, because it pierces, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth? Thus girded, thus clad, thus shod, thus guarded, thus covered, thus armed, the Christian might well meet his foes. He was indeed more than a match for them, and might calmly await their onset.—H. P. Liddon.
The Whole Armour of God.
I. Truth.—“Having your loins girt about with truth.” By truth is intended sincerity in our Christian profession, or a firm belief of and full consent to the gospel of Christ. A rational conviction of its truth, joined with a sense of its importance, is our best security against apostasy in the evil day.
II. Righteousness.—“And having on the breastplate of righteousness.” A holy and inoffensive life will prevent many injuries. It will command the reverence of bad and the compassion of good men. It will obtain the protection of God’s providence and the supports of His grace. It will preserve peace and serenity of conscience under the reproaches of a malignant world.
III. Peace.—“Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This peaceable disposition is a preparation for the trials of an evil day, and an excellent defence against the asperities of our Christian path. This will go on before us to smooth the rough passages of life, or attend us to guard our feet against the sticks and traps which our enemies cast in our way. Possessed of this disposition we shall give no offence and provoke no injuries by an insolent, overbearing behaviour.
IV. Faith.—“Above all, taking the shield of faith.” Faith is a grace of universal influence. It is the basis of all Christian graces. It is the groundwork of all religion in the heart. Faith is a more effectual defence against the temptations of Satan and the world than the shields of the mighty against the darts and spears of their enemies.
V. Hope.—“And take the helmet of salvation.” The hope of salvation. God brings salvation. We appropriate it by hope. We must fight the good fight of faith in hope that the Captain of salvation will support us in the conflict and lead us to victory.
VI. Knowledge.—“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The divine word is called the sword of the Spirit because it is rendered effectual by the Spirit in slaying the fleshly lusts and repelling the outward temptations which war against the soul.
Reflections.—
1. We see of what importance it is that we have the power of religion in our hearts.
2. It concerns us to live much in the exercise of faith.
3. Let us exercise our courage according to the various exigencies of the Christian life.—Lathrop.
The Duty of Believers in the Evil Day.
I. The time to which the exhortation refers—the evil day.—
1. By the evil day we are clearly to understand the season of temptation. When “we wrestle.”
2. This evil day may be understood of life itself.—“Few and evil have been the days of my pilgrimage.” Man is tempted till his death.
3. The evil day may refer to seasons during which temptation is peculiarly strong.—With our first parents whilst they listened to Satan. With Christ in the wilderness—near death (John 14:30).
4. Of such seasons we have many examples in Scripture.—The lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, Lot, Samson, David, Asa, Hezekiah, Peter, Demas.
5. Such seasons each believer can mark in his history.—They are generally turning-points. They are attended by every variety of outward circumstances, prosperity, adversity, society, solitude, health, sickness.
6. With the wicked such days are evil.—Days of suffering, of danger, of backsliding, of apostasy, of dishonour to Christ, and triumph to the world and to all the enemies of Christ.
7. This season of temptation is short.—A day. We should not grow weary.
8. Though it be short it is important.—The day of battle is generally most important in its results. So in spiritual warfare. The temptation in Eden, etc.
II. The duty which falls to be performed in the evil day.—
1. To withstand.
(1) This has reference to Satan as an assailant.
(2) It binds us to resistance, i.e., to perform the duty from which Satan dissuades, to refuse the sin which he recommends, to hold fast that which we have, and to reject that which he offers in exchange (Revelation 3:2).
2. To proceed from the defensive to the offensive.—“Having done all,” or “conquered all.”
(1) The believer, as “the good soldier of Christ,” is, like his Master, to be an assailant.
(2) By attacking, Satan discovers himself; and the believer, having resisted, may gain an advantage. When his stronghold in the heart is found out, it may be pulled down. Is it pride? (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
(3) Satan can be contended against only by carrying on an offensive warfare—in the heart, in the world. The Romans could be conquered only in Italy.
3. That having resisted and conquered, we still stand.—
(1) Though repulsed, Satan is not slain, his resources are not exhausted, “his wrath” continues.
(2) We must therefore “stand” after victory. Our armour must be kept on. We must be vigilant. We must be in an attitude for the fight.
III. The preparation necessary to the performance of the peculiar duties of the evil day.—
1. The evil day is a day of war, and hence its duties and the kind of preparation called for.
2. There are three things to be noticed in the account of the believer’s preparation.—
(1) He must be armed—divine grace. An unarmed soldier a contradiction; he is useless for duty, exposed to death.
(2) He must be completely armed. For defence and for offence.
(3) His armour must be that “of God.” Human virtues will not do. Human energies will not do.—Stewart.
Ephesians 6:14. The Girdle of Truth.
I. Honesty and truthfulness of character.—Love of truth as being from God, hatred of lies as being from the devil—this is a primary condition of being strong in the Lord. Nothing can be more injurious to the character of the Christian religion than the suspicion that it shuns examination, that its claims are in antagonism with demonstrated truth. There is a kind of false liberalism concerning religious truth. It is easy for a man to fancy his loins are girt about with truth when the fact is they are girt about with indifference; and a person so armed may assume an attitude of impartiality with regard to religious questions because he cares nothing concerning the issue; and sometimes it seems to be assumed that a writer possesses a virtue, compensating for all vices, if he is apparently free from all bias either for or against revealed truth. The true path is taken by him who, strong in his own faith and love, fears no honest investigation, and shrinks from adopting in matters of religion any tone of thought or line of argument which he cannot justify upon the broadest grounds of calm judgment and sober reason.
II. But the words of the apostle refer not only to truthfulness, but to truth itself, to that which we know to be true.—It would be unworthy of an apostle if he should include under the title of truth, necessary for the protection of a Christian champion, all human knowledge which is rightly so called. Do not consider that the progress you make in human knowledge lies beside your path as Christians. As members of Christ, as His soldiers and servants, take a nobler view of your work than that. Christ has taken the elements of this world and sanctified them for Himself; there is nothing really secular but what is evil, and all that is not evil ought to be used on the side of truth.
III. The apostle has in mind that definite form of revealed truth which in Scripture is described as emphatically the truth.—The great doctrine of godliness, the incarnation of the eternal Son, and all those truths which flow from this one mysterious spring. While there is no antagonism between Scriptural and human knowledge, there is a wide difference between the sources from which they are derived, the evidences by which they are established, and the conditions of their being rightly apprehended. Whereas other knowledge is the slow accumulation of the experience of ages, and the result of the guesses and labours of gifted men, and is consequently an ever-growing and changing body of truth, Christian truth admits of no change and no growth. It admits of application to new circumstances; it admits too of growth, between the limits of a mustard seed and a full-grown tree, in its subjective apprehension by each believing heart; but objectively it knows neither diminution nor expansion, it is ever one and indivisible, because it resolves itself ultimately into the one great mysterious fact, the manifestation of God in human flesh. No amount of argument would ever turn religious belief into religious life, if the articles of the creed did not attest their divinity by filling up the void of the human heart and by their constraining influence on human conduct; and, on the other hand, no religion could maintain its ground and command the assent of thinking men, unless its historical claims and its objective truth would stand the test of the severest scrutiny. The truth of Christ rests upon both grounds; and because this is so we are bound to gird it about our loins as our only sure support in our conflict with the spiritual wickedness of this world, our support in the hour of death, our support in the day of judgment.—Harvey Goodwin.
Truth the Girdle of the Christian.
I. The particular grace which is here mentioned—truth.—
1. By this exhortation we might understand that we must in all things act according to truth or what is truth. This implies the knowledge of truth, the yielding up of ourselves to truth, so as to embody it.
2. By the truth we may understand sincerity.—Being in appearance what we are in reality, seeming to follow what we do follow, expressing the real thoughts and feelings of the heart. This sincerity is displayed towards God, towards our fellow-men, and towards ourselves.
II. The uses or purposes of truth in the Christian life: it is a girdle.—By comparing truth to a girdle the apostle suggests the purposes which it serves:
1. The ancient girdle was meant to give firmness and strength.
2. To fit for activity, by binding up the loose, flowing garments.
3. To the girdle arms were attached.—Stewart.
Ephesians 6:15. The Gospel of Peace.
I. The nature of this peace.—
1. It is peace with God.—A mutual reconciliation following a mutual estrangement.
2. It is peace with ourselves.—This includes both the silencing of the accusations of conscience and the restoration of the internal harmony of our nature.
3. It is peace with our fellow-men.—Between nations and classes, and families and individuals.
4. It is peace with our fellow-Christians.
II. The relation of the gospel to this peace.—
1. In the gospel it is proclaimed.
2. In the gospel its grounds are unfolded.
3. By the belief of the gospel it is conveyed.—G. Brooks.
Ephesians 6:17. The Bible the Sword of the Spirit.
I. The Bible is a sword.—
1. Like a sword, it is of no use till it is unsheathed. The Bible must not lie idle in the library or in the intellect. Must be used.
2. Like a sword, when it is unsheathed it cuts deeply.—Makes deep gashes in the heart and conscience.
3. Like a sword, it is a weapon of defence as well as of offence.—“It is written.”
II. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit.—
1. Because He inspired it. Those whom we call the sacred writers were its penmen; He alone was its Author.
2. Because He interprets it.—Its Author is also itsinterpreter. Wherever it is carried He is. and in answer to the prayer of faith He expounds its true meaning as far as saving truth is concerned.
3. Because He wields it as the instrument of His victories.—Refer to some of the remarkable revivals, to individual conversions.
III. Our duty with regard to the Bible as the sword of the Spirit.—
1. Take it and study it. Sword exercise.
2. Take it and bind it to your heart.—Delight in it.
3. Take it and employ it vigorously till your life’s end.—“His sword was in His hand.” “There is none like it.”—Ibid.