The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 268

strength is not given at once and in full measure, but according to the desire, the capacity, the faith, the need, the duty, the trial. Our lowest powers, those of the body, we get by growth, and they grow by exercise. Such is the law of our physical child- h(\00, and no other is the law of our spiritual being. The sense of weakness obliues us to rep&ir every day &fresh to him for fresh supplies. cc He giveth power to the fai~t • to them tha.t have no might he increa.seth strength."-T. C. ' \en;. 11, 12.-77ie Dirifle panoply: its ric=ity and dttign. Christians have a spirit:ua.l 'WVfare on esrth (2 Tim. iv. 7). They have to fight for God (1 Sam. xxv. 28), for truth (Jude 3), and for themselves (Rev. iii. 11). !· Tm: _DIVTh~ AlWOUR. It is so called because Goo. provides each individual part of 1t. It IS armour for offence as well as defence-" forged on no earthly anvil and tempered by no human skill." The armour of Rome-celibacy, poverty, obedience, asceticism-is for flight, not for conflict. This Divine armour we are not required to provide, but merely to put on, and its efficacy depends entirely upon the power of him who ma.de it. II. ITS PURPOSE. " Tha.t ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." The grand enemy of the Church is the devil, a superhuman tempter older than man. This language implies (1) the personal existence of Satan; (2) his possession of immense resources of cunning aud craft; (3) his power to inject evil into the minds of the saints; (4) his great end to destroy the souls of men and the whole moral order of the world; (5) the possibility of resisting his wiles in the strength of the Divine armour. III. ITB h~CES.SITY. This Divine equipment is indispensable in view of the serried ranks of evil which are leagued against us under the leadership of Satan. Our conflict is not with feeble man. It is with fallen spirits. The language of the apostle implies (1) that these spirits have a hierarchy of their own of different orders; (2) that their m.a~ana.nt activity is exercised in the world of men under a reign of darkness ; (3) that IDeir moral character is wickedness; (4) and that, as Satan is the prince of the power of tlte :i.ir, they seem to have their abode or the scene of their activity in the atmo- sphere Ulat surronnds om earth. We need, therefore, to be strong and valiant in this warfare, (1) because we are fighting for our life; (2) because, though our enemies bo strong, our Captain is stronger still; (3) because nothing but cowardice can lose the victory (Jas. iv. 7); (4) because, if we conquer, we shall ride triumphantly into heaven (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8).-T. C. Vers. 14-17.-The Divine panoply in its separate parts. The spiritual equipment of the Chrutian is here described in detail-the belt, the breastplate, the sandals, the shield, the helmet, and the sword. L TRUTH IS THE BELT, AB BIGHTEOUSNEBB 1B THE BREASTPLATE, "Having your loins girt about with truth." As the belt or girdle kept the armour in its proper place, giving strength and buoyancy of action, so truth acts in relation to righteousness, faith, and peace. If truth were wanting, there could bo none of these things, an<l nothing Chrut-like or noble. The truth here does not mean truth of doctrine, as the Word of God is a1rain referred to nor even sincerity in the sense of truthfulness, but the truth snbjecti;ely apprehend;,a. that is, the knowledge and belief of the truth. It i, 1he roru;,eious ~-rasp of the trnth which gives a Christian bonndl!l68 confidence in his C'J!lfile--i with eril Error, as a principle of life, dissol'l'es strength and unnerves for the = : iiµt with sin. Truth is our proper girdle,_ becanse we__~ght for a ~od of _truth (Ti~·.u; i. 2), and againn Satan the father of lies (John vin. 44). W1thont 1t we a..."c i;,,iritle;s, hEart1ess, and weak. IL Tm: B:&EilTPLATE. "Having on the breastplate of righteousness.'' The Roman soldier wore it to protect his heart, the centre of physical life. 'l'be bre8Btplate of the Christian is here called "the ri.,,hteousness," evidently in allusion to Isa. lix. 17, where Jehovah puts on "righteo~oess as a. breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his hf:lld." It can hardly mean moral rectitude, which, after all, would be but a pour guard against the reproaches of conscience or the assaults of Satan. 'fhis righteous- ness is that which Lhe Apostle Paul desired for himself-" the righteousness of God by faith" (Phil. iii. 8, 9). It is emphatically "the righteouenese," so 1>crfect that it OH, VI, 1-24.) THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 26&