Chapter V: AUTOGRAPH CONCLUSION.--1. The Judaisers' motive (ch. vi. 12, 13) (21)

Ver. 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.

Ver. 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_).

Ver. 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.

Ver. 18. +Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.+--Here we have the recognition of a directing Superior. The true soldier fights under the direction of his ἀρχηγός. The "sounds of strife" are dying away in this verse.

Ver. 20. +An ambassador in bonds.+--R.V. "in chains." Sustaining the honour of Christ under personal indignity. +That I may speak boldly.+--It needed not only the apostle's own, but his readers' prayers to enable him to speak freely within stroke of the "lion's paw" (2 Tim. iv. 17).

Ver. 21. +Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister.+--If all servants were "brethren" first, the troubles of our modern commercial life would be few.

Ver. 23. +Peace, love and faith.+--A worthy triad, and the greatest of _these_ is love.

Ver. 24. +Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.+--Paul's favourite word "grace" comes in as "epilogue"--as it was "prologue" (ch. i. 2). Sincerity means incorruptly--to love in a spirit corruption cannot touch.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.

_Duties of Children and Parents._

+I. The duty of children to parents is to obey.+--1. _This obedience has the Divine sanction._ "In the Lord" (ver. 1). Both the command and the obedience must be in harmony with the relation in which both parents and children stand towards God. The parent who has not himself learnt to respect and obey the law of God is ill prepared for the grave responsibilities of family government. Natural affection and the instincts of common sense will guide the parents in the ordinary affairs of home-life, and the sense of dependence and respect should induce instinctive obedience in the child. No parent has any right to enforce an obedience which is not in harmony with the supreme claims of God. The child who submits to the will of his parents is taught at the same time to obey the higher law of God. If he defies parental authority and persists in disobedience, he is sure to be treated in the same way if he ever has children of his own. To be able to govern we must first learn to obey.

2. _This obedience is in harmony with natural order and the eternal principles of justice._--"For this is right" (ver. 1). Obedience is the law of the universe, and without it everything would rush into anarchy and chaos. Law is so all-pervasive as to cover every department and relationship of life, and its breach in any sphere carries with it its own punishment. Disobedience is not only a wrong to the person who commits it, but it is an injustice to somebody else. Obedience to parents in things lawful is no hardship. It is becoming and commendable because it is right. It is the perversity of our nature, when it becomes difficult to do right. Disobedience is a wilful divergence from the straight line of rectitude, and is the essence of all sin.

3. _This obedience ensures the Divine blessing_ (vers. 2, 3).--It is our duty to obey irrespective of any advantage to be secured. The loyal heart looks, not to the reward, but to the duty. It is no merit to do what it is our duty to do. Yet such is the condescension and goodness of God that He attaches a special blessing to every act of unselfish obedience. Filial obedience should not be dilatory and reluctant, but prompt, cheerful, self-denying, and uniform. Obedience is the path of safety. A pointsman in Prussia was at the junction of two lines of railway, lever in hand, for a train that was signalled. The engine was within a few seconds of reaching the embankment when the man, turning his head, perceived his little boy playing between the rails on which the train was running. He stuck to his lever, but shouted to the child, "Lie down! lie down!" The train passed, and the father rushed forward to pick up what he feared would be the mangled body of his child; but what was his joy to find the boy had at once obeyed his order, had lain down, and the train passed over him without injuring him. His prompt obedience saved his life. Dutiful children secure the blessing of God. Filial obedience practised in the Christian home forms habits of promptitude, self-control, and self-respect which are important conditions of success and prosperity.

+II. The duty of parents to children is to exercise discipline.+--1. _Not by enforcing commands that tend to irritate._ "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath" (ver. 4). Children are a sacred trust and solemn responsibility; not to be weakly fondled or foolishly spoilt, but to be wisely, kindly, and strictly disciplined into obedience and duty. The Chinese have a proverb, when a son is born into a family a bow and arrow are hung before the gate. In Eastern books sons are spoken of as arrows of their fathers. "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth" (Ps. cxxvii. 4). As the bowman straightens and polishes his arrow, giving it a sharp and solid point, and wings it with feathers, so parents must train and equip their children that they may go straight to the point of duty and hit the mark. The arrows that are not prepared and directed when in the hand may, when they are gone abroad into the world, and all parental training is too late, prove arrows in the heart that will rankle with unspeakable pain. The training of children is also a training of the parent. Many a hint is unconsciously given as to "training up a _parent_ in the way he should go." While there should be firm discipline, there should not be exasperating and tantalising severity. Rousing a child's anger is not the best way of subduing it. A sullen submission gained, by provoking and then crushing an angry opposition, is rendered with a sense of injustice and wrong that will breed future mischief. Monod says: "Correction and instruction should proceed from the Lord, and be directed by the Spirit of the Lord in such a way that it is not so much the father who corrects his children and teaches them, as the Lord through him." The father who chastises in wrath provokes the child to wrath and rebellion.

2. _But by judicious religious culture._--"But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (ver. 4). Children are the gifts of God to be trained for God. They are susceptible of genuine religious experience, and are often nearer the truth than grown-up people. Christ recognised the spiritual faculty in children, and gave them a conspicuous place in His kingdom. When He wished to show the type of true greatness, He did not point to stars or mountains or earthly dignities, but "called a little child unto Him and, set him in the midst" (Matt. xviii. 2-4). Children are capable of useful religious service, and in many ways may be little missionaries for Christ. Dr. W. L. Breckenridge once said to his mother: "Mother, I think you ruled us with too rigid a rod in our boyhood. It would have been better had you used gentler methods." The old lady straightened up and said: "Well, William, when you have raised up three as good preachers as I have then you can talk." The smaller magnets have proportionately much the greater power, and children have a remarkable spiritual force with which the Christian parent has to deal.

+Lessons.+--1. _Personal discipline should be in harmony with the law of God._ 2. _The rigour of parental discipline should be tempered with love._ 3. _Respect and obedience to parents will be Divinely rewarded._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 1-4. _The Mutual Duties of Children and Parents._

+I. Children are to obey and honour their parents.+--1. _Children owe to their parents an inward affection and regard._ Their obedience should flow from love, gratitude, and esteem. The love parents bear to their children entitles them to reciprocal affection. 2. _They are to honour their parents by external tokens of respect._ 3. _They are to obey the just commands of their parents._ 4. _They are to receive with decent and humble regard the instructions, counsels, and reproofs of their parents._ 5. _They should remunerate the favours received from their parents._ 6. _They are encouraged in their obedience by the Divine promise._

+II. The duties of parents to children.+--1. _To instruct their children in the doctrines and duties of religion._ 2. _To endeavour by arguments, exhortations, and reproofs to form their lives according to those instructions._ 3. _To regulate the diversions of their children._ 4. _To maintain the worship of God in their houses._ 5. _To let their conversation be exemplary._ 6. _To train up their children with diligence in some honest business._ 7. _To commend their children to God and the word of His grace.--Lathrop._

Vers. 1, 2. _Obedience._--The dutiful obedience of children is declared by God in the fifth commandment to be the foundation of all social happiness and of every social virtue.

+I. The behaviour of a child to its parents is no such trifle as too many perverse children and too many foolish parents are prone to fancy it.+--How often we hear mothers saying, "It is only the poor child's way; it is a little pettish and fractious at times, but it means no harm by it. To be sure it does not mind me quite so well as it ought to do; but children will be children." So the child goes on uncorrected, and grows up disobedient and undutiful--with habits and dispositions so evil that God has classed them with the very worst crimes, with false swearing, theft, adultery, and ever murder. If undutifulness in children had been a mere trifle, would God have put it into this black list?

+II. Observe the reasonableness and justice of the duty of children to obey their parents.+--The child is helpless and entirely dependent on its parents' care and kindness. So strong and lasting is a mother's love that, while other animals drive their young away as soon as they can feed themselves, the love of human parents descends and prolongs itself even to their offspring's offspring. Think of their fears, their wishes, their prayers for your souls' welfare. Your love to them should be dutiful love, showing itself in acts of gentleness, respect, and kindness, and in the strictest and readiest obedience. Children are bound to obey, not from constraint, nor from fear of blows, but readily, willingly, cheerfully. The obedience paid for fear of stripes is the obedience of a mule, not of a son. What can a child know save what its parents teach it? Its parents for a time stand in the place of God to it; as such, it must believe them and obey them. You may be the better for their experience, you may profit by their warnings, you may learn from their lessons.

+III. Observe the use and benefit of obedience in forming the character of the child.+--It is in the school of home, amid the little hardships, restraints, crosses, and disappointments which every child must needs meet with, that the great lesson of obedience is best learnt. There is a root of self-will born in every man, and out of this root grow two evil and misshapen stems--pride and disobedience. You may as well expect water to burn and fire to wet, you may as well expect a barren common that has never been ploughed and sown to produce a crop of wheat, as that a child, which has gone on year after year in pride, self-will, and disobedience to its parents, will readily or easily tear off its habits and its nature, to walk humbly and obediently before God. We must cultivate obedience in the child that it may outgrow, overtop, and stifle, or at least keep under, the evil stem of disobedience. We must cultivate humility in him, that it may keep under the evil of pride. We must train and accustom him to habits of steady self-denial, which our Lord has recommended to us as the best yokes for our headstrong and else unmanageable self-will. Thus the fifth commandment is a kind of practical school where the child, in obeying its parents, learns to obey all to whom it owes obedience.--_A. W. Hare._

Ver. 4. _A Father's Charge._

+I. The duties parents owe to their children.+--1. _Children are weak and helpless and totally incapable of caring for themselves_--hence arises the first duty which parents owe them, that of feeding and clothing them. 2. _Are ignorant and without understanding_--hence they should not only be fed but taught. 3. _Are unruly, and therefore must be governed._ 4. _Are prone to evil, and therefore must be restrained._

+II. The obligations parents are under to practise these duties.+--1. _They should do it for their own sakes._ 2. _For their children's sake._ 3. _For society's sake._ 4. _For God's sake._

+Learn.+--1. _The practicability of a religious education._ 2. _How awful is the responsibility of parents--of fathers especially.--Sketches._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-9.

_The Duties of Servants and Masters._

+I. The duty of the servant to the master is to obey.+--1. _This obedience is to be rendered with conscientious solicitude._ "With fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart; . . . not with eyeservice, as menpleasers" (vers. 5, 6). There must be a _genuine care for our work._ "Be obedient, with fear and trembling." The fear enjoined is no dread of human displeasure, of the master's whip or tongue. It is the same fear and trembling with which we are bidden to work out our own salvation (Phil. ii. 12). The inward work of the soul's salvation and the outward work of the busy hands labouring in the mine, or at the loom, or in the lowliest domestic duties--all alike are to be performed under a solemn responsibility to God and in the presence of Christ, the Lord of nature and of men. No man, whether he be a minister of state or a stable-groom, will dare to do heedless work who lives and acts in that august Presence. The sense of Christ's Lordship ensures _honesty in work._ "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers." It is the common fault and temptation of servants in all degrees to observe the master's eye, and to work busily or slackly as they are watched or not. Such workmen act as they do because they look to men and not to God. Their work is without conscience and self-respect. Let us all adopt St. Paul's maxim; it will be an immense economy. What armies of overlookers and inspectors we shall be able to dismiss when every servant works as well behind his master's back as to his face, when every manufacturer and shopkeeper puts himself in the purchaser's place and deals as he would have others deal with him (_Findlay_).

2. _This obedience should be cheerful and hearty as rendered unto a higher than an earthly master._--"As unto Christ; . . . doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men" (vers. 5-7). Obedience should be not only careful and honest, but hearty. The heart is the source of our greatest power. Nothing can be translated into an act that has not first been conceived and set in motion by the heart. As the stroke of the piston sets in motion the most complicated machinery and produces certain results, so the throb of the heart brings all our activities into play and gives direction and character to our work. The worth of our work as a whole will be decided by the heartiness we throw into every single duty. Workmanship counts for much. I have read of a chain, weighing two ounces, costing £170, being 163,000 times more than the value of the original bit of iron from which it was made. The work of the artist made all the difference; he put into it his best self, his heart, his genius. So in the works of the divine Creator. The symmetry, the beauty, the perfect balance and shining magnificence of the world are the result of the patient work and hearty enthusiasm with which the great Architect has put together and finished the most minute parts of the planet.

3. _Genuine obedience is always rewarded._--"Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord" (ver. 8). Even in this world conscientious work is not without reward. "In all labour there is profit. The diligent hand maketh rich." A stationer settling a large account with a paper-manufacturer said: "I owe all my success in business to you; but let me ask you how a man of your caution came to give credit so readily to a beginner of my slender means?" "Because," said the paper-maker, "at whatever hour in the mourning I passed to my business, I always observed you at yours with your coat off." Work gives character, and is the pathway to success and wealth. But in the world to come, when servant and master stand before the bar of Christ, reward will be equitably meted out according to the work of each.

+II. The duty of the master is to act towards his servant on the same principles as obedience to himself is regulated.+--"And, ye masters, do the same things unto them" (ver. 9). The master is to put himself in the place of his servant, and act towards him as he would desire to be treated if their positions were reversed. It is a practical application of the great rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them"--a rule we are in danger of interpreting on one side only: our own side.

1. _To avoid irritating severity._--"Forbearing threatening" (ver. 9). The slave in early times was treated as scarcely human, and was ruled by the fear of punishment. Christianity in the beginning did not interfere with domestic slavery; but it introduced principles which, wherever adopted, utterly abolished slavery. The Christian master cannot act on the policy of cruelty, but treats his servants with justice and kindness.

2. _To remember that both are servants of a higher and impartial Master._--"Knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with Him" (ver. 9). A party of friends setting out together upon a journey soon find it to be the best for all sides that while they are upon the road one of the company should wait upon the rest, another ride forward to seek out lodging and entertainment, a third carry the portmanteau, a fourth take charge of the horses, a fifth bear the purse, conduct, and direct the route; not forgetting, however, that as they were equal and independent when they set out, so they are all to return to a level again at their journey's end. The same regard and respect, the same forbearance, lenity, and reserve in using their service, the same mildness in delivering commands, the same study to make their journey comfortable and pleasant which he whose lot it was to direct the rest would in common decency think himself bound to observe towards them, ought we to show to those who, in the casting of the parts of human society, happen to be placed within our power or to depend upon us (_Paley_). Master and man must give an account to Him who will judge every act according to its merit.

+Lessons.+--1. _Masters and servants are amenable to Divine law._ 2. _Neither master nor servant gains any advantage by tactics that violate Divine law._ 3. _Where the Christian spirit predominates trade disputes will soon be satisfactorily settled._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 5-9. _The Duties of Servants and Masters._

+I. The duties of servants.+--1. _To be obedient to their masters._ This must be understood with the same limitation as all other commands enjoining relative duties. We are to obey God rather than men. Servants no further obey their masters according to the will of God than they make His will the rule and measure of their obedience to their masters. 2. _Servants owe their masters reverence as well as obedience._ 3. _There is an honour, as well as fear, due to their masters._ 4. _Cheerfulness in their obedience is recommended by the apostle._ 5. _Diligence of faithfulness is another duty which they owe to their masters._ 6. _They are to be patient and submissive,_ though they meet with usage more severe than they think reasonable, not breaking their own obligations, or deserting their master's service for trivial causes, but bearing his smaller indiscretions without complaint, and in cases of real injury seeking relief in a prudent manner and by lawful means. 7. _In all their service they should act with an aim to please God and to obtain His approbation._

+II. The duties of masters to their servants.+--1. _Their government is to be mild and prudent, not passionate and severe._ 2. _With respect to apprentices, the contract binds the master not only to give them comfortable support, but to instruct them in his business and profession._ 3. _With respect to labourers, justice obliges us to give them the stipulated wages when they have faithfully performed the promised service._ 4. _With respect to all servants, equity requires that we treat them with humanity and kindness,_ and contribute all proper assistance to render them useful, virtuous, and happy.--_Lathrop._

Vers. 6-8. _Christian Servitude._--1. To propose to ourselves the pleasing of men as our great design is inconsistent with the work of grace in the heart and with that subjection we owe to Christ. The meanest service is service done to Christ, and will be accepted by Him as such. 2. So ingrate is man, and so slow to reward those from whom he receives favour, that a man can never heartily do service to the most of men, except he look to God, whom to serve in the meanest employment is a reward in itself. 3. The Lord in dispensing rewards looks not to the external beauty, splendour, or greatness of the work, but to the honesty and sincerity of it.--_Fergusson._

Ver. 9. _Masters accountable to God._--1. There is no power among men so absolute--not that of kings and supreme rulers--but implies an obligation, through virtue of God's ordinance, on those invested with it to make conscience of duties towards their inferiors and subjects. 2. As it is usual for powers on earth sinfully to oversee and not to punish the cruel and unjust dealings of masters towards servants, so those sins most connived at by men are most severely taken notice of by God. 3. It is too ordinary for men in place and authority to carry themselves as if they had none above them to be accountable to, or to dream that the Lord will not take such strict account of them as of their underlings and servants.--_Ibid._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-12.

_The Christian Warfare_--

+I. Can be fought only with Divine help.+--"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (ver. 10). The apostle has dwelt like one enraptured on the sublime constitution and glorious destiny of the Church; now he deals with the formidable foes with which the Church will have to contend. He sees the evil forces gathering, and hears the clash of arms among the approaching enemies. He warns believers that unaided they will be powerless in the strife and must suffer defeat. They are secure and will be victorious only as they make the strength of God their own. The strength of the general, in other hosts, lies in his troops; he flies, as a great commander once said, upon their wings; if their feathers be clipped, their power broken, he is lost. But in the Christian army the strength of every saint lies in the Lord of hosts. God can overcome His enemies without their hands; but they cannot even defend themselves without His arm. Man is impotent without the strength of God. If the ship, launched, rigged, and with her sails spread, cannot stir till the wind fills them, much less can the timber in the carpenter's yard hew and frame itself into a ship. Power to contend with the spiritual foes must come from God.

+II. Involves a fierce conflict with the powers of evil.+--1. _A conflict, not with men, but with unseen spiritual enemies._ "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities" (ver. 12). The apostle brings out in bold relief the terrible foes they are summoned to encounter. (1) _As to their position._ They are no subalterns, but foes of mighty rank, the nobility and chieftains of the spirit world. (2) _Their office._ Their domain is this darkness in which they exercise imperial sway. (3) _Their essence._ They are not encumbered with an animal frame, but are spirits. (4) _Their character._ They are evil--their appetite for evil only exceeds their capacity for producing it (_Eadie_). The Church is engaged in a double conflict--of the flesh and of the spirit. We are assailed with the temptations of the world of sense, and with seductions of error that attack us in the world of the mind; and in both spheres we have to contend with the subtle influences set in motion by the rulers of the darkness of this world. Our foes invade "the high places" of our faith and hope, and would rob us of our heaven.

2. _A conflict with unseen spiritual enemies led by an astute and subtle commander._--"That ye may be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil" (ver. 11). The New Testament assumes the personality of Satan. This belief runs counter to modern thought, governed as it is by the tendency to depersonalise existence. The conception of evil spirits given us in the Bible is treated as an obsolete superstition; and the name of the evil one with multitudes serves only to point a profane and careless jest. To Jesus Christ, Satan was no figure of speech, but a thinking and active being, of whose presence and influence He saw tokens everywhere in this evil world. Satan's empire is ruled with a settled policy, and his warfare carried on with a system of strategy which takes advantage of every opening for attack. The manifold combinations of error, the various arts of seduction and temptation, and ten thousand forms of the deceit of unrighteousness constitute "the wiles of the devil." Satan is no longer the God of this world since Christianity rose to its ascendant. The manifestations of demonism are, at least in Christian lands, vastly less conspicuous than in the first age of the Church. But they are more bold than wise who deny their existence, and who profess to explain all occult phenomena and phrenetic moral aberrations by physical causes (_Findlay_).

+III. Is victorious only as the warrior is armed with the Divine panoply.+--"Put on the whole armour of God" (ver. 11). They who put on Christ are well clothed; they are armed from head to foot, and are proof against the darts of the devil. The Christless man is defenceless; his own understanding and gifts do not sufficiently arm him. The soldier comes into the field with no arms but what his general commands: it is not left to every one's fancy to bring what weapons he pleases; this would breed confusion. So the Christian soldier must put on the armour God provides, and be completely clothed with it. To leave one part unguarded will bring disaster. In one of the famous battles between the English and French, that which lost France the day was a shower of English arrows which so galled the horses that they became unmanageable, put the whole army into disorder, and trod down their own men. So if there be the least loophole in our armour the wily adversary will quickly discover it and shoot through his fiery darts which will effect confusion and defeat.

+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian life is a conflict between good and evil._ 2. _God is always on the side of the good._ 3. _The Christian warrior must fight with weapons Divinely provided._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 10-12. _A Call to Christian Fortitude._

+I. Here is an exhortation to Christian fortitude.+--"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." It is not bodily but mental strength which is here intended. True fortitude or courage is a temper of mind by which we steadily follow the calls of duty, without being deterred by danger or diverted by difficulty. It is a virtue founded in a regard to God and supported by faith in Him. It is cool and deliberate, not rash and impetuous; it is kind and compassionate, not cruel and revengeful; it is steady and patient, not fickle and inconstant; it continues in well-doing, persuaded that its labour is not in vain.

+II. A warning against the enemies to be opposed.+--The apostle mentions two sorts of enemies.

1. _The first he calls flesh and blood._--The motions of our animal nature. The phrase may further intend those sensible objects which are suited to gratify fleshly desires; or it may intend mankind, who are partakers of flesh and blood.

2. _The other kind of enemies with whom we are to contend are evil spirits._--These spirits are enemies to mankind. Their number is great, and the terms used denote a subordination among them. They are not divided against themselves, but act in concert under the direction of one leading spirit, who is called the devil and Satan. They have great power over such as submit to their dominion. Their chief influence is over the ignorant and superstitious. They most successfully carry on their designs in the dark. When the Gospel began to shine, Satan began to fall. Among those who reject the Gospel he recovers his full dominion.--_Lathrop._

Vers. 11, 12. _The Christian Warfare._

+I. Consider the danger to which we are exposed.+--As in other cases so it is in this: our greatest danger lies in not feeling our danger, and so not being prepared to meet it.

1. _View the enemy we have to contend with._--He is one who bears an inveterate hatred against us, and seeks nothing less than our destruction or eternal overthrow. . . . He hates us as God's creatures, but especially as those who have been rescued from his power and taken up arms against him; nothing now will satisfy him but our eternal ruin. . . . It is therefore a struggle of life for life; if we do not overcome him, he will overcome us. It is in vain to think of being neuter, or making peace with him.

2. _He is mightier than we are;_ and unless we have help from above, we are no match for him. . . . We know but little of the power of wicked spirits, abstractly considered; but viewed as the god of this world, Satan has all its temptations in alliance with him.

3. _He is an artful enemy_. . . . We are told of the "wiles of the devil," hiding his designs, and falling upon us when we least expect it. We are in his net before we are aware, and when Providence seems to smile upon us (Deut. viii. 11-14). . . . He studies our propensities, and suits his temptations to them (Eph. iv. 14).

4. _He is invisible_. . . . If he were "flesh and blood," like ourselves, we might beware; but his influence is like the mighty pestilence, which walks in darkness. . . . When least suspected, danger is nigh.

5. _He is near us,_ as it were, within our gates. The safety of a nation menaced by an enemy often depends on his being kept at a distance, by walls or seas, or fortresses of defence. But here it is supposed that the enemy has entered into our borders, and that we have no other resource left but to struggle as it were for life. . . .

6. _What is still worse, he has a strong party within us._

7. _On the issue of this warfare depend all our hopes._--If we "stand" not in this, our loss when defeated can never be retrieved.

+II. The armour provided for us.+--1. _In general, this armour is the grace of the Gospel believed and trusted in._ In common warfare it is usual for the commanders to persuade their enemies to think highly of their strength; but in this it is quite the reverse. We must go as Israel was always taught to do, as having no might of our own, but deriving all our strength from the Lord.

2. _It is described as a whole or perfect armour._--Sufficient to defend us in every part. . . . "Truth" is the girdle to strengthen us; "righteousness" a breastplate; the "gospel" of peace as shoes, by which we shall be able to trample upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon; "faith" is a shield; "salvation," or the hope of eternal life, a helmet. . . . All this armour is to be drawn from the truths of the everlasting Gospel.

3. _The use to be made of it is,_ that we may be able to "withstand," and to face the enemy. There is no armour for the back; he that fleeth is wholly defenceless, and must inevitably fall.

+III. The necessity of putting on this armour.+--Armour is of no avail, unless it is used. The application of the Gospel is that which proves our security.

+IV. The inducement to put on this armour.+--"That we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (ver. 11). Many neglecting this armour have been foiled in the day of battle.--_Theological Sketch Book._

Ver. 11. _The Wiles of the Devil._

+I. Some of those artifices by which the devil entices men to sin.+--1. _He often presents to man the pleasing advantages of sin, while its judicial consequences are kept in the background._ Sin is often presented to man under the form of virtue or religion. The names of sins are changed in order that their natures may seem changed. Sin is thus recommended to the more tender conscience. The vileness and criminality of sin are often extenuated to man by plausible excuses. They need an apology--youth, old age, strong temptation, a desire to please, to prevent loss of place, provision for a family, etc. The inconsistencies of the acknowledged people of God are often pleaded as an apology for sin. The falls of God's people have been recorded for good; but the record has been perverted to evil. A legitimate use of the record is to prevent despair on the part of God's people who have fallen. But, by Satan, the beacon has been converted into a decoy.

2. _The sinner is often freed from his difficulties in sinning by false views of God's character and of the design of Christ's work._--God is regarded as a Being of mere mercy. Christ is thought of as saving from sin's consequences, rather than from sin itself. The individual is often persuaded to expose himself to temptation, under the impression that he will resist it.

+II. Some of the artifices by which he entices men from the performance of positive duty.+--1. _Many are restrained from duties by a consideration of their hardness in themselves_ (Matt. x. 34-39). 2. _Many are persuaded to let duty alone, on account of the sacrifices which a performance of it involves._ 3. _Argument against a full devotedness to the service of God may sometimes be drawn from the fewness and meanness of those who are engaged in it_ (John vii. 48). 4. _An argument against the necessity of duty is drawn from the doctrines of grace_ (Rom. vi. 2, 3; Jas. ii. 17). 5. _The worth and value of all performances are taken away by the trust in them for righteousness to which Satan prompts the heart.--Stewart._

Ver. 12. _The Invisible Enemies of Man._

+I. Spiritual forces are much greater, much more efficient, much more formidable than any mere material forces.+--A strong will is a more formidable thing than the most highly developed muscle. An idea which appeals to the intelligence and heart of the multitude is likely to do more work and to wield a greater sway in the end than any number of batteries and parks of artillery. It is in the encounter, not of brute force with conscience and with thought, but in the encounter of ideas with ideas, in the encounter of wills with wills, that the destiny of the world is ultimately decided. St. Paul knew that the Church had to contend with the thought and the reason of paganism much more truly than with its proconsuls and its legions; and as he wrote to the Ephesians, he did not mean merely human principalities and powers, since he contrasts the beings of whom he is speaking with mere flesh and blood.

+II. Behind all that met the eye in daily life the apostle discovered another world that did not meet the eye.+--He discerned other forms hovering, guiding, marshalling, arranging, inspiring that which met the eye. "Do not let us deceive ourselves," he cries, "as if we had only to encounter so many social or political forces, so many human minds and wills, so many human errors, human prejudices, human traditions, human passions; our real enemies are not human, they lie in ambush behind the manifold activities of man; they are really supersensuous. Two great departments of moral life among men are watched over, each one of them beyond the sphere of human life, by beings of greater power, greater intelligence, greater intensity of purpose than man in the world of spirits. These spiritual beings, good and evil, act upon humanity as clearly, as certainly, and as constantly as man himself acts upon the lower creatures around. It is not any mere disposition, inseparable from the conditions of human thought, to personify, to externalise passion, which has peopled the imagination of Christendom with demons. It is within ourselves that we meet now, as the first Christians met, the onset of the principalities and powers. It is in resisting them, in driving from us in the name of Christ the spirits of untruthfulness, of sloth, of anger, and of impure desire, that we really contribute our little share to the issue of the great battle that rages still."

+III. To love truth and righteousness is to hate their contraries.+--Hatred of evil is distinct from any hatred of those who do evil, and who are objects of sincere sorrow, and have claims on Christian charity. The easy tolerance of moral evil is one of the most alarming features of our day. Only when the struggle with evil is a matter of personal experience do we hate it, and enter even remotely into the apostle's stern language about its agents and its champions.--_H. P. Liddon._

_The Enemies of Believers._

+I. The enemies referred to are here described as numerous.+--1. _They are here spoken of in the plural number,_ as they are also in other passages: "The angels which kept not their first estate." "The devil and his angels." The names here employed are collective, and imply numbers. We read of a single person being possessed with many devils. 2. _Hence the whole world has been filled with their worship and studded with their temples._ 3. _Hence the strength of the temptations with which each one is tried._ 4. _Hence the intensity of human wickedness._ 5. _Hence the need of watchfulness._

+II. The enemies here spoken of are represented as being in a kind of subordination the one to the other--there are "principalities."+--1. _There may be remains among them of that diversity of rank which originally existed._ 2. _It may be a submission called for by difference of intellectual and innate power._ 3. _It may be made conducive to the more successful waging of the war in which they are engaged_--giving unity of aim, of plan, of co-operation. They leave no point neglected; turn all their strength to account. All unity is not of God.

+III. The enemies here described are singly and as detached mighty for evil.+--They are "powers." 1. _Power intellectual._ 2. _Power physical._ 3. _Power directed._ 4. _Collective power._

+IV. The apostle characterises these adversaries as the rulers of the darkness of this world.+--1. _Here a limitation of Satan's dominion is expressed._--"Rulers of the darkness of this world"--of the hiding and blinding errors which abound--of those deceived and misled. 2. _It is as the prince of darkness that he contends,_ using falsehood and the wicked as his instruments.

+V. The enemies are spiritual in their nature.+--1. _They are intelligent and crafty._ 2. _Invisible._ 3. _Active and unwearied._

+VI. They are wicked spirits.+--1. _They are in themselves wicked._ 2. _They would make others wicked._ 3. _They employ the most wicked means._

+Lessons.+--1. _Watch._ 2. _Pray._ 3. _Resist._ 4. _Stand fast.--Stewart._

_Evil Angels._

+I. The nature and properties of evil angels.+--1. _Their original properties were the same as those of the holy angels._ 2. _We do not know either the occasion of their apostasy or what effect it immediately produced upon them._ 3. _From the time they shook off their allegiance to God, they shook off all goodness, and contracted those tempers which are most hateful to Him and most opposite to His nature._ 4. _In the prosecution of their infernal designs they are diligent in the highest degree._ 5. _They do not wander at large, but are all united under one common head._

Transcriber's Note: With respect to point 5 below, the
Transcriber asserts that man is perfectly capable of doing
evil without any help. Please see Jer. xvii. 9 and James
i. 13-15.

+II. The employment of evil angels.+--1. _They are, as far as God permits, the governors of the world._ 2. _Satan and all his angels are continually warring against us, and watching over every child of man._ 3. _By them the foolish hearts of those who know not God are darkened._ 4. _They hinder every good word and work._ 5. _There is no evil done, spoke, or thought without the assistance of the devil._ 6. _Such is the malice of the wicked one that he will torment whom he cannot destroy._ In all these instances we say "the devil," as if there was only one, because these spirits, innumerable as they are, all act in concert, and because we know not whether one or more are concerned in this or that work of darkness.--_Wesley._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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 Hofman_). 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 17). The military swords were in 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" (ver. 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._