Ephesians
6:
The
Armour of God
10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the
full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes
of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against [e]flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God,
so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything,
to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your
feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [f]in addition to all,
taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18
[g]With all prayer and petition [h]pray at all times in the Spirit, and with
this in view, [i]be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the
saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the
opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20
for which I am an ambassador in [j]chains; that [k]in proclaiming it I may
speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Romans
13.12
.
12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light
Matthew
Henry's Commentary
Verses
10-18
Here
is a general exhortation to constancy in our Christian course, and to encourage
in our Christian warfare. Isa. not our life a warfare? It is so; for we
struggle with the common calamities of human life. Isa. not our religion much
more a warfare? It is so; for we struggle with the opposition of the powers of
darkness, and with many enemies who would keep us from God and heaven. We have
enemies to fight against, a captain to fight for, a banner to fight under, and
certain rules of war by which we are to govern ourselves. “Finally, my brethren
(Eph. 6:10), it yet remains that you apply yourselves to your work and duty as
Christian soldiers.” Now it is requisite that a soldier be both stout-hearted
and well armed. If Christians be soldiers of Jesus Christ,
I.
They must see that they be stout-hearted. This is prescribed here: Be strong in
the Lord, etc. Those who have so many battles to fight, and who, in their way
to heaven, must dispute every pass, with dint of sword, have need of a great
deal of courage. Be strong therefore, strong for service, strong for suffering,
strong for fighting. Let a soldier be ever so well armed without, if he have
not within a good heart, his armour will stand him in little stead. Note,
spiritual strength and courage are very necessary for our spiritual warfare. Be
strong in the Lord, either in his cause and for his sake or rather in his
strength. We have no sufficient strength of our own. Our natural courage is as
perfect cowardice, and our natural strength as perfect weakness; but all our
sufficiency is of God. In his strength we must go forth and go on. By the
actings of faith, we must fetch in grace and help from heaven to enable us to
do that which of ourselves we cannot do, in our Christian work and warfare. We
should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in a reliance upon God’s
all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of his might.
II.
They must be well armed: “Put on the whole armour of God (Eph. 6:11), make use
of all the proper defensitives and weapons for repelling the temptations and
stratagems of Satan—get and exercise all the Christian graces, the whole
armour, that no part be naked and exposed to the enemy.” Observe, Those who
would approve themselves to have true grace must aim at all grace, the whole
armour. It is called the armour of God, because he both prepares and bestows
it. We have no armour of our own that will be armour of proof in a trying time.
Nothing will stand us in stead but the armour of God. This armour is prepared
for us, but we must put it on; that is, we must pray for grace, we must use the
grace given us, and draw it out into act and exercise as there is occasion. The
reason assigned why the Christian should be completely armed is that he may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil—that he may be able to hold out,
and to overcome, notwithstanding all the devil’s assaults, both of force and
fraud, all the deceits he puts upon us, all the snares he lays for us, and all
his machinations against us. This the apostle enlarges upon here, and shows,
1.
What our danger is, and what need we have to put on this whole armour,
considering what sort of enemies we have to deal with—the devil and all the
powers of darkness: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, etc., Eph.
6:12. The combat for which we are to be prepared is not against ordinary human
enemies, not barely against men compounded of flesh and blood, nor against our
own corrupt natures singly considered, but against the several ranks of devils,
who have a government which they exercise in this world. (1.) We have to do
with a subtle enemy, an enemy who uses wiles and stratagems, as Eph. 6:11. He
has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls: hence he is called a serpent
for subtlety, an old serpent, experienced in the art and trade of tempting.
(2.) He is a powerful enemy: Principalities, and powers, and rulers. They are
numerous, they are vigorous; and rule in those heathen nations which are yet in
darkness. The dark parts of the world are the seat of Satan’s empire. Yea, they
are usurping princes over all men who are yet in a state of sin and ignorance.
Satan’s is a kingdom of darkness; whereas Christ’s is a kingdom of light. (3.)
They are spiritual enemies:
Spiritual wickedness in high places, or wicked
spirits, as some translate it. The devil is a spirit, a wicked spirit; and our
danger is the greater from our enemies because they are unseen, and assault us
ere we are aware of them. The devils are wicked spirits, and they chiefly annoy
the saints with, and provoke them to, spiritual wickednesses, pride, envy,
malice, etc. These enemies are said to be in high places, or in heavenly
places, so the word is, taking heaven (as one says) for the whole expansum, or
spreading out of the air between the earth and the stars, the air being the place
from which the devils assault us. Or the meaning may be, “We wrestle about
heavenly places or heavenly things;” so some of the ancients interpret it. Our
enemies strive to prevent our ascent to heaven, to deprive us of heavenly
blessings and to obstruct our communion with heaven. They assault us in the
things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our
hearts; and therefore we have need to be upon our guard against them. We have
need of faith in our Christian warfare, because we have spiritual enemies to
grapple with, as well as of faith in our Christian work, because we have
spiritual strength to fetch in. Thus you see your danger.
2.
What our duty is: to take and put on the whole armour of God, and then to stand
our ground, and withstand our enemies.
(1.)
We must withstand, Eph. 6:13. We must not yield to the devil’s allurements and
assaults, but oppose them. Satan is said to stand up against us, 1 Chron. 21:1.
If he stand up against us, we must stand against him; set up, and keep up, an
interest in opposition to the devil. Satan is the wicked one, and his kingdom
is the kingdom of sin: to stand against Satan is to strive against sin. That
you may be able to withstand in the evil day, in the day of temptation, or of
any sore affliction.
(2.)
We must stand our ground: And, having done all, to stand. We must resolve, by
God’s grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we
distrust our cause, or our leader, or our armour, we give him advantage. Our
present business is to withstand the assaults of the devil, and to stand it
out; and then, having done all that is incumbent on the good soldiers of Jesus
Christ, our warfare will be accomplished, and we shall be finally victorious.
(3.)
We must stand armed; and this is here most enlarged upon. Here is a Christian
in complete armour: and the armour is divine: Armour of God, armour of light,
Rom. 13:12. Armour of righteousness, 2 Cor. 6:7. The apostle specifies the
particulars of this armour, both offensive and defensive. The military girdle
or belt, the breast-plate, the greaves (or soldier’s shoes), the shield, the
helmet, and the sword. It is observable that, among them all, there is none for
the back; if we turn our back upon the enemy, we lie exposed. [1.] Truth or
sincerity is our girdle, Eph. 6:14. It was prophesied of Christ (Isa. 11:5)
that righteousness should be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the
girdle of his reins. That which Christ was girded with all Christians must be
girded with. God desires truth, that is, sincerity, in the inward parts. This
is the strength of our loins; and it girds on all other pieces of our armour,
and therefore is first mentioned. I know no religion without sincerity. Some
understand it of the doctrine of the truths of the gospel: they should cleave
to us as the girdle does to the loins, Jer. 13:11. This will restrain from
libertinism and licentiousness, as a girdle restrains and keeps in the body.
This
is the Christian soldier’s belt: ungirded with this, he is unblessed. [2.]
Righteousness must be our breast-plate. The breast-plate secures the vitals,
shelters the heart. The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is our
breast-plate against the arrows of divine wrath. The righteousness of Christ
implanted in us is our breast-plate to fortify the heart against the attacks
which Satan makes against us. The apostle explains this in 1 Thess. 5:8;
Putting on the breast-plate of faith and love. Faith and love include all
Christian graces; for by faith we are united to Christ and by love to our
brethren. These will infer a diligent observance of our duty to God, and a
righteous deportment towards men, in all the offices of justice, truth, and
charity. [3.] Resolution must be as the greaves to our legs: And their feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, Eph. 6:15. Shoes, or greaves
of brass, or the like, were formerly part of the military armour (1 Sam. 17:6):
the use of them was to defend the feet against the gall-traps, and sharp
sticks, which were wont to be laid privily in the way, to obstruct the marching
of the enemy, those who fell upon them being unfit to march. The preparation of
the gospel of peace signifies a prepared and resolved frame of heart, to adhere
to the gospel and abide by it, which will enable us to walk with a steady pace
in the way of religion, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers that may
be in it. It is styled the gospel of peace because it brings all sorts of
peace, peace with God, with ourselves, and with one another.
It
may also be meant of that which prepares for the entertainment of the gospel,
namely, repentance. With this our feet must be shod: for by living a life of
repentance we are armed against temptations to sin, and the designs of our
great enemy. Dr. Whitby thinks this may be the sense of the words: “That you
may be ready for the combat, be shod with the gospel of peace, endeavour after
that peaceable and quiet mind which the gospel calls for. Be not easily
provoked, nor prone to quarrel: but show all gentleness and all long-suffering
to all men, and this will certainly preserve you from many great temptations
and persecutions, as did those shoes of brass the soldiers from those
galltraps,” etc. [4.] Faith must be our shield: Above all, or chiefly, taking
the shield of faith, Eph. 6:16. This is more necessary than any of them. Faith
is all in all to us in an hour of temptation. The breast-plate secures the
vitals; but with the shield we turn every way. This is the victory over the
world, even our faith. We are to be fully persuaded of the truth of all God’s
promises and threatenings, such a faith being of great use against temptations.
Consider faith as it is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of
things hoped for, and it will appear to be of admirable use for this purpose.
Faith, as receiving Christ and the benefits of
redemption, so deriving grace from him, is like a shield, a sort of universal
defence. Our enemy the devil is here called the wicked one. He is wicked
himself, and he endeavours to make us wicked. His temptations are called darts,
because of their swift and undiscerned flight, and the deep wounds that they
give to the soul; fiery darts, by way of allusion to the poisonous darts which
were wont to inflame the parts which were wounded with them, and therefore were
so called, as the serpents with poisonous stings are called fiery serpents.
Violent temptations, by which the soul is set on fire of hell, are the darts
which Satan shoots at us. Faith is the shield with which we must quench these
fiery darts, wherein we should receive them, and so render them ineffectual,
that they may not hit us, or at least that they may not hurt us. Observe,
Faith, acted upon the word of God and applying that, acted upon the grace of
Christ and improving that, quenches the darts of temptation. [5.] Salvation
must be our helmet (Eph. 6:17); that is, hope, which has salvation for its
object; so 1 Thess. 5:8. The helmet secures the head. A good hope of salvation,
well founded and well built, will both purify the soul and keep it from being
defiled by Satan, and it will comfort the soul and keep it from being troubled
and tormented by Satan. He would tempt us to despair; but good hope keeps us
trusting in God, and rejoicing in him. [6.] The word of God is the sword of the
Spirit. The sword is a very necessary and useful part of a soldier’s furniture.
The word of God is very necessary, and of great use to the Christian, in order
to his maintaining the spiritual warfare and succeeding in it.
It is called the sword of the Spirit, because
it is of the Spirit’s inditing and he renders it efficacious and powerful, and
sharper than a two-edged sword. Like Goliath’s sword, none like that; with this
we assault the assailants. Scripture-arguments are the most powerful arguments
to repel temptation with. Christ himself resisted Satan’s temptations with, It
is written, Matt. 4:4, 6, 7, 10. This, being hid in the heart, will preserve
from sin (Ps. 119:11), and will mortify and kill those lusts and corruptions
that are latent there. [7.] Prayer must buckle on all the other parts of our
Christian armour, Eph. 6:18. We must join prayer with all these graces, for our
defence against these spiritual enemies, imploring help and assistance of God,
as the case requires: and we must pray always. Not as though we were to do
nothing else but pray, for there are other duties of religion and of our
respective stations in the world that are to be done in their place and season;
but we should keep up constant times of prayer, and be constant to them.
We
must pray upon all occasions, and as often as our own and others’ necessities
call us to it. We must always keep up a disposition to prayer, and should
intermix ejaculatory prayers with other duties, and with common business.
Though set and solemn prayer may sometimes be unseasonable (as when other
duties are to be done), yet pious ejaculations can never be so. We must pray
with all prayer and supplication, with all kinds of prayer: public, private,
and secret, social and solitary, solemn and sudden; with all the parts of
prayer: confession of sin, petition for mercy, and thanksgivings for favours
received. We must pray in the Spirit; our spirits must be employed in the duty
and we must do it by the grace of God’s good Spirit. We must watch thereunto,
endeavoring to keep our hearts in a praying frame, and taking all occasions,
and improving all opportunities, for the duty: we must watch to all the motions
of our own hearts towards the duty. When God says, Seek my face, our hearts
must comply,
Ps.
27:8. This we must do with all perseverance. We must abide by the duty of
prayer, whatever change there may be in our outward circumstances; and we must
continue in it as long as we live in the world. We must persevere in a
particular prayer; not cutting it short, when our hearts are disposed to
enlarge, and there is time for it, and our occasions call for it. We must
likewise persevere in particular requests, notwithstanding some present
discouragements and repulses. And we must pray with supplication, not for
ourselves only, but for all saints; for we are members one of another. Observe,
None are so much saints, and in so good a condition in this world, but they
need our prayers, and they ought to have them. The apostle passes hence to the
conclusion of the epistle.
Bible
Panorama
V
10–20: FIGHTING EFFECTIVELY Strengthened by God and His mighty power, all
Christians must put on each piece of their spiritual armour prayerfully. Thus
fully equipped and strengthened by the all-prevailing weapon of prayer, the
Christian soldier should do what Paul aspires to do, namely to proclaim the
gospel boldly, even if it means imprisonment.
