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.