HOMILY XXIV.] HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS. HOMILY XXIV. EPHESIANS vi. 14-17. " Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." " HAVING girded your loins," saith he, " with truth." What can be the meaning of this? I have stated in the preceding discourse, that he ought to be lightly accoutered, in order that there should be no impediment whatever to his run ning. " And having on," he continues, " the breast plate of righteousness." As the breastplate is impenetrable, so also is righteousness, and by righteousness here he means a life of universal virtue. 1 Such a life no one shall ever be able to overthrow ; it is true, many wound him, but no one cuts through him, no, not the devil him self. It is as though one were to say, " having righteous deeds fixed in the breast " ; of these it is that Christ saith, " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness ; for they shall be filled." (Matt. v. 6.) Thus is he firm and strong like a breastplate. Such a man will never be put out of temper. " And having shod your feet with the prepara tion of the gospel of peace." It is more uncer tain in what sense this was said. What then is its meaning ? They are noble greaves, doubtless, with which he invests us. Either then he means this, that we should be prepared for the gospel, and should make use of our feet for this, and should prepare and make ready its way before it ; 2 or if not this, at least that we ourselves should be prepared for our departure. " The preparation," then, " of the gospel of peace," is nothing else than a most virtuous life ; accord ing to what the Prophet saith. "Thou wilt pre pare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear." (Ps. x. 17.) "Of the gospel," he says, " of peace," and with reason ; for inasmuch as he had made mention of warfare and fighting, 1 [" Righteousness here is Christian moral rectitude (Rom. yi. 13), inasmuch as, justified by faith, we are dead to sin and live in newness of life (Rom. vi. 4). Aspreviously the intellectual recti tude of the Christian was denoted by a\ri9fia., so here his moral rectitude by &<.KO.(.O<T\IVI}." Meyer. G. A.] 2 ["This means readiness, the ready mind; not, however, for the proclamation of the gospel, as Chrysostom and others, since in fact Paul is addressing fellow-Christians, and not fellow-teachers, but the readiness for the conflict in question which the gospel be stows. And it is the gospel of peace, for the gospel proclaims peace (Rom. v. i ; Phil. i. 20) , and thereby produces consecration of coura geous readiness for the conflict (Rom. viii. 31, 38, 39)." Meyer. -G.A.] he shows us that this conflict with the evil spirits we must needs have : for the gospel is " the gospel of peace " ; this war which we have against them, puts an end to another war, that, namely, which is between us and God ; if we are at war with the devil, we are at peace with God. Fear not therefore, beloved ; it is a "gospel," that is, a word of good news ; already is the victory won. "Withal taking up the shield of faith." By " faith " in this place, he means, not knowl edge, (for that he never would have ranged last,) but that gift by which miracles are wrought.3 And with reason does he term this " faith a shield " ; for as the shield is put before the whole body, as if it were a sort of rampart, just so is this faith ; for all things yield to it. "Wherewith ye shall be able," saith he, "to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one." For this shield nothing shall be able to resist ; for hearken to what Christ saith to His disciples, " If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove." (Matt, xvii. 20.) But how are we to have this faith? When we have rightly performed all those duties. " By the darts of the evil one," he means, both temptations, and vile desires ; and " fiery," he says, for such is the character of these de sires. Yet if faith can command the evil spirits, much more can it also the passions of the soul. "And take the helmet," he continues, "of salvation," that is, of your salvation. For he is casing them in armor. " And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." He either means the Spirit, or else, "the spiritual sword" : for by this 4 all things are severed, by this all things are cleft asunder, by this we cut off even the serpent s head. Ver. 18, 19, 20. "With all prayer and sup plication," saith he, " praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perse verance and supplication for all the saints ; and on my behalf that utterance may be given unto me, in opening my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which s [This interpretation docs not suit the context. " Faith is here saving faith, bringing assurance of forgiveness and future blessed ness." Meyer. G. A.] 4 [It simply means the sword which " is furnished by the Holy Spirit," and this sword, as the apostle himself declares, is the word of God, the gospel, which the Holy Spirit brings vividly to the cop iousness of the Christian. Meyer and Ellicott. G. A.J