Ephesians 6:11-12 - Homilies By T. Croskery

The Divine panoply: its necessity and design.

Christians have a spiritual warfare on earth ( 2 Timothy 4:7 ). They have to fight for God ( 1 Samuel 25:28 ), for truth (Jud Ephesians 1:3 ), and for themselves ( Revelation 3:11 ).

I. THE DIVINE ARMOR . It is so called because God provides each individual part of it. It is amour for offence as well as defense—"forged on no earthly anvil and tempered by no human skill." The amour of Rome—celibacy, poverty, obedience, asceticism—is for flight, not for conflict. This Divine armor we are not required to provide, but merely to put on, and its efficacy depends entirely upon the power of him who made it.

II. ITS PURPOSE . "That 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

III. ITS NECESSITY . 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

We need, therefore, to be strong and valiant in this warfare,