ARMOUR OF GOD

power. He would have us live by His life, live of His fullness, not of
the material and natural certainties round about us, but live by Him,
obtaining the things of His Kingdom, according to His Word and
promise. 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen' (Heb. 11 : 1). 'As seeing Him who is
invisible' (Heb. 11 : 27), who is the good Giver of all blessings
(Psalm 103: 2).
On the whole we are apprehensive of a life by faith, we think it
too uncertain. We would rather not embark on this spiritual
adventure with Jesus Christ, and catch instead at all straws in human
society for support. We do not trust Jesus, the' Author and Finisher
of our faith' (Heb. 12 : 2), not to the utmost. We dare not live by His
grace from day to day, trusting His wonderful promises which are all
'yeaandamen'inHim(2 Cor. 1 : 20). We are afraid that He will not
keep His promises and - when it really matters - will drop us. But to
live by faith means to stand, remain in Him, completely. 'Abide in
Me, and I in you' (John 15: 4). If you let go of Him, lose Him,
distrust His Word, grieve His Spirit, refuse His hand, you are led to
darkness. 'But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but
of them that believe to the saving of the soul' (Heb. 10 : 39).
The fiery darts of the wicked (Eph.6: 16)
'Above all (that you have taken in possession of the armour),
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked' (Eph. 6 : 16). Taking the shield of faith
against the fiery darts, the furious attacks of Satan. Praise the Lord
for giving a defensive weapon able to resist Satan's offensives; the
Lord has provided! The prince of darkness continuously attacks us
in the realm of soul and body. We already wrote about all sorts of
evil spirits waylaying us in various ways. There are thousands of
temptations, diseases and griefs, doubt, criticism, blindness, infidelity,
darts shot at us by the enemy. He directs them to our feeling and
mind.
If as Christians we forget what we are, what we can do in Jesus
Christ, and do not put our faith as a hard and whole armour between
us and the enemy, we fall prey to him. Satan has had an opportunity
to study man for many centuries. He knows him through and
through, as a mass as well as an individual. All our weaknesses are
known to him, and they are like many openings into which he can
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