Effective Armor Against the Enemy of our Soul

Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Ephesians 6:16

 

Few of the children of God are ignorant, more or less, of Satan’s devices. But few are exempt from the “fiery darts ” of the adversary; our Lord Himself was not. 

Many, peculiar, and great are their temptations. They are often those which touch the very vitals of the gospel, which go to undermine the believer’s faith in the fundamentals of Christianity, and which affect his own personal interest in the covenant of grace. Satan is the sworn enemy of the believer- his constant, unwearied foe. There is, too, a subtlety, a malignity, which does not mark the other and numerous enemies of the soul.

The Holy Spirit speaks of the “depths of Satan.” There are “depths” in his malice, in his subtlety, in his sagacity, which many of the beloved of the Lord are made in some degree to fathom. The Lord may allow them to go down into those “depths,” just to convince those who are there are depths in His wisdom, love, power, and grace, which can out-fathom the “depths of Satan.”

But what are some of the devices of the wicked one? What are some of his fiery darts?

1. Sometimes he fills the mind of the believer with the most blasphemous and atheistical thoughts, threatening the utter destruction of his peace and confidence. 
2. Sometimes he takes advantage of periods of weakness, trial, and perplexity to stir up the corruptions of his nature, bringing the soul back as into captivity to the law of sin and death. 
3. Sometimes he suggests unbelieving doubts respecting his adoption, beguiling him into the belief that his professed conversion is all a delusion, that his religion is all hypocrisy, and that what he had thought was the work of grace is but the work of nature. . . .

But in the midst of it all, where does the comfort and the victory of the tempted believer come from? From the promise which assures him that “when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” And what is the standard which the Spirit, the Comforter, lifts up to stem this flood? A dying, risen, ascended, exalted, and ever-living Savior. This is the standard that strikes terror into the foe; this is the gate that shuts out the flood. So the disciples proved. . . .

And let the reflection console you, that temptations only leave the traces of guilt upon the conscience, and are only regarded as sins by God, as they are yielded to. The mere suggestion of the adversary, the mere presentation of a temptation, is no sin, so long as, in the strength that is in Christ Jesus, the believer firmly and resolutely resists it. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Jesus has already fought and conquered for you. He knew well what the conflict with Satan was.

 

He may harass, annoy, and distress you; but pluck you from the hollow of the hand that was pierced for you, he never can. 

Taken from Octavius Winslow (HERE)