ll
men, and can so blind and unsettle reason that it will cheerfully
believe and follow him.

He is, moreover, a wicked and bitter enemy to you who in Christ have
life. He cannot bear to see you Christ's. He thinks and plots about
nothing else than your overthrow. And think not that he is far from
you, or that he will pursue you from a distance. He has encamped
close to you and right around you; yea, in your own territory--that
is, in your flesh and blood. There he seeks how to reach you, and
overtake you when unguarded, attempting now this, now that. Misguided
faith, doubt, anger, impatience, covetousness, evil passions, etc.,
are points of attack--any place where he finds an opening or
discovers that you are weak. Therefore, think not that he is simply
jesting. He is more furious and hungry than a famished and angry
lion. He does not purpose merely to wound or prick you, but wholly to
consume you, so that nothing of body or soul will remain.

63. Whoever would withstand such a foe must be equipped with other
armor and weapons than those furnished by human wit and
understanding, by human powers or ability. Your defense is nothing
else, says Peter, than faith, which holds and grasps God's Word. And
because the believer holds fast to this, the devil can gain nothing.
It is God's truth and power, before which, with his lying and
murdering, he cannot stand; he must yield and flee. Therefore
Ephesians 6, 16 says: "Taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one." These
fiery darts are chiefly those he hurls into the heart through the
beautiful thoughts of human reason. He thus transforms himself into
an angel of light, to displace right thoughts and faith, and to
introduce human whims and false faith. His aim is, also, to lead into
doubt, distrust, hatred, and anger toward God.

Thus it is, too, in the other temptations and trials of life, when
Satan drives men into sin and disobedience against God's commandment,
into such sins as avarice, usury, anger, revengefulness, unchastity,
and other vices. Here he uses the same insidious arts, first tearing
God's Word out of the heart, then blinding reason with sweet and
beautiful thoughts. He says: The thing proposed is not so wicked. God
will not be so angry with you. He can afford to be patient with you,
you still love the Gospel. With such suggestions as these he carries
you away and plunges you under God's fearful ange