Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. --Ephesians 6:13
Now I do not think that Satan much cares to destroy us Christians physically. The soldier dead in battle who died performing some deed
of heroism is not a great loss to the army but may rather be an
object of pride to his country. On the other hand the soldier who
cannot or will not fight but runs away at the sound of the first
enemy gun is a shame to his family and a disgrace to his nation. So
a Christian who dies in the faith represents no irreparable loss to
the forces of righteousness on earth and certainly no victory for
the devil. But when whole regiments of professed believers are too
timid to fight and too smug to be ashamed, surely it must bring an
astringent smile to the face of the enemy; and it should bring a
blush to the cheeks of the whole Church of Christ.
The devil's master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill
us physically (though there may be some special situations where
physical death fits into his plan better), but to destroy our power
to wage spiritual warfare. And how well he has succeeded. The
average Christian these days is a harmless enough thing. God knows.
He is a child wearing with considerable self-consciousness the
harness of the warrior; he is a sick eaglet that can never mount
up with wings; he is a spent pilgrim who has given up the journey
and sits with a waxy smile trying to get what pleasure he can from
sniffing the wilted flowers he has plucked by the way.
That Incredible Christian, p. 72.
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