The whole-armour of GodThe vvhole-armor of God

Every part and piece of this Armour,¹ is for the forepart of a man, never a piece for his back, or hind parts. What doth this imply, but that we should always stand against our enemies face to face, and never show them our backs, never fly from them? but have^g N•hemias holy resolution, and say, should such as we fly? Oft we are stirred up to fight, wrestle, stand, resist, &c. never persuaded in the whole book of God to fly, that is, to yield the victory unto Satan. We may wisely avoid his temptations, and not yield to them, when by them he seeks to draw us from the service of our Lord, to his slavery; and thus ^hwe are commanded to to fly from idolatry, to ⁱfly from the lusts of youth, &c. But timorously to cease from resisting temptations, and withstanding the Devil, is dangerous to our selves, and dishonourable to God: it maketh Satan even insult over God himself,⁵ whose soldiers we are, and get great advantage against us; for flying from God whom have we to fly unto? being out of Gods protection the Devil will soon make a prey of us. Let us not think, that if we yield the field, the Devil will be contented: It is not the glory of conquest that he seeketh, so much as our destruction:^k