put to the Foil by that old subtle Serpent who hath a liberty in his Commission to bruise the Heel of the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 because they are no better shod with the Shoes of Gospel-peace This is known by common experience that those who are tender-footed or whose Feet are either beaten or blistered cannot tread upon Stones or Thorns they are Halters betwixt God and Baal The fourth piece of Defensive Armour is the Shield of Faith verse 16. which we are bidden 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above all or over and upon all to take and be armed with intimating that whatever other part of this Mystical Armour we want we must in no wise want this principal part thereof for this doth cover and defend all the other pieces of the Defensive Armour because a firm Trust and Confidence in God by Christ doth after a special manner shelter and over-shadow the imperfections of all our other Graces And indeed this Shield of Faith doth not only defend our other Graces but our selves also as it takes hold of that precious Promise of God to Abraham I am thy Shield fear not c. Gen. 15.1 As if God had said thine Enemies shall first strike through me thy Shield before they can come to reach and wound thee I will stand betwixt thee and all Danger and the like priviledge of safety God vouchsafed unto Israel saying as the Eagle beareth her young upon her wings so hath the Lord born you c. Deut. 32.11,12 which allusion doth imply that no Shot can come to harm the young Eagles so carried but it must first pierce and pass through the body of the Old one By all this it is apparent how safely doth Faith lodge the Soul under the shadow of the wings of Almighty God Psal 91.1,2,3,4 to 14. The just do live by their Faith Hab. 2.4 Nor is this all that the Shield of Faith doth for us in securing us from the Assaults of Satan but it also repels and beats back those Darts that he casts at us yea and yet higher it moreover doth quench that Hell fire they bring along with them for Satan's Darts are like those that History mentions of the Scythians which were not only pointed and hardened in the fire but they were also dipped in the poison of Asps and in the venom of Vipers that they might the more horribly torture and torment those Bodies that were wounded with them even so Satan would torture and torment our Souls with his poison'd fiery Darts The Lord strengthen our Faith whereby we may quench the fire and antidote the poison c. The fifth peece of Defensive Armour is the Helmet of Salvation verse 17. which the same Apostle helps to interpret this place saying Take for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation 1 Thes 5.8 So that this Helmet here is the Grace of Hope the office whereof is to hold up our heads above Water and raises up the Soul with an out-stretched neck as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.23 signifies which we read waiting with groans for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of the Body And the next words there are for we are saved by hope c. and if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it verse 24 25. Hope is the Daughter of Faith its Mother yet is it as a staff for its Aged Mother to lean upon By Faith we believe the Truth of and our own Title to those blessings that we are not yet possessed of and by Hope we patiently wait for that which we believe shall surely come to pass And when they but begin to do so then Hope looketh up and lifts up the head because our Redemption draweth nigh Luke 21.28 'T is the excellency of Hope to take her Turns in walking round about the Streets of the New Jerusalem and sometimes to sit still and sing adhuc mea Messis in Herba est there is yet an happy Harvest that is hastening in its season for me the Lord will hasten it in his time Isa 60.22 So I will hope against Hope Rom. 4.18 Yet more this Hope is so excellent that it is not only our Helmet by Land but it is also our Anchor by Sea Heb. 6.19 By Hope we have our Safety here and our Salvation hereafter both are purchased by Christ who has secured a full Victory over this strong Man for us Thus far the five pieces of the Christian Defensive Armour reacheth now the two following parts namely the Sixth and Seventh are indeed Offensive Weapons as well as Defensive Armour As the former five were meerly and solely for our Defence so these two latter are not only for our own Defence but they are also for Offence of our Spiritual Foes to wit the Sword of the Spirit and Darts of Prayer The Sixth Apostolical Direction here for our being compleatly Armed in our Spiritual Warfare is Take likewise to you the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Eph. 6.17 As there is a literal and a Carnal Sword so there is a Mystical and a Spiritual Sword Which Truth may be demonstrated First By that Example in Scripture-Record And it shall come to pass that him who escapeth the Sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay and him that escapeth from the Sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay 1 Kings 19.17 the Interpretation whereof must most plainly imply that Elisha had his Slaying Sword as well as Hazael and Jehu And tho' their Slaying Swords were both of them Carnal yet this of Elisha must be Spiritual as he was a Prophet of the Lord and more yea and weilded no other Sword but that which is called here the Word of God And in congruity with this sense the Lord himself speaketh Secondly Therefore I have hewed them by my Prophets I have slain them by the words of my mouth Hos 6.5 Moreover a Third sacred Instance gives a farther Illustration unto this Mystical Interpretation namely If any man will dare to hurt my two Witnesses I will give such a power to my Servants that Fire shall proceed out of their mouths which shall devour their Enemies and if any man tho' never so many or so mighty will hurt them he must in this manner be killed Rev. 11.3,5 And yet to all those three Quotations above-named this Scripture is most express for this Mystical sense saying Take the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God There be several cogent and ponderous Reasons why the Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit c. The first is Because the Spirit was the Artificer the curious Contriver who framed and fashioned this Spiritual Sword the Holy Spirit hath the honour of making this excellent weapon ready to our hands for thus we are told That no Prophecy of Scripture came in old Time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost c. 2 Pet. 1.20,21