"OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD." He alone is our sufficiency and defence against the adversary, our fearsome foe, "the great dragon, that old serpent ... the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." His power is great, his cruelty is greater; his cunning is deep, and his designs are dreadful. He hates the Saviour and he hates all who love him. He attempts to destroy and will distress those whom he cannot devour. He has tried every means to injure the Church of God, and he still tries to injure every believer. He is dreadful as a roaring lion; but he is more likely to harm us when he comes slyly, and quietly, as a serpent. He is most dangerous when he assumes the garb of an angel of light, for then we are apt to receive him. But the saints of ages past overcame him, yet they were as weak and as liable to be overcome as we are. They overcame him but not by reason or argument or eloquence; they conquered by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. To that blood they looked when he tempted them to despair; by that word they walked, when he tried to draw them aside. The blood was their plea, the ground of their hope, and the subject of their rejoicing.

For Meditation:
By the blood of the Lamb the saints overcame,
And its power continues for ever the same;
The world and its snares shall surely be subdued
By virtue divine of our Redeemer's blood.