Page:The Life and Works of Christopher Dock.djvu/158

146 not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogue; yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things have I told you that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you. John xvi, 1-4.

Q. 51. — Then if I understand aright, on this narrow way we may expect enemies?

A. — Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Psalm iii, 1, 2.

Q. 52. — How shall a Christian act toward his bodily foes, and what orders has he in his Christian knighthood from his King?

A. — But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Matth. v, 44.

Q. 53. — If a Christian is to conquer his enemies by love, what arms does love carry that can injure enemies?

A. — Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. I Cor. xiii, 4-7.

Q. 54. — How is it with spiritual enemies; what weapons of Christian knighthood are used against them?

A. — For though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh. (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. II Corinth, xi, 3, 4, 5.

Q. 55. — If the weapons and the fighting are not carnal, the enemies must be such as can be resisted in another way. Who are all these enemies?