As we have just seen in his quotation from Scripture, if it suits his purpose he will make use of the best and holiest things if only he can balk God's will,--things which, in themselves, he must fear and hate. "So he may cozen and deceive thee, he cares not whether it be by truth or falsehood," says à Kempis.[18] He will try to induce us to go to church when he knows that in so doing we may be neglecting plain, God-sent duties at home. He could not possibly desire us to meditate on holy things, and yet a {43} self-willed meditation, to the neglect of charity or obedience, is most pleasing to him, and he will incite us to it, even smoothing the way for us, suggesting to us beautiful and holy thoughts, and glad to help us with our meditation because he knows it is being made selfishly, and therefore contrary to the divine will. V. _The Soul's Safety_ Our assurance of escaping the power of this malignant and tireless foe lies: (1) In never parleying or arguing with him. He is far cleverer than we are, and if we stop to consider his proposals, or to reason about them, our fate will, sooner or later, be that of our first mother, who, because she was willing to hear what the tempter had to say, found herself deceived to her utter undoing. Our only safe course lies in instant and vigorous rejection of all that he suggests. (2) But, although we shall see later that it is often wise to ignore him wholly,[19] our resistance is not to be merely a passive one. We are to meet point with point, attack with counter-attack. If he is tirelessly active in his cause, there must be in us a corresponding activity and zeal for God's {44} service and for the safety of our souls; a like aggressive spirit, a forcing of circumstances and conditions, wherever possible, that glory may be won for our King, and the power of the devil diminished; a like persistency, and equal alertness, a ready trying of one method, then another; and no matter what past failures may have been, a continuing the fight, that in the end we may be worthy of the victory. If we can learn these lessons, though the strength and prowess of Satan be an hundred-fold greater than that which human might can own, yet we shall have no fear of him. On the contrary he will fear us, delivering his attacks warily, lest he find his power shattered by the weapons with which we shall be able to oppose him.