THE Apostle Paul, in the sixth chapter of his epistle addressed to the Ephesians, writes, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Although nearly nineteen hundred years have passed since those stirring words of admonition and encouragement were sent to the early Christians in and around Ephesus, they still confront the Christian church of to-day with the same forceful appeal and pertinency of meaning. Paul understood their mighty import. For was he not a prisoner in far-away Rome, when they were penned? That redoubtable apostle had found in his own Christian experience, when mistreated, misunderstood, "pressed out of measure," the necessity of an armor whereby he could withstand error's constant assaults. Moreover, through his spiritual warfare he had discovered that the only enemies to be encountered are, in the last analysis, mental. He wrote, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
To none does the mental warfare described by Paul appeal more forcibly than to the earnest student of Christian Science. The teachings of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, supplementing the wondrous words and works of Christ Jesus, prove unmistakably that there is an armor to be put on, as befittingly as when the Nazarene uttered the words, "Take my yoke upon you, . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
The new student, striving to understand Christian Science in order that he may make practical use of its teachings, becomes more or less introspective, and through this process finds his hitherto limited sense of life and its meaning giving place to a broader view. He is continually aware of a sense of satisfaction in his sacrifice of former modes of meditation, in his faithful endeavor to learn of God and His endless plan.
