"Blessed be the Lord my strength,
Who teacheth my hands to war,
And my fingers to fight:
My goodness, and my fortress;
My high tower and my deliverer;
My shield, and He in whom I trust;
Who subdueth my people under me."
--_Psalm,_ CXLIV, 1, 2
"TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH"
Because man is reformed by conflicts with the evils of his flesh and
by victories over them, the Son of Man says to each of the seven
Churches, that He will give gifts "to him that overcometh."
--_True Christian Religion, n._ 610
Without moral struggle no one is regenerated, and many spiritual
wrestlings succeed one after another. For, inasmuch as regeneration
has for its end that the life of the old man may die and the new and
heavenly life be implanted, there will unfailingly be combat. The life
of the old man resists and is unwilling to be extinguished, and the
life of the new man cannot enter, except where the life of the old has
been extinguished. From this it is plain that there is combat, and
ardent combat, because for life.
--_Arcana Coelestia, n._ 8403