You see, the opinion of some that Christ was indifferent to the unrighteousness of social relations is unjust. No one felt this unrighteousness with such great depth as Him, no one wanted to eradicate it so ardently. But He knew that there was only one way for this – the correction of the human heart. This is the task of our life – to correct our hearts and purify them, so that no unrighteousness comes out of them.

And only then will the holy truth reign in relations between people, when the hearts of all of them become sources of love, and not malice, selfishness and envy. In this great work of purifying our hearts, may the One Knowing of the heart help us. Amen. January 27, 1952 WEEK 34. ON THE ARMOR OF GOD (EPHESIANS 6:10-12) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for 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" (Ephesians 6:10-12). Our battle is not against flesh and blood, that is, not against men, but against principalities, against powers.

Against what authorities, what authorities? Of course, the holy Apostle Paul speaks not of those authorities who govern the state, but of completely different principalities, as he himself immediately explains: "against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places," against the demons, against the angels of Satan, for they can truly be called the rulers of the darkness of this world.

All the darkness that you see in human life is the work of their hands, it is the work of that prince who dominates the air, of whom the Holy Apostle Paul speaks in another epistle. And who is this prince who dominates the air? It's Satan himself, it's the devil. He dominates a huge number of hearts. And it is against him, against his angels of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places, that the Holy Spirit commands us.

Paul is strengthened by the Lord and by the power of His power. We ourselves are not able, not at all able to fight this terrible prince who dominates the air. If we were left to our own strength, we would fall from his malice. Only then can we fight if we are strengthened "by the Lord and by the power of His might." We must put on "the whole armor of God, that ... it was possible to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Only when we put on the whole armor of God, when we do not rely on our own strength, only then will we stand against his wiles. And what are these intrigues of his? This is all that he seeks to destroy us, to distract us from faith in God, to distract us from the path of salvation shown to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. He and his angels, the spirits of darkness, are busy only with destroying us.

Against all people, and especially against us Christians, he plots to destroy us. None of us is left alone. He sends His demons to all of us, so that they may guide us to the path of perdition, to the path of serving our lusts and passions, to the path of impiety and even blasphemy. These are strong, dangerous and terrible enemies. And do you not understand that every enemy is the more dangerous the less we think about him, the less we watch him, the less we notice him?

And, on the contrary, it is all the more powerless, the stricter, the more tirelessly we always watch it, all its intrigues, all its actions and undertakings aimed at our destruction. And how many people are innumerable who never think of a prince who dominates the air! And not only those who do not think, but do not even believe in its existence. For all those who do not believe in God, of course, do not believe in the devil, in his existence; they do not care at all about his attacks; they do not in the least beware of his terrible servants.

And this is all he needs, for if a person is careless and does not believe in God, does not want to know anything about Satan, then such an unfortunate person becomes a very easy prey for him, for an enemy who is unnoticed is the most dangerous enemy. And every unfortunate woman, deceitful and lustful to the marrow of her bones, and every unfortunate man, drunk, often, if not always, become easy prey to demons, spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It costs them nothing to destroy such people completely. And there are also those unfortunates who spend their whole lives in crime, in robbery, in robbery and theft, in fornication and adultery, who never think about either God or the devil. These Satans are not worth caring about: they have already destroyed themselves. They are so bogged down in sins that there is no need to tempt them, pushing them to sin.

The devil has few worries about such things, for they are his easiest prey. And what can I say about us, Christians who believe in God, who do not doubt the existence of the devil and demons, who have heard and remember the words of the Apostle Paul about the prince who dominates the air – what can I say about them? They are tempted by demons every day, they are pushed to fornication, and to the love of money, and to vanity, they are pushed to serve their passions and lusts.

And if such unfortunate people are not vigilant, if they do not remember that the enemy is always ready to destroy them, then woe to them. There are still others: there are great ascetics of piety, holy hermits, who spend their entire lives in constant prayer, mortifying their flesh in thoughts of God, of His law. These are the most terrible things for the devil and for his angels: they cannot be seduced in the same way as they tempt people who are frivolous, careless, mired in the vanity of the world, those who only rarely, occasionally remember God, pray little, never fast, and shun the churches of God.

It is with these mighty soldiers of Christ that it is most difficult for the devil and his demons. Demons attack us, weak and careless, surreptitiously, unnoticed by us, it is not difficult for them to fight us, to push us onto the path of vice. And with the saints, with those who have dedicated their lives to God, it is very difficult for them. The demons conquer the weak and careless among us very little for us. They never appear to us, we do not see them, we do not know them, we are not familiar with them.