A20752:1072
The Christian warfare wherein is first generally showed the malice, power and politic stratagems…The Christian warfare wherein is first generally shewed the malice, power and politike stratagems…
The Christian warfare wherein is first generally showed the malice, power and politic stratagems of the spiritual enemies of our salvation, Satan and his assistants the world and the flesh, with the means also whereby the Christian may withstand and defeat them : and afterwards more specially their particular temptations, against the several causes and means of our salvation, whereby on the one side they allure us to security and presumption, and on the other side, draw us to doubting and desperation, are expressed and answered : written especially for their sakes who are exercised in the spiritual conflict of temptations, and are afflicted in conscience in the sight and sense of their sins / by I. Downame ...The Christian warfare wherein is first generally shewed the malice, power and politike stratagems of the spirituall ennemies of our saluation, Sathan and his assistants the world and the flesh, with the meanes also whereby the Christian may vvithstand and defeate them : and afterwards more speciallie their particvlar temptatiions, against the seuerall causes and meanes of our saluation, whereby on the one side they allure vs to security and presumption, and on the other side, draw vs to doubting and desperation, are expressed and answered : written especially for their sakes who are exercised in the spirituall conflict of temptations, and are afflicted in conscience in the sight and sense of their sinnes / by I. Dovvname ...
London: printed for Cuthbert Burby, 1604
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
§. Sect. 2 That a weak and small measure of faith is true and lively faith,1 it is manifest both by reason and also plain testimonies of the Scripture; for the first: diversity of degrees in quantity of a thing doth not take away and annihilate the existence & true being thereof; for example a small drop of water is as well and truly water as the whole Ocean, a little spark is true fire both in respect of substance & quality, as well as a mighty flame, a little man is as truly a man as a great Giant: and so a little faith is as well a true faith as a full persuasion; neither doth the small quantity take away the being, nature, and truth thereof. Secondly, this also manifestly appeareth by the Scriptures, whereas many are said to have faith and to believe, who hearing the doctrine of Christ & seeing his miracles believed, & acknowledged him to be the true Messiah & their Saviour, though at the same time they had attained to an exceeding small measure of knowledge, and were ignorant of many of the chief principles of Christian religion, because they nourished not this their ignorance, but resolved to use all those good means of increasing in knowledge which God hath ordained for this purpose. And thus many of the Samaritans are said to have believed for the saying of the woman and because of his own word. Joh. 4.39.41. Thus a certain ruler and all his household are said to have believed,2 when they saw the miracle which our Saviour wrought in curing the rulers son of his fever only with his word, ver. 52. Yea the apostles themselves whose faith our saviour Christ compareth to a firm rock against which the gates of hell should never prevail, were notwithstanding endued with weak and small measure of faith, before the ascension of our Saviour, and sending of the holy ghost. For they were ignorant even of the main principles of christian religion, and of divers articles of faith, and consequently could not believe, ⟨p. 551⟩assent, or be persuaded of those things which they did not understand. For example howsoever they knew and acknowledged that our Saviour Christ was the promised Messiah,3