A85783:282
The Christian in Complete Armour
The Christian in complete armour. Or, A treatise of the saints war against the Devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief design he hath against the saints. A magazine opened: from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual arms for the battle, helped on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon, together with the happy issue of the whole war. The first part. / By William Gurnall, Minister of the Gospel in Lavenham. Imprimatur, Edmund Calamy.The Christian in compleat armour. Or, A treatise of the saints war against the Devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickednesse, and chiefe designe he hath against the saints. A magazin open'd: from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual armes for the battel, help't on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon, together with the happy issue of the whole warre. The first part. / By William Gurnall, Minister of the Gospel in Lavenham. Imprimatur, Edmund Calamy.
London: printed for Ralph Smith, 1655
A TREATISE Of the whole Armour Of God. › Introduction › Chapter 5 › Section 1
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. I.
First, he vexeth the Christian by laying his brats at the Saints door, and charging him with that which is his own creature, and here he hath such a notable Art, that many dear Saints of God are woefully hampered and dejected, as if they were the vilest blasphemers, and veriest Atheists in the world: whereas indeed the cup is of his own putting into the sack, but so slyly conveyed into the Saints bosom, that the Christian, though amazed and frighted at the sight of them, yet being jealous of his own heart, and unacquainted with Satan's tricks of this kind, cannot conceive how such motions should come there, (if not bred in, and vomited out by his own naughty heart) and so bears the blame of the sin himself, because he cannot find the right father, mourning as one that is forlorn and cast off by God, or else (saith he) I should never have such vermin of hell creeping in my bosom, and here Satan hath his end he proposeth; for he is not so silly as to hope he should have welcome with such a horrid crew of blasphemous and atheistical thoughts in that soul, where he hath been denied when he came in an enticing way; no, but his design is by way of revenge, because the soul will ⟨p. 116⟩not prostitute it felt to his lust otherways, therefore to haunt it and scare it with those imps of blasphemy; As he served Luther to whom he appeared, and when repulsed by him, went away and left a noisome stench behind him in the room. Thus when the Christian hath worsted Satan in his more pleasing temptations, being madded, he belcheth forth this stench of blasphemous motions to annoy and affright him, that from them the Christian may draw some sad conclusion or other; and indeed the Christians sin lies commonly more in the conclusion, which he draws from them (as that he is not a child of God) then in the motions themselves. All the counsel therefore I shall give thee in this case, is to do with these motions, as you use to serve those vagrants and rogues that come about the country, whom, though you cannot keep from passing through your town, yet you look they settle not there, but whip them and send them to their own home: