A85783:285
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 2
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. II.
Secondly, another wile of Satan as a troubler, is in aggravating the Saints sins, (against which he hath a notable declamatory faculty) not that he hates the sin, but the Saint; now in this, his chief subtlety is so to lay his charge, that it may seem to be the act of the holy Spirit; he knows an arrow out of Gods quiver wounds deep; and therefore when he accuseth he comes in Gods Name: as suppose a child were conscious to himself of displeasing his father, and one that owes him a spite (to trouble him) should counterfeit a letter from his father, and cunningly conveys it into the sons hand, who receives it as from his father, wherein he chargeth him with many heavy crimes, disowns him, and threatens he shall never come in his sight, or have penny portion from him, the poor son (conscious to himself of many undutiful carriages, and not knowing the plot) takes ⟨p. 117⟩on heavily, and can neither eat nor sleep for grief, here is a real trouble begot from a false and imaginary ground: Thus Satan observes how the squares go between God and his children, such a Saint he sees tardy in this duty, faulty in that service, and he knows the Christian is conscious of this, and that the Spirit of God will also show his distaste for these, both which prompts Satan to draw a charge at length, raking up all the bloody aggravations he can think of, and give it in to the Saint as sent from God. Thus he taught Jobs friends to pick up those infirmities, which dropped from him in his distress, and shoot them back in his face, as if indeed they had been sent from God to declare him an hypocrite, and denounce his wrath for the same.
Secondly, another wile of Satan as a troubler, is in aggravating the Saints sins, (against which he hath a notable declamatory faculty) not that he hates the sin, but the Saint; now in this, his chief subtilty is so to lay his charge, that it may seem to be the act of the holy Spirit; he knowes an arrow out of Gods quiver wounds deep; and therefore when he accuseth he comes in Gods Name: as suppose a childe were conscious to himselfe of displeasing his father, and one that owes him a spite (to trouble him) should counterfeit a letter from his father, and cunningly conveyes it into the sons hand, who receives it as from his father, wherein he chargeth him with many heavy crimes, disownes him, and threatens he shall never come in his sight, or have penny portion from him, the poor son (conscious to himself of many undutiful carriages, and not knowing the plot) takes