A85783:383
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 1 › 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, for the first, the wrestling or conflicting state of a Christian in this life, is rendered observable here by a threefold circumstance.
First, the kind of combat which the Christians state is here set out by, [Greek or Hebrew], which though it be used sometimes for a wrestling of sport and recreation, yet here to set out the sharpness of the Christians encounter; there are two things in wrestling that render it a sharper combat then others. First, wrestling is not properly fighting against a multitude, but when one enemy singles out another, and enters the list with him, each exerting their whole force and strength against one another, as David and Goliath, when the whole Armies stood as ⟨p. 158⟩it were in a ring to behold the bloody issue of that duel. Now this is more fierce then to fight in an army, where though the battle be sharp and long, the soldier is not always engaged, but falls off when he hath discharged, and takes breath a while: yea, possibly may escape without hurt or stroke, because there the enemies aim is not at this or that man, but at the whole heap, but in wrestling one cannot scape so, he being the particular object of the enemies fury, must needs be shaked and tried to purpose. Indeed the word [Greek or Hebrew] signifies such a strife, as makes the body shake again, quia corpus [Greek or Hebrew]. Satan hath not only a general malice against the army of Saints, but a spite against thee John, thee Joan: he'll single thee out for his enemy. We find Jacob, when alone, a man wrestled with him. As God delights to have private communion with his single Saints, so the devil to try it hand to hand with the Christian, when he gets him alone. As we lose much comfort, when we do not apply the Promise and Providence of God to our particular persons and conditions, God loves me, pardons me, takes care of me: the water at the town-conduit doth me no good, if I want a pipe to empty it into my cistern; so it obstructs our care and watchfulness, when we conceive of Satan's wrath and fury, as bent in general against the Saints, and not against me in particular. O how careful would a soul be in duty, if as going to Church or Closet he had such a serious meditation as this, Now Satan is at my heels to hinder me in my work, if my God help me not!