A85783:430
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 2 › 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.
First, for the first, how meanly doth the Spirit of God speak of man, calling him flesh and blood? Man hath a Heaven-borne soul, which makes him a kin to Angels, yea, to the God of them who is the Father of Spirits; but this is passed by in silence, as if God would not own that which is tainted with sin, and not the creature God at first made it, or because the soul, though of ⟨p. 175⟩such noble extraction, yet being so immersed in sensuality, deserves no other name then flesh, which part of man levels him with the beast, and is here intended to express the weakness and frailty of mans nature. 'Tis the phrase which the Holy Ghost expresseth the weakness and impotency of a creature by, Isa. 31.3. They are men, and their horses are flesh; that is, weak; as on the contrary, when he would set out the power and strength of a thing, he opposeth it to flesh, 2 Cor. 10.3. Our weapons are not carnal, but mighty; and so in the text, not flesh and blood, but Powers. As if he should say, Had you no other to fear but a weak sorry man, it were not worth the providing arms or ammunition; but you have enemies that neither are flesh, nor are resisted with flesh; so that here we see what a weak creature man is, not only weaker then Angels, as they are Spirit, and he flesh, but in some sense beneath the beasts, as the flesh of man is frailer then the flesh of beasts, therefore the Spirit of God compares man to the grass, which soon withers, Isa. 40.6. and his goodliness to the flower of the field. Yea, he is called vanity, Psal. 62.9. Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie, both alike vain; only the rich and the great man, his vanity is covered with honour, wealth, &c. which are here called a lie, because they are not what they seem, and so worse then plain vanity, which is known to be so, and deceives not.
First, for the first, how meanly doth the Spirit of God speak of man, calling him flesh and blood? Man hath a Heaven-borne soule, which makes him a kin to Angels, yea, to the God of them who is the Father of Spirits; but this is passed by in silence, as if God would not owne that which is tainted with sin, and not the creature God at first made it, or because the soul, though of