A85783:631
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 7 › 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, of the first, Satan labours what he can to provoke the Christian to heart-sins▪ to stir up and foment these inward motions of sin in the Christians bosom; hence it is he can go about no duty but these (his Imps I may call them) haunt him, one motion or other darts in to interrupt him, as Paul tells us of himself, When he would do good, evil was present with him; if a Christian should turn back, when ever these cross the way of him, he should never go on his journey to heaven. It is the chief game the devil hath left to play against the children of God; now his field-army is broken, and his commanding power taken away which he had over them, to come out of these his holds where he lies skulking, and fall upon their rear with these suggestions. He knows his credit now is not so great with the soul, as when it was his slave; then no drudgery work was so base that it would not do at his command, but now the soul is out of his bondage, and he must not think to command another's servant as his own: No, all he can do is to watch the fittest season (when the Christian least suspects) and then to present some sinful motion handsomely dressed up to the eye of the soul, that the Christian may (before he is aware) take this brat up and dandle it in his thoughts, till at last he makes it his own by embracing it; and this he knows will defile the soul, and may be this boy sent in at the window may open the door to let in a greater thief; or if he should not so prevail, yet the guilt of these heart-sins, yea their very neighbour-hood will be a sad vexation to a gracious heart, ⟨p. 261⟩whose nature is so pure that it abhors all filthiness (so that to be haunted with such motions is, as if a living man should be chained to a stinking carcass, that where ever he goes he must draw that after him) and whose love is so dear to Christ that it cannot bear the company of those thoughts without amazement and horror, which are so contrary and abusive to his beloved. This makes Satan so desirous to be ever raking in the unregenerate part, that as a dunghill stirred it may offend them both with the noisome streams which arise from it.