A85783:701
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 10: Of pride of Grace.
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.
CHAP. X. Of pride of Grace.
Secondly, pride of grace. This is another way Satan assaults the Christian. 'Tis true, grace cannot be proud, yet 'tis possible a Saint may be proud of his grace, there is nothing the Christian hath or doth, but this worm of pride will breed in it. The world we live in is corruptible, and all here is subject to putrefy, as things kept in a rafty muggish room, subject them to mould. It is not the nature of grace, but the salt of the Covenant keeps and preserves the purity of it; in heaven indeed we shall be safe. But how can a Saint be said to be proud of his grace? Then a soul is proud of his grace, when he trusts in his grace. Trust and confidence is an incommunicable flower of Gods Crown as Sovereign Lord, even among men it goes along with royalty. Set up a King, and as such he expects you should give him this, as the undoubted Prerogative of his place, and therefore to seek protection from any other, is (as it were) to set up another King, Judg. 9.15. If indeed you anoint me King over you, then come and put your trust under my shadow; therefore when a soul puts his trust in any thing beside God, he ⟨p. 286⟩sets up a Prince, a King, an Idol, to which he gives Gods glory away. Now it doth not make the sin less, that it is the grace of God we crown, then if it were a lust we crowned. 'Tis idolatry to worship a holy Angel as well as a cursed devil, to make our grace a god, as well as our belly our god, nay rather it adds to it, because that is now used to rob him of his glory, which should have brought him in the greatest revenue of glory; certainly the more treasure you put into your servants hands, the greater wrong to you for him to run away with it. I doubt not but David could have borne it better to have seen a Philistine drive him from his throne then a son, an Absalom. But how can or may a Saint be said to trust in his grace?