A85783:854
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
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.
Secondly, others take the phrase in a more restrained sense, to denote those particular seasons of our life, wherein more especially we meet with afflictions and sufferings. Beza reads it tempore adverso, in the time of our adversity. Though our whole life be evil, if compared with Heavens blissful state, our clearest day, night to that glorious morning; yet one part of our life compared with another may be called good, and the other evil, we have our vicissitudes here. The Providences of God to his Saints here, while on this low bottom of earth are mixed and particoloured,1 as was signified by the speckled horses in Zechariah's vision; Red and white, peace and war, joy and sorrow checker our days. Earth is a middle place betwixt heaven and hell, and so is our state here; it partakes of both: we go up hill and down till we get to our journeys end, yea, we find the deepest slough nearest our fathers house. Death, I mean, into which all the other troubles of out life fall, as streams into some great river, and with which they all end, and are swallowed up. This being the comprehensive evil, I conceive to be meant here, being made remarkable by a double article [Greek or Hebrew], that day, that evil day, not excluding those other days of tribulation which intervene. These are but so many petty deaths, every one snatching away a piece of our lives with them, or like Pages sent before to usher in this King of terrors that comes behind.
Secondly, others take the phrase in a more restrained sense, to denote those particular seasons of our life, wherein more especially we meet with afflictions and sufferings. Beza reads it tempore adverso, in the time of our adversity. Though our whole life be evil, if compared with Heavens blisseful state, our clearest day, night to that glorious morning; yet one part of our life compared with another may be called good, and the other evil, we have our vicissitudes here. The Providences of God to his Saints here, while on this low bottome of earth are mixt and particoloured,1 as was signified by the speckled horses in Zechariahs vision; Red and white, peace and war, joy and sorrow checker our days. Earth is a middle place betwixt heaven and hell, and so is our state here; it partakes of both: we go up hill and down till we get to our journeys end, yea, we finde the deepest slough nearest our fathers house. Death, I mean, into which all the other troubles of out life fall, as streames into some great river, and with which they all end, and are swallowed up. This being the comprehensive evil, I conceive to be meant here, being made remarkable by a double article , that day, that evil day, not excluding those other dayes of tribulation which intervene. These are but so many petty deaths, every one snatching away a piece of our lives with them, or like Pages sent before to usher in this King of terrours that comes behinde.