A85783:879
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, in point of wisdom. The wisdom of a man appears most eminently in two things.
Secondly, in point of wisdome. The wisdom of a man appears most eminently in two things.
First, in the matter of his choice and chief care.
Secondly, in a due timing of this his choice and care.
First, a wife man makes choice of that for the subject of his chief care and endeavour, which is of greatest importance and consequence to him; fools and children only are intent about toys and trifles. They are as busy and earnest in making of a house of dirt or cards, as Solomon was in making of his Temple. Those ⟨p. 360⟩poor babbles are as adequate to their foolish apprehensions, as great enterprises are to wise men. Now such is the importance of the evil day, especially that of death, that it proves a man a fool, or wise, as he comports himself to it. The end specifies every action, and gives it the name of good or evil, of wise or foolish. The evil day of death is as the end of our days, so to be the end of all the actions of our life. Such will our life be found at last, as it hath been in order to this one day. If the several items of our life (counsels and projects that we have pursued) when they shall then be cast up, will amount to a blessed death, then we shall appear to be wise men indeed, but if after all our goodly plots and policies for other things, we be unprovided for that hour, we must be content to die fools at last; And no such fool as the dying fool. The Christian goes for the fool (in the worlds account) while he lives; but when death comes, the wise world will then confess they mis-called him, and shall take it to themselves; We fools counted his life to be madness, and his end to be without honour. But how is he now numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the Saints? therefore have we erred from the way of truth, Wisd. 5.4, 5. The place is Apocryphal, but sinners will find the matter of it Canonical. 'Tis true indeed, Saints are out-witted by the world in the things of the world, and no marvel, neither doth it impeach their wisdom any more, then it doth a Scholars, to be excelled by the Cobbler in his mean trade, Nature, where it intends higher excellencies, is more careless in those things that are inferior, as we see in man, who (being made to excel the beasts in a rational soul) is himself excelled by some beast or other in all his senses. Thus the Christian may well be surpassed in matters of worldly commerce, because he hath a nobler object in his eye, that makes him converse with the things of the world in a kind of non-attendance;