A85783:952
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 8 › Section 6
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, to stand in this place, is to stand Conquerors. An Army when conquered,1 is said to fall before their enemy, and the Conqueror to stand. Every Christian shall at the end of the war stand a Conqueror over his vanquished lusts, and Satan ⟨p. 391⟩that headed them. Many a sweet victory the Christian hath here over Satan; But (alas!) the joy of these Conquests is again interrupted with fresh alarms from his rallied enemy. One day he hath the better, and may be the next he is put to the hazard of another battle, much ado he hath to keep what he hath got: yea, his very victories are such as send him bleeding out of the field: Though he repulses the temptation at last, yet the wounds his conscience gets in the fight, do overcast the glory of the victory. 'Tis seldom the Christian comes off without some sad complaint of the treachery of his own heart, which had like to have lost the day, and betrayed him into his enemies hand: But for thy eternal comfort. Know (poor Christian) there is a blessed day coming, which shall make a full and final decision of the quarrel betwixt thee and Satan: Thou shalt see this enemies Camp quite broke up, not a weapon left in his hand to lift up against thee. Thou shalt tread upon his high places, from which he hath made so many shots at thee. Thou shalt see them all dismantled and demolished, till there be not left standing any one corruption in thy bosom, for a devil to hide and harbour himself in. Satan, at whose approach thou hast so trembled, shall then be subdued under thy feet: he that hath so oft bid thee bow down, that he might go over thy soul and trample upon all thy glory, shall now have his neck laid to be trodden on by thee. Were there nothing else to be expected as the fruits of our watching and praying, weeping & mourning, severe duties of mortification and self-denial, with whatever else our Christian warfare puts us upon but this; our labour sure would not be in vain in the Lord. Yea, blessed watching and praying, happy tears and wounds we meet with in this war; may they out at last end in a full and eternal victory over sin and Satan. Bondage is one of the worst of evils. The baser an enemy is, the more abhorred by noble spirits. Saul feared to fail into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines, and to be abused by their scorns and reproaches more then a bloody death. Who baser then Satan?
First, to stand in this place, is to stand Conquerours. An Army when conquered,