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A85783 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. Gurnall, William, 1617-1679. 1655 (1655) Wing G2251; Thomason E824_1; ESTC R207679 343,381 430

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commonly made of the Christians wood First he tempts to sin and then for it Satan is but a creature and cannot work without tooles he can indeed make much of a little but not any thing of nothing as we see in his assaulting of Christ where he troubled himself to little purpose because he came and found nothing in him Though the devil throws the stone yet 't is the mud in us which royles our comforts 'T was in vaine for the Philistines to fall on Samson till his lock was cut take heed therefore of yielding to his enticing motions these are the stumbling block at which he hopes thou'lt break thy shins and bruise thy conscience which once done let him alone to spin out the cure Indeed a Saints flesh heals not so easily as others drink not of the devils wassel there is poison in the cup his wine is a mocker look not on it as it sparkles in the temptation what thou drinkest down with sweetnesse thou wilt be sure to bring up again as gall and wormwood Above all sins take heed of presumptuous ones thou art not out of the danger of such Sad stories we have of Saints falls and what follows then Take him Jailor saith God Deliver such a one unto Satan and if a Saint be the Prisoner and the devil the Keeper you may guesse how he shall be used O how he will teare and rend thy conscience Though that dreadful Ordinance is not used as it should be in the Church yet Gods Court sits and if he excommunicate a soule from his presence he falls presently into Satans clutches Well if through his subtilty thou hast been overtaken take heed thou stayest not in the devils quarters shake the viper off thy hand ply thee to thy Chirurgeon green wounds cure best but if thou neglectest and the winde get to it thy conscience will soon fester Ahab we read was wounded in battel and was loath to yield to it it is said he was held up in his chariot but he died for it when a soule hath received a wound committed a sin Satan labours to boulster him up with flattering hopes holds him up as it were in his chariot against God what yield for this afraid for a little scratch and lose the spoile of thy future pleasure for this O take heed of listening to such counsel the sooner thou yieldest the fairer quarter thou shalt have Every step in this way sets thee further from thy peace A rent garment is catch't by every naile and the rent made wider Renew therefore thy repentance speedily whereby this breach may be made up and worse prevented which else will befall thee SECT II. 2ly study that grand Gospel-truth of a souls justification before God acquaint thy self with this in all its causes the moving cause the free mercy of God Being justified freely by his grace the meritorious which is the blood of Christ and the instrumental faith with all the sweet priviledges that flow from it An effectual door once open'd to let the soul into this truth would not only spoil the Popes market as Gardner said but the devils also when Satan coms to disquiet the Christians peace for want of a right understanding here he is soon worsted by his enemy as the silly hare which might escape the dogs in some covert or burrough that is at hand but trusting to her heels is by the print of her owne feet and sent which she leaves behinde followed till at last weary and spent she falls into the mouth of them In all that a Christian doth there is a print of sinful infirmity and a sent by which Satan is enabled to trace and pursue him over hedge and ditch this grace and that duty till the soule not able to stand before the accusation of Satan is ready to fall down in despair at his feet whereas here 's a hiding place whither the enemy durst not come the clefts of the rock the hole of the staires which this truth leads unto When Satan chargeth thee for a sinner perhaps thou interposest thy repentance and reformation but soon art beaten out of those works when thou art shewen the sinful mixtures that are in them whereas this truth would choak all his bullets that thou believest on him who hath said Not unto him that worketh but unto him that believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is imputed for righteousnesse Get therefore into this tower of the Gospel-Covenant and rowle this truth as she that stone on the head of Abimelech on the head of Satan SECT III. Thirdly be sure Christian thou keepest the Plains Take heed that Satan coop thee not up in some straits where thou canst neither well fight nor flie Such a trap the Egyptians hoped they had the Israelites in when they cried They are entangled they are entangled There are three kindes of straits wherein he labours to entrap the Christians Nice Questions obscure Scriptures and dark Providences First he labours to puzzle him with nice and scrupulous questions on purpose to retard the work and clog him in his motion that meeting with such intricacies in his Christian course which he cannot easily resolve thereby he may be made either to give over or go on heavily therefore we have particular charge not to trouble the weak heads of young Converts with doubtful disputations Sometimes Satan will be asking the soul how it knowes its election and where he findes one not so fully resolved as to dare to own the same he frames his Argument against such a ones closing with Christ and the promise as if it were presumption to assume that which is the only portion of the Elect before we know our selves of that number Now Christian keep the Plains and thou art safe 'T is plain we are not to make Election a ground for our faith but our faith and calling a medium or argument to prove our Election Election indeed is first in order of divine acting God chooseth before we beleeve yet faith is first in our acting We must believe before we can know we are elected yea by believing we know it The Husbandman knowes 't is Spring by the sprouting of the grasse though he hath no Astrology to know the Position of the Heavens thou mayest know thou art Elect as surely by a work of grace in thee as if thou hadst stood by Gods elbowe when he writ thy name in the book of life It had been presumption for David to have thought he should have been King till Samuel anointed him but then none at all when thou believest first and closest with Christ then is the Spirit of God sent to anoint thee to the Kingdom of Heaven this is that holy oyle which is poured upon none but heires of glory and 't is no presumption to reade what Gods gracious purpose was towards thee of old when he prints those his thoughts and makes them legible in thy effectual calling here thou
that ye are of mine elect ones which will stand you more in stead at the great day then all this SECT II. A second Priviledge is when God honours a person to suffer for his truth this is a great Priviledge Vnto you it is given not only to beleeve but to suffer for his sake God doth not use to give worthless gifts to his Saints there is some preciousnesse in it which a carnal eye cannot see Faith you will say is a great gift but perseverance greater without which faith would be little worth and perseverance in suffering this above both honourable This made John Carelesse our English Martyr who though he died not at the stake yet in prison for Christ say Such an honour 't is as Angels are not permitted to have therefore God forgive me mine unthankfulnesse Now when Satan cannot scare a soul from prison yet then he will labour to puffe him up in prison when he cannot make him pity himself then he will flatter him till he prides in himself Affliction from God exposeth to impatience for God to pride and therefore Christians labour to fortifie your selves against this temptation of Satan how soon you may be called to suffering work you know not such clouds oft are not long arising Now to keep thy heart humble when thou art honoured to suffer for the truth Consider First though thou doest not deserve those sufferings at mans hand thou canst and mayest in that regard glory in thy innocency thou sufferest not as an evil doer yet thou canst not but confesse it is a just affliction from God in regard of sin in thee and this methinks should keep thee humble the same suffering may be Martyrdome in regard of man and yet a fatherly chastising for sin in regard of God none suffered without sin but Christ and therefore none may glory in them but he Christ in his own we in his God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of Christ Gal. 6. This kept Mr. Bradford humble in his sufferings for the truth none more rejoyced in them and blessed God for them yet none more humble under them then he and what kept him in this humble frame reade his godly letters and you shall finde almost in all how he bemoans his sins and the sins of the Protestants under the reign of King Edward It was time saith he for God to put his rod into the Papists hands we were grown so proud formal unfruitful yea to loath and despise the means of grace when we enjoyed the liberty therof and therfore God hath brought the wheele of persecution on us As he look't at the honour to make him thankful so to sinne to keep him humble Secondly consider who bears thee up and carries thee through thy sufferings for Christ Is it thy grace or his that is sufficient for such a work thy spirit or Christs by which thou speakest when call'd to bear witnesse to his truth how comes it to passe thou art a sufterer and not a persecutour a confessour and not a denier yea betrayer of Christ and his Gospel This thou owest for to God he is not beholden to thee that thou wilt part with estate credit or life it self for his sake If thou hadst a thousand lives thou wouldest owe them all to him but thou art beholden to God exceedingly that he will call for these in this way which has such an honour and reward attending it He might have suffered thee to live in thy lusts and at last to suffer the losse of all these for them O how many die at the Gallowes as Martyrs in the devils cause for felonies rapes and murders Or he might withdraw his grace and leave thee to thy own cowardise and unbelief and then thou wouldest soon shew thy self in thy colours The stoutest Champions for Christ have been taught how weak they are if Christ steps aside Some that have given great testimony of their faith and resolution in Christs cause even to come so near dying for his Name as to give themselves to be bound to the stake and fire to be kindled upon them yet then their hearts have failed as that holy man Mr. Benbridge in our English Martyrol who thrust the faggots from him and cried out I recant I recant Yet this man when re-inforc't in his faith and indued with power from above was able within the space of a week after that sad foile to die at the stake cheerfully Qui pro nobis mortem semel vicit semper in nobis vincit He that once overcame death for us 't is he that alwayes overcame death in us And who should be thy Song but he that is thy strength applaud not thy selfe but blesse him 'T is one of Gods Names he is call'd the glory of his peoples strength Psal 89.17 The more thou gloriest in God that gives thee strength to suffer for him the lesse thou wilt boast of thy self A thankful heart and a proud cannot dwell together in one bosome Thirdly consider what a foule blot pride gives to all thy sufferings where it is not bewailed and resisted it alters the case The old saying is that 't is not the punishment but the cause makes the Martyr we may safely say further it is not barely the cause but the sincere frame of the heart in suffering for a good cause that makes a man a Martyr in Gods sight Though thou shouldest give thy body to be burnt if thou hast not an humble heart of a sufferer for Christ thou turnest Merchant for thy self Thou deniest but one self to set up another runnest the hazard of thy estate and life to gain some applause may be and reare up a monument to thy honour in the opinions of men thou doest no more in this case then a souldier who for a name of valour will venture into the mouth of death and danger only thou shewest thy pride under a religious disguise but that helps it not but makes it the worse If thou wilt in thy sufferings be a sacrifice acceptable to God thou must not only be ready to offer up thy life for his truth but sacrifice thy pride also or else thou mayest tumble out of one fire into another suffer here from man as a seeming champion for the Gospel and in another world from God for robbing him of his glory in thy sufferings SECT III. A third priviledge is when God flowes in with more then ordinary manifestations of his love then the Christian is in danger of having his heart secretly lift up in pride Indeed the genuine and natural effect which such discoveries of divine love have on a gracious soule is to humble it The sight of mercy encreaseth the sense of sin and that sense dissolves the soule kindely into sorrow as we see in Magdalen The heart which possibly was hard and frozen in the shade will give and thaw in the Sun-shine of love and so long all pride is hid from the creatures eye Then saith God