Christian in Complete Armour: Volume 3 PB
By: William Gurnall, Ruthanne Garlock| Product Details | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Banner of Truth |
| Year | 1989 |
| ISBN | 9780851515601 |
The Christian in Complete Armour is certainly one of the greatest of all the Puritans’ practical writings. This third volume in the 3-volume paperback set is a modernized abridgement of the Puritan Classic by William Gurnall.
‘If I might read only one book beside the Bible, I would choose The Christian in Complete Armour.’– JOHN NEWTON
‘Gurnall’s work is peerless and priceless; every line is full of wisdom; every sentence is suggestive. I have often resorted to it when my own fire has been burning low, and I have seldom failed to find a glowing coal upon Gurnall’s hearth.’– C.H. SPURGEON
‘A beautiful feature in Gurnall’s book is its richness in pithy, pointed, and epigrammatical sayings. You will often find in a line and a half some great truth, put so concisely, and yet so fully, that you really marvel how so much thought could be got into so few words. Solid scriptural theology, like that contained in these pages, should be valued and studied in the church. Books in which Scripture is reverently regarded as the only rule of faith and practice – books in which Christ and the Holy Ghost have their rightful office – books in which justification, and sanctification, and regeneration, and faith, and grace, and holiness are clearly, distinctly, and accurately delineated and exhibited – these are the only books which do real good. Few things need reviving more than a taste for such books as these among readers.’– J.C. RYLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
THE SEVERAL PIECES OF THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD (CONTINUED)
9 EIGHTH CONSIDERATION: THE CHRISTIAN’S SPIRITUAL SHIELD 19
The Kind of Faith Commended 19
The Nature of Justifying Faith 20
Why Faith Is Compared to a Shield 27
The Meaning of the Expression ‘Above All’ 30
I.The Pre-Eminence Of Faith Above Other Graces 32
Why Faith Is Pre-eminent 33
How Faith’s Influence Reaches the Other Graces 39
The Pre-eminence of Unbelief among Sins 48
Why We Should Be Serious in the Trial of Our Faith 51
How to Judge the Truth of Faith 54
Exhortation to Unbelievers to Obtain the Shield of Faith 68
Directions to Unbelievers for Attaining Faith 69
Exhortation to Believers to Preserve the Shield of Faith 79
Faith Must Be Preserved Because of Its Pre-eminence among Graces 79
Directions to Believers for the Preserving of Faith 81
How We Know If Faith Is Weak or Strong 86
The Believer Must Acknowledge Faith 93
Suspicions Which Lead to a Person’s Denying His Faith 94
Characteristics of the Doubt Which May Accompany True Faith 95
Characteristics of Presumptuous Faith 98
- A Powerful Argument To Quench The Fiery Darts Of The Wicked 101
Faith’s Power Over the Enemy 106
Fiery Darts of Pleasing Temptations 107
Faith’s Power to Quench Pleasing Temptations 109
Faith’s Victory Distinguished from Heathens’ Victory 117
How to Use the Shield of Faith to Quench Enticing Temptations 119
Fiery Darts of Fearful Temptations 123
Faith’s Power to Quench Fearful Temptations 124
Faith Opposes Sin with a View of the Great God 137
Faith Relieves the Soul Which Fears God’s Justice 139
Faith Fights Sin through the Greatness of God’s Promises 144
Faith Teaches the Virtue of God’s Promises 144
Faith Opposes Despair 150
10 NINTH CONSIDERATION: THE CHRISTIAN’S HELMET 153
The Connection of the Helmet with the Shield and Other Pieces of Armour 155
Inferences Drawn from the Connection of Graces 158
- The Helmet Of Salvation – What It Is 159
Why This Hope Is Called the Hope of Salvation 162
Why Hope Is Compared to a Helmet 163
- The Use Of The Helmet 164
Hope and Diligence in the Smallest Service 170
Hope Supports the Christian in the Greatest Afflictions 172
Influences of Hope on Christians in Affliction 173
Hope and Comfort When God Delays the Performance of the Promise 179
Assurance Which Hope Gives When God Delays to Perform His Promise 184
III. Applications Of The Doctrine Of The Christian Helmet 188
The Metal of Our Helmet of Hope 189
Exhortation to Those Who Have This Helmet of Hope 192
Why We Should Strengthen Our Hope 200
How to Strengthen Hope 205
Exhortation to Those Who Have Not Got the Helmet of Hope 218
11 TENTH CONSIDERATION: THE CHRISTIAN’S SWORD 222
The Kind of Arms for the Christian’s Use 222
The Order and Place of This Piece of Armour 224
- The Weapon Itself 225
The Holy Scriptures Are the Undoubted Word of God 227
Divinity of Scripture: Its Subject Matter 228
Divinity of Scripture: Its Supernatural Effects 237
- Why The Word Of God Is Called ‘The Sword Of The Spirit’ 244
Why This Sword Is Attributed to the Spirit 245
The Written Word Is the Sword By Which Christians Overcome Enemies 246
God’s Word Overcomes Persecutors 247
God’s Word Overcomes Heretics 249
God’s Word Overcomes Corruptions and Lusts 251
God’s Word Overcomes Afflictions 253
The Presumption of any in Disarming People of This Spiritual Sword 256
The Sufficiency of Scripture 258
The Wickedness of Using the Sword to Defend Sin 258
Thankfulness for the Word 260
The Importance of Studying God’s Word 264
God Is Able to Interpret His Word 267
III. How To Use The Sword Of The Word 269
How to Use the Sword Against Persecutors 269
Scriptural Promises for Believers’ Sorrows 273
How to Use the Sword Against Heretics 276
How to Use the Sword Against Lusts 284
How to Use the Sword of the Word Against Afflictions 303
Exhortation to Ministers Concerning the Sword of the Word
