November 9, 2017

The Christian in Complete Armour - Gurnall - XLII - Direction Eight continued

Required reading
The Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Direction Eight by reading Branch Second of First General Part.

My summary
Today we continue Direction Eight: 'Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.' (Eph. 6:16)

We now look at the second branch which is the shield of faith itself and how its truth may be judged.

Firstly, we are directed to know what faith is from the manner of the Spirit's working it in the soul, particularly:
(i) the posture of the soul when the Spirit begins his great work of grace in it;
(ii) how the Spirit makes his addresses to the soul and what acts he puts forth upon it for the working faith.

Secondly we are directed to know what faith is from its properties when it is wrought in us by the Spirit.  Three of those properties are:
(i) obediential;
(ii) prayerful;
(iii) uniform.

What grabbed me
I appreciated the point about the convinced sinner's despair as an evidence of true faith: 'The convinced sinner doth not only condemn himself for what he hath done and is, but he despairs of himself as to anything he can now do to save himself. Many, though they go so far as to confess they are vile wretches, and have lived wickedly, and for this deserve to die; yet, when they have put the rope around their neck by a self-condemning act, they are so far from being convinced of their own impotency, that they hope to cut the rope with their repentance, reformation, and I know not what bundle of good works, which they think shall redeem their credit with God and recover his favour, which their former sins have unhappily lost them. And this comes to pass, because the plough of conviction did not go deep enough to tear up those secret roots of self-confidence with which the heart of every sinner is woefully tainted. Whereas every soul, thoroughly convinced by the Spirit, is a self-despairing soul; he sees himself beyond his own help, like a poor condemned prisoner, laden with so many heavy irons, that he sees it is impossible for him to make an escape, with all his skill or strength, out of the hands of justice. O friends! look whether the work be gone thus far in your souls or no. Most that perish, it is not their disease that kills them, but their physician. They think to cure themselves, and this leaves them uncurable. Speak, soul, did the Lord ever ferret thee out of this burrow where so many earth themselves? Art thou as much at a loss what to do, as sensible for what thou hast done? Dost thou see hell in thy sin and despair in thyself? Hath God got thee out of this Keilah, and convinced thee if thou wouldst stay in the self-confidence of thy repentance, reformation, and duties, they would all deliver thee up into the hands of God's justice and wrath, when they shall come against thee? Then, indeed, thou hast escaped one of the finest snares that the wit of hell can weave.'

If there is no true conviction of sin, there is no true faith in God.

Next week's reading
Continue Direction Eight by reading Branch Third of First General Part.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.

No comments: