William Gurnall (1617 – 1679) was an English author and clergyman. He was an excellent scholar and loved preaching the Word. Sadly, for a good portion of his life he suffered from ill-health.
According to the website bibleportal.com, “Gurnall is known by his Christian in Complete Armour, published in three volumes, dated 1655, 1658 and 1662. It consists of sermons or lectures delivered by the author in the course of his regular ministry, in a consecutive course on Ephesians 6: 10–20. It is described as a magazine 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. It is thus considered a classic on spiritual warfare.”1
Below are many of his wonderful quotes on sin, prayer, spiritual warfare, and our standing in Christ. I pray they will encourage your soul as they did mine.2
“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little.”
“A pilot without his chart, a scholar without his book, and a soldier without his sword, are alike ridiculous. But, above all these, it is absurd for one to think of being a Christian, without knowledge of the word of God and some skill to use this weapon.”
“Above all sins, guard against bold or arrogant ones. You are not beyond the danger of such. If caught in the web of presumptuous sin, call quickly to God for help. If you hesitate, you only give Satan time to entangle you more tightly. But if you cry out to God in true repentance, He will come at once to rescue you. The sooner you yield to the Spirit, the less damage is done to your soul.”
“Christ is a prince that loves to see his people thrive and grow rich under his government.”
“To tempt another is worse than to sin thyself. When you tempt, you do that which you cannot undo with your repentance.”
“When afflicted, love can allow thee to groan, but not to grumble.”
“The chains of love are stronger than the chains of fear.”
“A minister, without boldness, is like a smooth file, a knife without an edge, a sentinel that is afraid to let off his gun. If men will be bold in sin, ministers must be bold to reprove.”
“He that loves the Word and the purity of its precepts cannot turn traitor.”
“Let your hope of heaven master your fear of death.”
“Cease to pray and thou will begin to sin. Prayer is not only a means to prevail for mercy but also to prevent sin.”
“In heaven we shall appear, not in armour, but in robes of glory. But here these are to be worn night and day; we must walk, work, and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.”
“Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope than an earthly heart.”
“Never venture near the door where sin dwells, lest you are dragged in.”
“Satan cannot deny but that great wonders have been wrought by prayer. As the spirit of prayer goes up, so his kingdom goes down. Satan’s stratagems against prayer are three. First, if he can, he will keep thee from prayer. If that be not feasible, secondly, he will strive to interrupt thee in prayer. And, thirdly, if that plot takes not, he will labour to hinder the success of thy prayer.”
“We are justified, not by giving anything to God,–what we do,–but by receiving from God, what Christ hath done for us.”
“Humble souls are fearful of their own strength.”
“We are directed to take the helmet of salvation—and this, not for some particular occasion and then hang it by till another extraordinary strait calls us to take it down and use it again—but we must take it so as never to lay it aside till God shall take off this helmet to put on a crown of glory in the room of it.”
“The praying Christian is the thriving Christian; whereas he that is infrequent or slothful in praying, is a waster.”
“The mightier any is in the word, the more mighty he will be in prayer.”
“It is the saint’s duty, and should be their care, not only to believe that God is Almighty, but also to strongly believe that His almighty power is engaged for our defense and help in all of our straits and temptations.”
1 Inspirational Quotes by William Gurnall
2 All of the following quotes are from the websites below:
Inspirational Quotes by William Gurnall
104 William Gurnall Quotes | ChristianQuotes.info
TOP 25 QUOTES BY WILLIAM GURNALL (of 107) | A-Z Quotes
William Gurnall Quotes (Author of The Christian in Complete Armour)
These 400 year old quotes are interesting and enduring. If they were presented in modern English they would sound as if they were published specifically for today’s believer! Spiritual warfare is as prevalent today as it was in the Garden!