Sunday.....Christianity.....Christian In Complete Armour

I had come into the Christian faith under the tutelage of Pat Robertson and the 700 Club. In spite of enormous differences in theology and even politics today, I still fondly remember those days when his show was so important to me. David Wilkerson is another preacher who had a great effect on my beliefs. You may remember him from the book and movie The Cross And The Switchblade. He has had a church in Times Square for decades now, preaching the gospel to the busy metropolitan New Yorkers, and hope to drug addicts, the homeless and those suffering with AIDS. Pat Robertson is what would theologically be called a Charismatic while David Wilkerson is very traditional Pentecostal but he is also a Puritan at heart. In case you think that the Puritans were a bunch of legalists who were never happy as long as someone was having fun, I'll give a link a the bottom to a book that would clear that up if you are interested but it is a reprint of a Puritan book that I want to highlight on this blog. I spent a lot of time in Christian bookstores in the 80s and 90s, going from one to another in search of reading in my new found faith. I have not kept most of the first few hundred books that I bought for, in retrospect, they were not theologically sound, but I kept pressing on and one day (circa 1987) I came across a brightly packaged, neon orange paperback with a robed preacher on the spine of the book indicating the publishing house Banner Of Truth. To my disappointment, the eighth reprinting no longer has that handsome cover. There was a blurb on the back by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, where the great London preacher called the book peerless and priceless; every line is full of wisdom, every sentence suggestive.  Now I didn't now who this Spurgeon was, which is very telling for where I was as a Christian of five or six years. John Newton's word's were there too in; If I might read only one book, beside the Bible, I would choose "The Christian In Complete Armour," but the preface of this classic Puritan book by William Gurnall was by David Wilkerson who I knew and respected very much, so I bought the book (volume one of three.) David was given the book from a friend and was at first uninterested in reading it. Here are his words. At first I put the book aside.....Out of curiosity, I scanned the first twenty-five pages. That is all it took to bring me to my knees....I immediately ordered additional copies to give to minister friends. As I remember it, I was, even in my newness to the faith, twenty-seven pages into this book and on the telephone to others. The following are some samples from those first twenty-seven pages:
The Apostle Paul....must have known a fear-wracked soul is too preoccupied with its present distress to listen to advice from anyone, even a well-meaning friend. Fear immobilizes its victim-like a distraught soldier who runs trembling to his foxhole at first rumor of an attack and refuses to come out until all threat of danger is past. So Paul searches for an antidote to their fear and soon finds one. It is a timeless answer to the disabling condition suffered by every Christian since Adam. He tells us, 'Don't let your fears overwhelm you. March on with undaunted courage and be strong in the Lord....' And here is the great consolation: "The outcome of the battle rests on God's performance, not on your skills or strength.'
Secular reason sees a Christian on his knees and laughs at the feeble posture God's child assumes as his enemies descend upon him. Only divine insight can perceive what mighty preparations are actually taking place.
Every duty in the Christian's whole course of walking with God is lined with many difficulties which shoot at him through the hedges on his march toward heaven. He must fight the enemy for every inch of ground along the way. Only those noble-spirited souls who dare take heaven by force are fit for this calling.
This warfare analogy reveals why there are so many who profess Christ and so few who are in fact Christians; so many who go into the field against Satan, and so few who come out conquerors...All Israel followed Moses joyfully out of Egypt. But when their stomachs were a little pinched with hunger, and their immediate desires deferred, they were ready at once to retreat. They preferred the bondage of Pharaoh to the promised blessings of the Lord..
Men are no different today (1655.) They profess the gospel and name themselves heirs to the blessings of the saints. But when put to the test, they quickly grow sick of the journey and refuse to endure for Christ.....If they must resist so many enemies on the way, they will content themselves with their own stagnant cisterns and leave the Water of Life for others who will venture further for it.
As part of Christ's army, you march in the ranks of gallant spirits. Every one of your fellow soldiers is the child of a King. Some, like you, are in the midst of the battle, besieged on every side by affliction and temptation. Others, after many assaults, repulses, and rallyings of their faith, are already standing upon the wall of heaven as conquerors. From there they look down and urge you, their comrades on earth, to march up the hill after them...this great crowd of witnesses shouts joyfully from the celestial sidelines every time you defeat a temptation, scale a difficulty, or regain lost ground from your enemies.
And if the fight should be too much for you, your dear Savior stands by with reserves for your relief at a moment's notice.
I hesitate every time I relay to you words such as these from Christians of the past, whose life and faith make mine look puny and feeble which they are, but I know they are true, and that our journey is difficult with dangers at every turn, and I know even more that it is Christ's strength that is my, and our, assurance and that when (we) come off the field, He will receive (us) as joyously as the Father received Him upon His return to heaven.