If I might read only one book beside the Bible, I would choose The Christian in Complete Armour, said John Newton. Spurgeon was no less emphatic: 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.

William Gurnall's exposition of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 is among the greatest of all the practical writings of the Puritans, and this is the second volume of a modernized abridgement in three paperback volumes. Part of its reputation rests on its richness in pithy, pointed and epigrammatic sayings - a line and a half will often carry a whole truth.