gospel :) "For thy sake are we killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep Rom. viii. for the slaughter." Jeremy saith: "Thy word is unto them as a reproach." And Jer. vi. again: "For thy sake I have suffered rebuke." What villanies were brought 3 Jer. xv. against our Saviour Christ! They reproached him in speeches, brought false accusations and false witness against him, and killed the innocent, in whose mouth there was found no guile. When St Paul appealed to the witness of Timothy, who did fully know his doctrine, manner of living, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, and patience; and that he knew also the persecutions and afflictions which came unto him, and which he suffered at Antiochia, Iconium, and at Lystra, after he had thus remembered his persecutions and his own innocency, he saith: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. iii. What then hath the godly to lean unto, but hope? The prophet David therefore said: "Though I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Psal. xxiii. I will fear no evil; for thou art with me." Therefore said Job: "Though he slay Job xiii. me, yet will I trust in him." For he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall never be confounded. In this hope spake St Paul: "Christ is to me both in life and Phil. i. death advantage." Again: "Whether we iive or die, we are the Lord's." And Rom. xiv. again: "God forbid that I should rejoice, but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Gal. vi. Christ." And to the Romans he saith: "There is no condemnation to them Rom. viii. that are in Christ Jesus." This is the foundation of faith, even a strong rock, which shall continue for ever. Neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor persecution, nor famine, nor any danger can remove the faithful from this hope. But the wicked and unstable fall from their hope; and their fall is miserable. They have heard the word of God that teacheth unto salvation, but did not regard it they have forgotten the works of the Lord, and received his grace in vain. For, when they have heard the word, the devil cometh, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved. And the end of these men is worse than the beginning. It was not so with the Thessalonians. They received the word of God willingly; and it was fruitful in them, so that thereby they increased in faith, in love, and in hope. Their faith the apostle calleth forcible or effectual, their love diligent and painful, their hope mighty through patience, whereby they overcome all manner of dangers; and rejoiceth on their behalf, because he found so great success of his travail in the gospel amongst them. Knowing that you are elect of God." You were blind, the children of wrath, without understanding, without God, and without hope. But God hath had mercy upon you, and hath given you grace to know your calling. Herein it appeareth that you are the chosen of God, and of the flock of Christ. "My John x. sheep," saith he, "hear my voice; and I know them; and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of mine hand." "For our gospel was not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." That you have yielded obedience unto the word, and that my ministry hath been effectual amongst you, it cometh not of any power in yourselves, or in me: it is the work of God. He hath blessed my ministry, he hath blessed your hearts. It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast thereof. Hereof he speaketh to the Corinthians: "Who is Paul then, and 1 Cor. iii. who is Apollos, but the ministers by whom ye believed, and as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." It is he which hath the key of David, which openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth. Without him we can do nothing. He guideth us and all our counsels, and leadeth us into all truth. "No man can come unto John vi. me," saith Christ, "except the Father which hath sent me draw him." And by the prophet Ezechiel God saith: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit Ezek. xxxvi. will I put within you. I will put my Spirit within you, and will cause you to walk in my statutes; and you shall keep my judgments and do them." And by the prophet Jeremy: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their Jer. xxxi. Psal. cxix. Sanct. cap. viii. hearts." Therefore David maketh his prayer: "Teach me, O Lord: give me understanding; and I will keep thy law." The words of the preacher enter in at the ear. The Spirit of God conveyeth De Prædest. them into the heart. Augustine saith: Auditur evangelium: quidam credunt, quidam non credunt:...qui credunt...intus a Patre audiunt et discunt; qui.....non credunt, foris audiunt, intus non audiunt, neque discunt. Hoc est, illis datur ut credant, illis non datur1: "The gospel is declared. Some there are which believe: some there are which believe not. They which believe hear it inwardly by the Father, and so learn it. They which believe not hear it only with their outward sense, and not with inward feeling, and therefore learn it not. As much to say, To them it is given to believe: to the other it is not given." In the Acts of the Apostles Lydia, a woman of the city of the Thyatirians, heard the preaching of the apostle Paul; but it is said: "Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things that Paul spake." The people, which said unto Peter and the other apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" did hear all the words of Peter; but they had another teacher, that gave force unto the word, and made it fruitful in them; and therefore it is said: "They were pricked in their Luke xxiv. hearts." This also appeared in the disciples which walked towards Emmaus: they heard Christ open the scriptures unto them: they reasoned with him: yet until their eyes were opened they knew him not. His word crept into their ears; but it was the Spirit of God which wrought within them, which inflamed their hearts, and made them to know him. Acts xvi. Acts ii. Isai. lv. Thus God blesseth his word, and maketh it yield fruit in such measure as his wisdom hath appointed. His blessing appeareth greater when many are converted; yet is his word all one, and the power thereof no whit shorter when it is utterly refused, or received but of few. "Surely," saith God, "as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it fruitful, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to him that eareth2; so shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I will, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." It is the word of the living God, which is blessed for ever. And blessed is that heart which can receive it, which God instructeth and giveth3 knowledge of his word, which doth so learn it that he is assured of the truth thereof, and nothing doubteth but it is indeed the word of life; which saith thereof, This is the way, in which if I walk I shall certainly go forward to the city of my God: this is the truth; if I hearken unto it, I shall never be deceived. Whosoever findeth himself endued with this grace, he doth as plainly and evidently judge of the words of God, and try out the truth thereof from the devices and doctrines of men, as a man of clear eyesight is able to judge of colours, and to know one colour from another. Yea, in this is the knowledge of that more certain; because colour doth fade and alter, and many times one colour thereby waxeth like another; but the truth of God doth never alter. It continueth one through all ages. It is the word of everlasting life. Heaven and earth shall perish; but one tittle thereof shall not be lost. The truth of God shall be established for ever. The humble shall hear it, and be glad. "As ye know after what manner we were among you for your sakes." You know how I behaved myself, and after what manner I have lived among you, You know my first coming and entry unto you. You know what doctrine I have taught, and what hath been my conversation of life. I never deceived any, nor offered wrong unto the simplest. I sought not you nor yours, but those things which are Jesus'. I have lived by the labour of my hands, in watchings, in hunger, in cold, and nakedness. God hath ordained, that they which teach the gospel should live by the gospel. Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? But I have not used this liberty. For I have a great care lest by any means I should offend you. Yet would I never flatter any in that [ Cum igitur evangelium prædicatur, quidam &c. audiunt atque discunt &c.-August. Op. Par. 1679-1700. Lib. de Prædest. Sanct. cap. viii. 15. Tom. X. col. 801.] [ Eateth, 1584, 1594.] [5 In, 1594.] thing they had done amiss: I never spared to rebuke ill. If I should fear, or seek to please men, I were not the servant of Christ. I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of him that sent me, who also hath made me a minister of his gospel. I have forsaken all things, my goods and life, my flesh and my body; and am daily in perils, compassed daily by persecution, and see death daily before mine eyes, for the love I bear to you, and for the care I have of the church. You are the Lord's sheep; I am your shepherd: you are the house of God; I am your builder: you are God's orchard; I am your overseer and workman. I shall give an account for your souls: you know how tenderly I have loved you in the Lord. Your grief hath been my grief: your joy hath been my joy. I have prayed for you day and night, and have given thanks to God for you, and rejoiced in your behalf. What is more dear to a man than life? yet have I desired to yield up my life, that you might live. I have been ready to suffer death, if thereby I might do you good. These things you cannot but remember: your conscience beareth me witness, that I have thus lived among you for your sake. Ver. 6. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, and received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. He commendeth the godly for the practice of that which they have learned and seen in him, in that they have received the gospel, and framed their lives accordingly, and have continued stedfast in the same in the midst of persecution. Herein he doth not only lay out himself and the other apostles for an example, but telleth them that this way is also trodden out by our Lord himself: who as he is the way, and the light that lighteneth every man which cometh into the world; so did he bear his cross, and did lay down his life for his sheep. Therefore he said to his disciples: "The disciple is not above his master, nor the Matt. x. servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple to be as his master is, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household ?" But this is reckoned unto them for happiness. "Blessed are you when men Matt. v. revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you for my sake falsely. Rejoice and be glad; for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." They slew them, and drowned them, hewed them with swords, and cut them in pieces with saws. any man," saith our Saviour, "will follow me, let him forsake himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." So far must the children of God be from the love of this world: in such sort must he forsake his own life, and endure affliction, that will come unto Christ. "If Matt. xvi In the old law the priests went on and carried the ark before, and the people came after, in token that they should give good example, and the people should follow them. The priest was appointed to be a shrill trumpet sounding in the ears of the people; and the people were commanded to prepare themselves for the battle of the Lord of hosts. Therefore saith St Paul, So have I followed the Lord, and so have you followed me, and received the word (not in affliction only, but) in much affliction. Where he describeth" the unmerciful hearts and tyrannous hate of the wicked against all those that follow the Lamb, and receive the word of God with gladness. No torment so cruel, no device so strange, no manner of death so horrible, which hath not been, or which is not laid upon them. Their bodies be cast into prisons: they are stript out of their houses and spoiled of their goods. Thus do the enemies of God work tyranny and much affliction unto the godly. They consume their bodies in fire, shed their blood without measure, throw out their bones, and scatter them upon the face of the earth; and this do they, not as against murderers, robbers, adulterers, or such like, but only because they receive the word, and bear a love to the truth, and cannot deny the power thereof. "With joy of the Holy Ghost." [Evil, 1594.] This is that which passeth all natural sense [ He much describeth, 1584, 1594.] Dan. iii. Acts v. Rom. v. Rom. viii. Luke xxii. Matt. v. Rev. vii. and wisdom. Many seem to take in good part and abide patiently afflictions, loss of goods, imprisonment, and loss of life. But no man can rejoice in the suffering of these things, but the child of God; no man, but whom Christ hath chosen out of the world, but whose name is written in the book of life, but he in whom the Spirit beareth witness with his spirit that he is the child of God. He knoweth that through many tribulations he must enter into rest. He knoweth the wicked could have no power over him, unless it were given them from above: he knoweth that all is done for the best to them that love God; and that God could dispose means, if it were so expedient, to bring to nought all the devices of the ungodly. When the servants of God were cast into the hot burning furnace because they would not worship the golden image that the king Nabuchodonosor had set up, who would have thought that the fire could not burn? or that their bodies should not have been consumed? Yet did God in the midst of the fire preserve them, so that "not one hair of their head was burnt, neither were their coats changed, nor any smell of fire came upon them." Let us never forget this notable example of God's power to deliver his servants, that we may ever be earnest and careful to profess our faith in him, and to strive unto the death for the setting forth of his glory. It fareth even so with the children of God in the persecution of this world: troubles, miseries, and adversity compass them, as the fiery furnace compassed those three men of God. But God covereth them with his mercy, as with a cloud, that nothing shall hurt them. I say not, all that stand in like defence shall in like sort be so preserved, that their bodies shall not be pierced. For God suffereth the wicked to destroy and kill his servants, and to consume their bodies to dust and ashes. Yet are his servants warned not to fear them. When the apostles were beaten because they had spoken in the name of Jesus, "they departed from the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for his name." "We rejoice," saith St Paul, "in tribulations, knowing that tribulation bringeth forth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." The comfort which is given in1 this case to the godly is hidden within them. For to him that overcometh shall be given a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. "The afflictions of this present time are not worthy the glory which shall be shewed unto us." When our Saviour did see the time of his passion draw near, he said to his disciples: "You are they which have continued with me in my temptations. Therefore I appoint to you a kingdom; as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on seats, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel." And in his sermon upon the mountain he saith: "Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The case shall be altered. It shall be between them and their persecutors as it was between Lazarus and the rich man. When the wicked and cruel tyrants shall see them in the presence of the throne of God, because "they came out of great tribulation, and have washed their long robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" the God of Abraham shall say unto the wicked: Sons, remember that you in your life-time received your pleasures, and likewise these men pains: now therefore are they comforted, and you tormented. They are taken out of affliction into rest, from their bonds into liberty, out of prison into a kingdom, out of misery unto glory, from life unto death. The promise of this comfort is often renewed. The prophet David Psal. cxxvi. saith: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Our Saviour telleth his disciples: "Ye shall weep and lament, and the world shall rejoice; and you shall sorrow, but your sorrow shall be turned to joy." St John heard a voice from heaven, saying: "Blessed be the dead which hereafter die in the Lord. Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours; and their works follow them." He is commanded to write unto the angel of the church of the Smyrnians. "Fear [ 1583 omits the.] John xvi. Rev. ii. ['Is, 1583.] none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, it shall come to pass, that the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death; and I will give thee the crown of life." Thus God suffereth his servants to be sifted, and to be tried as pure gold in the furnace, and receiveth them as a sweet-smelling savour of burnt sacrifice. And this is it whereof the apostle putteth the Thessalonians in remembrance, that they are strengthened by the Holy Ghost, not only to abide such afflictions as they suffer because they have received the gospel, but also to rejoice, because they are assured, whatsoever shall happen unto them, they be the children of God. Ver. 7. So that you were as examples1 to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 9. For they themselves shew of you what manner entering in we had unto you, The countries round about them were drawn by the example of the Thessalonians to believe the gospel preached unto them. You are (saith he) as the bright sun-beams: they behold you, and rejoice of you, even as of the morning-light. You are an holy city set upon an hill, you cannot be hid; your faith is a pattern of faith, your life is a pattern of life unto them. They have learned of you how to guide their ways. You have called them back from error and from ungodliness to serve the true and living God. You are made unto them a sweetsmelling savour of life unto life. For so it hath pleased God to make his gospel known in all places through you, and to make you the builders of his church. When they behold your godly conversation, which is in Christ, they are ashamed of themselves. When they behold your light, they find fault with their own darkness. O, say they, this is a holy people, this is a people that feareth God: let us hear them what they teach: let us lead our lives in holiness and righteousness, as they do. Let us by hearing these words enter into ourselves. God hath given his light to shine upon us: he hath blessed us with the knowledge of his gospel. Let us take heed we turn not the light into darkness, nor the truth of God into lies. Many thousand eyes are set upon us, to look upon and behold us. Let us be an example of godliness. Let us be as a light to them that yet abide in darkness. Let not the name of God be evil spoken of through us. His name is holy.. "Wo be unto the world," saith Christ, "because of offences! for it must needs be Matt. xviii. that offences shall come; but wo be unto that man by whom the offence cometh!" "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." It were better for that man if he had never been born. For the blood of them that perish by his offence shall be required at his hands. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against those that are such, because they withhold the truth in unrighteousness. The kingdom of God shall be taken away from them, and given to a nation that will bring forth the fruits thereof. It followeth: "From you sounded the word of the Lord, not in Macedonia and Achaia only," &c. If a man carry in his hand a light burning candle, it giveth not light to him only that carrieth it, but to all those which be in the house; and they also see it which are without. Even so, if any be the child of knowledge, and carry about him the light of God, he doth not only taste of the comfort thereof himself, and work comfort to those that appertain to the church of God, but lighteneth also the hearts of pagans and infidels, which are abroad. Such as are bathed or perfumed with precious ointments or powders have not only the pleasure to themselves; but the savour thereof casteth itself out, and is [3 To, 1594.] [* Ensamples, 1583, 1584, 1594.] [5 Cast off, 1594.] 18 |