The Governance of Virtue, Part 2 · Section 30
Against the troublous tempestes of sicknes, of losse of goods or any other kinde of aduersitie.
IF Sathan when thou art assailed … any kinde of trouble, laboureth to moue thee to despaire of Gods good wil toward thee, as though he had vtterly forsaken thee, geuen thee ouer, and care no more for thee, but sendeth thee that punishment and layeth y• cros vponupon thy back … tokē of his anger and heauy displeasure against the, take hede that y• doest not submit thy selfe to his suttle sugestiōs, but rather perswade thy selfe that thy crosse.
Whatsoeuer it he cōmeth of the good wil of god towarde thee, and is sente vntounto thee for thy healthe, comforte, and saluation. Looke that thou therfore take it both patiently and thankfully and that thou maist so do furnish thy brest with these treasures of Gods most blessed word.
☞ Examples out of the olde Testament.
After y• lord hath punished the & tried the…eut. 5. at last he wil hauehave pity on the. The lord kileth & maketh aliue bringeth down to the graue & fecheth vp again. The lord maketh pore & maketh rich bringeth low and heauethe vponupon high.
Call vppon me in the time of thy troble,Psal. 50. & I wil deliuer the & thou shalt honor me. Blessed is y• man whō thou nurterest, O Lord, and teachest him thy lawe.
It is for my welth y• thou haste broughtPsal. 119. me vnderunder, y• I may learn thy righteousnes
Naked came I out of my mothers wōbeIob. 1. & naked shall I turne thither againe. The Lord gaue & y• lord hath taken away euen as it pleaseth y• lord so is it come to passe, blessed be the name of the lorde.
If we hauehave receued prosperity at y• hādIob. 2. of god, why should we not also receue and suffer aduersitye.
Blessed is the man whō God punishethIob. 5. therfore refuse not thou ye chastening of ye almighty. For though he make a woūd he geueth a plasture, though he smite, his hād maketh whole agayn.
My Sonne despise not the chastning ofPro. 3. the lord neither faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lorde loueth, him he chasteneth & yet delighteth in him, as a father in his owne sonne.
Whatsoeuer hapneth vntounto thee, receiueEcble. 2. it, suffer in heuines and be patiente in thy trouble. For like as gold and siluer are tried in the fire, euen so are acceptable men in the fornace of aduersity.
Examples out of the olde Testament.
Iob being grieuously plagued not onelyonlyIob. 1. with the losse of his goods, but also with di …ers diseases of his dody, praysed the Lord …uen in the middest of his trouble.
Tobye when he had lost his sight grudgedTob. 2. not aginst god that the plage of blindnes chaunsed vntounto him but remained stedfast in the feare of god, and thanked God …l the dayes of his life.
Ezechias being warned of God by the Prophet to prepare himselfe vntounto death… duplicate page duplicate page death, prayed vntounto god in the time of hys sicknes, and obtained fifteene yeres longer to liue.
Manasses being afore an Idolatour & a2. Par. 3 maintayner of Idolatry, after that god had plagued …i, euen whē he was in tribulatiō He besoght ye Lord his god, & humbled him self excedingly before y• god of his fathers, & made intercessiō to him: He hard his pray er, & brought him againe to Ierusalem into hys kingdome.
Examples out of the new Testament
IF any man wil come after me, let hi forMath▪ 26 sake him self & take his cros & folow me.
By manye tribulations must we enterAct. 14. into the kingdome of heauen▪
We reioyce in tribulatiō, for we knowRom. 6 that tribulation bringeth experience, experience bringeth hope, and hope maketh not ashamed.
If we suffer together, we shalbe gloryfiedRom. 8 together. For I suppose that the afflictions of this life ar not worthy of y• glory which shalbe shewed vponupon vsus.
Be patient in tribulation.Rom. 12
If we liue, we liue to be at the lords wilRom. …4 And if we dye, we dy, at y• Lords wil, whether we liue therfore or dy we are y• lords.
While we are punished, we are corrected1. Cor. … of the Lord, lest we shuld with this world be condemned.
We are not weried, but though our ont2. Cor. 4 warde man perishe, yet the inwarde man is renewed day by day. For our exceading tribulation whiche is shorte and lyghte, prepareth an excedinge and euerlastinge weyght of glory vntounto vsus, while we loke not on the thinges whiche are seene but on the thynges that are not seenne. For thinges whiche are seene, are temporall, but things which are not sēe, are eternall.
Reade the fist Chapter of the seconde to the Corinth.2. Cor. …
My strength is made perfect thorowe weaknesse. Uery gladlye therfore will I reioyce of my weakenes, that the strength of Christe maye dwell in me. &c.Iacob. …
Reade the. 12. chapter, to the Hebrues.
Be pacient aud settle your hartes: for the commyng of the Lord draweth nye.
Take the Prophetes for an example of suffring aduersitie and of long patience: whiche spake in the name of the Lorde Be hold we count them happy which endure. …e hauehave heard of the patience of Iob, and hauehave knowne what end the Lorde made, for the Lord is very pitiful and mercifull.…. Pet, 2.
The Lord knoweth how to deliuer the godly out of temptacion.
Examples out of the newe Testament.
The prodigall sonne before hee wasLuc. 15. plagued gaue his mind to all kind of riot and vnthriftye rule, but after that he was striken with pouertye, he knowledged his faulte, he submited himself to his fathers wil & pleasure, and so was receued again into fauour.
A certayne man after he had bene punishedIhon. 5. with sicknes for his sin by the space of thirty eight yeares, was made whole of Christe.
There hauehave bene many good men bothHeb. … ▪ in the olde & new testament of whom som were racked and woulde not be deliuered that that they might receiue a better resurrection some tasted of mockinges and scourgings some of bondes and emprisonmente some were hewen a sunder, were tempted were slayne wyth swoordes walked vp and down in sheues skinnes in goates skins, in neede, in tribulation, and vexatiō, which the world was not worthy of, they wandred in wildernes, in mountaynes, in dens, & in caues of the earth. &c.