The Marks of the Children of God and their Comforts in Affliction, Chapter 10
Of the afflictions for the name of Chriſt. and of their fruites.
CHAP. 10.
TRue it is that God being iuſt, doth neuer afflict vsus vniuſtlie, which thing we ought alwais to think and confeſſe, to humble our ſelues, and to giuegive glorie vntounto God. Neuertheleſſe, GOD doth not alwaies take occaſion of our ſinnes to puniſh vsus, but often times hee ſheweth this fauour to his children to diſpoſe that the cauſe and title of their afflictions ſhould bee honorable, calling them perſecutions and ſufferings for righteouſnes ſake,Matt. 5.10. Mar. 10.29. Col. 1.24. Matth. 5.11 Rom. 8.35. What are the afflictions for Chriſt. for the Goſpell, for the Church, for the name of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, and for the louelove of GOD. And this commeth when we are perſecuted of men, becauſe wee will not approue iniquitie, or falſe doctrine, nor defile our ſelues with idolatries and ſuperſtitiōs, but ſerue God purelie and holilie according to his word. To be ſhort, when we will liue in the feare of God in Ieſus Chriſt, as Saint Paule ſpeaketh,2. Tim. 3.12. who ſpeaking of theſe afflictions ſaith:Phil. 1.29. To you it is giuen of God not onlie to beleeue, but alſo to ſuffer for his name:They that ſuffer for Chriſt are happie. wherein he ſheweth, that ſuch afflictions are the gifts of GOD proceeding from good will & louelove towards vsus: And ſee why Ieſus Chriſt ſaid, Bleſſed are they which are perſecuted for righteouſnes ſake:1 By the teſtimonie of the word of the God. Mat. 5.10. Alſo, Bleſſed are you when men ſhall reuile you, and perſecute you, & ſpeak all manner of euill againſt you, lying of you for my ſake: reioyce ye, and be glad. Wherevnto Saint Peter agreeth,1. Pet. 4.14. ſaying: If ye ſuffer wrong for the name of Ieſus Chriſt, ye are happie.
Now, if we hauehave no other foundation than the onelie teſtimonie of Ieſus Chriſt to aſſure vsus, that being perſecuted for his name, God loueth vsus, and will make vsus bleſſed, were it not an vntollerable impudencie for the diuell, and an incredulitie inexcuſable for vsus, to call that in doubt, which he, who is the trueth it ſelfe, doth affirme? Notwithſtanding, to the end that we may the more liuelie feele this felicitie than when wee are perſecuted for his name: let vsus conſider the reaſons which the holie ghoſt giueth vsus. Firſt, when Ieſus Chriſt had ſaid: bleſſed are they which ſuffer for righteouſnes ſake, he addeth as a reaſon:2. For the promiſes. 1. Of the kingdome of heauen. Mat. 5.10. For theirs is the kingdome of heauen. They that through zeale and charitie imploye themſelues to maintaine the innocencie and right of an other, and aboue all the trueth of God, incurre ordinarilie the hatred of the world, lifting vp it ſelfe againſt them, to bring them to ruine. But let them comfort themſelues: for what can they leeſe, ſeeing the kingdome of heauen is theirs, and cannot bee taken from them? Yea farther, ſeeing theſe perſecutions aſſure them, and prepare them to come thether, Ieſus Chriſt addeth that wee are bleſſed,Mat. 5.12. and that wee ought to skip for ioye when anie iniurie is offered vsus, either in word or deed,2. For the reward: lying on vsus for his names ſake. For your reward (ſaith he) is great in heauen. Note that he ſaith in heauen: for it ſhall be ſpeciallie in the life to come, that we ſhall receiue it. Yet notwithſtanding, in an other place he promiſeth recompence in this preſent life.1. In this life. For marke what he ſpeaketh to his Apoſtles:Mar. 10.29. Verelie I ſay vntounto you, that there is none that ſhall forſake houſe, or brethren, or ſiſters, fathers, mothers, or wife, or children, or lands, for the louelove of me, and of the Goſpell, which ſhall not now in this world receiue an hundred folde as much, houſes, brethren, ſiſters, fathers, mothers, children and lands with perſecution, and in the world to come life euerlaſting. Now, the purpoſe of Ieſus Chriſt is to teach vsus, that when by perſecution it ſhall happen that wee ſhall be conſtrained to forſake father, mother, brothers, ſiſters, and lands, he will giuegive vntounto vsus, in that poore, vile and baſe eſtate canſed through perſecution, more ioye, contentment and happines, than if wee had recouered an hundred fathers for one, and an hundred times as much lands and poſſeſsions, as was taken from vsus. And experience maketh the faithfull to feele the trueth of this promiſe. And we ſhould feele it much more aboundantlie, if the mouth of our faith were greater. But yet in this weakenes of faith, doo not we knowe, that the wicked in their aboundance are poore, and wee in our pouertie are rich. Their couetouſnes is inſatiable, and like vntounto fire, which, the more wood you put on, the greater it is. As for vsus, wee finde contentment and reſt in the prouidence of GOD, which neuer forſooke thoſe that put their truſt in him. In the time of Eliah, 1. King. 17.manie had greater ſtore of foode than the widdowe of Sarepta, vntounto whom he was ſent: but ſhe hauing this bleſsing of the Lord, that the oyle failed not in the cruſe, nor the flowre in the barrell, ſhe had more than the richeſt in the countrie: As he that hath a ſpring of running water in his houſe, may ſay, that hee is more aſſured, and hath more plentie of water, than he that hath it in a ceſterne, and that all broken. Beſides, this great happines that we feele our ſelues to be the children of God, that being pilgrimes in this world, the end of our voyage is to come to heauen, which alſo wee ſee open, and Ieſus Chriſt reaching out his hands vntounto vsus to gather vsus into his glorie, giueth vsus more contentment without compariſon, in eating of bread, and drinking of water, than the vnfaithfull hauehave in all delicates, hauing nothing in their hearts but the world and the earth; and liuing, or rather languiſhing in continuall feare to be ſodainlie depriued of all that, wherein they ſet their whole felicitie.
This is it which Dauid noteth,Pſal. 37.10. ſaying: A little that the righteous hath is more worth, than the great aboundance of the wicked. Yea, the verie ordinary experience teacheth vsus, that GOD prouideth for our neceſsities both more aboundantlie than euer we looked for, & alſo by ſuch meanes as we neuer thought, accompliſhing in his children perſecuted, that which Saint Paule ſaith:1. Tim. 4.8. That godlines hath the promiſe of this preſent life, and of the life to come. If then (as it is ſaid) the contented bee rich, and that it is not the aboundance which giueth this contentment, but the feeling that wee are the children of a father that is almightie, which loueth vsus with a louelove incomprehenſible, in his beloued ſonne, who hath taken vponupon him to make vsus happie. It muſt needes followe, that euen in this life we recouer an hūdred times as much, as we hauehave loſt through perſecution. And who is he that can doubt if he carefullie meditate this ſentence of Saint Paule? Rom. 8.31.He that hath loued vsus ſo much, as he gaue his owne and onlie ſonne vntounto the death for vsus, much more ſhall he giuegive vsus all other things with him. And indeede, ſeeing wee are the members & brethren of him, whom God hath appoynted the vniuerſall heire of all things: let vsus not doubt but that all things are ours. As alſo the goods of the houſe appertaineth to the pupils, although the Tutor gouerne it, and giueth it them by portion: and that which is more, hee ſhall ſometimes appoint to eueryevery one his diet, according to that which by the coū ſell of the Phiſition ſhall bee thought fit.Mat. 6.33 And indeede if wee ſeeke firſt the kingdom of God and his righteouſnes, Let vsus not doubt, following the promiſe of Ieſus Chriſt, but that all other things ſhall be added. In the meane time we muſt eſpecially lift vp our vnderſtanding to the reward promiſed in the life euerlaſting. For true it is, that beſides this contentment whereof wee hauehave ſpoken: God (to ſhew that it hapneth not for lacke of power to enrich his children, that pouertie and other afflictions do often follow and accompanie the profeſsion of the Goſpell) dooth oftentimes diſpoſe, that they which hauehave forſaken father, mother, & their worldly goods for the name of Ieſus Chriſt, finde afterwardes many, which ſerue them for fathers and mothers, and obtaine after greater poſſeſſions in following the Goſpell, than they had before. Alwayes this is not the purpoſe of Chriſt to hauehave vsus to reſt vponupon ſo bare recompence, as to giuegive vsus goods which are common to the wicked and the infidels. Saint Paule propoſeth to the bondſlaues of men, for recompence of their faithfull ſeruice,Col. 3.24 the inheritance of Heauen. The children then of the houſe of God, ſhold do thē ſelues great wrong, to looke for at the hands of a Father, ſo mightie, ſo rich, & ſo liberall, earthlie and tranſitorie riches, & other commodities of the fleſh. Hee eſteemeth it not agreeable to his greatnes, nor to the anguiſhes and trauailes of thoſe which hauehave forſaken father, mother, their goods and their life for his ſeruice, to giuegive them things ſo vaine: to the ende, that they ſhould not ſet their mindes thereon, thinking that their felicitie lay in them. The Maſter of a houſe, who keepeth his inheritance for his Sonne, doth not thinke that he doth any thing for him, to clothe him with the liuerie of his ſeruants: as alſo when any one ſhall be receiued for a Prince into any countrie, he may well caſt ſome peeces of golde or ſiluer, amongſt the people, to ſhew his liberality, but the honors and dignities are diſtributed among his fauourits. GOD wil not feaſt our bodies with the ſeruice of our ſoules. He is liberall and iuſt, & therefore will recompence Spirituall conflicts with Spirituall Crownes, and accept our labors, not according to the vilenes of our harts, but according to the dignity of his greatnes: ſeeing alſo, that he crowneth not in vsus, our workes,Auguſt. but properly his owne. Of one and the ſelfe ſame ſeruice, there is one recompence of a King, and an other of a Merchant; ſo as when we would content our ſelues with earthly goods, God might anſwere with better reaſon than (in old time) Alexander the great, that it were enough in regarde of vsus that ſhoulde receiue it, but not in regard of him that ſhould giuegive it vsus. They that knowe the vanity of worldly thinges, hauehave no contentation but in heauenly things, yea,Manuel. Aug. cha. 3 and will ſay with Saint Augustine; Lorde, if thou ſhouldeſt giuegive mee all that thou haſt created in the world, that ſhoulde not ſuffice thy ſeruant, except thou gaue mee thy ſelfe. As alſo he ſaith in another place, All aboundance, which is not my God, is to me ſcarcitie.2. In the life to come Wee muſt then ſet before vsus the reward promiſed in the eternall life, wherwith (without al doubt) Moſes was liuely touched in his hart, when he refuſed to be called the ſon of Pharaohs daughter, chooſing rather to bee afflicted with the people of GOD, than to enioy for a ſmall ſeaſon, the pleaſures of ſin, eſteeming the reproch of Chriſt greater riches than al the treaſures of Aegypt. For (ſaith the apoſtle) he had reſpect to the reward, which alſo he receiued, not in this preſent life, wherin he was afflicted vntil his death; but in heauen, whither hee lifting vp his eies, feared not the furie of the King, but held faſt, as if hee ſawe him, that is inuiſible. The ſame Apoſtle writing to the Hebrevves that beleeued, ſheweth very well, that they alſo did vnderſtand this reward. For he beareth them witneſſe,Heb. 10.34 that they had taken ioyfullie the ſpoyling of their goods, knowing, that they had a better riches inheauen, which abideth for euer. Wherein alſo he confirmeth them, adding this exhortation: Then caſt not off your confidence, which hath great reward.The fruite in the life to come incomprehenſible: firſt, for the greatneſſe. Rom. 8.18 Now although, as touching our ſelues, we can not comprehend what this reward ſhall be, yet ought we certainly to beleeue it, that it is moſt certaine, becauſe Ieſus Chriſt hath promiſed it; and moſt excellent: ſeeing that Saint Paule affirmeth, that the ſuffrings of this preſent life are not woorthie of the glorie to come, which ſhall be reuealed in vsus. As alſo he ſayth in an other place:2. Cor. 4.17 That our tranſitorie afflictions which indure but a ſmall time, and are gone in a moment, ſhal bring forth in vsus an eternal waight of glorie maruelous excellent. And to giuegive ſome taſte in waighting for the ful reuelation, and inioying of it, let vsus note in this laſt ſentence of Saint Paule, the compariſon that hee maketh of our afflictions that are ſwift, and paſsing in a moment, and the eternall waight of glorie maruellous excellent, which they bring foorth. For true it is, that our outward man decayeth, as hee ſaid, meaning thereby the loſſe of health, of riches, honours, friendſhips, aliances, and other ſuch aides and commodities of this life, and the life it ſelfe: but in the meane time the inward man is renued eueryevery day, by an happy and excellent chaunge, in goods and honours that are ſpirituall, heauenly, and eternall. And indeede what is all that which we ſuffer and loſe here for Ieſus Chriſt, in reſpect of the infinite and incomprehenſible good things, which we ſhall recouer in heauen, whereof alſo we hauehave a feeling in this preſent life? Are we conſtrained to forſake a fleſhlie father? Beholde the heauenly father which offereth himſelfe at hand, who alone properly is our Father, as is ſaide before.Iohn 9. What loſt the man borne blinde beeing caſt out of the Synagogue, and refuſed of the Scribes and Phariſies, when Ieſus Chriſt met hym and receyued hym? If any ſpoyle our worldly goods, God offereth vsus the Kingdome of heauen. If the earth will not beare vsus, the heauens open to receiue vsus. If the people of the worlde driue vsus away, the Angells offer their preſence, acknowledging vsus their companions in glory: If men curſe vsus, thoſe wordes are but winde; and God in the meane time doth bleſſe vsus, & turneth euen the curſes of our enemies into bleſſings as Dauid ſpeaketh.2. Sam. 16 12 If we be thruſt out of our offices or dignities, Ieſus Chriſt giueth vsus things more excellent, making vsus kings and prieſts to God his father:Rene. 1.6 If our parents diſdaine vsus, & wil not know vsus, Chriſt is not aſhamed to auow vsus, and call vsus his brethren.Heb. 2.12 If we be depriued of the ſucceſsion & inheritance of our parents, Chriſt acknowledgeth vsus the heires of God his father, and fellow heirs with him. Do any make vsus weep for ſorow? Chriſt preſenteth him ſelfe to wipe away our tears, & to turne our ſorows into perfect ioy. Are we not receiued into any town to be an inhabitant there? God giueth vsus freedome in heauen, to dwel in that heauenly Ieruſalem, the ſtreets whereof are paued with ſine gold, the wals are made of pretious ſtones, the gates are pearls, whereof the ſon of god is the temple & the ſun. Are we put to death? it is to enter into a better life, ful of ioy and glorie. And indeed let vsus conſider here the wōderſul goodnes of God. A she knoweth that we are too much tied to goods, dignities, and other commodities of the fleſh, that in ſtede of willingly laying vp our treſure in heauē, we lay it vp in earth: he ſo diſpoſeth that we ſhalbe perſecuted for his name, & doth therin, as a good & faithful Tutor, who takyng the mony of his pupill, putteth it out to profit, or buieth for him good rents with it. And hereunto tendeth that which Dauid ſayeth:Pſal. 56.9 Thou haſt nūbred my fleetings, do thē put my tears in thy bottle, are they not noted in thy regiſter? This beeing true, how much more wil he put the drops of blood which we ſhed for his name into his barell, and in his Regiſter the reproches, the flittings, the loſſes of father, mother, lands and other goods, the impriſonments, the other afflictions; and aboue all, the deaths which we indure for his ſeruice and glorie? As alſo it is written,Pſa. 116.15 Right deare in the ſight of God is the death of his Saints. And to what ende ſerue theſe regiſters? They ſhal be laid before, not onelyonly the perſecutours, to make thē feele ſo much the more horrible iudgement and vengeance: but eſpecially before vsus, to make vsus feele an incomprehenſible increaſe of glorie and of ioy, in ſhewing vsus what we hauehave ſuffered for his name, and in accepting vsus before his Angels. But let vsus now conſider how our afflictions are of ſmall cō tinuance,2. Becauſe of the eternitie. and paſsing away as in a moment, in reſpect of the weight of the eternall glorie which they bring. And firſt let vsus ſay boldly, that our troubles are ſhort, becauſe our daies are ſhort; & that the glorie is of long continuaunce, becauſe there ſhall be no ende of it. But for the better vnderſtāding of the ſhortnes of our afflictions, we muſt conſider according to the inſtruction of S. Paul, 2. Co. 4.18.the things inuiſible, that are eternal. For in reſpect of them, wee ſhall finde, that the viſible things which concerne this life, are temporall, that is to ſay, during a little time. The Patriarch Iacob being demaunded of Pharao of his age, he anſwered, that the yeres of his pilgrimage had been few and euill.Gen. 47.9. And how were they few, ſeeing he had liued 130. yeres? ſurely in compariſon or 8. or 900. yeres which his forefathers had liued, as alſo he addeth, that his yeres had not attained to the yeres of his fathers. How then are not our daies ſhort, not comming at the moſt but to 70. or 80. yeres, & that in thoſe that hauehave the ſtrōgeſt or mightieſt bodies,Pſa. 90.10. as the ſong of Moſes importeth. God ſpeaking of the captiuitie of Babylon which cōtinued 70. yeres, ſaith thus:Eſai. 54.8. I hauehave for a little while as in a moment of mine indignation hid my face from thee. How? 70. yeares, are they a little time, is that but a moment of indignation? yea, in reſpect of the comforts and euerlaſting happineſſe, which he would communicate to his people: as he addeth, That he would hauehave compaſſion on them with euerlaſting merciemercy. This alſo is the cauſe why S. John calleth the time folowing Chriſts comming in the fleſh,1. Ioh. 2.18 the laſt houre: as if he wold diuide the cōtinuāce of the world into 3. or 4. hours, wherof the laſt ſhuld be after this cōming of Ieſus Chriſt vntil the end of the world: ſo this laſt hour ſhould now hauehave cōtinued 1587. yeres, and theſe 1587. yeres ſhould not be yet a whole houre finiſhed. This ſeemeth ſtrange to vsus. But let vsus ſet before vsus 2. eternities of times: that which was before the foundation of the world, & that is an infinite time (if a man may cal that time) and a ſwalowing vp of the vnderſtanding of man: and the eternitie of time which ſhal be after the ende of the world, and behold againe an incompreheuſible infinitenes of time. Now let vsus conſider the continuance of the world betweene theſe two eternities. When it ſhall continue 7.8. or 9000. yeares, this ſhould not be, in reſpect of theſe 2. eternities, 2. or 3. houres no not one houre: it ſhould bee yet leſſe than one graine in reſpect of all the ſand in the world: for, as touching the ſand the nūber is finite, but in eternitie there is no end. And here vntounto tendeth that which S. Peter ſayth,1. Pet. 3.8. That before God, 1000. yeres are but as one day, and a day as 1000. yeres, foraſmuch as before the eternitie of GOD, there is no numbring of time; for there is no time at all. According vntounto this, Moſes ſaith,Pſal. 90.4. that 1000. yeres before god are as a day that is paſt. If then 1000. yeres are but as a day paſt, or an houre, 60. or 80. yeres are but as one minute of time: ſo the longeſt continuance of our afflictions ſhould be but one minute; & yet there are ſome that accompliſh not that. And when doo we begin this minute of tribulations? ſeeing that a great part of our life paſſeth before we ſuffer anie thing for the name of Chriſt; & yet there is ſome intermiſſion in them, if it were but in ſleeping. Then, we doo now ſee how true it is, that S. Paule ſaith, that our afflictions paſſe in a moment. And what is that which this moment of afflictions bringeth vsus? An eternal waight (ſaith he) of glorie, as wee hauehave largely ſhewed here before.In the firſt chapter. And in deede there ſhall be no ende ſaith the Angell, of the kingdome of Chriſt. And wee are the houſe of Jacob, Luk. 1.33.ouer whom he ſhal raign for euermore.1. The 4.17 And S. Paul ſaith, that being riſen againe, and aſcended into heauen, we ſhalbe with Ieſus Chriſt euerlaſtingly.Ioh. 3. & 6. For whoſoeuer beleeueth in him hath euerlaſting life. If God for the full meaſure of our felicitie ſhalbe all in al, when we hauehave him in vsus,1. Co. 13.25 who is eternall and immortal, we ſhall enioy a glorious immortalitie: as alſo S. Paul ſaith. That hee hath brought to light, life and immortalitie by the goſpel. To be ſhort, S. Matthew hauing ſet forth vntounto vsus the laſt iudgement, ſaith,Mat. 25.46. That the ſheepe that ſhall bee at the right hand of Ieſus Chriſt, ſhall goe into euerlaſting life. Euen ſo, when he promiſeth vsus a perfect ioy, headdeth,Ioh. 16.22. that it ſhal neuer be takē from vsus. Now, what compariſon is there betweene one moment of affliction, & a glorie, a life, and a ioy, that ſhal laſt eternallie and without end? Then when we thinke that our croſſe is long & heauie to beare, let vsus ſet before vsus the excellencie and the eternitie of the incomprehenſible glorie, wherunto we aſcend by it, whereof alſo wee feele the earneſt pennie & beginnings in our hearts, waiting for the full feeling, and thorow enioying of this felicitie, when we ſhall be lifed vp, and put in poſſeſsion of the kingdome of heauen. Now this reward is certaine and aſſured to al thoſe which ſhall ſuffer for the name of Ieſus Chriſt. Such afflictions then are ſeales of the louelove of God towards vsus, & teſtimonies that he taketh vsus into the number of his beſt beloued children, and that he will make vsus indeed & euerlaſtingly happie.