Preparation for Suffering in an Evil Day, Title page – To the reader
ARMATƲRA DEI: OR, A PREPARATION FOR SUFFERING IN An Evil Day: SHEWING How Chriſtians are to bear Sufferings, and what Graces are Requiſite thereunto: Suited for all good Chriſtians in this preſent Time.
By EDWARD POLHIL of Burwaſh in Suſſex, Eſq
LONDON: Printed for Tho. Cockerill, at the Three-Legs in the Poultrey, 1682.
TO THE READER.
IT is the ſaying of Grave Divine, That in the School of Satan, the firſt A B C of Atheiſm is this, All theſe will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worſhip me; but in the School of Jeſus, the firſt A B C of Religion is this, If any man will be my Diſciple, let him deny himſelf, and take up his Croſs, and follow me. Oppoſition is Evangelij Genius, the Church hath the Croſs for its Inheritance: It is the Ordinance of God, That through Tribulation we muſt enter into his Kingdome: This hath been the way of the Saints in all Ages; The Cloud of Witneſſes have walked in it to Heaven; Jeſus Chriſt, the Captain of our Salvation, was made perfect through Sufferings; and therefore Chriſtians, who are to follow him whitherſoever he goeth, muſt provide for the Croſs, Eſpecially at ſuch a time as this. Now, not only the common Lot of Chriſtianity, but the dark aſpect of the Times bid us prepare for Sufferings: Charity is cold, Differences are hot, Moderation Vaniſhes, Enmity every where appears, Popery lifts up itſelf in the World, Proteſtants help on the Deſign, by deſtroying each other, Sin is gone up with a great cry to Heaven, black Clouds of wrath hang over our heads for it, the decayes of holy Love threaten a removal of our Candleſtick, lukewarmneſs in Religion ſhews, that we are fit to be ſpued out of Gods mouth: Every one that hath Eyes in his Head, may ſee the tendency of ſuch things as theſe; and therefore Chriſtians have more than an ordinary Obligation on them to provide for the Croſs, and nothing leſs than a ſtock of holy Graces can put them into a poſture for it. It's true, Diogenes, when he was asked, what be gained by his Philoſophy, anſwered, that he gained this by it, that he was ad omnem fortunam paratus, ready for every thing that ſhould fall out. Philoſophy may pretend to this, but nothing but true Chriſtianity can effect it; it is an eaſy matter to ſpeak finely, and ſay, as one did, Si fractus illabatur Orbis, impavidum ferient Ruinae; if the broken World fall about our Ears, the Ruins of it ſhall not ſtartle us: But nothing leſs than Gracious and Divine Principles can enable a Man piouſly to ſuffer for the Cauſe of God and Conſcience; he, that parts with all outward things here, had need have an intereſt in Him, who is better than all: He, that ſtands faſt in a Storm of Perſecution without, had need of a pure ſerene Conſcience within; He that will adhere to perſecuted Truth, had need to be well ſetled in it, and carry the ſweet ſavor of it upon his heart: He, that will ſtand out againſt the Threatnings of Men, had need be well-fixed in the Promiſes of God, & from thence draw out Comfort in an Evil Day How can a Chriſtian part with the preſent World, if he hath not another, a better, to go to; or lay down a Temporal Life, if he hath not a lively hope of an Eternal one in Heaven? How can he lift up himſelf above the Dregs of a Corrupt World, if he be not extaſied and rap't up in Love to God: or bear the Terrors and Cruelties of Men, if the fear of God do not prevail and over-rule his heart? Humility muſt make him a Worm, a Nothing in his own Eyes, that he may be willing to be trampled on by Men. Obedience muſt work him to a compliance with God's Commanding Will, that Patience may fit him to ſubject to his diſpoſing one. Believe it, it is a great, an Heroical thing, to ſuffer for Religion; it muſt be Grace, true Grace, (ſuch as carries a man up above himſelf and the World, and joins him to the Fountain of Comfort and Happineſs) that will make him fit to ſuffer and loſe all for Righteouſneſs ſake.
Reader, The enſuing Diſcourſe hath no other deſign, but only to ſhew, how Chriſtians are to bear Sufferings, and what Graces are requiſite thereunto: If any Glory may come to God, or Profit to Men by it, it is as much as is deſired by him, who is
A Lover of Truth, Edw. Polhil.