Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Book 11 · Account 18 · Letter 14
An other letter of maister Philpot, to the godly Ladie Vane.
An other … of … Philpot to the Lady Vane.GOd the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christ encrease in your godly heart the faith of the gospell, which is your eternall inheritance, & the holy ghost comfort your spirite wt all spirituall consolation, to the day of the Lord. Amen.
I can not but praise God moste highly & earnestly, my deare & faithful lady, for the great & vnfained louelove whych you beare vntounto me in Christ,Lady Vane … benefactor to Gods …. declared oftentimes, as wel now as of late, by manifest and liberal tokens. Blessed be God that hath made you so worthy a mēber in his kingdome. For it can not be but such shal reape with abūdance in time of reward, that here do sowe so plenteously in well doing. Albeit I am moste vnwoorthy to receiue any suche benefit at your hands, as in respect of a piller of Christes church, which am scarse a shadow thereof. But the zeale of Christes church in you wisheth me to be such a one as the time doth require. God fulfill your desire of me, yt I may be foūd constant, & no wandring starre. I am not worthy of the name of a prophet, or of a minister of Gods woorde, for that I hauehave (being letted by the iniquitie of time) little or nothing labored therein. I am a friend of our common spouse Iesus, and do reioyce of the veritie of his woorde: for the which (praised be hys name) hee hath counted mee worthy to suffer:Marke. 9. and in deede who that geueth a draughte of water in the name of a disciple (as Christ hath promised) shall not lose his reward. Therefore, that your gentlenes doth in the name of him, which I am not, the Lorde recompence vntounto you in all hys blessings, which he is accustomed to powre on them which louelove his flocke vnfainedly.
Good Lady, you hauehave to ioy that the kingdome of God is thus continually before your eies, and that you are not ashamed of the bands of Christ, which you with his people in part do suffer. They may be assured of ye glory euerlasting, which heere are not ashamed to take vp the crosse of Christ, & to folowe him. Heere we must weepe and lament, whiles the worlde laugheth & triumpheth ouer vsus: but our teares shall shortly be turned into vnspeakeable ioy, and we shall eternallye be merrye together, when the world shall lament their infidelitie without ende. &c.
I woulde I were able to doe any thing yt myght shewe condigne thāks for that sincere louelove you beare vntounto me in Christ. You adiure me (as it were) by your gentle letters to be bolde on you in all my needes. I thanke God whych ceaseth not to prouide for his. I lacke nothing at this present, but only hability to thank your faithful hart for your goodnesse towards me. I louelove you and not yours, as it is meete christians to louelove one an other in God: & your faith which I beholde in you, is more woorth vntounto me then al your possessiōs. And I thinke I shal not neede long to be chargeable vntounto you, for yt this weeke I looke for commissioners to sit on me, & my fellow prisoners in prison, least the spirit of our breath might blowe further abroade. The wil of God be don. We are not so good as Iohn the Baptist which was beheaded in prison. Darknes cannot abide the light. Therefore their doings must declare what they are. We are as shepe appoynted for a sacrifice to the Lord. We must not feare the fire, for our Lord is a cōsuming fire which will put out the fiercenes of raging torments from vsus. Be not afraid of them yt can kil the body, but feare him yt can cast both body and soul into hel fire. God forbid that we should reioyce otherwise then in the crosse of Christ, & pray that he would make vsus worthy to suffer for his sake. God wil hauehave our faith tried & knowen,A perfect Christen man how he is knowen. and therefore let vsus willingly humble our selues vnderunder the mighty hād of God, that he may gloriously lifte vsus vp in his good time. There is none perfectly faithfull in deede till he can say wt S. Paule: I am perswaded that neither death, neither life, Rom. 8.neyther aungels, neither princes or powers, neither things present, neither things to come, neither highnes, neither lownes, neither any other creature is able to separate me from the louelove of God which is in Christ Iesu our Lord. This faith God plant both in you and me vnmooueably. In this faith we hauehave to reioyce, and in none other.
All the tribulations of the worlde are not worthy of the eternall weighte of glory which is prepared for them, that here do with pacience abide the crosse. Wherefore let vsus be stronge with the strengthe in him, that is able to make vsus strong, & lament the weakenes, I might say the infidelitie of our faint gospellers. Christ whome we woulde pretend to hauehave put vponupon vsus, is the strēgth of God, and how then may they be weake where Christe is? We hauehave more to be glad, touching our selues, of this time, then we hauehave had of any time before, in ye which we hauehave so ready a way to goe vntounto God, and so good occasion to shew our duety in glorifying his holy name.The tyme of tribulation better for a Christian then the tyme of ioy. For if we be imprisonned in this cause, we are blessed. If we loose all that we hauehave, we are blessed a 100. fold. If we die, we are blessed eternally: so that in suffering of persecutions, all is full of blessings. Be blessed therefore (O elect Lady) of God, with the blessed of God, and flee (as you do) the concupiscence of the worlde. Embrace that which is perfect, and ioyfully looke for the comming and crosse of our Lorde Iesus Christ. &c. Thus desiring God to preserue you to his true peace, & to geue you victorie of that temptation which now is come to try our faith. Christe be with you, and blesse you both in body and soule: and my praier shal folow you wheresoeuer you goe, as I desire that you may be with me. The last weeke I sent your beneficence to Oxforde: I coulde not before hauehave a conuenient messenger. As soone as I hauehave worde, you shall be satisfied of your request. LoueLove me as you doe, and the God of louelove be with you. The 20. day of August.
By yours with all his power, in the Lord, Iohn Philpot.