all pittye amongst you Surely it is no maruell that you shoulde novve pleade youre innocencie vvhen all the vvorlde may knovve your vvicked traiterous trecheries that vvill not vvillingly shut their eyes But it maye bee You thinke by some popishe vvitchery to goe in uisible by hauing some of the Popes trumpery aboute you But you deceiue youre selues and so doth he vvhom you serue Therefore repent and turne to him vvho is able to saue your soules Returne to Iesus Christe that high pastour that suffering for trueth vvith him you maye likevvise bee glorified vvith him othervvise hovvsoeuer you byte his heele vvith the Serpent hee vvill bruse your head and in the end triumph ouer you The Lorde Iesus sanctifie all that are his euen thoroughout both body soul and spirite that vvee may bee kept blamelesse vnto his holy comming Amen Amen the 27. day of this third moneth Thine assured in Christe Iohn Field 1. Pet. 4. 12. Dearely beloued think it not strange concerning the fiery triall which is among you as though some strange thing were come vnto you IT appeareth by the discourse of this epistle that y e Christians to whome Peter wrote were at that time in great persecution whereuppon after other thinges handled before in this text he commeth to giue them instructions touching this matter how they shold patiently â—eare the crosse and comfortably behaue themselues in the middest of their greatest afflictions A point of doctrine not vnnecessary for vs at this time For although by the great mercye of God it fareth not with vs as it did with the churches then Because we liue vnder a gratious prince that doth cherish and mainteine the trueth Yet because our sinnes be such as doe iustly diserue the taking away of heâ— royall maiesty and the restraint of pure religion I see no reason why the teachers should be charged not to take a good course in preparing the people before hande to bear such troubles whensoeuer they should come no more then our sauiour Christ was to be challenged For telling his disciples so oft of his and their own persecutions before they came arming of them againste the same It is the practise of well ordered common wealthes in the time of peace to teach their people the feates of warre And each man that hath any care of himself and his country when all things are most quiet doth neuerthelesse prouide such things in a redinesse as may stand him in steed in y â— time of trouble Euen so is it necessary that in the peace of the gospell weâ— be instructed to bear afflictions for the saâ—e when the trueth hath greatest liberty we should continually looke for persecution therefore by the precepts and comforts of the worde be alwayes prepared to abide whatsoeuer may fal out Which considerations haue moued mee at this present to speake vnto you out of this scripture Thinke it not straunge concerning the fiery triall In this first verse he willeth the Christians not to maruell at the persecution of the churche which hee calleth by the name of fiery triall as thoughe some straÌ„ge thing had happened The last words seeme to bee set downe as a reason to perswade that which he requireth As though he should haue sayde on this wis the trouble affliction of the church or any member thereof is no straunge thing and therfore no reason why you shoulde maruel at it For we maruell at such things onely as doe seldome come to pâ—sse and after an extraordinary maner But if any thing come to passe often and ordinarily that wee are not wont to maruell at although in it selfe it be neuer so wonderfull If we should see a horse flye in the ayre if wee shoulde see great snowes in the middes of sommer or a plentifull haruest in the middes of winter behold iust occasions to make vs wonder because these things seldome or neuer fall out and the course of nature the order set downe by God himselfe shoulde bee inuerted But to see a horse runne apace vpon the grounde to see deepe â—snowes in the middest of winter and haruest in August or September doth neuer cause wonderâ—ng or astonishment although in deede they be most marueilous works of the Lord. Euen so persecutions and afflictions for righteousnes sake beeing the ordinarye portion which from time to time the saints of God haue receiued in this worlde there is no more cause why we should be amazed or astonished at that whensoeuer generally or particularly it falleth out then at the snow in the winter or haruest in the sommer If we looke vnto the beginning we shall see that Cain persecuted his own brother Abel afterward Ismael Isaack Esau Iacob And when y e visible church began to be a great people I mean y e Iewes the Egyptians first then al the nations round about benâ— their force against them Among the Iews hypocrites and naughty persons of the kings priestes prophets and people failed not to hold on the same course in offering all manner of cruelty to such as truely feared the Lorde and zealously executed the functions in them committed as the histories of the scripture doe playnely witnesse If we looke into the enterteinment of our sauiour Christe and his apostles in their time it shall appeare to haue bene nothing better thâ—n the former And that the like condition hath bene vpon the church euer sithence it is knowne to such as haue read the stories In so much as that complaint is most true wâ—ich she maketh in the psal They haue often times afflicted mee from my youth vp that is to say euer sithence I had any being vpon the earth mine enimies haue not ceassed to afflict me as it were to plowe deepe furrowes vpon my backe You see then what we haue here to learne in the first place namely not to be troubled at the persecutions which may happen to our selues or any other the members of Christ For the profession of his truth and doing of our duety as though some strange thing were come to passe seeing it is the ordinary course which the wicked worlde whose works are nought taking their direction from their grandfather Caine hath from time to time practised agaynste the church and the ordinary way by the which the Lord from age to age hath lead all his children to the verifiyng of that which Paul and Barnabas preached wheresoeuer they came Through many afflictions wee must enter into the kingdome of God And this being so It behoueth vs when wee first ioyne our selues to the churche of God and enter into the profession of his trueth with purpose to leade oure liues according thereunto to sitte vs down according to the counsel of our sauiour Christ to make our account on this wise Surely I see that al flesh is grasse and al things vnder the sunne are but vanity The time will come when I must dye and God hath appoynted a day wherein he
come from fleshe and blood and the corruption of our nature to pretend zeale to the trueth in the libertie thereof but to continue in the stormes and tempestes of afflictions so as no hardnes can remooue vs from the zeal which according to knowledge we beare vnto God this must needes be supernaturall vpright and no other but the fruite of the spirite which beeing the Lords he cannot but acknowledge wheresoeuer he findâ— it and therefore must necessarily be glorious in his sight and euerlastingly honored in heauen hereafter howsoeuer for the present time it appeare vilde and odious in the eyes of men WhereupoÌ„ saint Paul exhorting the Phillippians not to feare their aduersaries which opposed theÌ„selues against them affirmeth constantly that persecutions were manifest signes of the destruction of the wicked from whome they came and most euident tokens and as it were earnest pence of y e saluation of such against whome they were intended agreeing with that which is in his later epistle to the Thessalonians where hauing spoken before of their sufferings he sayth that it was a manifest declaratioÌ„ of the iust iudgement of God to the end they might be couÌ„ted worthie of his kingdome The sense of this place is the same with that going before although the words seeme somwhat to differ Let vs therfore despise al y e scorns of y e vngodly set light by al the mockings of y e wicked in our shame we be honorable in al confusion suffered for a good coÌ„science we are glorious for the spirit of God of glory resteth vpon vs we shalbe saued if we coÌ„tinue to y e end This spirit the apostle saith here is blasphemed on y e behalfe of y e wicked and glorified on the behalfe of the godly The meaning of the first wordes is that the enemies of the Church deride and scorne the graces of God in his children therefore blaspheme the spirit it selfe being the authour and fountaine of the same as we see despight offred to the gift of the Prince is worthily deemed villanie to the Prince himselfe We reade that the zeale of God in our Sauiour Christ was termed frensie and his faith reposed in his father scorned on this wise he trusted in God let him deliuer him now if he will haue him The grace of speaking with diuers toungs in the apostles was chalenged of drunkennes with new wine And Festus said vnto Paule thou art out of thy wittes too much learning hath made thee madde And in all times of the afflictions of the Church we shal see not only the professors taunted and reproched but also the gifts of the spirit of God in them mocked gibed at As their knowledge their patience their chastitie temperance trust in God and watchfulnes ouer their toungs In so much as we may finde tirants that iested at the Christians because they woulde not sweare when there was no necessarie cause Well they deale with one that is more then their match they shall one day feel y e smart of it sith their trechery is againste the holye Ghost euen God himselfe when they scorne his graces in the saints wheretas it is said in this place that the same spirite is glorified on the behalfe of the godly his meaning is that we honour the spirite of God when in all temptations we continue to professe that which it sealeth in our hearts and thinke it sufficient comfort against all our troubles that it testifieth to our hearts we be the children of God that we may call vpon him as a father and that we please him in all our sufferings To conclude this verse let it not appeare strange vnto vs that euill men despise the grace of God that is in vs. It we glorifie his spirit as we haue heard we shal hereafter be glorified with him eternally in the heauens euen as our Lorde by his owne example hath taught vs to praye with comfort I haue glorified thee vpon the earth now O Father glorifie me with thy selfe It followeth Let no man among you suffer as a mansâ—eier or a thiefe or an euill doer or as a busibody Hauing spoken before of the blessednes of the Christians that be troubled for righteousnes sake in this verse the Apostle calleth vpon vs to be so circumspect and wary of all our doinges that we commit no euill for the which wee might iustly be punished as malefactors He rehearseth three particular offences the first two be playne the third which in english we read a busibody y t is such a one as curiously busieth himself in such matters as concern not his calling neglecteth them that belong to his duty the learned thinke may as fitly be interpreted a man greedy of other mens goods The other worde malefactor or euill doer may be vnderstoode of euery offender whatsoeuer as well those that transgresse the lawes of the first table in matters of Religion and the seruice of God as those that breake the commandements of the second table in such thinges as concerne our duty towarde men so that vnder these Saint Peter comprehendeth all manner of sinne and corruption heresie and idolatry which the word doth forbid punish as well as disordered behauiour of one man toward another We must therefore take heede that as wee professe the name and gospell of Christ so all our sufferings may come for the trueth of that and not for any Idolatry heresy schisme murther adultery whoredome theft couetousnesse going beyond the bounds of our callinges or any such other thing For if wee be euill spoken of broughte before iudges restrayned of our liberty cast in prison and put to death in thâ—se cases there is no reason why we shoulde reioyce of the matter and think our selues happy therefore Our master Christe speaking to his disciples of this point sayd blessed are you when they speake al manner of euil of you lying for my sake Hee saith not simplye blessed are you when they speake all euiâ—l of you but when they lye in so doing And it is an ancient saying of a Father it is not the punishment but the goodnesse of the cause that maketh a Martyr The papistes therefore in respâ—cte of God and his true church Heritiques and Schismatiques in respect of their prince and country high Traytors haue no cause to boast themselues of any their sufferinges as though they were persecuted for righteousnesse sake sith besides their heresies and corrupt opinions concerning religion for y t which they be worthy of death they beare trecherous and trayterous heartes to their souereigne prince and country which also from time to time hath bene founde out by their vnnatural and curssed attempts The like is to bee sayd of the false pretented Family of loue al other heretiks euil doers the vnclean person the oppressor deceiuer vsurer drunkard the euill minister when he is cryed out against and taunted by the name of a
not spoyled and doest wickedlye and they did not wickedly againste thee when thou shalt cease to spoyle thou shalt bee spoyled when thou shalte make an end of doing wickedly they shall do wickedly agaynste thee With these testimonyes agreeth that of Ieremy which he prophesied agaynste the Babilonians after that the People of God shoulde haue beene with them in bondage 70. yeares I beginne to plague the Cytye saythe the Lorde where my name is called vppon and shoulde you goe free You shall not goe quit And howe truelye these Prophesies agaynste the Assirians and Babylonians were accompâ—ished may appeare to all those that reade the Scriptures of the olde Testament To the same purpose mighte bee alleadged that whiche God long before colde Abraham concerning the bondage of Israel in Egypt their wonderfull deliuerance from thence and the destruction of Pharaoh and his people So it came to passe with Saule when hee had a long time afflicted Dauid with Haman when hee had obteyned that murdering decree against the Iewes and with Antiochus the tyrants when for a time they had blasphemed the God of heauen ouerthrowen his true worshippe and killed his people Saule slewe himselfe Haman his children were hanged vpoÌ„ the gallows that he had set vp for Mordecai the first Antiochus dyed in great vexatioÌ„ of his mind the later so eaten with woormes that his most familiar friends coulde not abide him for stinke Of Henrie the second the father Charles the ninth the sonne kings of Fraunce the first when he had caused much blood to bee shed and lately before had saide that himselfe would see the burning of a noble ProtestaÌ„t called Anduburgè had one of his own eyes first put out by Mountgomerie after a wonderfull manner running with him at a Iusting in sport and dyed in great wearinesse of his life by reason of his paine the tenth of August 1559. The other the son when hee had brought to passe that most strange massachre immediatly after the mariage of his Sister with the king of Nauarre and had sucked much blood of Gods seruants afterwardes dyed himselfe most miserably y e 30. of Maie 1574. it is writteÌ„ of him in y e french histories that he was sick of a bloody flixe and reported for a trueth that blood yssued from diuers partes of his body wher there were other natural yssues so as tossing and tumbling himselfe in his bed most fearefully horribly curssing and blaspheming the name of God euen vntill his last gaspe which also he had vsed to doe from his childehood he so ended his wretched life being at length filled with blood which he had before insaciably thirsted after Of the Cardinall of Loreine a chiefe practiser of mischiefe against Gods church who as the stories witnesse of him dyed in a frensie and when the prieste broughte oyle to annoynt him after their popishe order he thrust his hand into the dishe and all to be smeared the face of the priest with it So he dyed at Auineon 1574. The like might be said of Herode Stephen Gardiner in EnglaÌ„d others Such ferful ends câ—me to diuers bloody persecuters as our owne countriman M. Fox reporteth And assure your selues O al you wicked of y e earth y â— same portioÌ„ abideth for you if you turn not to the Lord. Go to therfore mock on at the saints of God set your selues against his trueth persecute his seruants and proceed in all mischiefe and flatter your selues because God stayeth to punish the worlde smileth vpon you doubt you not but the day will come when you shall pay full dearely for it And we that suffer or shall suffer any thing at the handes of the vngodly let vs not be offended at our sufferings and their prosperity For it shal be a righteous thing with God to recompence trouble to those that trouble vs and to our selues rest if not in this world yet at the least when y e Lord Iesus shall again shew him selfe from heauen with his mighty Angelles And seeing the apostle sayth here that it must needes goe hard with them that obey not the gospell let vs not content our selues with a bare and naked profession of the trueth but whatsoeuer is taught and we know let vs take heede that we be obedient thereunto It followeth And if the righteous be scarcely saued where shall the vngodlye and sinner appeare By the righteous hee vnderstandeth suche as bee studious of righteousnesse and bee carefull to please God althoughe they bee not free from all sinne And by sinners hee meaneth not all manner of offendoures but suche as yeelde them selues to corruption and delight in wickednesse according as this woorde is vsed in other places of the Scripture Nowe the purpose of the Apostle in this sentence is the same with that in the ende of the laste Verse Hee confidentlye affirmeth that the wicked muste needes bee iudged with extreame seueritye sithe the hande of God is often times heauye vppon them that feare him This hardnes for y e righteous must not be vnderstood of the last iudgement as some would haue it as though they should not there acquite themsâ—lues without great difficulty and be saued without much ado Noe we see what saint Paul writeth touching this matter Who sayth he shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen it is God that iustifieth who shall condemue it is Christe which is deade yea or rather whiche is risen agayne who is also at the right hand of God and maketh requestes also for vs. The summe of his speech is that there shall be none to accuse or to pronounce sentence against any of the elect of God and therefore their passage into glory at that time shall be moste easie Whereupon our sauiour Christe willeth vs that we looke vp and lift vp our heads for ioy whensoeuer there appeare any tokens of the approching of that day Which there were no great cause that we shoulde doe if such hardnesse were then to be endured as some haue imagined And howe should the saying of the sonne of God bee true blessed bee the deade that dye in the Lorde and they rest from their labours if newe labours were to be taken in hand at the last iudgement This difficulty therefore is to be vnderstoode of this life according also as the verb be saued in the present tense doth euidently shewe So as the Apostle his meaning is that the estate of the godly is so troublesome vpon the earth that they enter not into the kingdome of rest glory except first in the worlde they haue gone thorough infinite daungers and escaped as it were a thousand deathes Euen as the Apostles preached wheresoeuer they came exhorting the disciples to continue in the fayth affirming that they must thorough many afflictions enter into the kingdome of God and as Dauid saythe Greate are the troubles of the righteous and as
S. Paul setteth it downe for a principle vnto Timothie that all suche as will liue godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution The trueth of this we haue heard before and each man which knoweth any thing of himselfe and the Church of God as hee ought to knowe doeth vnderstande and beleeue it Nowe this beeing proued true by continual experience can the Lord be iust thus to chastise and keepe in heauinesse his faythful seruants except in time most fearefull vengeance light vppon the sinners shal not the iudge of all the world doe right Yes verily For this doth certeinely preach vnto vs and cryeth as lowd in our ears as al the teachers in the world that there shall bee a iudgement when all things shal be brought in good order when the godly shal cease from all their sorrowe and the wicked shall drinke the full cup of Gods wrath Therefore as Iesus Christe saide of himselfe so may it be spoken of all the children of God for euer if they do these things to a green tree that is fruitful what shalbe done to the drie and barren And if the righteous be not saued but through so many afflictions howe miserable muste the condition of the sinner be If Abraham rested not in peace til he had a great while wandred as a stranger from place to place was pinched with famine driuen to denie his wife to striue for water and commaunded to be a butcher of that sonne in whome the hope of his saluation rested If Iacob ended not his pilgrimage to passe into glory till first hee was constrained to flee for feare of his owne brother to lye all night in the broade fielde with a stone vnder his head for a pillowe to serue seuen yeres for one wife seuen for another vnder an vnciuill and barbarous vncle to abide manifold stirres discords in his house between his wiues to bee checked by Labans children to be deceiued by their father to haue his owne daughter rauished his sonnes Simeon and Leuie to commit most horrible murther to haue one of his wiues abused by his owne sonne his dearling Ioseph torne in pieces of wilde beastes as he was brought to beleeue and in his olde age to be vexed with hungre O Lord what shal be the ende of the vngodly If the Prophets in their time If Iesus Christ himself the Lord of glory his holy Apostles indured the displeasure of princes imprisonments in myerie dungeons buffetings whippings scornings sawing asunder crucifying stoning and beheading before they were glorified O howe miserable shall the portion be of the sinner It the most famous witnesses of Iesus Christe Hierome of Prage Iohn Husse VVickliffe Cranmer Latimer Hooper Ridley Philpot Bradforde the Shatillion of Fraunce Bucer Paulus Fagius and the rest entered not into heauen till they were firste imprisoned mocked dragged through the streates scorched and their fleshe with fire consumed vnto asshes If the last two coulde not bee glorified in their bodies till first they were taken vp beeing dead and their bones burnt If so straunge a kinde of manacle was Cuthbearde Simpsons Ladder into heauen Is any tong able to expresse or any heart able to conceiue the height depth of the miseries prepared for the wicked and all the enemies of the Church although for a time in this worlde they prosper and haue peace If such as haue liued without all blame before men or for a time hauing gone out of the way doe afterward vnfeynedly repent and become as zealous in Gods matters as they haue bin forward in corrupt◠〈◊〉 and declare as great a detestation of 〈◊〉 â—â—ines in themselues and others as euer they shewed liking of the same yet for all that in this life indure extreeme pouertie as did Lazarus be plunged in the gulâ—e of all outward miseries as was Iob who scraped the filth from his bodie with a poâ—sherd and was euen loathed of his owne wife be pressed with such agonies of the soule as no tongue can vtter as was that Iob Dauid and others insomuch as they refuse all comfort of meate spende many nightes without sleepe flee the companie of men feare euery thing that they see the earth lest it should take them downe quicke the heauens lest they should fall and crushe them to pieces and all creatures because they see nothing but horror in them Moreouer be troubled with straunge visions and dreames bee brought merueilous low in their bodies their bones weakened their fleshe consumed and their eyes sunke in their head that when it is euening they say would God it were morning and when it is morning they say would God it were euening And that which is the depth of all miserie haue their sinnes committed by them since they had any vnderstanding at one time brought to their remembrance all comfort concerning hope of remission so taken away because they can see nothing in God but an angrie iudge that in the end they breake out into these most lamentable speeches woe is me poore caytife that euer I was born curssed be the houre wherein I was conceiued and the day wherein I first faw the sunne O that God had made me a Serpente to licke the duste vpon the earth or a toade to creepe vpon the ground so shuld my misery haue ended at my death But now alasse I know it shal be mine entrance tnto eternall paines hell is my portion and there I must remaine for euer I am most sure of it Comfort you not me my friends the promises of God belong to you and to his elect there is no mercie for me I haue so grieuously offended I feele my selfe destitute of all markes of Gods childe and I was a reprobate from before the beginning If for a time suche bee thus cast downe peraduenture throwne into greater miseries then any of these rehersed that no comforts be able to rayse vp their tyred soules but eyther yet wrastling with sathan and dispaire or els ouercome by them bee pressed out of al measure And notwithstanding all these recouer afterwards casting away all horror doubting and slauish seaâ—e by their fayth mounte aboue the heauens where they see their Sauiour whome their soule hath longed after sitting at the right hand of God so as they bewayle their former vnbeliefe lament those speeches of dispaire be throughly perswaded of the remission of all their sinnes haue certeine hope of eternall life become so comfortable in Gods promises that by his grace they bee able to rayse vp such as doubt and feare finally leaue behinde them vndouted proofs of the elect of God that to all such as haue iudgement and vnderstanding they appear plainely to haue bin sealed vp vnto eternall life from the beginning Can it otherwise be but that there are vnspeakable torments after this life appointed to such as make a sport of sinne neuer turne to God and dye without