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A04701
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A present consolation for the sufferers of persecucion for ryghtwysenes
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Joye, George, d. 1553.
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1544
(1544)
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STC 14828; ESTC S103802
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45,372
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104
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perpetuall lyfe We are sewer that our bodyes shall ryse ageyne gloriouse and immortall vnto the whiche gloriouse immortalyte we daily aspire aÌ„d clyme knowinge that this corporall dethe is not els then a nightis sleape to vs that beleue in Chryste and so at laste to be with Christe in ioye bothe body and sowle This faith and hope of any other lyfe aftir this haue not our cruell haithen persewers albeit thei speke it with their lippes and therfore thei feare flye and abhorre dethe so miche But we haue the worde of our Lorde and god that he hathe for vs taken awaye broken and ouercomen the powr and stinge of death This our victoriouse Lorde and destrier of dethe to animate to confirme and to counfort vs in all our perels and calamities saith vnto vs. I tell you my frendes be not afraid of theÌ„ that slaye your bodies aÌ„d then can theâ— do nomore to you But I shall shewe you whoÌ„ ye shall feare feare him whiche aftir he hath slayne your bodyes he hath power to caste bothe bodye and soule into hell fyer There is not so lytle a byrde that diâ—the without our fathers will he hath tolde all the heares of our headis of whiche not one shall be brent without our fathers will And are not we of a rycher pryce then sparows and heares But I shall tâ—ll you saith Chryste Whoso confesse me before men I shall aknowledge him before my father all the aungels in heuen Reioyse ye therfore For I haue ouercomen the worlde and your heuines shall be turned into gladnes which no man shall take from you Chrystis victory is owrs If we beleue in Cryste our faith is the victory that ouercometh the worlde Our persewers thinke to hurte vs miche in killing our bodies and we thinke knowe it therby to haue great lucre as saith Paul Chryste is to me lyfe and death is to me lucre And albeit our flesshe be infirme and weake yet a godly mynde in his inwarde man desyereth with Paul to be dissolued out of this miserable sinfull worlde and to be with Chryste For Christe hath so promised me to be where so euer him silf is and hath obtayned it me bi his prayer of his father What now can all the antichristeÌ„ vngodly do ageynste vs verely nothing at all vnto our hurte thei can not take faithe and Chryste from our hertis they may with violence kut out our tongues but from our hertis may they not take our faithe our profession and praise of crystis glorye And yet what so euer they do it is by the sufferance of god for our saluacion and into their owne dampnacion They may take awaye our corporall transitory goodis whiche we set not miche vp seinge for theÌ„ god geueth vs goodis eternall and celestiall They kyll our bodyes but thei sende our soules into the handis of our heueÌ„ly father and make our dethe preciouse in the syght of god WheÌ„ their deathes shall be moste horrible and terrible to departe from so many pleasures into perpetuall tormentinges Wherfore Paul exhorting vs vnto constancye biddeth vs to helpe eche other with prayers that we might with a manly faith fight in the gospels quarell beinge not afraid of our aduersaries Unto whom that at is to them the cause of their owne perdicion the same is vnto vs the cause of our saluacion yea aÌ„d that of god When our aduersaries and persewers thinke to slaye vs thei slaye them selues bodye aÌ„d soule withe the death of euerlastinge dampnacion Is not this then a miserable an execrable powr at whiche our persewers enioye and reioyse so detestably into their owne euerlastinge destruccion dampnacion This is sewer that all the faithfull departed coÌ„stantly professinge Chryst lyue with him nowe in ioye But where be now the enimies of Chryst and the persewers of the crystiaÌ„s Where is decius whiche so cruelly persecuted the exystians Where is Dioclesiane whiche proclamed all holy bokis to be brent all that professed Chri ste to be cruelly slayne where be now Ua lerius Maximinianus Maximius Lucinius Iulianus where is Aurelius cesar with al the other tiraunts And if we shul de descende into our dayes we might aske where be nowe the popes cardinals bisshops withe their coniured papistike complices ageynst the gospell and Bible to be brought in traÌ„slated into Englisshe where are they that brent so many newe testaments at Pauls crosse and so many lerned men trwe crystianes which preched and professed constantly gods holy worde where is Thomas wolsaye cardiuall bisshop of Yorke where is Iohan stokesley bisshop of London where is west of Ely fox of Herforde doctour London all the abbots priours fryers commissaâ—ies Syr Thomas More aÌ„d Iohan Fissher bisshop of Rochester withe all the cloysters and abbeys monkes and preistes which haue these xvi yeres persequuted the gospell Are they not all whiche beleued not the gospell condempned with Satan and his aungels vnto euerlastinge dampnacion nowe lyinge in moste greuouse tormentinges what hurt then did their transitorye persecucion and crosse to the martires of god Ageyne what nowe profiteth them their transitory pleasure in kyllinge and burninge the pore innocent lombes of Chryst Are thei not now tormented in hell in perpetuall fyer for burning gods worde and the professours therof Thei labored by temporall death to pluke pore men from god and his gospell facinge and fering them in their courtes and ingement seates vnder their canopeis but shortely cometh the great terrible daye in which thei muste all stande before the iugement seat of Cryste in great feare and tremblinge dead for anxt and heuines there to receyue their generall and laste sentence of eteruall dampnacioÌ„ both in bodyes and soulis Then shall it be verifyed of vs bothe whiche is wryten The souls of the iuste are in the handis of god and the tormeÌ„ts of death shall not touche them Thei apered to the eyes of the folisshe vngodly to haue dyed and their death to haue had ben an heuey payne but they went quyetly into relte And albeit before men they suffered torments yet was their hope full of immortalyâ—e Their â—exacion was to them a swete crosse for they had ample benefits For God tempted them and fownd them worthei for him selfe Then shall the rightwyse stand in great constancye before their oppressers reuylets WhoÌ„ when they beholde they shall be smyten with soden great feare and be astonned at their soden saluacioÌ„ Then they touched with penance and wailinge for anguishe of mynde shal thus saye with theÌ„ selues Is not this he whom we once laughed to skorne iested vpon him coÌ„tumeliously foles that we were then our selfs had weÌ„t his lyfe to haue ben madnes and to haue dyed an heretique And see he is nowmbred emonge the sonnes of god haninge his reward emonge the rightwyse We we our selues then erred froÌ„ the way of trwthe the lyhht of the trwe forme of iustificacion did
shrinke fall perissh in this batail Sithe Chryst is present we muste nedis haue the victory And where soeuer is Chryste there be all his faithfull yea all his aungels wherfore we beinge his chosen muste nedis be withe them The aungels of the Lorde pitche their tentes rownde aboute vs. The aungels delyuer vs that feare the Lorde Psalm xxxiiij The thirde consolacion Owr cause is goddis cause and it is the moste iuste cause FUrthermore this thinge ought to confirme and counfort vs most especially for that we haue so iust so good and so godly a cause for it is not our cause wherfore we suffer but is is goddis cause euen his own holy gospel bi Chryste and the holy gost sent vs from heuen For as for vs we neuer thought to do any man iniurye nor hurte we take no mans goodis from him But we study to monishe and to profit all men vnto their saluacion We desyer onely and receyue the infinite and inestimable riches of the gospell with ioye at gods hande In which worde not els then the mere grace rightwisenes peace delyuerance from all euils helpe and helthe are promised and geuen vs in Chryst and for his sake to as many as beleue in him And this same so riche inestimable glorye of the grace of god in Chryste we wolde it purely and frely to be shewed tought preched and writen to all men vnto the glorye and sanctifyinge of the name of god for the right wysemakinge and saluacioÌ„ of many men For the gospell is the powr of god vnto saluacion to all them that beleue For this studye for this owr dewtye in spekinge wrytinge and good willis to profite and to sa ue all men and to bringe theÌ„ to the knowlege of god in Chryste do the world render to vs the same thankes whiche were once rendred to Chryste and his apostles and paynteth vs with the same sediriouse and obprobrious names For whilis we wysshe preache and wryte to them eternall peace thei accuse vs of the moste haâ—â—ouse cryme of sedicion When we teche them the moste certayn verite out of gods owne mouth they cal vs heretiques notinge and slaunderinge vs with al theÌ„ moste infamie and ignominye they can imagine then they rage and rase runinge vpon vs lyke wylde beastes and wode dogges enforcinge to throdowne to subuerte and extinguisshe bothe Chryste and all chrysten faithfull with the gospell to And yet make the bisshops of Englond men to recant that there is any persecucion in the realme but all is iuste execucioÌ„ As though it were nowe the same paradise alredye whiche first was created vpoÌ„ the whiche erthe there dwelt â—o â—â—o but Adam and Eue in the state of innocencye before any serpentyne sead tempted theÌ„ And as thoughe Englond were the same paradyse and londe of the perpetuall lyninge immortall bodyes now rysen ayen wherof Peter saythe Rightwysenes to dwell vpon it euen the same newe erthe kouered with a newe heueÌ„ and newe elements purged with fyer mencioned of I say and Iohan in the Apocalypse There is mencion in Luke and Matt. of a standing water called a Mear which was a comon passage oute of Galile into the londe of the Gadarens which Chrystis disciples and all men passed oft ouer without any perell But wheÌ„ thei chaunced to are the bisshops of Englond â—eâ—â—owpled and câ—â—fedeâ—ed with the bisshop oâ— Romes bisshops aÌ„d his wheâ—â—is in â—ewâ— the sonde as once were Sampsons foxes tayles tyed togither withe fyer brandis ageynst the Lorde his audinted to burne vp the Philynstens good vyneyardis euen the pore sely persecuted chirche of Chryste But let vs not be abasshed noâ— yet afrayd it is the truth that we set forthe It is the eternall and immutable will and counsell of god that Chryste shulde make sinners iuste salfe out of his mere grace and that this shuld be reueled and preached before all the worlde This mater wolde he to consiste in and vpon faith that who so beleue in Chryst shulde haue forgeuenes of his synnes and lyfeeternal not for his owne but for Christes merits This glorie of our fathers diuine mercye ought to be preched and setforthe before all men that thorowe Christe they might come vnto the father which hath sette Christ at his right hande and made him Lorde of the aungels of men and of all creatures celestiall and terrestriall and to be iuge ouer the lyuinge and dead and to raigne in the glory of the father with all the faithfull and chosen in Chryst. This is the constant immutable will of god This is his eternall sentence God will therfore defende fight for his own cause nother may any man resiste him Christ will raigne and put all his enimies vnder his feet And who shall let it He is of an infinite almighty powr and will sone defende his cause eueÌ„ ageynst all the power of the spirituall antichristis and let them take all the seculare swerdes and the deuill to to helpe them If this our cause might be ether weakened or ouercomen so were God and Chryste febled ouercomen But Chryste is allmighty vnable to be ouerthrone abideth for euer wher fore this his cause and owrs and his gospell and all that beleue it shall stand for euer inuincible For who so beleue in him shall neuer be confounded Mightier is Christe and his worde then all the worlde and Satan to with all his preistly prelates and shall bringe them all into an heuey dampnable destruccion whyles they enforce to subuerte vs Crystes gospell For Chryste is verely the stomblinge stone at whom whoso stomblethe he hurteth him selfe greuously But this stonne it selfe is not hurte nor once moued but standeth ferme and fast ageynst all his aduersaries assawtes vnhurte And who so falleth at him is all to broken aÌ„d vpon whom this stonne falleth he is all to pressed and grownden into powlder Singe and reade we the. ix x. xi and â–ª xij and siche lyke Psalmes and there let vs seke fyn de consolacion Nether let vs cesse at any tyme to heare and reade the scriptures the swete promises let vs engraue into our brestes and cleane to them constaÌ„tly For they be the moste certayne and assewered consolacions to vs in this heuey exyle and harde persecucion Faithfull is our Lorde God and trewe in all his wordis But as in Englonde the realme of ryghtwisenes lo there is no siche stonne to stomble therat so be there non that stoÌ„ble at Chryst but they leape quyte ouer him He falleth there vpon nomaÌ„ our noman vpon him There is no persecucion but all iuste execucion lo. And therfore is there no siche coÌ„solacion nor Psalmes nor scripture to lyft them vp agene But in a full heuey state be they that be fallen and dedely hurte and yet beleue they theÌ„ selues to staÌ„d vpright hole aÌ„d sowâ—de Full wo and ferefull may our aduersaries be which