to sufferings The greater the thing is the more requisite is the Preparation Suffering is a great thing hard to Sense harsh to Flesh and Blood It may be it takes away the worldly Goods which are dear to men it may be it comes neerer and touches the Bone and the Flesh which is dearer then outward things It may be it goes further and treads down the precious Life which is highly valuable Nature in the best shrinks and flies away from such things as these and supernatural Graces and Assistances lift up men above themselves they will never bear them In such a case as this we have need to put on all our Spiritual Armor not this or that piece only but all of it and not only to put it on but to gird it on too All will be little enough to make us stand in the evil day Again the more excellent a thing is the more requisite is the Preparation Suffering for Christ is the excellency of a Christian the top and Complement of all his Graces Faith cannot rise higher Love cannot shew it self better than in this No Profession of Christianity is so high nor Imitation of Christ so full as that which is made in blood Here is the Christians consummatum est his work is done and Heaven opens to receive him into glory And how should we prepare our Souls and gird up the Loins of our Minds that we may be capable of that which is the highest Stature of a Christian in this World and the neerest capacity to a better This Preparation is of very great moment to Christians Upon their having or not having of it depends their Happiness or Misery He that is prepared for Sufferings come what will come is a happy man if sufferings do not come he is yet a Martyr in mind and purpose God sees the suffering frame that is in him his willing mind is accepted as much as if his blood were actually Shed and being ready to dye for Christ he is ready to live with him in Heaven If Sufferings come he is provided for then St. Paul was ready to be bound and die for the name of Jesus Polycarpe when threatned with Various deaths made this reply Quid tardas Why dost thou delay Inflict what thou wilt The prepared Christian is ready for all the Will of God which is an happiness that no Suffering can interrupt He is in a posture to overcome all the World and he will do it The very Pagan Emperors did observe the primitive martyrs to be Victors in death It is said of the Martyr Vincentius Magd. hist cent 4. cap. 12. that according to his name he overcame in Words and overcame in Punishments overcame in Confession and overcame in Tribulation overcame in Fire and over came in Water overcame Living and overcame Dying The prepared Christian is a Vincent a Conquerer of the World his Love is above the smiles of it his Fear above the Terrors of it Nay he is more than a Conqueror he overcomes by suffering and lives by death nay being dead he yet speaks forth the truth he suffered for and propagates it to all posterity Neither need we wonder at this Conquest he is not alone but hath God with him And as the Emperor Antoninus Verus said of the Primitive Christians He carries God about with him in conscience and where God is there must be happiness in the most afflicted Condition the whole sacred Trinity are present with him the everlasting Father will strengthen him the Son will walk with him in the fiery Furnace the holy Spirit will come to him with all his cordials Stephen was never so full of it as when he was stoned Hist mag Cent. 2. The Martyr Felicitas professed to her Persecutor That she had the holy Spirit in her The prepared Christian hath a Spirit of Power in Infirmities a Spirit of Glory in Reproaches a Spirit of Comfort in Distresses There are no such rich Anointings as those that wait upon the Cross of Christ At other times a Christian hath some measures of the Spirit but then he hath such large effusions of it that no Sufferings can make him miserable The Clouds without cannot break the serenity in his Conscience the noise of a troublesome World cannot interrupt that Divine Peace which keeps his heart no malice of man can hinder the sheddings of Gods Love into him no wants or exigencies can deprive him of the hidden Manna promised to the Overcomer he is happy even in a Vale of Tears And what will he be in Heaven There his reward will be great nay greater than that of others On the other hand he that is not propared for Sufferings is a miserable man He hath a Name of Religion and that 's all a Notion of the Gospel but without a Root he hath a false Christ that is a Christ without a Cross but the right Christ he knowes not a pretence to Heaven he hath but he is not in a posture for it neither will he go thither in an hard way If Sufferings come he is snared as Fishes in an evil Net the surprize will rob him of that which he seems to have he will not have so much as the Name or notion of Religion left Christ will be an Offence or stumbling-Block to him Heaven it self will not be worth suffering for Thus those of the Stony ground received the word with joy but because their hearts were not ready for it as soon as Persecution arose they were offended Magd. hist Cent. 2. cap. 3. Thus it was observed among the Primitive Christians that the unready and unprepared did faint and fall in time of Persecution The Cup of Sufferings is bitter Nature starts at it The unprepared Christian rather than drink it will in all likelihood turn Apostate in the day of trial prosperous error will be embraced by him before persecuted Truth Idolatary with the World will goe down better than the pure Worship without it Christ coming in Poverty and Tribulation will be forsaken Antichrist appearing in the Pomp and outward greatness of the World will be followed Meer Vanity will outweigh all the great offers of the Gospel a Soul and a God will be laid at stake for a little outward prosperity And what a forlorn Condition is this And without Repentance how dismal must the end be The Good God whom he hath forsaken will depart from him Jesus Christ the Saviour will cast him out a curse a blast will be upon his Prosperity a sting and a wound in Conscience will make him weary of himself in a word he will become loathsome to God Men and himself Cypr. de Lapsis It is storied That in the third Century the tokens of Gods wrath came in an extraordinary way upon those Christians that fell off in time of Persecution some of them were struck dumb some vexed with Devils some tormented in their bowels unto Death and though not in these wayes yet in other
suffer for a Christ whom he never yet received or take up the yoke of the cross when he casts off the yoke of the command he cannot be saved in his sins no not by Christ himself the atoning blood will not wash him that wallows in those corruptions that are the price of it Or will he suffer for the Gospel He turns a deaf car to the Calls violates the sacred Commands casts away the pretious offers of it and it is not to be thought that he will suffer for that Gospel which he so despises Indeed it would be a very strange thing for him to suffer in so doing he must part with all this World in which his portion total sum of happiness lies he must suffer the spoyling of his goods when he hath no eneuring substance in Heaven be a reproach among men when he hath no honor with God and cast away a temporal life when he hath no title to an eternal one We see by these things that an unmortified man is not in case to suffer for Christ Awake therefore O Christian set upon the work of Mortification resist inward Corruptions that thou maiest stand against outward temptations lay holy restraints upon sin that thou maiest bear a Guison for Christ die unto sin that thou maiest be able to die for the Gospel set thy heart against every thing of Concupiscence that breaths in thee that there may be nothing to turn thee aside from the sure Religion cast out every secret idol out of thine heart that thou maist not fall down and worship the outward Idols in the World Do this work impartially do not mortify one or two sins but all Every indulged Lust is a Traitor in thy bosome a false Byas upon thy heart Spare it not But to give some particular instances labor to mortify the sins following 1. Mortify the unbelief in thy heart This is the foundation of Apostacy Aquin. 22 qu. 10. the greatest of sins because the greatest separation from God it dep irts from the living God Hebr. 3.12 it gives the lie to the true God 1 Joh. 5.10 it blasts the pretious Gospel as if it were not worthy to be obeyed in its Precepts or credited in its Mysteries or promises If it totally prevail in the heart there can be no such thing as suffering for Religion To such an unbeliever Christ is but a Fancy and the Gospel but a golden dream for which suffering is plainly ridiculous and if it be in thy heart but in some degree it will in the same degree weaken thee and make thee ready to stagger at the Cross Watch therefore over the unbelief in thy bosom assure thy self of this that which inwardly departs from God will be ready to depart from him outwardly too that which Secretly gives him the lie will be ready to deny him openly when suffering comes Look narrowly to thy heart if there arise there Scruples touching the Mysteries or Promises of the Gospel bid them be gone drive them out of thy heart in the power of the word these come to undermine thy Christianity and make thee fall in a day of triall If distrusts and diffidential fears disquiet thee chide thy base heart charge it to trust in that God that never leaves those that are his When thou art ready to sink in the deep waters call to thy fearful heart ask it why it doubts the Lord will be with thee to bear thee up in his Arms When thou startest at the fiery Furnace telthy self that the Lord will be there in those inward comforts which will make outward torments tolerable set thy heart to hate and extirpate this cursed root of Apostacy expost ulate with thy Soul and say Hath God let down a Gospel of Grace and Salvation from Heaven to us and shall it not be believed Hath he given us the two immutable things his Word and his Oath and wilt thou yet be such a wretch as not to believe him Hath thy Saviour Christ sealed up the Evangelical Truth with his own blood and wilt thou be so vile as not to seal it up by Faith Arm and strengthen thy heart against unbelief that when the trial comes thou maiest be ready to speak to thy soul as Hilarion did egredere animamea egredere quid times quid dubitas Go out my soul Go out why dost thou sear or doubt Heaven is ready for thee and great is thy reward there 2. Mortify the Love of the World the three great Lusts mentioned 1. Joh. 2.16 the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life that is the inordinate Love of Sensual Pleasures Earthly Riches and Wordly Honour These three make the World in the heart and joyn us to the outward World to become one with it Unless these Concupiscential Chains be broken we can never be in a posture for suffering if thou wilt not part with a little Sensual Pleasure for Christ thou wilt never suffer for him if Lust blind thee and turn thee into a Bruit thou wilt be too low and base to be capable of it He that is melted in the fire of Lust will not endure the flames of Martyrdome he that makes his belly his God will never suffer to avoid Idolatry It is very observable in the Prophet that first he tels them that whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart Hos. 4.11 and then adds My People ask counsel at their stocks that is their Idols Verse 12. A Sensual man that is unhearted by his Lusts is much fitter to fall down to an Idol than to suffer for Religion Separate thy self therefore from the sensuality of the World that thou maiest never fall into the Idolatry of it Put away the Cup of Pleasures that thou maiest be in capacity to drink of the Cup of Sufferings the Sensual Cup leads to stings and torments but the Suffering one tends to the pure Pleasures that are above Again if thou wilt not part with one earthly Estate for Christ thou wilt never suffer for him When our Saviour bid the young man sell all he went away sorrowful Math. 19.22 S. Cyprian Facultates sue velut compedes ligaverunt illa fuerunt vincula illae catenae quibus virtus erat retardata fides pressa anima vincta De lapsis speaking of some in his time that fell off in persecution saith that their estates were as chains and fetters to them that they could not go and suffer for Christ The covetous man who is a mental Idolater will if occasion require be an outward one too and fall down to a Stock or Stone rather than lose his Land If thou wouldest be able to suffer for Christ thou must break off the earthly Chains from thy soul that when the Temptation comes and thou art offered as the blessed Martyr Julitta was to have thy estate upon the denial of Christ thou maiest then be able to give the same answer as she did Magd. hist
beaten tortured burned torn killed and yet they were multiplied Julian the Apostate learned this from persecution under Diocletian and upon that account he abstained for a time from exercising Torments and bloody Cruelties upon Christians Magd. cent 4. cap. 3. because he saw that the Christians by patient Suffering were multiplied and became more glorious in the eyes of the People Antichrist hath shed a great deal of pretious blood and the witnesses of the pure Religion have been slain under him yet hath the Evangelical Truth remained and the Witnessess which were Slain have from time to time revived and stood up in illustrious Successors who have held forth the same Truth and spoke in the same Spirit and Power as those before them had done When after the Parisian Massacre there happened to be a great serenity in Heaven Thuan Lib. 52. and a Barbery-tree blossoming in a time unusal some Papists said That the thing was grateful to God as if Heaven and Earth had rejoiced at it But the Protestants took it as a sign that the Church should revive and flourish again like the bush that burned and was not consumed The true Church which is founded in Christs blood is not propagated or multiplied by Martial Arms but by patient Sufferings This is the true way to do good to the Church and to continue the Gospel among us if we are indeed in a posture for suffering and ready to Seal up the Truth with our Blood we may comfortly hope that whatever Sufferings come the Gospel and gratious Presence of God shall not finally depart from our Nation 3. Pious Sufferers do give an evident token to the Persecutor that the wrath of God will come upon him When the Emperor Commodus was worshipping Jupiter Vincentius Eusebius Peregrinus Magd. hist cent 2. cap. 12. and Potentianus went about and exhorted the People to depart from the Worship of Devils and honour the One only true God lest they perished with Commodus and soon after they suffered Martyrdome for the same thing Though all the Martyrs did not in words warn the Persecutors that the Wrath of God would come upon them yet they all by their patient Suffering gave them an evident token of it St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to patient suffering upon this account Stand fast saith he in one Spirit with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of Perdition but to you of Salvation and that of God Phil. 1.27 28. The Persecutor comes with his Torments and Engines of Cruelty to terrify the Martyr but the Martyr by his Christian Patience and Courage gives the Persecutor and evident token that the wrath of God will come down upon him at last If bloody Persecutors who look upon the suffering Martyrs had but their Eyes open they would see cause enough to reflect upon themselves and say Surely these men have a patience more than humane and therefore they suffer for God and if so we in persecuting them fight against him may expect that his wrath should come down upon us as it hath upon former Persecutors Herod Agrippa was eaten up of Worms Nero with a trembling hand cut his own throat Trajan was thought to have poisoned himself upon the Persecution in the time of Antoninus Verus there followed Wars Earthquakes Inundations Pestilences as so many Tokens of Divine Vengeance Decius was slain together with his Children Dioclesian died of fearful and miserable Diseases Julian in the Persian war was mortally wounded by an Arrow from Heaven and threw up his blood thither with that horrible Blasphemy Vicisti Galilaee Valens in his war against the Gothes was wounded and flying into a Cottage was burnt with it by the Enemy The temporal Judgments that have befallen former Persecutors tell the after-ones what they may look for here in this World or if they might escape here eternal Vengeance will surely meet them hereafter Our Saviour Christ will at the great day bid those that did not feed cloth and Visit him in his Members depart into ever lasting fire Matth. 25.41 much more will he say so to those that Imprison torment and kill him in his Members When Henry the second of France in his running a Tilt received a fatal wound in his Eye he looked to the Prison Thuan. L. 22. where the poor Protestants were shut up as Captives for their Religion and often uttered these words That he was afraid that he had done the poor innocent men wrong Conscience then told him what it was to persecute Oh! That such things as these might stop Persecutors in their bloody ways as the Thunderbolt falling neer the Emperor Anrelianus did him in his intended Persecution of the Christians The patience of those that suffer under their cruel hands tell them that the wrath of God will fall upon them at Last I conclude with that of St. Cyprian Ad Demetrianum Quanto major persecutio tanto gravior pro persecutione vindicta The greater the Persecution is the heavier will be the Vengeance for it 4. Pious Sufferers are happy here and hereafter They are happy here upon a double account 1. They give the highest proof of their Sincerity that can be given Abraham gave a great proof of his Sincerity in leaving his Countrey and a greater in offering up his only Son Isaac at Gods command but I take it the Martyr gives a higher proof of it than is done in either of those it being more to part with all the World than to part with our Countrey and to offer up our selves to God than to offer up a Son The highest proof of Grace is in Suffering That Faith muh be right that endures the fiery Furnace that Love must be pure that practically lifts up God above all other things that Hope must be lively that lets go a present World for a future one that Obedience must be glorious that continues unto the death The Martyr hath a fair prospect with a comfortable sight of his own uprightness Conscience gives an Euge to his Graces and Sufferings nay the holy Spirit is as a seal and earnest of his Heavenly Inheritance It bears witness with his Spirit that he is a Son and Heir of God 2. As they give the highest proof of their Sincerity so they have the gracious Presence of God in the most eminent way with them All his glorious Attributes do as it were pitch their Tents round about them and put forth their Virtues in a gracious manner for their good His Power rests upon them to bear them up how weak soever in the fiery Trial his Wisdom directs them how to carry the selves under the Cross his Mercy melts over them while they are under mans Cruelty his Love is shed abroad in their heart while they bear the World hatred The Presence of God will be to them in stead of nay infinitely more than all other Comforts They may say If God be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 Why Devils can wicked men can but Aquinas expounds the words Quis contra nos laesive prevalenter Who can be against us to hurt us and prevail over us That which is of God cannot be overthrown they may break out with St. Paul in that gallant triumph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor hight nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separare us from the Love of God in Christ Rom. 8.38 39. What St. Bernard saith of the Church is true of them a noble part of it In Cant. ser 79. Nec Verbositate Philosophorum nec Cavillationibus Haereticorum nec Gladiis Persecutorum potuit illa Separari à Charitate Dei quae est in Christo They cannot be separated from the Love of God in Christ neither by the words of Philosophers nor by the Cavils of Hereticks nor yet by the Swords of Persecutors God is in the midst of them and they shall not be moved Again They are happy hereafter this stands in two things 1. They are freed from all evils In Heaven they shall have no Corruption within nor Oppression without no Noise of Passion in the heart nor rout of turbulent Persecutors to disquiet them the will of the Flesh shall have a total Circumcision the infirmities of the Body shall have a perfect cure the Serpent cannot hiss in Paradise no temptations or miseries can fasten on a Saint in Glory There is Day without Night Love without Fear Joy without sorrow Life without Death all Happiness without the least mixture of Evil There the blessed Martyrs shall be freed from all their troubles and miseries 2. They are endowed with all good and happiness The promises made to the Overcomer in the Revelation of St. John shall be made good to them they shall eat of the Tree of Life in a blessed immortality they shall have the white stone in a perfect absolution they shall be clothed in Robes of Glory they shall be Pillars in the heavenly Temple standing there as ornaments in an immoveable Felicity they shall sit down with Christ in his throne and judge their Enemies that condemned them they shall inherit all things they that lost all for God shall enherit all in him who is goodness itself and the fountain of it They shall see him who is the original and Christal ocean of all truth they shall enjoy him who is the supream good and sabbath of souls they shall be swallowed up in the joy of infinite truth and goodness and their happiness shall not be for a time but run parallel with eternity itself they shall be for ever in the Lord in the blessed Region De Civit. Dei Lib. 22. cap. 30. There as St. Austin hath it God who is all in all Sine fine Videbitur since fastidio amabitur sine fatigatione laudabitur shall be seen without end loved without disdain and praised without weariness In the next World there will be a vast difference between Persecutors and Sufferers The Pride and Cruelty of the one will be paid for in Torments and endless Misery in the Prison of Hell and the Patience and Suffering of the other will be returned in Joys and eternal Felicity in the blessed Heaven FINIS
land of Promise Such speculative conceits of the Food of Life as we may find in the Schoolmen are of as little force to inflame our hearts with longing after that Heavenly Kingdom as Poetical Descriptions of far Countries are to make us undertake their Conquest We must have Knowledge and Sense Phil. 1.9 Theory and Experience too to make us stand in the evil day we must tast and see that the Lord is gracious that we may be able to suffer for him A spiritual relish of the sweet streams of Grace that flow from him is a choice preparative to make us take and drink of the bitter Cup. Gotteschalcus suffered a close imprisonment for twenty years together meerly for preaching up the Doctrine of Grace and it is without question that he had not a meer Notion but an experimental taste of it in his Suffering Many have the Knowledge of Christ in a way of Speculation but we must have the Savour of his Sweet Ointments upon our heart that we may follow him into Suffering We had need feel the sweetness of his blood in the calms of Conscience that we may Shed our own blood for him Let us not content our selves to have Christ only in our Bibles but endeavor to have a proof of him in our Hearts a proof of his sweet-smelling Sacrifice in our inward peace a proof of his rich Anointings in our supplies of Grace The experience of Christ in us is a strong encouragement to suffer for him He that hath a Christ only in Notion will fall off from him but he that hath a tried Christ will hardly leave him 4. It must be a Knowledge practical and operative in the life that will prepare us for suffering A meer notional Knowledge of Christ is not a right one He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him 1. Joh. 2.4 Such an one contradicts himself his Conversation gives the lie to his Profession the Truth is not in him in a practical way his Knowledge is but a Flash a vanishing Vapor that gives no vital influence to his life he will not do other Commands much less will he take up the Cross which is a Command more grievous to Sense then others are He that would be prepared for Sufferings must labor for such a knowledge as gives a proof of itself in holy Obedience Doing is a good preparative for suffering he that sincerely doth other Commands will take up his Cross too that being a Command as well as others He that indeed is subject to Gods commanding Will will be subject to his disposing one too which orders the coming of the cross to us It is the active Christian that will if occasion serve be passive Our Saviour Christ doth notably set forth what kind of Christians will stand in time of Persecution and what will fall He that heareth his sayings and doth them builds upon the rock and when the storm comes he stands fast because he is founded upon the Rock Math. 7.24.25 that is he is founded upon Christ by Faith and Ocedience and in the Storm he continues upon him by Patience the Rock bears him up as a part of itself But he that heareth Christs sayings and doth them not builds upon the sand and when the storm comes he fals Vers 26 27. Because he is upon the Sand he hath no true Foundation for his Religion he never did dig deep enough to come to Self-denial and therefore in the Storm his fall is very great he and his Religion utterly perish as when a house is broke up from the very Foundation or a Tree is blown up by the Roots Therefore if we would stand firm and unmovable in a Storm let us labor to have Such a lively and operative Knowledge of Christ as may diffuse itself into an universal Obedience to his precepts He that enures himself to do the Will of God will be ready when the Cross comes to take it up and say This is the Will of God too and must be done To conclude that we may have this excellent Knowledge we must not only read the holy Scriptures but with Zuinglius look up to Heaven for that holy Spirit that is able to lead us into all Truth and to seal it upon our hearts for ever CHAP. VII The fourth direction for Suffering is pretious Faith This hath a triple respect arespect to God his providence Power and Grace Arespect to Christ as a propitiation a Pattern an Head and Helper Arespect to the Promises the Promises of Gods Presence the Promises of Confirmation the Promises of a good Issue THe fourth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for Suffering we must labour after a pretious Faith A Dogmatical Faith will not do it the Devil himself who is the Chief Agent in Persecution hath such a Faith neither will a temporary Faith do it this is but a meer blossom that fals off in a storm of Persecution it must be a pretious Faith a Furnace Faith that will endure the fiery Trial This is the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shield like a door broad enough to cover the Soul and all its Graces Eph. 6.16 this is to be taken above all other pieces of Spiritual Armor it is eminent among the Graces as the Sun is among the Planets It is the great conquering Grace all other Graces act in conjunction with it In the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews stiled by some the little Book of Martyrs the Saints are brought in doing and suffering great things but all is ascribed to Faith as the Captain-grace of all the rest the first mover to other Graces It works by Love and not only so but by Meekness Obedience Patience running like blood and Spirits in every part of the New-creature Faith hath a triple respect to God to Christ to the Promises and in each of these it is of singular use in order to sufferings 1. Faith hath a respect to God it makes its approaches to him nay it fixes the the Soul in him as in its Center Hence it is that the righteous fears no evil tidings because his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112.7 The word rowles about but he by faith stands fast in the unmoveable God Hence it is that the Church becomes unmoveable too God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved Psal 46.5 There are three things in God which Faith fixes upon in order to pious Suffering 1. Faith fixes upon his Providence The Stoick could say That there was no living in a World empty of God and Providence Much more may the Christian that is tossed up and down in a persecuting World say so But his Faith tels him that persecution comes not by Chance Man rages but God reigns The World is as a tempestuous Sea but God sits at the Sterne and governs all He limits the fury of Persecutors the wrath of man shall praise him
the remainder of wrath or as it is in the original the remainder of wraths he will restrain Psalm 76.10 He lets out wrath in the singular number and restrains wraths in the plural nothing of it comes forth but what is permitted nothing of it is permitted but the minor part only He it is that orders the sufferings of the Saints Sense indeed sees only the outward Confusion but Faith knows that there is a live a Divine Order in it Sense looks at the wicked hands that are red with the blood of Innocents but Faith looks at the holy hand that is in it This is one thing that bears up good men that their Father in Heaven disposes of all Spond An. 451. When Attila called himself Flagellum Dei the scurge of God Lupus bid him come and do as he pleased When Christians by Faith look on Persecutors as the rod and staff in Gods hand they are ready to Subject themselves to the Cross It is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing 1. Pet. 3.17 That interposed phrase if the will of God be so is very remarkable to Believers were there nothing in their Sufferings but the Will of bloody men they would bear them more hardly and unwillingly but because the Will of the good God is there they endure them more easily and freely then otherwise they would do They know very well that God will turn all to good his ends are far other then those of Satan and his Instruments Our Saviour tels the Church of Smyrna that the Devil should cast some of them into Prison that they might be tried Rev. 2.10 In which words it is to be observed that Gods end is joined unto Satans act Satan would have them in Chains but God would try them that their Graces might come forth as gold out of the fire The Assyrian Monarch meant to cutt off Nations not a few Esay 10.7 but God meant to chastise his People and then to burn the Rod Vers 12 17. He that by Faith can see the holy Land and ends of God in Persecution will be ready to suffer under it 2. Faith fixes upon his Power When Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were threatned with a fiery Furnace for not worshipping the Golden Image their answer was Our God is able to deliver us Dan. 3.17 Persecutors may be strong but Faith assures the Soul that God is much stronger and can deliver his People nay and will do it also not as those three Worthies were in a visible manner yet in an invisible one Suffering Saints have ever found by experience that the Power of God hath bore them up in their Sufferings When Coelocerius in the Persecution under the Emperor Adrian saw the supports and patience that Faustina Jobita had in their sufferings for Christ he cried out Vere magnus Deus Christianorum the God of the Christians is truly great When Justin Martyr saw the Martyrs cheerfully dying for their Religion he thereupon fell off from Plato's School to Christ St. Paul the great experienced Sufferer exhorts Timothy to be partaker of the Afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God 2 Tim. 1.8 that is he should suffer not in his own power but in God's Think thus with thy self O Christian God can and will give such internal Supports and Comforts as shall more then counterpoise all thy Sufferings for him Fix thy Faith upon his Power and thou canst not fail in the Trial. 3. Faith fixes upon his Grace and mercy Men are cruel but God is gracious and merciful to his People at all times but especially in a time of Trial He chuses them in the Furnace of Affliction Esay 48.10 When men reprobate them as the off-scouring of all things then God doth as it were chuse them afresh I mean his electing love which was in his heart towards them as early as eternity it self doth then break out in fresh acts of Grace towards them St. Paul tels the Philippians that it was freely given to them in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but to suffer for his sake Phil. 1.29 Faith which is the first guift and Suffering which is the last in this life do both issue out from the Fountain of Grace Cast thy self O Christian upon the Grace and Mercy of thy good God that Grace which cals justifies sanctifies thee will also give thee the guift of suffering that mercy which spares thee in thy ordinary duties will in a time of Suffering be indulgent over thee in a more then ordinary manner The mercy of God will be upon us according as we trust in him the sweetest Strains of Mercy are reserved for the highest acts of Faith which are seen more in Sufferings then in other things If we carry Faith with us into Prisons and fiery Furnaces Goodness and Mercy will follow us thither in an eminent way Faith hath a respect to Christ it comes to him as to a Center of rest receives him as a pretious guift leans on him as a sure foundation nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it individuates and appropriates him to the Soul There are three things in Christ which Faith looks to in order to Suffering 1. Faith looks to him as a Propitiation It hides in his Wounds as in the clefts of the Rock it washes the soul in that atoning blood that cleanses from all sin Hereby the Christian is so strengthned in the Inner-man that he can glory in Tribulations Rom. 5.3 The World persecutes but he hath peace with God man hates but he hath the Love of God in his Heart Sufferings may come but they fall only upon the outward man there is no sting within nor guilt pressing upon Conscience When Luther was in fear of an Apoplexy he cried out Feri Domine feri paratus sum quia à peccatis absolutus strike Lord strike I am ready because absolved from Sin A Christian that is washed from sin in the blood of Jesus may bear the persecuting stroke he hath refrigerium Christi a sweet refreshment from Christ's Atonement in that inward peace which is made by it in Conscience 2. Faith looks to Christ as a Pattern He is not only a Propitiation to be trusted in but a Pattern to be imitated by us He suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 Whom should we follow but our Lord and Saviour How can we Spare our own blood if we be washed in his He drunk up the bitter Cup to the bottom and shall we not take some drops of it He bore the wrath of God for us and shall we not bear the wrath of man for him He learned obedience by the things which he suffered and how much more should we poor Creatures do so He entred by suffering into glory and why should we dream of another way thither If we would be ready to suffer let us look unto Jesus the
as the Emperor Adrian was when dying he cried out O my poor soul whither art thou going they could be in no rational capacity of suffering But hope assures them that there is another world where things are administred in a different manner then they are here in this Duas vitas novit Ecclesia una est in fide alterain specie una in tempore alterain aeternitate una in labore altera in requie una cum hoste pugnat altera sine hoste regnat Aug. in Joh. Tract 124. Here good men bear the Cross there they wear the Crown here they are black with reproaches there they shine as the Sun here they are tossed at Sea there they enter into rest here they drink of the bitter Cup there of the Rivers of Pleasures above here they are in the bloody hands of men there in the arms of a gratious God Hope is sure that these things are so God's Promises secure them and that we might have strong consolation God's Oaths is superadded also Our Saviour hath sealed up the truth of them with his own blood and we may venter our dearest lives upon them Hence it is that hope is said to be the anchor of the soul sure and stedfast entring into that within the Vail Hebr. 6.19 Other Anchors may break but this will never fail other Anchors are fastned in this World but this enters into that within the Vail and fixes it self in the unmoveable Heaven and in respect thereof Christians become in some measure unmovable in the midst of all the storms here below St. Cyprian saith of the Christians in his time that their Faith and Hope did stand unmovable and unshaken inter ipsas seculi ruinas Ad Demetrianum among the ruins of the World When the excellent Melancton was threatned by his enemies Mel. Ad. in vità ejus that they would not leave him a footstep in Germany he replied That he should have one in Heaven In like manner when a poor persecuted Christian is ready to be cast out of this World he may comfort himself with this that he hath another to go to where he shall have better usage and a reward for his sufferings 2. Hope assures us that the good things of the World to come do incomparably exceed the things of this World If the things of this world were the better no man would leave better for worse nay if they were but equal no man would part with that in possession for that in expectation But Hope assures us that the good things of the World to come do far transcend those that are in this World The mansions in glory are better then the houses of clay the incorruptible inheritance exceeds a fading one eternal Life is much more pretious then temporal the crowns of immortality above out-shine all the titles of honor here below the pure rivers of Pleasure in Heaven are far sweeter then the delights on earth the fruiton of God who is the supream Good Center of Souls Sabbath of rest and Fountain of blessedness cannot but be infinitely beyond the enjoyment of Creatures A good assurance that these things are so will dispose us to part with the lesser concerns here below that we may enjoy the greater that are above We read of some Worthies that took joyfully the spoiling of their goods because they had in Heaven a better enduring substance Hebr. 10.34 And again of some that would not accept deliverance because they would obtain a better resurrection Heb. 11.35 Suadows trifles were to be parted with rather then Masiy durable Felicity the bubble or vapor of a transitory Life was to be let go rather then an everlasting one When in the Persecution under Dioclesian the Martyrs were asked What made them bear such torments and what they expected after all their sufferings They made this answer That they did hope for those good things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man which God hath prepared for them that Love him We see what bore up their spirits in their sufferings Let us labour to have an high sense of the excellencies of the World to come that if need be we may part with all for it 3. Hope assures our interest in the good things of the World to come And here two things are to be noted the one is this Hope in its initial Existence assures our interest in them fundamentally he that hath a true lively hope of them hath a real interest in them every right Grace touches upon Heaven and gives a right to it but Hope doth it in a kind of peculiar way it enters in within the Vail and in a sort takes possession of the other World As the ship is at Land in its Anchor so the Soul is in Heaven in its Hope and he that hath a true interest there will not part with it in a time of suffering The Anchor being in Heaven and fastned in the unmoveable felicity there will hold out in a Storm Such an one will reckon as St. Paul did that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Rom. 8.18 Or if a comparison be made the sufferings in respect of the Glory will be but as a drop of wormwood to a vast Sea of infinite Sweetness The other thing is this Hope in its full stature assures our interest in the good things to come sensibly he that hath a plerophory of Hope certainly knows that he hath an interest in them We know that we have passed from death to Life saith Sr. John 1 Joh. 3.14 As if the Apostle had said we are in the borders of Heaven and we know it as it were sensibly as we do our passage from one place to another Holy Job saith I know that my Redeemer liveth and maugre all the Worms in my Flesh I shall see God Job 19.25 26. He was sure of the bliss-making Vision and could look through the dust to Immortality Such a full hope ushers in a kind of Paradise into the Soul and admirably fits it to bear sufferings the internal Suavity is able to sweeten any outward Condition The Learned Rivet at his dying hour brake forth into these words Expecto credo persevero dimoveri nequeo Dei Spiritus meo Spiritui testatur me esse ex Filiis suis O amorem ineffabilem I expect believe persevere cannot be moved Gods Spirit witnesses to mine that I am one of his Children O! ineffable Love Let us Labor to have not only a lively hope that we may have a title to Heaven but a full hope that we may know our title to it This will be an high Cordial in an evil day and make us able whatever the sufferings be to go on triumphantly and with full Sails to Heaven 2. Hope doth not only assure the good things to come but disposes us for them Hope is not an idle Dream
what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering and then how it prepares us thereunto 1. I shall consider what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering and this I shall dispatch in three things It is not the Fear of man but of God that doth it It is not the fear of man that can do it God gives us a charge against this Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye Esay 51.12 There is no cause to fear a weak piece of Clay a very Breath a fading Leaf he must dye and there is an end of him and all his thoughts perish with him The wise man tels us That the fear of man bringeth a Snare Prov. 29.25 It made Abraham dissemble as if he had no wife David change his behaviour as if he had no reason Peter curse and swear as if he knew not his Master This Fear disposes to apostacy and must be cured by that Fear of God which disposes to suffering When we are ready to drown in worldly sorrow it is of singular use to spring another a godly sorrow in our hearts and when the Fear of man puts us into trembling fits it is an excellent remedy to raise up the Fear of God in our Souls above the other Thus God directs his People not to fear the confederate Enemies but to sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and to let him be their fear and their dread Esa 8.12 13. He is Lord of Hosts God over all and the fear of him should be above all other fears this is the way to have him to be a Sanctuary to us as it follows If we Fear him he will be an inviolable place of retreat where we may repose our selves in a day of Trouble 2. It is not a diffidential Fear but a fiducial one that doth it A diffidential Fear makes the mind as Meteors in the Air to hang in suspense and in case Affliction come to fail under the burden St. Peter walked upon the water to go to jesus but when he saw the wind boistrous he was afraid and began to sink Math. 14.29 30. By Faith he walked and by diffidence he began to sink Non ambularet nisi crederet nec mergeretur nisi dubitaret Aust de Verbis Rom. Serm. 14. Our condition is the very same in the waves of a troublesome World we stand by Faith but fall by diffidence That Fear which prepares us for suffering must be a fiducial one Ye that fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield Psal 115.11 Holy fear is and must be in Conjunction with faith Fear flies from the evils of Sin and Hell Faith closes in with the Promises of Grace and Glory both concurr to make a man fit for suffering and such a sufferer shall have God for his help and shield 3. It is not a servile Fear but a filial one that doth it He that hath a meer servile fear of the wrath to come may forbear an act of sin but he hath the Love of it in his heart adbuc vivit in eo peccandi voluntas the Love of sin lives in him still as an Ancient hath it Such an one is not in a fit case to suffer for the Truth he hath not a Love to God to move him to it nor a capacity to have Heaven after it and how can he suffer It is very hard for a man to suffer for a God that he Loves not Or part with the good things of This World when he hath no hope of those in a better That Fear which prepares for Suffering is not servile but filial it stands not in conjunction with the love of Sin but with the Love of God the nature of it is such that he that hath it will displease man rather then offend God part with a World rather then let go the Truth and pure Worship nay and lay down his Life rather then forfeit the Divine Presence and Favour which are better then Life Thus much touching the nature of that Fear which prepares us for suffering 2. I come to consider how holy Fear doth prepare us for sufferings and this I shall open in three things 1. Holy fear looks upon sin as an evil much greater then any suffering suffering is opposite to the Creature but sin is opposite to the infinite God it is a Rebellion to his Soveraignty a contradiction to his Holiness a provocation to his Justice an abuse to his Grace a stain cast as much as in us lies upon his Glory nay as the Schools speak it is a kind of Deicidium it strikes in a sort at the very life and being of God it wishes that there were none at all and if it could effect it there should be none Suffering doth not make a man worse then he was before but sin doth it Those Saints that were destitute afflicted tormented wandring in Deserts and Mountains and Dens and Caves of the Earth were yet such excellent ones that the World was not worthy of them Hebr. 11.37 38. On the other hand Antiochus Ephiphanes who was as his name imports illustrious and glorious in the World was yet but a vile person and was made such by his wickedness Suffering strikes at the estate or body of man but sin strikes at his Soul a thing more pretious then a World nay and at the Divine Image there which is more worth then the Soul it self It doth where it can prevail turn men into Beasts in its sensual lusts or into Devils in its spiritual Wickednesses Suffering may have good nay great good in it but sin is evil only evil t is called by St. James 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the superfluity or excrement of all evil Jam. 1.21 It contains all evils in it and if all evils saith a worthy Divine were to have a scum or excrement crement sin is it as being the abstracted quintessence of all evil and having nothing at all of good in it Sin saith Bradwardine is a thing not to be done pro quantiscunque bonis lucrandis aut pro quantiscunque malis praecavendis for the gaining never so great a good or for the avoiding never so great an evil He that hath this holy Fear in his heart will chuse suffering as the lesser evil rather then sin which is much the greater When Antitiochus Epiphanes brought forth Wheels Rodds Hooks Rakes Racks Caudrons Joseph Ant. Cages Gridirons Gantlets Awles Bellows Brasen Pots and Frying-pans before Salamona here seven sons to terrify them they could not be induced by all his tormenting Engines to trespass so far as to eat of a little sacrificed Swines-flesh to save themselves from a cruel death It was the saying of Anselm That if Sin were set before him on one hand and Hell on the other he would rather chuse Hell then sin Scult Decad An. Dom. 1528 Henry Flander being a Prisoner for the Protestant Religion would not say that his Wife was his
a Persecution be justled out of this World but he hath a better to go to where there are Crowns of Glory Rivers of Pleasures Plenitudes of Joy and all in the blessed God Our Saviour Christ for the joy that was set before him endured the cross Hebr. 12.2 St. Paul would finish his course that he might have the Crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. When the Martyr Babylas suffered he sung that of the Psalmist Magd. hist cent 3. cap. 12. Return unto thy rest O my Soul his mind was upon the eternal Sabbath in Heaven When Basil the great was threatned with Banishment and Death he was not at all moved at it Banishment is nothing to him that hath heaven for his Countrey neither is Death any thing to one to whom it is the way to Life He that is in the way to Heaven hath great reason to break through all Difficulties to get thither CHAP. XIII The tenth Direction for suffering is Patience under Gods will With respect to the Christian it makes him possess his Soul conquer the World and have inward Satisfaction With respect to God it subjects the Soul to his Will it waits upon God for strength and a good Issue it produces spiritual Joy and Praise THe tenth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for suffering we must labor after Patience under the will of God this must be joyned to our Obedience that we may be able to answer to all his will As obedience respects Gods commanding will so Patience which is also a duty respects his disposing one Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise Saith the Apostle Hebr. 10.36 We are not only to do other Commands by Obedience but when Providence cals us to it we are to do that of taking up the Cross by Patience Other Graces may help to bear the Cross but Patience takes it up upon its back It is its proper peculiar office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make a man abide piously under the Cross This Grace may be considered two waies either in that which it doth with respect to the Christian in whom it is or in that which it doth with respect to God both ways it is of singular use in order to sufferings 1. Patience may be considered in that which it doth with respect to the Christian in whom it is and thus three things may be noted 1. Patience makes a Christian possess his soul Luke 21.19 there is a great difference between the wordly mans patience the Christians The word by man endeavours much that he may possess the things that are without him but the Christian bears that he may possess his own Soul The Christian in a fit of Impatience loses himself and puts himself as it were out of possession not only of his Rational Faculties but of his Graces too at that time he acts not like a Man or a Christian When Jonah told God that he did well to be angry unto death Jon. 4.9 he was in his furious passion more like a Beast than a Man or a Saint If thou deal thus with me saith Moses to God kill me out of hand Numb 11.15 The word thou here is of the Feminine Gender At for Aita the perturbation of Mind made Moses the meekest man on earth unable to fill up his words or to speak as he meant to do It is by patience that the Christian possesseth himself and hath the free use of his Reason and holy Graces While he is patiently bearing the Cross his Faith will roll out as Gold out of the Fire his hope will fix itself in the unmovable Heavens his love will burn within him towards God and his Glory All the Powers in Earth and Hell cannot put him out of the possession of himself or hinder his Graces from coming forth into act he will be like himself in his suffering 2. Patience makes a Christian to be a Conqueror of the persecuting World The Overcomer mentioned in the second and third chapters of the Revelation of St. John to whom so many pretious and excellent promises are there made is not one that overcomes by Martial Fighting but one that hath the Victory by Patient Suffering Who shall separate us saith St. Paul from the Love of Christ Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword In all these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.35 37. More than Conquerors because they conquered by suffering while their Bodies were slain their souls were triumphing over death itself Thus St. Austin saith Epist 42. that the Pagans were overcome non a repugnantibus sed a morientibus Christianis not by resisting but by dying Christians Patience makes their Persecutors secure them and frame Crowns of Glory for them This made the Martyr Vincentius tell his Tormentor Nunquam aliquis adeò bene servivit mihi actu no man ever served me so much as thou hast done Patience doth so frame the heart to the will of God that it makes a Christian to be a King overhis Crosses losses to him are gain reproaches glory confinement liberty anddeath life While he suffers in any thing he is above it 3. Patience makesa Christian to have inward content and satisfaction in suffering It is the Apostles Exhortation Let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing Jam. 1.4 He that hath not Patience is but a lame and imperfect Christian he may go a little way in Religion as far as his Principles reach but if he come to suffering which is beyond them he will halt and turn aside But if a Christian hath an effectual Patience he is then perfect and entire wanting nothing he hath every thing that may fill up his Christianity or happiness in this Life The Cross may come but he hath Principles to bear it Outward Blessings may be taken away but he hath all in God St. Austin brings in patient Job De Simb ad Cateck stript of all but only his God speaking thus Quid mihi deerit si Deum habuero quid mihi alia prosunt si Deum non habuero What can I want if I have God What can other things profit if I have him not Patience gives the suffering Saint quiet and sweet satisfaction in God and not only so but in the very suffering as it is a pious submission to his will There is a sweetness and a secret reward in the doing of Gods will much more in holy suffering for Him The blessed Martyr Baynham at the Stake told the bloody Papists O ye Papists ye talk of Miracles behold here a true one these Flames are to me a bed of Roses It 's true all holy Sufferers cannot say thus but all of them find by experience that there is a sweet satisfaction in suffering for the good God 2. Patience
unto in this vale of misery yea so great an honour as the greatest Angel in Heaven is not permitted to have It was the Prayer of Mr. Bradford the Martyr God forgive me my unthankfulness for this erceeding great mercy that among so many thousands he chuseth me to be one in whom he will suffer It was the observation of one of the Ancients That it was peculiar to Christians to give thanks in adversity Jews and Gentiles can praise God for benefits but the patient Christian can thank him for Afflictions O let us labor after Patience that we may not only suffer for Christ but do it with joy Thus our Saviour directs his persecuted ones Reioice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven Mat. 5.12 Inward and outward Joys are very proper in suffering Saints because then they are arrived at the highest pitch of Christianity and ready to enter into the blessed Heaven there to enjoy God for ever and ever CHAP. XIIII Some Inducements to suffer any thing rather than part with the pure Religion Pious sufferers glorify God they propagate the Church they give a token of Wrath to come upon Persecutors they are happy here and hereafter Here in the proof of Sincerity and in the presence of God hereafter in a freedom from all Evil and a Communication of all Good HAving laid down Directions in order to suffering I will shut up all with a few Considerations which may serve as Motives to induce us at Gods call to suffer any thing rather than part with the pure Religion which is a Jewel incomparably more worth than all those things which we can lose for it 1. Pious Sufferers do glorify God in a very signal eminent manner What is said of St. Peter's death That it was a glorifying of God Joh. 21.19 The same may be said of the death of all other Martyrs we glorify God by offering Praise much more by offering our lives for him We glorify him by giving some of our Estates in Charity much more by giving our blood for his Name We glorify him when we present our Bodies a living sacrifice to him in Active Obedience much more when we present them a dying one in Passive Much of the glory of God breaks forth in his Suffering Saints Free-grace shines out in the raising up Witnesses to his Truth in a contradicting persecuting World Power admirably appears in bearing of them up with holy Joy and Pleasure in the midst of all the Torments which men and Devils can invent against them Excellent is that of the Apostle Strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness Col. 1.11 Gods power is glorious in other things but in his suffering Saints it lets out itself in a most illustrious manner The Persecutors have all Torments all kinds of Death but the Martyrs have all might all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness As it was with Christ his Power appeared in Miracles but above all in that he triumphed over Principalities and Powers upon the Cross so it is with Christians the Divine Power appears in other Graces but above all in that patient suffering which overcomes the World The Truth of God is in Martyrs practically proved to be exceeding pretious The Fathers in the first general Councils were so earnest for the Truth that they would not exchange a letter or syllable of it The Arian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would not pass instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor the Nestorian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applied to Christ as man instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applied to the blessed Virgin All Believers seal up the Evangelical Truths by Faith but the Martyrs seal them up by their blood also Plainly shewing that the least jot or tittle of truth is more worth than life and not to be sold for a World It was the pretiousness of truth that made Athanasius stand it out against an Arrian World and Luther stand it out against a Popish one Moreover Divine Worship is by Martyrs maintained to be a Prerogative due to God alone When all the World was given to Idolatry the primitive Martyrs would die rather than rob God of his Honour Their Sufferings told the World that his Glory was not to be given to another nor his praise to graven Images no not to save the lives of those that were the only pure Worshippers of him Their lives could not be better spent than in suffering for his pure Worship and after them he would raise up others to Worship him When the Emperor Commodus Magd. Hist Cent. 2. cap. 12. asked the Senator Julius Why he could not worship Jupiter and Hercules Julius ambitious of Martyrdom told the Emperor plainly That Jupiter and Hercules were no Gods and that the worshippers of Idols muh perish in eternal Torments and soon after he sealed up his Profession with his blood Auxentius would rather suffer banishment than set a branch of a Wine-tree at the feet of Bacchus his Image because it had an appearance of Idolatry The suffering of the Saints for the pure Worship proclaims it to all that God hath a sacred jealousy over his Worship and will no more part with it than he will with his Crown If we would indeed glorify God here is the highest medium to do it No Praises no Alms no Services no Active Obedience do so lift up the Glory of God as pious Suffering doth in which we do practically declare that we value him above all things 2. Pious Sufferers do propagate and multiply the Church When Abel the first Martyr was slain there was a Seth raised up in his room When righteous persons are slain by Persecutors more of them spiring up in the Church The more the Children of Israel were afflicted in Egypt the more they multiplied and grew Exod. 1.11 As the ground that is most harrowed is most fruitful so God's People the more they were straitned under the burdens of men the more they were enlarged by the blessing of God The Roman Emperors did design utterly to extirpate Christianity Dioclesian the greatest Persecutor of all who filled the World with the blood of Martyrs thought he had effected it this Inscription was upon his Coin Nomine Christianorum deleto qui rem publicam everterunt The name of Christians who overthrew the Common-wealth is extinct But they were all in a mistake in the midst of the Ten bloody Persecutions there was still a new Generation of Christians springing up out of the blood of the Martyrs Tertullian tels the vexing torturing Persecutors Apol. cap. ult Plures efficimur quoties metimur semen est sanguis Christianorum The more we are mowed and cut down the more we grow and multiply the blood of Christians is the Seed of the Church St. Austin saith of the persecuted Christians Coedebantur De Civi◠Dei Lib. 22. cap. 6. torquebantur urebantur laniabantur trucidabantur multiplicabantur They were