Objection: Some may object, and say, We see that no persons on earth are exposed to such troubles, dangers, afflictions, and persecutions, as those are exposed to who mind holiness, who follow after holiness. These are days wherein men labor to frown holiness out of the world, and to scorn and kick holiness out of the world; and do you think that we are mad now to pursue after holiness? Now to this great and sore objection, I shall give these following answers

1. First, It must be granted that afflictions and persecutions has been the common lot and portion of the people of God in this world. Abel was persecuted by Cain, (1Jo 3:12), and Isaac by Ishmael, (Gal 4:29). That seems to be a standing law, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution,” (2Ti 3:12). A man may have many faint wishes and cold desires after godliness, and yet escape persecution; yea, he may make some essays[1] and attempts as if he would be godly, and yet escape persecution; but when a man is thoroughly resolved to be godly, and sets himself in good earnest upon pursuing after holiness and living a life of godliness, then he must expect to meet with afflictions and persecutions. It is neither a Christian's gifts nor his graces, it is neither his duties nor his services that can secure him. Whoever escapes, the godly man shall not escape persecution in one kind or another, in one degree or another. He that will live up to holy rules, and live out holy principles, must prepare for sufferings. All the roses of holiness are surrounded with pricking briers. The history of the ten persecutions, and that little book of martyrs, the 11th of the Hebrews, and Mr. Foxe his Acts and Monuments,[2] with many other treatises that are extant, do abundantly evidence that from age to age, and from one generation to another, they that have been born after the flesh have persecuted them that have been born after the Spirit, (Gal 4:20), and that the seed of the serpent have been still a-multiplying of troubles upon the seed of the woman. Would any man take the church's picture, saith Luther, then let him paint a poor silly maid sitting in a wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, boars, and bears, and with all manner of other cruel, hurtful beasts, and in the midst of a great many furious men assaulting her every moment and minute, for this is her condition in the world. As certain as the night follows the day, so certain will that black angel, persecution, follow holiness wherever it goes. In the last of the ten persecutions, seventeen thousand holy martyrs were slain in the space of one month. And in Queen Mary's days, or, if you will, in the Marian days, not of blessed, but of most abhorred memory, the Popish prelates[3] in less than four years sacrificed the lives of eight hundred innocents to their idols! And oh that that precious innocent blood did not still cry to heaven for vengeance against this nation! But,

2. Secondly, Christ and his apostles hath long since foretold us that afflictions and persecutions will attend us in this world. The Lord hath long since forewarned us, that we may be forearmed, and not surprised on a sudden when they come. Christ hath shot off many a warning piece in his word, and sent many a harbinger,[4] that so we may stand upon our guard, and not be surprised nor astonished when afflictions and persecutions overtake us: Matthew 10:22, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Chapter 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Luke 21:12, “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.” John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than the lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”

Ah Christians, since they have crowned your head with thorns, there is no reason why you should expect to be crowned with rosebuds. John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Acts 14:21, 22, “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” As there was no way to paradise but by the flaming sword, nor no way to Canaan but through a wilderness; so there is no way to heaven but by the gates of hell, there is no way to a glorious exaltation but through a sea of tribulation. They do but dream and deceive their own souls who think to go to heaven upon beds of down, or in a soft and delicate way, or that think to be attended to glory with mirth and music, or with singing or dancing. The way to happiness is not strewed with roses, but full of thorns and briers, as those of whom this world was not worthy have experienced.

Ecclesiastical histories tell us that all the apostles died violent deaths. Peter was crucified with his heels upward — Christ was crucified with his head upwards, but Peter thought this was too great an honour for him to be crucified as his Lord, and therefore he chose to be crucified with his heels upward; and Andrew was crucified by Egeus, king of Edessa; and James the son of Zebedee was slain by Herod with the sword, (Act 12:2); and Philip was crucified at Hierapolis in Asia; and while Bartholomew was preaching the glad tidings of salvation, multitudes fell upon him and beat him down with staves, and then crucified him, and after all this, his skin was flayed off, and he beheaded; Thomas was slain with a dart[5] at Calumina in India; and Matthew was slain with a spear, say some, others say he was run through with a sword; and James the son of Alpheus, who was called the Just, was thrown down from off a pinnacle of the temple, and yet having some life left in him, he was brained with a fuller's club; Lebbeus was slain by Agbarus, king of Edessa; and Paul was beheaded at Rome under Nero; and Simon the Canaanite was crucified in Egypt, say some, others say that he and Jude were slain in a tumult of the people; and Matthias was stoned to death; and John was banished into Patmos, (Rev 1:9), and afterwards, as some histories tell us, he was by that cruel tyrant Domitian cast into a tun[6] of scalding lead, and yet delivered by a miracle. Thus all these precious servants of God, except John, died violent deaths, and so through sufferings entered into glory; they found in their own experience the truth of what Christ had foretold concerning their sufferings and persecutions.

When Mr. Bradford was told that his chain was a-buying, and that he must be burnt, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “I thank God for it; I have looked for this a long time; it comes not to me suddenly, but as a thing waited for every day, yea, every hour in the day; the Lord make me worthy thereof.” If upon God's warning you will but prepare for sufferings, you will never fear nor faint under sufferings, yea, then you will be able under the greatest persecutions to bear up bravely, and with holy Bradford bless the Lord that has called you to so high an honour as to count you worthy to suffer for his name. But,

3. Thirdly, I answer, That all the troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that do befall you for holiness' sake, shall never hurt you nor harm you, they shall never prejudice you, nor wrong you in your main and great concernments: Exodus 3:2, “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” Here you have a bush, a dry bush, a bramble-bush all on a-light fire, and yet not consumed. This burning bush was an excellent emblem of the church in the fire of tribulation and persecution. Though the church may seem to be all on fire by reason of afflictions and persecutions, yet it shall be preserved, it shall not be destroyed. God would not suffer his anointed ones, his sanctified ones, so much as to be touched, hurt, or harmed by those who had malice enough in their hearts, and power enough in their hands, not only to hurt them, but even to destroy them. Sanctified persons are sacred persons, and they that touch them touch the apple of God's eye, and whosoever shall be so bold to touch the apple of God's eye shall dearly smart for it.

It was no small affliction to have no settled habitation. To fly from place to place, from kingdom to kingdom, and from nation to nation, was without all peradventure an afflicted condition. Doubtless many fears and frights, many hazards and dangers did attend them, when they considered that they were as lilies among the thorns, and as a few sheep among a multitude of wolves. In the land of Canaan there were seven mighty nations (Deu 7:1). Now for the people of God, who were so few in number that they might easily and quickly be told, to sojourn and wander among these, could not but be very dangerous and perilous; and yet such was the love of God to them, and the care of God over them, that he suffered no man, whether he was high or low, honorable or base, rich or poor, civil or profane, to hurt or harm them: Daniel 3:25, 27, “And the king answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” Though these holy men were cast into a furnace, into a fiery furnace, into the midst of a hot fiery furnace, yet God will work a miracle, yea, a glorious miracle, rather than the fire shall in the least hurt or harm them. God gives a commission to the fire to burn those mighty men that made the fire, and that cast his children into the fire, and whom the king would have to be spared and saved; and he lays a law of restraint upon the fire, that it should not hurt nor harm them whom the king would have destroyed.

Those, whom the King of kings will not have hurt, shall not be hurt, let kings and princes do their worst; that fire that burnt their bonds had no power to burn, no nor to touch, their bodies. God would not suffer the fire to singe a hair of their heads, nor to change the colour of their coats, nor to leave so much as an ill smell upon his people, that those heathen princes might see how tender he was of them, and how willing he was to put forth his almighty power rather than he would see them wronged or harmed. So chapters 6:21-23, “Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angels, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.” Holiness, innocency, and integrity will preserve a man even among lions. Daniel preferred the worship of his God before his life. He made no great reckoning of his life when it stood in competition with divine glory, and therefore, rather than Daniel shall be hurt, God will by a miracle preserve him, he will stop the mouths of the hungry lions, and he will tame their rage, and overmaster their cruelty, rather than a hair of Daniel's head shall perish. When Daniel was taken out of the den, there was no hurt, no wound, no sore, no bruise found upon him. Daniel was a harmless man, and God keeps him from harms in the midst of harms.

Acts 18:9, 10, “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city.” Paul met with many trials and troubles, bonds and prisons, oppositions and persecutions, and yet none of all these hurt him, but God miraculously preserved him even to old age (Act 20:23). All the troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that attends holiness, can never reach a Christian's soul, they can never diminish a Christian's treasure; they reach the shell, not the kernel; the case, not the jewel; the lumber, not the goods; the outhouse,[7] not the palace; the ribbon in the hat, not the gold in the purse. The most fiery trials and persecutions can never deprive a Christian of the special presence of God, nor of the light of his countenance, nor of the testimony of a good conscience, nor of the joys of the Spirit, nor of the pardon of sin, nor of fellowship with Christ, nor of the exercise of grace, nor of the hopes of glory (Psa 23:4; 2Co 1:8,9,12); and therefore certainly they can't hurt a Christian, they can't wrong a Christian in his greatest and chiefest concernments.

O Christian, let persecutors do their worst, they can't reach thy soul, thy God, thy comfort, thy crown, thy paradise, &c.; and therefore let no man be kept off from pursuing after holiness because of afflictions or persecutions, seeing none of these can reach a Christian's great concernments. But,

4. Fourthly, I answer, That the condition of persecutors, of all conditions under heaven, is the most sad and deplorable condition; and this will appear by the consideration of these five things:

[1.] First, By the prayers and indictments that the saints have preferred against them in the highest court of justice, I mean in the parliament of heaven: Psalm 35:3-9, “Draw out the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind; and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery,” or darkness and slipperiness; “and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.” Lamentations 3:61, seq., “Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me. The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their music,” or I am their song. “Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Persecute and destroy them in anger, from under the heavens of the Lord:” 2 Timothy 4:14, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works.” Thus you see how the hearts of the saints have been drawn out against their persecutors. Prayers are the arms that in times of persecution the saints have still had recourse to. But,

[2.] Secondly, Persecutions do but raise, whet, and stir up a more earnest and vehement spirit of prayer among the persecuted saints: Revelation 6:9, 10, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? ” The blood of the persecuted cries aloud for vengeance upon the persecutors.

There is no blood that cries so loud, and that makes so great a noise in heaven, as the blood of the martyrs, as the blood of butchered persecuted saints. Persecutors, like these Roman emperors, in all ages have causelessly and cruelly destroyed the people of God; they delight in the blood of saints, they love to wallow in the blood of saints, they take pleasure in glutting themselves with the blood of saints, they make no conscience of watering the earth, nor of coloring the sea, nor of quenching the flames with the blood of the saints, yea, if it were possible, they would willingly swim to heaven through their hearts' blood, whom Christ has purchased with his own most precious blood.

Persecution puts an edge, yea, a sharp edge, upon the prayers of the saints: Acts 12:5, “Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” The Greek word ektenes signifies earnest and stretched-out prayer. When Peter was in prison, sleeping between two soldiers, and bound with two chains, and the keepers standing before the prison door, oh, how earnest! Oh, how instant! Oh, how fervent! Oh, how vehement! Oh, how constant were the saints in their prayers for his deliverance! Oh, their hearts, their souls, their spirits were in their prayers! Oh, their prayers were no cold prayers, no formal prayers, no lukewarm prayers, nor no dull or drowsy prayers, but their prayers were full of life, and full of warmth, and full of heat. They knew Herod's bloody intention to destroy this holy apostle by his imprisoning of him, and by the chains that were put on him, and by the strong guards that, were set upon him, and by his bathing of his sword in the, innocent blood of James, that his hand might be the more apt and ready for further acts of murder and cruelty; and oh, how did the consideration of these things whet and provoke their spirits to prayer! Oh, now they will have no nay, now they will give God no rest, till he has overturned the tyrant's counsel and designs, and sent his angel to open the prison doors, and to knock off Peter's chains, and to deliver him from the wrath and fury of Herod; and their prayers were successful, as is evident in the 12th verse, “And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying,” or rather, as the original has it, “ where many thronged together to pray.” The violence and rage of their persecutors did so raise, whet, and encourage them to prayer, that they throng together, they crowded together to pray, yea, when others were a-sleeping they were a-praying, and their prayers were no sleepy prayers, they were no lazy dronish prayers, nor they were no book-prayers, but they were powerful and prevalent prayers; for as so many Jacobs, or as so many princes, they prevailed with God; they prayed and wept, and wept and prayed; they called and cried, and cried and called; they begged and bounced, and they bounced and begged; and they never left knocking at heaven's gates till Peter's chains were knocked off, and Peter given into their arms, yea, their bosoms, as an answer of prayer. Oh the power and force of joint prayer, when Christians do not only beseech God, but besiege him, and beset him too, and when they will not let him go till he has blessed them, and answered their prayers and the desires of their souls!

I have read that Mary Queen of Scots, that was mother to King James, was wont to say that she was more afraid of Mr. Knox's prayers, and the prayers of those Christians that walked with him, than she was of a knocking army of ten thousand men. But,

[3.] Thirdly, It will appear that the condition of persecutors is the most sad and deplorable condition of all conditions under heaven, if you will but seriously consider and lay to heart the sore judgments that are threatened, and that have been executed upon them: Deuteronomy 30:7, “And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them which hate thee, which persecuted thee;” Nehemiah 9:9-11, “And didst see the afflictions of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea: and shewed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.” Pharaoh and his princes and people were very great oppressors and persecutors of God's Israel, and therefore God visited them with ten dreadful plagues, one after another; but when, after all these plagues, God saw that their enmity against his people was as great, or rather greater than ever, and that they were still set upon persecuting of his people, then God takes up Pharaoh and his mighty host, and throws them as a stone into the mighty waters, (Exo 15:10).

God whets before he strikes, he bends his bow before he shoots, he prepares instruments of death before he brings men down to the grave, his hand takes hold on judgment before his judgments take hold of men; but if all these warnings will not serve their turns, God will overturn them with a witness. “He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors,” or as the Hebrew has it, “against the hot burning persecutors.” God hath his hot burning arrows for hot burning persecutors. Let persecutors be never so hot against the saints, God will be as hot against them; and let them be never so much inflamed against the people of God, God will be as much inflamed against them.

When malicious and mischievous persecutors have done all they can to vex and fret, to daunt and affright, to dismay and discourage the people of God, then God will terrify the most terrible among them, and “they shall not prevail nor prosper, yea, they shall stumble and fall, they shall be ashamed and confounded.” When the time is expired that God has pre fixed for his people's sufferings, then God will retaliate upon their persecutors, then they that spoiled his people shall be spoiled, and they that dealt perfidiously[8] and treacherously with them, shall be dealt perfidiously and treacherously withal: 2 Thessalonians 1:6, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.” It is but justice that God should trouble those that are the troublers of his people.

And God has even in this life been a swift witness against the persecutors of his people. Cain was a persecutor, and his brother's blood pursued him to hell; Pharaoh was a great oppressor and persecutor of his people, and God followed him with plague upon plague, and judgment upon judgment, till he had overthrown him in the Red Sea; Saul was a persecutor, and falls by his own sword; Haman was a great persecutor of the saints, and he was feasted with the king one day, and made a feast for crows the next; Pashur was a great persecutor, he smote the prophet Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, and God threatened to make him a Magor-missabib, a terror to himself and to all his friends, Jeremiah 20:1-3; Zedekiah was a persecutor, he smote the prophet Micaiah on the cheek for dealing plainly and faithfully with the kings, and in the day of trouble and distress he goes from chamber to chamber to hide himself (1Ki 22); Jezebel was a great persecutor, she slew the prophets of God, and she was thrown out of a window, and eaten up of dogs, (1Ki 18:4-13; 2Ki 9:30); Herod the Great, who caused the babes of Bethlehem to be slain, hoping thereby to destroy Christ, shortly after was plagued by God with an incurable disease, having a slow and slack fire continually tormenting his inward parts; he had a vehement and greedy desire to eat, and yet nothing would satisfy him; his inward bowels rotted, his breath was short and stinking, some of his members rotted, and in all his members he had so violent a cramp that nature was not able to bear it; and so growing mad with pain, he died miserably. But,

[4.] Fourthly, It will appear that persecutors are in the most sad and deplorable condition, if you do but consider that there is a day a-coming wherein God will fully reckon with all persecutors, for their persecuting of his saints: Psalm 9:12, “When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them; he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” There is a time when God will make inquisition for innocent blood. The Hebrew word doresh from darash, that is here rendered inquisition, signifies not barely to seek, to search, but to seek, search, and inquire with all diligence and care imaginable. Oh, there is a time a-coming, when the Lord will make a very diligent and careful search and inquiry after all the innocent blood of his afflicted and persecuted people, which persecutors and tyrants have spilt as water upon the ground; and woe to persecutors when God shall make a more strict, critical, and careful inquiry after the blood of his people than ever was made in the Inquisition of Spain, where all things are carried with the greatest diligence, subtlety, secrecy, and severity. O persecutors, there is a time acoming, when God will make a strict inquiry after the blood of Hooper, Bradford, Latimer, Taylor, Ridley, &c. There is a time a-coming, wherein God will inquire who silenced and suspended such and such ministers, and who stopped the mouths of such and such, and who imprisoned, confined, and banished such and such, who were once burning and shining lights, and who were willing to spend and be spent, that sinner might be saved, and that Christ might be glorified. There is a time when the Lord will make a very narrow inquiry into all the actions and practices of ecclesiastical courts, high commissions, committees, assizes,[9] sessions, &c., and deal with persecutors as they have dealt with his people: Psalm 12:5, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise,” saith the Lord; “I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.” When oppressors and persecutors do snuff and puff at the people of God, when they defy them, and scorn them, and think that they can with a blast of their breath blow them away, then God will arise to judgment, as the Chaldee has it; at that very nick of time when all seems to be lost, and when the poor oppressed and afflicted people of God can do nothing but sigh and weep, and weep and sigh, then the Lord will arise and ease them of their oppressions, and make their day of extremity a glorious opportunity to work for his own glory, and his people's good. Alas, all the sorrows, troubles, afflictions, vexations, torments, and punishments that befall the persecutors of the saints in this life, they are but quasi-tales, as it were such, they are but the beginnings of sorrows, they are but types and figures of those easeless, endless, and remediless torments and punishments that will at last inevitably fall upon all the persecutors of the saints. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, Persecutors at present are under an evident token of perdition and destruction; they have the marks and signs of divine displeasure upon them: Philippians 1:28, “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.” Persecuted Christians ought not to be disheartened or discouraged, but rather to take heart and courage, by all the persecutions that are raised against them, because they are most certain witnesses and evidences from God himself, both of their own salvation, and of their persecutors' perdition and destruction. And thus you see by these five things, that there is no condition under heaven that is so sad and deplorable a condition, as the condition of persecutors is. But,

5. Fifthly, I answer, That God will bear his people company in all their afflictions and persecutions. If the bush, the church, be all on a-light fire, the angel of the covenant will be in the midst of it: Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee.” Both in the waters of affliction, and in the fire of persecution, God will bear his people company. So in that Daniel 3:24, 25, “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God.” Christ is never so near to his people as when they are in their fiery trials; and the hotter the furnace is, the more eminently present will Christ be with his people. Saints never enjoy so much of the supporting, emboldening, comforting, and encouraging presence of the Lord, as they do when the sun of persecution shines hottest upon them.

2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, “We are troubled on every side, yet not destroyed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Divine help is nearest when a saint's danger is greatest. It is the deriding question which persecutors put to the saints in the time of their trials and troubles, Ubi Deus. Where is now your God? (Psa 42:10); but they may return a bold and confident answer, Hic Deus: “Our God is here,” our God is nigh unto us, our God is round about us, our God is in the midst of us, our God has given us his promise “that he will never, never leave us, nor forsake us,” (Heb 13:5); in every trouble, in every danger, in every death, the Lord will be sure to keep us company. God will bear his children company, not only whilst they are in a delightful paradise, but also when they are in a howling wilderness, (Hos 2:14).

O Christians, in all your sufferings the angel of God's presence will bear you company, and he will sweeten the most cruel torments, and wipe off all the sweat, and take away all the pain, yea, he will turn your pains into pleasure, (Isa 63:9). If Joseph be cast into prison, the Lord will be with him there, (Gen 39:20, 21). If Jeremiah be thrown into the dungeon, the Lord will be with him there, (Jer 36:6-14). If David walk through the valley of death, God's rod and his staff shall comfort him, (Psa 23:4, 5). If the three children be cast into a fiery furnace, the presence of the Son of God shall preserve them; if Daniel must go to the lions' den, God will keep him company there, and chain up the lions' nature, and sew up the lions' mouths, and lay a law of restraint upon the lions' paws, that they shall not have so much as a disposition to touch him, or in the least to hurt him or harm him; if Paul be brought before Nero 's judgment-seat, God will stand by him, though all men forsake him, and bring him off with credit and triumph, (2Ti 4:16-18). Thus you see that in all the afflictions and persecutions that do befall the people of God, God will not fail to keep them company; and therefore let not troubles trouble you, let not afflictions afflict you, nor let not persecutions discourage you. But,

6. Sixthly, I answer, That he shall be sure to suffer from Christ that refuses to suffer, or that is afraid to suffer, for Christ's sake, or holiness' sake, or the gospel's sake. No man can suffer so much for Christ as he shall be sure to suffer from Christ, if he disdain and refuse to suffer for Christ: Mark 8:35, “For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, and the gospel's, the same shall save it.” He that shall attempt to save his life by crossing his light, by shifting off of truth, or by forsaking of Christ, shall lose it. He that thinks to shun suffering by sinning, shall be sure to suffer with a witness. It is a gainful loss to suffer for the truth, it is a lossful gain, by time-serving and base complying with the lusts and humours of men, to provide for our present safety, security, plenty, peace, and ease, &c., either by denying the truth, or by betraying the truth, or by exchanging the truth, or by forsaking the truth.

So verse 38, “Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.” Ah, friends, what are prisons and dungeons, and racks and flames, to Christ's being ashamed of a man in the great day, when he shall be attended with troops of saints and millions of angels? When, in the face of the court of heaven, when all the princes of glory shall sit upon their thrones, Christ shall disdain a man, and scorn so much as to look upon him, or take any notice of him, or shew the least respect or favour towards him. Oh, what a sea of sorrow and a hell of horror will this raise in him!

I have read that when Sapor, king of Persia, raised a violent persecution against the Christians, Usthazares, an old nobleman, and one of king Sapor's eunuchs and courtiers, being a Christian, was so terrified that he left off his profession, and sitting at the court gate when Simeon, an aged holy bishop, was led to prison, and rising up to salute him, the good bishop frowned upon him, and turned his face with indignation from him, as disdaining to look upon a man that had denied the faith; upon this Usthazares fell a-weeping, and went into his chamber, and put off his courtly garments, and then brake out into these like words, Ah, how shall I appear before that God that I have denied? With what face shall I behold that God of whom I have been ashamed, when Simeon, my old familiar acquaintance, will not endure to look upon me, but disdains to bestow a civil salute upon me? If he frown now, oh, how will God behold me when I shall stand before his tribunal seat! And this physic so wrought with him, that he recovered his spiritual strength, and went boldly and professed himself a Christian, and died a glorious martyr. The application is easy. Well, sirs, remember this, it is infinitely better to suffer for God, than to suffer from God: 1 Peter 3:17, “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” It is better to suffer for well doing from men, than to suffer for ill doing from God. But,

7. Seventhly, I answer, That great are the advantages that will redound to you by all the troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that shall befall you, for righteousness' sake, for holiness' sake, Luke 21:13. Persecutions are the workmen that will fit you and square you for God's buildings; they are the rods that will beat off the dust, and the scullions[10] that will scour off the rust from your souls; they are the fire that will purge you from your dross, and the water that will cleanse you from your filthiness. Physicians, you know, apply horse- leeches to their distempered[11] patients. Now the horse-leech intends nothing but to satiate and fill himself with the blood of the sick patient, but the physician has a more noble aim, even the drawing away of that putrified and corrupt blood that endangers the life of his patient; so though persecutors aim at nothing more than to draw out the heartblood of God's people, that they may satiate and fill themselves with it, yet God has other thoughts and other aims, even the drawing away of that corrupt blood, that pride, that self-love, that worldliness, that carnalness, and that lukewarmness, that otherwise would endanger the life, the health, and welfare of their souls. But this great truth I shall make more evident by an induction of particulars. Thus

[1.] First, Hereby you will give an evident proof of the soundness and uprightness of your own hearts, Philippians 1:27-29. Afflictions and persecutions will discover what metal men are made of. All is not gold that glisters: many there be that glister, and look like golden Christians, but when they come to the fire, they prove but dross: he is a golden Christian indeed, who remains gold when under fiery trials. The stony ground did glister and shine very gloriously, for it received the word with joy for a time, but when the sun of persecution rose upon it, it fell away, (Mat 13:20, 21). Men that now embrace the word, will, in times of persecution, distaste the word, if it be not rooted in their understandings, judgments, wills, affections, and consciences. Men may court the word, and compliment the word, and applaud the word, and seemingly rejoice in the word, but they will never suffer persecution for the word, if it be only received into their heads, and not rooted in their hearts. The house built upon the sand was as lovely, as comely, as goodly, and as glorious a house to look upon as that which was built upon the rock; but when the rain of affliction descended, and the floods of tribulation came, and the winds of persecution blew and beat upon that house, it fell, and great was the fall of it, (Mat 7:26, 27). No professors will be able to stand it out in all winds and weathers, but such as are built upon a rock. All others will sink, shatter, and fall when the wind of persecution blows upon them, (Mal 3:2); as sure as the rain will fall, the floods flow, and the winds blow, so sure will an unsound heart give out when trials come.

Nothing speaks out more soundness and uprightness than a pursuing after holiness, even then when holiness is most afflicted, pursued, and persecuted in the world to stand fast in fiery trials argues much integrity within. But,

[2.] Secondly, All the troubles and persecutions which Satan or his instruments raise against the saints of the Most High shall not diminish their number, but rather increase them. The kingdom of Christ is set forth by a little stone cut out of a mountain without hands (Dan 2:34, 35); and though in all ages there has been many hammers at work to break this little stone in pieces, yet they have not been able to do it, but this little stone has proved a growing stone, and, in spite of the devil and a persecuting world, will grow more and more, till it comes to be a great mountain, and filleth the whole earth. In the 8th chapter of the Acts you read of a great persecution, and the storm beat so hard upon the churches, that it dispersed and scattered them up and down; and this was so far from lessening of the number of believers, that it did mightily increase their number; witness verses 4-6, 8, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. And there was great joy in that city.” Samaria was a very wicked, corrupt place, and bewitched by the sorceries of Simon Magus, yet God had his people there, and by the ministry of Philip — not Philip the apostle, but Philip the deacon who was a persecuted brother, he called them home to be partakers of his Spirit and grace, verses 14-17. And thus the scattering of the church was the great advantage and increase of the church. The persecution of one church may be the gathering, edifying, multiplying, and erecting of many churches. Such ministers who have been by persecution driven from their own churches have been eminently instrumental in the planting of many other churches. Though the gospel, and the faithful preachers and professors of it, was by the Scribes, Pharisees, high priests, elders, and great Council exploded, blasphemed, and persecuted at Jerusalem, which was once the holy city, yet it was with joy received in the polluted, bewitched, scorned, and despised city of Samaria. Oh, the freeness! Oh, the riches of grace! Persecution is the multiplication of the people of God; in all ages the more the saints have been afflicted, oppressed, and persecuted, the more they have increased.

The removing of the seven churches in Asia brought the gospel to Europe and Africa. During the ten cruel persecutions of the heathen emperors, the Christian faith was spread through all places of the empire; because the oftener they were mown down, the more they grew, as Tertullian witnesseth; and the more we are cut down by the sword of persecution, saith the same author, the more still we increase. Persecuted saints are like camomile, which grows and spreads by being trod upon; the more persecutors tread upon the people of God, the more they will spread and grow. But,

[3.] Thirdly, The troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that befall you in the pursuit after holiness, may issue in the conversion and salvation of others; as is evident in Acts 8, which chapter I recommend to your most serious perusal. So in that 2 Timothy 2:9, 10, “Wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound,” (though Paul was fettered, yet the word was free,) “therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”

Paul, for preaching of the gospel clearly and faithfully, was imprisoned at Rome and handled as if he had been a malefactor, all which he was contented to suffer upon these very grounds, that the elect might be called, converted, saved, and glorified. It is very observable, that though Paul was a prisoner, yet he preached; though he was in bonds, yet he preached; and though he was accounted as an evil-doer, yet he preached, that the elect might be sanctified and saved. Though his persecutors did lay irons upon his, legs, yet they did not lay a law of silence upon his lips; and though they shut him up from going to others, yet they did not shut out others from coming to hear him; for even in bonds he exercised his ministerial office. As cruel as his persecutors were, they would not shut the prison doors upon them that waited on his ministry. So Philemon was converted by Paul when he was in bonds: Philemon 10, “I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.” God made Paul's prison to be a paradise to Onesimus; Paul by his preaching, patience, and cheerfulness in suffering, converts Onesimus to the faith.

Prisons in these times were turned into churches; and so they were in Queen Mary 's days, for as bloody as her reign was, most of the prisons in England were turned into Christian schools and churches, saith Mr. Foxe: so that there was no greater comfort than for Christians to resort to prisons, and to hear the martyrs to pray and preach, and to behold their holy, humble, heavenly, gracious conversation. So the afflictions and persecutions of the saints in the primitive times issued in the conversion and salvation of many souls. We read that Cecilia, a poor virgin, by her gracious behavior in her martyrdom, was the means of converting four hundred to Christ. Adrianus, by seeing the martyrs suffer so patiently and cheerfully, was converted to the faith, and afterwards sealed to the truth with his blood. Justin Martyr was also converted in the same way. In the third persecution, Faustus and Jobita, citizens of Brixia, suffered martyrdom with such invincible patience, courage, and cheerfulness, that Calocerius cried out, Vere magnus Deus Christianorum, Verily, great is the God of the Christians. Upon which words he was presently apprehended, and so suffered martyrdom with them. And that was a remarkable saying of Luther, Ecclesia totum mundum convertit sanguine et oratione, The church converteth the whole world by blood and prayer. Now if by your troubles, afflictions, and persecutions, and the exercise of grace under them, you shall be instrumental to convert and save a soul or souls from wrath to come, it will turn wonderfully to your advantage, and you shall “shine as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan 12:3). That same power, presence, wisdom, and grace, that converted others by the sufferings of former saints, is able to accomplish the same glorious effects by the sufferings of the saints of this generation; and therefore bear up bravely, and neither fear nor faint under your present sufferings. But,

[4.] Fourthly, The troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that Christians meet with in their pursuit after holiness, will further the increase and growth of their grace. Grace never rises to so great a height as it does in times of persecution. Suffering times are a Christian's harvest times (Psa 69:7-9, 12). Let me instance in that grace of zeal: I remember Moulin speaking of the French Protestants, saith, “When Papists hurt us for reading the Scriptures, we burn with zeal to be reading of them; but now persecution is over, our Bibles are like old almanacs,” &c. All the reproaches, frowns, threatenings, oppositions, and persecutions that a Christian meets with in a way of holiness, doth but raise his zeal and courage to a greater height.

In times of greatest affliction and persecution for holiness' sake, a Christian hath, first, a good captain to lead and encourage him; secondly, a righteous cause to prompt and embolden him; thirdly, a gracious God to relieve and succour him; fourthly, a glorious heaven to receive and reward him; and certainly these things cannot but mightily raise him and inflame him, under the greatest opposition and persecution. These things will keep him from fearing, fawning, fainting, sinking, or flying in a stormy day; yea, these things will make his face like the face of an adamant, as God promised to make Ezekiel's, (Eze 3:7-9 and Job 41:24). Now an adamant is the hardest of stones, it is harder than a flint, yea, it is harder than the nether-millstone. The naturalists [Pliny] observe, that the hardness of this stone is unspeakable: the fire cannot burn it, nor so much as heat it through, nor the hammer cannot break it, nor the water cannot dissolve it, and therefore the Greeks call it an adamant from its untameableness; and in all storms the adamant shrinks not, it fears not, it changeth not its hue; let the times be what they will, the adamant is still the same. In times of persecution, a good cause, a good God, and a good conscience will make a Christian like an adamant; it will make him invincible and unchangeable. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Persecuting times are uniting times. Oh! the discord, the division, the wrangling, biting and quarrelling that is to be found among professors in times of peace and prosperity! But when affliction and persecution comes upon them, this unites them together. Though the sheep in sunshine days feed at a distance, and wander one from another; yet when a storm comes, or the wolf comes, then they run all together; and so it is with Christians. Some religious bishops that could by no means agree when they had their freedom and liberty, yet could well enough agree when they were in prison together. Though children in a family may fall out among themselves, yet they quickly unite when a common enemy assaults them. Persecuting times unite Christians closer together in their affections, resolutions, and prayers. They who formerly could hardly be brought to eat together, or trade together, or live together, or walk together, in persecuting times will be brought to hear together, and pray together, and fast together, and communicate experiences together, and stand together, and fall together, and rise together, &c., (Psa 83:3-9). But,

[6.] Sixthly, As persecuting times are uniting times, so persecuting times are truth-advancing times. Veritas vincit, Truth thrives most when it is most opposed and persecuted: Philippians 1:12-14, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifested in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Court, city, and country did ring of Paul's bonds, and the cause thereof. Paul's iron chain made more noise, and was more glorious, and wrought more blessed effects, than all the golden chains in Nero's court; for by his bonds and chains many of the brethren were mightily emboldened and encouraged to preach the word without fear. The brethren, when they saw that Paul preached, and kept up the exercise of his ministry, though a prisoner, and though he was in bonds and chains, could not but reason thus with themselves: if Paul a prisoner holds up and holds on in preaching the word, though he be in bonds and chains; ah, how much more ought we who are at liberty to hold up and hold on in preaching the truth, and advancing the truth, and in spreading of the truth. Now, by what hath been said, it is most evident that persecuting times are truth-advancing times. But,

[7.] Seventhly and lastly, As persecuting times are truth-advancing times: so persecuting times are a Christian's rejoicing times. A Christian's heart is never so full of joy, as it is when he is under sufferings: Acts 5:41, “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” They counted it an honour to be dishonoured for Christ; they took it as a grace to be disgraced for Jesus. Stephen found the joys of heaven in his heart as the stones came clattering about his ears (Act 7:55, 56). So Paul and Silas, when they were in prison, their hearts were so full of joy that they could not hold, but at mid night when others were a-sleeping, they must fall a-singing out the praises of the Most High (Act 16:25). They found more pleasure than pain, more joy than sorrow, more comfort than torment in their bonds. The rods with which they were whipped were as rods made up all of rosemary branches. Divine consolations rise so high in their souls, that their prison was turned into a palace, yea, into a paradise.

Eusebius tells us of Algerius the Italian martyr, how that, writing to his friend from a stinking dungeon, he dates his letter “from my delicate orchard;” such were his divine consolations, that they turned his dungeon into a pleasant orchard. “I with my fellows,” saith Mr. Philpot, “were carried to the coal-house, where we do rouze[12] together in the straw, as cheerfully, we thank God, as others do in their beds of down.” Mr. Bradford put off his cap, and thanked the Lord, when his keeper's wife brought him word that he was to be burned the next day: and Mr. Taylor fetched a frisk[13] when he was come near to the place where he was to suffer. Henry and John, two Augustine monks, being the first that were burned in Germany, and Mr. Rogers, the first that was burned in Queen Mary's days, did all sing in the flames. If men did but know by experience the sweet that is in suffering for Christ, they would desire with Chrysostom, if it were put to their choice, rather to be Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ, than Paul rapt up in the third heaven. God reserves the best and strongest wine of consolation to a day of persecution; suitable to that 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy, and the God of all comfort, who Comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” Oh, the sweet looks, the sweet words, the sweet hints, the sweet in-comes, the sweet joggings, the sweet embraces, the sweet influences, the sweet discoveries, the sweet love-letters, the sweet love-tokens, and the sweet comforts that Christians experience in their sufferings for Christ! And thus you see the great and glorious advantages that will redound to the people of God by all their afflictions and persecutions. But,

8. Eighthly, I answer, That to suffer affliction and persecution for holiness' sake, is the greatest and highest honour that you are capable of in this world. The crown of a martyrdom is a crown that the angels, those princes of glory, are not capable of winning or wearing; and oh, who art thou! What art thou, O man! That God should set this crown upon thy head! 1 Peter 4:14, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part lie is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” The very suffering condition of the people of God is at the present a glorious condition, for “the Spirit of glory rests upon them,” and they must needs be glorious, yea, very glorious, upon whom the Spirit of glory dwells. The sufferings of “the three children,” (Dan 3), tended very much to their honor and advancement, even in this world; and had those vessels of honor slipped their opportunity of suffering, they had lost their glory. The apostles all along counted their sufferings for Christ their highest honor. And that is a remarkable scripture that you have in that Hebrews 11:36-38, “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.” Oh! but these were surely the most sad, miserable, wretched, and forlorn creatures in all the world. Oh no! and that is most evident if the testimony and judgment of the Holy Ghost may be received; for, verse 38, “They were such of whom the world was not worthy.” The persecuting world was not worthy of their love, nor worthy of their prayers, nor worthy of their presence, nor worthy of their fellowship; and therefore God called them home, and set them down upon thrones by himself. And to me it is very observable, that when that great apostle Paul would glory in that which he accounted his honour, glory, and excellency, he does not glory in his high office, nor in his being rapt up in the third heaven, nor in the interest that he had in the hearts of the saints, nor in his arts or parts, &c.; but he glories in his sufferings, in that 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, “In stripes above measure; in prisons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day have I been in the deep. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” Thus you see that this blessed apostle looks upon his sufferings as his greatest glory. To suffer for Christ is the greatest honor and promotion that God gives in this world, said old Father Latimer. John Noyes took up a faggot at the fire and kissed it, saying, “Blessed be the time that ever I was born: to come to this preferment .[14]” When they had fastened Alice Driver with a chain to the stake to be burned, “Never,” said she, “did neckerchief become me so well as this chain.” Balilus the martyr, when he was to die, requested this favour of his persecutors-viz.,[15] that he might have his chains buried with him, as the ensigns of his honor. When Ignatius was to suffer, “It is better for me,” saith he, “to be a martyr, than to be a monarch.” What are we poor worms, full of vanities and lies, that we should be called to be maintainers of the truth? For sufferings for Christ are the ensigns of heavenly nobility said Calvin. It was a notable saying of a French martyr, when the rope was about his fellow, “Give me,” said he, “that golden chain, and dub me knight of that noble order.” “I am the unmeetest[16] man for this high office of suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it,” said blessed Sanders. I shall conclude this head with that excellent saying of Prudentius: “Their names,” saith he, “that are written in red letters of blood in the church's calendar, are written in golden letters in Christ's register, the book of life.” And thus you see on all hands that suffering for Christ is the highest honor that you are capable of in this world: and, therefore, there is little reason why a Christian should shrink or shrug at sufferings. But,

9. Ninthly, I answer, That the afflictions, persecutions, and sufferings that attend Christians in these days, are nothing to the fiery trials that the saints and martyrs of old have met with: for sevenfold harder measure has been measured forth to them than is this day measured forth to us. Our sufferings are hardly to be named in the day wherein those sore and heavy things a re mentioned, that those precious and famous worthies of old have suffered. I may say to most Christians, as the apostle did to the Hebrews, “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb 12:4).Many have, but you have not; you have only met with hard words, when others have met with blows and wounds; you have been only a-contending with men, when others have been a-contending with beasts; you have been only whipped with rosemary branches, when others have been whipped with scorpions; you have been only bound with silken bands, when others have been bound with iron chains. Will you be so favorable to yourselves as to compare your sufferings with the sufferings of former saints; and that you may, let me give you a little breviate[17] of their sufferings “of whom the world was not worthy.” History tells us, that in the ten primitive persecutions, they exercised all manner of cruelty and torments that could be devised against the Christians:—1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crucified in the Mount Ararat, crowned with crowns of thorns, and thrust into the sides with sharp darts. 2. Others were so whipped, that their very inward arteries and veins appeared, and their entrails and bowels were seen, and afterwards they were set upon sharp shells, taken out of the sea edged and sharp, and certain nails and thorns were sharpened and pointed, called Obelisci,[18] for them to go upon, and after all this cruelty they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured. 3. Multitudes were banished. 4. Others were drawn asunder with wild horses. 5. Some were racked with bars of iron. 6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons. 7. Some were burnt in the fire. 8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beat out with staves and clubs. 9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds. 10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was. 11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones. 12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken. 13. Some were cast down from very high places. 14. Others were beheaded. 15. Some were tormented with razors. 16. Others were slain with the sword. 17. Some were run through with pikes. 18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians. 19. Some fled into caves, which by their persecutors were rammed up with stones, and there they died. 20. Others were trodden to death by the people 21. Some were hanged on gibbets with fire under their sides. 22. Others were cast into the sea and drowned. 23. Some were slain in metal mines. 24. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken. 25. Some were powdered with salt and vinegar, and then roasted with a soft fire. 26. Others were hung by one hand, that they might feel the weight of their whole bodies, scorching and broiling over burning coals. 27. Some were shot through with arrows, and afterwards thrown into stinking jakes.[19] 28. Others were stripped stark naked as ever they were born, and turned out of doors in cold, frosty nights, and burnt the next day. 29. In Syria, a company of Christian virgins were stripped stark naked to be scorned by the multitude, then shaved, then covered with swill[20] and draff,[21] and then torn in pieces and devoured by swine. 30. Lastly, many women had one joint of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides scratched with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches till they died. And thus you have an account of thirty several ways by which the precious sons and daughters of Zion have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed; and what heart of stone can read over this bill of particulars with dry eyes? And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of? Oh, no! Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out, Is there any sorrow to our sorrow, or any sufferings to our sufferings? But,

10. Tenthly, I answer, That unholy persons have suffered as great and grievous things for the satisfying of their lusts and humors,[22] and for the compassing of some worldly good, as you have suffered, or are like to suf fer for your pursuing after holiness. Oh the hazards, the dangers, the deaths that many have run through to gratify their lusts! Petrus Blesensis has long since observed, that the courtiers[23] of his time suffered as many vexations, with weariness and painfulness, with hunger and thirst, and with all the catalogue of Paul's afflictions that is reckoned up in that 2 Corinthians 11, as good Christians did for the truth. I have read of a Roman servant, who knowing his master was sought for by officers to be put to death, he, to save his master's life, put himself into his master's clothes that he might be taken for him, and accordingly he was taken and put to death for him, and all this out of a humor of vainglory. Ah what cutting, what lancing, what bleeding, what vomiting, and what searching will many men endure upon the advice of their physicians, and all for a little health, a little strength, or to preserve a wretched life for a few days, yea, for a few hours sometimes. And why then should Christians think so much of suffering afflictions and persecutions for holiness' sake, the least drachm[24] of which being more worth than a thousand thousand of those things, for which they have suffered such exquisite pains and torments? Ah! what great things, what hard things do many men daily suffer to gratify their own lusts, and to satisfy the lusts of others! Oh the hell of horrors and terrors, which are worse than a thousand deaths, that many a sinner daily wades through to enjoy his sin! And why then shouldst thou be startled in thy pursuit after holiness, because of afflictions and persecutions that may attend thee? When they are nothing to what many suffer from within and without, to enjoy that which will undo them to all eternity, &c. But,

11. Eleventhly, I answer, Though persecutions may attend the pursuit of holiness, yet God has a thousand thousand ways to preserve his people, from being ruined and destroyed by persecuting hands. Several afflictions and persecutions befell Paul at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, “but out of them all the Lord delivered him.” As a righteous cause led him into sufferings, so a righteous God led him out of sufferings. Both Jews and Gentiles, barbarians and Grecians, princes and people, were as madly set upon persecuting of him, as he was once madly set upon persecuting of the saints, but God delivered him from every hand of violence. Divine power and wisdom wrought gloriously for him; both in six troubles and in seven it brought him clearly off, and bravely out, not of some, but out of all his dangers and distresses, afflictions and persecutions, &c. Now,

[1.] First, God sometimes preserves his people from being ruined and destroyed, by laying a law of restraint upon the spirits of their persecutors, as he did upon Laban's and Esau's, that they could not hurt him; yea, instead of kicking and killing, behold kissing and embracing. God tied up those cursed dogs, and laid such a restraint upon their wrath, rage, and malice, that they could not so much as touch a hair of Jacob's head. God stopped their mouths and bound their hands, that they were not able to act anything to the prejudice of Jacob. That God that laid a restraint upon the fierce wild creatures in Noah's ark, that they might not prey upon the tamer, and that chained up the lions from preying upon Daniel, that God chained up these two lions, that they could not make a prey of innocent Jacob. But,

[2.] Secondly, God does this sometimes by setting persecutors one against another. When the Moabites were confederated with the Ammonites and those of mount Seir against Judah, God made them turn their swords into one another's bowels, and so they mutually became their own executioners, and by this means poor Judah escaped. God sometimes saves his lambs by setting the wolf and the dog together by the ears. When that wolf Saul was even ready to devour David the lamb, God lets loose those dogs the Philistines upon Saul, and so by this means David was preserved and secured (1Sa 23:27). And so Paul, by setting the persecuting Pharisees against the persecuting scribes, he escaped persecution (Act 23:6-8). But

[3.] Thirdly, God does sometimes save his people from persecutions by passing a sentence of death upon their persecutors: and thus by his sudden and fearful judgment upon Herod he gave rest, liberty, and quiet to his people (Act 12:23, 24). And so by his vengeance on persecuting emperors he gave rest to his people. And by giving Ahithophel rope enough, he preserved David from perishing. But,

[4.] Fourthly, God does this sometimes by altering and changing the very hearts and natures of their persecutors. And thus by changing Paul's nature, by turning that wolf into a lamb, that devil into a saint, he gave the churches rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (Act 9:31); and this is one of the most desirable things in the world, that God would save his people from outward ruin by ruining their persecutors' sins, and by changing their hearts and saving their souls. But,

[5.] Fifthly, God does this sometimes by taking persecutors' feet in the same snares that they have laid for others: Psalm 9:16, “The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah;” Higgaion selah signifies matter of great admiration, and of deep meditation; that the wicked should be snared in the work of his own hands is matter of perpetual admiration, and of most serious meditation. Who will not admire that Goliath should be slain with his own sword, and that proud Haman should hold Mordecai's stirrup, and be the herald of his honor: Psalm 7:15,16, “He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he hath made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.” It is usual with God to take persecutors in the snares and pits that they have laid for his people, as many thousands in this nation have experienced; and though Rome and her confederates are this day a-laying of snares and traps, and a-digging of pits for the righteous, who will rather burn than bow to their Baal, yet do but wait and weep, and weep and wait a little, and you shall see that the Lord will take them in the very snares and pits that they have laid and digged for his people. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, God sometimes preserves his people from persecuting hands, by providing cities of refuge to shelter them, and by providing hiding-places to hide them in: Matthew 10:23, “If they persecute you in one city, flee to another.” God has always found one city of refuge or another to shelter his persecuted people in. And so when bloody persecuting Jezebel had cut off many of the Lord's prophets, God provided an Obadiah to hide a hundred of them by fifty in a cave (1Ki 18:4, 13). God never wants a chamber of presence, a chamber of providence, a chamber of protection, a chamber of salvation to hide his people in (Isa 26:20). I have read of one that, in the time of the massacre at Paris, crept into a hole to hide himself, and as soon as he was in there came a spider and weaved a web before the hole; the next morning the murderers came to search for him, Search in that hole, said one, and see if he be not there! O no, said another, he can't be there, for there is a cobweb at the hole's mouth; upon which they did not suspect his being there, by which means he was preserved from the rage and fury of those men of blood. But,

12. Twelfthly and lastly, I answer, That all the persecutions that you meet with on earth shall advance your glory in heaven. The more saints are persecuted on earth, the greater shall be their reward in heaven; as persecutions do increase a Christian's grace, so they do advance a Christian's glory: Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Luke 6:22, 23, “Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your re w a rd is in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”

They that are now opposed and persecuted by men, shall at last be owned and crowned by God; yea, and the more afflictions and persecutions are multiplied upon them in this world, the greater shall be their recompense in another world. The original words, agalliasthe in Matthew, and skirtesate in Luke, signifies exceeding great joy, such as men usually express by skipping and dancing; let your hearts leap, and let your bodies leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. Look, as wanton young cattle in the spring, when everything is in its prime and pride, do use to leap and skip for joy; so says Christ, do you leap and skip under all the afflictions and persecutions that befalls you for righteousness' sake, for great is your reward in heaven.

O Christians, all your sufferings will certainly increase your future glory; every affliction, every persecution will be a grain put into the scale of your heavenly glory, to make it more weighty in that day, wherein he will richly reward you for every tear, for every sigh, for every groan, for every hazard, and for every hardship that you have met with in the pursuit of holiness, &c. For light afflictions you shall have a weight of glory; and for a few afflictions you shall have as many joys, pleasures, delights, and contents as there be stars in heaven or sands on the sea-shore; and for momentary afflictions you shall have an eternal crown of glory (2Co 4:16-18). If you have suffering for suffering with Christ on earth, you shall have glory for glory with Christ in heaven. Ah Christians, your present sufferings are but the seeds of your future glory, and the more plentifully you sow in tears, the more abundant will be your harvest of glory. Ah Christians! Shall not the hopes of that great reward that attends suffering saints bear you up bravely, and carry you out sweetly under all the storms that may beat upon you whilst you are sailing heavenwards and holiness - wards? Surely yes. I hope none of you will think that I have been too long in answering this objection, considering the present times.

[1] essays – efforts; initial endeavors.
[2] Acts and Monuments – a reference to the great work by John Foxe (1516-1587) originally entitled Actes and Monuments of These Latter Perilous Days, known to us as Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
[3] prelate – a minister or priest of the higher order, as an archbishop, bishop, or patriarch.
[4] harbinger – that which precedes and gives notice of the expected arrival of something else.
[5] dart – a short lance.
[6] tun – a large cask.
[7] outhouse – outbuilding
[8] perfidiously – faithlessly, disloyally
[9] assize – formerly a periodic court session held in each of the counties of England for the trial of civil or criminal cases.
[10] scullions – a kitchen servant that cleans pots and does other menial tasks
[11] distempered – disordered or abnormal bodily state
[12] rouze – lie in filth.
[13] frisk – to leap, skip, or dance in a lively or playful way.
[14] preferment – advancement or promotion
[15] viz. (abbreviation of videlicet) – that is to say, namely
[16] unmeetest – most unsuitable
[17] breviate – an abridgment or an abbreviation
[18] obelisci – From the Greek obeliskos, = a small spit
[19] jakes – out houses (author is calling the jail an outhouse due to the horrible conditions that the prisoners were kept in)
[20] swill – the wash or mixture of liquid substances given to swine
[21] draff – waste matter or refuse given to swine
[22] humors – whims, desires
[23] courtier – a man who frequents or attends the courts of princes
[24] drachm – A Grecian coin of little value

— From Crown and Glory of Christianity, Thomas Brooks, The Works of Thomas Brooks, Vol IV, pp. 261-300, reprinted by Banner of Truth. Thomas Brook s (1608-1680) Nonconformist preacher and advocate of the Congregational way. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Author of Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, and others. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.