A01278:167
Of the preparation to the cross, and to death and of the comfort under…Of the preparation to the crosse, and to deathe and of the comforte vnder…
Of the preparation to the cross, and to death and of the comfort under the cross and death, two books very fruitful for devout people to read, translated from latin to english, by Richard Tracy.Of the preparation to the crosse, and to deathe and of the comforte vnder the crosse and death, two bokes very fruictefull for deuoute people to rede, translated from latyn to englysshe, by Rycharde Tracy.
Londini : In ædibus Thomæ Bertheleti typis impress. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum, Anno. M.D.XL. 1540Londini : In ædibus Thomæ Bertheleti typis impress. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum, Anno. M.D.XL. 1540
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
¶A consolation for them, which suffer for their offences.
¶A consolation for them, whiche suffer for theyr offences.
OF THEM which suffer for their evil deeds,1 Peter speaketh, saying: what praise is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently? And again.2 See that none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a these, or as an evil doer, or a busy body in other mens matters. But if it chance so, that we must suffer for an evil deed done of us, the deserved punishment may be an holy suffering, no less pleasant to god, than the suffering of the innocent martyrs. For if the evil doer confess his sin before god, and believe that his sin is forgiven, through Jesus Christ: then by Jesus Christ it is brought to ⟨image 101⟩pass, that the deserved punishment is sanctified, to obtain the crown of everlasting glory: was not the these, hanging on the cross upon the one side of Christ, sanctified in his punishment,3 as soon as he acknowledged his sin, and through faith commended his health to Christ? Was it not said also to him, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise? Neither is it marvel, that evil doers through faith, can in their deserved punishments, be sanctified as innocent martyrs. For as the martyrs in their suffering do testify and witness Christ and the gospel, so evil doers in their punishment, do testify and witness the law of god, and be examples to other, that they avoid evil deeds, lest they be punished in like ⟨image 101⟩manner. To be an example, that mischievous deeds be avoided, is it not a work of holiness? Therefore whether a man do suffer justly or unjustly, let him believe in Jesus Christ, and his suffering shall cause him to obtain of the lord a garland that never shall wither away. Therefore no man ought to despair.