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But when persecution once cometh for the word of God, than is God called upon with most hearty & feruē prayers, than are the holy scriptures searched, than do men study for the amendment of life, than do they seek the accomplishment of gods most holy will, than are they altogether desirous of celestial things, and utterly contemn & set at nought ¹what so ever pleaseth the eyes of carnal men in this world. Therefore when persecution cometh for righteousness sake, let us not despair, but make our selves conformable to the will of God, rejoice & be me ⟨image 27⟩ry. Let us set before our eies the ex amples of Christ & of all his church, even from the beginning of the world, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the people of Israel in Egypt, David, Josiah, the Prophets and apostles. We must, saith S. Paul ²be made like unto the image of the son of God. If our elder brother Christ possessed not the eternal inheritance, but by the Cross, shall we that are of a meaner sort think to enjoy it after a more easy sort? To whom is this saying unknown. By many tribulations we must ³enter into the kingdom of God. Christ bare the cross, but he bare it not away with him, but left it here behind him to be borne of us also, if we will be his Disciples, as he saith, if any man cometh unto me, & hateth not his father & mother, ⁴wife, children & sisters, yea & his own life, he can not be my disciple. ⟨image 28⟩And who so ever beareth not his ⁵cross & come the after me, he can not be me disciple. The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough that the disciple be like his master, & the servant like his Lord. If they have called the father of the house hold Beelzebub, how much more shall they so call them, that be of his household? If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before you. Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore doth the world hate you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have per secuted me, they shall also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they shall also keep yours. But all these things shall they do to you for my names sake, because they have not known him, that hath