Moses his choice with his eye fixed upon Heaven, discovering the happy condition of…

You seek and affect peace, but preposterously, such as the worlds peace, not Christs, who gives peace in the middest of troubles; as he saith, Rule thou in the middest of thine Enemies. Now the cause of the Church calls for a wise judging: How many carnal people are ready to think that Popery is rather the truth, and that the Religion of Protestants is not right, because God hath of late years so grievously afflicted his Church? What, would God suffer his own people (say they) his own truth thus to be beaten down? As they formerly said of Christ, Let him save him, seeing he delighted in him, so ⟨p. 64⟩if God delighted in this way, surely he would have saved it, he would not have suffered opposition so far to have prevailed against the professors of it. It is no argument that Christ is not in the ship, because tempests and storms arise. It is no argument that our cause is not Gods, that Christ is not with us, because of our afflictions, it may be we have not awakened him by our prayers, we are not yet fit to enjoy the sweetness of a calm.

Salvian was fain to write a whole Treatise, above eleven hundred years ago, to answer this argument that men had against the people of God, and the profession of the Gospel. Turks judge all things according to outward success, and so did the heathens of old. We read of Brutus, being overcome by Anthony, he cries out, Whatsoever things are disputed concerning ¹virtue, are but mere toys and fancies; for fortune rules in all humane things: but it beseems not Christians to judge by this rule. Clemens Alexandrinus cites Plato, expressing himself thus, Although a righteous man be tormented, although his eyes be digged out, yet he remains a blessed man. Let none judge worse of himself merely because of afflictions: before you were of the world, it may be you prospered, it shined upon you; but now since you have given your name to Christ, many troubles and afflictions follow you: this is no other but that hath been, is, will be the estate of Gods people in this life: we must not draw ill consequences from, or make ill constructions of our afflictions, for this is to charge God foolishly, which Job did not, Chap. 1. 22. There are some kind of sufferings that a man meets with, that have a kind of sweet seal of God with them, even in the time of