Armatura Dei, or, A preparation for suffering in an evil day showing how Christians…Armatura Dei, or, A preparation for suffering in an evil day shewing how Christians…

2. True Obedience hath a pure respect to Gods Will and Glory: It hath a pure respect to Gods Will; it doth not do the Commands of God upon a by-account, as Jehu destroyed Ahab's house; but it doth them intuitu Voluntatis, because it is the will of God; it is that which sways and casts the balance in a good mans heart and life: As in matters of Faith he believes, because God hath said it; so in matters of Practise he obeys because God hath ⟨p. 115⟩commanded it. Also it hath a pure respect to Gods Glory; Mens cujusque id est quisque; the man is as his mind is, and the mind is as his end is; An obedient person will not be a Centre to himself, nor make God the most excellent Being, a medium to any other thing: His great design is that God in all things may be glorified: His Holiness is but to shine as a beam from the holy one; his Mercy is but as a little drop flowing from the Divine Ocean; his Obedience is to tell the World that God is supreme; like his Saviour Christ, he seeks not his own glory, but his Fathers. Such an Obedience as this admirably disposes a man for suffering; He, that doth some things because they are commanded, will take up the Cross too, because it is in a peculiar manner commanded in the Gospel: The stamp of the Divine Authority is not only found upon the Precepts of Piety and Justice, but upon that of Patience too: Also, he that doth sincerely glorify God in other things, will, if occasion be, glorify him in pious sufferings: Some honour may be done to God in other Duties, but in no other thing is there such honour given to him as in bearing the Cross; therein a man doth practically declare that he values God above all the World; and therefore the Martyrs have (as the School-men ⟨p. 116⟩tell us) a greater reward in heaven than others: Others have the essential Glory in the Vision of God, but for the Martyrs is reserved an Aureola, a peculiar Coronet to be added to their Crown of Glory, propter victoriam de mundo, for their victory over the World

2. True Obedience hath a pure respect to Gods Will and Glory: It hath a pure respect to Gods Will; it doth not do the Commands of God upon a by-account, as Jehu destroied Ahab's house; but it doth them intuitu Voluntatis, because it is the will of God; it is that which swaies and casts the ballance in a good mans heart and life: As in matters of Faith he believes, because God hath said it; so in matters of Practise he obeys because God hath