N20568:9800
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
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.
FAREWELL, my dearly beloved brethren in Christ, both you my fellow-prisoners, and you also that be exiled and banished out of your countries, because you will rather forsake all worldly advantages, than the gospel of Christ.
FAREWEL, my dearly beloved brethren in Christ, both you my fellow-prisoners, and you also that be exiled and banished out of your countries, because you will rather forsake all worldly advantages, than the gospel of Christ.
FAREWELL all you together in Christ; farewell and be merry, for you know that the trial of your faith bringeth forth patience, and patience shall make us perfect, whole, and sound on every side, and such, after trial (ye know) shall receive the crown of life, according to the promise of the Lord made to his dearly beloved; let us therefore be patient unto the coming of the Lord. As the husbandman abideth patiently the former and latter rain for the increase of his crop, so let us be patient, and pluck up our hearts, for the coming of the Lord approacheth apace. Let us my dear brethren, take example ⟨p. 920⟩of patience in tribulation of the prophets, who likewise spake God's word truly in his name. Let Job be to us an example of patience and the end which the Lord suffered, which is full of mercy and pity. We know, my brethren, by God's word, that our faith is much more precious than any corruptible gold, and yet that is tried by the fire: even so our faith is therefore tried likewise in tribulations, that it may be found, when the Lord shall appear, ••u•lable, glorious, and honourable. For if we for Christ's cause do suffer, that is grateful before God; for thereunto are we called, that is our state and vocation, wherewith let us be content. Christ, we know, suffered for us afflictions, leaving us an example that we should follow his footsteps, for he committed no sin, nor was there any guile found in his mouth: when he was railed upon, and all to be reviled, he railed not again: when he was evil entreated, he did not threaten, but committed the punishment thereof to him that judgeth aright.
FAREWEL all you together in Christ; farewel and be merry, for you know that the trial of your faith bringeth forth patience, and patience shall make us perfect, whole, and sound on every side, and such, after trial (ye know) shall receive the crown of life, according to the promise of the Lord made to his dearly beloved; let us therefore be patient unto the coming of the Lord. As the husbandman abideth patiently the former and latter rain for the increase of his crop, so let us be patient, and pluck up our hearts, for the coming of the Lord approacheth apace. Let us my dear brethren, take example ⟨p. 920⟩of patience in tribulation of the prophets, who likewise spake God's word truly in his name. Let Job be to us an example of patience and the end which the Lord suffered, which is full of mercy and pity. We know, my brethren, by God's word, that our faith is much more precious than any corruptible gold, and yet that is tried by the fire: even so our faith is therefore tried likewise in tribulations, that it may be found, when the Lord shall appear, ••u•lable, glorious, and honourable. For if we for Christ's cause do suffer, that is grateful before God; for thereunto are we called, that is our state and vocation, wherewith let us be content. Christ, we know, suffered for us afflictions, leaving us an example that we should follow his footsteps, for he committed no sin, nor was there any guile found in his mouth: when he was railed upon, and all to be reviled, he railed not again: when he was evil intreated, he did not threaten, but committed the punishment thereof to him that judgeth aright.
LET us ever have in fresh remembrance those wonderful comfortable sentences spoken by the mouth of our Saviour Christ; Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men revile you, persecute you, and speak evil against you for my sake: rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so did they persecute the prophets that were before you. Christ our master hath told us beforehand, that the brother should put the brother to death, and the father the son, and the children should rise against their parents and kill them, and that Christ's true apostles should be hated of all men for his name's sake; but he that shall abide patiently unto the end, shall be saved.
LET us then endure in all troubles patiently, after the example of our master Christ, and be contented therewith, for he suffered, being our Master and Lord: how doth it then become us to suffer? For the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It may suffice the disciple to be as his master, and the servant to be as his lord. If they have called the Father of the family, the Master of the household, […], how much more shall they ••ll them so of his household? Fear them not (saith our Saviour) for all hidden things shall be •ade plain; there is now nothing secret, but it sha•• be showed in light. Of Christ's word• let us neither be ashamed nor afraid to speak them; for so Christ commandeth us, saying, What I tell you privily, speak openly abroad, and what I tell you in your ear, preach openly on the ho•se top. And fear not them which k•ll the body, for the soul they cannot kill; but fear him which can cast both body and soul into hell-fire.
LET us then endure in all troubles patiently, after the example of our master Christ, and be contented therewith, for he suffered, being our Master and Lord: how doth it then become us to suffer? For the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It may suffice the disciple to be as his master, and the servant to be as his lord. If they have called the Father of the family, the Master of the houshold, 〈…〉, how much more shall they ••ll them so of his houshold? Fear them not (saith our Saviour) for all hidden things shall be •ade plain; there is now nothing secret, but it sha•• be shewed in light. Of Christ's word• let us neither be ashamed nor afraid to speak them; for so Christ commandeth us, saying, What I tell you privily, speak openly abroad, and what I tell you in your ear, preach openly on the ho•se top. And fear not them which k•ll the body, for the soul they cannot kill; but fear him which can cast both body and soul into hell-fire.
KNOW ye that our our heavenly Father hath ever a gracious eye and respect toward you, and a fatherly providence for you, so that nothing without his knowledge and permission can do you harm. Let us therefore cast all our care upon him, he shall provide that which shall be best for us. For if of two small sparrows, which both are sold for a mite, one of them lighteth not on the ground without your Father, and all the hairs of our head are numbered, fear not them (saith our master Christ) for you are worth more than many sparrows. And let us not stick to confess our master Christ for fear of danger, whatsoever it shall be, remembering the promise that Christ maketh, saying, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall I confess before my Father which is in heaven: but whosoever shall deny me, him shall I likewise deny before my Father which is in heaven. Christ came not to give us here a carnal amity, and a worldly peace, or to knit his unto the world in ease and peace, but rather to separate and divide from the world, and to join them unto himself: in whose cause we must, if we will be his, forsake father and mother, and stick unto him. If we forsake him or shrink from him for trouble or death's sake, which he calleth his cross; he will none of us, we cannot be his. If for his cause we shall lose our temporal lives here, we shall find them again, and enjoy them for evermore: but if, in his cause, we will not be contented to leave nor lose them here, then shall we lose them so, that we shall never find them again, but in everlasting death. What though our trouble• here are painful for the time, and the st•ng of death bitter and unpleasant; yet we know that they shall not last, in comparison of eternity, •o not the twinkling of an eye, and that they, patiently taken in Christ's cause, shall procure and ⟨p. 921⟩get us unmeasurable heaps of heavenly glory, unto which these temporal pains of death and troubles compared▪ are not to be esteemed, but to be rejoiced upon. Wonder not, saith St. Peter, as though it were any strange matter that ye are tried by the […], he meaneth of tribulation, which thing, saith he, is done to prove you; nay, rather in that ye are partners of Christ's afflictions, rejoice that in his glorious revelation ye may rejoice with merry hearts. If ye suffer rebukes in Christ's name, happy are ye, for the glory and Spirit of God resteth upon you.
Of them God is reviled and dishonoured, but of you he is glorified.
LET no man be ashamed of that which he suffereth as a christian, and in Christ's cause; for now is the time that judgment and correction must begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of those, think ye, which believe not the gospel? And if the righteous shall be hardly saved, the wicked and the sinner, where shall he appear? Wherefore they which are afflicted according to the will of God, let them lay down and commit their souls ro him by well doing, as to a trusty and faithful maker. This, as I said, may not seem strange to us, for we know that all the whole fraternity of Christ's congregation in this world is served with the like, and by the same is made perfect. For the servant love that the apostles had unto their master Christ, and for the great advantages and increase of all godliness which they felt by their faith to ensue of afflictions in Christ's cause, and also for the heaps of heavenly joys which the same do get unto the godly, which shall endure in heaven for evermore; for these causes (I say) the apostles did joy of their afflictions, and rejoiced in that they were had and accounted worthy to suffer contumelies and rebukes for Christ's name. And St. Paul, as he glorieth in the grace and favour of God, whereunto he was brought and stood in by faith; so he rejoiced in his afflictions for the heavenly and spiritual profits which he numbered to rise upon them: yea, he was so far in love with what the carnal man loatheth so much, that is, with Christ's cross, that he judged himself to know nothing else but Christ crucified: he will glory, he saith, in nothing else but in Christ's cross, yea, and he blesseth all those as the only true Israelites, and elect people of God, with peace and mercy, which walk after that rule, and after no other.
LET no man be ashamed of that which he suffereth as a christian, and in Christ's cause; for now is the time that judgment and correction must begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of those, think ye, which believe not the gospel? And if the righteous shall be hardly saved, the wicked and the sinner, where shall he appear? Wherefore they which are afflicted according to the will of God, let them lay down and commit their souls ro him by well doing, as to a trusty and faithful maker. This, as I said, may not seem strange to us, for we know that all the whole fraternity of Christ's congregation in this world is served with the like, and by the same is made perfect. For the servant love that the apostles had unto their master Christ, and for the great advantages and increase of all godliness which they felt by their faith to insue of afflictions in Christ's cause, and also for the heaps of heavenly joys which the same do get unto the godly, which shall endure in heaven for evermore; for these causes (I say) the apostles did joy of their afflictions, and rejoiced in that they were had and accounted worthy to suffer contumelies and rebukes for Christ's name. And St. Paul, as he glorieth in the grace and favour of God, whereunto he was brought and stood in by faith; so he rejoiced in his afflictions for the heavenly and spiritual profits which he numbered to rise upon them: yea, he was so far in love with what the carnal man loatheth so much, that is, with Christ's cross, that he judged himself to know nothing else but Christ crucified: he will glory, he saith, in nothing else but in Christ's cross, yea, and he blesseth all those as the only true Israelites, and elect people of God, with peace and mercy, which walk after that rule, and after no other.
O Lord, what a wonderful spirit was that, that made Paul, in setting forth of himself against the vanity of Satan's false apostles, and in his claim there, that he, in Christ's cause, did excel and surpass them all? What wonderful spirit was that, I say, that made him to reckon up all his troubles, his labours, his beatings, his whippings and scourgings, his shipwrecks, his dangers and perils by water and by land, his famine, hunger, nakedness, and cold, with many more, and the daily care of all the congregations of Christ, among whom every man's pain did pierce his heart, and every man's grief was grievous unto him? O Lord, is this Paul's prima•y, whereof he thought so much good that he did excel others? Is not this Paul's saying unto Timothy his own Scholar? And doth it not pertain to whosoever will be Christ's true soldiers? Bear thou, saith he, affliction like a true soldier of Jesus Christ. This is true; if we die with him (he meaneth Christ) we shall live with him; if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him; if we deny him, he shall deny us; if we be faithless, he remaineth faithful, he cannot deny himself This, Paul would have known to every body; for there is no other way to heaven but Christ and his way: and all that will live godly in Christ, shall (saith St. Paul) suffer persecution. By this way went to heaven the patriarchs, the prophets, Christ our master, his apostles, his martyrs, and all the godly since the beginning. And as it hath been of old, that he which was born after the flesh, persecuted him who was born after the spirit, for so it was in Isaac's time; so said St. Paul, it was in his time also. And whether it be so now or no, let the spiritual man, the self same man I mean, that is endued with the spirit of Almighty God, let him be judge. Of the cross of the patriarchs, as ye may read in their stories, if ye read the book Genesis, ye shall perceive. Of others, St. Paul in a few words comprehendeth much matter, speaking in a generality of the wonderful afflictions, death, and torments which the men of God in God's cause, and for the truth's sake, willingly and gladly did suffer. After much particular rehearsal of many, he saith, Others were racked and despised, and would not be delivered, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ⟨p. 922⟩Others again were tried wi•• ••ockings and scourgings, and moreover wi•h •onds and imprisonment;
they were […], tempted, fell, and were slain upon the e•ge of the sword; some wandered to and fro in sheep-skins, in goat-skins, forsaken, oppressed, afflicted, such godly men as the world was unworthy of, wandering in wildernesses, in mountains, in caves, and in dens, and all these were commended for their faith. And yet they abide for us the servants of God, and for those their brethren which are to be slain as they were for the word of God's sake, that none be shut out, but that we may all go together to meet our master Christ in the air at his coming, and so be in bliss with body and soul for evermore.
they were 〈…〉, tempted, fell, and were slain upon the e•ge of the sword; some wandered to and fro in sheep-skins, in goat-skins, forsaken, oppressed, afflicted, such godly men as the world was unworthy of, wandering in wildernesses, in mountains, in caves, and in dens, and all these were commended for their faith. And yet they abide for us the servants of God, and for those their brethren which are to be slain as they were for the word of God's sake, that none be shut out, but that we may all go together to meet our master Christ in the air at his coming, and so be in bliss with body and soul for evermore.
THEREFORE seeing we have so much occasion to suffer, and to take afflictions for Christ's name's sake patiently, so many advantages thereby, so weighty causes, so many good examples, so great necessity, so pure promises of eternal life and heavenly joys of him that cannot lie: let us throw away whatever might hinder us, all burden of sin, and all kind of carnality, and patiently and constantly let us run for the best game in this race that is set before us, ever having our eyes upon Jesus Christ, the captain and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, not minding the shame and ignominy thereof, and is set now at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider this, that he suffered such strife of sinners against himself, that ye should not give over nor faint in your minds. As yet, brethren, we have not withstood unto death fighting against sin. Let us never forget, dear brethren, for Christ's sake, that fatherly exhortation of the wise man that speaketh unto us as unto his children, the godly wisdom of God, saying thus; my son, despise not the correction of the Lord, nor fall from him when thou art rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth him doth he correct, and scourgeth every child whom he receiveth. What child is he whom the father doth not chasten? If ye be free from chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and no children. Seeing then, when as we have had carnal parents which chastered us, we reverenced them, shall not we much more be subject unto our spiritual Father that we might live? And they for a little time have taught us after their own mind, but this Father teacheth us to our advantage, to give unto us his holiness. All chastisement for the present time appeareth not pleasant but painful; but afterwards it rendereth the fruit of righteousness on them which are exercised in it. Wherefore let us be of good cheer, good brethren, and let us pluck up our feeble members that were fallen or begun to faint, heart, hands, knees, and all the rest, and let us walk upright and straight, that no limping nor halting bring us out of the way.
Let us not look upon the things that be present, but with the eyes of our faith let us steadfastly behold the things that be everlasting in heaven, and so choose rather in respect of that which is to come, with the chosen members of Christ to bear Christ's cross, than for his short life time to enjoy all the riches, honours, and pleasures of the broad world. Why should we Christians fear death? Can death deprive us of Christ, which is all our comfort, our joy, and our life? Nay forsooth. But contrary, death shall deliver us from this mortal body, which loadeth and beareth down the spirit, that it cannot so well perceive heavenly things; on which so long as we dwell, we are absent from God.
Let us not look upon the things that be present, but with the eyes of our faith let us stedfastly behold the things that be everlasting in heaven, and so chuse rather in respect of that which is to come, with the chosen members of Christ to bear Christ's cross, than for his shortlife time to enjoy all the riches, honours, and pleasures of the broad world. Why should we Christians fear death? Can death deprive us of Christ, which is all our comfort, our joy, and our life? Nay forsooth. But contrary, death shall deliver us from this mortal body, which loadeth and beareth down the spirit, that it cannot so well perceive heavenly things; on which so long as we dwell, we are absent from God.
WHEREFORE understanding our state in that we be christians, that if our mortal body, which is our earthly house, were destroyed, we have a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, therefore we are of good cheer, and know that when we are in the body, we are absent from God; for we walk by faith, and not by sight. Nevertheless we are bold, and had rather be absent from the body, and present with God. Wherefore we strive, whether we be present at home, or absent abroad, that we may always please him; and who that hath true faith in our Saviour Christ, whereby he knoweth somewhat truly what Christ our Saviour is, that he is the eternal Son of God, Life, Light, the Wisdom of the Father, all goodness, all righteousness, and whatsoever is good that heart can desire, yea infinite plenty of all these, above what man's heart can either conceive or think (for in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead corporally), and also that he is given us of ⟨p. 923⟩the Father, and made of God to be our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption: who, I say, is he that believeth this indeed, that would not gladly be with his master Christ? Paul for this knowledge coveted to be loosed from the body, and to have been with Christ, for he counted it much better for himself, and had rather be loosed than to live. Therefore these words of Christ to the thief on the cross, that asked of him mercy, were full of comfort and solace: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. To die in the defence of Christ's gospel, it is our bounden duty to Christ, and also to our neighbour. To Christ, because he died for us, and rose again that he might be Lord over all. And seeing he died for us, we also, saith St. John, should hazard, yea give our life for our brethren, and this kind of giving and losing, is getting and winning indeed: for he that giveth or loseth his life thus, getteth and winneth it for evermore. Blessed are they therefore that die in the Lord, and if they die in the Lord's cause, they are most happy of all. Let us not then fear death, which can do us no harm, otherwise than for a moment to make the flesh to smart: but that our faith, which is fastened and fixed upon the word of God, telleth us that we shall be anon after death in peace, in the hands of God, in joy, in solace, and that from death we shall go straight unto life. For St.
WHEREFORE understanding our state in that we be christians, that if our mortal body, which is our earthly house, were destroyed, we have a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, therefore we are of good cheer, and know that when we are in the body, we are absent from God; for we walk by faith, and not by sight. Nevertheless we are bold, and had rather be absent from the body, and present with God. Wherefore we strive, whether we be present at home, or absent abroad, that we may always please him; and who that hath true faith in our Saviour Christ, whereby he knoweth somewhat truly what Christ our Saviour is, that he is the eternal Son of God, Life, Light, the Wisdom of the Father, all goodness, all righteousness, and whatsoever is good that heart can desire, yea infinite plenty of all these, above what man's heart can either conceive or think (for in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead corporally), and also that he is given us of
John saith, He that liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. And in another place, he shall depart from death unto life. And therefore this death of the christian is not to be called death, but rather a gate of entrance into everlasting life. Therefore Paul calleth it but a dissolution and change, and both Peter and Paul, a putting off this tabernacle or dwelling house: meaning thereby the mortal body, as wherein the soul or spirit doth dwell here in this world sort a short time. Yea, this my death may be called, to the christian, an end of all miseries. For so long as we live here, we must pass through many tribulations before we can enter into the kingdom of heaven. And now, after that death hath shot his b•lt, all the christian man's enemies have door what they can, after that they have no more to do. What could hurt or harm poor Lazarus that lay at the rich man's gate? his former penury and poverty? his misery, beggary, and horrible sore• and sickness? No: as soon as death had struck him with his dart, so soon came the angels, and carried him straight up into Abraham's bosom. What lost he by death, who from misery and pain is conducted, by the ministry of angels, into a place of joy and felicity?
John saith, He that liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. And in another place, he shall depart from death unto life. And therefore this death of the christian is not to be called death, but rather a gate of entrance into everlasting life. Therefore Paul calleth it but a dissolution and change, and both Peter and Paul, a putting off this tabernacle or dwelling house: meaning thereby the mortal body, as wherein the soul or spirit doth dwell here in this world sort a short time. Yea, this my death may be called, to the christian, an end of all miseries. For so long as we live here, we must pass through many tribulations before we can enter into the kingdom of heaven. And now, after that death hath shot his b•lt, all the christian man's enemies have dore what they can, after that they have no more to do. What could hurt or harm poor Lazarus that lay at the rich man's gate? his former penury and poverty? his misery, beggary, and horrible sore• and sickness? No: as soon as death had struck him with his dart, so soon came the angels, and carried him straight up into Abraham's bosom. What lost he by death, who from misery and pain is conducted, by the ministry of angels, into a place of joy and felicity?
FAREWELL, dear brethren, farewell; let us comfort our hearts in all troubles, and in death, with God's word, for heaven and earth shall perish, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.
FAREWEL, dear brethren, farewel; let us comfort our hearts in all troubles, and in death, with God's word, for heaven and earth shall perish, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.
FAREWELL, Christ's dearly beloved spouse, here wandering in this world in a strange land, encompassed about with deadly enemies, who see thy destruction.
FAREWEL, Christ's dearly beloved spouse, here wandering in this world in a strange land, encompassed about with deadly enemies, who see thy destruction.
KNOW ye that our our heavenly Father hath ever a gracious eye and respect toward you, and a fatherly providence for you, so that nothing without his knowledge and permission can do you harm. Let us therefore cast all our care upon him, he shall provide that which shall be best for us. For if of two small sparrows, which both are sold for a mite, one of them lighteth not on the ground without your Father, and all the hairs of our head are numbered, fear not them (saith our master Christ) for you are worth more than many sparrows. And let us not stick to confess our master Christ for fear of danger, whatsoever it shall be, remembering the promise that Christ maketh, saying, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall I confess before my Father which is in heaven: but whosoever shall deny me, him shall I likewise deny before my Father which is in heaven. Christ came not to give us here a carnal amity, and a worldly peace, or to knit his unto the world in ease and peace, but rather to separate and divide from the world, and to join them unto himself: in whose cause we must, if we will be his, forsake father and mother, and stick unto him. If we forsake him or shrink from him for trouble or death's sake, which he calleth his cross; he will none of us, we cannot be his. If for his cause we shall lose our temporal lives here, we shall find them again, and enjoy them for evermore: but if, in his cause, we will not be contented to leave nor lose them here, then shall we lose them so, that we shall never find them again, but in everlasting death. What though our trouble• here are painful for the time, and the st•ng of death bitter and unpleasant; yet we know that they shall not last, in comparison of eternity, •o not the twinkling of an eye, and that they, patiently taken in Christ's cause, shall procure and ⟨p. 921⟩get us unmeasurable heaps of heavenly glory, unto which these temporal pains of death and troubles compared▪ are not to be esteemed, but to be rejoiced upon. Wonder not, saith St. Peter, as though it were any strange matter that ye are tried by the 〈…〉, he meaneth of tribulation, which thing, saith he, is done to prove you; nay, rather in that ye are partners of Christ's afflictions, rejoice that in his glorious revelation ye may rejoice with merry hearts. If ye suffer rebukes in Christ's name, happy are ye, for the glory and Spirit of God resteth upon you.
O Lord, what a wonderful spirit was that, that made Paul, in setting forth of himself against the vanity of Satan's false apostles, and in his claim there, that he, in Christ's cause, did excel and surpass them all? What wonderful spirit was that, I say, that made him to reckon up all his troubles, his labours, his beatings, his whippings and scourgings, his shipwrecks, his dangers and perils by water and by land, his famine, hunger, nakedness, and cold, with many more, and the daily care of all the congregations of Christ, among whom every man's pain did pierce his heart, and every man's grief was grievous unto him? O Lord, is this Paul's prima•y, whereof he thought so much good that he did excel others? Is not this Paul's saying unto Timothy his own Scholar? And doth it not pertain to whosoever will be Christ's true soldiers? Bear thou, saith he, affliction like a true soldier of Jesus Christ. This is true; if we die with him (he meaneth Christ) we shall live with him; if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him; if we deny him, he shall deny us; if we be faithless, he remaineth faithful, he cannot deny himself This, Paul would have known to every body; for there is no other way to heaven but Christ and his way: and all that will live godly in Christ, shall (saith St. Paul) suffer persecution. By this way went to heaven the patriarchs, the prophets, Christ our master, his apostles, his martyrs, and all the godly since the beginning. And as it hath been of old, that he which was born after the flesh, persecuted him who was born after the spirit, for so it was in Isaac's time; so said St. Paul, it was in his time also. And whether it be so now or no, let the spiritual man, the self same man I mean, that is endued with the spirit of Almighty God, let him be judge. Of the cross of the patriarchs, as ye may read in their stories, if ye read the book Genesis, ye shall perceive. Of others, St. Paul in a few words comprehendeth much matter, speaking in a generality of the wonderful afflictions, death, and torments which the men of God in God's cause, and for the truth's sake, willingly and gladly did suffer. After much particular rehearsal of many, he saith, Others were racked and despised, and would not be delivered, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ⟨p. 922⟩Others again were tried wi•• ••ockings and s•ourgings, and mor••ver wi•h •onds and imprisonment;
