of the saints in suffering times. Paul's choice carriage in his bonds was the confirmation of many. 'And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear,' Philip, i. 14 : vide Estius. And as the sufferings of the saints do contribute to the confirmation of some, so by the blessing of God they contribute to the conversion of others. ' I beseech thee,' says Paul, 'for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds,' Philemon ] 0. It was a notable saying of Luther, Ecclesia totum Tnun- dum conveHit sanguine et oratione. The church converteth the whole world by blood and prayer.^ Basil affirms,'^ that the primitive saints shewed so much heroic zeal and constancy, that many of the heathens turned Christians ; so that choice spirit that the saints have shewed in their sufferings, when Christ hath overshadowed them with his love, and ' stayed them with flagons, and comforted them with apples,' Cant.ii. 5, hath madded, grieved, vexed, and extremely tormented their tormentors.'
Lactantius boasts of the braveness of the martyrs in his time : ' Our children and women, not to speak of men, do in silence overcome their tormentors, and the fire cannot so much as fetch a sigh from them.'
Hegesippus reports an observation of Antoninus the emperor, viz., 'That the Christians were most courageous and confident always in earthquakes, whilst his own heathen soldiers were at such accidents most fearful and disspirited.' Certainly no earthquakes can make any heartquakes among the suffering saints, so long as the countenance of God shines upon their face, and his love lies warm upon their hearts. The suffering saint may be assaulted, but not vanquished ; he may be troubled, but can never be conquered ; he may lose his head, but he cannot lose his crown, which the righteous Lord hath prepared and laid up for him, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. The suffering saint shall still be master of the day ; though they kill him, they cannot hurt him ;* he may suffer death, but never conquest. 'And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the death,' Rev. xii. 11. They love not their lives that love Christ and his truth more than their lives ; they that slight, contemn, and despise their lives, when they stand in competition with Christ, may be truly said not to love their lives. In these words you see that the saints by dying do overcome : ' They may kill me,' said Socrates of his enemies, ' but they cannot hurt me.'' A saint may say this and more. The herb heliotropium doth turn about and open itself accord- ing to the motion of the sun ; so do the saints in their sufferings, according to the internal motions of the Sun of righteousness upon them.*
(3.) The third reason, A third reason why the Lord causes his good- ness to pass before his people, and his face to shine upon his people in
* They knew it could be but a day's journey between the cross and paradise, between that short storm and an eternal calm.
« Qu. Justin Martyr, as before? See Index, sub nomine.— G.
' It would be too tedious to give you an account of all particular persecutors in this case, whom the courage, faith, and patience of the saints have tired out and made weary of their lives, and also bred wonder and astonishment in beholders and readers.
* Mori potse, vinci non posse. * Plato, Phsedo. — G.
* 0 Lord Jesus, said one, 1 love t\xee,plusquammea,plusquamTneos,plusquamme, more than all goods, more than all my friends, yea, more than my very life.
358 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.
suffering times, and that is, /or the praise of his own grace, and for the gloiy of his own name. God would lose much of his own glory, if he should not stand by his people, and comfort them and strengthen them, in the day of their sorrows. Ah the dirt, the scorn, the contempt, that vain men would cast upon God, Exod. xxxii. 12, Num. xiv. 13. Look, as our greatest good comes through the sufferings of Christ, so Grod's greatest glory that he bath from his saints comes through their sufferings : ' If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you : on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified,' 1 Pet. iv. 14 [vide Bezam]. It makes much for the glory of God, that his people are cheered and comforted, quickened and raised, spiritualised and elevated in the day of their sufferings. Oh the sight of so noble a spirit in the saints, causes others to admire God, to lift up God, to fall in love with God, and to glorify God ; for owning his people, and for being a light to them in darkness, a joy to them in sorrow, and a palace to them in prison.* God is very sensible of the many praises and prayers that he should lose, did lie not cause his love and his glory to rest upon his people in suffering times. 1 here is nothing that God is so tender of, as he is of his glory, and that his heart is so much set upon as his glory ; and there- fore he will visit them in a prison, and feast them in a dungeon, and walk with them in a fiery furnace, and shew kindness to them in a lion's den, that every one may shout and cry, Grace, grace !^ God loves to act in such ways of grace towards his suffering ones, as may stop the mouths of their enemies, and cause the hearts of his friends to rejoice.
(4.) The fourfh reason. Believing times are times %vherein the Lord is graciously pleased to lift up the light of his countenance upon his people. When his children are in the exercise of faith, then the Lord is pleased to make known his goodness, and to seal up to them everlast- ing happiness and blessedness : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise ;' or in whom believing ye were sealed, that is, as you were in the very exercise and actings of faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of the Lord made sure, and sealed up to you your adoption, your reconciliation, your pardon, and everlasting inheritance.'
Him that honours Christ by believing, by fresh and frequent acts of faith upon him, him will Christ certainly honour and secure by setting his seal and niark upon him, and by assuring of him of a kingdom that shakes not, of riches that corrupt not, and of glory that fades not. Ah Christians ! you wrong two at once, Christ and your own souls, whilst you thus reason : Lord, give me first assurance, and then I will believe in thee and rest upon thee ; whereas your great work is to believe, and to hold on believing and acting of faith on the Lord Jesus, till you come to be assured and sealed up to the day of redemption. This is the surest and shortest way to assurance.
That is a remarkable passage of the apostle in Rom. xv. 1 3, ' Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye