ceeding glad ; for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you : ' Luke vi. 22, 23, ' Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy ; for, behold, your reward is in heaven : for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets,' They that are now excommuni- cated and anathematised as notorious, shameful, and abominable offenders, — they that are now opposed and persecuted by men, shall at last be owned and crowned by God ; yea, and the more afflictions and persecutions are multiplied upon them in this world, the greater shall be their recompense in another world. The original words dyaXkiaa6e in Matthew, and aKiprrjaare in Luke, signify 'exceeding great joy,' such as men usually express by skipping and dancing. Let your hearts leap, and let your bodies leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. A Dutch martyr, seeing the flame to come to his beard, said he, What a small pain is this, to be compared to the glory to come. Helen Stirk,^ a Scotch woman, when her husband was at the place of execution, she said to him. Husband, rejoice ; for we have lived to- gether many joyful days ; but this day, in which we must die, ought to be the most joyful to us both, because we must have joy for ever ; therefore I will not bid you good-night, for we shall suddenly meet within the kingdom of heaven. The subscription of Mrs Anne Askew to her confession was this, Written by me, Anne Askew, that neither wisheth for death nor feareth his might, and as merry as one that is bound toward heaven. Oh, how my heart leapeth for joy, said Mr Philpot, that I am so near the apprehension of eternal life ! God forgive me mine unthankfulness and unworthiness of so great glory. I have so much joy of the reward prepared for me most wretched sinner, that though I be in a place of darkness and mourning, yet I cannot lament, but both night and day am so joyful as though under no' cross at all ; yea, in all the days of my life I was never so merry ; the name of the Lord be praised therefore for ever and ever ! The same author, in a letter to the congregation, saith. Though I tell you that I am in hell in the judgment of this world, yet assuredly I feel in the same the consolation of heaven ; and this loathsome and horrible prison is as pleasant to me as the walks in the garden in the King's Bench.2 Thus you see that suffering saints have had a heaven before- hand,— they have had an exuberancy of joy such as no good could match nor no evil overmatch, 1 Pet. i. 8. Bernard, speaking of persecutors, saith. That they are but his Father's goldsmiths, who are working to add pearls to the saint's crown. It is to my loss, saith Gordius the martyr, if you abate me anything of my present sufferings. Sufferings for Christ are the saints' greatest glory. Crudelitas vestra, gloria nostra, your cruelty is our glory, say they in Tertullian, and the harder we are put to it, the greater shall be our reward in heaven. Chrysostom hit the nail when he said, If one man should suffer all the sorrows of all the saints in the world, yet are they not worth one hour's glory in heaven. By the consent of the schoolmen, all the martyrs shall ap- pear in the church triumphant, bearing the signs of their Christian
i Query, ' Stark '?— G. ' [Foxe,] Acts aii'I Mon, fol. 613, 1154, 1130, 1G70, 1GC3.
446 A GENERAL EPISTLE
wounds about with them, as so many speaking testimonies of their holy courage, that what here they endured in the behalf of their Saviour, may be there an addition to their glory. 0 Christians, all your sufferings will certainly increase your future glory ; every afflic- tion, every persecution, will be a grain put into the scale of your heavenly glory, to make it more weighty in that day, wherein he will richly reward you for every tear, for every sigh, for every groan, for every hazard, and for every hardship that you have met in the way of your duty, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. For light afflictions you shall have a weight of glory ; and for a few afflictions you shall have as many joys, pleasures, delights, and contents, as there be stars in heaven, or sands on the sea-shore ; and for momentary afflictions you shall have an eternal crown of glory. If you have suffering for suffering with Christ on earth, you shall have glory for glory with Christ in heaven. Ah, Christians, your present sufferings are but the seeds of your future glory ; and the more plentiful you sow in tears, the more abundant will be your harvest of glory, Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6. Christ our general, the captain of our salvation, promises a crown, Kev. ii. 10, and a throne, chap. iii. 21, to all his afflicted and persecuted ones, which are the greatest rewards that a God can give, or that man can crave. It troubled one of the martyrs when he was at the stake that he was going to a place where he should be for ever a-receiving of wages for a little work. But,
13. Thirteentlily and lastly, Ajfflictions, sufferings, persecutions, will discover what metal men are made of. All is not gold that glisters. i Many there be that glister, and look like golden Christians ; but when they come to the fire they prove but dross. He is a Christian more worth than the gold of Ophir, who remains gold when under fiery trials. The stony ground did glister and shine very gloriously, for it received the word with joy for a season, Mat. xiii. 20, 21 ; but when the sun of persecution arose upon it, it fell away. Men that in times of liberty and prosperity embrace the word, will, in times of persecu- tion, distrust the word, reject the word, and turn their backs upon the word, if it be not rooted in their understandings, judgments, wills, affections, and consciences. Men may court the word, and compliment the word, and applaud the word, and seemingly rejoice in the word, but they will never suffer persecution for the word, if it be only re- ceived into their heads, and not fast rooted in their hearts. The house built upon the sand. Mat. vii. 26, 27, was as lovely, as comely, as goodly, and as glorious a house to look upon as that which was built upon a rock ; but when the rain of affliction descended, and the floods of tribulation came, and the winds of persecution blew and beat upon the house, it fell, and great was the fall of it. No professors will be able to stand it out in all winds and weathers, but such as are built upon a rock ; all others will sink, shatter, and fall when the wind of persecution blows upon them. As sure as the rain will fall, the floods flow, and the winds blow, so sure will an unsound heart give out when trials come. No heart but a sound heart will hold out bravely when sufferings come ; no heart but a sincere heart will bear the brunt of persecution. The three worthies, Dan. iii. 17, 18, Shadrach, Meshach,