of his church, will secure her from being greatly moved in the midst of all those great dreadful confusions that are abroad in the world. Hence the church is called, Jehovah shammah, ' The Lord is there,' Ezek. xlviii. 35. His presence in heaven, makes it heaven, and his presence in the church, makes it happy and safe. Nothing shall disturb or harm them that have the presence of God in the midst of them.i The church is built upon a rock, she is invincible, Mat. xvi. 18. Jer. i. 8, ' Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord.' Ver. 17, ' Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee ; be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.' Ver. 18, * For behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar and brazen wall against the whole land ; against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.' Ver. 19, ' And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.' God's presence with his messengers is a guard, and a safeguard, all-sufficient against all op- position whatsoever. Earthly princes and sovereigns are not wont to go with those whom they send on embassage, but God always goes along with those whom he sends, and will, by his powerful presence, protect and defend them against opposers, at all times and in all places, when all others fail and forsake us. Christ's presence is security sufficient, for ' if he be with us, who can be against us ? ' They must first prevail against him before they can prevail against them that withstand and oppose those whom he standeth by to back and protect. How comes this to pass, that Jeremiah, a man, a man alone, should bear up so stoutly, and stand so strong against kings, princes, priests, and people ? It is from the signal presence of God with him. ' I am with thee.' '^ And what can all the great ones of the world, and all the wicked ones of the world, do against one messenger of the Lord, that is armed with his glorious power ? The ambassadors of the King of kings, and Lord of lords, must not be terrified with the multitude of opposers, nor with the grandeur or greatness of opposers ; but set the presence of the Lord against them all, and say as that noble soldier, Paedarelus, in Erasmus, did to them that told him of that numerous and mighty army which came against him, Tanto plus glorice re/eremus, quoniam eo plures superahimus, The number of opposers makes the Christian conquests the more illustrious. The more the Pharisees of old, and their successors of late time, have op- posed the truth, the more it hath prevailed ; and it is observable that the reformation in Germany was much furthered by the papists' op- position, yea, when two kings, amongst many others, wrote against Luther, viz., Henry the Eighth of England, and Ludovicus of Hungary ; this kingly title being entered into the controversy, making men more curious to examine the matter, stirred up a general inclination to- wards Luther's opinion. So Jer. xv. 20, ' And I will make thee
^ Opposition is, as Calvin writes to the French king, Evangelil genius, the blacli angel that dogs the gospel at the heels.
- In some cases a man were better lose his life than be cowardly. Aristotle, eth. iii. cap. 1.
482 THE SIGNAL PRESENCE OF GOD
unto this people a fenced brazen wall ; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee : for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord,' When the messengers of the Lord go on constantly and courageously in the faithful discharge of their duties, not relenting, or yielding, or complying with their greatest opposers, then they shall have such a signal presence of the Lord with them, as shall sufficiently protect them against all their enemies' might and malice, wrath and rage: ver. 21, 'And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible or violent ones.' Though thou shouldst fall into the hand of the wicked, id est, power, and into the hand of the terrible and violent ones, yet they shall not hurt thee, nor harm thee ; they shall not have their wills upon thee. When thou art in their hands, I will lay a law of restraint upon their hearts,, that they shall not mischief thee, nor triumph over thee ; I will be sure to secure thee, and rescue thee from dangers in the midst of dangers. A gracious mes- senger of the Lord in the midst of all oppositions, as Chrysostom said of Peter, is a man made all of fire walking in stubble, he overcomes and consumes all opposition ; all difficulties are but whetstones to his fortitude. The moon will run her course though the dogs bark at it ; so does the traveller, and so will the faithful messengers of the Lord hold on in their way and work, let men and devils bark and do their worst.
Moulin, speaking of the French Protestants, said, ' When papists hurt us for reading the Scriptures, we burn with zeal to be reading of them.' He is a fool, we say, that will be laughed out of his coat, but he is a fool in folio that will be laughed out of his skin, out of his pro- fession, out of his religion, out of his principles, out of the ways of God, nay, out of his soul, out of his salvation, because he can't endure to be opposed, derided, or laughed at by lewd and wicked men. The divine presence will make a man set light by such paper-shot.