or Notion but it is an active and lively thing it doth not meerly look to the glory above but puts the Soul into a posture for it Every one that hath in him the hope of so great a thing as the seeing the blessed God is purifieth himself even as he is pure 1 Joh. 3.3 He knows Darkness cannot have communion with Light unclean eyes cannot be opened in so pure a place as Heaven is the earthly heart is too gross to be in the Region of holy Spirits he that drowns himself in Sensual Pleasures is not meet to drink of the pure Rivers that are above Malitious Spirits cannot be capable of dwelling there wher infinite Love opens it self in all its sweetness The false-hearted Hypocrite can never be admitted to see Truth in the Original nor the evil man to drink Goodness at the Fountain-head He therefore that hath a right hope of being with God in Heaven will purifie himself for such an high estate he will labor to have more of the light of Faith to fit him for that of Vision to have more purity of heart to make him meet to see the holy One to have more of Heaven in his affections to prepare him for that blessed Region to have more spiritual delight here that he may be capable of entring into the joy of his Lord hereafter to have his heart more filled with holy Love that he may be in an apt posture for the rich effusions of Love in Heaven to have more truth and goodness in his heart that he may be the more ready to enjoy the Fountain and Fulness of both I mean the blessed God who is All in All Thus this lively Hope makes a man meet for Heaven and in so doing it makes him meet for those Sufferings that lie in his way thither That Purity which disposes him to enjoy God in Heaven doth also dispose him to suffer for him on Earth and the greater disposition is to Heaven the Center of blessedness the stronger will the motion be to break through all difficulties that are in the passage thereunto Let us therefore get a purilying Hope that we may be fit for the Cross 3. Hope doth not only dispose us for the good things to come but it waits for them unto the end Hope is a waiting grace it makes a Christians life to be a perpetual waiting All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come saith Job Chap. 14. Vers 14. Job had many changes but he waited for that great one which should bring him into a state of unchangeaale happiness Whatever holy men are a doing still they are in a waiting posture When Jacob was blessing his Sons he did not for get this but broke out in a Sudden sweet Ejaculation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord Gen. 49.18 Hope makes Christians to wait for the good things to come at all times but in a Special manner in time of Sufferings St Paul speaking first of the suffering Saints and then of the groaning World Expresseth himself thus We our selves also which have the First-fruits of the Spirit groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption the Redemption of our Body for we are saved by Hope Rom. 8.23 24. Here we may observe the true state and posture of the Saints Afflictions make then groan but the Divine Hope the First-fruits of the Spirit make them wait for a better World in which Adoption and Redemption shall have their compleat perfection A Chrisstian in Afflictions being tormented in this World will wait for a better The Martyr Agatha having her Breasts cruelly cut off for Religion told the persecutor That yet she had two breasts remaining such as he could not touch the one of Faith the other of Hope which afforded her great Comforts in her Torments Faith adheres to the Promise Hope waits for the good things promised both strengthen in a day of Trial It is the very nature of Divine Hope to wait for the good things to come When the Sun of Prosperity Shines it waits in a way of obedience Lord I have hoped for thy salvation and do thy Commandments saith David Psal 119.166 He waited in a way of obedience to Gods Commands And when the storm of Perfecution comes it waits in a way of Patience Hence the Apostle speaks of the patience of hope 1. Thessal 1.3 That hope which in Prosperity waited in a way of Obedience will in Adversity wait in a way of Patience Hope would have the Christian to be always waiting for the upper World but when the Cross comes it presseth upon him more vehemently and will speak after this manner to him what hast thou waited for the great reward in Heaven in Duties and Ordinances and wilt thou not wait for it in Sufferings too Heaven is the same still and Sufferings are not worthy to be compared with it Do but suffer a little and thou shalt be there When the Martyr Ananias in the Persian Persecution seemed to tremble at the approaching Cross Pusices spake thus to him Sozom. L. 2. cap. 10. Paulisper O senex oculos claude nam statim lumen Dei videbis Shut thine eyes a little O old man and immediately thou shalt see the light of God Excellent is that of the Apostle Our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2. Cor. 4.17 18. Here it is observable Affliction is light and momentary but glory is a weight and eternal there is no proportion between them If by hope we look at the invisible and eternal things this will support our hearts that it is but a little short suffering and we shall be in Heavenly bliss for ever Let us therefore labor after a waiting hope that we may patiently bear the Cross CHAP. X. The Seventh Direction for Suffering is holy Fear not the Fear of man but of God not a diffidential Fear but a fiducial one not a servile Fear but a filial one Holy Fear looks at Sin more then at suffering at Sufferings in Hell more then at those on Earth at Spiritual and Eternal losses more then at Carnal and Temporal THe Seventh Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for suffering we must get an holy Fear in our hearts The wise Solomon begins his Proverbs with this The fear of the Lord is the beginning or head of Knowledge Prov 1.7 and ends his Ecclesiastes with this That to fear God and keep his Commandments is the whole duty of Man Eccl. 12.13 Other things appertain to the Beast or the Devil but holy Fear is the All of man it makes him a perfect man not only to do Gods Will but to suffer under it In speaking to this I shall first consider
rather lose any thing in the World then an Heaven and a Soul O let us labour to know where the great loss lies that we may never forsake Spiritual and Eternal things for Carnal and Temporal CHAP. XI The eighth Direction for Sufferings is Humility A high Fabrick must have a low foundation Humility hath such rays from God as makes us very low in our own eyes It is a Capacity for larger Effusions of Grace it subjects a man to to all the pleasures of God it causes him to depend upon God for support and comfort THe eighth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for Suffering we must labour after humility of mind It is the direction of our Saviour to Christians Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart De Verb. Do n. ser 10. Math. 11.29 St. Austin upon those words gives an excellent Rule Cogitas magnam fabricam construere celsitudinis de fundamento prius cogita humilitatis Thou thinkest to build a great high Fabrick but first think to make a low Foundation The higher the Building is the lower must be the Foundation If we would build our Christianity as high as Suffering for Religion we had need lay a deep Foundation in Humility for it Our Saviour Christ was not only a Pattern of Suffering but of Humility too St. Peter tels us that he suffered leaving us an example 2. Pet. 2.21 St. Paul tels us how he came to Suffer he emptied himself or made himself of no Reputation he humbled himself and became obedient unto death the death of the Gross Phil. 2.7 8. He laid by his Robes of Majesty and became as it were nothing that he might suffer for us If we would follow Christ in Suffering we must put off our Ornaments and lay by our proud Plumes we must empty our selves of all our Self-excellencies and become vile yea nothing in our own eyes that we may endure the trial Ex Saulo factus est Paulus ex superbo modicus Paulum enim modicum est Aust in Psal 72. St. Paul was a great Sufferer For Christ but withal he was one of the humblest that ever lived Indeed before his Conversion he was a Saul a proud Persecutor but after it he was a Paul persecuted and little in his own eyes Athanasius who suffered so much under the Arians had this Character given him by Nazianzen That he was high in worth and humble in heart There are four things to be noted in Humility each of which tend to prepare us for Suffering 1. Humility dwels in an enlightned mind hath such rayes from God as make the heart where it is take up very low thoughts of itself Of old the appearances of God in outward Symbols of Glory made men lye very low before him When Job heard the voice of the Lord out of the whirl-wind he abhorred himself in dust and ashes Iob 42. 6. When the Prophet saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up he cried out Woe is me I am undone Esay 6.5 When Daniel saw the Vision of the bright shining man his comeliness was turned into corruption Dan. 10.8 The noble man now hath not such outward appearances but he hath an inward light of faith and when he looks up to God and reflects upon himself it makes him go in fundum into the Center of the Earth and there to see his own nothingness I shall give a triple instance of this When the humble man looks up to the glory and greatness of God he reflects and communes with his Heart after this manner O how high is God! his glory is above the Heavens his Majesty is infinitely brighter then a thousand suns the rayes of it bid me go down and hide my self in the dust of my own vileness and nothingness how great is he that spans the Heavens weighs the mountains and measures the Seas in the hollow of his hand To him all Nations are but as a drop of the bucket a dust of the Ballance nay less then nothing itself And I what am I the drop of a drop a piece of a dust and much less then that which is less then nothing itself Such thoughts as these do so abase and annihilate a man in his sense that the great and glorious God may do any thing with him his own littleness will keep him from murmuring under any Cross or Affliction that comes from the most High Again when the humble man looks to the holiness of God he speaks to his heart God is very holy he is perfect purity without any spot infinite light without any darkness at all the glance of his pure eyes bids me go down into my Spotted self and there cover my self with the shame of that Corruption that is worse then nothing The Stars are not pure in his sight and how can I be so The glorious Angels cover their faces and cry to him holy holy holy and what should Worms do What reason have I to cry out over my self as the Leper was to do Vnclean Vnclean The sense of this is so deeply humbling that it disposes him that hath it to be willing to go into any Furnace which God orders for the melting out of his Dross The excellent Martyr Mr. Hooper carried his humility with him to the Fiery Trial there he prayed thus Lord I am Hell but thou art Heaven I am a Sink of Sin but thou art a gracious Redeemer The sense of his own imperfections made him lye very Low Moreover when the humble man looks to the Grace of God he adores that pure self-moving Fountain of all Good and withal abases himself under his great unworthiness of the Least drop of it The evil that is in me saith he is my own but all the good that is in me is entirely from Grace This tast of Grace to a mans unworthy self admirably disposes him to bear the Cross Such an one will argue with himself Shall God give me Grace and Glory and shall I not suffer for him The suffering is not the Hell I deserve but that which is much less and shall I not suffer There is a glorious Heaven to come after it and why should I hang back Exposit on the Thessal The words of Doctor Sclater are very remarkable God saith he rewards ultra condignum afflicts citra condignum that Perswasion who so carries and is acquainted with his foul sins willingly prays with Austin Hîc ure hîc seca ut in aeternum parcas here burn here cut me that thou maiest spare for ever Thus humility by the rayes that it hath from God makes a man very vile in his own eyes and so prepares him for the Cross The proud man that thinks highly of himself will murmure at any thing and the humble man that thinks meanly of himself will bear with any thing 2. Humility puts the Soul into a capacity to have larger effusions of Grace bestowed upon it God resisteth the proud
a man of meer Leaves but had a root of Knowledge and Grace in him It is with Christians as it is with Trees the more the Tree is rooted in the ground the faster it stands in a storm the more a Christian is rooted in Evangelical Truths the firmer he stands in a time of Persecution Those of the stony ground received the word with joy but fell off in time of perpersecution because they had no root in them selves Math. 13.21 The Heavenly Truth did but lye upon the face of their Hearts and never sunk into them to become a virtual Principle in them The Truth that we would suffer for had not need be a loose Notion but Truth in the hidden parts fastned there as a nail in a sure place sealed up to the heart by the holy spirit ingrafted and innaturalized in the mind that we may not let it go We had need be grounded and setled in the faith as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.23 Grounded as an house upon a sure Foundation and setled as a man sitting fast in a Chair We had need have a good Scripture bottom and be firmly seated in the Truth that we may be capable of suffering for Religion The Scripture tels us that there is but one God one only to be worshipped and served that his glory may not be given to another nor his praise to graven Images that Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands that they have mouths and speak not eyes and see not ears and hear not noses and smell not hands and handle not feet and walk not that the Makers and Worshippers of them are like unto them as stupid as the senseless Images are that an Idol is nothing a thing of no moment or power at all a meer nothing to be it self made a God or so much as to represent one If such truths as these of which St. Cyprian hath given a great Catalogue in his Exhortation to Martyrdome be intimately radicated in the heart they will strengthen it against Idolatry Magd. Hist Cent. 4. cap. 12. The glorious Martyr Eulalia seemed to be full of them when in her great sufferings she sung that Isis Apollo Venus were nothing and Maximianus the worshipper of them was himself nothing O let us adhere to the holy Truths in the Word these came down from Heaven and like their Original are nothing but pure Truth without any mixture of Error in them these appear to us in the light of the first Truth and lead to the bliss-making Vision of him in Heaven and as we desire to be there let us firmly adhere to them especially to the word of Christs Patience The Truth that must be suffered for at such at time as this to that we must cleave closest because in that will be the greatest stress and trial It is good to be established in all Truth but now it is in a special manner necessary to be well fixed in the Truth that concerns the Pure Religion which runs very low in the Christian World while in the mean while the Idolatrous one is like to be triumphant 2. It must be a right estimating Knowledge that will prepare us for suffering Every Notion of the things of God will not do it he that hath an high notion of them but a low estimation hath but a knowledge falsly so called he knows them not as he ought to know them because he knows them only to know them but not to value them We must so know them as to rate them above a World this is of great moment in order to Suffering A man is capable to suffer or not according as his estimate of Spiritual things is higher or lower When the Martyr Polycarp was urged by the Proconsul to deny Christ Eustb Lio. 4. cap. 15. his answer was A potioribus non esse transeundum ad pejora we must not pass from better things to worse He esteemed Christ better then the World and therefore he suffered for him But if he had esteemed the World better then Christ he had never been a Martyr As the estimation is so is the man We know the Evangelical Truth but if we do not rate it higher then all the World we shall never be able to suffer for it It is indeed in itself a glorious Beam let down from Heaven a pure discovery of the great Salvation that is in Jesus Christ and in that respect incomparably more worth then all the World but if we do not so account it we shall fall from it to embrace the World as being better in our eyes It is very remarkable that when the Emperors Presect allured the great Basil to the Arrian Doctrine Tneod b. 4. cap. 19. as being but a small thing the holy man answered That he would not part with one syllable of Scripture no not to save his life Such an esteem of Truth is of excellent use to make a man adhere to it in an evil day We know the pure worship but if we do not prize it above all earthly things we shall never be able to suffer for it It is in itself a thing exceeding pretious it is the choicest part of life that is spent in it the honor of God is more immediately concerned in it then in other things That noble Convert Galeacius Caracciolus who left all for Christ prized one days Communion with Christ more than all the Gold or Silver in the World And if we can rate it so we shall never turn aside from it to the Idolatrous World nor be carried into sin by the stream of the Time Or say as one going to Mass did Eamus ad communem errorem let us go to the Common Error We know the Glory of Christ is to be promoted but if we do not value it above our own Reputation we shall never suffer reproach for him Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt Hebx 11.26 Reproach in itself is a vile thing no way estimable but the reproach of Christ hath an honor in it and outshines all the glories of the World Marsacus a French Souldier being adjudged with others to the Fire and for his Military service not having as others had Thuan Lib. 12. An. 1553. a With put about his neck demands the reason why he might not be permitted to wear such a Chain as his Fellows did and to be made of the same illustrious order as they were of If we have such a Divine Spirit as this is in us we shall count in an high honor to suffer reproach for Christ A right estimation of things is an excellent help to bear sufferings for Religion 3. It must be a tasting or Savouring Knowledge that will prepare us for suffering Treat of Faith cap. 9. It is the taste of God's Word saith Dr. lackson that sweetens sufferings to us and makes us couragious to adventure upon all difficulties that are objected to deter as from entring into the
him The more we act our Love Meekness Mercy Goodness or any Grace the more we are united to him and incorporated with him nay true Obedience makes us to be of neer alliance to him When our Saviour was told that his Mother and Brethren stood without to see him his answer was My Mother and my Brethren are those which hear the word of God and do it Luke 8.20 21. St. Ambrose upon these words tels us In Lucam cap. 8. Religiosiores copulae mentium quam corporum the conjunction of Minds is more sacred than that of Bodies The Obedient Christian is Brother to Christ being born of the same holy Spirit in Regeneration of which he was conceived in his Incarnation nay he is Mother to Christ bringing him forth in the exercise of holy Graces somewhat of the Love Mercy Piety Meekness of Christ is still a coming forth from him In both these respects doth obedience dispose us to suffering the more we grow up into Christ the Head the more Divine Power and Virtue we have from him our chief strength lies not in our selves but in our Head we may do nay and suffer any thing through him strengthning us And the more we are allied to him the more we are bound to adhere to him Our supernatural Birth obliges us to live to him nay and if need be to die for him and we are to bring him forth not only in other holy Virtue but in that of Patience St. Paul bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 and the Allies of Christ must be ready at Gods call to suffer with him 4. True Obedience produces an increase of Grace and spiritual Strength Obedience is a Christians daily walk the more he exercises himself to Godliness the more grace he hath in his Soul That Faith which was but as a little grain of Mustard-seed becomes a Tree spreading itself forth at last as high as assurance That love which was as a little spark raked up in the ashes comes to be a vehement Flame aspiring after the fruition of God in Heaven That Hope which was but a poor weak thing in the Soul comes to have more liveliness and supernatural stature The path of the just which is in obedience is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day in heaven Prov. 4.18 The more a Christian exercises himself in Obedience the stronger he grows in the Inner-man of a Plant he comes to be a Tree of Righteousness of a Babe he comes to be a Man in Christ His vital Principles become more strong his supernatural hear increased he holds on his way of Obedience and so grows stronger and stronger Job 17.9 Such an Obedience as this admirably Disposes a man for suffering The greater his stock of Grace is the better will he hold out in the straits of the World The more strength he hath in the inner-man the more able he will be to bear the burden of the Cross If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24.10 Great strength will keep a man from fainting When the Children of Israel were come to be above six hundred thousand Numb 1.46 it was a great encouragement to make them go on gallantly against their Enemies And when Christians have their Graces multiplied and among the rest Patience comes to be all Patience as the expression is Col. 1.11 it gives them spirit and life to bear sufferings 5. True obedience obtains the gracious Presence of God to help and comfort good men in the doing his Will The Rabbins say That if two sit together conferring about the Law the Shechinah is among them I may say if one single Christian be a doing of Gods will the Divine Presence is with him Thus our Saviour saith If any man love him and keep his words the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with such an one John 14.23 Such an one hath a Shechinah in his heart God will be there helping and comforting of him Whilst he is a doing of Gods will strength will come in as it did to the Levites 1. Chron. 15.26 and not only strength but comfort too In keeping his commands there is great reward some of the oyl of Joy which is upon Christ the great doer of Gods will drops down upon good men in their sincere obedience they have an inward peace and joy unspeakeable In this respect obedience prepares the heart of Christians to endure suffering An obedient Christian can argue thus with himself I have found Gods gracious Presence strengthning and comforting me in the doing of his will much more shall I have it when I come to suffer and part with all for his sake When all forsook St. Paul yet the Lord stood with him and strengthned him 2 Tim. 4.16.19 When Mr. Sanders was examined about his Religion he was wonderfully comforted and received a tast of the Communion of Saints a pleasant refreshing did issue from every part of his Body to his heart and from thence into all parts again Cicely Ormes was filled with such joy and comfort that at the kindling of the fire she said My soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour O let us firmly conclude this with our selves that God will not leave or forsake his people no not at other times much less will he do it in the time of Fiery Trials Then they shall have strength and comfort in a more than ordinary way enough to make them to triumph over their Sufferings or at leastwise to bear them with Patience 6. True Obedience is the way to Heaven Those blessed ones that do the commands of God have right to the Tree of Life and enter in through the gates into the City Rev. 22.14 The more obedient a man is to the Divine Will the richer entrance he hath into the blessed Kingdom After sowing to the Spirit comes the Crop of Eternal Glory after walking in holy Obedience comes the blessed end of Life and Immortality In this respect Obedience fits us for Sufferings A man that is in the way to Hell is not capable of suffering it is not imaginable that a man should bear Reproach for Christ who hath no hope of Glory or that he should part with his Treasure here who hath none in Heaven or that he should lay down his Life Temporal who hath no right to an Eternal one or that he should let go his Portion of good in this World who hath none in another But the Obedient Christian who is in the way to Heaven is in a capacity to suffer any thing that meets him in the passage thither Reproaches may come but he is going to shine in glory Worldly Goods may be spoiled but he hath an Inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away Temporal Life may be lost but in the very instant there begins an Eternal one with the blessed God in Heaven he may by
Whore no not to save his life offered to him on those terms Holy Fear will tell us that sin must not be done to avoid suffering that we were better bear all reproaches then dishonour God lose our Estates then leave our Religion nay and lay down our lives then be separated from the Divine Love O let us look upon sin as the Maximum formidabile as that which hath in it the most proper cause of fear and flight that no external miseries and dangers may be able to drive us into it 2. Holy Fear looks at the sufferings which God inflicts in Hell as incomparably greater then those which man doth or can inflict upon Earth Our Saviour directing our fear to its right Object takes notice of the vast difference between them Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill he soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Math. 10.28 Mans killing is one thing but Gods destroying another Man may kill the Body and it may be in a tormenting manner but there is no death like the second no torments on Earth are comparable to those in Hell no finite arm can strike so hard as the infinite One no Culinary or Elementary Fire can burn so hot as the Infernal doth God bid Moses take and sprinkle the ashes of the Furnace and they should become boils and blains Exod. 9.8 9. A Great Doctor of ours glosses on the words thus The sufferings here on Earth are but the ashes of the Furnace small things in comparison of the Furnace itself an Hell of unquenchable fire man may kill the body but he is not alwaies a killing of it he may torment but he cannot bear up the Patient in long suffering the torments in a little time will cease and the Martyr Sleep in Jesus but God kils the damned and is still a killing them power supports them and Justice punishes them the fire of Hell kindled by eternal breath never goes out and the smoak of their torment ascends for ever and ever After thousands and ten thousand of years still there will be wrath to come such as no time can measure Man may kill the body but after that he can do no more his Engines of Cruelty cannot reach the Soul or touch the inward man which is a Sanctuary for God but God kils the soul his wrath is in a peculiar manner poured out there where the chief seat of sin was the neverdying Worm is ever growing upon corscience The spirit of the damned furiously reflects upon itself over the eternal misery that it lies under All the horrors of a Spira or a Judas are far short of that desperate rage and anguish which tortures the lost souls in Hell He that hath this holy fear in him will chuse any sufferings on Earth rather then those in Hell One of the sons of Solomona told the Tyrant Antiochus that his fire was cold and indeed it was so comparatively to the Fire of Hell St. Austin putting the question whom we should obey God commanding one thing or the Emperor commanding another makes his answer Da veniam Imperator tu carcerem minaris ille gehennam Gives place O Emperor De Verb. Dom. serm 6. thou threatnest a Prison he a Hell When Polycarp was threatned with Fire his answer was That the Persecuter threatned only a momentary Fire but knew not The Eternal one He that ever heard that true Thunder which is the voice of God would hardly be afraid of such Artificial Cracks as the Emperor Cajus Caligula used to make to shew himself a God And he that carries upon his heart an awe of those sufferings which God inflicts in Hell will hardly fear those which men inflict on Earth 3. Holy Fear looks upon Spiritual and Eternal Losses as incomparably greater then Carnal and Temporal ones The loss of the World may be made up in the saving of the Soul but for the loss of a Soul nothing can make a recompence That little sparkle of Divinity mightily outweighs the great Globe of the World What are Bodies to Spirits Nemo saith Austin bene se inspexit qui non omni corpori qualemlibet animam praeponendam esse fateatur he that looks well into himself must confess that any Soul is to be preferred before all Bodies The loss of mans favor may be richly made up by the presence of Gods Moses endured the King's wrath as seeing the invisible one the presence of God was so with him that he feared no human frowns But if the Divine Favour be wanting nothing can supply the defect of it It 's true a man without it may have all outward blessings flowing round about him but he eats and drinks and Sleeps under the wrath of God which hangs over his head as the sword did over the head of Damocles at the Tyrants Table and as soon as the thread of life breaks it comes down upon him in an utter ruine The loss of Creatures may be made up by an interest in God a real Christian having nothing may possess all things in him but if a man forsake God what will the World give in exchang for him It 's Riches are but poor moth-eaten things which in a little time vanish away its Pleasures are but the titillations of Sense and perish in the using its Honours are but a blast a little popular Air which soon go away and come to nothing When once God who is the Fountain and Spring of all good departs it is in vain to hope for any thing from the little Rivulets and Cisterns of the Creature He that hath this holy Fear in him will chuse to suffer loss in Carnal and Temporal things rather then in Spiritual and Eternal It is the saying of St. Ambrose Eaest vera pietas quaepraeponit divina humanis perpetua temporalibus Lib. 7. Epist 56. that is true Piety which prefers Divine Things to humane and perpetual things to temporal St. Austin sets out servile and filial Fear by an Adulterous and a Chast Wife Timet mulier adultera In Joh. Tract 63. in E pist Joh. Tract 9. ne vir ejus veniat timet casta ne vir ejus abscedat The adulterous woman sears lest her husband may come the chast woman fears lest her husband depart In like manner servile Fear makes us afraid that God will punish filial Fear makes us afraid that God will depart The loss of him is more then the loss of all things When the Martyr Menas under the Persecution of Dioclesian Magd. hist Cent 4. cap. 12. was brought forth to suffer he gave this reason for it Nihilest quod meâ sententiá conferripossit cum regno coelorum neque enim totus Mundus potest aequâ lance expensus uni comparari animae there is nothing in my judgment like the Kingdom of Heaven neither may the whole World if weighed in an equal ballance be compared with one Soul He had