the fruit of Gods worde and also did reioyce ouer the Thessaloniās themselues that they were in such wise and so greatly confirmed that by no manner of perils or persecutions they could be cōpelled to forsake the faith And what was this else but to giue the praise vnto God for al this grace vertue This place teacheth that the saints are layed open to persecutions and are also exercised perpetually in afflictions For so many as will liue godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution 2 Tit. 3.12 5 Which is a token of the righteous Iudgment of God that ye may be coūted woorthy of the kingdome of God for the which ye also suffer The simple and true meaning of these woordes is that the iniuries and persecutions which the children of God doe suffer at the hands of the wicked and reprobate do shewe foorth as in a glasse that God shal be one day the iudge of the worlde And this sentence hath in it a figure called Antistrophon or Conuersion by which is confuted the prophane opinion which men do commonly hold so often as the good are afflicted and the euil are in good case For then we thinke that the world is gouerned by fortune and not by God Hereupon it commeth that impietie and contempt doe possesse the heartes of men as Solomon saith in the booke of the Preacher Chap. 9. ver 2.3 For they which suffer any thing vnworthily or without deserte do either murmure and accuse God or else they doe thinke that he hath no care of the actions of men as the Prophet Dauid saith in the Psalme 73. Reade the whole Psalme Contrariwise the wicked ware more proude of their prosperitie as if so be there were no punishment remayning for them euen as Dyonisius in his prosperous nauigation boasted that the gods were frēdly and fauourable vnto such as were giltie of sacrilege Furthermore when we doe see that the crueltie of the wicked against the innocent is not restrayned and that they escape without punishement flesh and blood perswadeth it selfe by and by that there is no iudgment of God no punishments of wickednesse nor any reward of righteousnesse But Paul on the contrarie part pronounceth that when God doth so spare the wicked for a time and doth wincke at the iniuries which his children suffer iudgment to come is set before our eies as it were in a glasse For he taketh this as a clere case that it cannot be but that God as he is a iust iudge will one day giue rest vnto the miserable which are now vniustlie vexed and will also giue vnto the oppressors of the godly their iust rewarde And herevnto tendeth this saying of Peter If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God on this behalfe 1. Pet. 4.16 For the time is come that iudgment must begin at the house of God if it first begin at vs what shall the end be of them which obey not the Gospell of God And if the righteous scarcely be saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit their soules to him in well doing as vnto a faithfull creator Furthermore the iudgment of God is called righteous in this place because it shal be executed vpon those which haue deserued the same by their wicked persecution and also because God shal exercise the same not onely according to the externall but also according to the internall things A place surely very notable because it teacheth how our mindes are to be stirred vp from al the impedimentes of the world so often as we suffer any manner of aduersitie namely by calling to minde the iust iudgment of God the which will lift vp our mindes from this world to a higher consideration Thus death shal be vnto vs the image of life That ye may be counted woorthy of the kingdome of God The ordinance of God is that no man shal be woorthy of the kingdome of God without the crosse Whereupon Christ saith If any man wil follow me let him deny him selfe Mat. 16.24 and take vp his crosse and follow me Now if any man will goe about to proue by the authoritie of this place that saluation is due by desert vnto our afflictions and not to the passion and blood of the Lorde let him way and consider that place onely which the same Apostle setteth downe to the Romans where he proueth that we are iustified by the benefite of faith Rom. 3.28 and not by the merit of workes And in another place he saith I count that the afflictions of this present time Rom. 8.18 are not woorthy of the glory which shal be shewed vnto vs. Therefore we must ascribe it to the liberalitie and fatherly beneficence of God that eternall life is said to be giuen vnto vs of right and that we are made woorthy of the kingdome of God through afflictions when as it is most cleere that all our habilitie and pliantnesse to any manner of goodnsse commeth of God by whose grace we are sanctified and blessed Moreouer the Apostle Paul doth not dispute here of the cause of woorthynesse but onely taketh the common doctrine of Scripture that God doth abolish those thinges in vs which belong to the worlde that hee may frame and erect in vs a better life Furthermore that he sheweth vnto vs through afflictions the pryce of eternall life Finally he doth simply set downe the meane by which the faithfull are as it were hammered and wrought vpon Gods anuile because by afflictions they are taught to renoūce the world and to aspire to the heauenly kingdome of God Beside this they are confirmed strengthned in the hope of eternall life when they fight for the same Wherupon he addeth For the which ye also suffer Namely vnder the assured hope of the promise made which bringeth to passe that we doe obtaine the kingdome of God For so Christ himselfe speaketh Reioyce and be glad Mat. 5.12 for behold plentiful is your reward which is in heauen And the Apostle Rom. 8.17 If we suffer together with him we shal also be glorified with him And although no manner of afflictions of them selues doe make vs worthy of of the reward and glorie of eternal life yet neuerthelesse to denie Christ for feare of present perils is a sinne deseruing to be punished with eternall death For as we doe beleeue with the hearte to righteousnesse Rom. 10.10 so we doe confesse with the mouth to saluation 6 For it is a righteous thing with God to recōpence tribulation to them that trouble you In these wordes the Apostle sheweth how the tribulation of the saintes may be vnto them an instruction of the iust iudgement of God For God is an Indifferent iudge counterpoysing in equal ballances the inequalitie of both parties as here the afflicted and the afflicting And what can be more iust then that they which
in this world do oppresse the good and godly and doe make them liue in exile and banishment by persecutions should suffer the same thinges themselues in time to come which they do to others and that they should be in rest with other saints who coÌ„ming out of great tribulation shal receiue an eternal kingdom Thus the Apostle toucheth the vengeance of god against the reprobate to teach them that the faithfull doe rest in the expectation of the iudgment to come because God doth not as yet take vengeance on the euil who notwithstanding must needes suffer the punishment of their wickednesse Withall notwithstanding the faithfull doe vnderstand that there is no cause why they should enuy the momentany and transitory felicitie of the wicked which soone after shal be changed turned into horrible and most fearful distruction 7 And to you which are troubled rest with vs when the Lorde Iesus shal shew himselfe from heauen with his mightie angels As it is agreeing with the iustice of God to repay vnto wicked and vngodly men condigne punishments so also it is agreeing with the same Iustice to giue vnto godly and righteous men the rest and consolation of eternal life Great therfore shal be the miserie and vnhappines of al the wicked and most excellent shal be the feliâ—â—â—ie and blessednes of the godly The Aâ—ostle hath opposed rest against the tormeÌ„t â—f tribulation in the which the godly are â—xercised in this world without intermission For wheÌ„ we shal depart from this life all labour and sorrow shal cease and rest ioy shall follow in steed thereof Apoc. 21.4 For God shall wipe away al teares from the eyes of his saints This then agreeth with the senteÌ„ce of Peter where he calleth the day of the last iudgment the day of rest Notwithstanding in this declaration of the good and of the euil the purpose of the Apostle was to expresse more plainly how preposterous vniust the gouerment of the world should be if God did not defer the punishments rewards vntil another iudgment Hereunto also tendeth that which was said vnto Diues Luk. 16.25 Sonne remember that thou in thy life past enioyedst thy pleasure but contrariwise Lazarus enioyed paine but now is he coÌ„forted and thou art tormented The Apostle addeth With vs. That he might bring the more credit to his doctrine by the sence feeling of his owne faith For he sheweth that he doth not speake of vnknowne things when as he placeth him selfe with them in the same cause and condition And we knowe that they doe deserue to be best regarded which are exercised by longe practise in those things which they teach and doe require nothing of others but that they be ready to proue and try Therefore the Apostle doth not commaund the Thessalonians to fight as it were in a shadow but fighting valiantly him selfe he exhorteth them to the same warre and fight When the Lorde Iesus shall shewe him selfe This is a figure called Occupatio or preuention which the Apostle vseth that the Thessalonians might not be carefull concerning the time wherein the wicked persecutors shal be afflicted with punishments and the godly which are afflicted shall receiue rest The time shal be the comming of Christ to iudgment or the time of iudgment For the Lord shall come a iudge but from whence From Heauen That is to say from the habitacle of God which is perpetuall wherein is the glorie of the inuisible God and the light whereunto no man can attaine seeing it is a spirituall firmament in the which dwelleth sempeternall righteousnesse From thence therefore doe we look for our Lord sauiour Iesus Christ who shall chang our vile bodie that it may be like to his most glorious body Philip. 3.21 But this Iudgment shal not be before the consummatioÌ„ of al things For til that consuÌ„mation be the Lord Iesus shall not be reuealed from heauen as appeareth by many testimonies of Scriptures For because one shall iudge all it must needes be in that last iudgment which shal be in the end of the world where he shall repay to euery one according to his deedes Christ therfore will shut vp and reserue the times of this present world against the time of his iudgment in the latter day But when this iudgment shal be it is vncertaine Wherfore the Lord Iesus himselfe doth testifie that the moments of times of this iudgement and of the glorie of Christ to come ought not to be curiously searched for neither yet that they can be knowne aforehand Act. 1.7 It is not saith he for you to know the times and seasons which the father hath reserued to himselfe And in another place Mar. 13.32 Concerning that day and houre knoweth no man neither the Angels which are in heauen nor the Sonne but the father onely And the Apostle saith 1. Thes 5.2 2. Pet. 3.10 That the day of the Lord shall come as a theefe in the night And yet for all this some foolish men haue gone about of late time to prognosticate of this day yea and almost of the very houre of the day With his mightie Angels These words do describe and set foorth the forme and manner of the comming of Christ to iudgment As if he should say the most righteous iudge shall not now any more come from heauen in humilitie and contempt as he did at his first comming in our flesh but inuironed with an Angelical bande For it is written Thousand thousands ministred vnto him Dan. 7.10 ten thousaÌ„d thousaÌ„ds stood before him As therfore a puisant and mightie King hauing a huge hoast of picte and chosen men marcheth forward against his enimie euen so the Lord Iesus himselfe shall vse the ministerie of Angels in suppressing and vanquishing the wicked and in deliuering the godly And for this cause the Apostle calleth them mightie Angels because by them and in their ministerie the Lord wil shew foorth his power and might Whose force no creature is able to resist whose iudgment must necessarily of all men be endured and by whose sentence the wicked shal be assuredly condemned and eternally punished 8 With a flame of fire rendering vengeance vnto them who haue not knowen God and which obey not the Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ The present description of the iudgment tendeth to this end that the Godly may vnderstand that by how much the more feareful the iudgment is which remaineth for their enemies by so much more the Lord hath a care of their afflictions For this is the chiefe cause of our greefe and sorrow that we thinke that God doth slightly ouerpasse our miseries We doe see into what complaints Dauid bursteth foorth now and then Psal 37.2 when he fretteth at the pride and insolencie of his enimies Therefore the Apostle hath vttered all this here for the consolation of the faithfull that he discribeth the tribunall and iudgment of Christ to be full of
mo in number than others but because he loued your fathers For so often as we heare mention made of his loue we ought by and by to remember that saying of the Apostle Not that we loued him first Iohn 4.10 And the certaine and sure signes of the loue of God toward vs are the proclayming of the Gospell and the preaching of remission of sinnes through Christ For by that publication of Gods will it is both testified that we are receiued into the grace of adoption through Christ and also are reckoned in the number of Gods sonnes if so be we receiue the doctrine of the Gospell through faith and doe commit our selues to the grace of the most mercifull God Psal 147.11 Iohn 3.16 For the Lord loueth those that feare him and that put their trust in his mercie Moreouer God so loued the worlde that he gaue his onely begotten sonne Ephe. 16. that they that beleue in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life This therefore is that grace of God which maketh vs accepted through the beloued that is through Christ Wo therefore be vnto those wicked teachers which wil haue vs to doubte of the Grace of God and whether we are loued of God when as God would haue vs more sure of nothing then that beleeuing the Gospell we assure our selues to be in his fauour and to be beloued of Christ Because that God hath from the beginning chosen you The Apostle expresseth the cause why all men shal not be ouerwhelmed in one and the selfe same destruction namely because Sathan can doe nothing against those to hinder their saluation although heauen and earth be confounded together For this saying of Christ shall alwayes abide most firme My sheepe hear my voice and I knowe them Iohn 10.27 and they follow me and I giue vnto them eternall life neither shall they perish for euer and no man shall take them ou◠〈◊〉 my hande There is no doubt but thaâ— the Apostle speaketh of Gods eternall electioÌ„ For he meaneth that there is no feare of the altering of their saluation which is fouÌ„ded vpon gods eternal election thogh there happen a troublesome alteration of thinges As if he should say let this be a horror and feare to others to those I say which perish in whom the Diuels can much preuaile but as for you ye are without peril as the beloued of God such as are elected froÌ„ the beginning Therefore what garboyle trouble soeuer Sathan woorketh in the worlde yet your saluation was laid vp in safety for you before the world was made For election signifieth a purpose of shewing mercie and of sauing those whom God hath ordayned by that purpose to obtayne eternall life for an inheritance But because it is not our part to enter into the secret counsell of God there to seeke the certaintie of our saluation he deliuereth vnto vs certaine signes and tokens of election which ought sufficiently to assure vs thereof Through sanctification of the spirit That is to say by the holy Ghost which doth purifie our hearts and giue vnto vs a true faith Therefore to know whether God hath elected vs or no we must not seeke what God hath done before the creation of the worlde but we shal finde in our selues a lawfull triall namely if he hath sanctified vs with his spirit established vs in the faith of his Gospell For it is the office of the holy Ghost to illuminate our darkened heartes which are naturally blinde to teach the ignorant to comfort the afflicted to bringe those that goe astray into the right way and so to sanctifie them that their workes may be acceptable to the omnipotent God The Apostle calleth that the Faith of truth by which the elect doe beleeue the Gospell of Christ For this is contrary to that false perswasion concerning the which Iames pronounceth saying Faith without workes is dead And the faith which we heare to the Gospell â—â—mes 2. is an assured testimony of our adoption and the spirit doth giue that adoption and they which are led by the spirit of God Rom. 8.14 Iohn 3.36 are the sonnes of God And he which possesseth Christ by faith hath euerlasting life All which thinges are diligently to be noted least we pretermitting the reuelation of Gods will whereupon he commaundeth vs to rest we going about to drawe the same from his secrete counsell in the which he woulde not haue vs inquisitiue should bring our selues into a confused laberinth or maze Therefore we must holde our selues contented with the faith of the Gospell and with the grace of the spirit by which we are regenerated that we may assure our selues to be elected of God and that we shall haue the saluation of eternall life if we doe truly beleeue in Christ the sonne of God And hereby their wickednes is confuted which make Gods election a cloake of all filthynesse when as Peter so ioyneth the same with faith and regeneration 1. Peâ— that they cannot be separated And Paul himselfe in an other place testifieth Ephe. 1.4 that we were elected before the foundation of the world was layed that we might be blamelesse and holy in the sight of God in loue 14 Whereunto he called you by our Gospell to obtaine the glorie of our Lorde Iesus Christ The preaching of the Gospell pertayneth to the confirmatioÌ„ of election For this is the meane by which we come vnto saluation whereunto God hath chosen vs. God therefore hath called vs vnto a true faith not by the righteousnes of the law but by the Gospell euen as Paul testifieth in an other place 2. Tim. 1.9 He hath saued and called vs with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was but is now made manifest by the appearing of our sauiour Iesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortalitie vnto light through the Gospell And therefore by the Gospell because no man can beleeue in Christ but by the publication therof who being now glorified raigneth at the right hand of God the father in heauen Rom. 10.17 For faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the worde of God By our Gospell He calleth it his Gospell not that it sprang from him but because the preaching thereof was committed to him As if he should say By the Gospell which we haue preached which was committed to vs to preach And here are to be noted certaine degrees of our saluation For we are from the beginning chosen to saluation and then we are made partakers of saluation through sanctification of the spirite through beleeuing of the truth and through the Gospell To obtaine the glorie of our Lorde Iesus Christ This doth bring no small consolation to the faithful when they know that doth they and their saluation are so in the handes of God euen as a fixed
and firme inheritance is in the power of some Lord. To this ende pertaine these places Psal 2. â— Aske of me and I will giue thee the heathen for thyne inheritance and the vttermost partes of the earth for thy possession Againe Act. 20.28 Christ hath purchased a Church to himselfe by his blood For God hath called vs that we might be a glorious and peculiar people of Iesus Christ a holy nation innocent immacylate which might honor and worshippe God and that God himselfe might dwell in the heartes of those that worship him The which ought to allure vs to holinesse of life For God hath not called vs to lust and vncleannesse but vnto holinesse and sinceritie and that we might be his holy temple 15 Therefore brethren stand fast and keepe the instructions which ye haue beene taught either by word or by our Epistle This is the conclusion in tho which the Apostle requireth perseuerance both of faith and also of manners or of good workes And therefore he bringeth in this exhortation very aptly vpon the premisses because our constancie and power of perseuering doth leane vpon the trust and confidence of Gods grace For when God doth call vs to saluation by reaching foorth as it were his hand vnto vs when Christ doth offer vs to inioy and possesse himâ—â—lfe by the doctrine of the Gospell whâ—â— the holy Ghost is giuen vnto vs as a â—eâ— and pledge of eternall life although heauen should fall we ought not to feâ— or be discouraged For he commanâ—â—h the Thessalonians to stand fast nâ—t onely when others doe stand but also when they saw almost all men to fall away from the faith and all thinges to be full of confusion to abide neuerthelesse then in their state And in very deede the calling wherewith God doth call vs ought so to arme and confirme vs against all offences that the vniuersall ruine of the world should not shake our firmenes For we must stand like souldiers which are placed in their aray to fight against the enimies of Cristianisme For constancie and the power of perseuering is necessary for vs without the which it shal profite nothing that we haue once begun well in the exercises of Godlinesse And kepe the instructions which ye haue beene taught There are some which restrayne these wordes vnto the ordinances of ciuill gouerment amisse for he sheweth the ma◠〈◊〉 of standing fast But it is a matter of greater importance then externall dâ—scipline Paul therefore calleth all hose thinges instructions which by hiâ— teaching the Thessalonians had leaâ—â—ed that is to say the doctrine of the Gospell concerning true repentance towardes God and concerning true faith in the Lorde Iesus For it was not lawfull for the Apostle of Iesus Christ to teach any other thing And the writings of Paul do sufficiently shew what matter he did especially teach and how he is to be imitated of al the Godly teachers of the Church For he followed that order of teaching which Christ deliuered vnto him being neither inferior nor contrary to any other Apostle in doctrine The Papistes doe abuse this place for the defence of mens traditions And they frame their reason thus if it was lawfull for Paul to commaund traditions it is also lawfull for other teachers to doe it likewise and if it were a Godly thing to obserue them then is it meet that these be no lesse obserued But admitte that Paul spake of the precepts which appertained to the externall gouernment of the Church yet we say that they were not made or ordayned by him but commaunded of the Lord. For in another place he testifieth that it is not his purpose to insnare the consciences of men euen as it was not lawfull for him 1. Cor. 7.35 nor for any of the Apostles to doe it So that we doe acknowledge that we ought to receiue the Apostolicall traditions euen as well as the written Epistles but yet we doe not acknowledge that all they are Apostolicall traditions which those men thrust vnto vs vnder the title of Apostolicall Therefore they shew themselues very vndiscrete in going about to defend the filthy heape of their superstitions vnder this title as if they were the traditions of Paul But the traditions of Paul are not contrary to his written Epistles as the traditions of these men are contrary vnto the writinges of the Apostles But we will leaue those trifling toyes seeing we haue the sincere meaning of Paul And it may be iudged partly by the Epistle what manner of traditions they be which he commendeth For he saith Either by word That is my sermons my preaching or present instruction Either by Epistle What doth that contayne but pure doctrine which doth vtterly ouerthrow all Popery and all other fayned thinges which are contrary to the simplicitie of the Gospell 16 Now the same Iesus Christ our Lord and our God euen the father which hath loued vs and hath giuen vs euerlasting consolation and good hope through grace The Apostle hauing exhorted the Thessalonians doth now according to his manner blesse them and pray for them thereby to make them more firme and strong Teaching thereby that all Christian vertues and perseuerance therein are giuen vnto vs of God and that therefore we haue need daily to pray vnto God for the same gifts Therefore by this prayer he doth preuent the Thessalonians of a doubt that they might not be carefull where to get strength constanly to abide in sincere doctrine Neither is it negligently to be pretermitted that Paul testifieth that our Lorde Iesus Christ is the giuer of those gifts with God our father For thereby he giueth vs to vnderstand that he is God and that he doth bring to passe with God the father that we do profite and perseuere in euery good worke And he doth withall admonish vs that we cannot otherwise obtaine any thing from God then by seeking the same in Christ himselfe Also for so much as he prayeth that God would giue vnto them those thinges which he had commaunded he thereby sheweth how little exhortations doe preuaile except God doe inwardly moue mens hearts Verely mens eares should heare onely a vaine sound if so be the holy Ghost should not make the doctrine effectuall And our God the father which hath loued vs. Euen when we were enimies how much more shall he loue vs Rom. 5.10 now that we are reconciled through Iesus Christ his sonne This the Apostle addeth to make the Thessalonians the more assured that God would giue vnto them those thinges which he prayed for And hath giuen vs euerlasting consolation This eternall consolation which he wil haue alway to remaine in his church is the doctrine of the Gospell the preaching of remissioÌ„ of sinne through Christ And good hope The name of euerlasting consolation and of good hope tendeth to this end that the faithfull may assuredly looke for an euerlasting continuance of gifts He addeth Through grace to exclude mans