assaults we shall learn in the answer of Christ Jesus, which follows:
But He, answering, said "It is written, man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This
answer of Christ proves the sentence which we have brought of the
aforesaid temptation to be the very meaning of the Holy Ghost; for
unless the purpose of Satan has been to have removed Christ from all
hope of God's merciful providence toward Him in that His necessity,
Christ had not answered directly to his words, saying, "Command that
these stones be made bread." But Christ Jesus, perceiving his art and
malicious subtility, answered directly to his meaning, His words nothing
regarded; by which Satan was so confounded that he was ashamed to reply
any further.
But that you may the better understand the meaning of Christ's answer,
we will express and repeat it over in more words. "Thou laborest,
Satan," would Christ say, "to bring into my heart a doubt and suspicion
of My Father's promise, which was openly proclaimed in My baptism, by
reason of My hunger, and that I lack all carnal provision. Thou art bold
to affirm that God takes no care for Me, but thou art a deceitful and
false corrupt sophister, and thy argument, too, is vain, and full of
blasphemies; for thou bindest God's love, mercy, and providence to the
having or wanting of bodily provision, which no part of God's Scriptures
teach us, but rather the express contrary. As it is written, 'Man doth
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proeeedeth out of the
mouth of God,' that is, the very life and felicity of man consists not
in the abundance of bodily things, or the possession and having of them
makes no man blest or happy; neither shall the lack of them be the cause
of his final misery; but the very life of man consists in God, and in
His promises pronounced by His own mouth, unto which whoso cleaves
unfeignedly shall live the life everlasting. And altho all creatures in
earth forsake him, yet shall not his bodily life perish till the time
appointed by God approach. For God has means to feed, preserve, and
maintain, unknown to man's reason, and contrary to the common course of
nature. He fed His people Israel in the desert forty years without the
provision of man. He preserved Jonah in the whale's belly; and
maintained and kept the bodies of the three children in the furnace of
fire. Reason and the natural man could have seen nothing in these cases
but destruction and death, and could have judged nothing but that God
had cast away the care of these, His creatures, and yet His providence
was most vigilant toward them in the extremity of their dangers, from
which He did so deliver them, and in the midst of them did so assist
them, that His glory, which is His mercy and goodness, did more appear
and shine after their troubles than it could have done if they had
fallen in them. And therefore I measure not the truth and favor of God
by having or by lacking of bodily necessities, but by the promise which
He has made to me. As He Himself is immutable, so is His word and
promise constant, which I believe, and to which I will adhere, and so
cleave, whatever can come to the body outwardly."
In this answer of Christ we may perceive what weapons are to be used
against our adversary the devil, and how we may confute his arguments,
which craftily, and of malice, he makes against God's elect. Christ
might have repulsed Satan with a word, or by commanding him to silence,
as He to whom all power was given in heaven and earth; but it pleased
His mercy to teach us how to use the sword of the Holy Ghost, which is
the word of God, in battle against our spiritual enemy. The Scripture
which Christ brings is written in the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. It
was spoken by Moses a little before His death, to establish the people
in God's merciful providence. For in the same chapter, and in certain
others that go before, He reckons the great travail and divers dangers
with the extreme necessities that they had sustained in the desert the
space of forty years, and yet, notwithstanding how constant God had been
in keeping and performing His promise, for throughout all perils He had
conducted them to the sight and borders of the promised land. And so
this Scripture more directly answers to the temptation of Satan; for
thus does Satan reason, as before is said, "Thou art in poverty and hast
no provision to sustain thy life. Therefore God takes no regard nor care
of Thee, as He doth over His chosen children." Christ Jesus answered:
"Thy argument is false and vain; for poverty or necessity precludes not
the providence or care of God; which is easy to be proved by the people
of God, Israel, who, in the desert, oftentimes lacked things necessary
to the sustenance of life, and for lack of the same they grudged and
murmured; yet the Lord never cast away the providence and care of them,
but according to the word that He had once pronounced, to wit, that they
were His peculiar people; and according to the promise made to Abraham,
and to them before their departure from Egypt, He still remained their
conductor and guide, till He placed them in peaceable possession of the
land of Canaan, their great infirmities and manifold transgressions
notwithstanding."
Thus are we taught, I say, by Christ Jesus, to repulse Satan and his
assaults by the Word of God, and to apply the examples of His mercies,
which He has shown to others before us, to our own souls in the hour of
temptation, and in the time of our trouble. For what God doth to one at
any time, the same appertains to all that depend upon God and His
promises. And, therefore, however we are assaulted by Satan, our
adversary, within the Word of God is armor and weapons sufficient. The
chief craft of Satan is to trouble those that begin to decline from his
obedience, and to declare themselves enemies to iniquity, with divers
assaults, the design whereof is always the same; that is, to put
variance betwixt them and God into their conscience, that they should
not repose and rest themselves in His assured promises. And to persuade
this, he uses and invents divers arguments. Sometimes he calls the sins
of their youth, and which they have committed in the time of blindness,
to their remembrance; very often he objects their unthankfulness toward
God and present imperfections. By sickness, poverty, tribulations in
their household, or by persecution, he can allege that God is angry, and
regard them not. Or by the spiritual cross which few feel and fewer
understand the utility and profit of, he would drive God's children to
desperation, and by infinite means more, he goeth about seeking, like a
roaring lion, to undermine and destroy our faith. But it is impossible
for him to prevail against us unless we obstinately refuse to use the
defense and weapons that God has offered. Yea, I say, that God's elect
can not refuse it, but seek for their Defender when the battle is most
strong; for the sobs, groans, and lamentations of such as fight, yea,
the fear they have lest they be vanquished, the calling and prayer for
continuance, are the undoubted and right seeking of Christ our champion.
We refuse not the weapon, altho sometimes, by infirmity, we can not use
it as we would. It suffices that your hearts unfeignedly sob for greater
strength, for continuance, and for final deliverance by Christ Jesus;
that which is wanting in us, His sufficiency doth supply; for it is He
that fighteth and overcometh for us. But for bringing of the examples of
the Scriptures, if God permit, in the end we shall speak more largely
when it shall be treated why Christ permitted Himself thus to be
tempted. Sundry impediments now call me from writing in this matter,
but, by God's grace, at convenient leisure I purpose to finish, and to
send it to you. I grant the matter that proceeds from me is not worthy
of your pain and labor to read it; yet, seeing it is a testimony of my
good mind toward you, I doubt not but you will accept it in good part.
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant unto you to find favor
and mercy of the Judge, whose eyes and knowledge pierce through the
secret cogitations of the heart, in the day of temptation, which shall
come upon all flesh, according to that mercy which you (illuminated and
directed by His Holy Spirit) have showed to the afflicted. Now the God
of all comfort and consolation confirm and strengthen you in His power
unto the end. Amen.
CALVIN
ENDURING PERSECUTION FOR CHRIST
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
John Calvin was born in 1509, at Noyon, France. He has been called the
greatest of Protestant commentators and theologians, and the inspirer of
the Puritan exodus. He often preached every day for weeks in succession.
He possest two of the greatest elements in successful pulpit oratory,
self-reliance and authority. It was said of him, as it was afterward
said of Webster, that "every word weighed a pound." His style was
simple, direct, and convincing. He made men think. His splendid
contributions to religious thought, and his influence upon individual
liberty, give him a distinguished place among great reformers and
preachers. His idea of preaching is thus exprest in his own words: "True
preaching must not be dead, but living and effective. No parade of
rhetoric, but the Spirit of God must resound in the voice in order to
operate with power." He died at Geneva in 1564.
CALVIN
1509--1564
ENDURING PERSECUTION FOR CHRIST
_Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his
reproach_.--Hebrews xiii., 13.
All the exhortations which can be given us to suffer patiently for the
name of Jesus Christ, and in defense of the gospel, will have no effect
if we do not feel assured of the cause for which we fight. For when we
are called to part with life, it is absolutely necessary to know on what
grounds. The firmness necessary we can not possess, unless it be founded
on certainty of faith.
It is true that persons may be found who will foolishly expose
themselves to death in maintaining some absurd opinions and dreams
conceived by their own brain, but such impetuosity is more to be
regarded as frenzy than as Christian zeal; and, in fact, there is
neither firmness nor sound sense in those who thus, at a kind of
haphazard, cast themselves away. But, however this may be, it is in a
good cause only that God can acknowledge us as His martyrs. Death is
common to all, and the children of God are condemned to ignominy and
tortures as criminals are; but God makes the distinction between them,
inasmuch as He can not deny His truth. On our part, then, it is
requisite that we have sure and infallible evidence of the doctrine
which we maintain; and hence, as I have said, we can not be rationally
imprest by any exhortations which we receive to suffer persecution for
the gospel, if no true certainty of faith has been imprinted in our
hearts. For to hazard our life upon a peradventure is not natural, and
tho we were to do it, it would only be rashness, not Christian courage.
In a word, nothing that we do will be approved of God if we are not
thoroughly persuaded that it is for Him and His cause we suffer
persecution, and the world is our enemy.
Now, when I speak of such persuasion, I mean not merely that we must
know how to distinguish between true religion and the abuses or follies
of men, but also that we must be thoroughly persuaded of the heavenly
life, and the crown which is promised us above, after we shall have
fought here below. Let us understand, then, that both of these
requisites are necessary, and can not be separated from each other. The
points, accordingly, with which we must commence are these: We must know
well what our Christianity is, what the faith which we have to hold and
follow, what the rule which God has given us; and we must be so well
furnished with such instructions as to be able boldly to condemn all the
falsehoods, errors, and superstitions which Satan has introduced to
corrupt the pure simplicity of the doctrine of God. Hence, we ought not
to be surprized that, in the present day, we see so few persons disposed
to suffer for the gospel, and that the greater part of those who call
themselves Christians know not what it is. For all are, as it were,
lukewarm; and instead of making it their business to hear or read, count
it enough to have had some slight taste of Christian faith. This is the
reason why there is so little decision, and why those who are assailed
immediately fall away. This fact should stimulate us to inquire more
diligently into divine truth, in order to be well assured with, regard
to it.
Still, however, to be well informed and grounded is not the whole that
is necessary. For we see some who seem to be thoroughly imbued with
sound doctrine, and who, notwithstanding, have no more zeal or affection
than if they had never known any more of God than some fleeting fancy.
Why is this? Just because they have never comprehended the majesty of
the Holy Scriptures. And, in fact, did we, such as we are, consider well
that it is God who speaks to us, it is certain that we would listen more
attentively, and with greater reverence. If we would think that in
reading Scripture we are in the school of angels, we would be far more
careful and desirous to profit by the doctrine which is propounded to
us.
We now see the true method of preparing to suffer for the gospel. First,
We must have profited so far in the school of God as to be decided in
regard to true religion and the doctrine which we are to hold; and we
must despise all the wiles and impostures of Satan, and, all human
inventions, as things not only frivolous but also carnal, inasmuch as
they corrupt Christian purity; therein differing, like true martyrs of
Christ, from the fantastic persons who suffer for mere absurdities.
Second, Feeling assured of the good cause, we must be inflamed,
accordingly, to follow God whithersoever He may call us: His Word must
have such authority with us as it deserves, and having withdrawn from
this world, we must feel as it were enraptured in seeking the heavenly
life.
But it is more than strange that, tho the light of God is shining more
brightly than it ever did before, there is a lamentable want of zeal! If
the thought does not fill us with shame, so much the worse. For we must
shortly come before the great Judge, where the iniquity which we
endeavor to hide will be brought forward with such upbraidings that we
shall be utterly confounded. For, if we are obliged to bear testimony to
God, according to the measure of the knowledge which He has given us,
to what is it owing, I would ask, that we are so cold and timorous in
entering into battle, seeing that God has so fully manifested Himself at
this time that He may be said to have opened to us and displayed before
us the great treasures of His secrets? May it not be said that we do not
think we have to do with God? For had we any regard to His Majesty we
would not dare to turn the doctrine which proceeds from Him into some
kind of philosophic speculation. In short, it is impossible to deny that
it is our great shame, not to say fearful condemnation, that we have so
well known the truth of God, and have so little courage to maintain it!
Above all, when we look to the martyrs of past times, well may we detest
our own cowardice! The greater part of those were not persons much
versed in Holy Scripture, so as to be able to dispute on all subjects.
They knew that there was one God, whom they behooved to worship and
serve--that they had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, in
order that they might place their confidence of salvation in Him and in
His grace--and that, all the inventions of men being mere dross and
rubbish, they ought to condemn all idolatries and superstitions. In one
word, their theology was in substance this--There is one God who created
all the world, and declared His will to us by Moses and the prophets,
and finally by Jesus Christ and His apostles; and we have one sole
Redeemer, who purchased us by His blood, and by whose grace we hope to
be saved: All the idols of the world are curst, and deserve execration.
With a system embracing no other points than these, they went boldly to
the flames, or to any other kind of death. They did not go in twos or
threes, but in such bands that the number of those who fell by the hands
of tyrants is almost infinite! We, on our part, are such learned clerks
that none can be more so (so at least we think), and, in fact, so far as
regards the knowledge of Scripture, God has so spread it out before us
that no former age was ever so highly favored. Still, after all, there
is scarcely a particle of zeal. When men manifest such indifference, it
looks as if they were bent on provoking the vengeance of God.
What then should be done in order to inspire our breasts with true
courage? We have, in the first place, to consider how precious the
confession of our faith is in the sight of God. We little know how much
God prizes it, if our life, which is nothing, is valued by us more
highly. When it is so, we manifest a marvelous degree of stupidity. We
can not save our life at the expense of our confession with out
acknowledging that we hold it in higher estimation than the honor of
God and the salvation of our souls.
A heathen could say that "It was a miserable thing to save life by
giving up the only things which made life desirable!" And yet he and
others like him never knew for what end men are placed in the world, and
why they live in it. It is true they knew enough to say that men ought
to follow virtue, to conduct themselves honestly and without reproach;
but all their virtues were mere paint and smoke. We know far better what
the chief aim of life should be, namely, to glorify God, in order that
He may be our glory. When this is not done, wo to us! And we can not
continue to live for a single moment upon the earth without heaping
additional curses on our heads. Still we are not ashamed to purchase
some few days to languish here below, renouncing eternal kingdom by
separating ourselves from Him by whose energy we are sustained in life.
Were we to ask the most ignorant, not to say the most brutish, persons
in the world why they live, they would not venture to answer simply that
it is to eat, and drink, and sleep; for all know that they have been
created for a higher and holier end. And what end can we find if it be
not to honor God, and allow ourselves to be governed by Him, like
children by good parents; so that after we have finished the journey of
this corruptible life, we may be received into His eternal inheritance?
Such is the principal, indeed the sole end. When we do not take it into
account, and are intent on a brutish life, which is worse than a
thousand deaths, what can we allege for our excuse? To live and not know
why is unnatural. To reject the causes for which we live, under the
influence of a foolish longing for a respite of some few days, during
which we are to live in the world, while separated from God--I know not
how to name such infatuation and madness!
But as persecution is always harsh and bitter, let us consider how and
by what means Christians may be able to fortify themselves with
patience, so as unflinchingly to expose their life for the truth of God.
The text which we have read out, when it is properly understood, is
sufficient to induce us to do so. The apostle says, Let us go forth from
the city after the Lord Jesus, bearing His reproach. In the first place,
he reminds us, altho the swords should not be drawn against us nor the
fires kindled to burn us, that we can not be truly united to the Son of
God while we are rooted in this world. Wherefore a Christian, even in
repose, must always have one foot lifted to march to battle, and not
only so, but he must have his affections withdrawn from the world, altho
his body is dwelling in it. Grant that this at first sight seems to us
hard, still we must be satisfied with the words of St. Paul (I Thess.
iii.), that we are called and appointed to suffer. As if He had said,
Such is our condition as Christians; this is the road by which we must
go if we would follow Christ.
Meanwhile, to solace our infirmity and mitigate the vexation and sorrow
which persecution might cause us, a good reward is held forth: In
suffering for the cause of God, we are walking step by step after the
Son of God, and have Him for our guide. Were it simply said that to be
Christians we must pass through all the insults of the world boldly, to
meet death at all times and in whatever way God may be pleased to
appoint, we might apparently have some pretext for replying that it is a
strange road to go at peradventure. But when we are commanded to follow
the Lord Jesus, His guidance is too good and honorable to be refused.
Now, in order that we may be more deeply moved, not only is it said that
Jesus Christ walks before us as our Captain, but that we are made
conformable to His image; so St. Paul says in the eighth chapter to the
Romans that God hath ordained all those whom He hath adopted for His
children, to be made conformable to Him who is the pattern and head of
all.
Are we so delicate as to be unwilling to endure anything? Then we must
renounce the grace of God by which He has called us to the hope of
salvation. For there are two things which can not be separated--to be
members of Christ, and to be tried by many afflictions. We certainly
ought to prize such a conformity to the Son of God much more than we do.
It is true, that in the world's judgment there is disgrace in suffering
for the gospel. But since we know that believers are blind, ought we not
to have better eyes than they? It is ignominy to suffer from those who
occupy the seat of justice, but St. Paul shows us by his example that we
have to glory in scourings for Jesus Christ, as marks by which God
recognizes us and avows us for His own. And we know what St. Luke
narrates of Peter and John (Acts v., 41); namely, that they rejoiced to
have been counted worthy to suffer infamy and reproach for the name of
the Lord Jesus.
Ignominy and dignity are two opposites: so says the world, which, being
infatuated, judges against all reason, and in this way converts the
glory of God into dishonor. But, on our part, let us not refuse to be
vilified as concerns the world, in order to be honored before God and
His angels. We see what pains the ambitious take to receive the commands
of a king, and what a boast they make of it. The Son of God presents His
commands to us, and every one stands back. Tell me, pray, whether in so
doing are we worthy of having anything in common with Him? there is
nothing here to attract our sensual nature, but such notwithstanding
are the true escutcheons of nobility in the heavens. Imprisonment,
exile, evil report, imply in men's imagination whatever is to be
vituperated; but what hinders us from viewing things as God judges and
declares them, save our unbelief? Wherefore, let the name of the Son of
God have all the weight with us which it deserves, that we may learn to
count it honor when He stamps His marks upon us. If we act otherwise our
ingratitude is insupportable.
Were God to deal with us according to our desserts, would He not have
just cause to chastise us daily in a thousand ways? Nay more, a hundred
thousand deaths would not suffice for a small portion of our misdeeds!
Now, if in His infinite goodness He puts all our faults under His foot
and abolishes them, and instead of punishing us according to our
demerit, devises an admirable means to convert our afflictions into
honor and a special privilege, inasmuch as through them we are taken
into partnership with His Son, must it not be said, when we disdain such
a happy state, that we have indeed made little progress in Christian
doctrine?
Accordingly, St. Peter, after exhorting us (I Peter iv., 15) to walk so
purely in the fear of God, as not to suffer as thieves, adulterers, and
murderers, immediately adds, that if we must suffer as Christians, let
us glorify God for the blessing which He thus bestows upon us. It is
not without cause he speaks thus. For who are we, I pray, to be
witnesses of the truth of God, and advocates to maintain His cause? Here
we are poor worms of the earth, creatures full of vanity, full of lies,
and yet God employs us to defend His truth--an honor which pertains not
even to the angels of heaven! May not this consideration alone well
inflame us to offer ourselves to God to be employed in any way in such
honorable service?