ANTHONY: Much less than this may serve, cousin, with calling and
trusting upon God's help, without which much more than this cannot
serve. But the fervour of the Christian faith so sore fainteth
nowadays and decayeth, coming from hot unto luke-warm and from
luke-warm almost to key-cold, that men must now be fain to lay many
dry sticks to it, as to a fire that is almost out, and use much
blowing at it.
But else I think, by my troth, that unto a warm faithful man one
thing alone, of which we have spoken yet no word, would be comfort
enough in this kind of persecution, against the loss of all his
goods.
VINCENT: What thing may that be, uncle?
ANTHONY: In good faith, cousin, even the bare remembrance of the
poverty that our Saviour willingly suffered for us. For I verily
suppose that if there were a great king who had so tender love for
a servant of his that he had, to help him out of danger, forsaken
and lost all his worldly wealth and royalty and become poor and
needy for his sake, that servant could scantly be found who would
be of such a base unnatural heart that if he himself came afterward
to some substance he would not with better will lose it all again
than shamefully to forsake such a master.
And therefore, as I say, I surely suppose that if we would well
remember and inwardly consider the great goodness of our Saviour
toward us, when we were not yet his poor sinful servants but rather
his adversaries and his enemies, and what wealth of this world he
willingly forsook for our sakes--for he was indeed universal king
of this world, and so having the power in his own hand to have used
it if he had wished, instead of which, to make us rich in heaven,
he lived here in neediness and poverty all his life and neither
would have authority nor keep either lands or goods. If we would
remember this, the deep consideration and earnest advisement of
this one point alone would be able to make any true Christian man
or woman well content rather for his sake in return to give up all
that ever God hath lent them (and lent them he hath, all that they
have) than unkindly and unfaithfully to forsake him. And him they
forsake if, for fear, they forsake the confessing of his Christian
faith.
And therefore, to finish this piece withal, concerning the dread of
losing our outward worldly goods, let us consider the slender
commodity that they bring; with what labour they are bought; what a
little while they abide with whomsoever they abide with longest;
what pain their pleasure is mingled with; what harm the love of
them doth unto the soul; what loss is in the keeping if Christ's
faith is refused for them; what winning is in the loss, if we lose
them for God's sake; how much more profitable they are when well
given than when ill kept; and finally what ingratitude it would be
if we would not forsake them for Christ's sake rather than for them
to forsake Christ unfaithfully, who while he lived for our sake
forsook all the world, beside the suffering of shameful and painful
death, of which we shall speak afterward.
If we will consider well these things, I say, and will pray God
with his holy hand to print them in our hearts, and will abide and
dwell still in the hope of his help, his truth shall, as the
prophet saith, so compass us about with a shield that we shall not
need to be afraid of this incursion of this midday devil--this
plain open persecution of the Turk--for any loss that we can take
by the bereaving from us of our wretched worldly goods. For their
short and small pleasure in this life forborne, we shall be with
heavenly substance everlastingly recompensed by God, in joyful
bliss and glory.