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| Chapter XIII.
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Chapter
XIII.
But how Paul, an apostle, from being a persecutor,
who first of all shed the blood of the church, though afterwards he
exchanged the sword for the pen, and turned the dagger into a plough,
being first a ravening wolf of Benjamin, then himself supplying
food as did Jacob,8306
—how he, (I
say,) speaks in favour of martyrdoms, now to be chosen by himself also,
when, rejoicing over the Thessalonians, he says, “So that we
glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all
your persecutions and tribulations, in which ye endure a manifestation
of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be accounted worthy of
His kingdom, for which ye also suffer!”8307
As
also in his Epistle to the Romans: “And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, being sure that tribulation worketh patience, and
patience experience, and experience hope; and hope maketh not
ashamed.”8308
And again:
“And if children, then heirs, heirs indeed of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may
be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of
this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.”8309
And therefore he
afterward says: “Who shall separate us from the love of God?
Shall tribulation, or
distress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (As it is
written: For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we have been
counted as sheep for the slaughter.) Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors, through Him who loved us. For we are
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor power, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”8310
But further, in recounting his own
sufferings to the Corinthians, he certainly decided that suffering must
be borne: “In labours, (he says,) more abundant, in prisons very
frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty
stripes, save one; thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I
stoned,”8311
and the rest. And
if these severities will seem to be more grievous than martyrdoms, yet
once more he says: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for
Christ’s sake.”8312
He also says, in
verses occurring in a previous part of the epistle: “Our
condition is such, that we are troubled on every side, yet not
distressed; and are in need, but not in utter want; since we are
harassed by persecutions, but not forsaken; it is such that we are cast
down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in our body the dying of
Christ.”8313
“But
though,” says he, “our outward man
perisheth”—the flesh doubtless, by the violence of
persecutions—“yet the inward man is renewed day by
day”—the soul, doubtless, by hope in the promises.
“For 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”—he is speaking of
troubles; “but the things which are not seen are
eternal”—he is promising rewards. But writing in bonds to
the Thessalonians,8314
he certainly
affirmed that they were blessed, since to them it had been given not
only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for His sake.
“Having,” says he, “the same conflict which ye both
saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”8315
“For though I am offered upon the sacrifice, I joy and rejoice
with you all; in like manner do ye also joy and rejoice with me.”
You see what he decides the bliss of martyrdom to be, in honour of
which he is providing a festival of mutual joy. When at length he had
come to be very near the attainment of his desire, greatly rejoicing in
what he saw before him, he writes in these terms to Timothy:
“For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is
at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith; there is laid up for me the crown which the Lord
will give me on that day”8316
—doubtless of his suffering. Admonition
enough did he for his part also give in preceding passages: “It
is a faithful saying: For if we are dead with Christ, we shall also
live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny
Him, He also will deny us; if we believe not, yet He is faithful: He
cannot deny Himself.”8317
“Be not thou,
therefore, ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His
prisoner;”8318
for he had said
before: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”8319
For we suffer with power from love toward God, and with a sound mind,
when we suffer for our blamelessness. But further, if He anywhere
enjoins endurance, for what more than for sufferings is He providing
it? If anywhere He tears men away from idolatry, what more than
martyrdoms takes the lead, in tearing them away to its
injury?E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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