face of God, as it is said in the Psalm 16. So let goods be our help, until we enjoy
CHAPTER 5: Persecution Reproach and the Worlds Praise
face of God, as it is said in the Psalm 16. So let goods be our help, until we enjoy the sight of the face of our God, where all our happiness and joy lies. And also that we learn to laugh, so that we may prepare ourselves to cry when it pleases God, and that our own joy be mixed with sadness, also that we have compassion on those who endure: that each one does not withdraw separately, but that we learn to rejoice when the name of God is glorified. Let us then (god) rejoice, even though we have occasion to groan and weep. And on the contrary, when we are at our ease, and there is no question other than of rejoicing, if we see some desolation in the church, and that the name of God is blasphemed, that it is exposed to reproach and mockery, may this sadden us more than all the blessings of the world could make us sad: and may our joy for earthly prosperity then be tempered, and that we put water in our wine, as they say in the proverb. So much for this word.
Moreover, as a conclusion, when our Lord Jesus Christ says, Be careful when men speak ill of you: he does not mean this of all men, but of the common: as Paul says, that when he would serve men, and please them, he would have to renounce God. For men who are carnal by nature only ask to be flattered and pleased in everything. So to be praised in the manner of the world, we would have to close our eyes to all vices, and make ourselves prosecutors and advocates of them, and maintain them, and call evil virtue. This is, in short, how it happens that all those who desire the favor of men corrupt the doctrine of God, and wickedly corrupt it, and by this means leave the service of their Master. But there is another way of pleasing: it is to know that we do not try to feed the vices of men, but according as they themselves delight in evil, that we try to please them according to God. In short, this sentence of Paul tends to this goal, that the men whom we try to please must also be enemies of their greed and evil appetites, and of their wicked affections. When they are such, it is certain that the doctrine of God will please them: and therefore us who carry it. But if men remain in their nature, they will want everything covered and a veil drawn against all iniquity. So when it is spoken here of men, it is certain that Jesus Christ hears it of all those who make this compact: Now it is that you are prized by us, and that you also spare us.
For this is how profane people and enemies of the truth, all hypocrites, and all those who do not have a true and living root of fear of God, have their plots which they make with the false prophets: Well, you will be honored, we will serve you everything as you ask, but however also be careful not to annoy us by your speech: that you be at your ease, and that you also leave us there. woe on