He has many who are desirous of comfort, but few of tribulation.
All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to suffer with Him.
Many praise Him and bless Him as long as they receive consolation from Him.
But if Jesus hide Himself, and leave them for a little while, they either fall into complaints or excessive dejection.
But they who love Jesus for Jesus' sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him no less in tribulation and anguish of heart than in the greatest consolation.
Oh, how much is the pure love of Jesus able to do when it is not mixed with any self-interest or self-love.
Seldom do we find any one so spiritual as to be stripped of all things.
Yet no one is indeed richer than such a man, none more powerful, none more free, who knows how to leave himself and all things, and place himself in the very lowest place.
To many this seems a hard saying: "Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow Me." (Mt 16:24, Mk 8:34, Lk 9:23)
But it will be much harder to hear that last word: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." (Mt 25:41)
All the servants of the cross, who in their lifetime have conformed themselves to the Crucified, shall come to Christ their judge with great confidence.
Why then are thou afraid to take up thy cross, which leads to the kingdom?
In the cross is salvation; in the cross is life; in the cross is protection from thy enemies.
In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the cross is strength of mind; in the cross is joy of spirit.
In the cross is height of virtue; in the cross is the perfection of sanctity.
There is no health of soul nor hope of eternal life but in the cross.
If thou die with Him thou shalt also live with Him, and if thou are His companion in suffering thou shalt also partake in His glory (2 Cor. 1:7).
Behold the cross is all, and in dying to thyself all consists, and there is no other way to life and to true internal peace but the holy way of the cross and of daily mortification.
For either thou shalt feel pain in the body, or sustain in thy soul tribulation of spirit.
Sometimes thou shalt be left by God, other times thou shalt be afflicted by thy neighbor, and what is more, thou shalt often be a trouble to thyself.
God would have thee learn to suffer tribulation without comfort, and wholly to submit thyself to Him, and to become more humble by thy tribulation.
Thou canst not escape the cross, whithersoever thou runnest; for whithersoever thou goest thou carriest thyself with thee and shalt always find thyself.
And everywhere thou must of necessity have patience, if thou desirest inward peace and wouldst merit an eternal crown.
If thou carry the cross willingly, it will carry thee and bring thee to thy desired end; namely, to that place where there will be an end of suffering, though here there will be no end.
If thou carry it unwillingly, thou makest it a burden to thee and loadest thyself the more, and nevertheless thou must bear it.
If thou fling away one cross and loadest thyself the more, thou shalt find another and perhaps a heavier [cross].What saint was there ever in the world without his cross and affliction?
The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and dost thou seek rest and joy?
Thou errest, thou errest, if thou seekest any other thing than to suffer tribulations; for this whole mortal life is full of miseries and best on all sides with crosses.
[A man advanced in spirit] is not without some comfort, because he is sensible to the great profit which he reaps by bearing the cross.
The more the flesh is brought down by affliction, the more the spirit is strengthened by inward grace.
To bear the cross, to love the cross, to chastise the body, and bring it under subjection; to fly honors, to be willing to suffer reproaches; to despise one's self and wish to be despised; to bear all adversities and losses, and to desire no prosperity in this world, are not according to man's natural inclination.
But if thou confide in the Lord, strength will be given thee from heaven and the world and the flesh shall be made subject to thee.
Neither shalt thou fear thine enemy, the devil, if thou be armed with faith and signed with the cross of Christ.
Prepare thyself to suffer many adversities and different evils in this miserable life; for so it will be with thee wherever thou art, and so indeed wilt thou find it wheresoever thou mayst hide thyself.
Drink of the chalice of the Lord lovingly if thou desire to be His friend and to have part with Him (Mt 20:22).
The sufferings of this life bear no proportion to the glory to come (Rom. 8:18), although thou alone couldst suffer them all.
As long as suffering appear grievous to thee and thou seek to fly from it, will it be ill with thee, and the tribulation from which thou fliest will everywhere follow thee.
[But] if thou set thyself to what thou oughtst, that is, to suffer and die to thyself, it will quickly be beter with thee and thou shalt find peace.
"I," said Jesus, "will show him how great things he must suffer for My Name." (Acts. 9:16)
Know for certain that thou must lead a dying life, and the more a man dies to himself, the more he begins to live to God.
No man is fit to comprehend heavenly things who has not resigned himself to suffer adversities for Christ.
Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more wholesome for thee in this world, than to suffer willingly for Christ.
If thou wert to choose, thou oughtst to wish rather to suffer adversities for Christ than to be delighted with many comforts, because thou wouldst thus be more like unto Christ and more comformable to all the saints.
If, indeed, there had been anything better and more beneficial to a man's salvation than suffering, Christ certainly would have showed it by word and example.
So that when we have read and searched all, let this be the final conclusion, that "through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:21)
No comments:
Post a Comment