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The devil, too, has his amusement and pleasure, which consists in suppressing God’s work, and tormenting those that love God’s Word, and hold fast thereby; so the true Christians, being God’s kingdom, must be tormented and oppressed.

A true Christian-must have evil days, and ,suffer much; our Adam’s flesh and blood must have good and easy days, and suffer nothing. How may these agree together? Our flesh is given over to death and hell: if our flesh is to be delivered from death, hell, and the devil, it must keep and hold to God’s commandments — i.e., must believe in Christ Jesus, that he is the Son of God and our Redeemer, and must cleave fast to his word believing that he will not suffer us to be plagued everlastingly, but will deliver and remove us out of this life into life eternal; giving us, at the same time, patience under the cross, and to bear with the weakness of another, who is also under the cross, and holds with Christ.

Therefore, he that will boast himself to be Christ’s disciple, a true Christian, and saved, must not expect good days; but all his faith, hope, and love must be directed to God, and to his neighbor, that so his whole life be nothing else than the cross, persecution, adversity, and tribulation.