Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
It cannot be concluded that sufferings are not for God, because those who profess themselves to be the people of God are the instruments of them; or that it is not the cross of Christ which is borne, because it is laid on by those who profess Christ. Abel is called the protomartyr, the first sufferer for God; and he suffered by the hand of one who worshipped the same God, with the same kind of worship: both Abel and his persecutor offered sacrifice. Isaac suffered by Ishmael, Gal. iv. 29; yet Ishmael was Abraham’s son, and by him circumcised, and so admitted to the church and its privileges.
Who were those that persecuted the prophets of old, but they who professed themselves to be the peculiar people, and true worshippers of the true God? Jerusalem, the chosen city, killed the prophets, and stoned God’s messengers, Mat. xxiii. 37. Amongst this people, though there was no other people that owned the true God in the world, some persecutors were found in every generation. Even when they utterly disclaimed this, as thinking themselves far enough from being persecutors, yet then are they charged with this guilt by Christ himself, ver. 30, 31. Christ himself suffered by those who took themselves peculiarly to be the people of God. And since the profession of Christ became general, ordinarily a man’s enemies are those of his own house. The bitterest persecutors are those of the same profession.
For the reference, see David Clarkson on Christians suffering at the hands of the professing people of God.
Who were those that persecuted the prophets of old, but they who professed themselves to be the peculiar people, and true worshippers of the true God? Jerusalem, the chosen city, killed the prophets, and stoned God’s messengers, Mat. xxiii. 37. Amongst this people, though there was no other people that owned the true God in the world, some persecutors were found in every generation. Even when they utterly disclaimed this, as thinking themselves far enough from being persecutors, yet then are they charged with this guilt by Christ himself, ver. 30, 31. Christ himself suffered by those who took themselves peculiarly to be the people of God. And since the profession of Christ became general, ordinarily a man’s enemies are those of his own house. The bitterest persecutors are those of the same profession.
For the reference, see David Clarkson on Christians suffering at the hands of the professing people of God.
