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The whole family of God, most high and most true, has therefore a
consolation of its own, a consolation which cannot deceive, and which
has in it a surer hope than the tottering and falling affairs of earth
can afford. They will not refuse the discipline of this temporal
life, in which they are schooled for life eternal; nor will they
lament their experience of it, for the good things of earth they use as
pilgrims who are not detained by them, and its ills either prove or
improve them. As for those who insult over them in their trials, and
when ills befall them say, "Where is thy God?" we may ask them
where their gods are when they suffer the very calamities for the sake
of avoiding which they worship their gods, or maintain they ought to be
worshipped; for the family of Christ is furnished with its reply: our
God is everywhere present, wholly everywhere; not confined to any
place. He can be present unperceived, and be absent without moving;
when He exposes us to adversities, it is either to prove our
perfections or correct our imperfections; and in return for our patient
endurance of the sufferings of time, He reserves for us an everlasting
reward. But who are you, that we should deign to speak with you even
about your own gods, much less about our God, who is "to be feared
above all gods? For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the
Lord made the heavens."
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