But as concerning the hour of the coming of the Lord, I deny not that he tarrieth long, even past all expectation. But inasmuch as the Lord Jesus himself said that he knew not that hour, for this cause I judge that no man shall know it. Only this is revealed unto me, that when the Lord shall come, it shall not be after such manner as we expect and shape forth in our minds, but the manner thereof shall be unexpected and new: better, I doubt not, than ever we hope or imagine, yet none the less, strange; yea, and perchance, at the first, full of disappointment. For I perceive that all the dealings of the Lord with men are after this fashion. He ever prepareth some good thing for us, exceeding all that we had expected; notwithstanding, with the good, there cometh also some wholesome pain or temptation that we expect not. For thus the Lord dealt with Adam in Paradise, and thus with Israel in the Promised Land; and thus also dealt the Lord Jesus with his disciples on earth. Wherefore thus also, I doubt not, the Lord Jesus will deal still with his disciples now that he reigneth in heaven.
But why speak I in conjectures concerning these unknown matters, or why yearn I thus impatiently for the hour of the Lord’s coming, seeing that the Lord vouchsafeth to me, even on earth, his perpetual presence in mine heart, and the signs of his presence compass me everywhere around, so that even to live is joy? For verily to thee, O Lord, and to thy Kingdom, all things in heaven and earth do bear witness.
The faces of all children, whom thou didst call thy little ones, give back the brightness of thy countenance; the goodness of all good men testifieth unto thee, the supreme pattern of all good; yea even the bad and the weak proclaim their need of thee, O Lord our Redeemer, in whom alone is power to create goodness in the worst, and to make the weakest strong. To thy word the seed-time and harvests bear witness; the flowers also do sing of thy trustfulness and hope. If I look unto the earth, thou hast trodden and sanctified it; if to the heaven, thou hast gone up into it and dost possess it; if I think of the terrors of the depths beneath the earth, behold, thou knowest them, and hast passed through them, and overcome them, and hast broken the bars thereof; that they may no more keep captive them that shall follow in thy footsteps, passing through the darkness of the grave. Thus hast thou, O Eternal Word (by whom in ages past the worlds were created) now in these last times created the universe anew for them that love thee; so that all things do serve thee and proclaim thy Good Tidings, and the world is become unto thee as a vesture, and the elements are become thy servants: yea death itself thou hast subdued to be thy minister, and sin thou shalt subdue to be thy bond-slave.
Who is like unto thee, O most mighty Lord, for verily thy truth is on every side. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven, thou art there. If I go down unto the dead, thou art there also. If I take the wings of the morning and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. Therefore when I sleep in the grave, I am in thy cradle; and when I shall arise up and awake, behold around me are thy everlasting arms.
THE END OF THE HISTORY
OF
PHILOCHRISTUS.
POSTSCRIPT
It had been my purpose, beloved brethren, to have continued this history from the year after the Lord Jesus suffered (in which year I left Syria and came to Alexandria) even to this present year, the tenth year after the destruction of the Holy City. Herein I was minded to have set forth how great things the Lord wrought for us in the Church of Alexandria, and the troubles that befell us there; even to the time of my going on the embassage unto Gaius Cæsar along with Philo the Alexandrine. Next it was my intent to have spoken of the Church of Rome, how it grew and prospered, and how in those days the Spirit of the Lord began to lead the saints towards wisdom in the governing and administering of the Church; lastly, the history would have told how I accompanied Julius Plautius the legate hither, even to Londinium, where now I write, where the Lord had prepared a work for me to do in building up the Church in Britain. For in this way methinks it might have been possible [pg 434]for you, my brethren, more clearly to discern how the Lord Jesus, though he be now in heaven, still guideth his Church upon earth.
Notwithstanding, because I am now stricken in years (being now fourscore and six years of age), and forasmuch as I know not whether I may have life to complete so great a work, it seemeth best (although I have in part already written these matters of my later life) first to make an end of this former history, especially considering the troubles now imminent in Britain from the barbarous people, and to defer the rest to a more convenient season.