Agreeably to this, in the reigns of Kings Henry the VIIIth, and the bloody Queen Mary, the principal test in England was, whether a man owned the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament; and he who denied this, was to be burnt as an heretic. Also in the Netherlands, it was enough to bring a man to the stake, if he confessed he had been re-baptized. In so much that it seems the Lord did raise in those days zealous men chiefly to testify against the idolatry of the host, and the error of infant baptism, and that so gradually he might break down the great structure of human inventions.
Now, how small soever the beginnings of this great work of Reformation were, yet it increased from time to time; and oftentimes singular instances were seen of the workings of the power and Spirit of God.
In the year 1513, I find that one John Le Clerc, of Meaux in France, being at Metz in Lorrain, was filled with such zeal against idolatry, that he broke to pieces the images in a chapel, which the next day were to have been worshipped in a very solemn manner. And being taken prisoner for this fact, and cruelly tortured to death, he was so eminently strengthened, even to the amazement of the beholders, that in the height of the torments, being torn with red hot pincers, he said, from Ps. cxv. “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.”
Not less was the zeal of one Aymond à Vie, imprisoned in France about the year 1541, because he had preached the gospel undauntedly; and though he had been advised to fly, yet he would not be persuaded thereto, but said with an heroic mind, ‘I would rather never have been born, than commit such a base act; for it is the duty of a good pastor not to fly from danger, but to stay in it, lest the sheep be scattered.’ He was tortured cruelly to betray his fellow believers; but no torment how great soever, could extort the name of any from him; and he suffered death valiantly for the testimony of Jesus, feeling himself very powerfully strengthened by the Spirit of God, which worked so gloriously in the martyrs of those times, that those of Merindol in Provence said, ‘The Holy Ghost is an infallible teacher, by whose inspiration all Christians receive the knowledge of truth: this spirit dwells in them, he regenerates them to a new life, he slayeth the old man in them, and he makes them alive to every good work, consoling them in tribulations, and strengthening them in adversities,’ &c.
And the pious professors at Meaux, I find mentioned in the year 1546, that though a great number of men and women were led prisoners by but a few, they yet made no resistance, but showed themselves harmless, not sad with grief, but singing with joy.
Nay, so powerfully did God work in Gabriel Beraudin, who was executed at Chambery in Savoy, in the year 1550, that after his tongue was cut off by the hangman, he spoke intelligibly to the people, and celebrated God’s praise in a miraculous manner.
Claude Morier being burnt very cruelly at Lyons in France, wrote whilst in his prison, ‘Let us pray our heavenly Father continually, that he create in us a clean heart, that he give us a new heart, that he guide our will by the leadings of his Spirit.’
Very remarkable it is also, that Godfried de Hammelle, a year after that, being imprisoned at Tournay in the Netherlands, and being told that the Apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians, had called marriage a sacrament, said in a letter, ‘That though at first this had puzzled him, yet the Lord had not long left him in this difficulty, but put him in mind by his Spirit, that the word there was not sacrament, but mystery.’ For the martyrs of those times did not stick to profess, with the primitive Christians, that the children of God must be led by his Spirit.
Peter Schryver, burnt at Lyons about the year 1552, wrote from prison, ‘That he having heard God’s pure word preached, believed it, because the Spirit of God gave him a testimony [or evidence] of it in his heart: and did so confirm it to him, and he could not question it in the least.’ He also says in his letter, ‘That once having prayed to God, he had been so refreshed by the virtue of his Spirit, and so strengthened, that though he sat in a dark nasty place, yet he felt such consolation and joy, that overcame all sorrow and anguish. Nay, said he, the least comfort and joy I feel now in my bonds, surpasseth all the joys that ever I had in my life; for now the Holy Ghost puts me in mind of those gracious promises that are made to those who suffer for his name’s sake.’ And being asked how he knew that which he asserted to be the pure word of God, he answered, ‘Because it did agree with the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, and that of Jesus Christ; and that the Holy Ghost gave him a certain evidence thereof.’ Concerning the indwelling of God’s Spirit in man, he also speaks very notably in his letter to John Chambon, (whose wonderful conversion in prison, was an eminent proof of the truth of his sayings,) telling him, ‘That his heavenly Father was near him, and by his Spirit dwelt in his heart.’
That this was also the doctrine of John Calvin, appears from his letters to the said man and his fellow-prisoners, where he saith, ‘Do not doubt but God will, in those things wherein he will use your service, give you that power, by which the work in you being begun will be perfected, for that he hath promised to do: and we have many examples and instances of that excellent faith, by which we clearly know, that God never in any thing hath failed those who have been led and guided by his Spirit. Trust firmly, brethren, that when it is needful, you will become so strong and steadfast, that you shall not faint under any burden of temptations, how great and heavy soever. The fight is now at hand, to which the Holy Ghost exhorts us, not only that we should go, but even that with all alacrity of mind, we should run.’ Many other excellent testimonies of eminent men of those times might be produced: and it also is very remarkable that Peter Bergier, being prisoner at Lyons, in the year 1553, and afterwards suffering death, cried in the midst of the flames, ‘I see the heavens opened.’