Ambrose - BT200 A42 1658

Book. I. Looking unto 'fefos, Chap. 2. Sett.r~ 1. We mu£1: look off this world in refped: of its finful plea. JuJexlr.'9· fures; l!'de telis us, (uh aJ are fenfual have not the fpirit : We cannot hxedly look on ple1fures, and look on [ ejuJ at once. 'fob Job,tl.n,q, tells us, that they that tak£ up the Tim/ml, and Harpe, and rejoyce , 14> 15• at the.feu,;d of the Organ, that /pend their dayes in mirth, are the fame that fay unto G'od, depart jrom m, for we dejire not the Jwowledge of thy wayet; what is the Almighty thatw~ fhouldferve him? mzdwhat pnfit fhouldwe haveifwepray m1to him? We have a lively example of this in A_uguftinu converGon; he would indeed have had Cbriff, and his pleafures too, but when he faw it would not be ! Oh what conflicts were within him ? In his Orchard ( as he ftories it in his book ot confefitons) all his plea- .,.... . . fures pail reprefented themfdves before his eyes, faying, Whlft v~~~ . . (ft amomento wtlt thoudep.:~;·t from >tJ(orever? a~~jhafl.w_ebe ne_more wuh thee ijlo non erimPA for eva· ? 0 Lord ( fazth Augufttne, wntmg thts confeffion) tccum·ultrain turne away my minde from thinkjng t h,rt which they objeEled to my arer~um? Aug, foul! What filth? What fhameful pleafures did they lay before my ~/:~:~:~'fe· eyeJ ? . At length a~ter t_his combate a lhowre of t-eares came ujque'luoltjuam from hm~ , and caftmg htmfelfon the ground under a Ftg-tree , diu, quam diu hecryes 1t ou~, 0 Lord, how lcng, how_lcng fhalllJay, to morrow, Has.et (!las? to morrow,? Why not to d"y Lerd, why not to dt~y? why fhould quarell~nm 1 odo? there not bean end of my ~/thy life evrn at thiJ houre? Immediquarc nm 7ac 1 fi I . h b d . . ·r· I db f b . l IJor•finiStft ateya tertlts e ear avo!Ce, ast tt 1a eeno a oyorgtre turpitudinis fingmg by, tak! ttp, t~nd reade; tak! up, and ;·eade; and th~reupme111.Aug. Ibid. on opening his Bible that lay by hzm at hand, he reade in Glencc Tolle(9'/egc, the tirft Chapter that offereQit fel f , wherein was written, l todllc 0'bl~gc, Let us wv.llzhoneft!J aJ in'the dffe. , not in rioting and drunk,ennef{e, Clll 1 I • . I !. · " ft "f" d . I. Rom. 1 3 . 1 J .q not m cnamoermg or wPrnton;qe e , not tn n e an eiii?Jymg , out · put ye en the Lord J cfttS, and mak! net provi(ion for the flefh to fulfil the iuftJ thereof Frmher th"cn this fentence /1vould not rc.1d (faith .Llugujline ) neither indeed was it needful, for prefcntly as if lighp had been po11red into my heart, all the darknrf{eofmy doubtfulnefr fled arvay. His eye was now taken off pis pleafures , and ~ore- "ver after it wasfet on refm. . 2. We mu£1: look.off'thisworld inrefpect of its Gz;ful profits: a 1 Job. '5· look on this ke~ps offour locking unto Jefus. Wh..(oe1-•er loveth the world, the love of the Father 'fs not in Lim; juft fn much as the world prevailes in us, fo much is Gods love abated both in us , and towards us; y t~du!tmrJ, and ad11ltrtjfes (faith {amtJ) /ztiow

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