Ambrose - BT200 A42 1658

1Johnt·3· Rom.~q Pfahnex6.u Book.I. Looking unto fefos. Chap.~. Seet.1 ~ Sonne the L ord 'fefm Chrift; mufr you look offyour pomp and glory,? fee before you the priviledge ofadoption, you £hall be ca/Led thefonnes and daughrersofGod, heirs and co-heirs with Chrift; muft you look off worldly riches ? fee before vou the riches of the graces of Chrifr: mull you look off!inful pleafures? fee before you fulnelfe of joy, at Chrifts right hand ~tre pleafures evermore; muft you look offyour own rigbteoufneJTe ? fee before you the righteoufnelfe of Chrifl: Jefus. 0 what a vaft 4ifference is there betwixt thefe objects, Chrifl:, and all o~her things? · 4· Confider that Chrifl: looked offheaven and heavenly things for you, how much more iliould you look off the earth and earthly things, the world and worldly things for him ? Chrifl: left the glory, the company,the pleafures of Paradife for you, and he mlfde himfelf 4 no reputation, he nothing'd himfelf (as it were) for you; you know thegrace of 011rJL ord {efus Chrift, who thouuh he was rich, yet for your fa~s he became poore, that y ou "'through his poverty might be made rich. 0 let that melting love winne you to him , and weane you off all other things! 5. Confider ~hat the rationalfoul of ~an is oft too high a birth to fpend 1ts ftrength upon other thmgs; the foul ofmao ·is of the fame nature with Angels; it is a kinde ofaivine fpark· now if a man have a golden mill, he would not ufe it to grind dirt fl:raws, and rotten fl:icks in ; the foul, the minde,the thinking faculty ofman is too high to be exercifed in the things ofthis earth . the foul is of a mofl: excellent capacious nature, it is fit to . conve~fe not only with Angels, but with the eternal God himfelf, with Father, Sonne, and holy Ghofr; it is of a tranfcendent being, put all the world into the ballance with it, and it is nothing in comp.arifon: 'the foul of the meanefr gally-flave is more precious then heaven and earth, then Sunoe, and Moon an,dSrarres, and all the hoafr of heaven; now if a mans foul~ be of fuch an high-born nature , if the Lord hath put fuch a fpirit into the bofom ofman , for him to hefrow the fl:rength of it upon low, b1fe , meane, and earthly things 1 oh what an evil is this ? 6. Confider how fb.ort is the ·time that you have bere in this world : this isthe argument of the Apofrle, becaufe the time u · · fbort,

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