Ambrose - BT200 A42 1658

Ci"lap.z.Secr 9. Looking unto::fe(f# . Book. IV. Pan.V. 9 ' 9 their heads without forne converfe with heaven , with ~ out forne thoughts or meditations of heaven, and heavenly things. • 5. By our converfation in heaven, I mean our affections on . heaven, or on Chrift i1:1 heaven;(et ygur affections on t hingnt/Jove, Col.;. t. ( i .) fet your Llelires, loves, hopes, joyes,breathings on heavenly things; our affections . are precious things, and are onely to be fet on precious objects;oh what a fharne is it to fet our affect ion on the things ofthi' life! have we a Kingdome,a God, a Chrift,a Crown in Heaven to fet our affections upon ? and fhall we fee them upon droffe, and dung, and fuch bafe things ? are not all our pleafures and vanities bafe in comparifon of Chrift ? 0 be not we fo bafe to fet our affections on earth! y things , but rather on God and Chrift ; and this is our heavenly converfation. 6. By our converfation in heaven,I mean our tradings, our negotiations for heaven, even whileft we are upon earth : th~ word in the Original points at this; n1u:Jv Y1 TI>m>t-inu"".;,. ~f«• vol~, our t rading iJ in heaven ; though our bodies, be_not th~re , yet our tradings are there; we carry and behave our felves in this life as free Denizons of the City of9eaven; our City whereofwe are Citi;;ens ,and whereunto we have right, is in heaven a-' bove; in this refpcct we trade not for trifles, as other men do, but we trade for great things , for high things, we merchandize for goodly pearles, even for God , and for Chrift, who litteth at the right hand ofGod. We fee now what we mean by our converfation in heaven. 2. Why is the converfation of the Saints in heaven ? · I . Becaufe they know full well, that the Original of their· Coules came from God and heaven ; the body indeed w1s of the duft of the ground, but thefoul was the breath ofGod; ro it is fa id ofchefirft mao , Goa hrMtbed in'to hu noJ!rilJ the hret~th of · life , and man ,ecame a living fou l . The foul had a more hea- Gen.: .7~ venlyand divine Original than any of the other creatures that are here in this nearher world ; and when God workes grace in the foul , and fo it begins to know it felf , and to recurn to it fdf , it then lookes on all things here below as vile , and as con~ temptible things tt it then looks upwards, and &egins to converfe . · witll

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