It must not be a dead-hearted life, go on with a holy and heavenly cheerfulness and courage in Gods ways: It becomes the children of the Bride-chamber to be joyful: see that in any case you rejoice before the Lord; comfort your selves and one another by these sayings. We belie the truth of God, if we do not walk joyfully: Rejoice in this, that your names are written in the Book of life; says Christ, they rejoiced that the Devils fell down before them: If there were any thing in the world to be rejoiced in, one would think they might rejoice in that, but Christ would not have them rejoice in that, in comparison of this. Caesar when he was sad, he said to himself, Think thou art Caesar, that that might take away 1his sadness; and so say I to a Christian, Think of your Crown and glory, let your lives be such as may make it appear you have your portion in these things. I may say to some, as Jonadab said to Amnon, Why art thou lean from day to day, being the Kings Son? So may I say to every child of God, Why is thy heart ⟨p. 700⟩so troubled, and Why walkest thou so dumpishly in the ways of God, being the King of Heavens Son? Possibilities of heaven is enough to take away the sting of afflictions, but having comfortable hope of these things, this should take away even the sense of them, at least, so far as that they be no way disturbing to us; Seneca says, That virtue does not 2consider what it suffers, but whither it tends. It beseems them well enough, but not you, it beseems Swine to follow the trough, but not the heirs of a Kingdom. Plutarch tells of Themistocles, that he accounted it not to stand with his state to stoop down to take up the spoils the enemy had scattered in flight, but says to one of his followers, You may, for you are not Themistocles. Thus may it be said to 3worldly spirits, You may be greedy of these things, for here is your portion, your names are written in the earth, you are not the heirs of the kingdom.
It must not be a dead-hearted life, go on with a holy and heavenly chearfulness and courage in Gods ways: It becomes the children of the Bride-chamber to be joyful: see that in any case you rejoyce before the Lord; comfort your selves and one another by these sayings. We belye the truth of God, if we do not walk joyfully: Rejoyce in this, that your names are written in the Book of life; says Christ, they rejoyced that the Devils fell down before them: If there were any thing in the world to be rejoyced in, one would think they might rejoyce in that, but Christ would not have them rejoyce in that, in comparison of this. Caesar when he was sad, he said to himself, Think thou art Caesar, that that might take away 1his sadness; and so say I to a Christian, Think of your Crown and glory, let your lives be such as may make it appear you have your portion in these things. I may say to some, as Jonadab said to Amnon, Why art thou lean from day to day, being the Kings Son? So may I say to every childe of God, Why is thy heart ⟨p. 700⟩so troubled, and Why walkest thou so dumpishly in the ways of God, being the King of Heavens Son? Possibilities of heaven is enough to take away the sting of afflictions, but having comfortable hope of these things, this should take away even the sense of them, at least, so far as that they be no way disturbing to us; Seneca says, That vertue does not 2consider what it suffers, but whither it tends. It beseems them well enough, but not you, it beseems Swine to follow the trough, but not the heirs of a Kingdom. Plutarch tells of Themistocles, that he accounted it not to stand with his state to stoop down to take up the spoyls the enemy had scattered in flight, but says to one of his followers, You may, for you are not Themistocles. Thus may it be said to 3worldly spirits, You may be greedy of these things, for here is your portion, your names are written in the earth, you are not the heirs of the kingdom.
- 1Cogita te Caesarum esse.
- 2Quo tendat, non quid passura sit, cogitat. Sen. de gubeanat. mundi.
- 3[Greek or Hebrew].〈non-Latin alphabet〉.
