Moses his choice with his eye fixed upon Heaven, discovering the happy condition of…

But is it possible not to revile again? Who can but ¹do so when they come and give such ill language, so injurious, so false?

1. 1Quest.

Those that have the Spirit of Christ can do otherwise. ¹Those that know the evil of sin to be a greater evil then the evil of suffering, can do this. And those that are wise, and will not mischief themselves, can do this. Can any by reproaches force you to take a knife and cut your selves! If they force you to commit sin, they force you to worse. Certainly you think every man is in bondage; consider what miserable bondage men should be in, for to be in the power of their enemies, when they list to make them to mischief themselves, can there be any worse bondage? for an enemy to draw any body where he will, is not so much, but to make me to hurt my self, this is a ²great and a sore bondage indeed. Wherefore there is no contending with reproaches this way by reproaching again, here the overcomer is the loser. When Demosthenes was reproached by one, I will not, saith he, strive with thee in this kind of fight, in which he that is overcome is the better man.

Those that have the Spirit of Christ can do otherwise. ¹Those that know the evil of sin to be a greater evil then the evil of suffering, can do this. And those that are wise, and will not mischief themselves, can do this. Can any by reproaches force you to take a knife and cut your selves! If they force you to commit sin, they force you to worse. Certainly you think every man is in bondage; consider what miserable bondage men should be in, for to be in the power of their enemies, when they list to make them to mischief themselves, can there be any worse bondage? for an enemy to draw any body where he will, is not so much, but to make me to hurt my self, this is a