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And in truth, unless thou be prevented and drawn on by His grace, thou wilt not attain to this, that having cast out and dismissed all else, thou alone art united to God. I am not come up to my duty, I am a great way behind; but I am following after, if at last I may attain it: Perfection is in my expectation and hope, at last, not in my attainment here. "Father glorify thy name:" And truly the choicest part of your obedience consists in the purity of your ends, and in this Christ is propounded as your pattern, Phil. For when the grace of God cometh to a man, then he becometh able to do all things, and when it departeth then he will be poor and weak and given up unto troubles. Brief is the glory which is given and received of men. But they that are perfect, do not give ready heed to every news-bearer, for they know man's weakness that it is prone to evil and unstable in words. And so much of the first particular, namely, what the imitation of Christ implies and comprises in it. "He that saith he abided in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked. "
For then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him and made no account of his labours. Behold the heaven and the earth and the elements, for out of these are all things made. The spiritually-minded man putteth care of himself before all cares; and he who diligently attendeth to himself easily keepeth silence concerning others. Nor was this a flourish before he came into the field and saw the enemy, for he laid down his life with the greatest cheerfulness and spontaneity that could be, John 10: 17, 18. In this we can never be like Christ, in the way of our production; for who can bring a clean thing out of that which is unclean? "Not as though I kind already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. " How sweet and pleasant is it to see zealous and godly brethren temperate and of good discipline; and how sad is it and grievous to see them walking disorderly, not practising the duties to which they are called. Oh, grievous folly, to neglect the things which are profitable and necessary, and to give our minds to things which are curious and hurtful! One hath said, "As oft as I have gone among men, so oft have I returned less a man. " Sixthly, The imitation of Christ, as our general rule or pattern, necessarily implies the transcending holiness of the Lord Jesus; his holiness is greater than the holiness of all creatures "For only that which is first and best in every kind, is the rule and measure of all the rest. " Thus, Christians, be ye followers of Christ in his holiness; God has decreed this conformity to Christ in all that shall be saved, Rom. Then never open your mouths any more, Ezek. And much after the same rate Salvian brings in the wicked of his time, stumbling at the looseness of professors, and saying, Where is that catholic law which they believe?
Therefore must we be patient, and wait for the mercy of God, until this tyranny be overpast, and this mortality be swallowed up of life. 1) Our own judgment and feelings often deceive us, and we discern but little of the truth. Was it not that thou mightest live to God and become a spiritual man? Then will he neither rejoice for much nor be sorrowful for little, but he committeth himself altogether and with full trust unto God, who is all in all to him, to whom nothing perisheth nor dieth, but all things live to Him and obey His every word without delay. Thou wilt never be spiritually minded and godly unless thou art silent concerning other men's matters and take full heed to thyself. Happy is he who putteth away from him whatsoever may stain or burden his conscience. Edition of The Imitation. Look well unto thyself, and beware that thou judge not the doings of others. Nor wish thou that any one set his heart on thee, nor do thou give thyself up to the love of any, but let Jesus be in thee and in every good man. Three Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. If you do any thing for God willingly, you have a reward; if otherwise, a dispensation only is committed to you, 1 Cor. One died by fire, another by the sword, another by the pestilence, another by the robber. This is great wisdom, not to be hasty in action, or stubborn in our own opinions.
Why desirest thou to lift thyself above another, when there are found many more learned and more skilled in the Scripture than thou? Work, work now, oh dearly beloved, work all that thou canst. Long life doth not always amend, but often the more increaseth guilt. "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do;" Thus let all your obedience to God turn upon the hinge of love; for "love is the fulfilling of the law, " Hom. Wherefore it is written in Job, The life of man upon the earth is a trial.
If thou art unwilling to suffer any adversity, how shalt thou be the friend of Christ? Of the uses of adversity. He who would weigh well and rightly his own doings would not be the man to judge severely of another. Thou shalt keep thine integrity. Great is the difference between a visitation from above and false liberty of spirit and great confidence in self. The heart of a Christian is cantered, it is where it would be; it is gratified in the highest, in the actings forth of faith and love upon God; as the taste is gratified with a suitable delicious relish, Psal. 2 In what particulars they are especially bound to imitate Christ. Both our outer and inner life should be straitly examined and ruled by us, because both have to do with our progress.
"Behold his heart which is lifted up, is not upright in him. He who careth for neither praises nor reproaches hath great tranquillity of heart. Grounds for just grief and inward compunction there are in our sins and vices, wherein we lie so entangled that we are but seldom able to contemplate heavenly things. It is the height of saints' ambition to be made conformable to Christ, Phil. Seldom, too, do we entirely conquer even a single fault, nor are we zealous for daily growth in grace. How can he abide long time in peace who occupieth himself with other men's matters, and with things without himself, and meanwhile payeth little or rare heed to the self within?
"That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine (or, as the word may be rendered imperatively, 'faineste hos foseres', among whom shine ye) as lights in the world. " The glory of the good is in their conscience, and not in the report of men. Five centuries and a score of languages have set on it their mark; it is the one book Of devotion apart from the Bible which has not loosened its hold upon the Christian world; and it would not be astonishing if the present century, in which mystic writing is again read, should see the book appealing to an even wider public than that which has read and te-read it, and has sedulously kept its secret hidden. Thou art miserable wheresoever thou art, and whithersoever thou turnest, unless thou turn thee to God. It was as grateful a work to Christ to die for us, as it was to Moses' mother to take him to nurse from the hand of Pharaoh's daughter. And if this be deferred, let us believe ourselves to be as yet ill-prepared, and unworthy as yet of the glory which shall be revealed in us at the appointed season; and let us study to prepare ourselves the better for our end. Many die suddenly and unexpectedly. No man can stand, unless with all his heart he will humble himself for God's sake. He sought not honour of men. O the dulness and hardness of man's heart, which thinketh only of the present, and looketh not forward to the future. Thirdly, Diligence in the work of God is an excellent help to the improvement of grace. Fourthly, The time of your relief and full deliverance from all your troubles is at hand; the time is but short that you shall have any concernment about these things, 1 Cor.
It was the glory of Eliakim to be fastened as a nail in a sure place, and to have many people hang upon him, Isa. If each year should see one fault rooted out from us, we should go quickly on to perfection. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, (1) saith the Lord. Jesus Christ alone is to be specially loved, for He alone is found good and faithful above all friends. Translated into languages all over the world, it is said to be the most well-read book in the world next to the Bible. We must love all men, but not make close companions of all.
He who seeketh easier and lighter discipline shall always be in distress, because one thing or another will give him displeasure. Thirdly, This will represent religion very beautifully to such as are yet strangers to it; you will then be able to invite them to Christ by your example, the language whereof will be like that, Psal. Oh foolish and faithless of heart, who lie buried so deep in worldly things, that they relish nothing save the things of the flesh! This book has 214 pages in the PDF version. If thou rest more upon thy own reason or experience than upon the power of Jesus Christ, thy light shall come slowly and hardly; for God willeth us to be perfectly subject unto Himself, and all our reason to be exalted by abundant love towards Him. Let nothing be great, nothing high, nothing pleasing, nothing acceptable unto thee, save God Himself or the things of God. Their whole desire was borne upwards to everlasting and invisible things, lest they should be drawn downwards by the love of things visible.