HOLY LIVING.
Remember, man, if the grace of God hath taken hold of thy soul, thou
art a man of another world, and indeed a subject of another and more
noble kingdom, the kingdom of God--which is the kingdom of the
gospel, of grace, of faith, and righteousness, and the kingdom of
heaven hereafter. In these things thou shouldst exercise thyself,
not making heavenly things which God hath bestowed upon thee, stoop
to things that are of the world; but rather here beat down the body,
to mortify thy members, hoist up thy mind to the things that are
above, and practically hold forth before all the world that blessed
word of life.
Assure thyself, thy God will not give thee straw, but he will expect
brick.
It is amiable and pleasant to God when Christians keep their rank,
relation, and station, doing all as becomes their quality and
calling. When Christians stand all in their places, and do the work
of their stations, then they are like the flowers in the garden,
that stand and grow where the gardener hath planted them; and then
they shall both honor the garden in which they are planted, and the
gardener that hath so disposed of them. From the hyssop in the wall
to the cedar in Lebanon, their fruit is their glory. And seeing the
stock into which we are planted is the most fruitful stock, the sap
conveyed thereout the most fruitful sap, and the dresser of our
souls the wisest husband-man, how contrary to nature, example, and
expectation we should be, if we should not be rich in good works.
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