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11. That he who has attained to trust, having put off the former man, ought
to regard only celestial and spiritual things, and to give no heed to the world
which he has already renounced.
In Isaiah: "Seek ye the Lord; and when ye have found Him, call upon
Him. But when He hath come near unto you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him be turned unto the Lord, and he
shall obtain mercy, because He will plentifully pardon your sins."
Of this same thing in Solomon: "I have seen all the works which are done
under the sun; and, lo, all are vanity." Of this same thing in Exodus: "But thus shall ye eat it;
your loins girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands:
and ye shall eat it in haste, for it is the Lord's passover."
Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Take no thought,
saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewith shall we be
clothed? for these things the nations seek after. But your Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom
of God, and His righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you."
Likewise in the same place: "Think not for the morrow, for the morrow
shall take thought for itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil."
Likewise in the same place: "No one looking back, and putting his hands to
the plough, is fit for the kingdom of
God."
Also in the same place: "Behold the fowls of the heaven: for they sow not,
nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not
ye of more value than they? "
Concerning this same thing, according to Luke: "Let your loins be girded,
and your lamps burning; and ye like unto men that wait for their lord, when he
cometh from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to
him. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he cometh, shall find
watching."
Of this same thing in Matthew: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the
heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where He may lay His head."
Also in the same place: "Whoso forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be
my disciple."
Of this same thing in the first to the Corinthians: "Ye are not your own,
for ye are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body."
Also in the same place: "The time is limited. It remaineth, therefore,
that both they who have wives be as though they have them not, and they who
lament as they that lament not, and they that rejoice as they that rejoice not,
and they who buy as they that buy not, and they who possess as they who possess
not, and they who use this world as they that use it not; for the fashion of
this world passeth away."
Also in the same place: "The first man is of the clay of the earth, the
second man from heaven. As he is of the clay, such also are they who are of the
clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. Even as we have borne
the image of him who is of the clay, let us bear His image also who is from
heaven."
Of this same matter to the Philippians: "All seek their own, and not those
things which are Christ's; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly,
and their glory is to their confusion, who mind earthly things. For our
conversation is in heaven, whence also we expect the Saviour, our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall transform the body of our humiliation conformed to the body
of His glory."
Of this very matter to Galatians: "But be it far from me to boast, except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world."
Concerning this same thing to Timothy: "No man that warreth for God
bindeth himself with worldly annoyances, that he may please Him to whom he hath
approved himself. But and if a man should contend, he will not be crowned
unless he fight lawfully."
Of this same thing to the Colossians: "If ye be dead with Christ froth I
the elements of the world, why still, as if living in the world, do ye follow
vain things? "
Also concerning this same thing: "If ye have risen together with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of
God. Give heed to the things that are above, not to those things which are on
the earth; for ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But
when Christ your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in
glory."
Of this same thing to the Ephesians: Put off the old man of the former
conversation, who is corrupted, according to the lusts of deceit. But be ye
renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, him who according
to God is ordained in righteousness, and holiness, and truth."
Of this same thing in the Epistle of Peter: "As strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; but having a good
conversation among the Gentiles, that while they detract from you as if from
evildoers, yet, beholding your good works, they may magnify God."
Of this same thing in the Epistle of John: "He who saith he abideth in
Christ, ought himself also to walk even as He walked."
Also in the same place: "Love not the world, neither the things that are
in the world. If any man loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. Because everything which is in the world is lust of the flesh, and lust of
the eyes, and the ambition of this world, which is not of the Father, but of
the lust of this world. And the world shall pass away with its lust. But he
that doeth the will of God abideth for ever, even as God abideth for
ever."
Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "Purge out the old
leaven, that ye may be a new dough, as ye are unleavened. For also Christ our
passover is sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not in the old
leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth."
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