For it is in the renewing of the mind, and the peace
of the thoughts, and the love and heavenly passion for the
Lord, that the new creation of Christians distinguishes them
from all the men of the world. This was the purpose of
the Lord's coming, to vouchsafe these spiritual blessings to those who truly believe in Him. Christians have a glory
and a beauty and a heavenly wealth which is beyond words,
and it is won with pains, and sweat, and trials, and many
conflicts, and all by the grace of God. If the sight of an
earthly king is an object of desire to all men, so that every
one who sojourns in the capital desires to catch even a
glimpse of his beauty, the magnificence of his apparel,
the glory of his purple, the beauty of his various pearls,
the comeliness of his diadem, the impressive retinue of
dignities attending him - except that spiritual men think nothing of all this, because they have had experience of
another glory, which is heavenly and out of the body, and
have been smitten with another beauty unspeakable, and
have an interest in another wealth, and have felt in the
inward man and are partakers of another Spirit - when the men of this world, who have the spirit of the world,
are so keenly desirous to set eyes, if no more, on the
earthly king with all his comeliness and glory - because in proportion as his share of visible advantages excels that
of other men, so even to have set eyes on him is a distinction and an object of desire to them all, and each
man inwardly says, " I wish that some one would give me
that glory, and comeliness, and magnificence," ascribing happiness to that man, like himself, earthly, of like passions,
and subject to death, though an object of desire for
his temporal comeliness and glory - 6. if, I say, carnal
men thus desire the glory of the earthly king, how much
more are those upon whom has dropped that dewdrop of
the Spirit of the life of the Godhead, and has smitten their
heart with a divine passion for Christ the heavenly King,
bound fast to that beauty, to the unspeakable glory, the
immortal comeliness, the unimaginable wealth of Christ,
the true eternal King, with desire and longing after whom
they are carried away captive, and have their whole being
directed towards Him, and desire to obtain those unspeakable blessings, which by the Spirit they see in a mirror;
for whose sake they think nothing of all the beauties and
comelinesses and glories and honours and wealth of kings
and princes upon earth, because they are smitten with a
divine beauty, and the life of immortality in heaven has
dropped upon their souls? Therefore their longing is
towards that love of the heavenly King, and having Him
only before their eyes with great desire, they detach themselves for His sake from all worldly affection, and withdraw
from every earthly tie, that they may be free always to
cherish in their hearts that one longing, and to mix nothing else with it.
28 сен 2024
