Thus doth the ever-changing course of things Run a perpetual circle, ever turning; And that same day, that highest glory brings, Brings us unto the point of back-returning.
Why, all delights are vain; but that most vain, Which, with pain purchas'd, doth inherit pain.
The little done doth vanish to the mind which forward sees how much remains to do.
Doth Jesus Christ stand up to plead for us with God, to plead with him for us against the devil? Let this teach us to stand up to plead for him before men, to plead for him against the enemies of his person and gospel.
O joy! that in our embers Is something that doth live, That nature yet remembers What was so fugitive!
Who doth desire that chaste his wife should be, first be he true, for truth doth truth deserve.
In many ways doth the full heart reveal The presence of the love it would conceal.
From heav'nly thoughts all true delight doth spring.
The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice.
The drunkard forfeits man and doth divest All wordly right, save what he hath by beast.
He that departs with his own honesty For Vulgar , doth it too dearly buy.
For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble.
Where guilty is, rage and courage doth abound.
Scatter the clouds that hide The face of heaven, and show Where sweet peace doth abide, Where Truth and Beauty grow.
Love's gentle spring doth always fresh remain.
It doth not yet appear what we shall be. We lie here in our nest, unfledged and weak, guessing dimly at our future, and scarce believing what even now appears. But the power is in us, and that power is finally to be revealed. And what a revelation will that be!
Repentance doth alter a man's case with God: and therefore repentance should alter the case between one man and another.
If kind parents love their children and delight in their happiness, then he who is perfect goodness in sending abroad mortal contagions doth assuredly direct their use.
The Spirit must therefore first take hold of us before we can live in Christ, and when he doth so, then we are enabled to exert that vital act of faith, whereby we receive Christ.
As the sea-crab swimmeth always against the stream, so doth wit always against wisdom.