CHAPTER XXXIX.

_That we ought to deny ourselves and imitate Christ._

_Christ._ FOLLOW Me, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I am the way, which thou oughtest to follow; the truth which thou oughtest to trust; the life which thou oughtest to hope for.

I am the strait way, the supreme truth, the true life: yea, the blessed life, the uncreated life.

If thou remainest in my way, thou shalt know the truth, and the truth shall make thee free, and thou shalt lay hold on everlasting life.

2. _Christian._ Lord Jesus, forasmuch as thy life was poor and contemptible unto the world, grant me grace to imitate thee in suffering worldly contempt.

For the servant is not greater than his Lord, nor the disciple above his Master.

Let thy servant be exercised in thy life, for therein my salvation consists.

Whatsoever I read or heard besides it, doth not refresh or delight me fully.

3. _Christ._ Son, now thou knowest these things, happy shalt thou be if thou do them.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me;

And I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him, and make him sit with me in the kingdom of my Father.

_Christian._ Lord Jesus, as thou hast said and promised, so let it come to pass.

I have received the cross, I have received it from thy hand; I will bear it, and bear it till death, as thou hast laid it upon me.

Truly the life of a Christian is the cross; but yet it is a guide to paradise.

I have begun, I may not go back, neither is it fit to leave that which I have undertaken.

Behold, our King goeth before us, who also will fight for us.

Let us follow him manfully, let none be dismayed, but be ready to die valiantly in the battle, and let us not blemish our glory by flying from the cross.