{"id":"01KJR8Q6KPN1DCMYZZ8104Z9PB","cid":"bafkreiabaoacvvif3ke474u2nt7z5z2kon5syjb3wv6akzhuv3gz64jcci","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":577369,"char_start":569708,"chunk_index":80,"chunk_total":89,"estimated_tokens":1916,"source_file_key":"confessions","text":"cleaving to the firmament of Thy Scripture. For there Thou instructest\r\nus, to divide between the things intellectual, and things of sense, as\r\nbetwixt the day and the night; or between souls, given either to things\r\nintellectual, or things of sense, so that now not Thou only in the\r\nsecret of Thy judgment, as before the firmament was made, dividest\r\nbetween the light and the darkness, but Thy spiritual children also\r\nset and ranked in the same firmament (now that Thy grace is laid open\r\nthroughout the world), may give light upon the earth, and divide betwixt\r\nthe day and the night, and be for signs of times, that old things\r\nare passed away, and, behold, all things are become new; and that our\r\nsalvation is nearer than when we believed: and that the night is far\r\nspent, and the day is at hand: and that Thou wilt crown Thy year with\r\nblessing, sending the labourers of Thy goodness into Thy harvest, in\r\nsowing whereof, others have laboured, sending also into another field,\r\nwhose harvest shall be in the end. Thus grantest Thou the prayers of him\r\nthat asketh, and blessest the years of the just; but Thou art the same,\r\nand in Thy years which fail not, Thou preparest a garner for our passing\r\nyears. For Thou by an eternal counsel dost in their proper seasons\r\nbestow heavenly blessings upon the earth. For to one is given by the\r\nSpirit the word of wisdom, as it were the lesser light: to another\r\nfaith; to another the gift with the light of perspicuous truth, as it\r\nwere for the rule of the day. To another the word of knowledge by the\r\nsame Spirit, as it were the lesser light: to another faith; to another\r\nthe gift of healing; to another the working of miracles; to another\r\nprophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of\r\ntongues. And all these as it were stars. For all these worketh the one\r\nand self-same spirit, dividing to every man his own as He will; and\r\ncausing stars to appear manifestly, to profit withal. But the word of\r\nknowledge, wherein are contained all Sacraments, which are varied in\r\ntheir seasons as it were the moon, and those other notices of gifts,\r\nwhich are reckoned up in order, as it were stars, inasmuch as they come\r\nshort of that brightness of wisdom, which gladdens the forementioned\r\nday, are only for the rule of the night. For they are necessary to such,\r\nas that Thy most prudent servant could not speak unto as unto spiritual,\r\nbut as unto carnal; even he, who speaketh wisdom among those that are\r\nperfect. But the natural man, as it were a babe in Christ and fed on\r\nmilk, until he be strengthened for solid meat and his eye be enabled to\r\nbehold the Sun, let him not dwell in a night forsaken of all light, but\r\nbe content with the light of the moon and the stars. So dost Thou speak\r\nto us, our All-wise God, in Thy Book, Thy firmament; that we may discern\r\nall things, in an admirable contemplation; though as yet in signs and in\r\ntimes, and in days, and in years.\r\n\r\nBut first, wash you, be clean; put away evil from your souls, and from\r\nbefore mine eyes, that the dry land may appear. Learn to do good, judge\r\nthe fatherless, plead for the widow, that the earth may bring forth the\r\ngreen herb for meat, and the tree bearing fruit; and come, let us reason\r\ntogether, saith the Lord, that there may be lights in the firmament of\r\nthe heaven, and they may shine upon the earth. That rich man asked of\r\nthe good Master, what he should do to attain eternal life. Let the\r\ngood Master tell him (whom he thought no more than man; but He is good\r\nbecause He is God), let Him tell him, if he would enter into life, he\r\nmust keep the commandments: let him put away from him the bitterness\r\nof malice and wickedness; not kill, not commit adultery, not steal, not\r\nbear false witness; that the dry land may appear, and bring forth the\r\nhonouring of father and mother, and the love of our neighbour. All these\r\n(saith he) have I kept. Whence then so many thorns, if the earth be\r\nfruitful? Go, root up the spreading thickets of covetousness; sell that\r\nthou hast, and be filled with fruit, by giving to the poor, and thou\r\nshalt have treasure in heaven; and follow the Lord if thou wilt be\r\nperfect, associated with them, among whom He speaketh wisdom, Who\r\nknoweth what to distribute to the day, and to the night, that thou also\r\nmayest know it, and for thee there may be lights in the firmament of\r\nheaven; which will not be, unless thy heart be there: nor will that\r\neither be, unless there thy treasure be; as thou hast heard of the good\r\nMaster. But that barren earth was grieved; and the thorns choked the\r\nword.\r\n\r\nBut you, chosen generation, you weak things of the world, who have\r\nforsaken all, that ye may follow the Lord; go after Him, and confound\r\nthe mighty; go after Him, ye beautiful feet, and shine ye in the\r\nfirmament, that the heavens may declare His glory, dividing between the\r\nlight of the perfect, though not as the angels, and the darkness of the\r\nlittle ones, though not despised. Shine over the earth; and let the\r\nday, lightened by the sun, utter unto day, speech of wisdom; and night,\r\nshining with the moon, show unto night, the word of knowledge. The moon\r\nand stars shine for the night; yet doth not the night obscure them,\r\nseeing they give it light in its degree. For behold God saying, as\r\nit were, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven; there came\r\nsuddenly a sound from heaven, as it had been the rushing of a mighty\r\nwind, and there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon\r\neach of them. And there were made lights in the firmament of heaven,\r\nhaving the word of life. Run ye to and fro every where, ye holy fires,\r\nye beauteous fires; for ye are the light of the world, nor are ye put\r\nunder a bushel; He whom you cleave unto, is exalted, and hath exalted\r\nyou. Run ye to and fro, and be known unto all nations.\r\n\r\nLet the sea also conceive and bring forth your works; and let the waters\r\nbring forth the moving creature that hath life. For ye, separating the\r\nprecious from the vile, are made the mouth of God, by whom He saith, Let\r\nthe waters bring forth, not the living creature which the earth brings\r\nforth, but the moving creature having life, and the fowls that fly above\r\nthe earth. For Thy Sacraments, O God, by the ministry of Thy holy ones,\r\nhave moved amid the waves of temptations of the world, to hallow the\r\nGentiles in Thy Name, in Thy Baptism. And amid these things, many great\r\nwonders were wrought, as it were great whales: and the voices of Thy\r\nmessengers flying above the earth, in the open firmament of Thy Book;\r\nthat being set over them, as their authority under which they were to\r\nfly, whithersoever they went. For there is no speech nor language, where\r\ntheir voice is not heard: seeing their sound is gone through all the\r\nearth, and their words to the end of the world, because Thou, Lord,\r\nmultipliedst them by blessing.\r\n\r\nSpeak I untruly, or do I mingle and confound, and not distinguish\r\nbetween the lucid knowledge of these things in the firmament of heaven,\r\nand the material works in the wavy sea, and under the firmament of\r\nheaven? For of those things whereof the knowledge is substantial and\r\ndefined, without any increase by generation, as it were lights of wisdom\r\nand knowledge, yet even of them, the material operations are many and\r\ndivers; and one thing growing out of another, they are multiplied by Thy\r\nblessing, O God, who hast refreshed the fastidiousness of mortal senses;\r\nthat so one thing in the understanding of our mind, may, by the motions\r\nof the body, be many ways set out, and expressed. These Sacraments have\r\nthe waters brought forth; but in Thy word."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJR8NK5DAD726FMQ6JCHGZ5R","peer_label":"confessions","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJR8M0JHPZXCPKJ34HTYXSWW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJR8SKH96HNSCEGKRWDDQSZP","peer_label":"divine scripture","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"sacred_text","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8S9QG5WSD1CASC2WX87HK","peer_label":"holy spirit","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RWQFZZ4CJSQXNKT11Y58","peer_label":"gentiles","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_people","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRDNVNQK3Z8WB8F2ZYYY","peer_label":"metaphorical day","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"metaphorical_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRN1MNGR21DFVFYCWQP3","peer_label":"spiritual gift word of wisdom","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"spiritual_gift","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRH4RZSQEZVCT3NW322G","peer_label":"sensory things","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRMS4FCZ48Y20M05Y9WY","peer_label":"intellectual things","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRZ47NADE676VZDNTEM1","peer_label":"spiritual gift word of knowledge","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"spiritual_gift","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SRDGFCABKSWRXMKKS620","peer_label":"metaphorical night","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"metaphorical_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SS4CNHBYTAGVQH3A8XGR","peer_label":"rich man","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"biblical_figure","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SS5MHNZT8FE1YQCBM8DK","peer_label":"good master","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_figure","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SS9F15TA24GPCXV5TJTP","peer_label":"sacraments","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"sacred_rite","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SSDA258R6MHVFBHJ478H","peer_label":"divine commandments","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"moral_law","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SSFCX33ZCCX3GSY77MHM","peer_label":"covetousness","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"sin","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SSN68STCSREGDCP47R25","peer_label":"divine lord","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SSRTCSG2RFZBS2SCZ9E6","peer_label":"chosen generation","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_people","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SSVGV882TW8HERWHBR1H","peer_label":"sound from heaven","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_manifestation","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8ST1YF41379AJMV7H2WF5","peer_label":"cloven tongues of fire","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_manifestation","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8STD45JP6JHHA8RKHX4D9","peer_label":"waves of worldly temptations","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"metaphorical_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8ST8W43Q13P2E91D54VCY","peer_label":"holy ones of god","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_people","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8STEE921MJ2XKGS2JHQ4K","peer_label":"baptism","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"sacred_rite","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8STK0XNV6MHERB4T91P4C","peer_label":"light of the world","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SVSW6DTR3X991CAADYMX","peer_label":"mouth of god","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:56.541Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-02T21:54:25.014Z","ts":"2026-03-02T21:55:58.149Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}