»If you desire to be perfect,« replied Jesus, »go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; and come, follow me.«
Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves with purses that will never wear out, a treasure inexhaustible in Heaven, where no thief can come nor moth consume.
»`Remember, my child,' said Abraham, `that you had all your good things during your lifetime, and that Lazarus in like manner had his bad things. But, now and here, he is receiving consolation and you are in agony.«
»But I charge you, so to use the wealth which is ever tempting to dishonesty as to win friends who, when it fails, shall welcome you to the tents that never perish.«
On receiving this answer Jesus said to him, »There is still one thing wanting in you. Sell everything you possess and give the money to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; and then come, follow me.«
I pray that Christ may make His home in your hearts through your faith; so that having your roots deep and your foundations strong, in love, you may become mighty to grasp the idea,
I do not say that I have already won the race or have already reached perfection. But I am pressing on, striving to lay hold of the prize for which also Christ has laid hold of me.
Exert all your strength in the honourable struggle for the faith; lay hold of the Life of the Ages, to which you were called, when you made your noble profession of faith before many witnesses.
Yet God's solid foundation stands unmoved, bearing this inscription, »The Lord knows those who really belong to Him.« And this also, »Let every one who names the Name of the Lord renounce all wickedness.«