Acts of Thomas

Acts of Thomas 36:1

And when the apostle had said this, he went to the city, holding the young man by the hand, and saying “What thou hast seen, child, is only a little of the many things which God has. For not concerning these visible things preaches he the gospel to us, but he promises to us greater things than these. So long as we are in the body, we cannot tell and say what he will give to our souls in the future. For if we say that he gives us light, this is something visible and we have it already. But if we say that he will give us riches, they exist and appear already in this world, and we name them and we long not for them, since it has been said: ‘With difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ And if we speak of fine cloaks, which the weaklings put on in this life, we name them, and it has been said, ‘they that wear soft things are in Kings’ houses.’ And when we speak of costly dinners, we mention things that exist, and concerning these we have received a commandment to take heed to ourselves, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness and cares of this life; and it has been said, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and the body than raiment. And if we speak of this temporary rest, its judgment has also been appointed. And we speak about the upper world, about God and angels, about watchmen and saints, about the ambrosial food and the drink of the true wine, about lasting and not obsolescent garments, about that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath come into the heart of sinful men what God has prepared for those that love him. Of these things we speak, and concerning these things we preach the gospel. Do thou also, therefore, believe in him, that thou mayest live, and put thy trust in him, and thou shalt not die. For he is not to be persuaded by gifts, that thou shouldest offer them to him; nor does he need sacrifices, that thou sacrifice to him. But look to him, and he will not overlook thee; turn thou to him, and he will not forsake thee. For his comeliness and beauty will make thee love him, but it permits thee not to turn away from him.”