Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I:
IGNATIUS: Chapter III.—Pray rather that I may...

Chapter III.—Pray rather that I may attain to martyrdom.

Ye have never envied any one; ye have taught others. Now I desire that those things may be confirmed [by your conduct], which in your instructions ye enjoin [on others]. Only request in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but [truly] will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. For if I be truly found [a Christian], I may also be called one, and be then deemed faithful, when I shall no longer appear to the world. Nothing visible is eternal. 838 “For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 839 For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with 840 the Father, is all the more revealed [in p. 75 His glory]. Christianity is not a thing 841 of silence only, but also of [manifest] greatness.

Ye have never envied any one; ye have taught others. Now I desire that those things may be confirmed [by your conduct], which in your instructions ye enjoin [on others]. Only request in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but [truly] will, so that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really found to be one. For if I be truly found [a Christian], I may also be called one, and be then deemed faithful, when I shall no longer appear to the world. Nothing visible is eternal. “For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 842 The Christian is not the result 843 of persuasion, but of power. 844 When he is hated by the world, he is beloved of God. For says [the Scripture], “If ye were of this world, the world would love its own; but now ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it: continue in fellowship with me.” 845

Footnotes

Some read, “good.”

2 Cor. iv. 18. This quotation is not found in the old Latin version of the shorter recension.

Or, “in.”

Literally, “work.”

2 Cor. iv. 18. This quotation is not found in the old Latin version of the shorter recension.

Literally, “work.”

The meaning is here doubtful.

John xv. 19.