18 Remove therefore sadness from thyself, and afflict not the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in thee, lest he entreat God, and depart from thee. For the spirit of the Lord which is given to dwell in the flesh, endureth no such sadness. 19 Wherefore clothe thyself with cheerfulness, which has always favour with the Lord, and thou shalt rejoice in it. For every cheerful man does well; and relishes those things that are good, and despises sadness. 20 But the sad man does always wickedly. First, he doth wickedly, because he grieveth the Holy Spirit, which is given to man being of a cheerful nature. And again he does ill, because be prays with sadness unto the Lord, and maketh not first a thankful acknowledgment unto him of former mercies, and obtains not of God what he asks. 21 For the prayer of a sad man has not always efficacy to come up to the altar of God. And I said unto him, Sir, why has not the prayer of a sad man virtue to come up to the altar of God? Because, said he, that sadness remaineth in his heart. 22 When therefore a man's prayer shall be accompanied with sadness, it will not suffer his requests to ascend pure to the altar of God. For as wine when it is mingled with vinegar, has not the sweetness it had before; so sadness being mixed with the Holy Spirit, suffers not a man's prayer to be the same as it would be otherwise. 23 Wherefore cleanse thyself from sadness, which is evil, and thou shalt live unto God. And all others shall live unto God, as many as shall lay aside sadness, and put on cheerfulness. COMMAND XI. That the spirits and prophets are to be tried by their works; and of a twofold, spirit. HE showed me certain men sitting upon benches, and one sitting in a chair: and he said unto me; Seest thou those who sit upon the benches? Sir, said I, I see them. He answered, They are the faithful; and he who sits in the chair is an earthly spirit. 2 For he cometh not into the assembly of the faitful, but avoids it. But he joins himself to the doubtful and empty; and prophesies to them in corners and hidden places; and pleases them by speaking according to all the desires of their hearts. 3 For he placing himself among empty vessels, is not broken, but the one fitteth the other. But when he cometh into the company of just men, who are full of the spirit of God, and they pray unto the Lord; that man is emptied, because that earthly spirit flies from him, and he is dumb, and cannot speak anything. 4 As if in a store-house you shall stop up wine or oil, and among those vessels place an empty jar; and when afterwards you come to open it, you shall find it empty as you stopped it up; so those empty prophets when they come among the spirits of the just, are found to be such as they came. 5 I said, How then shall a man be able to discern them? Consider what I am going to say concerning both kinds of men; and as I speak unto thee so shalt thou prove the prophet of God, and the false prophet.