Other Writings, Part 8

Again, on the Lord's Prayer, Matt. vi . To the Competentes.

1. You have rehearsed what you believe, hear now what you are to pray for. Forasmuch as you would not be able to call on Him, in whom you should not first have believed; as says the Apostle, How shall they call on Him, in whom they have not believed? Therefore have you first learned the Creed, where is a brief and sublime rule of your faith; brief in the number of its words, sublime in the weight of its contents. But the prayer which you receive today to be learned by heart, and to be repeated eight days hence, was dictated (as you heard when the Gospel was being read) by the Lord Himself to His disciples, and came from them unto us, since their sound went into all the earth.

2. You then who have found a Father in heaven, be loth to cleave to the things of earth. For you are about to say, Our Father, which art in heaven. You have begun to belong to a great family. Under this Father the lord and the slave are brethren; under this Father the general and the common soldier are brethren; under this Father the rich man and the poor are brethren. All Christian believers have various fathers in earth, some noble, some obscure; but they all call upon one Father which is in heaven. If our Father be there, there is the inheritance prepared for us. But He is such a Father, that we can possess with Him what He gives. For He gives an inheritance; but He does not leave it to us by dying. For He does not depart Himself, but He abides ever, that we may come to Him. Seeing then we have heard of Whom we are to ask, let us know also what to ask for, lest haply we offend such a Father by asking amiss.

3. What then has the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to ask of the Father which is in heaven? Hallowed be Your Name. What kind of blessing is this that we ask of God, that His Name may be hallowed? The Name of God is always Holy; why then do we pray that it may be hallowed, except that we may be hallowed by it? We pray then that that which is Holy always, may be hallowed in us. The Name of God is hallowed in you when you are baptized. Why will you offer this prayer after you have been baptized, but that that which you shall then receive may abide ever in you?

4. Another petition follows, Your kingdom come. God's kingdom will come, whether we ask it or not. Why then do we ask it, but that that which will come to all saints may also come to us; that God may count us also in the number of His saints, to whom His kingdom is to come?

5. We say in the third petition, Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth. What is this? That as the Angels serve You in heaven, so we may serve You in earth. For His holy Angels obey Him; they do not offend Him; they do His commands through the love of Him. This we pray for then, that we too may do the commands of God in love. Again, these words are understood in another way, Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth. Heaven in us is the soul, earth in us is the body. What then is, Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth? As we hear Your precepts, so may our flesh consent unto us; lest, while flesh and spirit strive together, we be not able to fulfil the commands of God.

6. Give us this day our daily bread, comes next in the Prayer. Whether we ask here of the Father support necessary for the body, by bread signifying whatever is needful for us; or whether we understand that daily Bread, which you are soon to receive from the Altar; well it is that we pray that He would give it us. For what is it we pray for, but that we may commit no evil, for which we should be separated from that holy Bread. And the word of God which is preached daily is daily bread. For because it is not bread for the body, it is not on that account not bread for the soul. But when this life shall have passed away, we shall neither seek that bread which hunger seeks; nor shall we have to receive the Sacrament of the Altar, because we shall be there with Christ, whose Body we do now receive; nor will those words which we are now speaking, need to be said to you, nor the sacred volume to be read, when we shall see Him who is Himself the Word of God, by whom all things were made, by whom the Angels are fed, by whom the Angels are enlightened, by whom the Angels become wise; not requiring words of circuitous discourse; but drinking in the Only Word, filled with whom they burst forth and never fail in praise. For, Blessed, says the Psalm, are they who dwell in Your house; they will be always praising You.

7. Therefore in this present life, do we ask what comes next, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. In Baptism, all debts, that is, all sins, are entirely forgiven us. But because no one can live without sin here below, and if without any great crime which entails separation from the Altar, yet altogether without sins can no one live on this earth, and we can only receive the one Baptism once for all; in this Prayer we hear how we may day by day be washed, that our sins may day by day be forgiven us; but only if we do what follows, As we also forgive our debtors. Accordingly, my Brethren, I advise you, who are in the grace of God my sons, yet my Brethren under that heavenly Father; I advise you, whenever any one offends and sins against you, and comes, and confesses, and asks your pardon, that you do pardon him, and immediately from the heart forgive him; lest ye keep off from your own selves that pardon, which comes from God. For if you forgive not, neither will He forgive you. Therefore it is in this life that we make this petition, for that it is in this life that sins can be forgiven, where they can be done. But in the life to come they are not forgiven, because they are not done.

8. Next after this we pray, saying, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This also, that we be not led into temptation, it is necessary for us to ask in this life, because in this life there are temptations; and that we may be delivered from evil, because there is evil here. And thus of all these seven petitions, three have respect to the life eternal, and four to the present life. Hallowed be Your name. This will be forever. Your kingdom come. This kingdom will be forever. Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth. This will be forever. Give us this day our daily bread. This will not be forever. Forgive us our debts. This will not be forever. Lead us not into temptation. This will not be forever. But deliver us from evil. This will not be for ever: but where there is temptation, and where there is evil, there is it necessary that we make this petition.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 6:19 , Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, etc. An exhortation to almsdeeds.

1. Every man who is in any trouble, and his own resources fail him, looks out for some prudent person from whom he may take counsel, and so know what to do. Let us suppose then the whole world to be as it were one single man. He seeks to escape evil, yet is slow in doing good; and as in this way tribulations thicken, and his own resources fail, whom can he find more prudent to receive counsel from than Christ? By all means, at least, let him find a better, and do what he will. But if he cannot find a better, let him come to Him whom he may find everywhere: let him consult, and take advice from Him, keep the good commandment, escape the great evil. For present temporal ills of which men are so sore afraid, under which they murmur exceedingly, and by their murmuring offend Him who is correcting them, so that they find not His saving Help; present ills I say without a doubt are but passing; either they pass through us, or we pass through them; either they pass away while we live, or they are left behind us when we die. Now that is not in the matter of tribulation great, which in duration is short. Whosoever you are that art thinking of tomorrow, you do not recall the remembrance of yesterday. When the day after tomorrow comes, this tomorrow also will be yesterday. But now if men are so disquieted with anxiety to escape temporal tribulations which pass, or rather fly over, what thought ought they to take that they may escape those which abide and endure without end?

2. A hard condition is the life of man. What else is it to be born, but to enter on a life of toil? Of our toil that is to be, the infant's very cry is witness. From this cup of sorrow no one may be excused. The cup that Adam has pledged, must be drunk. We were made, it is true, by the hands of Truth, but because of sin we were cast forth upon days of vanity. We were made after the image of God, but we disfigured it by sinful transgression. Therefore does the Psalm remind us how we were made, and to what a state we have come. For it says, Though a man walk in the image of God. See, what he was made. Whither has he come? Hearken to what follows, Yet will he be disquieted in vain. He walks in the image of truth, and will be disquieted in the counsel of vanity. Finally, see his disquiet, see it, and as it were in a glass, be displeased with yourself. Though, he says, man walk in the image of God, and therefore be something great, yet will he be disquieted in vain; and as though we might ask, How I pray you, how is man disquieted in vain? He heaps up treasure, says he, and knows not for whom he does gather it. See then, this man, that is the whole human race represented as one man, who is without resource in his own case, and has lost counsel and wandered out of the way of a sound mind; Heaps up treasure, and knows not for whom he does gather it. What is more mad, what more unhappy? But surely he is doing it for himself? Not so. Why not for himself? Because he must die, because the life of man is short, because the treasure lasts, but he who gathers it, quickly passes away. As pitying therefore the man who walks in the image of God, who confesses things that are true, yet follows after vain things, he says, He will be disquieted in vain. I grieve for him; he heaps up treasure, and knows not for whom he does gather it. Does he gather it for himself? No. Because the man dies while the treasure endures. For whom then? If you have any good counsel, give it to me. But counsel have you none to give me, and so you have none for yourself. Wherefore if we are both without it, let us both seek it, let us both receive it, and both consider the matter together. He is disquieted, he heaps up treasure, he thinks, and toils, and is kept awake by anxiety. All day long are you harassed by labour, all night agitated by fear. That your coffer may be filled with money, your soul is in a fever of anxiety.

3. I see it, I am grieved for you; you are disquieted, and as He who cannot deceive, assures us, You are disquieted in vain. For you are heaping up treasures: supposing that all your undertakings succeed, to say nothing of losses, of so great perils and deaths in the prosecution of every several kind of gain (I speak not of deaths of the body, but of evil thoughts, for that gold may come in, uprightness goes out; that you may be clothed outwardly, you are made naked within), but to pass over these, and other such things in silence, to pass by all the things that are against you, let us think only of the favourable circumstances. See, you are laying up treasures, gains flow into you from every quarter, and your money runs like fountains; everywhere where want presses, there does abundance flow. Have you not heard, If riches increase, set not your heart upon them? Lo, you are getting, you are disquieted, not fruitlessly indeed, still in vain. How, you will ask am I disquieted in vain? I am filling my coffers, my walls will scarce hold what I get, how then am I disquieted in vain? You are heaping up treasure, and dost not know for whom you gather it. Or if you know, I pray you tell me. I will listen to you. For whom is it? If you are not disquieted in vain, tell me for whom you are heaping up your treasure? For myself, you say, Do you dare say so, who must so soon die? For my children. Do you dare say this of them who must so soon die? It is a great duty of natural affection (it will be said) for a father to lay up for his sons; rather it is a great vanity, one who must soon die is laying up for those who must soon die also. If it is for yourself, why do you gather, seeing you leave all when you diest. This is the case also with your children; they will succeed you, but not to abide long. I say nothing about what sort of children they may be, whether haply debauchery may not waste what covetousness has amassed. So another by dissoluteness squanders what you by much toil hast gathered together. But I pass over this. It may be they will be good children, they will not be dissolute, they will keep what you have left, will increase what you have kept, and will not dissipate what you have heaped together. Then will your children be equally vain with yourself, if they do so, if in this they imitate you their father. I would say to them what I said just now to you. I would say to your son, to him for whom you are saving I would say, You are heaping up treasure, and know not for whom you gather it. For as you knew not, so neither does he know. If the vanity has continued in him, has the truth lost its power with respect to him?

4. I forbear to urge, that it may be even during your life you are but laying up for thieves. In one night may they come and find all ready the gathering of so many days and nights. It may be you are laying up for a robber, or a highwayman. I will say no more on this, lest I call to mind and re-open the wound of past sufferings. How many things which an empty vanity has heaped together, has the cruelty of an enemy found ready to its hand. It is not my place to wish for this: but it is the concern of all to fear it. May God avert it! May His own scourges be sufficient. May He to whom we pray, spare us! But if He ask you for whom are we laying by, what shall we answer? How then, O man, whosoever you are, that are heaping up treasure in vain, how will you answer me, as I handle this matter with you, and with you seek counsel in a common cause? For you spoke and make answer, I am laying up for myself, for my children, for my posterity. I have said already how many grounds of fear there are, even as to those children themselves. But I pass over the consideration, that your children may so live as to be a curse to you, and as your enemy would wish them; grant that they live as the father himself would have them. Yet how many have fallen into those mischances, I have declared, and reminded you of already. You shuddered at them, though you did not amend yourself. For what have you to answer but this, Perhaps it may not be so? Well, I said so too; perhaps I say you are but laying up for the thief, or robber, or highwayman. I did not say certainly, but perhaps. Where there is a perhaps, there is a perhaps-not; so then you know not what will be, and therefore you are disquieted in vain. You see now how truly spoke the Truth, how vainly vanity is disquieted. You have heard and at length learned wisdom, because when you say, Perhaps it is for my children, but dost not dare to say, I am sure that it is for my children, you do not in fact know for whom you are gathering riches. So then, as I see, and have said already, you are yourself without resource; you find nothing wherewith to answer me, nor can I to answer you.

5. Let us both therefore seek and ask for counsel. We have opportunity of consulting not any wise man, but Wisdom Herself. Let us then both give ear to Jesus Christ, to the Jews a stumbling stone, and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Why are you preparing a strong defense for your riches? Hear the Power of God, nothing is more strong than He. Why are you preparing wise counsel to protect your riches? Hear the Wisdom of God, nothing is more Wise than He. Peradventure when I say what I have to say, you will be offended, and so you will be a Jew, because to the Jews is Christ an offense. Or perhaps, when I have spoken, it will appear foolish to you, and so will you be a Gentile, for to the Gentiles is Christ foolishness. Yet you are a Christian, you have been called. But to them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Be not sad then when I have said what I have to say; be not offended; mock not my folly, as you deem it, with an air of disdain. Let us give ear. For what I am about to say, Christ has said. If you despise the herald, yet fear the Judge. What shall I say then? The reader of the Gospel has but just now relieved me from this embarrassment. I will not read anything fresh, but will recall only to your recollection what has just been read. You were seeking counsel, as failing in your own resources; see then what the Fountain of right counsel says, the Fountain from whose streams is no fear of poison, fill from It what you may.

6. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust does destroy, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where no thief approaches, nor moth corrupts: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. What more do you wait for? The thing is plain. The counsel is open, but evil desire lies hid; nay, not so, but what is worse, it too lies open. For plunder does not cease its ravages; avarice does not cease to defraud; maliciousness does not cease to swear falsely. And all for what? That treasure may be heaped together. To be laid up where? In the earth, and rightly indeed, by earth for earth. For to the man who sinned and who pledged us, as I have said, our cup of toil, was it said, Earth you are, and to earth shall you return. With good reason is the treasure in earth, because the heart is there. Where then is that, we lift them up unto the Lord? Sorrow for your case, you who have understood me; and if you sorrow truly, amend yourselves. How long will you be applauding and not doing? What you have heard is true, nothing truer. Let that then which is true be done. One God we praise, yet we change not, that we may not in this very praise be disquieted in vain.

7. Therefore, Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth; whether you have found by experience how what is laid up in the earth is lost, or whether you have not so experienced it, yet do ye too fear lest ye should do so. Let experience reform him whom words will not reform. One cannot rise up now, one cannot go out, but all together with one voice are crying, Woe to us, the world is falling. If it be falling, why do you not remove? If an architect were to tell you, that your house would soon fall, would you not remove before you indulged in your vain lamentations? The Builder of the world tells you the world will soon fall, and will you not believe it? Hear the voice of Him who foretells it, hear the counsel of Him who gives you warning. The voice of prediction is, Heaven and earth shall pass away. The voice of warning is, Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth. If then you believe God in His prediction; if you despise not His warning, let what He says be done. He who has given you such counsel does not deceive you. You shall not lose what you have given away, but shall follow what you have only sent before you. Therefore my counsel is, Give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. You shall not remain without treasure; but what you have on earth with anxiety, you shall possess in heaven free from care. Transport your goods then. I am giving you counsel for keeping, not for losing. You shall have, says He, treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me, that I may bring you to your treasure. This is not a wasting, but a saving. Why do men keep silence? Let them hear, and having at last by experience found what to fear, let them do that which will give them no cause of fear, let them transport their goods to heaven. You put wheat in the low ground; and your friend comes, who knows the nature of the grain and the land, and instructs your unskilfulness, and says to you, What have you done? You have put the grain in the flat soil, in the lower land; the soil is moist; it will all rot, and you will lose your labour. You answer, What then must I do? Remove it, he says, into the higher ground. Do you then give ear to a friend who gives you counsel about your grain, and do you despise God who gives you counsel about your heart? Thou fearest to put your grain in the low earth, and will you lose your heart in the earth? Behold the Lord your God when He gives you counsel touching your heart, says, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Lift up, says He, your heart to heaven, that it rot not in the earth. It is His counsel, who wishes to preserve your heart, not to destroy it.

8. If then this be so, what must be their repentance who have not done thereafter? How must they now reproach themselves! We might have had in heaven what we have now lost in earth. The enemy has broken up our house; but could he break heaven open? He has killed the servant who was set to guard; but could he kill the Lord who would have kept them, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. How many now are saying, There we might have had, and hid our treasures safe, where after a little while we might have followed them securely. Why have we not hearkened to our Lord? Why have we despised the admonitions of the Father, and so have experienced the invasion of the enemy? If then this be good counsel, let us not be slow in taking heed to it; and if what we have must be transported, let us transfer it into that place, from whence we cannot lose it. What are the poor to whom we give, but our carriers, by whom we convey our goods from earth to heaven? Give then: you are but giving to your carrier, he carries what you give to heaven. How, do you say, does he carry it to heaven? For I see that he makes an end of it by eating. No doubt, he carries it, not by keeping it, but by making it his food. What? Have you forgotten, Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom; for I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat: and, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me. If you have not despised the beggar that stands before you, consider to Whom what you gave him has come. Inasmuch, says he, as you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me. He has received it, who gave you wherewith to give. He has received it, who in the end will give His Own Self to you.

9. For this have I at various times called to your remembrance, Beloved, and I confess to you it astonishes me much in the Scriptures of God, and I ought repeatedly to call your attention to it. I pray you to think of what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, that at the end of the world, when He shall come to judgment, He will gather together all nations before Him, and will divide men into two parts; that He will place some at His right hand, and others on His left; and will say to those on the right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. But to those on the left, Depart ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Search out the reasons either for so great a reward, or so great a punishment. Receive the kingdom, and Go into everlasting fire. Why shall the first receive the kingdom? For I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat. Why shall the other depart into everlasting fire? For I was hungry, and you gave Me no meat. What means this, I ask? I see touching those who are to receive the kingdom, that they gave as good and faithful Christians, not despising the words of the Lord, and with sure trust hoping for the promises they did accordingly; because had they not done so, this very barrenness would not surely have accorded with their good life. For it may be they were chaste, no cheats, nor drunkards, and kept themselves from evil works. Yet if they had not added good works, they would have remained barren. For they would have kept, Depart from evil, but they would not have kept, and do good. Notwithstanding, even to them He does not say, Come, receive the kingdom, for you have lived in chastity; you have defrauded no man, you have not oppressed any poor man, you have invaded no one's landmark, you have deceived no one by oath. He said not this, but, Receive the kingdom, because I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat. How excellent is this above all, when the Lord made no mention of the rest, but named this only! And again to the others, Depart ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. How many things could He urge against the ungodly, were they to ask, Why are we going into everlasting fire! Why? Do ye ask, you adulterers, menslayers, cheats, sacrilegious blasphemers, unbelievers. Yet none of these did He name, but, Because I was hungry, and you gave Me no meat.

10. I see that you are surprised as I am. And indeed it is a marvellous thing. But I gather as best I can the reason of this thing so strange, and I will not conceal it from you. It is written, As water quenches fire, so alms quenches sin. Again it is written, Shut up alms in the heart of a poor man, and it shall make supplication for you before the Lord. Again it is written, Hear, O king, my counsel, and redeem your sins by alms. And many other testimonies of the Divine oracles are there, whereby it is shown that alms avail much to the quenching and effacing of sins. Wherefore to those whom He is about to condemn, yea, rather to those whom He is about to crown, He will impute alms only, as though He would say, It were a hard matter for me not to find occasion to condemn you, were I to examine and weigh you accurately and with much exactness to scrutinize your deeds; but, Go into the kingdom, for I was hungry, and you gave Me meat. You shall therefore go into the kingdom, not because you have not sinned, but because you have redeemed your sins by alms. And again to the others, Go into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. They too, guilty as they are, old in their sins, late in their fear for them, in what respect, when they turn their sins over in their mind, could they dare to say that they are undeservedly condemned, that this sentence is pronounced against them undeservedly by so righteous a Judge? In considering their consciences, and all the wounds of their souls, in what respect could they dare to say, We are unjustly condemned. Of whom it was said before in Wisdom, Their own iniquities shall convince them to their face. Without doubt they will see that they are justly condemned for their sins and wickednesses; yet it will be as though He said to them, It is not in consequence of this that you think, but 'because I was hungry, and you gave Me no meat.' For if turning away from all these your deeds, and turning to Me, you had redeemed all those crimes and sins by alms, those alms would now deliver you, and absolve you from the guilt of so great offenses; for, Blessed are the merciful, for to them shall be shown mercy. But now go away into everlasting fire. He shall have judgment without mercy, who has showed no mercy.

11. O that I may have induced you, my brethren, to give away your earthly bread, and to knock for the heavenly! The Lord is that Bread. He says, I am the Bread of life. But how shall He give to you, who givest not to him that is in need? One is in need before you, and you are in need before Another, and since you are in need before Another, and another is in need before you, that other is in need before him who is in need himself. For He before whom you are in need, needs nothing. Do then to others as you would have done to you. For it is not in this case as with those friends who are wont to upbraid in a way one another with their kindnesses; as, I did this for you, and the other answers, and I this for you, that He wishes us to do Him some good office, because He has first done such an office for us. He is in want of nothing, and therefore is He the very Lord. I said to the Lord, You are my God, for Thou needest not my goods. Notwithstanding though He be the Lord, and the Very Lord, and needs not our goods, yet that we might do something even for Him, has He vouchsafed to be hungry in His poor. I was hungry, says He, and you gave Me meat. Lord, when saw we You hungry? Forasmuch as you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me. To be brief then, let men hear, and consider as they ought, how great a merit it is to have fed Christ when He hungers, and how great a crime it is to have despised Christ when He hungers.

12. Repentance for sins changes men, it is true, for the better; but it does not appear as if even it would profit ought, if it should be barren of works of mercy. This the Truth testifies by the mouth of John, who said to them that came to him, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance; And say not we have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. For now is the axe laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that brings not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire. Touching this fruit he said above, Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Whoever then brings not forth these fruits, has no cause to think that he shall attain pardon for his sins by a barren repentance. Now what these fruits are, he shows afterwards himself. For after these his words the multitude asked him, saying, What shall we do then? That is, what are these fruits, which you exhort us with such alarming force to bring forth? But he answering said to them, he that has two coats, let him give to him that has none; and he that has meat, let him do likewise. My brethren, what is more plain, what more certain, or express than this? What other meaning then can that have which he said above, Every tree that brings not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire; but that same which they on the left shall hear, Go into everlasting fire, for I was hungry, and you gave Me no meat. So then it is but a small matter to depart from sins, if you shall neglect to cure what is past, as it is written, Son, you have sinned, do so no more. And that he might not think to be secure by this only, he says, And for your former sins pray that they may be forgiven you. But what will it profit you to pray for forgiveness, if you shall not make yourself fit to be heard, by not bringing forth fruits fit for repentance, that you should be cut down as a barren tree, and be cast into the fire? So if you want to be heard when you pray for pardon of your sins, Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you; Give, and it shall be given you.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 7:7 , Ask, and it shall be given you; etc. An exhortation to almsdeeds.

1. In the lesson of the Holy Gospel the Lord has exhorted us to prayer. Ask, says He, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, says He, though ye be evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Though you be evil, He says, ye know how to give good gifts unto your children. A marvellous thing, Brethren! We are evil: yet have we a good Father. What is more evident? We have heard our proper name: Though you be evil, you know how to give good gifts unto your children. And now see what kind of Father He shows them, whom he called evil. How much more shall your Father? Father of whom? Undoubtedly of the evil. And what kind of Father? None is good but God only.

2. For this cause have we who are evil a good Father, that we may not always continue evil. No evil man can make another man good. If no evil man can make another good, how can an evil man make himself good? He only can make of an evil man a good man, who is good eternally. Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. Why then do those vain ones say to me in words vain as themselves, You can save yourself if you will? Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. We were created good by The Good; for God made man upright, but by our own free will, we became evil. We had power from being good to become evil, and we shall have power from being evil to become good. But it is He who is ever Good, who makes the good out of the evil; for man by his own will had no power to heal himself. Thou dost not look out for a physician to wound yourself; but when you have wounded yourself, you look out for one to cure you. Good things then after the time present, temporal good things, such as are concerned with the body and flesh, we do know how to give to our children, even though we are evil. For even these are good things, who would doubt it? A fish, an egg, bread, fruit, wheat, the light we see, the air we breathe, all these are good; the very riches by which men are lifted up, and which make them loth to acknowledge other men to be their equals; by which, I say, men are lifted up rather in love of their dazzling clothing, than with any thought of their common nature, even these riches, I repeat, are good; but all these goods which I have now mentioned may be possessed by good and bad alike; and though they be good themselves, yet cannot they make their owners good.

3. A good then there is which makes good, and a good there is whereby you may do good. The Good which makes good is God. For none can make man good, save He who is Good eternally. Therefore that you may be good, call upon God. But there is another good whereby you may do good, and that is, whatever you may possess. There is gold, there is silver; they are good, not such as can make you good, but whereby you may do good. You have gold and silver, and you desire more gold and silver. Thou both hast, and desirest to have; you are at once full, and thirsty. This is a disease, not opulence. When men are in the dropsy, they are full of water, and yet are always thirsty. They are full of water, and yet they thirst for water. How then can you take pleasure in opulence, who hast thereby this dropsical desire? Gold then you have, it is good; yet you have not whereby you can be made good, but whereby you can do good. Do you ask, What good can I do with gold? Have you not heard in the Psalm, He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor, his righteousness remains forever. This is good, this is the good whereby you are made good; righteousness. If you have the good whereby you are made good, do good with that good which cannot make you good. You have money, deal it out freely. By dealing it out freely, you increase righteousness. For he has dispersed abroad, has distributed, has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever. See what is diminished and what increased. Your money is diminished, your righteousness increased. That is diminished which you must soon have lost, that diminished which you must soon have left behind you; that increased which you shall possess forever.

4. It is then a secret of gainful dealing I am giving; learn so to trade. For you commend the merchant who sells lead and gets gold, and will you not commend the merchant, who lays out money, and gets righteousness? But you will say, I do not lay out my money, because I have not righteousness. Let him who has righteousness lay his money out; I have not righteousness, so at least let me have my money. Do you not then wish to lay out your money, because you have not righteousness? Yea, lay it out then rather that you may have righteousness. For from whence shall you have righteousness but from God, the Fountain of righteousness? Therefore, if you will have righteousness, be God's beggar, who just now out of the Gospel urged you to ask, and seek, and knock. He knew His beggar, and lo the Householder, the mighty rich One, rich, to wit, in riches spiritual and eternal, exhorts you and says, Ask, seek, knock; he that asks receives, he that seeks finds, to him that knocks it shall be opened. He exhorts you to ask, and will he refuse you what you ask?

5. Consider a similitude or comparison drawn from a contrary case (as of that unjust judge), which is an encouragement to us to prayer. There was, says the Lord, in a city a certain judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. A certain widow importuned him daily, and said, Avenge me. He would not for a long time; but she ceased not to petition, and he did through her importunity what he would not of his own good will. For thus by a contrary case has He recommended us to pray.

6. Again, He says, A certain man to whom some had come, went to his friend, and began to knock and say, A has come to me, lend me three loaves. He answered, I am already in bed, and my servants with me. The other does not leave off, but stands and presses his case, and knocks and begs as one friend of another. And what says He? I say unto you that he rises, and not because of his friendship, but because of the other's importunity he gives him as many as he wanted. Not because of his friendship, though he is his friend, but because of his importunity. What is the meaning of because of his importunity? Because he did not leave off knocking; because even when his request was refused, he did not turn away. He who was not willing to give, gave what was asked, because the other fainted not in asking. How much more then shall that Good One give who exhorts us to ask, who is displeased if we ask not? But when at times He gives somewhat slowly, it is that He is showing us the value of His good things; not that He refuses them. Things which have been long desired, are obtained with the greater pleasure, whereas those which are given quickly, are held cheap. Ask then, seek, be instant. By the very asking and seeking you grow so as to contain the more. God is keeping in reserve for you, what it is not His will to give you quickly, that you may learn for great things to long with great desire. Therefore ought we always to pray, and not to faint.

7. If then God has made us His beggars by admonishing, and exhorting, and commanding us to ask, and seek, and knock, let us for our part pay regard to those who ask from us. We ask, and from whom do we ask? Who are we that ask? What do we ask? From whom, or who are we, or what is it that we ask? We ask of the Good God; and we that ask are evil men; but we ask for righteousness, whereby we may be good. We ask then for that which we may have for ever, wherewith when we shall be filled, we shall want no more. But in order that we may be filled, let us hunger and thirst; hungering and thirsting, let us ask, and seek, and knock. For blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Wherefore are they blessed? They do hunger and thirst, and are they blessed? Is want ever a blessing? They are not blessed in that they hunger and thirst, but in that they will be filled. There will there be blessedness, in the fullness, not in the hunger. But hunger must go before the fullness, that no loathing attach to the bread.

8. We have said then, from whom it is that we ask, and who we are that ask, and what we ask. But we also are asked ourselves. For we are God's mendicants; that He may acknowledge His mendicants, let us on our part acknowledge ours. But let us think in this case again, when anything is asked of us, who they are that ask, from whom they ask, and what they ask? Who then are they that ask? Men. From whom do they ask? From men. Who are they that ask? Mortals. From whom? From mortals. Who are they that ask? Frail beings. From whom? From frail beings. Who are they that ask? Wretches. And from whom? From wretches. Excepting in the matter of wealth, they that ask are as they of whom they ask. With what face can you ask before your lord, who dost not acknowledge your own equal? I am not, he will say, as he is, far be it from me to be such as he. It is thus that one clad in silk, and puffed up with pride, speaks of one who is wrapped in rags. But I ask you when you both are stripped. I ask you not as you are now when clothed, but as you were when you were first born. Both were naked, both weak, beginning a life of misery, and therefore beginning it with cries.

9. See then, recall, O rich man, to mind your first beginnings; see whether you brought anything into the world. Now you have come indeed, and hast found so great abundance. But tell me, I pray you, what did you bring hither? Tell me, or if you are ashamed to say, hear the Apostle. We brought nothing into this world. He says, We brought nothing into this world. But perhaps because you brought in nothing, but yet hast found much here, you will take away something hence? This too, perhaps through love of riches, you are afraid to confess. Hear this also, and let the Apostle who will not flatter, tell you. We brought nothing into this world, to wit when we were born; neither can we carry anything out, to wit when we shall depart out of the world. You brought in nothing, and you shall carry nothing away. Why then do you puff up yourself against the poor man? When infants first are born, let only the parents, servants, dependants, and the crowds of obsequious attendants, get out of the way; and then let the wealthy children with their cries be recognised. Let the rich woman and the poor give birth together; let them take no notice of their children, let them go away for a little while; then let them return, and recognise them if they can. See then, O rich man, you brought nothing into this world; neither can you carry anything out. What I have said of them at their birth, I may say of them in death. If it be not so, when by any chance old sepulchres are broken up, let the bones of the rich be recognised if they can. Therefore, you rich man, give ear to the Apostle, We brought nothing into this world. Acknowledge it, true it is. Neither can we carry anything out. Acknowledge it, this is true also.

10. What follows then? Having food and covering, let us be therewith content; for they who wish to be rich fall into temptation, and many and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For avarice is the root of all evil, which some following after, have erred from the faith. Now consider what they have abandoned. Grieved you are that they have abandoned this, but see now in what they have entangled themselves. Hear; They have erred from the faith, and entangled themselves in many sorrows. But who? They who wish to be rich. It is one thing to be rich, another to wish to become rich. He is rich, who is born of rich parents, and he is rich not because he wished it, but because many left him their inheritances. His wealth I see, I make no question as to the pleasure he takes in it. In this Scripture it is covetousness that is condemned, not gold, or silver, or riches, but covetousness. For they who do not wish to become rich, or do not care about it, who do not burn with covetous desires, nor are inflamed by the fires of avarice, but who yet are rich, let them hear the Apostle (it has been read today), Charge them that are rich in this world. Charge them what? Charge them before all things, not to be proud in their conceits, for there is nothing which riches do so much generate as pride. Each several fruit, each several grain of grain, each several tree, has its peculiar worm, and the worm of the apple is of one kind, and of the pear another, and of the bean another, and of the wheat another. The worm of riches is pride.

11. Charge therefore the rich of this world that they be not proud in their conceits. He has shut out the abuse, let him teach now the proper use. That they be not proud in their conceits. But whence comes the defense against pride? From that which follows: Nor trust in the uncertainty of riches. They who trust not in the uncertainty of riches, are not proud in their conceits. If they be not proud in their conceits, let them fear. If they fear, they are not proud in their conceits. How many are they who were rich yesterday, and are poor today? How many go to sleep rich, and through robbers coming and taking all away, wake up poor? Therefore charge them not to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the Living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy, things temporal, and things eternal. But things eternal more for enjoyment, the things temporal for use. Things temporal as for travellers, things eternal as for inhabitants. Things temporal, whereby we may do good; things eternal, whereby we may be made good. Therefore let the rich do this, Let them not be proud in their conceits, nor trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the Living God, who gives us all things richly to enjoy. Let them do this. But what can they do with what they have? Hear what. Let them be rich in good works, let them easily distribute. For they have wherewithal. Why then do they not do it? Poverty is a hard estate. But they may give easily, for they have the means. Let them communicate, that is, let them acknowledge their fellow-mortals as their equals. Let them communicate, let them lay up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come. For, says he, when I say, Let them distribute easily, let them communicate, I have no wish to spoil, or strip them, or leave them empty. It is a painful lesson I teach; I show them a place to put their goods, let them lay up in store for themselves. For I have no wish that they should remain in poverty. Let them lay up for themselves in store. I do not bid them lose their goods, but I show them whither to remove them. Let them lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may hold on the true life. The present then is a false life; let them lay hold on the true life. For it is vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. What so great abundance has man in all his labour, wherewith he labours under the sun? Therefore the true life must be laid hold upon, our riches must be removed to the place of the true life, that we may find there what we give here. He makes this exchange of our goods who also changes ourselves.

12. Give then, my brethren, to the poor, Having food and covering, let us be therewith content. The rich man has nothing from his riches, but what the poor man begs of him, food and covering. What more have you from all that you possess? You have got food and necessary covering. Necessary I say, not useless, not superfluous. What more do you get from your riches? Tell me. Assuredly all you have more will be superfluous. Let your superfluities then be the poor man's necessaries. But you will say, I get costly banquets, I feed on costly meats. But the poor man, what does he feed on? On cheap food; the poor man feeds on cheap, and I, says he, on costly meats. Well, I ask you, when you both are filled, the costly enters into you, but when it is once entered, what does it become? If we had but looking-glasses within us, should we not be put to shame for all the costly meat whereby you have been filled? The poor man hungers, and so does the rich; the poor man seeks to be filled, so does the rich. The poor man is filled with inexpensive, the rich with costly meats. Both are filled alike, the object whither both wish to attain is one and the same, only the one reaches it by a short, the other by a circuitous way. But you will say, I relish better my costly food. True, and it is hard for you to be satisfied, dainty as you are. You know not the relish of that which hunger seasons. Not that I have said this to force the rich to feed on the meat and drink of the poor. Let the rich use what their infirmity has accustomed them to; but let them be sorry, that they are not able to do otherwise. For it would be better for them if they could. If then the poor man be not puffed up for his poverty, why should you for your infirmity? Use then choice, and costly meats, because you are so accustomed, because you can not do otherwise, because if you change your custom, you are made ill. I grant you this, make use of superfluities, but give to the poor necessaries; make use of costly meats, but give to the poor inexpensive food. He is looking to receive from you, and you are looking to receive from God; he is looking to the hand which was made as he was, and you are looking to the hand that made you, and made not you only, but the poor man with you. He set you both one and the same journey, this present life: you have found yourselves companions in it, you are walking one way: he is carrying nothing, you are loaded excessively: he is carrying nothing with him, you are carrying with you more than you need. You are loaded: give him of that you have; so shall you at once feed him, and lessen your own burden.

13. Give then to the poor; I beg, I advise, I charge, I command you. Give to the poor whatever you will. For I will not conceal from you, Beloved, why it is that I have deemed it necessary to deliver this discourse to you. As I am going to and from the Church, the poor importune me, and beg me to speak to you, that they may receive something of you. They have urged me to speak to you; and when they see that they receive nothing from you, they suppose that all my labour among you is in vain. Something also they expect from me. I give them all I can; but have I the means sufficient to supply all their necessities? Forasmuch then as I have not means sufficient to supply all their necessity, I am at least their ambassador to you. You have heard and applauded; God be thanked. You have received the seed, you have returned an answer. But these your commendations weigh me down rather, and expose me to danger. I bear them, and tremble while I bear them. Nevertheless, my brethren, these your commendations are but the tree's leaves; it is the fruit I am in quest of.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 8:8 , I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, etc., and of the words of the apostle, 1 Corinthians 8:10 , For if a man see you who hast knowledge sitting at meat in an idol's temple, etc.

1. We have heard, as the Gospel was being read, the praise of our faith as manifested in humility. For when the Lord Jesus promised that He would go to the Centurion's house to heal His servant, He answered, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof: but speak the word only, and he shall be healed. By calling himself unworthy, he showed himself worthy for Christ to come not into his house, but into his heart. Nor would he have said this with so great faith and humility, had he not borne Him in his heart, of whose coming into his house he was afraid. For it were no great happiness for the Lord Jesus to enter into his house, and yet not to be in his heart. For this Master of humility both by word and example, sat down even in the house of a certain proud Pharisee, by name Simon; and though He sat down in his house, there was no place in this heart, where the Son of Man could lay His Head.

2. For so, as we may understand from the words of the Lord Himself, did He call back from His discipleship a certain proud man, who of his own accord was desirous to go with Him. Lord, I will follow You wherever You go. And the Lord seeing in his heart what was invisible, said, Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay His Head. That is, in you, guile like the fox does dwell, and pride as the birds of heaven. But the Son of Man simple as opposed to guile, lowly as opposed to pride, has not where to lay His Head; and this very laying, not the raising up of the head, teaches humility. Therefore does He call back this one who was desirous to go, and another who refused He draws onward. For in the same place He says to a certain man, Follow Me. And he said, I will follow You, Lord, but let me first go and bury my father. His excuse was indeed a dutiful one: and therefore was he the more worthy to have his excuse removed, and his calling confirmed. What he wished to do was an act of dutifulness; but the Master taught him what he ought to prefer. For He wished him to be a preacher of the living word, to make others live. But there were others by whom that first necessary office might be fulfilled. Let the dead, He says, bury their dead. When unbelievers bury a dead body, the dead bury the dead. The body of the one has lost its soul, the soul of the others has lost God. For as the soul is the life of the body; so is God the life of the soul. As the body expires when it loses the soul, so does the soul expire when it loses God. The loss of God is the death of the soul: the loss of the soul the death of the body. The death of the body is necessary; the death of the soul voluntary.

3. The Lord then sat down in the house of a certain proud Pharisee. He was in his house, as I have said, and was not in his heart. But into this centurion's house He entered not, yet He possessed his heart. Zacchæus again received the Lord both in house and heart. Yet the centurion's faith is praised for its humility. For he said, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; and the Lord said, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel; according to the flesh, that is. For he too was an Israelite undoubtedly according to the spirit. The Lord had come to fleshly Israel, that is, to the Jews, there to seek first for the lost sheep, among this people, and of this people also He had assumed His Body. I have not found there so great faith, He says. We can but measure the faith of men, as men can judge of it; but He who saw the inward parts, He whom no man can deceive, gave His testimony to this man's heart, hearing words of lowliness, and pronouncing a sentence of healing.

4. But whence did he get such confidence? I also, says he, am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes: and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. I am an authority to certain who are placed under me, being myself placed under a certain authority above me. If then I a man under authority have the power of commanding, what power must Thou have, whom all powers serve? Now this man was of the Gentiles, for he was a centurion. At that time the Jewish nation had soldiers of the Roman empire among them. There he was engaged in a military life, according to the extent of a centurion's authority, both under authority himself, and having authority over others; as a subject obedient, ruling others who were under him. But the Lord (and mark this especially, Beloved, as need there is you should), though He was among the Jewish people only, even now announced beforehand that the Church should be in the whole world, for the establishment of which He would send Apostles; Himself not seen, yet believed on by the Gentiles: by the Jews seen, and put to death. For as the Lord did not in body enter into this man's house, and still, though in body absent, yet present in majesty, healed his faith, and his house; so the same Lord also was in body among the Jewish people only: among the other nations He was neither born of a Virgin, nor suffered, nor walked, nor endured His human sufferings, nor wrought His divine miracles. None of all this took place in the rest of the nations, and yet was that fulfilled which was spoken of Him, A people whom I have not known, has served Me. And how if it did not know Him? Hath obeyed Me by the hearing of the ear. The Jewish nation knew, and crucified Him; the whole world besides heard and believed.

5. This absence, so to say, of His body, and presence of His power among all nations, He signified also in the instance of that woman who had touched the edge of His garment, when He asks, saying, Who touched Me? He asks, as though He were absent; as though present, He heals. The multitude, say the disciples, press You, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? For as if He were so walking as not to be touched by anybody at all, He said, Who touched Me? And they answer, The multitude press You. And the Lord would seem to say, I am asking for one who touched, not for one who pressed Me. In this case also is His Body now, that is, His Church. The faith of the few touches it, the throng of the many press it. For you have heard, as being her children, that Christ's Body is the Church, and if you will, you yourselves are so. This the Apostle says in many places, For His body's sake, which is the Church; and again, But you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. If then we are His body, what His body then suffered in the crowd, that does His Church suffer now. It is pressed by many, touched by few. The flesh presses it, faith touches it. Lift up therefore your eyes, I beseech you, you who have wherewithal to see. For you have before you something to see. Lift up the eyes of faith, touch but the extreme border of His garment, it will be sufficient for saving health.

6. See ye how that which you have heard out of the Gospel was at that time to come is now present. Therefore, said He, on occasion of the commendation of the Centurion's faith, as in the flesh an alien, but of the household in heart, Therefore I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and west. Not all, but many; yet they shall come from the East and West; the whole world is denoted by these two parts. Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. But the children of the kingdom, the Jews, namely. And how the children of the kingdom? Because they received the Law; to them the Prophets were sent, with them was the temple and the Priesthood; they celebrated the figures of all the things to come. Yet of what things they celebrated the figures, they acknowledged not the presence. And, Therefore the children of the kingdom, He says, shall go into outer darkness, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And so we see the Jews reprobate, and Christians called from the East and West, to the heavenly banquet, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, where the bread is righteousness, and the cup wisdom.

7. Consider then, brethren, for of these are you; you are of this people, even then foretold, and now exhibited. Yes, verily, you are of those who have been called from the East and West, to sit down in the kingdom of heaven, not in the temple of idols. Be then the Body of Christ, not the pressure of His Body. You have the border of His garment to touch, that you may be healed of the issue of blood, that is, of carnal pleasures. You have, I say, the border of the garment to touch. Look upon the Apostles as the garment, by the texture of unity clinging closely to the sides of Christ. Among these Apostles was Paul, as it were the border, the least and last; as he says himself, I am the least of the Apostles. In a garment the last and least thing is the border. The border is in appearance contemptible, yet is it touched with saving efficacy. Even to this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and buffeted. What state so low, so contemptible as this! Touch then, if you are suffering from a bloody flux. There will go power out of Him whose garment it is, and it will heal you. The border was proposed to you just now to be touched, when out of the same Apostle there was read, For if any one see him which has knowledge sit at meat in an idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him who is weak, be emboldened to eat things offered to idols? And through your knowledge shall your weak brother perish, for whom Christ died! How think ye may men be deceived by idols, which they suppose are honoured by Christians? A man may say, God knows my heart. Yes, but your brother did not know your heart. If you are weak, beware of a still greater weakness; if you are strong, have a care of your brother's weakness. They who see what you do, are emboldened to do more, so as to desire not only to eat, but also to sacrifice there. And lo, Through your knowledge the weak brother perishes. Hear then, my brother; if you disregarded the weak, would you disregard a brother also? Awake. What if so you sin against Christ Himself? For attend to what you can not by any means disregard. But, says he, when you sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Let them who disregard these words, go now, and sit at meat in the idol's temple; will they not be of those who press, and do not touch? And when they have been at meat in the idol's temple, let them come and fill the Church; not to receive saving health, but to make a pressure there.

8. But you will say, I am afraid lest I offend those above me. By all means be afraid of offending them, and so you will not offend God. For you who are afraid lest you offend those above you, see whether there be not One above him whom you are afraid of offending. By all means then be loth to offend those above you. This is an established rule with you. But then is it not plain, that he must on no account be offended, who is above all others? Run over now the list of those above you. First are your father and mother, if they are educating you aright; if they are bringing you up for Christ; they are to be heard in all things, they must be obeyed in every command; let them enjoin nothing against one above themselves, and so let them be obeyed. And who, you will say, is above him who begot me? He who created you. For man begets, but God creates. How it is that man begets, he does not know; and what he shall beget, he does not know. But He who saw you that He might make you, before that he whom He made existed, is surely above your father. Your country again should be above your very parents; so that whereinsoever your parents enjoin anything against your country, they are not to be listened to. And whatsoever your country enjoin against God, it is not to be listened to. For if you will be healed, if after the issue of blood, if after twelve years' continuance in that disease, if after having spent your all upon physicians, and not having received health, you wish at length to be made whole; O woman, whom I am addressing as a figure of the Church, your father enjoins you this, and your people that. But your Lord says to you, Forget your own people, and your father's house. For what good? For what advantage? With what useful result? Because the King has desired your beauty. He has desired what He made, since when deformed He loved you, that He might make you beautiful. For you unbelieving, and deformed, He shed His Blood, and He made you faithful and beauteous, He has loved His own gifts in you. For what did you bring to your spouse? What did you receive for dowry from your former father, and former people? Was it not the excesses and the rags of sins? Your rags He cast away, your robe impure He tore asunder. He pitied you that He might adorn you. He adorned you, that He might love you.

9. What need of more, Brethren. You are Christians, and have heard, that If you sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Do not disregard it, if you would not be wiped out of the book of life. How long shall I go about to speak in bright and pleasing terms to you, what my grief forces me to speak in some sort, and will not suffer me to keep secret? Whosoever they are who are minded to disregard these things, and sin against Christ, let them only consider what they are doing. We wish the rest of the Heathen to be gathered in; and you are stones in their way: they have a wish to come; they stumble, and so return. For they say in their hearts, Why should we leave the gods whom the very Christians worship as we do? God forbid, you will say, that I should worship the gods of the Gentiles. I know, I understand, I believe you. But what account are you making of the consciences of the weak which you are wounding? What account are you making of their price, if you disregard the purchase? Consider for how great a price was the purchase made. Through your knowledge, says the Apostle, shall the weak brother perish; that knowledge which you profess to have, in that you know that an idol is nothing, and that in your mind you are thinking only of God, and so sittest down in the idol's temple. In this knowledge the weak brother perishes. And lest you should pay no regard to the weak brother, he added, for whom Christ died. If you would disregard him, yet consider his Price, and weigh the whole world in the balance with the Blood of Christ. And lest you should still think that you are sinning against a weak brother, and so esteem it after that he had heard that he was Peter, a trivial fault, and of small account, he says, You sin against Christ. For men are in the habit of saying, I sin against man; am I sinning against God? Deny then that Christ is God. Do you dare deny that Christ is God? Have you learned this other doctrine, when you sat at meat in the idol's temple? The school of Christ does not admit that doctrine. I ask; Where did you learn that Christ is not God? The Pagans are wont to say so. Do you see what bad associations do? Do you see, that evil communications corrupt good manners? There you can not speak of the Gospel, and you hear others talking of idols. There you lose the truth that Christ is God; and what you drink in there, you vomit out in the Church. It may be you are bold enough to speak here; bold enough to mutter among the crowds; Was not then Christ a man? Was He not crucified? This have you learned of the Pagans. You have lost your soul's health, you have not touched the border. On this point then touch again the border, and receive health. As I taught you to touch it in this that is written, Whoever sees a brother sit at meat in the idol's temple; touch it also concerning the Divinity of Christ. The same border said of the Jews, Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Behold, against Whom, even the Very God, you sin, when you sit down with false gods.

10. It is no god, you will say; because it is the tutelary genius of Carthage. As though if it were Mars or Mercury, it would be a god. But consider in what light it is esteemed by them; not what it is in itself. For I know also as well as you, that it is but a stone. If this genius be any ornament, let the citizens of Carthage live well; and they themselves will be this genius of Carthage. But if the genius be a devil, you have heard in that same Scripture, The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. We know well that it is no God; would that they knew it too! But because of those weak ones who do not know it, their conscience ought not to be wounded. It is this that the Apostle warns us of. For that they regard that statue as something divine, and take it for a god, the altar is witness. What does the altar there, if it be not accounted a god? Let no one tell me; it is no deity, it is no God. I have said already, Would that they only knew this, as we all do. But how they regard it, for what they take it, and what they do about it, that altar is witness. It is convincing against the intentions of all who worship there, grant that it may not be convincing also against those who sit at meat with them!

11. Yes, let not Christians press the Church, if the Pagans do. She is the Body of Christ. Were we not saying, that the Body of Christ was pressed, and not touched. He endured those who pressed Him; and was looking out for those who touched Him. And, Brethren, I would that if the Body of Christ be pressed by Pagans, by whom it is wont to be pressed; that at least Christians would not press the Body of Christ. Brethren, it is my business to speak to you, my business it is to speak to Christians; For what have I to do to judge them that are without? the Apostle himself says. Them we address in another way, as being weak. With them we must deal softly, that they may hear the truth; in you the corruption must be cut out. If you ask whereby the Pagans are to be gained over, whereby they are to be illuminated, and called to salvation; forsake their solemnities, forsake their trifling shows; and then if they do not consent to our truth, let them blush at their own scantiness.

12. If he who is over you be a good man, he is your nourisher; if a bad man, he is your tempter. Receive the nourishment in the one case with gladness, and in the temptation show yourself approved. Be gold. Regard this world as the furnace of the goldsmith; in one narrow place are there things, gold, chaff, fire. To the two former the fire is applied, the chaff is burned, and the gold purified. A man has yielded to threats, and been led away to the idol's temple: Alas! I bewail the chaff; I see the ashes. Another has not yet yielded to threats nor terrors; has been brought before the judge, and stood firm in his confession, and has not bent down to the idol image: what does the flame with him? Does it not purify the gold? Stand, fast then, Brethren, in the Lord; greater in power, is He who has called you. Be not afraid of the threats of the ungodly. Bear with your enemies; in them you have those for whom you may pray; let them by no means terrify you. This is saving health, draw out in this feast here from this source; here drink that wherewith ye may be satisfied, and not in those other feasts, that only whereby ye may be maddened. Stand fast in the Lord. You are silver, you shall be gold. This similitude is not our own, it is out of Holy Scripture. You have read and heard, As gold in the furnace has He tried them, and received them as a burnt-offering. See what you shall be among the treasures of God. Be rich as touching God, not as if to make Him rich, but as to become rich from Him. Let Him replenish you; admit nought else into your heart.

13. Do we lift up ourselves unto pride, or tell you to be despisers against the powers ordained? Not so. Do you again who are sick on this point, touch also that border of the garment? The Apostle himself says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. He then who resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. But what if it enjoin what you ought not to do? In this case by all means disregard the power through fear of Power. Consider these several grades of human powers. If the magistrate enjoin anything, must it not be done? Yet if his order be in opposition to the Proconsul, you do not surely despise the power, but choosest to obey a greater power. Nor in this case ought the less to be angry, if the greater be preferred. Again, if the Proconsul himself enjoin anything, and the Emperor another thing, is there any doubt, that disregarding the former, we ought to obey the latter? So then if the Emperor enjoin one thing, and God another, what judge ye? Pay me tribute, submit yourself to my allegiance. Right, but not in an idol's temple. In an idol's temple He forbids it. Who forbids it? A greater Power. Pardon me then: you threaten a prison, He threatens hell. Here must you at once take to you your faith as a shield, whereby you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy.

14. But one of these powers is plotting, and contriving evil designs against you. Well: he is but sharpening the razor wherewith to shave the hair, but not to cut the head. You have but just now heard this that I have said in the Psalm, You have worked deceit like a sharp razor. Why did He compare the deceit of a wicked man in power to a razor? Because it does not reach, save to our superfluous parts. As hairs on our body seem as it were superfluous, and are shaven off without any loss of the flesh; so whatsoever an angry man in power can take from you, count only among your superfluities. He takes away your poverty; can he take away your wealth? Your poverty is your wealth in your heart. Your superfluous things only has he power to take away, these only has he power to injure, even though he had license given him so far as to hurt the body. Yea even this life itself to those whose thoughts are of another life, this present life, I say, may be reckoned among the things superfluous. For so the Martyrs have despised it. They did not lose life, but they gained Life.

15. Be sure, Brethren, that enemies have no power against the faithful, except so far as it profits them to be tempted and proved. Of this be sure, Brethren, let no one say ought against it. Cast all your care upon the Lord, throw yourselves wholly and entirely upon Him. He will not withdraw Himself that you should fall. He who created us, has given us security touching our very hairs. Verily I say unto you, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Our hairs are numbered by God; how much more is our conduct known to Him to whom our hairs are thus known? See then, how that God does not disregard our least things. For if He disregarded them, He would not create them. For He verily both created our hairs, and still takes count of them. But you will say, though they are preserved at present, perhaps they will perish. On this point also hear His word, Verily I say unto you, there shall not an hair of your head perish. Why are you afraid of man, O man, whose place is in the Bosom of God? Fall not out of His Bosom; whatsoever you shall suffer there, will avail to your salvation, not to your destruction. Martyrs have endured the tearing of their limbs, and shall Christians fear the injuries of Christian times? He who would do you an injury now, can only do it in fear. He does not say openly, come to the idol-feast; he does not say openly, come to my altars, and banquet there. And if he should say so, and you were to refuse, let him make a complaint of it, let him bring it as an accusation and charge against you: He would not come to my altars, he would not come to my temple, where I worship. Let him say this. He does not dare; but in his guile he contrives another attack. Make ready your hair; he is sharpening the razor; he is about to take off your superfluous things, to shave what you must soon leave behind you. Let him take off what shall endure, if he can. This powerful enemy, what has he taken away? What great thing has he taken away? That which a thief or housebreaker could take: in his utmost rage, he can but take what a robber can. Even if he should have license given him to the slaying of the very body, what does he take away, but what the robber can take? I did him too much honour, when I said, a robber. For be the robber who and what he may, he is a man. He takes from you what a fever, or an adder, or a poisonous mushroom can take. Here lies the whole power of the rage of men, to do what a mushroom can! Men eat a poisonous mushroom, and they die. Lo! In what frail estate is the life of man; which sooner or later you must abandon; do not struggle then in such wise for it, as that you should be abandoned yourself.

16. Christ is our Life; think then of Christ. He came to suffer, but also to be glorified; to be despised, but to be exalted also; to die; but also to rise again. If the labour alarm you, see its reward. Why do you wish to arrive by softness at that to which nothing but hard labour can lead? Now you are afraid, lest you should lose your money; because you earn your money with great labour. If you did not attain to your money, which you must some time or other lose, at all events when you die, without labour, would you desire without labour to attain to the Life eternal? Let that be of higher value in your eyes, to which after all your labours you shall in such sort attain as never more to lose it. If this money, to which you have attained after all your labours on such condition as that you must some time lose it, be of high value with you; how much more ought we to long after those things which are everlasting!

17. Give no credit to their words, neither be afraid of them. They say that we are enemies of their idols. May God so grant, and give all into our power, as He has already given us that which we have broken down. For this I say, Beloved, that you may not attempt to do it, when it is not lawfully in your power to do it; for it is the way of ill-regulated men, and the mad Circumcelliones, both to be violent when they have no power, and to be ever eager in their wishes to die without a cause. You heard what we read to you, all of you who were present in the Mappalia. When the land shall have been given into your power (he says first, into your power, and so enjoined what was to be done); then, says he, you shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their groves, and hew down all their images. When we shall have got the power, do this. When the power has not been given us, we do not do it; when it is given, we do not neglect it. Many Pagans have these abominations on their own estates; do we go and break them in pieces? No, for our first efforts are that the idols in their hearts should be broken down. When they too are made Christians themselves, they either invite us to so good a work, or anticipate us. At present we must pray for them, not be angry with them. If very painful feelings excite us, it is rather against Christians, it is against our brethren, who will enter into the Church in such a mind, as to have their body there, and their heart anywhere else. The whole ought to be within. If that which man sees is within, why is that which God sees without?

18. Now you may know, Dearly Beloved, that these unite their murmurings with Heretics and with Jews. Heretics, Jews, and Heathens have made a unity against Unity. Because it has happened, that in some places the Jews have received chastisement because of their wickednesses; they charge and suspect us, or pretend, that we are always seeking the like treatment for them. Again, because it has happened that the heretics in some places have suffered the penalty of the laws for the impiety and fury of their deeds of violence; they say immediately that we are seeking by every means some harm for their destruction. Again, because it has been resolved that laws should be passed against the Heathen, yea for them rather, if they were only wise. (For as when silly boys are playing with the mud, and dirtying their hands, the strict master comes, shakes the mud out of their hands, and holds out their book; so has it pleased God by the hands of princes His subjects to alarm their childish, foolish hearts, that they may throw away the dirt from their hands, and set about something useful. And what is this something useful with the hands, but, Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the houseless poor into your house? But nevertheless these children escape from their master's sight, and return stealthily to their mud, and when they are discovered they hide their hands that they may not be seen.) Because then it has so pleased God, they think that we are looking out for the idols everywhere, and that we break them down in all places where we have discovered them. How so? Are there not places before our very eyes in which they are? Or are we indeed ignorant where they are? And yet we do not break them down, because God has not given them into our power. When does God give them into our power? When the masters of these things shall become Christians. The master of a certain place has just lately wished this to be done. If he had not been minded to give the place itself to the Church, and only had given orders that there should be no idols on his property; I think that it ought to have been executed with the greatest devotion, that the soul of the absent Christian brother, who wishes on his land to return thanks to God, and would not that there should be anything there to God's dishonour, might be assisted by his fellow Christians. Added to this, that in this case he gave the place itself to the Church. And shall there be idols in the Church's estate? Brethren, see then what it is that displeases the Heathens. It is but a little matter with them that we do not take them away from their estates, that we do not break them down: they would have them kept up even in our own places. We preach against idols, we take them away from the hearts of men; we are persecutors of idols; we openly profess it. Are we then to be the preservers of them? I do not touch them when I have not the power; I do not touch them when the lord of the property complains of it; but when he wishes it to be done, and gives thanks for it, I should incur guilt if I did it not.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 8:23 , And when he was entered into a boat, etc.

1. By the Lord's blessing, I will address you upon the lesson of the Holy Gospel which has just been read, and take occasion thereby to exhort you, that against the tempest and waves of this world, faith sleep not in your hearts. For the Lord Christ had not indeed death nor sleep in His power, and perhaps sleep overcame the Almighty One as He was sailing against His will? If you believe this, He is asleep in you; but if Christ be awake in you, your faith is awake. The Apostle says, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. This sleep then of Christ is a sign of a high mystery. The sailors are the souls passing over the world in wood. That ship also was a figure of the Church. And all, individually indeed are temples of God, and his own heart is the vessel in which each sails; nor can he suffer shipwreck, if his thoughts are only good.

2. You have heard an insult, it is the wind; you are angry, it is a wave. When therefore the wind blows, and the wave swells, the ship is endangered, the heart is in jeopardy, the heart is tossed to and fro. When you have heard an insult, you long to be avenged; and, lo, avenged you have been, and so rejoicing in another's harm you have suffered shipwreck. And why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What does this mean, Christ is asleep in you? You have forgotten Christ. Rouse Him up then, call Christ to mind, let Christ awake in you, give heed to Him. What did you wish? To be avenged. Have you forgotten, that when He was being crucified, He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do? He who was asleep in your heart did not wish to be avenged. Awake Him up then, call Him to remembrance. The remembrance of Him is His word; the remembrance of Him is His command. And then will you say if Christ, awake in you, What manner of man am I, who wish to be avenged! Who am I, who deal out threatenings against another man? I may die perhaps before I am avenged. And when at my last breath, inflamed with rage, and thirsting for vengeance, I shall depart out of this body, He will not receive me, who did not wish to be avenged; He will not receive me, who said, Give, and it shall be given unto you; forgive, and it shall be forgiven you. Therefore will I refrain myself from my wrath, and return to the repose of my heart. Christ has commanded the sea, tranquillity is restored.

3. Now what I have said as to anger, hold fast as a rule in all your temptations. A temptation has sprung up; it is the wind; you are disturbed; it is a wave. Awake up Christ then, let Him speak with you. Who is this, since the winds and the sea obey Him? Who is this, whom the sea obeys? The sea is His, and He made it. All things were made by Him. Imitate the winds then, and the sea rather; obey the Creator. At Christ's command the sea gives ear; and are you deaf? The sea hears, and the wind ceases: and do you still blow on? What! I say, I do, I devise; what is all this, but to be blowing on, and to be unwilling to stop in obedience to the word of Christ? Let not the wave master you in this troubled state of your heart. Yet since we are but men, if the wind should drive us on, and stir up the affections of our souls, let us not despair; let us awake Christ, that we may sail on a tranquil sea, and so come to our country. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 10:16 , Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, etc. Delivered on a Festival of Martyrs.

1. When the Holy Gospel was read, Brethren, you heard how our Lord Jesus Christ strengthened His Martyrs by His teaching, saying, Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Now consider, my Brethren, what he does. If but one wolf come among many sheep, be they ever so many thousands, they will all be put to confusion by one wolf in the midst of them: and though all may not be torn, yet all are frightened. What manner of design is this then, what manner of counsel, what manner of power, not to let in a wolf among the sheep, but to send the sheep against the wolves! I send you, says He, as sheep in the midst of wolves; not to the neighbourhood of wolves, but in the midst of wolves. There was then at that time a herd of wolves, and but few sheep. For when the many wolves killed the few sheep, the wolves were changed and became sheep.

2. Let us hear then what advice He has given, who has promised the crown, but has first appointed the combat; who is a spectator of the combatants, and assists them in their toil. What manner of conflict has He prescribed? Be, says He, wise as serpents, and simple as doves. Whoever understands, and holds to this, may die in assurance that he will not really die. For no one ought to die in this assurance, but he who knows that he shall in such sort die, as that death only shall die in him, and life be crowned.

3. Wherefore, Beloved, I must explain to you, though I have often spoken already on this subject, what it is to be simple as doves, and wise as serpents. Now if the simplicity of doves be enjoined us, what has the wisdom of the serpent to do in the simplicity of the dove? This in the dove I love, that she has no gall; this I fear in the serpent, that he has poison. But now do not fear the serpent altogether; something he has for you to hate, and something for you to imitate. For when the serpent is weighed down with age, and he feels the burden of his many years, he contracts and forces himself into a hole, and lays aside his old coat of skin, that he may spring forth into new life. Imitate him in this, you Christian, who hears Christ saying, Enter in at the strait gate. And the Apostle Paul says to you, Put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man. You have then something to imitate in the serpent. Die not for the old man, but for the truth. Whoever dies for any temporal good dies for the old man. But when you have stripped yourself of all that old man, you have imitated the wisdom of the serpent. Imitate him in this again; keep your head safe. And what does this mean, keep your head safe? Keep Christ with you. Have not some of you, it may be, observed, on occasions when you have wished to kill an adder, how to save his head, he will expose his whole body to the strokes of his assailant? He would not that that part of him should be struck, where he knows that his life resides. And our Life is Christ, for He has said Himself, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Here the Apostle also; The Head of the man is Christ. Whoever then keeps Christ in him, keeps his head for his protection.

4. Now what need is there to commend to you in many words the simplicity of the dove? For the serpent's poison had need to be guarded against: there, there was a danger in imitation; there, there was something to be feared; but the dove may you imitate securely. Mark how the doves rejoice in society; everywhere do they fly and feed together; they do not love to be alone, they delight in communion, they preserve affection; their cooings are the plaintive cries of love, with kissings they beget their young. Yea even when doves, as we have often noticed, dispute about their holes, it is as it were but a peaceful strife. Do they separate, because of their contentions? Nay, still do they fly and feed together, and their very strife is peaceful. See this strife of doves, in what the Apostle says, If any man obey not our word by this epistle, mark that man, and have no company with him. Behold the strife; but observe now how it is the strife of doves, not of wolves. He subjoined immediately, Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. The dove loves even when she is in strife; and the wolf even when he caresses, hates. Therefore having the simplicity of doves, and the wisdom of serpents, celebrate the solemnities of the Martyrs in sobriety of mind, not in bodily excess, sing lauds to God. For He who is the Martyrs' God, is our Lord God also, He it is who will crown us. If we shall have wrestled well, we shall be crowned by Him, who has crowned already those whom we desire to imitate.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 10:28 , Be not afraid of them that kill the body. Delivered on a Festival of Martyrs.

1. The Divine oracles which have just been read teach us in fearing not to fear, and in not fearing to fear. You observed when the Holy Gospel was being read, that our Lord God before He died for us, would have us to be firm; and this by admonishing us not to fear, and withal to fear. For he said, Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. See where He advised us not to fear. See now where He advised us to fear. But, says he, fear Him who has power to destroy both body and soul in hell. Let us fear therefore, that we may not fear. Fear seems to be allied to cowardice: seems to be the character of the weak, not the strong. But see what says the Scripture, The fear of the Lord is the hope of strength. Let us then fear, that we may not fear; that is, let us fear prudently, that we may not fear vainly. The holy Martyrs on the occasion of whose solemnity this lesson was read out of the Gospel, in fearing, feared not; because in fearing God, they did not regard men.

2. For what need a man fear from man? And what is that whereby one man should cause another fear, since both of them are men? One threatens and says, I will kill you; and does not fear, lest after his threat he die before he have fulfilled it. I will kill you, he says. Who says it, and to whom? I hear two men, the one threatening, and the other alarmed: of whom the one is powerful, and the other weak, yet both are mortal. Why then does he so stretch out himself, he, in honour, a somewhat more inflated power, in body, equal weakness? Let him securely threaten death who does not fear death. But if he fear that whereby he causes fear; let him think of himself, and compare himself with him whom he is threatening. Let him see in him whom he threatens a likeness of condition, and so together with him let him seek like pity from the Lord. For he is but a man, and he threatens another man, a creature, another creature; only the one puffed up under his Creator's eye, and the other fleeing for refuge to the same Creator.

3. Let the stout Martyr then, as he stands a man before another man, say; I do not fear, because I fear. You can not do what you are threatening, unless He will; but what He threatens, none can hinder Him from doing. And then again, what do you threaten, and what can you do, if you are permitted? Your violence extends but to the flesh, the soul is safe from you. You can not kill what you do not see: visible yourself, you threaten that which is visible in me. But we have both an invisible Creator, whom we ought both to fear; who of that which was both visible and invisible created man. He made Him visible out of the earth, and with His Breath He breathed into Him an invisible Spirit. Therefore the invisible substance, that is, the soul, which has raised from the earth the earth as it lay, does not fear, when you assault the earth. You can strike the habitation, but can you strike him who dwells there? When the chain is broken, he escapes who before was bound, and he will now be crowned in secret. Why then do you threaten me, who can do nothing to my soul? Through the desert of that to which you can do nothing, will that to which your power extends rise again. For through the soul's desert, will the flesh also rise again; and will be restored to its inhabitant, now no more to fail, but to endure forever. Behold (I am using the words of a Martyr), behold, I say, not even on account of my body do I fear your threats. My body indeed is subject to your power; but even the hairs of my head are numbered by my Creator. Why should I fear lest I lose my body, who cannot even lose a hair? How shall he not have a care of my body, to whom my meanest things are so well known? This body which may be wounded and slain will for a time be ashes, but it will be for ever immortal. But to whom shall this be? To whom shall the body be restored for life eternal, even though it have been slain, destroyed, and scattered to the winds? To whom shall it be so restored? To him who has not been afraid to lay down his own life, since he does not fear, lest his body should be slain.

4. For, Brethren, the soul is said to be immortal, and immortal it is according to a certain manner of its own: for it is a kind of life which is able to give life to the body by its presence. For by the soul does the body live. This life cannot die, and therefore is the soul immortal. Why then said I according to a certain manner of its own? Hear why. Because there is a true immortality, an immortality which is an entire unchangeableness; of which the Apostle says, speaking of God, Who only has immortality, dwelling in that light which no man may approach unto, whom no man has seen, nor can see, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. If then God only has immortality, the soul must needs be mortal. See then why it was that I said that the soul is immortal after a certain manner of its own. For in fact it may also die. Understand this, Beloved, and there will remain no difficulty. I venture to say then that the soul can die, can be slain also. Yet it is undoubtedly immortal. See, I venture to say, it is at once immortal, and it may be slain; and therefore I said that there is a kind of immortality, an entire unchangeableness, that is, which God Only has, of whom it is said, Who Only has immortality; for if the soul cannot be slain, how did the Lord Himself say, when He would make us fear, Fear Him who has power to slay both body and soul in hell?

5. Hitherto I have confirmed, not solved, the difficulty. I have proved that the soul can be slain. The Gospel cannot be gainsaid but by the ungodly soul. Lo, something occurs to me here, and comes into my mind to speak. Life cannot be gainsaid, but by a dead soul. The Gospel is life, impiety and infidelity are the death of the soul. See then, it can die, and yet it is immortal. How then is it immortal? Because there is always a sort of life which is never extinguished in it. And how does it die? Not in ceasing to be life, but by losing its life. For the soul is both life to something else, and it has its own proper life. Consider the order of the creatures. The soul is the life of the body: God is the life of the soul. As the life, that is the soul, is present with the body, that the body die not; so ought the life of the soul, that is God, to be with it that the soul die not. How does the body die? By the soul's leaving it. I say, by the soul's leaving it the body dies; and it lies along a mere carcass, what was a little before a desirable, now a contemptible, object. There are in it still its several members, the eyes, and ears; but these are but the windows of the house, its inhabitant is gone. They who bewail the dead, cry in vain at the windows of the house; there is none within to hear. How many things does the fond affection of the mourner give utterance to, how many enumerate and call to mind; and with what a madness of sorrow, so to say, does he speak, as with one who was sensible of what was doing, when he is really speaking with one who is no longer there? He recounts his good qualities, and the tokens of his goodness towards himself. It was you that gave me this; and did this and that for me; it was you who did thus, and thus dearly love me. But if you would only consider and understand, and restrain the madness of your grief, he who once loved you, is gone; in vain does the house receive your knockings, in which you can not find a dweller.

6. Let us return to the subject I was speaking of a little while since. The body is dead. Why? Because its life, that is the soul, is gone. Again, the body is alive, and the man is impious, unbelieving, hard of belief, incorrigible; in this case while the body is alive, the soul by which the body lives is dead. For the soul is so excellent a thing, that it has power even though dead to give life to the body. So excellent a thing, I say, is the soul, so excellent a creature, that even though dead itself, it has power to quicken the body. For the soul of the impious, unbelieving, unregulated man is dead, and yet by it though dead the body lives. And therefore is it in the body; it sets on the hands to work, and the feet to walk; it directs the eye to see, it disposes the ears to hear, it discriminates tastes, avoids pains, seeks after pleasures. All these are tokens of the life of the body; but they are from the presence of the soul. If I were to ask a body whether it were alive; it would answer me, You see me walking, you see me working, you hear me talking, you perceive that I have certain aims and aversions, and do you not understand that the body is alive? By these works then of the soul which is placed within, I understand that the body is alive. I ask the soul also whether it is alive? It also has its proper works, by which it manifests its life. The feet walk. I understand by this that the body lives, but by the presence of the soul. I ask now, does the soul live? These feet walk. (To speak only of this one movement.) I am questioning both body and soul, as touching their life. The feet walk, I understand that the body lives. But whither do they walk? To adultery, it is said. Then is the soul dead. For so has unerring Scripture said, The widow who lives in pleasure is dead. Now since the difference is great between pleasure and adultery, how can the soul which is said to be dead in pleasure, live in adultery? It is surely dead. But it is dead even though it be not in this case. I hear a man speaking; the body then lives. For the tongue could not move itself in the mouth, and by its several motions give utterance to articulate sounds, were there not an inhabitant within; and a musician as it were to this instrument, to make use of his tongue. I understand it perfectly. Thus the body speaks; the body then lives. But I ask, is the soul alive also? Lo, the body speaks, and so is alive. But what does it speak? As I said concerning the feet; they walk, and so the body is alive, and I then asked, whither do they walk? That I might understand whether the soul was alive also. So also when I hear a man speak, I understand that the body is alive; I ask what does he speak, that I may know whether the soul is alive also. He speaks a lie. If so, then is the soul dead. How do we prove this? Let us ask the truth itself, which says, The mouth that lies, slays the soul. I ask, why is the soul dead? I ask as I did just now, why is the body dead? Because the soul, its life, had gone. Why is the soul dead? Because God, its life, has forsaken it.

7. After this brief examination then, know and hold for certain that the body is dead without the soul, and that the soul is dead without God. Every man without God has a dead soul. You bewail the dead: bewail the sinner rather, bewail rather the ungodly man, bewail the unbeliever. It is written, The mourning for the dead is seven days; for a fool and an ungodly man all the days of his life. What! Are there no bowels of Christian compassion in you; that you mourn for a body from which the soul is gone, and mournest not for the soul, from which God is departed? Let the Martyr remembering this make answer to him that threatens him, Why do you force me to deny Christ? Would you then force me to deny the truth? And if I will not, what will you do? You will assault my body, that my soul shall depart from it; but this same soul of mine has its body only for the soul's sake. It is not so foolish or unwise. You would wound my body; but would you, that through fear lest you should wound my body, and my soul should depart from it, I should wound my own soul, and my God should depart from it? Fear not then, O Martyr, the sword of your executioner; fear only your own tongue, lest you do execution upon your own self, and slay, not your body, but your soul. Fear for your soul, lest it die in hell-fire.

8. Therefore said the Lord, Who has power to slay both body and soul in hell-fire. How? When the ungodly shall be cast into hell-fire, will his body and his soul burn there? Everlasting punishment will be the death of the body; the absence of God will be the death of the soul. Would you know what the death of the soul is? Understand the Prophet who says, Let the ungodly be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord. Let the soul then fear its proper death, and not fear the death of its body. Because if it fear its own death, and so live in its God, by not offending and thrusting Him away from him, it will be found worthy to receive its body again at the end; not unto everlasting punishment, as the ungodly, but unto life eternal, as the righteous. By fearing this death, and loving that life, did the Martyrs, in hope of the promises of God, and in contempt of the threats of persecutors, attain themselves to be crowned with God, and have left to us the celebration of these solemnities.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 11:2 , Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples, and said to him, are you He that comes, or look we for another? etc.

1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel has set before us a question touching John the Baptist. May the Lord assist me to resolve it to you, as He has resolved it to us. John was commended, as you have heard, by the testimony of Christ, and in such terms commended, as that there had not risen a greater among those who were born of women. But a greater than he had been born of a Virgin. How much greater? Let the herald himself declare, how great the difference is between himself and his Judge, whose herald he is. For John went before Christ both in his birth and preaching; but it was in obedience that he went before Him; not in preferring himself before Him. For so the whole train of attendants walks before the judge; yet they who walk before, are really after him. How signal a testimony then did John give to Christ? Even to saying that he was not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoes. And what more? Of His fullness, says he, have all we received. He confessed that he was but a lamp lighted at His Light, and so he took refuge at His feet, lest venturing on high, he should be extinguished by the wind of pride. So great indeed was he, that he was taken for Christ; and if he had not himself testified that he was not He, the mistake would have continued, and he would have been reputed to be the Christ. What striking humility! Honour was proffered him by the people, and he himself refused it. Men were at fault in his greatness, and he humbled himself. He had no wish to increase by the words of men, seeing he had comprehended the Word of God.

2. This then did John say concerning Christ. And what said Christ of John? We have just now heard. He began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? Surely not; for John was not blown about by every wind of doctrine. But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? No, for John was clothed in rough apparel; he had his raiment of camel's hair, not of down. But what did you go out to see? A Prophet? Yea, and more than a Prophet. Why more than a Prophet? The Prophets foretold that the Lord would come, whom they desired to see, and saw not; but to him was vouchsafed what they sought. John saw the Lord; he saw Him, pointed his finger toward Him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; behold, here He is. Now had He come and was not acknowledged; and so a mistake was made also as to John himself. Behold then here is He whom the Patriarchs desired to see, whom the Prophets foretold, whom the Law prefigured. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. And he gave a goodly testimony to the Lord, and the Lord to him. Among them that are born of women, says the Lord, there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is less in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he; less in time, but greater in majesty. This He said, meaning Himself to be understood. Now exceedingly great among men is John the Baptist, than whom among men Christ alone is greater. It may also be thus stated and explained, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Not in the sense that I have before explained it. Notwithstanding, he that is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he; the kingdom of heaven he meant where the Angels are; he then that is the least among the Angels, is greater than John. Thus He set forth to us the excellence of that kingdom which we should long for; set before us a city, of which we should desire to be citizens. What sort of citizens are there? How great are they! Whoever is the least there, is greater than John. Than what John? Than whom there has not risen a greater among them that are born of women.

3. Thus have we heard the true and good record both of John concerning Christ, and of Christ concerning John. What then is the meaning of this; that John sent his disciples to Him when He was shut up in prison, on the eve of being put to death, and said to them, Go, say to Him, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another? Is this then all that praise? That praise is it turned to doubting? What do you say, John? To Whom are you speaking? What do you say? You speak to your Judge, yourself the herald. You stretched out the finger, and pointed Him out; you said, Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Thou said, Of His fullness have we all received. Thou said, I am not worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoes. And do you now say, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another? Is not this the same Christ? And who are you? Are you not His forerunner? Are you not he of whom it was foretold, Behold, I send my messenger before Your face, who shall prepare Your way before you? How do you prepare the way, and you are yourself straying from the way? So then the disciples of John came; and the Lord said to them, Go, tell John, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the poor have the Gospel preached to them; and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me. Do not suspect that John was offended in Christ. And yet his words do sound so; Are You He that should come? Ask my works; The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them; and do you ask whether I am He? My works, says He, are My words. Go, show him again. And as they departed. Lest haply any one should say, John was good at first, and the Spirit of God forsook him; therefore after their departure, he spoke these words; after their departure whom John had sent, Christ commended John.

4. What is the meaning then of this obscure question? May that Sun shine upon us, from which that lamp derived its flame. And so the resolution of it is altogether plain. John had separate disciples of his own; not as in separation from Christ, but prepared as a witness to him. For meet it was that such an one should give his testimony to Christ, who was himself also gathering disciples, and who might have been envious of Him, for that he could not see Him. Therefore because John's disciples highly esteemed their master, they heard from John his record concerning Christ, and marvelled; and as he was about to die, it was his wish that they should be confirmed by him. For no doubt they were saying among themselves; Such great things does he say of Him, but none such of himself. Go then, ask Him; not because I doubt, but that you may be instructed. Go, ask Him, hear from Himself what I am in the habit of telling you; you have heard the herald, be confirmed by the Judge. Go, ask Him, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another? They went accordingly and asked; not for John's sake, but for their own. And for their sakes did Christ say, The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them. You see Me, acknowledge Me then; you see the works, acknowledge the Doer. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me. But it is of you I speak, not of John. For that we might know that He spoke not this of John, as they departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John; the True, the Truth Himself, proclaimed his true praises.

5. I think this question has been sufficiently explained. Let it suffice then to have prolonged my address thus far. Now keep the poor in mind. Give, you who have not given hitherto; believe me, you will not lose it. Yes, truly, that only it seems ye lose, which you do not carry to the circus. Now must we render unto the poor the offerings of such of you as have offered anything, and the amount which we have is much less than your usual offerings. Shake off this sloth. I have become a beggar for beggars; what is that to me? I would be a beggar for beggars, that you may be reckoned among the number of children.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 11:25 , I thank you, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, etc.

1. When the Holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord Jesus exulted in Spirit, and said, I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Thus much to begin with, we find before we pass on further, if we consider the words of the Lord with due attention, with diligence, and above all with piety, that we ought not invariably to understand when we read of confession in the Scriptures, the confession of a sinner. Now special need there was of saying this, and of reminding you, Beloved, of this, because as soon as this word was uttered by the reader's voice, there followed upon it the sound of the beating of your breasts, when you had heard, I mean, what the Lord said, I confess to You, O Father. At the uttering of these words, I confess, you beat your breasts. Now what means this beating of the breast, but to show that which lies hid within the breast, and to chastise by the visible beating the secret sin? And why did you do this, but because you heard, I confess to You, O Father. You heard the words I confess, but you did not consider, who it is that confesses. But consider now. If Christ, from whom all sin is far removed, said, I confess: confession does not belong to the sinner only, but sometimes to him also that praises God. We confess then, whether in praising God, or accusing ourselves. In either case it is a godly confession, either when you blame yourself, who art not without sin, or when you praise Him who can have no sin.

2. But if we consider it well: your own blame is His praise. For why is it that you now confess in accusing yourself for your sin? In accusing yourself why do you confess? But because you have become alive from the dead? For the Scripture says, Confession perishes from the dead, as from one that is not. If confession perishes from the dead, he who confesses must be alive; and if he confesses sin he has undoubtedly risen again from death. Now if he that confesses sin has risen again from the dead, who has raised him? No dead man can raise himself. He only was able to raise Himself, who though His Body was dead, was not dead. For He raised up that which was dead. He raised up Himself, who in Himself was alive, but in His Body that was to be raised was dead. For not the Father only, of whom it was said by the Apostle, Wherefore God also has exalted Him, raised the Son, but the Lord also raised Himself, that is, His Body. Whence He said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it again. But the sinner is dead, especially he whom the load of sinful habit presses down, who is buried as it were like Lazarus. For he was not merely dead, he was buried also. Whosoever then is oppressed by the load of evil habit, of a wicked life, of earthly lusts, I mean, so that that in his case is true which is piteously described in a certain Psalm, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God, he is such an one, of whom it is said, Confession perishes from the dead, as from one that is not. And who shall raise him up, but He who when the stone was removed, cried out, and said, Lazarus, Come forth? Now what is to come forth, but to bring forth what was hidden? He then who confesses comes forth. Come forth he could not were he not alive; he could not be alive, had he not been raised again. And therefore in confession the accusing of one's self, is the praise of God.

3. Now one may say, what profit then is the Church, if he that confesses comes forth, at once raised to life again by the voice of the Lord? What profit to Him that confesses, is the Church, to which the Lord said, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven. Consider this very case of Lazarus: he comes forth, but with his bands. He was alive already through confession, but he did not yet walk free, entangled as he was in his bands. What then does the Church to which it was said, Whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed; but what the Lord said immediately to His disciples, Loose him, and let him go?

4. Whether then we accuse ourselves, or directly praise God, in both ways do we praise God. If with a pious intention we accuse ourselves, by so doing we praise God. When we praise God directly, we do as it were celebrate His Holiness, who is without sin: but when we accuse ourselves, we give Him glory, by whom we have risen again. This if you shall do, the enemy will find none occasion whereby to overreach you before the judge. For when you shall be your own accuser, and the Lord your Deliverer, what shall he be but a mere calumniator? With good reason has the Christian hereby provided protection for himself against his enemies, not those that may be seen, flesh and blood, to be pitied, rather than to be feared, but against those against whom the Apostle exhorts us to arm ourselves: We wrestle not against flesh and blood; that is, against men whom you see raging against you. They are but vessels, which another uses, they are but instruments which another handles. The devil, says the Scripture, entered into the heart of Judas, that he should betray the Lord. One may say then, what have I done? Hear the Apostle, Give not place to the devil. You have given him place by an evil will: he entered, and possessed, and now uses you. He had not possessed you, had you not given him place.

5. Therefore does he warn and say, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Any one might suppose this meant against the kings of the earth, against the powers of this world. How so? Are they not flesh and blood? And once for all it is said, not against flesh and blood. Turn your attention from all men. What enemies then remain? Against principalities and powers of spiritual wickedness, the rulers of the world. It might seem as though he gave the devil and his angels more than they have. It is so, he has called them the rulers of the world. But to prevent misunderstanding, he explains what this world is, of which they are the rulers. The rulers of the world, of this darkness. What is, of the world, of this darkness? The world is full of those who love it, and of unbelievers, over whom he is ruler. This the Apostle calls darkness. This darkness the devil and his angels are the rulers of. This is not the natural, and unchangeable darkness: this darkness changes, and becomes light; it believes, and by believing is enlightened. When this takes place in it, it will hear the words, For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. For when you were darkness, you were not in the Lord: again, when you are light, you are light not in yourselves, but in the Lord. For what have you which you have not received? Inasmuch then as they are invisible enemies, by invisible means must they be subdued. A visible enemy indeed you may overcome by blows; your invisible enemy you conquer by belief. A man is a visible enemy; to strike a blow is visible also. The devil is an invisible enemy; to believe is invisible also. Against invisible enemies then there is an invisible fight.

6. From these enemies how can any man say that he is safe? For this I had begun to speak of, but I thought it necessary to treat of these enemies at some little length. But now that we know our enemies, let us see to our defense against them. In praising I will call upon the Lord, so shall I be safe from mine enemies. You see what you have to do. In praising call; that is, in praising the Lord, call. For you will not be safe from your enemies, if you praise yourself. In praising call upon the Lord, and you shall be safe from your enemies. For what does the Lord Himself say? The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me, and there is the way, in which I will show him My salvation. Where is the way? In the sacrifice of praise. Let not your foot then wander out of this way. Keep in the way; depart not from it; from the praise of the Lord depart not a foot, nay, not a nail's breadth. For if you will deviate from this way, and praise yourself instead of the Lord, you will not be safe from your enemies; for it is said of them, They have laid stumbling-blocks for me by the way. Therefore in whatever measure you think that you have good of your own self, you have deviated from the praise of God. Why do you marvel then, if your enemy seduces you, when you are your own seducer? Hear the Apostle, For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he seduces himself.

7. Give heed then to the Lord confessing; I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I confess to You, that is, I praise You. I praise You, not I accuse myself. Now as far as the taking of very man is concerned, all is grace, singular and perfect grace. What merit had that man who is Christ, if you take away the grace, even that so pre-eminent grace, whereby it behooved that there should be One Christ, and that He whom we acknowledge should be He? Take away this grace, and what is Christ but a mere man? What but the same as you are yourself? He took a Soul, He took a Body, He took a perfect Man; He unites him to Himself, the Lord makes one Person with the servant. What pre-eminent grace is this! Christ in heaven, Christ on earth; Christ at once both in heaven and earth; not two Christs, but the same Christ, both in heaven and earth. Christ with the Father, Christ in the Virgin's womb; Christ on the Cross, Christ succouring some souls in hell; and on the self-same day Christ in paradise with the robber who confessed. And how did the robber attain to this blessedness, but because he held on that way, in which He shows His salvation? That way, from which let not your foot wander. For in that he accused himself, he praised God, and made his own life blessed. He looked in hope for this from the Lord, and said to Him, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. For he considered his own wicked deeds, and thought it much, if mercy should be shown him even at the last. But the Lord immediately after He had said, Remember me— when? when You come into Your kingdom, says, Verily I say unto you, Today shall you be with Me in paradise. Mercy offered at once, what misery deferred.

8. Hear then the Lord confessing; I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. What do I confess? Wherein do I praise you? For this confession, as I have said before, signifies praise. Because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. What is this, Brethren? Understand by that which is opposed to them. You have hid these things, says he, from the wise and prudent; and he did not say, you have revealed them to the foolish and imprudent, but You have hid these things indeed from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. To these wise and prudent, who are really objects of derision, to the arrogant who in false pretence are great, yet in truth are only swollen up, he opposed not the foolish, nor the imprudent, but babes. Who are babes? The humble. Therefore You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent. Under the name of the wise and prudent, He has Himself explained that the proud are understood, when He said, You have revealed them unto babes. Therefore from those who are not babes You have hidden them. What is from those who are not babes? From those who are not humble. And who are they but the proud? O way of the Lord! Either there was none, or it lay hid, that it might be revealed to us. Why did the Lord exult? Because it was revealed unto babes. We must be little babes; for if we would wish to be great, wise and prudent as it were, it is not revealed unto us. Who are these great ones? The wise and prudent. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Here then you have a remedy suggested from its opposite. For if by professing yourself wise, you have become a fool; profess yourself a fool, and you will be wise. But profess it in truth, profess it from the heart, for it is really so as you profess. If you profess it, do not profess it before men, and forbear to profess it before God. As to yourself, and all that is yours, you are altogether dark. For what else is it to be a fool, but to be dark in heart? He says of them at last, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Before they professed this, what do we find? And their foolish heart was darkened. Acknowledge then that you are not to yourself a light. At best you are but an eye, you are not the light. And what good is even an open and a sound eye, if the light be wanting? Acknowledge therefore that of your own self you are no light to yourself; and cry out as it is written, You, Lord, will light my candle: You will enlighten, O Lord, my darkness with Your Light. For myself I was all darkness; but You are the Light that scatters the darkness, and enlightens me; of myself I am no light to myself, yea I have no portion of light but in You.

9. So John also, the friend of the Bridegroom, was thought to be the Christ, was thought to be the Light. He was not that Light, but that he might bear witness of the Light. But what was the Light? It was the true Light. What is the true Light? That which lightens every man. If that be the true Light which lightens every man, then it lightened John also, who professed and confessed rightly, Of His fullness have all we received. See if he said ought else, but You, O Lord, shall lighten my candle. Finally, being now enlightened, He gave His testimony. For the benefit of the blind the lamp gave witness to the Day. See how that He is a lamp; You sent, He said, unto John, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light; he was a burning and a shining lamp. He, the lamp, that is, a thing enlightened, was lighted that it might shine. That which can be lighted can be extinguished also. Now that it may not be extinguished, let it not expose itself to the wind of pride. Therefore, I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, from those who thought themselves to be light, and were darkness; and who because they were darkness, and thought themselves to be light, could not even be enlightened. But they who were darkness, and confessed that they were darkness, were little babes, not great; were humble, not proud. Rightly therefore did they say, O Lord, You will lighten my candle. They knew themselves, they praised the Lord. They did not stray from the way of salvation; They in praise called upon the Lord, and they were saved from their enemies.

10. Turning then to the Lord our God, the Father Almighty, in purity of heart, let us render unto Him, as our frailty best can, our highest and abundant thanks, with our whole mind praying His singular goodness, that in His good pleasure He would vouchsafe to hear our prayers, that by His Power He would drive out the enemy from our deeds and thoughts, would enlarge our faith, direct our minds, grant us spiritual thoughts, and bring us safe to His endless blessedness, through His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Again on the words of the Gospel, Matthew 11:25 , I thank you, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, etc.

1. We have heard the Son of God saying, I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. What does he confess to Him? Wherein does he praise Him? Because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Who are the wise and prudent? Who the babes? What has He hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes? By the wise and prudent, He signifies those of whom St. Paul speaks; Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Yet perhaps you still ask who they are. They are they perhaps who in their much disputation concerning God, have spoken falsely of Him; who, puffed up by their own doctrines, could in no wise find out and know God, and who for the God whose substance is incomprehensible and invisible, have thought the air and sky to be God, or the sun to be God, or anything which holds high place among the creatures to be God. For observing the grandeur and beauty and powers of the creatures, they rested in them, and found not the Creator.

2. These men does the Book of wisdom reprove, where it is said, For if they were able to know so much as to aim at the world, how did they not sooner find out the Lord thereof? They are accused as wasting their time and their busy disputes in investigating and measuring as it were the creature; they sought out the courses of the stars, the intervals of the planets, the movements of the heavenly bodies, so as to arrive by certain calculations to that degree of knowledge as to foretell the eclipses of the sun and moon; and that as they had foretold, so should the event be according to the day and hour, and to the portion of the bodies which should be eclipsed. Great industry, great activity of mind. But in these things they sought after the Creator, who was not far off from them, and they found Him not. Whom if they could have found, they might have had within them. With the best reason then, and very rightly were they accused, who could investigate the numbers of the stars, and their varied movements, and know and foretell the eclipses of the luminaries: rightly accused, I say, in that they found not Him by whom these had been created and ordained, because they neglected to seek Him. But be not much disquieted, if you are ignorant of the courses of the stars, and the proportions of the celestial and terrestrial bodies. Behold the fair beauty of the world, and praise its Creator's counsel. Behold what He has made, and love Him who made it: be this your greatest care. Love Him who made it; for He made you also after His own image, that you might love Him.

3. If then it is strange that those things of which Christ said, You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, were hidden from such wise men as these, who, occupied wholly about the creatures, chose to seek the Creator carelessly, and could not find Him; still more strange is it that there should even be found some wise and prudent men who were able to know Him. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Perhaps you ask, what truth do they hold in unrighteousness? Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them. How is it manifest? He goes on to say, For God has manifested it to them. Do you still enquire how He manifested it to them to whom He gave not the law? How? For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. There were then some such, not as Moses the servant of God, not as many Prophets who had an insight into and knowledge of these things, and were aided by the Spirit of God, which they drew in by faith, and drank with the throat of godliness, and poured forth again by the mouth of the interior man. Not such as these were they; but far unlike them, who by means of this visible creation were able to attain to the understanding of the Creator, and to say of these things which God has made; Behold what things He has made, He governs and contains also. He who has made them, Himself fills what He has made with His own presence. Thus much they were enabled to say. For these Paul also made mention of in the Acts of the Apostles, where, when he had said of God, For in Him we live and move and have our being (forasmuch as he was speaking to the Athenians among whom those learned men had existed); he subjoined immediately; As certain also of your own have said. Now it was no trivial thing they said; That in Him we live and move and have our being.

4. In what then were they unlike the others? Why were they blamed? Why rightly accused? Hear the words of the Apostle which I had begun to quote; The wrath of God, says he, is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (even of those, namely, who had not received the law); against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. What truth? Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. By whose manifestation of it? For God has manifested it to them. How? For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His Eternal Power and Godhead. Why did He manifest it? That they might be without excuse. Wherein then are they to be blamed? Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God.

5. What mean these words, Glorified Him not as God? They did not give Him thanks. Is this then to glorify God; to give God thanks? Yes, verily. For what can be worse, if having been created after the image of God, and having come to know God, you shall not be thankful to Him? This surely, this is to glorify God, to give God thanks. The faithful know where and when it is said, Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. But who gives thanks to God, save he who lifts up his heart unto the Lord? Therefore are they blameable and without excuse, Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, nor gave Him thanks. But — what? But they became vain in their imaginations. Whence did they become vain, but because they were proud? Thus smoke vanishes away by rising up aloft, and a flame burns the more brightly and strongly in proportion as it is kept low; They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. So smoke, though it rise higher than the flame, is dark.

6. Finally, mark what follows, and see the point on which the whole matter depends. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. For arrogating to themselves what God had given, God took away what He had given. Therefore from the proud He hid Himself, who conveyed the knowledge of Himself only to those who through the creature sought diligently after the Creator. Well then did our Lord say, You have hid these things from the wise and prudent; whether from those who in their manifold disputations, and most busy search, have reached to the full investigation of the creature, but knew nothing of the Creator, or from them who when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, nor gave Him thanks, and who could not see perfectly or healthfully because they were proud. Therefore You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. What babes? To the lowly. Say on whom does My Spirit rest? Upon him that is lowly and quiet, and who trembles at My words. At these words Peter trembled; Plato trembled not. Let the fisherman hold fast what that most famous philosopher has lost. You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. You have hid them from the proud, and revealed them to the humble. What things are these? For when He said this, He did not intend the heaven and earth, or point them out as it were with His hand as He spoke. For these who does not see? The good see them, the bad see them; for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good. What then are these things? All things are delivered unto Me of My Father.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 19:28 , Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, etc.

1. We heard in the Gospel that the Lord, rejoicing greatly in Spirit, said to God the Father, I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. I have labour in talking, you in hearing: let us then both give ear to Him who goes on to say, Come unto Me, all you that labour. For why do we labour all, except that we are mortal men, frail creatures and infirm, bearing about vessels of clay which crowd and straiten one another. But if these vessels of flesh are straitened, let the open expanse of charity be enlarged. What then does He mean by, Come unto Me, all you that labour, but that you may labour no more? In a word, His promise is clear enough; forasmuch as He called those who were in labour, they might perchance enquire, for what profit they were called: and, says He, I will refresh you.

2. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; not to raise the fabric of the world, not to create all things visible and invisible, not in the world so created to work miracles and raise the dead; but, that I am meek and lowly in heart. You wish to be great, begin from the least. You are thinking to construct some mighty fabric in height; first think of the foundation of humility. And how great soever a mass of building one may wish and design to place above it, the greater the building is to be, the deeper does he dig his foundation. The building in the course of its erection, rises up on high, but he who digs its foundation, must first go down very low. So then you see even a building is low before it is high, and the top is raised only after humiliation.

3. What is the top in the erection of that building which we are constructing? Whither will the highest point of this building reach? I say at once, even to the Vision of God. You see how high, how great a thing it is to see God. Whoever longs after it, understands both what I say and what he hears. The Vision of God is promised to us, of the very God, the Supreme God. For this is good, to see Him who sees. For they who worship false gods, see them easily; but they see them who have eyes and see not. But to us is promised the Vision of the Living and the Seeing God, that we may desire eagerly to see that God of whom Scripture says, He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, does he not consider? Does He then not hear, who has made for you that whereby you hear, and does not He see, who has created that whereby you see? Well therefore in the foregoing words of this very Psalm does He say, Understand therefore ye unwise among the people, and you fools at length be wise. For many men commit evil deeds while they think they are not seen by God. And it is difficult indeed for them to believe that He cannot see them; but they think that He will not. Few are found of such great impiety, that that should be fulfilled in them which is written, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. This is but the madness of a few. For as great piety belongs but to the few, no less also does great impiety. But the multitude of men speak thus: What! Is God thinking now upon this, that He should know what I am doing in my house, and does God care for what I may choose to do upon my bed? Who says this? Understand, you unwise among the people, and you fools at length be wise. Because as being a man, it is a labour for you to know all that takes place in your house, and for all the doings and words of your servants to reach you; do you think that it is a like labour for God to observe you, who did not labour to create you? Does not He fix His eye upon you, who made your eye? You were not, and He created you and gave you being; and does not He care for you now that you are, who calls those things which be not as though they were? Do not then promise yourself this. Whether you will or no, He sees you, and there is no place whither you can hide yourself from His eyes. For if you go up into heaven, He is there; if you go down into hell, He is there also. Great is your labour, while unwilling to depart from evil deeds: yet wishest not to be seen by God. Hard labour truly! Daily are you wishing to do evil, and do you suspect that you are not seen? Hear the Scripture which says, He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, does not He consider? Where can you hide your evil deeds from the eyes of God? If you will not depart from them, your labour is great indeed.

4. Hear Him then who says, Come unto Me, all you that labour. You can not end your labour by flying. Do you choose to fly from Him, and not rather to Him? Find out then whither you can escape, and so fly. But if you can not fly from Him, for that He is everywhere present; fly (it is quite near) to God, who is present where you are standing. Fly. Lo in your flight you have passed the heavens, He is there; you have descended into hell, He is there; whatever deserts of the earth you shall choose, there is He, who has said, I fill heaven and earth. If then He fills heaven and earth, and there is no place whither you can fly from Him; cease this your labour, and fly to His presence, lest you feel His coming. Take courage from the hope that you shall by well-living see Him, by whom even in your evil living you are seen. For in evil living you can be seen, you can not see; but by well-living you are both seen and see. For with how much more tender nearness will He who crowns the worthy look on you, who in His pity saw you that He might call you when unworthy? Nathanael said to the Lord whom as yet he did not know, How did you know? The Lord said to him, When you were under the fig-tree I saw you. Christ saw you in your own shade; and will He not see you in His Light? For what is, When you were under the fig-tree I saw you? What does it mean? Call to mind the original sin of Adam, in whom we all die. When he first sinned, he made himself aprons of fig-leaves, signifying by these leaves the irritations of lust to which he had been reduced by sinning. Hence are we born; in this condition are we born; born in sinful flesh, which the likeness of sinful flesh alone can cure. Therefore God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came of this flesh, but He came not as other men. For the Virgin conceived Him not by lust, but by faith. He came into the Virgin, who was before the Virgin. He made choice of her whom He created, He created her whom He designed to choose. He brought to the Virgin fruitfulness: He took not away her unimpaired purity. He then who came to you without the irritation of the leaves of the fig-tree, when you were under the fig-tree, saw you. Make ready then to see Him in His height of glory, by whom in His pity you were seen. But because the top is high, think of the foundation. What foundation? Do you say? Learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart. Dig this foundation of lowliness deep in you, and so will you attain to the crowning top of charity. Turning to the Lord, etc.

Again on the words of the Gospel, Matthew 11:28 , Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, etc.

1. It seems strange to some, Brethren, when they hear the Lord say, Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. And they consider that they who have fearlessly bowed their necks to this yoke, and have with much submission taken this burden upon their shoulders, are tossed about and exercised by so great difficulties in the world, that they seem not to be called from labour to rest, but from rest to labour rather; since the Apostle also says, All who will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. So one will say, How is the yoke easy, and the burden light, when to bear this yoke and burden is nothing else, but to live godly in Christ? And how is it said, Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you? And not rather said, Come ye who are at ease and idle, that you may labour. For so he found those men idle and at ease, whom he hired into the vineyard, that they might bear the heat of the day. And we hear the Apostle under that easy yoke and light burden say, In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, etc., and in another place of the same Epistle, Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice have I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep: and the rest of the perils, which may be enumerated indeed, but endured they cannot be but by the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. All these grievous and heavy trials which he mentioned, did he very frequently and abundantly sustain; but in very deed the Holy Spirit was with him in the wasting of the outward man, to renew the inner man from day to day, and by the taste of spiritual rest in the affluence of the delights of God to soften down by the hope of future blessedness all present hardships, and to alleviate all heavy trials. Lo, how sweet a yoke of Christ did he bear, and how light a burden; so that he could say that all those hard and grievous sufferings at the recital of which as just above every hearer shudders, were a light tribulation; as he beheld with the inward eyes, the eyes of faith, at how great a price of things temporal must be purchased the life to come, the escape from the everlasting pains of the ungodly, the full enjoyment, free from all anxiety, of the eternal happiness of the righteous. Men suffer themselves to be cut and burnt, that the pains not of eternity, but of some more lasting sore than usual, may be bought off at the price of severer pain. For a languid and uncertain period of a very short repose, and that too at the end of life, the soldier is worn down by all the hard trials of war, restless it may be for more years in his labours, than he will have to enjoy his rest in ease. To what storms and tempests, to what a fearful and tremendous raging of sky and sea, do the busy merchantmen expose themselves, that they may acquire riches inconstant as the wind, and full of perils and tempests, greater even than those by which they were acquired! What heats, and colds, what perils, from horses, from ditches, from precipices, from rivers, from wild beasts, do huntsmen undergo, what pain of hunger and thirst, what straitened allowances of the cheapest and meanest meat and drink, that they may catch a beast! And sometimes after all, the flesh of the beast for which they endure all this is of no use for the table. And although a boar or a stag be caught, it is more sweet to the hunter's mind because it has been caught, than it is to the eater's palate because it is dressed. By what sharp corrections of almost daily stripes is the tender age of boys brought under! By what great pains even of watching and abstinence in the schools are they exercised, not to learn true wisdom, but for the sake of riches, and the honours of an empty show, that they may learn arithmetic, and other literature, and the deceits of eloquence!

3. Now in all these instances, they who do not love these things feel them as great severities; whereas they who love them endure the same, it is true, but they do not seem to feel them severe. For love makes all, the hardest and most distressing things, altogether easy, and almost nothing. How much more surely then and easily will charity do with a view to true blessedness, that which mere desire does as it can, with a view to what is but misery? How easily is any temporal adversity endured, if it be that eternal punishment may be avoided, and eternal rest procured! Not without good reason did that vessel of election say with exceeding joy, The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. See then how it is that that yoke is easy, and that burden light. And if it be strait to the few who choose it, yet is it easy to all who love it. The Psalmist says, Because of the words of Your lips I have kept hard ways. But the things which are hard to those who labour, lose their roughness to those same men when they love. Wherefore it has been so arranged by the dispensation of the Divine goodness, that to the inner man who is renewed from day to day, placed no longer under the Law but under Grace, and freed from the burdens of numberless observances which were indeed a heavy yoke, but meetly imposed on a stubborn neck, every grievous trouble which that prince who is cast forth could inflict from without on the outward man, should through the easiness of a simple faith, and a good hope, and a holy charity, become light through the joy within. For to a good will nothing is so easy, as this good will to itself, and this is enough for God. How much soever therefore this world may rage, most truly did the angels exclaim when the Lord was born in the flesh, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will; because His yoke, who was then born, is easy, and His burden light. And as the Apostle says, God is faithful, who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 12:32 , Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. Or, on the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

1. There has been a great question raised touching the late lesson of the Gospel, to the solution of which I am unequal by any power of my own; but our sufficiency is of God, to whatever degree we are capable of receiving His aid. First then consider the magnitude of the question; that when you see the weight of it laid upon my shoulders, you may pray in aid of my labours, and in the assistance which is vouchsafed to me, may find edification for your own souls. When one possessed with a devil was brought to the Lord, blind and dumb, and He had healed him so that he could speak and see, and all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the Son of David? The Pharisees hearing it said, This fellow does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? In these words He wished it to be understood from their own confession, that, through their not believing in Him they had chosen to belong to the kingdom of the devil, which as being divided against itself could accordingly not stand. Let then the Pharisees make choice of which they will. If Satan cannot cast out Satan, they can find nothing to say against the Lord; but if he can, then let them much more look to themselves, and depart out of his kingdom, which as being divided against itself cannot stand.

2. But now that they may not think that it is the prince of the devils in whom the Lord Jesus Christ casts out devils, let them attend to what follows; And if I, He says, by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. He spoke this undoubtedly of his disciples, the children of that people; who as being the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were well conscious that they had learned no evil arts from their Good Master, that through the prince of the devils they should cast out devils. Therefore, He says, shall they be your judges. They, He says, the base and contemptible things of this world, in whom none of this artificial malice, but the holy simplicity of My power is seen; they shall be My witnesses, they shall be your judges. Then He subjoins, But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then the kingdom of God has come unto you. What is this? If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, He says, and your children, to whom I have given no hurtful and deceitful doctrine but a simple faith, can in no other way cast them out; no doubt the kingdom of God has come unto you; whereby the kingdom of the devil is subverted, and you also are subverted with it.

3. And after that He had said, By whom do your children cast them out? to show that in them it was His grace, not their own desert; He says, Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except He first bind the strong man, and then He will spoil his house? Your children, says He, who either have already believed in Me, or who shall yet believe, and cast out devils, not through the prince of the devils, but through the simplicity of holiness, who assuredly either once were, or still are what you are also, sinners and ungodly; and so in the house of the devil, and the vessels of the devil, how could they be rescued from him whom he held so firmly through the iniquity which reigned over them, unless he were bound by the chains of My justice, that I might take away from him his vessels which once were vessels of wrath, and make them vessels of mercy? This it is which the blessed Apostle also says when he rebukes the proud, and those who boast as it were of their own deserts, For who makes you to differ? That is, who makes you to differ from the mass of perdition derived from Adam and from the vessels of wrath. And that no man might say, My own righteousness, he says, What have you, that you did not receive? And on this point he says of himself also, We also once were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So then he himself was a vessel in the house of that strong one, strong in evil, when he was a persecutor of the Church, a blasphemer, injurious, living in malice and envy, as he confesses. But He who bound the strong one, took away from him this vessel of perdition, and made it a vessel of election.

4. Afterwards, that the unbelievers and ungodly, the enemies of the Christian name, might not suppose by reason of the various heresies and schisms of those who under the Christian name gather together flocks of lost sheep, that the kingdom of Christ also is divided against itself, He next adds, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathers not with Me, scatters abroad. He does not say, he who is under the outward profession of My Name; or the form of My Sacrament; but he who is not with Me is against Me. Nor does He say, he who gathers not under the outward profession of My Name; but he who gathers not with Me, scatters abroad. Christ's kingdom then is not divided against itself; but men try to divide that which was bought with the price of the Blood of Christ. For the Lord knows them that are His. And, let every one that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity. For if he depart not from iniquity, he belongs not to the kingdom of Christ, even though he name the Name of Christ. To give then some illustrations for example's sake, the spirit of covetousness, and the spirit of luxuriousness, because the one heaps together, and the other lavishes, are divided against themselves; yet they belong both to the kingdom of the devil. Among idolaters the spirit of Juno and the spirit of Hercules, are divided against themselves; and both belong to the kingdom of the devil. The heathen Christ's enemy, and the Jew Christ's enemy, are divided against themselves; and both belong to the kingdom of the devil. Arianus and Photinianus both are heretics, and both are divided against themselves. The Donatist and Maximianist both are heretics, and both divided against themselves. All men's vices and errors that are contrary to each other are divided against themselves, and all belong to the kingdom of the devil; therefore his kingdom shall not stand. But the righteous and the ungodly, the believer and the unbeliever, the Catholic and the heretic, are indeed divided against themselves, but they do not belong all to the kingdom of Christ. The Lord knows them that are His. Let no one flatter himself upon a mere name. If he would that the Name of the Lord should profit him, let him that calls upon the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity.

5. But these words of the Gospel, though they had some obscurity, which I think by the Lord's assistance I have explained, were yet not so difficult, as that which follows would seem to be. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. What then will become of those whom the Church desires to gain? When they have been reformed and come into the Church from whatsoever error, is the hope in the remission of all sins that is promised them a false hope? For who is not convicted of having spoken a word against the Holy Ghost, before he became a Christian or a Catholic? In the first place, are not they who are called Pagans, the worshippers of many and false gods, and the adorers of idols, forasmuch as they say that the Lord Christ wrought miracles by magical arts, are not they like these who said that He cast out devils through the prince of the devils? And again, when day by day they blaspheme our sanctification, what else blaspheme they but the Holy Ghost? What? Do not the Jews— they who spoke concerning our Lord what gave occasion to this very discourse — do they not even to the present day speak a word against the Holy Ghost, by denying that He is now in Christians, just as the others denied Him to be in Christ? For not even did they revile the Holy Ghost, by asserting either that He existed not, or that though He existed, yet that He was not God, but a creature; or that He had no power to cast out devils; they did not speak thus unworthily, or anything like it, of the Holy Ghost. For the Sadducees indeed denied the Holy Ghost; but the Pharisees maintained His existence against their heresy, but they denied that He was in the Lord Jesus Christ, who they thought cast out devils through the prince of the devils, whereas He did cast them out through the Holy Ghost. And hence, both Jews and whatsoever heretics there are who confess the Holy Ghost, but deny that He is in the Body of Christ, which is His One Only Church, none other than the One Catholic Church, are without doubt like the Pharisees who at that time although they confessed the existence of the Holy Ghost, yet denied that He was in Christ, whose works in casting out devils they attributed to the prince of devils. I say nothing of the fact that some heretics either boldly maintain that the Holy Ghost is not the Creator but a creature, as the Arians, and Eunomians, and Macedonians, or so entirely deny His existence, as to deny that God is Trinity, but assert that He is God the Father only, and that He is sometimes called the Son, and sometimes the Holy Ghost; as the Sabellians, whom some call Patripassians, because they hold that the Father suffered; and forasmuch as they deny that He has any Son, without doubt they deny His Holy Spirit also. The Photinians again who say that the Father only is God, and the Son a mere man, deny altogether that there is any third Person of the Holy Ghost.

6. It is plain then that the Holy Ghost is blasphemed both by Pagans, and by Jews, and by heretics. Are they then to be left, and accounted without all hope, since the sentence is fixed, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come? And are they only to be deemed free from the guilt of this most grievous sin who are Catholics from infancy? For all those who have believed the word of God, that they might become Catholics, came surely into the grace and peace of Christ, either from among the Pagans, or Jews, or heretics: and if there be no pardon for them for the word which they have spoken against the Holy Ghost, in vain do we promise and preach to men, to turn to God, and receive peace and remission of sins, whether in Baptism or in the Church. For it is not said, It shall not be forgiven him except in baptism; but, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

7. Some think that they only sin against the Holy Ghost, who having been washed in the laver of regeneration in the Church, and having received the Holy Spirit, as though unthankful for so great a gift of the Saviour, have plunged themselves afterwards into any deadly sin; as adultery, or murder, or an absolute apostasy, either altogether from the Christian name, or from the Catholic Church. But how this sense of it may be proved, I know not; since the place of repentance is not denied in the Church to any sins whatever; and the Apostle says that heretics themselves are to be reproved to this end, If God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. For what is the advantage of amendment without any hope of forgiveness? Finally, The Lord did not say, the baptized Catholic who shall speak a word against the Holy Ghost; but he who, that is whosoever speaks, be he who he may, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Whether then he be a heathen, or a Jew, or a Christian, or a heretic from among Jews or Christians, or whatsoever other title of error he have, it is not said, this man, or that man; but whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, that is who blasphemes the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. But moreover if every error contrary to truth, and inimical to Christian peace, as we have shown before, speaks a word against the Holy Ghost; and yet the Church does not cease to reform and gather out of every error those who shall receive remission of sins, and the Holy Ghost Himself, whom they have blasphemed; I think I have discovered an important secret for the clearing up this so great a question. Let us seek then from the Lord the light of explanation.

8. Lift up then, Brethren, lift up unto me your ears, and your hearts unto the Lord. I tell you, my Beloved; perhaps there is not in all holy Scripture found a more important or more difficult question. Wherefore (that I may make you a confession about myself), I have always in my discourses to the people avoided the difficulty and embarrassment of this question; not because I had no ideas of any sort on the subject, for in a matter of such great importance, I would not be negligent in asking, and seeking, and knocking; but because I did not think I could do justice to that understanding of it which was in some degree opened to me, by words suggested at the moment. But as I listened to today's lesson, upon which it was my duty to discourse to you, as the Gospel was being read, there was such a beating at my heart, that I believed that it was God's will that you should hear something on the subject by my ministry.

9. First then, I pray you to consider and understand that the Lord did not say, No blasphemy of the Spirit shall be forgiven, or, whosoever speaks any word whatsoever against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks a word; for had he said the former, there would have remained to us no subject of disputation at all. Since if no blasphemy, and no word which is spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall be forgiven unto men; the Church could not gain any one out of all the classes of ungodly sinners who gainsay the gift of Christ, and the sanctification of the Church, whether Jews, or heathens, or heretics of whatsoever sort, and some even of little knowledge in the Catholic Church itself. But God forbid that the Lord should say this: God forbid, I say, that the Truth should say that every blasphemy and every word which should be spoken against the Holy Ghost, has no forgiveness neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

10. His will indeed was to exercise us by the difficulty of the question, not to deceive us by a false decision. Wherefore there is no necessity for any one to think, that every blasphemy or every word which is spoken against the Holy Ghost has no remission; but necessary it plainly is, that there should be some certain blasphemy, and some word which if it be spoken against the Holy Ghost can never attain to pardon and forgiveness. For if we take it to mean every word, who then can be saved? But if again we think there is no such word, we contradict the Saviour. There is then without doubt some certain blasphemy and some word which if it be spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall not be forgiven. Now what this word is, it is the Lord's will we should enquire; and therefore He has not expressed it. His will, I say, was that it should be enquired into, not denied. For the style of the Scriptures is often such, that when anything is so expressed as not to be limited either to a universal or particular signification, it is not necessary that it should be understood universally, and not particularly. This proposition then would be expressed in its whole extent, that is, universally, if it were said, All blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; or, Whosoever speaks any word whatsoever against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. But it would be expressed partially, that is, particularly, if it were said, Some certain blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. But because this proposition is laid down neither in a universal, nor a particular form (for it is not said, Every blasphemy; or some certain blasphemy of the Spirit; but only indefinitely, blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; neither is it said, Whosoever speaks any word whatever, or whosoever speaks some certain word, but indefinitely, whosoever speaks a word), there is no necessity that we should understand every blasphemy and every word; but necessary it plainly is that the Lord designed some kind of blasphemy, and some word to be understood; though He would not express it, that, if we should receive any right understanding of it by asking, and seeking, and knocking, we might not entertain a low esteem of it.

11. In order to seeing this more plainly, consider that which the same Lord also says of the Jews, If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin. For this again was not said with any such meaning, as if He intended it to be understood that the Jews would have been without any sin at all, if He had not come and spoken to them. For indeed He found them full of and laden with sins. Wherefore He says, Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden. Laden! With what, but with the burdens of sins and transgressions of the Law? For the Law entered that sin might abound. Since then He says Himself in another place, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; how would they not have had sin if He had not come? If it be not that this proposition being expressed neither universally, nor particularly, but indefinitely, does not constrain us to understand it of all sin? But certainly unless we understand that there was some sin which they would not have had if Christ had not come and spoken unto them, we must say that the proposition was false, which God forbid. He does not say then, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had had no sin; lest the Truth should lie. Nor again did He say definitely, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had some certain sin; lest our devout earnestness should not be exercised. For in the full abundance of the Holy Scriptures we feed upon the plain parts, we are exercised by the obscure: by the one, hunger is driven away, and daintiness by the other. Seeing then that it is not said, they had had no sin, we need not be disturbed, though we acknowledge that the Jews would have been sinners, even if the Lord had not come. But yet because it is said, If I had not come, they had not had sin; it must needs be that they contracted, though not all, yet some sin which they had not before, from the coming of the Lord. And this verily is that sin, that they believed not in Him who was present with and spoke to them, and that counting Him as an enemy because He spoke the truth, they put Him besides to death. This sin so great and terrible it is clear they had not had if He had not come and spoken to them. As then when we hear the words, They had not had sin; we do not understand all, but some, sin; so when we hear in today's lesson, Blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; we understand not all, but a certain kind of blasphemy; and when we hear, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him; we ought not to understand every, but some certain word.

12. For in that He says also in this very text, But blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; surely we must needs understand not blasphemy of every spirit, but the Holy Spirit. And though He had not expressed this anywhere else more plainly, who could be so silly as to understand it in any other way? According to the same rule of speech is this expression also understood, Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit. For He does not say in that place, and of the Holy Spirit; yet this is understood. Nor because He said of water and of the Spirit, is any one forced to understand it of every spirit. Wherefore when you hear, But the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; as you must not understand it of every spirit, so not of every blasphemy against the Spirit.

13. I see that you are now wishing to hear, since it is not every blasphemy of the Spirit, what that blasphemy is which shall not be forgiven, and what that word is, since it is not every word which if it shall be spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall not be forgiven neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And for my part I should be willing to tell you at once, what you are so very intently waiting to hear; but bear for a while the delay which a more careful diligence requires, till by the Lord's assistance I shall unfold the whole meaning of the passage before us. Now the other two Evangelists, Mark and Luke, when they spoke of the same thing, did not say blasphemy or a word, that we might understand it not of every blasphemy, but of some sort of blasphemy; not every word, but some certain word. What then did they say? In Mark it is thus written, Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies, where-withsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, has never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offense. In Luke it is thus: And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. Is there any departure from the truth of the same proposition because of some diversity in the expression? For indeed there is no other reason why the Evangelists do not relate the same things in the same way, but that we may learn thereby to prefer things to words, not words to things, and to seek for nothing else in the speaker, but for his intention, to convey which only the words are used. For what real difference is there whether it is said, Blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; or he that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. Except perhaps that the same thing is declared more plainly in this last than in the other form; and so one Evangelist does not overthrow, but explains the other. Now blasphemy of the Spirit is an unevident expression; because it is not directly said what spirit; for every spirit is not the Holy Spirit. Thus it might be called blasphemy of the spirit, when a man blasphemes with the spirit; as that may be called prayer of the spirit, when one prays with the spirit. Whence the Apostle says, I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. But when it is said, he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, these ambiguities are removed. So the expression, has never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offense; what is it, but what according to Matthew is expressed, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come? The very same idea is expressed in different words and different forms of speech. And what is in Matthew, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, that we might not understand it of anything but blasphemy, others have more clearly expressed, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. Yet the same thing is said by all; nor did any one of them depart from the intention of the Speaker, for the sake of understanding which only are words spoken, and written, and read, and heard.

14. But one may say, See I have admitted and understood that where the word blasphemy is used, and neither all, nor some certain blasphemy expressed, it may be understood either of all, or of some certain blasphemy, but not necessarily of all; but again if it be not understood of some, that that which is said would be untrue: so again if it is not said every or some certain word, it is not necessary that every word should be understood, but unless some word be understood, in no way can what is said be true. But when we read, He that shall blaspheme, how can I understand any certain blasphemy, when the word blasphemy is not used, or any certain word, when the word word is not used, but it seems to be said as it were generally, He that shall blaspheme. To this objection I reply thus. If it were said in this passage also, He that shall blaspheme with any kind of blasphemy whatever against the Holy Ghost, there would be no reason why we should think that some particular blasphemy was to be sought for, when we ought rather to understand all blasphemy; but because all blasphemy could not be meant, lest the hope of forgiveness in case of their amendment should be taken away from heathens, and Jews, and heretics, and all kinds of men, who by their various errors and contradictions blaspheme against the Holy Ghost; it remains without a doubt, that in the passage where it is written, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he must be meant, not who has in any way whatever blasphemed; but he who has blasphemed in such a particular way, that he can never be pardoned.

15. For as in that it is said, God tempts no man, it is not to be understood that God tempts no man with any kind, but only not with some certain kind of temptation; lest that be false, which is written, The Lord your God tempts you; and lest we deny that Christ is God, or say that the Gospel is false, when we read that He asked His disciple tempting him; but He Himself knew what He would do. For there is a temptation which induces to sin, with which God tempts no man, and there is a temptation which only proves our faith, with which even God vouchsafes to tempt. So when we hear, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, we must not take it of every kind of blasphemy, as neither in the other place, of every kind of temptation.

16. So again when we hear, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; we do not of course understand it of one who believes in such a way as the devils believe and tremble; nor of those who receive baptism in such sort as Simon Magus, who though he could be baptized, could not be saved. As then when He said, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, He had not in his view all who believe and are baptized, but some only; those, to wit, who are settled in that faith, which, according to the Apostle's distinction, works by love: so when he said, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he did not intend every kind, but a specific sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, by which whosoever shall be bound, he shall never by any remission be loosed.

17. That expression also of His, He that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood dwells in Me, and I in him, how must we understand? Can we include in these words those even of whom the Apostle says, that they eat and drink judgment to themselves; when they eat this flesh and drink this blood? What! Did Judas the impious seller and betrayer of his Master (though, as Luke the Evangelist declares more plainly, he ate and drank with the rest of His disciples this first Sacrament of His body and blood, consecrated by the Lord's hands), did he dwell in Christ and Christ in him? Do so many, in fine, who either in hypocrisy eat that flesh and drink that blood, or who after they have eaten and drunk become apostate, do they dwell in Christ or Christ in them? Yet assuredly there is a certain manner of eating that Flesh and drinking that Blood, in which whosoever eats and drinks, he dwells in Christ and Christ in him. As then he does not dwell in Christ and Christ in him, who eats the Flesh and drinks the Blood of Christ in any manner whatsoever, but only in some certain manner, to which He doubtless had regard when He spoke these words. So in this expression also, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he is not guilty of this unpardonable sin, who shall blaspheme in any way whatever, but in that particular way, which it is His will, who uttered this true and terrible sentence, that we should seek out and understand.

18. Now as to what that mode, or immoderateness rather, of blasphemy is, what that particular blasphemy, and what that word against the Holy Ghost, the order of my discourse requires me to say what I think, and not to put off any longer your expectation which has been so long but so necessarily deferred. You know, Dearly beloved, that in that invisible and incorruptible Trinity, which our faith and the Church Catholic maintains and preaches, God the Father is not the Father of the Holy Spirit, but of the Son; and that God the Son is not the Son of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father; but that God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit not of the Father only, or of the Son only, but of the Father and the Son. And that this Trinity, although the Property and particular Subsistence of each person is preserved, is yet, because of the undivided and inseparable Essence or Nature of Eternity, Truth, and Goodness, not three Gods but One God. And by this means, according to our capacity, and as far as it is granted us to see these things through a glass darkly, especially being such as we now are, there is conveyed to us the idea of Origination in the Father, Nativity in the Son, and the Communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, and in the Three Equality. By That then which is the Bond of communion between the Father and the Son, it is Their pleasure that we should have communion both among ourselves and with Them, and to gather us together in one by that same Gift, which One They both have, that is, by the Holy Spirit, at once God and the Gift of God. For in This are we reconciled to the Divinity, and take delight in It. For what would the knowledge of whatever good we know profit us, unless we also loved it? But as it is by the truth that we learn, so is it by charity that we love, that so we may attain also to a fuller knowledge, and enjoy in blessedness what we know. Love moreover is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And because it is through sin that we are alienated from the possession of true good, Love covers a multitude of sins. So then the Father is Himself the True Origin to the Son, who is the Truth, and the Son is the Truth, originating from the True Father, and the Holy Spirit is Goodness, shed abroad from the Good Father and the Good Son; but in all Three the Divinity is equal, and the Unity Inseparable.

19. First then in order to our receiving eternal life which shall be given at the last, there comes to us a gift from God's goodness from the beginning of our faith, to wit, the remission of sins. For while they remain, there remains in some sort enmity against God, and alienation from Him, which comes from what is evil in us; since Scripture does not speak falsely, which says, Your sins separate between you and God. He does not then bestow on us His good things, except He take away our evil things. And the former increase in proportion as the latter are diminished; nor will the one be perfected, till the other be brought to an end. But now that the Lord Jesus forgives sins by the Holy Ghost, just as by the Holy Ghost He casts out devils, may be understood by this, that after His Resurrection from the dead, when He had said to His disciples, Receive the Holy Ghost, He immediately subjoined, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they shall be retained. For that regeneration also, in which there is a remission of all past sins, is wrought by the Holy Ghost, as the Lord says, Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But it is one thing to be born of the Spirit, another to be nourished by the Spirit; just as it is one thing to be born of the flesh, which happens when the mother is delivered of her child; another to be nourished by the flesh, which happens when she gives suck to her infant, who turns himself that he may drink with pleasure there whence he was born, to have life; that he may receive the support of life from thence, whence he received the beginning of his birth. We must believe then that the first blessing of God's goodness in the Holy Ghost is the remission of sins. Whence the preaching of John the Baptist, who was sent as the forerunner of the Lord, also begins with it. For thus it is written, In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judæa, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Hence too the beginning of our Lord's preaching, as we read, From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now John, among the other things which he spoke to those who came to be baptized by him, said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. The Lord also said, John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence, even at Pentecost. Now as to John's expression, with fire, though tribulation also might be understood, which believers were to suffer for the name of Christ; yet may we reasonably think that the same Holy Spirit is signified also under the name of fire. Wherefore when He came it is said, And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Hence also the Lord Himself said, I have come to send fire on the earth. Hence also the Apostle says, Fervent in the spirit; for from Him comes the fervour of love. For it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And the contrary to this fervour is what the Lord said, The love of many shall wax cold. Now perfect love is the perfect gift of the Holy Spirit. But the first gift is that which is concerned with the remission of sins; by which blessing we are delivered from the power of darkness; and the prince of this world, who works in the children of disobedience by no other power than the fellowship and the bond of sin, is cast out by our faith. For by the Holy Spirit, by whom the people of God are gathered together into one, is the unclean spirit who is divided against himself cast out.

20. Against this gratuitous gift, against this grace of God, does the impenitent heart speak. This impenitence then is the blasphemy of the Spirit, which shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. For against the Holy Spirit, by whom they whose sins are all forgiven are baptized, and whom the Church has received, that whosesoever sins she remits, they may be remitted, does he speak, whether in the thought only, or also in the tongue, a very heinous and exceedingly ungodly word, who when the patience of God leads him to repentance, after his hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. This impenitence then, for so by some one general name may we call both this blasphemy and the word against the Holy Ghost which has no forgiveness for ever; this impenitence, I say, against which both the herald and the Judge cried out, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; against which the Lord first opened the mouth of the Gospel preaching, and against which He foretold that the same Gospel was to be preached in all the world, when He said to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead, it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem: this impenitence, in one word, has no forgiveness neither in this world, nor in the world to come; for that repentance only obtains forgiveness in this world, that it may have its effect in the world to come.

21. But this impenitence or impenitent heart may not be pronounced upon, as long as a man lives in the flesh. For we are not to despair of any so long as the patience of God leads the ungodly to repentance, and does not hurry him out of this life; God, who wills not the death of a sinner, but that he should return from his ways and live. He is a heathen today; but how do you know whether he may not be a Christian tomorrow? He is a heretic today; but what if tomorrow he follow the Catholic truth? He is a schismatic today; but what if tomorrow he embrace Catholic peace? What if they, whom you observe now in any kind of error that can be, and whom you condemn as in most desperate case, what if before they end this life, they repent and find the true life in that which is to come? Wherefore, Brethren, let also what the Apostle says urge you to this. Judge nothing before the time. For this blasphemy of the Spirit, for which there is no forgiveness (which I have understood to be not every kind of blasphemy, but a particular sort, and that as I have said or discovered, or even as I think clearly shown to be the case, the persevering hardness of an impenitent heart), cannot be taken hold of in any one, I repeat it, as long as he is still in this life.

22. And let it not seem absurd, that whereas a man who perseveres in hardened impenitence even to the end of this life, speaks long and much against this grace of the Holy Spirit; yet the Gospel has called this so long contradiction of an impenitent heart, as though it were something of short duration, a word, saying, Whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. For though this blasphemy be long continued, and made up of, and drawn out at length in very many words, yet it is the manner of Scripture to call even many words a word. For no prophet ever spoke one word only; yet we read, the word which came to such and such a prophet. And the Apostle says, Let the elders be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. He does not say, in words, but, in the word. And St. James, Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. He again does not say, of the words, but, of the word; although so many words out of the Holy Scriptures are read, and spoken, and heard in the Church at her celebrations and solemnities. As therefore, how long a time soever any of us have laboured in preaching the Gospel, he is not called a preacher of the words, but of the word; and how long time soever any of you may have attentively and diligently listened to our preaching, he is called a most earnest hearer not of the words, but of the word; so after the style of the Scripture and the custom of the Church, whoever throughout his whole life in the flesh, to whatever length it may be extended, shall have spoken no matter how many words, whether by mouth, or the thought only with an impenitent heart, against that remission of sins which is granted in the Church, he speaks a word against the Holy Ghost.

23. Therefore not only every word spoken against the Son of Man, but, in fact, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; because where there is not this sin of an impenitent heart against the Holy Ghost, by whom sins are remitted in the Church, all other sins are forgiven. But how shall that sin be forgiven, which hinders the forgiveness of other sins also? All sins then are forgiven to them in whom is not this sin, which shall never be forgiven; but to him in whom it is, since this sin is never forgiven, neither are other sins forgiven; because the remission of all is hindered by the bond of this one. It is not then that whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man shall be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven, for that in the Trinity the Holy Ghost is greater than the Son, which no heretic even has ever maintained; but since whosoever he be that resists the truth and blasphemes the Truth, which is Christ, even after such a manifestation of Himself among men, as that the Word who is the Son of Man and very Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us; if he have not also spoken that word of the impenitent heart against the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit; and again, Receive the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; that is, if he shall repent, he shall thereby receive the gift of the remission of all his sins, and of this also, that he has spoken a word against the Son of Man, because to the sin of ignorance, or obstinacy, or blasphemy of whatever kind, he has not added the sin of impenitence against the gift of God, and the grace of regeneration or reconciliation, which is conferred in the Church by the Holy Spirit.

24. Wherefore, neither must we imagine, as some do, that the word which is spoken against the Son of Man is forgiven, but that which is spoken against the Holy Ghost is not forgiven, because Christ became the Son of Man by reason of His assuming flesh, in which respect the Holy Ghost of course is greater, who in His Own Substance is equal to the Father and the Only-begotten Son according to His Divinity, according to which also the Only-begotten Son Himself is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. For if this were the reason, surely nothing would have been said of any other kind of blasphemy, that that only might appear capable of forgiveness, which is spoken against the Son of Man, regarded only as man. But forasmuch as it is first said, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; which in another Evangelist is also thus expressed, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme; without doubt, that blasphemy also which is spoken against the Father is included in that general expression; and yet that alone is laid down as unpardonable, which is spoken against the Holy Ghost. What! Did the Father also take the form of a servant, that in this respect the Holy Ghost should be greater than He? No surely: but after the universal mention of all sins and of all blasphemy, He wished to express more prominently the blasphemy which is spoken against the Son of Man for this reason, because although men should be even bound in that sin which He mentioned when He said, If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin: which sin also in the Gospel according to John He shows to be a very grievous one, when He says of the Holy Spirit Himself, when He promised that He would send Him, He shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believed not on Me: yet if that hardness of the impenitent heart have not spoken a word against the Holy Ghost, even this which is spoken against the Son of Man shall be forgiven.

25. Here perhaps some one may ask, whether the Holy Ghost only forgives sins, and not the Father and the Son also? I answer, Both the Father and the Son forgive them. For the Son Himself says of the Father, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. And we say to Him in the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, which art in heaven. And among the other petitions we ask this, saying, Forgive us our debts. And again of Himself He says, That ye may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. If then, you will say, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forgive sins, why is that impenitence which shall never be forgiven, said to relate only to the blasphemy of the Spirit, as though he who should be bound in this sin of impenitence should seem to resist the gift of the Holy Spirit, because by that gift is wrought the remission of sins? Now on this point, I will also ask, Whether Christ only cast out devils, or the Father and the Holy Spirit also? For if Christ only, what means His saying, The Father that dwells in Me, He does the works. For so it is said, He does the works, as if the Son does them not, but the Father who dwells in the Son. Why then in another place does He say, My Father works hitherto, and I work. And a little after, For whatever things He does, these also does the Son likewise. But when in another place He says, If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, He speaks as if He did them alone. Now if these things are so expressed, as that nevertheless the works of the Father and the Son are inseparable, what must we believe of the Holy Spirit, but that He also works equally with them? For in that very place, from which this question arose which we are discussing, when the Son was casting out devils, He yet said, If I in the Holy Spirit cast out devils, then the kingdom of God has come unto you.

26. And here perhaps one may say, That the Holy Spirit is rather given by the Father and the Son, than that He works anything by His own will, and that this is the scope of the words, In the Holy Spirit I cast out devils, because not the Spirit Himself, but Christ in the Spirit, did it; so that the expression, I cast out in the Holy Spirit, might be understood as if it were said, I cast out by the Holy Spirit. For this is the usual style of the Scriptures, They killed in the sword, that is, by the sword. They burnt in the fire, that is, by the fire. And Joshua took knives of flints, in which to circumcise, that is, by which to circumcise, the children of Israel. But let those who on this account take from the Holy Spirit His proper power, look to that which we read to have been spoken by the Lord, The Spirit blows where It lists. And as to what the Apostle says, But all these works that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will; it might be feared, lest one imagine that the Father and the Son do not work them: whereas among these works he has expressly mentioned both the gifts of healings, and the workings of miracles, in which surely is included also the driving out of devils. But when he adds the words, Dividing to every man severally as He will; does he not clearly show also the Power of the Holy Spirit, yet as plainly inseparable from the Father and the Son? If then these things are so expressed, as that notwithstanding the operation of the Trinity is understood to be inseparable: so that when the operation of the Father is spoken of, it is understood that He does not exercise it without the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and when the operation of the Son is spoken of, it is not without the Father and the Holy Spirit; and when the operation of the Holy Spirit is spoken of, it is not without the Father and the Son; it is sufficiently clear to those who have a sound faith, or who even understand as they best can, both that the words, He does the works, are spoken of the Father, in that from Him is also the first principle of the works, from whom is the existence of the Persons who co-operate in working: for that both the Son is born of Him, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him, as the First Beginning, of whom the Son is born, and with whom He has one Spirit in common; and again that when the Lord said, If I had not done among them the works which none other did, He did not speak in reference to the Father and the Spirit, as that They did not co-operate with Him in those works; but to men by whom we read of many miracles having been done, but by none such miracles as the Son did. And what the Apostle says of the Holy Spirit, But all these works that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will, is not said, because the Father and the Son do not co-operate with Him; but because in these works there are not many spirits, but One Spirit, and in His various operations He is not diverse from Himself.

27. And yet it is not without cause, but with reason and with truth said, that the Father, and not the Son and the Holy Spirit, said, You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Nevertheless, we do not deny that the Son and the Holy Spirit co-operated in working this miracle of the voice sounding from heaven, though we know that it belongs to the Person of the Father only. For though the Son bearing flesh, was there conversing with men on earth, He was not the less on that account in the Bosom of the Father also as the Only-Begotten Word, when that Voice came out of the cloud; nor could it be either wisely and through the Spirit believed, that God the Father separated the operation of these audible and passing words from the co-operation of His Wisdom and His Spirit. In the same way when we say most rightly, that not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son walked upon the sea, who only had that flesh and those feet which rested on the waves; yet who would deny that the Father and the Holy Spirit co-operated in the work of so great a miracle? For so again we say most truly that the Son only took this our flesh, not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, and yet he has no true wisdom who denies that the Father, or the Holy Spirit co-operated in the work of His Incarnation which belongs only to the Son. So also we say that neither the Father, nor the Son, but the Holy Spirit only appeared both in the form of a dove, and in tongues as it were of fire; and gave to those to whom He came the power to tell in many and various tongues the wonderful works of God; and yet from this miracle which regards the Holy Spirit only, we cannot separate the co-operation of the Father and the Only-Begotten Word. So also the Whole Trinity work the works of each several Person in the Trinity, the Two co-operating in the work of the Other, through a perfect harmony of operation in the Three, and not through any deficiency of the power to work effectually in One. And since this is so, hence it is that the Lord Jesus cast out devils in the Holy Spirit. Not that He was not able to accomplish this alone, or that He assumed that aid as being insufficient for this work; but it was meet that the spirit who is divided against himself should be driven out by that Spirit, which the Father and the Son who are not divided in themselves have in common.

28. And thus sins, because they are not forgiven out of the Church, must be forgiven by that Spirit, by whom the Church is gathered together into one. In fact, if any one out of the Church repent him of his sins, and for this so great sin whereby he is an alien from the Church of God, has an heart impenitent, what does that other repentance profit him? Seeing by this alone he speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, whereby he is alienated from the Church, which has received this gift, that in her remission of sins should be given in the Holy Ghost? Which remission though it be the work of the Whole Trinity, is yet understood specially to belong to the Holy Spirit. For He is the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in whom we cry Abba, Father; that we may be able to say to Him, Forgive us our debts. And, Hereby we know as the Apostle John says, that Christ dwells in us, by His Spirit which He has given us. The Spirit Itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. For to Him appertains the fellowship, by which we are made the one body of the One only Son of God. Whence it is written, If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit. With a view to this fellowship they to whom He first came spoke with the tongues of all nations. Because as by tongues the fellowship of mankind is more closely united; so it behooved that this fellowship of the sons of God and members of Christ which was to be among all nations should be signified by the tongues of all nations; that as at that time he was known to have received the Holy Ghost, who spoke with the tongues of all nations; so now he should acknowledge that he has received the Holy Ghost, who is held by the bond of the peace of the Church, which is spread throughout all nations. Whence the Apostle says, Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

29. Now that He is the Spirit of the Father, the Son Himself says, He proceeds from the Father. And in another place, For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you. And that He is the Spirit of the Son also the Apostle says, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father; that is, making you cry. For it is we that cry; but in Him, that is, by His shedding abroad love in our hearts, without which whoever cries, cries in vain. Whence he says again, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. To which Person then in the Trinity could the communion of this fellowship peculiarly appertain, but to that Spirit which is common to the Father and the Son?

30. That they who have separated from the Church have not this Spirit, the Apostle Jude has declared most plainly, saying, Who separate themselves, natural, having not the Spirit. Whence the Apostle Paul reproving those even in the Church itself, who by the names of men, though having a place in her unity, were raising a kind of schism, says among other things, But the natural man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. This shows his meaning, does not perceive, that is does not receive the word of knowledge. These as having a place in the Church, he speaks of as babes, not yet spiritual, but still carnal, and such as are to be fed with milk, not with meat. Even, he says, as unto babes in Christ, have I given you milk and not meat; for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. When we say, not yet, we must not despair, if that which is not yet tends to be. For he says, you are yet carnal. And showing how it is that they are carnal, he says, For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? And again more plainly, For while one says, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed? These then, that is, Paul and Apollos, agreed together in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace; and yet because the Corinthians began to divide them among themselves, and to be puffed up for one against another, they are said to be men — carnal and natural men, not able to receive the things of the Spirit of God; and yet because they are not separated from the Church, they are called babes in Christ; for indeed he desired that they should be either Angels, or even Gods, whom he reproved because they were men, that is, in those contentions, They savoured not the things which be of God, but the things which be of men. But of those who are separated from the Church it is not merely said, perceiving not the things of the Spirit of God, lest it should be referred to the perception of knowledge; but it is said, Having not the Spirit. For it does not follow, that he who has it, should also by knowledge perceive what he has.

31. The babes then in Christ who have yet place in the Church, who are still natural and carnal, and cannot perceive, that is, understand and know what they have, have this Spirit. For how could they be babes in Christ except they were born anew of the Holy Spirit? Nor ought it to seem any wonder that one may have something, and yet not know what he has. For to say nothing of the Divinity of the Almighty, and the Unity of the Unchangeable Trinity, who can easily perceive by knowledge what the soul is; and yet who is there that has not a soul? Finally, that we may know most certainly that babes in Christ, who do not perceive the things of the Spirit of God, have notwithstanding the Spirit of God; let us look how the Apostle Paul, when a little while after he is rebuking them, says, Do you not know that you are the temples of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? This surely he would in no wise say to those who are separated from the Church, who are described as having not the Spirit.

32. But neither can he be said to be in the Church, and to belong to that fellowship of the Spirit, who is mixed up with Christ's sheep by a bodily intercourse only in deceitfulness of heart. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit. Wherefore whosoever are baptized in the congregations or separations rather of schismatics or heretics, although they have not been born again of the Spirit, like as it were to Ishmael, who was Abraham's son after the flesh; not like Isaac, who was his son after the Spirit, because by promise; yet when they come to the Catholic Church, and are joined to the fellowship of the Spirit which without the Church they beyond doubt had not, the washing of the flesh is not repeated in their case. For this form of godliness was not wanting to them even when they were without; but there is added to them the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which cannot be given but within. Before they were Catholics indeed, they were as they of whom the Apostle says, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. For the visible form of the branch may exist even when separated from the vine; but the invisible life of the root cannot be had, but in the vine. Wherefore the bodily sacraments, which even they who are separated from the Unity of Christ's Body bear and celebrate, may give the form of godliness; but the invisible and spiritual power of godliness cannot in any wise be in them, just as sensation does not accompany a man's limb, when it is amputated from the body.

33. And since this is so, remission of sins, seeing it is not given but by the Holy Spirit, can only be given in that Church which has the Holy Spirit. For this is the effect of the remission of sins, that the prince of sin, the spirit who is divided against himself, should no more reign in us, and that being delivered from the power of the unclean spirit, we should thenceforward be made the temple of the Holy Spirit, and receive Him, by whom we are cleansed through receiving pardon, to dwell in us, to work, increase, and perfect righteousness. For at His first coming, when they who had received Him spoke with the tongues of all nations, and the Apostle Peter addressed those who were present in amazement, they were pricked in heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? show us. And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the Church truly in which was the Holy Ghost, were both brought to pass, that is, both the remission of sins, and the receiving of this gift. And therefore was it In the Name of Jesus Christ; because when He promised the same Holy Ghost; He said, Whom the Father will send in My Name. For the Spirit dwells in no man without the Father and the Son; as neither does the Son without the Father and the Holy Spirit, nor the Father without them. Their indwelling is inseparable, as their operation is inseparable; but sometimes they manifest themselves separately by symbols borrowed from the creatures, not in their own substance; just as they are pronounced separately by the voice in syllables which occupy separately their own spaces, and yet they are not separated from each other by any intervals, or moments of time. For they never can be pronounced together, whereas they can never exist, except together. But as I have already said, and not once only, the remission of sins, whereby the kingdom of the spirit which is divided against himself is overthrown and driven out, and the fellowship of the unity of the Church of God, out of which this remission of sins is not, are regarded as the peculiar work of the Holy Spirit, with the cooperation doubtless of the Father and the Son, because the Holy Spirit is Himself in some sort the fellowship of the Father and the Son. For the Father is not possessed as Father by the Son and the Holy Spirit in common; because He is not the Father of Both. And the Son is not possessed as Son by the Father and the Holy Spirit in common; because He is not the Son of Both. But the Holy Spirit is possessed as the Spirit by the Father and the Son in common, because He is the One Spirit of Both.

34. Whosoever therefore shall be guilty of impenitence against the Spirit, in whom the unity and fellowship of the communion of the Church is gathered together, shall never have forgiveness; because he has stopped the source of forgiveness against himself, and deservedly shall he be condemned with the spirit, which is divided against himself, who is himself also divided against the Holy Spirit which is not divided against Himself. And of this the very testimonies of the Gospel warn us, would we with good attention search them. For according to Luke the Lord does not say, That he who blasphemes against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven: in that place where He is answering those who said that He cast out devils by the prince of the devils. Whence it would seem that this was not said once only by the Lord; but we must not carelessly pass over the consideration of the occasion on which this last also was spoken. For He was speaking of those who should have confessed or denied Him before men, when He said, Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the Angels of God. But he that denies Me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. And lest from this the salvation of the Apostle Peter should be despaired of, he immediately subjoined, And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven; blasphemes, that is, with that blasphemy of an impenitent heart, by which resistance is made to remission of sins which is granted in the Church by the Holy Ghost. And this blasphemy Peter had not, who presently repented, when he wept bitterly, and who after he had overcome the spirit who is divided against himself, and who had desired to have him to harass him, and against whom the Lord prayed for him that his faith might not fail, even received the Very Holy Spirit whom he resisted not, that not only his sin might be forgiven him, but that through him remission of sins might be preached and dispensed.

35. And in the narrative of the two other Evangelists, the occasion of speaking out this sentence of the blasphemy of the Spirit arose from the mention of the unclean spirit, who is divided against himself. For it had been said of the Lord, that He cast out devils by the prince of the devils. In that place the Lord says, that by the Holy Spirit He casts out devils, that so the spirit who is not divided against Himself may overcome and cast out him who is divided against himself; but that that man would abide in his perdition, who refuses through impenitence to pass over into His peace, who is not divided against Himself. For thus runs the narrative of Mark; Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offense. When he had delivered these words of the Lord, he then subjoined his own, saying, Because they said He has an unclean spirit; that He might show that the cause of His saying this arose hence, because they had said that He cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Not that this was a blasphemy which shall not be forgiven, forasmuch as even this shall be forgiven, if a right repentance follow it; but because, as I have said, there arose hence a cause for that sentence to be delivered by the Lord, since mention had been made of the unclean spirit whom the Lord shows to be divided against himself, because of the Holy Spirit who is not only not divided against Himself, but who also makes those whom He gathers together undivided, by forgiving those sins which are divided against themselves, and by inhabiting those who are cleansed, that it may be with them, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. And this gift of forgiveness none resists, but he who has the hardness of an impenitent heart. For in another place also the Jews said of the Lord that He had a devil, yet He spoke nothing there of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit; because they did not so bring forward the mention of the unclean spirit as that he could be shown out of their own mouths to be divided against himself, as Beelzebub, by whom they said that devils could be cast out.

36. But in this passage according to Matthew, the Lord far more plainly explained what he intended to be understood here; namely, that he it is who speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, who with an impenitent heart resists the Unity of the Church, where in the Holy Spirit is given the remission of sins. For this spirit they have not, as has been said already, who even though they bear and handle the sacraments of Christ, are separated from His congregation. For when He spoke of the division of Satan against Satan, and how that He Himself cast out devils by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit, namely, which is not, as the other, divided against Himself; lest any one should think because of those who gather together their irregular assemblies under the Name of Christ, but without His fold, that the kingdom of Christ also was divided against itself, He immediately added, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathers not with Me scatters abroad, that He might show that they did not belong to Him who by gathering without wished not to gather but to scatter abroad. And afterwards He subjoined, Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. What is this wherefore? Shall the blasphemy of the Spirit only not be forgiven, because he who is not with Christ is against Him, and he who gathers not with Him scatters abroad? Even so, doubtless. For he that gathers not with Him, howsoever he may gather under His name, has not the Holy Ghost.

37. Thus then has He altogether forced us to understand that the remission of no sin nor blasphemy can be effected anywhere else, save in the gathering together of Christ, which scatters not abroad. For it is gathered together in the Holy Spirit, which is not as that unclean spirit, divided against Himself. And therefore all congregations, or dispersions rather, which call themselves Churches of Christ, and are divided against themselves and contrary one to the other, and hostile to the congregation of Unity, which is His True Church, do not therefore belong to His congregation, because they seem to have His Name. But they might belong to it, if the Holy Spirit in whom this congregation is joined together, were divided against Himself. But because this is not so (for he that is not with Christ is against Him, and he that gathers not with Him scatters abroad); therefore all manner of sin and all blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men in this congregation, which Christ gathers together in the Holy Spirit, who is not divided against Himself. But that blasphemy of the Spirit Himself, whereby in an impenitent heart resistance is made to this so great gift of God even to the end of this present life, shall not be forgiven. For though a man so oppose himself to the truth, as to resist God speaking, not in the Prophets, but in His Only Son (since for our sakes He was pleased that He should be the Son of Man, that He might speak to us in Him), yet shall he be forgiven when in repentance he shall have recourse to the goodness of God, who forasmuch as He wills not the death of the wicked, but rather that he should turn from his way and live, has given the Holy Spirit to His Church, that whosoever forgives sins in the Spirit, they should be forgiven. But whoever stands out as an enemy to this gift, so as not in repentance to seek it, but by impenitence to gainsay it, his sin becomes unpardonable; not sin of any one specific kind, but the contempt, or even opposing of the remission of sins itself. And so a word is spoken against the Holy Spirit, when men never come from the dispersion to the congregation which has received the Holy Spirit for the remission of sins. Unto which congregation if any come without hypocrisy, though it be through the ministry of a wicked clergyman, a reprobate and a hypocrite, so he be a Catholic minister, he shall receive remission of sins in this Holy Spirit. For such is the working of this Spirit in the Holy Church, even in this present time, when the grain is as it were being threshed with the chaff, that he despises no man's sincere confession, and is deceived by no man's false pretences, and so flies from the reprobate, as yet by their ministry to gather together those that are approved. One refuge then there is against unpardonable blasphemy, that we take heed of an impenitent heart; and that it be not thought that repentance can avail ought, unless the Church be kept to, in which remission of sins is given, and the fellowship of the Spirit is preserved in the bond of peace.

38. I have through the mercy and assistance of the Lord handled, as I best was able, this most difficult question, if indeed I have been able to do it in any measure. Nevertheless, whatever I have not been able to apprehend in the difficulties of it, let it not be imputed to the truth itself, which is a healthful exercise to the godly, even when it is hidden, but to my infirmity, who either could not see what others might have understood, or could not explain what I did understand. But for that which perhaps I have been able to discover by force of meditation, and to develop in words, to Him must the thanks be given, from whom I have sought, from whom I have asked, unto whom I have knocked, that I might have wherewithal to be nourished myself in meditation, and to minister to you in speaking.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 12:33 , Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, etc.

1. The Lord Jesus has admonished us, that we be good trees, and that so we may be able to bear good fruits. For He says, Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. When He says, Make the tree good, and his fruit good; this of course is not an admonition, but a wholesome precept, to which obedience is necessary. But when He says, Make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; this is not a precept that you should do it; but an admonition, that you should beware of it. For He spoke against those, who thought that although they were evil, they could speak good things or have good works. This the Lord Jesus says is impossible. For the man himself must first be changed, in order that his works may be changed. For if a man abide in his evil state, he cannot have good works; if he abide in his good state, he cannot have evil works.

2. But who was found good by the Lord, since Christ died for the ungodly? He found them all corrupt trees, but to those who believed in His Name, He gave power to become the sons of God. Whosoever then now is a good man, that is, a good tree, was found corrupt, and made good. And if when He came He had chosen to root up the corrupt trees, what tree would have remained which did not deserve to be rooted up? But He came first to impart mercy, that He might afterwards exercise judgment, to whom it is said, I will sing unto You O Lord, of mercy and judgment. He gave then remission of sins to those who believed in Him, He would not even take account with them of past reckonings. He gave remission of sins, He made them good trees. He delayed the ax, He gave security.

3. Of this ax does John speak, saying, Now is the ax laid unto the root of the trees; every tree which brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire. With this ax does the Householder in the Gospel threaten, saying, Behold these three years I come to this tree, and find no fruit on it. Now I must clear the ground; wherefore let it be cut down. And the husbandman intercedes, saying, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then You shall come and cut it down. So the Lord has visited mankind as it were three years, that is, at three several times. The first time was before the Law; the second under the Law; the third is now, which is the time of grace. For if He did not visit mankind before the Law, whence was Abel, and Enoch, and Noe, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, whose Lord He was pleased to be called? And He to whom all nations belonged, as though He were the God of three men only, said, I am the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But if He did not visit under the Law, He would not have given the Law itself. After the Law, came the very Master of the house in person; He suffered, and died, and rose again; He gave the Holy Spirit, He made the Gospel to be preached throughout all the world, and yet a certain tree remained unfruitful. Still is there a certain portion of mankind, which does not yet amend itself. The husbandman intercedes; the Apostle prays for the people; I bow my knees, he says, unto the Father for you, that being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. By bowing the knees, he intercedes with the Master of the house for us, that we be not rooted up. Therefore since He must necessarily come, let us take care that He find us fruitful. The digging about the tree is the lowliness of the penitent. For every ditch is low. The dunging it, is the filthy robe of repentance. For what is more filthy than dung; yet if well used, what more profitable?

4. Let each one then be a good tree; let him not suppose that he can bear good fruit, if he remain a corrupt tree. There will be no good fruit, but from the good tree. Change the heart, and the work will be changed. Root out desire, plant in charity. For as desire is the root of all evil, so is charity the root of all good. Why then do men fret and contend one with another, saying, What is good? O that you knew what good is! What you wish to have is not very good; this is good which you do not wish to be. For you wish to have health of body; it is good indeed; yet you can not think that to be any great good, which the wicked have as well. Thou dost wish to have gold and silver; I grant that these also are good things, but then only if you make a good use of them; and a good use of them you will not make, if you are evil yourself. And hence gold and silver are to the evil evil; to the good are good, not because gold and silver make them good; but because they find them good, they are turned to a good use. Again, you wish to have honour, it is good; but this too only if you make a good use of it. To how many has honour been the occasion of destruction! And again, to how many has honour been the instrument of good works!

5. Let us then, if we can, make a distinction as to these goods; for it is of good trees that we are speaking. And here there is nothing, which every one ought so much to think of, as to turn his eyes upon himself, to learn in himself, examine himself, inspect himself, search into himself, and find out himself; and kill what is displeasing; and long for and plant in that which is well-pleasing (to God). For when a man finds himself so empty of better goods, why is he greedy of external goods? And what profit is there in a coffer full of goods, with an empty conscience? You wish to have good things, and do you not then wish to be good yourself? Do you see not that you ought rather to blush for your good things, if your house is full of good things, and you its owner are evil? For what is there, tell me, you would wish to have that is bad. Not any one thing I am sure; neither wife; nor son; nor daughter; nor manservant; nor maidservant; nor country seat; nor a coat; nay nor a shoe; and yet you are willing to have a bad life. I pray you prefer your way of life to your shoes. All things which encompass your sight, as being of elegance and beauty, are highly prized by you; and are you so lightly esteemed by yourself, and so devoid of beauty? If the good things of which your house is full, which you have longed to possess, and feared to lose, could make answer to you, would they not cry out to you, As you wish to have us good, so do we also wish to have a good owner? And now in speechless accents do they address your Lord against you: Lo! You have given him so many good things, and he himself is evil. What profit is there to him in that he has, when he has not Him who has given him all!

6. One then who has been admonished, and it may be moved to compunction by these words, may ask what is good? What is the nature of good? And whence it comes? Well is it that you have understood that it is your duty to ask this. I will answer your enquiries, and will say, That is good which you can not lose against your will. For gold you may lose even against your will; and so you can a house; and honours, and even the health of the body; but the good whereby you are truly good, you neither receive against your will, nor lose it against your will. I enquire then, What is the nature of this good? One of the Psalms teaches us an important matter, perchance it is even this that we are seeking for. For it says, O you sons of men, how long will you be heavy in heart? How long will that tree be in its three years fruitlessness? O you sons of men, how long will you be heavy in heart? What is heavy in heart? Why do ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? And then it goes on to say what we must really seek after; Know ye that the Lord has magnified His Holy One? Now Christ has come, now has He been magnified, now has He risen again, and ascended into heaven, now is His Name preached through the world: How long will you be heavy in heart? Let the times past suffice; now that that Holy One has been magnified, How long will you be heavy in heart? After the three years, what remains but the ax? How long will you be heavy in heart? Why do ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Vain, useless, frivolous, fleeting things are these still sought after, now that Christ the Holy One has been so magnified? Truth now is crying aloud, and is vanity still sought after? How long will you be heavy in heart?

7. With good reason is this world severely scourged; for the world has known now its Master's words. And the servant, He says, that knew not his Master's will, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. Why? That he may seek after his Master's will. The servant then who knew not His will, this was the world, before He magnified His Holy One; it was the servant who knew not his Master's will, and therefore shall be beaten with few stripes. But the servant who now knows his Master's will, that is now, since the Godhead sanctified His Holy One, and does not His will, shall be beaten with many stripes. What marvel then, if the world be now much beaten? It is the servant which knew his Master's will, and did commit things worthy of stripes. Let him then not refuse to be beaten with many stripes; since if in unrighteousness he will not hear his teacher, in righteousness must he feel his avenger. At least, let him not murmur against Him that chastens him, when he sees that he is worthy of stripes, that so he may attain mercy; through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 13:19 , etc., where the Lord Jesus explains the parables of the sower.

1. Both yesterday and today you have heard the parables of the sower, in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do ye who were present yesterday, recollect today. Yesterday we read of that sower, who when he scattered seed, some fell by the way side, which the birds picked up; some in stony places, which dried up from the heat; some among thorns, which were choked, and could not bring forth fruit; and other some into good ground, and it brought forth fruit, a hundred, sixty, thirty fold. But today the Lord has again spoken another parable of the sower, who sowed good seed in his field. While men slept the enemy came, and sowed tares upon it. As long as it was only in the blade, it did not appear; but when the fruit of the good seed began to appear, then appeared the tares also. The servants of the householder were offended, when they saw a quantity of tares among the good wheat, and wished to root them out, but they were not suffered to do so; but it was said to them, Let both grow together until the harvest. Now the Lord Jesus Christ explained this parable also; and said that He was the sower of the good seed, and He showed how that the enemy who sowed the tares was the devil; the time of harvest, the end of the world; His field the whole world. And what says He? In the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn. Why are you so hasty, He says, you servants full of zeal? You see tares among the wheat, you see evil Christians among the good; and you wish to root up the evil ones; be quiet, it is not the time of harvest. That time will come, may it only find you wheat! Why do ye vex yourselves? Why bear impatiently the mixture of the evil with the good? In the field they may be with you, but they will not be so in the barn.

2. Now ye know that those three places mentioned yesterday where the seed did not grow, the way side, the stony ground, and the thorny places, are the same as these tares. They received only a different name under a different similitude. For when similitudes are used, or the literal meaning of a term is not expressed, not the truth but a similitude of the truth is conveyed by them. I see that but few have understood my meaning; yet it is for the benefit of all that I speak. In things visible, a way side is a way side, stony ground is stony ground, thorny places are thorny places; they are simply what they are, because the names are used in their literal sense. But in parables and similitudes one thing may be called by many names; therefore there is nothing inconsistent in my telling you that that way side, that stony ground, those thorny places, are bad Christians, and that they too are the tares. Is not Christ called the Lamb? Is not Christ the Lion too? Among wild beasts, and cattle, a lamb is simply a lamb, and a lion, a lion: but Christ is both. The first are respectively what they are in propriety of expression; the Latter both together in a figurative sense. Nay much more; besides this it may happen that under a figure, things very different from one another may be called by one and the same name. For what is so different as Christ and the devil? Yet both Christ and the devil are called a lion. Christ is called a lion: The Lion has prevailed of the tribe of Judah; and the devil is called a lion: Do you not know that your adversary the Devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? Both the one and the other then is a lion; the one a lion by reason of His strength; the other for his savageness; the one a lion for His prevailing; the other for his injuring. The devil again is a serpent, that old serpent; are we commanded then to imitate the devil, when our Shepherd told us, Be wise as serpents, and simple as doves?

3. Accordingly I yesterday addressed the way side, I addressed the stony ground, I addressed the thorny places; and I said, Be changed while ye may: turn up with the plough the hard ground, cast the stones out of the field, pluck up the thorns out of it. Be loth to retain that hard heart, from which the word of God may quickly pass away and be lost. Be loth to have that lightness of soil, where the root of charity can take no deep hold. Be loth to choke the good seed which is sown in you by my labours, with the lusts and the cares of this world. For it is the Lord who sows; and we are only His labourers. But be ye the good ground. I said yesterday, and I say again today to all, Let one bring forth a hundred, another sixty, another thirty fold. In one the fruit is more, in another less; but all will have a place in the barn. Yesterday I said all this, today I am addressing the tares; but the sheep themselves are the tares. O evil Christians, O you, who in filling only press the Church by your evil lives; amend yourselves before the harvest come. Say not, I have sinned, and what has befallen me? God has not lost His power; but He is requiring repentance from you. I say this to the evil, who yet are Christians; I say this to the tares. For they are in the field; and it may so be, that they who today are tares, may tomorrow be wheat. And so I will address the wheat also.

4. O you Christians, whose lives are good, you sigh and groan as being few among many, few among very many. The winter will pass away, the summer will come; lo! The harvest will soon be here. The angels will come who can make the separation, and who cannot make mistakes. We in this time present are like those servants of whom it was said, Will You that we go and gather them up? for we were wishing, if it might be so, that no evil ones should remain among the good. But it has been told us, Let both grow together until the harvest. Why? For you are such as may be deceived. Hear finally; Lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. What good are you doing? Will ye by your eagerness make a waste of My harvest? The reapers will come, and who the reapers are He has explained, And the reapers are the angels. We are but men, the reapers are the angels. We too indeed, if we finish our course, shall be equal to the angels of God; but now when we chafe against the wicked, we are as yet but men. And we ought now to give ear to the words, Wherefore let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. For do ye think, my Brethren, that these tares we read of do not get up into this seat? Think ye that they are all below, and none above up here? God grant we may not be so. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you. I tell you of a truth, my Beloved, even in these high seats there is both wheat, and tares, and among the laity there is wheat, and tares. Let the good tolerate the bad; let the bad change themselves, and imitate the good. Let us all, if it may be so, attain to God; let us all through His mercy escape the evil of this world. Let us seek after good days, for we are now in evil days; but in the evil days let us not blaspheme, that so we may be able to arrive at the good days.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 13:52 , Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of Heaven, etc.

1. The lesson of the Gospel reminds me to seek out, and to explain to you, Beloved, as the Lord shall give me power, who is that Scribe instructed in the kingdom of God, who is like an householder bringing out of his treasure things new and old. For here the lesson ended. What are the new and old things of an instructed Scribe? Now it is well known who they were, whom the ancients, after the custom of our Scriptures, called Scribes, those, namely, who professed the knowledge of the Law. For such were called Scribes among the Jewish people, not such as are so called now in the service of judges, or the custom of states. For we must not enter school to no purpose, but we must know in what signification to take the words of Scripture; lest when anything is mentioned out of it, which is usually understood in another secular use of the term, the hearer mistake it, and by thinking of its customary meaning, understand not what he has heard. The Scribes then were they who professed the knowledge of the Law, and to them belonged both the keeping and the studying, as well as also the transcribing and the expounding, of the books of the Law.

2. Such were they whom our Lord Jesus Christ rebukes, because they have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and would neither enter in themselves, nor suffer others to enter in; in these words finding fault with the Pharisees and Scribes, the teachers of the law of the Jews. Of whom in another place He says, Whatsoever they say, do, but do not ye after their works, for they say and do not. Why is it said to you, For they say and do not? but that there are some of whom what the Apostle says, is clearly exemplified, Thou that preachest a man should not steal, do you steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Thou that abhor rest idols, do you commit sacrilege? Thou that makest your boast of the Law, through breaking the Law do you dishonour God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. It is surely plain that the Lord speaks of these, For they say and do not. They then are Scribes, but not instructed in the kingdom of God.

3. Peradventure some of you may say, And how can a bad man speak what is good, when it is written, in the words of the Lord Himself, 'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. You hypocrites, how can you being evil speak good things?' In the one place He says, How can you being evil speak good things? in the other He says, What they say, do, but do ye not after their works. For they say, and do not. If they say and do not, they are evil; if they are evil, they cannot speak good things; how then are we to do what we hear from them, when we cannot hear from them what is good? Now take heed, Holy and Beloved, how this question may be solved. Whatever an evil man brings forth from himself, is evil; whatever an evil man brings forth out of his own heart, is evil; for there is the evil treasure. But whatever a good man brings forth out of his heart, is good; for there is the good treasure. Whence then did those evil men bring forth good things? Because they sat in Moses' seat. Had He not first said, They sit in Moses' seat; He would never have enjoined that evil men should be heard. For what they brought forth out of the evil treasure of their own heart, was one thing; another what they gave utterance to out of the seat of Moses, the criers so to say of the judge. What the crier says, will never be attributed to him if he speak in the presence of the judge. What the crier says in his own house is one thing, what the crier says as hearing it from the judge is another. For whether he will or no, the crier must proclaim the sentence of punishment even of his own friend. And so whether he will or no, must he proclaim the sentence of the acquittal even of his own enemy. Suppose him to speak from his heart; he acquits his friend, and punishes his enemy. Suppose him to speak from the judge's chair; he punishes his friend, and acquits his enemy. So with the Scribes; suppose them to speak out of their own heart; you will hear, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. Suppose them to speak from Moses' seat; you will hear, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness. Honour your father and mother; you shall love your neighbour as yourself. Do then this which the official seat proclaims by the mouth of the Scribes; not that which their heart utters. For so embracing both judgments of the Lord, you will not be obedient in the one, and guilty of disobedience in the other; but will understand that both agree together, and will regard both that as true, that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things; and that other also, that those Scribes did not speak good things out of the evil treasure of their heart, but that they were able to speak good things out of the treasure of Moses' seat.

4. So then those words of the Lord will not disturb you, when He says, Every tree is known by his own fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles? The Scribes and Pharisees of the Jews therefore were thorns and thistles, and notwithstanding, what they say do, but do ye not after their works. So then the grape is gathered from thorns, and the fig from thistles, as He has given you to understand according to the method I have just laid down. For so sometimes in the vineyard's thorny hedge, the vines get entangled, and clusters of grapes hang from the brambles. You had no sooner heard the name of thorns, than you were on the point of disregarding the grape. But seek for the root of the thorns, and you will see where to find it. Follow too the root of the hanging cluster, and you will see where to find it. So understand that the one refers to the Pharisee's heart, the other to Moses' seat.

5. But why were they such as they were? Because, says St. Paul, the veil is upon their heart. And they do not see that the old things are passed away, and all things have become new. Hence it is that they were such, and all others who even now are like them. Why are they old things? Because they have been a long while published. Why new? Because they relate to the kingdom of God. How the veil then is taken away, the Apostle himself tells us. But when you shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. So then the Jew who does not turn to the Lord, does not carry on his mind's eye to the end. Just as at that time the children of Israel in this figure did not carry on the gaze of their eyes to the end, that is, to the face of Moses. For the shining face of Moses contained a figure of the truth; the veil was interposed because the children of Israel could not yet behold the glory of his countenance. Which figure is done away. For so said the Apostle; which is done away. Why done away? Because when the emperor comes, the images of him are taken away. The image is looked upon, when the emperor is not present; but where he is, whose image it is, there the image is removed. There were then images borne before Him, before that our Emperor the Lord Jesus Christ came. When the images were taken away, the glory of the Emperor's presence is seen. Therefore, When any one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the voice of Moses sounded through the veil, but the face of Moses was not seen. And so now the voice of Christ sounds to the Jews by the voice of the old Scriptures: they hear their voice, but they see not the face of Him that speaks. Would they then that the veil should be taken away? Let them turn to the Lord. For then the old things are not taken away, but laid up in a treasury, that the Scribe may henceforth be instructed in the kingdom of God, bringing forth out of his treasure not new things only, nor old things only. For if he bring forth new things only or old things only; he is not a scribe instructed in the kingdom of God, bringing forth out of his treasure things new and old. If he say and do them not; he brings forth from the official seat, not from the treasure of his heart. And (we speak the truth, Holy Brethren) what things are brought out of the old, are illustrated by the new. Therefore do we turn to the Lord, that the veil may be taken away.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 14:24 , But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves.

1. The lesson of the Gospel which we have just heard is a lesson of humility to us all, that we may see and know where we are, and whither we must tend and hasten. For that ship which carries the disciples, which was tossed in the waves by a contrary wind, is not without its meaning. Nor without a meaning did the Lord after He had left the multitudes, go up into a mountain to pray alone; and then coming to His disciples found them in danger, walking on the sea, and getting up into the ship strengthened them, and appeased the waves. But what marvel if He can appease all things who created all? Nevertheless after He had come up into the ship, they who were being borne in her, came saying, Of a truth You are the Son of God. But before this plain discovery of Himself they were troubled, saying, It is a phantom. But He coming up into the ship took away the fluctuation of mind from their hearts, when they were now more endangered in their souls by doubting, than before in their bodies by the waves.

2. Yet in all this that the Lord did, He instructs us as to the nature of our life here. In this world there is not a man who is not a stranger; though all do not desire to return to their own country. Now by this very journey we are exposed to waves and tempests; but we must needs be at least in the ship. For if there be perils in the ship, without the ship there is certain destruction. For whatever strength of arm he may have who swims in the open sea, yet in time he is carried away and sunk, mastered by the greatness of its waves. Need then there is that we be in the ship, that is, that we be carried in the wood, that we may be able to cross this sea. Now this Wood in which our weakness is carried is the Cross of the Lord, by which we are signed, and delivered from the dangerous tempests of this world. We are exposed to the violence of the waves; but He who helps us is God.

3. For in that when the Lord had left the multitudes, He went up alone into a mountain to pray; that mountain signifies the height of heaven. For having left the multitudes, the Lord after His Resurrection ascended Alone into heaven, and there, as the Apostle says, He makes intercession for us. There is some meaning then in His leaving the multitudes, and going up into a mountain to pray Alone. For He Alone is as yet the First-begotten from the dead, after the resurrection of His Body, unto the right hand of the Father, the High Priest and Advocate of our prayers. The Head of the Church is above, that the rest of the members may follow at the end. If then He makes intercession for us, above the height of all creatures, as it were on the mountain top, He prays Alone.

4. Meanwhile the ship which carries the disciples, that is, the Church, is tossed and shaken by the tempests of temptation; and the contrary wind, that is, the devil her adversary, rests not, and strives to hinder her from arriving at rest. But greater is He who makes intercession for us. For in this our tossing to and fro in which we toil, He gives us confidence in coming to us, and strengthening us; only let us not in our trouble throw ourselves out of the ship, and cast ourselves into the sea. For though the ship be in trouble, still it is the ship. She alone carries the disciples, and receives Christ. There is danger, it is true, in the sea; but without her there is instant perishing. Keep yourself therefore in the ship, and pray to God. For when all counsels fail, when even the rudder is unserviceable, and the very spreading of the sails is rather dangerous than useful, when all human help and strength is gone, there remains only for the sailors the earnest cry of entreaty, and pouring out of prayer to God. He then who grants to sailors to reach the haven, shall He so forsake His own Church, as not to bring it on to rest?

5. Yet, Brethren, this exceeding trouble is not in this ship, save only in the absence of the Lord. What! can he who is in the Church, have his Lord absent from him? When has he his Lord absent from him? When he is overcome by any lust. For as we find it said in a certain place in a figure, Let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil: and this is understood not of this visible sun which holds as it were the zenith of glory among the rest of the visible creation, and which can be seen equally by us and by the beasts; but of that Light which none but the pure hearts of the faithful see; as it is written, That was the true Light, which lightens every man that comes into the world. For this light of the visible sun lightens even the minutest and smallest animals. Righteousness then and wisdom is that true light, which the mind ceases to see, when it is overcome by the disordering of anger as by a cloud; and then, as it were, the sun goes down upon a man's wrath. So also in this ship, when Christ is absent, every one is shaken by his own storms, and iniquities, and evil desires. For, for example, the law tells you, You shall not bear false witness. If you observe the truth of witness, you have light in the soul; but if overcome by the desire of filthy lucre, you have determined in your mind to speak false witness, you will at once begin through Christ's absence to be troubled by the tempest, you will be tossed to and fro by the waves of your covetousness, you will be endangered by the violent storm of your lusts, and as it were through Christ's absence be well near sunk.

6. What cause of fear is there, lest the ship be diverted from her course, and take a backward direction; which happens when, abandoning the hope of heavenly rewards, desire turns the helm, and a man is turned to those things which are seen and pass away! For whosoever is disturbed by the temptations of lusts, and nevertheless still looks into those things which are within, is not so utterly in a desperate state, if he beg pardon for his faults, and exert himself to overcome and surmount the fury of the raging sea. But he who is so turned aside from what he was, as to say in his heart, God does not see me; for He does not think of me, nor care whether I sin; he has turned the helm, borne away by the storm, and driven back to the point he came from. For there are many thoughts in the hearts of men; and when Christ is absent, the ship is tossed by the waves of this world, and by tempests manifold.

7. Now the fourth watch of the night, is the end of the night; for each watch consists of three hours. It signifies then, that now in the end of the world the Lord has come to help, and is seen to walk upon the waters. For though this ship be tossed about by the storms of temptations, yet she sees her Glorified God walking above all the swellings of the sea; that is, above all the principalities of this world. For before it was said by an expression suited to the time of His Passion, when according to the flesh He showed forth an example of humility, that the waves of the sea vainly raged against Him, to which He yielded voluntarily for our sakes, that that prophecy, I have come into the depths of the sea, and the floods overflow Me, might be fulfilled. For He did not repel the false witnesses, nor the savage shout of those that said, Let Him be crucified. He did not by His power repress the savage hearts and words of those furious men, but in patience endured them all. They did unto Him whatsoever they listed; because He became obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. But after that He was risen from the dead, that He might pray alone for His disciples placed in the Church as in a ship, and borne on in the faith of His Cross, as in wood, and in peril through this world's temptations as through the waves of the sea; His Name began to be honoured even in this world in which He was despised, accused, and slain; that He who in the dispensation of His suffering in the flesh, had come into the depths of the sea, and the floods had overwhelmed Him, might now through the glory of His Name tread upon the necks of the proud as on the foaming waters. Just as we now see the Lord walking as it were upon the sea, under whose feet we behold the whole madness of this world subjected.

8. But to the perils of tempests are added also the errors of heretics; and there are not wanting those who so try the minds of them that are in the ship, as to say that Christ was not born of a Virgin, nor had a real body, but seemed to the eyes what He was not. And these opinions of heretics have sprung up now, when the Name of Christ is already glorified throughout all nations; when Christ, that is, is as it were now walking on the sea. The disciples in their trial said, It is a phantom. But He gives us strength against these pestilent opinions by His own voice, Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid. For men in vain fear have conceived these opinions concerning Christ, looking at his Honour and Majesty; and they think that He could not be so born, who has deserved to be so Glorified, fearing Him as it were walking on the sea. For by this action the excellency of His honour is figured; and so they think that He was a phantom. But when he says, It is I; what else does He say but that there is nothing in Him which does not really exist? Accordingly if He shows His flesh, it is flesh; if bones, they are bones; if scars, they are scars. For there was not in Him yea and nay, but in Him was yea, as the Apostle says. Hence that expression, Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid. That is, do not so stand in awe of My Majesty, as to wish to take away the reality of My Being from Me. Though I walk upon the sea, though I have under My feet the elation and the pride of this world, as the raging waves, yet have I appeared as very Man, yet does My Gospel proclaim the very truth concerning Me, that I was born of a Virgin, that I am the Word made flesh; that I said truly, Handle Me, and see, for a spirit has not bones as you see Me have, that they were true impresses of My wounds which the hands of the doubting Apostle handled. And therefore It is I; be not afraid.

9. But this, that the disciples thought He was a phantom, does not represent these only, does not designate them only who deny that the Lord had human flesh, and who sometimes by their blind perverseness disturb even those who are in the ship; but those also who think that the Lord has in anything spoken falsely, and who do not believe that the things which He has threatened the ungodly will come to pass. As though He were partly true, and partly false, appearing like a phantom in His words, as though He were something which is yea and nay. But they who understand His voice aright, who says, It is I; be not afraid; believe at once all the words of the Lord, so that as they hope for the rewards He promises, so do they fear the punishments He threatens. For as that is true which He will say to those who are set on the right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; so is that true, which they on the left hand will hear, Depart ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his Angels. For this very opinion, by which men think that Christ's threatenings against the unrighteous and the abandoned are not true, has arisen from this, that they see many nations and multitudes innumerable subject to His Name; so that hence Christ appears to them to be a phantom, because He walked upon the sea; that is, He seems to speak falsely in His threats of punishment, because, as it were, He cannot destroy such numberless people who are subject to His Name and honour. But let them hear Him, saying, It is I; let them not therefore be afraid, who believing Christ to be true in all things, not only seek after what He has promised, but avoid also what He has threatened; because though He walk upon the sea, that is, though all the nations of men in this world are subject unto Him; yet is He no phantom, and therefore He does not speak falsely, when He says, Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

10. What then does Peter's daring to come to Him on the waters also signify? For Peter generally stands for a figure of the Church. What else then do we think is meant by, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto You on the water; but, Lord, if You are true, and in nothing speakest falsely, let Your Church also be glorified in this world, because prophecy has proclaimed this concerning You. Let her walk then on the waters, and so let her come to You, to whom it is said, The rich among the people shall entreat Your favour. But since to the Lord the praise of men is no temptation, but men are ofttimes in the Church disordered by human praises and honours, and well near sunk by them; therefore did Peter tremble in the sea, terrified at the great violence of the storm. For who does not fear those words, They who call you blessed cause you to err, and disturb the ways of your feet? And because the soul has much wrestling against the eager desire of human praise, good is it in such peril to betake one's self to prayer and earnest entreaty: lest haply he who is charmed with praise, be overwhelmed and sunk by blame. Let Peter cry out as he totters in the water, and say, Lord, save me. For the Lord will reach forth His hand, and though He chide, saying, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt? wherefore did you not look straight forward upon Him to whom you were making your way, and glory only in the Lord? Nevertheless He will snatch him from the waves, and will not suffer Him to perish, who confesses his own infirmity, and begs His help. But when they had received the Lord into the ship, and their faith was strengthened and all doubt removed, and the tempests of the sea assuaged, so that they had come to a firm and secure landing, they all worship Him, saying, Of a truth You are the Son of God. For this is that everlasting joy, where Truth made manifest, and the Word of God, and the Wisdom by which all things were made, and the exceeding height of His Mercy, are both known and loved.

Again on Matthew 14:25 : Of the Lord walking on the waves of the sea, and of Peter tottering.

1. The Gospel which has just been read touching the Lord Christ, who walked on the waters of the sea; and the Apostle Peter, who as he was walking, tottered through fear, and sinking in distrust, rose again by confession, gives us to understand that the sea is the present world, and the Apostle Peter the type of the One Church. For Peter in the order of Apostles first, and in the love of Christ most forward, answers oftentimes alone for all the rest. Again, when the Lord Jesus Christ asked, whom men said that He was, and when the disciples gave the various opinions of men, and the Lord asked again and said, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. One for many gave the answer, Unity in many. Then said the Lord to Him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonas: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but My Father which is in heaven. Then He added, and I say unto you. As if He had said, Because you have said to Me, 'You are the Christ the Son of the living God;' I also say unto you, 'You are Peter.' For before he was called Simon. Now this name of Peter was given him by the Lord, and that in a figure, that he should signify the Church. For seeing that Christ is the rock (Petra), Peter is the Christian people. For the rock (Petra) is the original name. Therefore Peter is so called from the rock; not the rock from Peter; as Christ is not called Christ from the Christian, but the Christian from Christ. Therefore, he says, You are Peter; and upon this Rock which you have confessed, upon this Rock which you have acknowledged, saying, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, will I build My Church; that is upon Myself, the Son of the living God, will I build My Church. I will build you upon Myself, not Myself upon you.

2. For men who wished to be built upon men, said, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, who is Peter. But others who did not wish to be built upon Peter, but upon the Rock, said, But I am of Christ. And when the Apostle Paul ascertained that he was chosen, and Christ despised, he said, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? And, as not in the name of Paul, so neither in the name of Peter; but in the name of Christ: that Peter might be built upon the Rock, not the Rock upon Peter.

3. This same Peter therefore who had been by the Rock pronounced blessed, bearing the figure of the Church, holding the chief place in the Apostleship, a very little while after that he had heard that he was blessed, a very little while after that he had heard that he was Peter, a very little while after that he had heard that he was to be built upon the Rock, displeased the Lord when He had heard of His future Passion, for He had foretold His disciples that it was soon to be. He feared lest he should by death, lose Him whom he had confessed as the fountain of life. He was troubled, and said, Be it far from You, Lord: this shall not be to You. Spare Yourself, O God, I am not willing that You should die. Peter said to Christ, I am not willing that You should die; but Christ far better said, I am willing to die for you. And then He immediately rebuked him, whom He had a little before commended; and calls him Satan, whom he had pronounced blessed. Get behind Me, Satan, he says, you are an offense unto Me: for you savour not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. What would He have us do in our present state, who thus finds fault because we are men? Would you know what He would have us do? Give ear to the Psalm; I have said, You are gods, and you are all the children of the Most High. But by savouring the things of men; you shall die like men. The very same Peter a little while before blessed, afterwards Satan, in one moment, within a few words! You wonder at the difference of the names, mark the difference of the reasons of them. Why do you wonder that he who was a little before blessed, is afterwards Satan? Mark the reason wherefore he is blessed. Because flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but My Father which is in heaven. Therefore blessed, because flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you. For if flesh and blood revealed this to you, it were of your own; but because flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but My Father which is in heaven, it is of Mine, not of your own. Why of Mine? Because all things that the Father has are Mine. So then you have heard the cause, why he is blessed, and why he is Peter. But why was he that which we shudder at, and are loth to repeat, why, but because it was of your own? For you savour not the things which be of God, but those that be of men.

4. Let us, looking at ourselves in this member of the Church, distinguish what is of God, and what of ourselves. For then we shall not totter, then shall we be founded on the Rock, shall be fixed and firm against the winds, and storms, and streams, the temptations, I mean, of this present world. Yet see this Peter, who was then our figure; now he trusts, and now he totters; now he confesses the Undying, and now he fears lest He should die. Wherefore? Because the Church of Christ has both strong and weak ones; and cannot be without either strong or weak; whence the Apostle Paul says, Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. In that Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, he represents the strong: but in that he totters, and would not that Christ should suffer, in fearing death for Him, and not acknowledging the Life, he represents the weak ones of the Church. In that one Apostle then, that is, Peter, in the order of Apostles first and chiefest, in whom the Church was figured, both sorts were to be represented, that is, both the strong and weak; because the Church does not exist without them both.

5. And hence also is that which was just now read, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto You on the water. For I cannot do this in myself, but in You. He acknowledged what he had of himself, and what of Him, by whose will he believed that he could do that, which no human weakness could do. Therefore, if it be Thou, bid me; because when you bid, it will be done. What I cannot do by taking it upon myself, You can do by bidding me. And the Lord said Come. And without any doubting, at the word of Him who bade him, at the presence of Him who sustained, at the presence of Him who guided him, without any delay, Peter leaped down into the water, and began to walk. He was able to do what the Lord was doing, not in himself, but in the Lord. For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. What no one can do in Paul, no one in Peter, no one in any other of the Apostles, this can he do in the Lord. Therefore well said Paul by a wholesome despising of himself, and commending of Him; Was Paul crucified for you, or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? So then, you are not in me, but together with me; not under me, but under Him.

6. Therefore Peter walked on the water by the bidding of the Lord, knowing that he could not have this power of himself. By faith he had strength to do what human weakness could not do. These are the strong ones of the Church. Mark this, hear, understand, and act accordingly. For we must not deal with the strong on any other principle than this, that so they should become weak; but thus we must deal with the weak, that they may become strong. But the presuming on their own strength keeps many back from strength. No one will have strength from God, but he who feels himself weak of himself. God sets apart a spontaneous rain for His inheritance. Why do you, who know what I was about to say, anticipate me? Let your quickness be moderated, that the slowness of the rest may follow. This I said, and I say it again; hear it, receive it, and act on this principle. No one is made strong by God, but he who feels himself weak of his own self. And therefore a spontaneous rain, as the Psalm says, spontaneous; not of our deserts, but spontaneous. A spontaneous rain therefore God sets apart for his inheritance; for it was weak; but You have perfected it. Because Thou hast set apart for it a spontaneous rain, not looking to men's deserts, but to Your own grace and mercy. This inheritance then was weakened, and acknowledged its own weakness in itself, that it might be strong in You. It would not be strengthened, if it were not weak, that by You it might be perfected in You.

7. See Paul a small portion of this inheritance, see him in weakness, who said, I am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Why then are you an Apostle? By the grace of God I am what I am. I am not meet, but by the grace of God I am what I am. Paul was weak, but You have perfected him. But now because by the grace of God he is what he is, look what follows; And His grace in me was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all. Take heed lest you lose by presumption what you have attained through weakness. This is well, very well; that I am not meet to be called an Apostle. By His grace I am what I am, and His grace in me was not in vain: all most excellent. But, I laboured more abundantly than they all; you have begun, it would seem, to ascribe to yourself what a little before you had given to God. Attend and follow on; Yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Well! You weak one; you shall be exalted in exceeding strength, seeing you are not unthankful. You are the very same Paul, little in yourself; and great in the Lord. You are he who thrice beseeched the Lord, that the thorn of the flesh, the messenger of Satan, by whom you were buffeted, might be taken away from you. And what was said to you? What did you hear when you made this petition? My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. For he was weak, but Thou perfected him.

8. So Peter also said, Bid me come unto You on the water. I who dare this am but a man, but it is no man whom I beseech. Let the God-man bid, that man may be able to do what man cannot do. Come, said He. And He went down, and began to walk on the water; and Peter was able, because the Rock had bidden him. Lo, what Peter was in the Lord; what was he in himself? When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, I perish, save me. When he looked for strength from the Lord, he had strength from the Lord; as a man he tottered, but he returned to the Lord. If I said, my foot has slipped (they are the words of a Psalm, the notes of a holy song; and if we acknowledge them they are our words too; yea, if we will, they are ours also). If I said my foot has slipped. How slipped, except because it was my own. And what follows? Your mercy, Lord, helped me. Not my own strength, but Your mercy. For will God forsake him as he totters, whom He heard when calling upon Him? Where then is that, Who has called upon God, and has been forsaken by Him? where again is that, Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord, shall be delivered. Immediately reaching forth the help of His right hand, He lifted him up as he was sinking, and rebuked his distrust; O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt? Once you trusted in Me, have you now doubted of Me?

9. Well, brethren, my sermon must be ended. Consider the world to be the sea; the wind is boisterous, and there is a mighty tempest. Each man's peculiar lust is his tempest. Thou dost love God; you walk upon the sea, and under your feet is the swelling of the world. Thou dost love the world, it will swallow you up. It skills only how to devour its lovers, not to carry them. But when your heart is tossed about by lust, in order that you may get the better of your lust, call upon the Divinity of Christ. Think ye that the wind is then contrary, when there is this life's adversity? For so when there are wars, when there is tumult, when there is famine, when there is pestilence, when even to every individual man his private calamity arrives, then the wind is thought to be contrary, then it is thought that God must be called upon. But when the world wears her smile of temporal happiness, it is as if there were no contrary wind. But do not ask upon this matter the tranquil state of the times: ask only your own lust. See if there be tranquillity within you: see if there be no inner wind which overturns you; see to this. There needs great virtue to struggle with happiness, lest this very happiness allure, corrupt, and overthrow you. There needs, I say, great virtue to struggle with happiness, and great happiness not to be overcome by happiness. Learn then to tread upon the world; remember to trust in Christ. And if your foot have slipped; if you totter, if some things there are which you can not overcome, if you begin to sink, say, Lord, I perish, save me. Say, I perish, that you perish not. For He only can deliver you from the death of the body, who died in the body for you. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 15:21 ,Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanitish woman, etc.

1. This woman of Canaan, who has just now been brought before us in the lesson of the Gospel, shows us an example of humility, and the way of godliness; shows us how to rise from humility unto exaltation. Now she was, as it appears, not of the people of Israel, of whom came the Patriarchs, and Prophets, and the parents of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh; of whom the Virgin Mary herself was, who was the Mother of Christ. This woman then was not of this people; but of the Gentiles. For, as we have heard, the Lord departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and with the greatest earnestness begged of Him the mercy to heal her daughter, who was grievously vexed with a devil. Tyre and Sidon were not cities of the people of Israel, but of the Gentiles; though they bordered on that people. So then, as being eager to obtain mercy she cried out, and boldly knocked; and He made as though He heard her not, not to the end that mercy might be refused her, but that her desire might be enkindled; and not only that her desire might be enkindled, but that, as I have said before, her humility might be set forth. Therefore did she cry, while the Lord was as though He heard her not, but was ordering in silence what He was about to do. The disciples besought the Lord for her, and said, Send her away; for she cries after us. And He said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

2. Here arises a question out of these words; If He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, how came we from among the Gentiles into Christ's fold? What is the meaning of the so deep economy of this mystery, that whereas the Lord knew the purpose of His coming — that He might have a Church in all nations, He said that 'He was not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel'? We understand then by this that it behooved Him to manifest His Bodily presence, His Birth, the exhibition of His miracles, and the power of His Resurrection, among that people: that so it had been ordained, so set forth from the beginning, so predicted, and so fulfilled; that Christ Jesus was to come to the nation of the Jews, to be seen and slain, and to gain from among them those whom He foreknew. For that people was not wholly condemned, but sifted. There was among them a great quantity of chaff, but there was also the hidden worth of the grain; there was among them that which was to be burnt, there was among them also that wherewith the barn was to be filled. For whence came the Apostles? Whence came Peter? Whence the rest?

3. Whence was Paul himself, who was first called Saul? That is, first proud, afterwards humble? For when he was Saul, his name was derived from Saul: now Saul was a proud king; and in his reign he persecuted the humble David. So when he who was afterwards Paul, was Saul, he was proud, at that time a persecutor of the innocent, at that time a waster of the Church. For he had received letters from the chief priests (burning as he was with zeal for the synagogue, and persecuting the Christian name), that he might show up whatever Christians he should find, to be punished. While he is on his way, while he is breathing out slaughter, while he is thirsting for blood, he is thrown to the ground by the voice of Christ from heaven the persecutor, he is raised up the preacher. In him was fulfilled that which is written in the Prophet, I will wound and I will heal. For that only in man does God wound, which lifts itself up against God. He is no unkind physician who opens the swelling, who cuts, or cauterizes the corrupted part. He gives pain, it is true; but he only gives pain, that he may bring the patient on to health. He gives pain; but if he did not, he would do no good. Christ then by one word laid Saul low, and raised up Paul; that is, He laid low the proud, and raised up the humble. For what was the reason of his change of name, that whereas he was afore called Saul, he chose afterwards to be called Paul; but that he acknowledged in himself that the name of Saul when he was a persecutor, had been a name of pride? He chose therefore a humble name; to be called Paul, that is, the least. For Paul is, the least. Paul is nothing else but little. And now glorying in this name, and giving us a lesson of humility, he says, I am the least of the Apostles. Whence then, whence was he, but of the people of the Jews? Of them were the other Apostles, of them was Paul, of them were they whom the same Paul mentions, as having seen the Lord after His resurrection. For he says, That He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

4. Of this people too, of the people of the Jews, were they, who when Peter was speaking, setting forth the Passion, and Resurrection, and Divinity of Christ (after that the Holy Ghost had been received, when all they on whom the Holy Ghost had come, spoke with the tongues of all nations), being pricked in spirit as they heard him, sought counsel for their salvation, understanding as they did that they were guilty of the Blood of Christ; because they had crucified, and slain Him, in whose name though slain by them they saw such great miracles wrought; and saw the presence of the Holy Ghost. And so seeking counsel they received for answer; Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins shall be forgiven you. Who should despair of the forgiveness of his sins, when the crime of killing Christ was forgiven to those who were guilty of it? They were converted from among this people of the Jews; were converted, and baptized. They came to the Lord's table, and in faith drank that Blood, which in their fury they had shed. Now in what sort they were converted, how decidedly, and how perfectly, the Acts of the Apostles show. For they sold all that they possessed, and laid the prices of their things at the Apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need; and no man said that ought was his own, but they had all things common. And, They were, as it is written, of one heart and of one soul. Lo here are the sheep of whom He said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. For to them He exhibited His Presence, for them in the midst of their violence against Him He prayed as He was being crucified, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The Physician understood how those frenzied men were in their madness putting the Physician to death, and in putting their Physician to death, though they knew it not, were preparing a medicine for themselves. For by the Lord so put to death are all we cured, by His Blood redeemed, by the Bread of His Body delivered from famine. This Presence then did Christ exhibit to the Jews. And so He said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel; that to them He might exhibit the Presence of His body; not that He might disregard, and pass over the sheep which He had among the Gentiles.

5. For to the Gentiles He went not Himself, but sent His disciples. And in this was fulfilled what the Prophet said; A people whom I have not known has served Me. See how deep, how clear, how express the prophecy is; a people whom I have not known, that is, to whom I have not exhibited My Presence, has served Me. How? It goes on to say, By the hearing of the ear they have obeyed Me: that is, they have believed, not by seeing, but by hearing. Therefore have the Gentiles the greater praise. For the others saw and slew Him; the Gentiles heard and believed. Now it was to call and gather together the Gentiles, that that might be fulfilled which we have just now chanted, Gather us from among the Gentiles, that we may confess to Your Name, and glory in Your praise, that the Apostle Paul was sent. He, the least, made great, not by himself, but by Him whom he once persecuted, was sent to the Gentiles, from a robber become a shepherd, from a wolf a sheep. He, the least Apostle, was sent to the Gentiles, and laboured much among the Gentiles, and through him the Gentiles believed. His Epistles are the witnesses.

6. Of this you have a very sacred figure in the Gospel also. A daughter of a ruler of the synagogue was really dead, and her father besought the Lord, that He would go to her; he had left her sick, and in extreme danger. The Lord set out to visit and heal the sick; in the mean time it was announced that she was dead, and it was told the father; Your daughter is dead, trouble not the Master. But the Lord who knew that He could raise the dead, did not deprive the despairing father of hope, and said to him, Fear not: only believe. So he set out to the maiden; and in the way a certain woman, who had suffered from an issue of blood, and in her lengthened illness had spent to no purpose all that she had upon physicians, pressed herself in, how she could, among the crowds. When she touched the border of His garment, she was made whole. And the Lord said, Who touched Me? The disciples who knew not what had taken place, and saw that He was thronged by the multitudes, and that He was troubling Himself about one single woman who had touched Him gently, answered in astonishment, The multitudes press You, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? And He said, Somebody has touched Me? For the other press, she has touched. The many then rudely press the Body of Christ, few touch it healthfully. Somebody, says He, has touched Me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she fell down at His feet, and confessed what had taken place. After this He set out again, and arrived whither He was going, and raised to life the young daughter of the ruler of the synagogue who was found to be dead.

7. This was a literal fact, and was fulfilled as it is related; but nevertheless these very things which were done by the Lord had some further signification, being (if we may so say) a sort of visible and significative words. And this is especially plain, in that place where He sought fruit on the tree out of season, and because He found none, dried up the tree by His curse. Unless this action be regarded as a figure, there is no good meaning in it; first to have sought fruit on that tree when it was not the season for fruit on any tree; and then even if it were now the time of fruit, what fault in the tree was it to have none? But because it signified, that He seeks not for leaves only, but for fruit also, that is, not for the words only, but for the deeds of men, by drying up that tree whereon he found only leaves, he signified their punishment who can speak good things, but will not do them. And so it is in this place also. For surely there is a mystery in it. He who foreknows all things says, Who touched Me? The Creator makes Himself like one who is ignorant; and He asks, who not only knew this, but who even foreknew all other things. Doubtless there is something which Christ would speak to us in this significant mystery.

8. That daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was a figure of the people of the Jews, for whose sake Christ had come, who said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the woman who suffered from the issue of blood, figured the Church from among the Gentiles, to which Christ was not sent in His bodily presence. He was going to the former, He was intent on her recovery; meanwhile the latter runs to meet Him, touches His border as though He knew it not; that is, she is healed by Him who is in some sense absent. He says, Who touched Me? as though He would say; I do not know this people; A people whom I have not known has served Me. Some one has touched Me. For I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me; that is, that My Gospel has gone out and filled the whole world. Now it is the border that is touched, a small and outside part of the garment. Consider the Apostles as it were the garment of Christ. Among them Paul was the border; that is, the last and least. For he said of himself that he was both; I am the least of the Apostles. For he was called after them all, he believed after them all, he healed more than they all. The Lord was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But because a people whom He had not known, was also to serve Him, and to obey Him in the hearing of the ear, He made mention of them too when He was among the others. For the same Lord said in a certain place, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, that there may be one fold and one shepherd.

9. Of these was this woman; therefore she was not refused, but only put off. I am not sent, says He, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she was instant in her cries: she persevered, she knocked, as if she had already heard, Ask, and receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. She kept on, she knocked. For so the Lord when He spoke these words, Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; had also said before, Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you; that is, lest after despising your pearls, they should even ill use you. Cast not therefore before them what they despise.

10. And how distinguish we (as might be answered) who are swine, and who are dogs? This has been shown in the case of this woman. For He only answered to her entreaties, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. You are a dog, you are one of the Gentiles, you worship idols. But for dogs what is so proper as to lick stones? It is not therefore meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. Had she retired after these words, she had gone away as she had come, a dog; but by knocking she was made of a dog one of human kind. For she persevered in asking, and from that reproach as it were she manifested her humility, and obtained mercy. For she was not excited, nor incensed, because she was called a dog, as she asked the blessing, and prayed for mercy, but she said, Truth, Lord; You have called me a dog, and truly a dog I am, I acknowledge my name: it is the Truth that speaks: but I ought not on that account to be refused this blessing. Verily I am a dog; 'yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.' It is but a moderate and a small blessing I desire; I do not press to the table, I only seek for the crumbs.

11. See, Brethren, how the value of humility is set before us! The Lord had called her a dog; and she did not say, I am not, but she said, I am. And because she acknowledged herself to be a dog, immediately the Lord said, Woman, great is your faith; be it unto you even as you have asked. You have acknowledged yourself to be a dog, I now acknowledge you to be of human kind. O woman, great is your faith; you have asked, and sought, and knocked; receive, find, be it opened unto you. See, Brethren, how in this woman who was a Canaanite, that is, who came from among the Gentiles, and was a type, that is a figure, of the Church, the grace of humility has been eminently set before us. For the Jewish nation, to the end that it might be deprived of the grace of the Gospel, was puffed up with pride, because to them it had been vouchsafed to receive the Law, because out of this nation the Patriarchs had proceeded, the Prophets had sprung, Moses, the servant of God, had done the great miracles in Egypt which we have heard of in the Psalm, had led the people through the Red Sea, when the waters retired, and had received the Law, which he gave to this people. This was that whereupon the Jewish nation was lifted up, and through this very pride it happened that they were not willing to humble themselves to Christ the author of humility, and the restrainer of proud swelling, to God the Physician, who, being God, for this cause became Man, that man might know himself to be but man. O mighty remedy! If this remedy cure not pride, I know not what can cure it. He is God, and is made Man; He lays aside His Divinity, that is, in a manner sequestrates, hides, that is, what was His Own, and appears only in that He had taken to Him. Being God He is made man: and man will not acknowledge himself to be man, that is, will not acknowledge himself to be mortal, will not acknowledge himself to be frail, will not acknowledge himself to be a sinner, will not acknowledge himself to be sick, that so at least as sick he may seek the physician; but what is more perilous still, he fancies himself in sound health.

12. So then for this reason that people did not come to Him, that is by reason of pride; and the natural branches are said to be broken off from the olive tree, that is from that people founded by the Patriarchs; in other words, the Jews are for their punishment justly barren through the spirit of pride; and the wild olive is grafted into that olive tree. The wild olive tree is the people of the Gentiles. So says the Apostle, that the wild olive tree is grafted into the good olive tree, but the natural branches are broken off. Because of pride they were broken off: and the wild olive tree grafted in because of humility. This humility did the woman show forth when she said, Truth, Lord, I am a dog, I desire only the crumbs. In this humility also did the Centurion please Him; who when he desired that his servant might be healed by the Lord, and the Lord said, I will come and heal him, answered, Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. He did not receive Him into his house, but he had received Him already in his heart. The more humble, the more capacious, and the more full. For the hills drive back the water, but the valleys are filled by it. And what then, what said the Lord to those who followed Him after that he had said, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof? Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel; that is, in that people to whom I came, I have not found so great faith. And whence great? Great from being the least, that is, great from humility. I have not found so great faith; like a grain of mustard seed, which by how much smaller it is, by so much the more burning is it. Therefore did the Lord at once graft the wild olive into the good olive tree. He did it then when He said, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

13. Lastly, mark what follows. Therefore,— that is, because I have not found so great faith in Israel, that is, so great humility with faith —Therefore I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Shall sit, that is, shall rest. For we must not form notions of carnal banquets there, or desire any such thing in that kingdom, as to change not vices for virtues, but only to make an exchange of vices. For it is one thing to desire the kingdom of heaven for the sake of wisdom and life eternal; another, for the sake of earthly felicity, as though there we should have it in more abundant and greater measure. If you think to be rich in that kingdom, you do not cut off, but only changest desire; and yet rich you will really be, and in none other place but there will you be rich; for here your want gathers together the abundance of things. Why have rich men much? Because they want much. A greater want heaps together as it were greater means; there want itself shall die. Then you shall be truly rich, when you shall be in want of nothing. For now you are not surely rich, and an Angel poor, who has not horses, and carriages, and servants. Why? Because he does not want any of these: because in proportion to his greater strength, is his want the less. Therefore there there are riches, and the true riches. Figure not to yourselves then banquets of this earth in that place. For the banquets of this world are daily medicines; they are necessary for a kind of sickness we have, wherewith we are born. This sickness every one is sensible of, when the hour for refreshment is passed. Would you see how great a sickness this is, that as an acute fever would be fatal in seven days? Do not fancy yourself then to be in health. Immortality will be health. For this present is only one long sickness. Because you support your disease by daily medicines; you fancy yourself in health; take away the medicines, and then see what you can do.

14. For from the moment we are born, we must needs be dying. This disease must needs bring us to death. This indeed physicians say when they examine their patients. For instance, This man has the dropsy, he is dying; this disease cannot be cured. This man has the leprosy: this disease too cannot be cured. He is in a consumption. Who can cure this? He must needs die, he must perish. See, the physician has now pronounced that he is in a consumption; that he cannot but die; and yet sometimes the dropsical patient does not die of his disease, and the leprous does not die of his, nor the consumptive patient of his; but now it is absolutely necessary that every one who is born should die of this. He dies of it, he cannot do otherwise. This the physician and the unskilled both pronounce upon; and though he die somewhat more slowly, does he on that account not die? Where then is there true health, except where there is true immortality? But if it be true immortality, and no corruption, no wasting, what need will there be there of nourishment? Therefore, when you hear it said, They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; get not your body, but your soul in order. There shall you be filled; and this inner man has its proper food. In relation to it is it said, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And so truly filled shall they be that they shall hunger no more.

15. Therefore did the Lord graft in at once the wild olive tree, when He said, Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; that is, they shall be grafted into the good olive tree. For Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, are the roots of this olive tree; but the children of the kingdom, that is, the unbelieving Jews, shall go away into outer darkness. The natural branches shall be broken off, that the wild olive tree may be grafted in. Now why did the natural branches deserve to be cut off, except for pride? Why the wild olive tree to be grafted in, except for humility? Whence also that woman said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. And thereupon she hears, O woman, great is your faith. And so again that centurion, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Let us then learn, or let us hold fast, humility. If we have it not yet, let us learn it; if we have it, let us not lose it. If we have it not yet, let us have it, that we may be grafted in; if we have it already, let us hold it fast, that we may not be cut off.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 17:1 , After six days Jesus takes with Him Peter, and James, and John his brother, etc.

1. We must now look into and treat of that vision which the Lord showed on the mount. For it is this of which He had said, Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man in His Kingdom. Then began the passage which has just been read. When He had said this, after six days He took three disciples, Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain. These three were those some, of whom He had said, There be some here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man in His kingdom. There is no small difficulty here. For that mount was not the whole extent of His kingdom. What is a mountain to Him who possesses the heavens? Which we not only read He does, but in some sort see it with the eyes of the heart. He calls that His kingdom, which in many places He calls the kingdom of heaven. Now the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of the saints. For the heavens declare the glory of God. And of these heavens it is immediately said in the Psalm, There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world. Whose words, but of the heavens? And of the Apostles, and all faithful preachers of the word of God. These heavens therefore shall reign together with Him who made the heavens. Now consider what was done, that this might be made manifest.

2. The Lord Jesus Himself shone bright as the sun; His raiment became white as the snow; and Moses and Elias talked with Him. Jesus Himself indeed shone as the sun, signifying that He is the light which lights every man that comes into the world. What this sun is to the eyes of the flesh, that is He to the eyes of the heart; and what that is to the flesh of men, that is He to their hearts. Now His raiment is His Church. For if the raiment be not held together by him who puts it on, it will fall off. Of this raiment, Paul was as it were a sort of last border. For he says himself, I am the least of the Apostles. And in another place, I am the last of the Apostles. Now in a garment the border is the last and least part. Wherefore as that woman which suffered from an issue of blood, when she had touched the Lord's border was made whole, so the Church which came from out of the Gentiles, was made whole by the preaching of Paul. What wonder if the Church is signified by white raiment, when you hear the Prophet Isaiah saying, Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow? Moses and Elias, that is, the Law and the Prophets, what avail they, except they converse with the Lord? Except they give witness to the Lord, who would read the Law or the Prophets? Mark how briefly the Apostle expresses this; For by the Law is the knowledge of sin; but now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested: behold the sun; being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, behold the shining of the Sun.

3. Peter sees this, and as a man savouring the things of men says, Lord, it is good for us to be here. He had been wearied with the multitude, he had found now the mountain's solitude; there he had Christ the Bread of the soul. What! should he depart thence again to travail and pains, possessed of a holy love to Godward, and thereby of a good conversation? He wished well for himself; and so he added, If You will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. To this the Lord made no answer; but notwithstanding Peter was answered. For while he yet spoke, a bright cloud came, and overshadowed them. He desired three tabernacles; the heavenly answer showed him that we have One, which human judgment desired to divide. Christ, the Word of God, the Word of God in the Law, the Word in the Prophets. Why, Peter, do you seek to divide them? It were more fitting for you to join them. You seek three; understand that they are but One.

4. As the cloud then overshadowed them, and in a way made one tabernacle for them, a voice also sounded out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son. Moses was there; Elias was there; yet it was not said, These are My beloved sons. For the Only Son is one thing; adopted sons another. He was singled out in whom the Law and the prophets glorified. This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him! Because you have heard Him in the Prophets, and you have heard Him in the Law. And where have ye not heard Him? When they heard this, they fell to the earth. See then in the Church is exhibited to us the Kingdom of God. Here is the Lord, here the Law and the Prophets; but the Lord as the Lord; the Law in Moses, Prophecy in Elias; only they as servants and as ministers. They as vessels: He as the fountain: Moses and the Prophets spoke, and wrote; but when they poured out, they were filled from Him.

5. But the Lord stretched out His hand, and raised them as they lay. And then they saw no man, save Jesus only. What does this mean? When the Apostle was being read, you heard, For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. And tongues shall cease, when that which we now hope for and believe shall come. In then that they fell to the earth, they signified that we die, for it was said to the flesh, Earth you are, and unto earth shall you return. But when the Lord raised them up, He signified the resurrection. After the resurrection, what is the Law to you? What Prophecy? Therefore neither Moses nor Elias is seen. He only remains to you, Who in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He remains to you, that God may be all in all. Moses will be there; but now no more the Law. We shall see Elias there too; but now no more the Prophet. For the Law and the Prophets have only given witness to Christ, that it behooved Him to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day, and to enter into His glory. And in this glory is fulfilled what He has promised to them that love Him, He that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him. And as if it were said, What will You give him, seeing You will love him? And I will manifest Myself unto him. Great gift! great promise! God does not reserve for you as a reward anything of His own, but Himself. O you covetous one; why does not what Christ promises suffice you? Thou dost seem to yourself to be rich; yet if you have not God, what have you? Another is poor, yet if he has God, what has he not?

6. Come down, Peter: you were desiring to rest on the mount; come down, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Endure, labour hard, bear your measure of torture; that you may possess what is meant by the white raiment of the Lord, through the brightness and the beauty of an upright labouring in charity. For when the Apostle was being read we heard in praise of charity, She seeks not her own. She seeks not her own; since she gives what she possesses. In another place there is more danger in the expression, if you do not understand it right. For the Apostle, charging the faithful members of Christ after this rule of charity, says, Let no man seek his own, but another's. For on hearing this, covetousness is ready with its deceits, that in a matter of business under pretence of seeking another's, it may defraud a man, and so, seek not his own, but another's. But let covetousness restrain itself, let justice come forth; so let us hear and understand. It is to charity that it is said, Let no man seek his own, but another's. Now, O you covetous one, if you will still resist, and twist the precept rather to this point, that you should covet what is another's; then lose what is your own. But as I know you well, you wish to have both your own and another's. You will commit fraud that you may have what is another's; submit then to robbery that you may lose your own. Thou dost not wish to seek your own, but then you take away what is another's. Now if you do this, you do not well. Hear and listen, you covetous one: the Apostle explains to you in another place more clearly this that he said, Let no man seek his own, but another's. He says of himself, Not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. This Peter understood not yet when he desired to live on the mount with Christ. He was reserving this for you, Peter, after death. But now He says Himself, Come down, to labour in the earth; in the earth to serve, to be despised, and crucified in the earth. The Life came down, that He might be slain; the Bread came down, that He might hunger; the Way came down, that life might be wearied in the way; the Fountain came down, that He might thirst; and do you refuse to labour? 'Seek not your own.' Have charity, preach the truth; so shall you come to eternity, where you shall find security.

Again on the words of the Gospel, Matthew 17 ., where Jesus showed Himself on the mount to His three disciples.

1. We heard when the Holy Gospel was being read of the great vision on the mount, in which Jesus showed Himself to the three disciples, Peter, James, and John. His face did shine as the sun: this is a figure of the shining of the Gospel. His raiment was white as the snow: this is a figure of the purity of the Church, to which it was said by the Prophet, Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow. Elias and Moses were talking with Him; because the grace of the Gospel receives witness from the Law and the Prophets. The Law is represented in Moses, the Prophets in Elias; to speak briefly. For there are the mercies of God vouchsafed through a holy Martyr to be rehearsed. Let us give ear. Peter desired three tabernacles to be made, one for Moses, one for Elias, and one for Christ. The solitude of the mountain had charms for him; he had been wearied with the tumult of the world's business. But why sought he three tabernacles, but because he knew not as yet the unity of the Law, and of Prophecy, and of the Gospel? Lastly, he was corrected by the cloud, While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Lo, the cloud has made one tabernacle; wherefore did you seek for three? And a voice came out of the cloud, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. Elias speaks; but hear Him; Moses speaks; but hear Him. The Prophets speak, the Law speaks; but hear Him. who is the voice of the Law, and the tongue of the Prophets. He spoke in them, and when He vouchsafed so to do, He appeared in His own person. Hear ye Him: let us then hear Him. When the Gospel spoke, think it was the cloud: from thence has the voice sounded out to us. Let us hear Him; that is, let us do what He says, let us hope for what He has promised.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 17:19 , Why could not we cast it out? Etc., and on prayer.

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ reproved unbelief even in His own disciples, as we heard just now when the Gospel was being read. For when they had said, Why could not we cast him out? He answered, Because of your unbelief. If the Apostles were unbelievers, who is a believer? What must the lambs do, if the rams totter? Yet the mercy of the Lord did not disdain them in their unbelief; but reproved, nourished, perfected, crowned them. For they themselves, as mindful of their own weakness, said to Him, as we read in a certain place in the Gospel, Lord, increase our faith. Lord, say they, increase our faith. The knowing that they had a deficiency, was the first advantage; a greater happiness still, to know who it was of whom they were asking. Lord, say they, increase our faith. See, if they did not bring their hearts as it were to the fountain, and knocked that that might be opened to them, out of which they might fill them. For He would that men should knock at Him, not that He might repel those that knock, but that He might exercise those who long.

2. For do you think, Brethren, that God does not know what is needful for you? He knows and prevents our desires, who knows our want. And so when He taught His disciples to pray, and warned them not to use many words in prayer, He says, Use not many words; for your Father knows what things you have need of before ye ask Him. Now the Lord says something different from this. What is this? Because He misliked that we should use many words in prayer, He said to us, When ye pray, use not many words; for your Father knows what things you have need of before ye ask Him. If our Father knows what things we have need of before we ask Him, why do we use even few words? What is the use of prayer at all, if our Father knows already what things we have need of? He says to one, Do not make your prayer to Me at great length; for I know what is needful for you. If so, Lord, why should I so much as pray at all? You would not that I should use long prayers, yea rather Thou dost even bid me to use near none at all. And then what means that precept in another place? For He who says, Use not many words in prayer, says in another place, Ask, and it shall be given you. And that you might not think that this first precept to ask was given cursorily, He added, Seek, and you shall find. And that you might not think that this too was cursorily given, see what He added further, see with what He finished. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you: see what He added. He would have you ask that you may receive, and seek that you may find, and knock that you may enter in. Seeing then that our Father knows already what is needful for us, how and why do we ask? Why seek? Why knock? Why weary ourselves in asking, and seeking, and knocking, to instruct Him who knows already? And in another place the words of the Lord are, Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. If men ought always to pray, how does He say, Use not many words? How can I always pray, if I so quickly make an end? Here Thou biddest me to finish quickly; there always to pray and not to faint: what does this mean? Now that you may understand this, ask, seek, knock. For for this cause is it closed, not to shut you out, but to exercise you. Therefore, brethren, ought we to exhort to prayer, both ourselves and you. For other hope have we none amid the manifold evils of this present world, than to knock in prayer, to believe and to maintain the belief firm in the heart, that your Father only does not give you what He knows is not expedient for you. For you know what you desire; He knows what is good for you. Imagine yourself under a physician, and in weak health, as is the very truth; for all this life of ours is a weakness; and a long life is nothing else but a prolonged weakness. Imagine yourself then to be sick under the physician's hand. You have a desire to ask your physician leave to drink a draught of fresh wine. You are not prohibited from asking, for it may chance to do you no harm, or even good to receive it. Do not then hesitate to ask; ask, hesitate not; but if you receive not, do not take it to heart. Now if you would act thus in the hands of a man, the physician of the body, how much more in the hands of God, who is the Physician, the Creator, and Restorer, both of your body and soul?

3. Wherefore, see how the Lord in this passage exhorted His disciples to prayer, when He said, You could not cast out this devil because of your unbelief. For then exhorting them to prayer He ended thus; this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting. If a man must pray, to cast out devils from another, how much more to cast out his own covetousness? How much more to cast out his own drunkenness? How much more to cast out his own luxuriousness? How much more to cast out his own uncleanness? How many things in a man are there, which if they are persevered in, allow of no admission into the kingdom of heaven! Consider, Brethren, how a physician is entreated for the preservation of temporal health, how, if any one is desperately ill, is he ashamed or slow to throw himself at a man's feet? To bathe in tears the footsteps of any very able chief physician? And what if the physician say to him, You can not else be cured, except I bind you, and use the fire and knife? He will answer, Do what you will, only cure me. With what eagerness does he long for the health of a few days, fleeting as a vapour, that for it he is content to be bound, and submit to the fire, and knife, and to be watched, that he neither eat nor drink what, or when, he pleases! All this he will endure, that he may die a little later; and yet he will not endure ever so little, that he may never die. If God, who is the Heavenly Physician over us, says to you, Will you be cured? what would you say but Yes. Or it may be you would not say so, because you fancy yourself to be in health, that is, because you are more grievously sick.

4. For if we suppose two sick persons, one who implores the physician with tears, the other, who in his sickness with infatuation derides him; he will hold out hope to the one that weeps, and will deplore the case of the other that laughs. Why? But because the sounder in health he thinks himself, the more dangerous his sickness is! This was the case with the Jews. Christ came to them that were sick; He found them all sick. Let no one then flatter himself on his healthful state, lest the physician give him up. He found all sick; it is the Apostle's judgment, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Though He found them all sick, yet were there two sorts of sick folk. The one came to the Physician, clave to Christ, heard, honoured, followed Him, were converted. He received all without disdaining any, for to heal them, who healed of free favour, who cured by Almighty power. When then He received them, and joined them to Himself to be healed, they rejoiced. But there was another sort of sick, who had already become infatuated through the sickness of iniquity, and did not know themselves to be sick; they mocked Him, because He received the sick, and said to His disciples, Lo, what manner of man is your Master, who eats with publicans and sinners. And He who knew what and who they were answered them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. And He showed them who the whole were, and who the sick. I am not come, He says, to call the righteous, but sinners. If sinners, He would say, do not come to Me, wherefore am I come? For whose sake am I come? If all are whole, wherefore has so great a Physician come down from heaven? Why has He prepared for us a medicine not out of His stores, but of His own blood? That sort of sick then who had a milder sickness, who felt themselves to be sick, clave to the Physician, that they might be healed. But they whose sickness was more dangerous mocked the Physician, and abused the sick. Whither did their frenzy proceed at last? To seize the Physician, bind, scourge, crown Him with thorns, hang Him upon a Tree, kill Him on the Cross! Why do you marvel? The sick slew the Physician; but the Physician by being slain healed the frantic patient.

5. For first, not forgetting on the Cross His own character, and manifesting forth His patience to us, and giving us an example of love to our enemies; as He saw them raging round Him, who had known their disease, seeing He was the Physician, who had known the frenzy by which they had become infatuated, He said at once to the Father, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Now suppose ye that those Jews were not malignant, cruel, bloody, turbulent, and enemies of the Son of God? Suppose ye that that cry, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, was ineffectual and in vain? He saw them all, but He knew among them those that should one day be His. In a word, He died, because it was so expedient, that by His Death He might kill death. God died, that an exchange might be effected by a kind of heavenly contract, that man might not see death. For Christ is God, but He died not in that Nature in which He is God. For the same Person is God and man; for God and man is one Christ. The human nature was assumed, that we might be changed for the better; He did not degrade the Divine Nature down to the lower. For He assumed that which He was not, He did not lose that which He was. Forasmuch then as He is both God and man, being pleased that we should live by that which was His, He died in that which was ours. For He had nothing Himself, whereby He could die; nor had we anything whereby we could live. For what was He who had nothing whereby He could die? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. If you seek for anything in God whereby He may die, you will not find it. But we all die, who are flesh; men bearing about sinful flesh. Seek out for that whereby sin may live; it has it not. So then neither could He have death in that which was His own, nor we life in that which was our own; but we have life from that which is His, He death from what is ours. What an exchange! What has He given, and what received? Men who trade enter into commercial intercourse for exchange of things. For ancient commerce was only an exchange of things. A man gave what he had, and received what he had not. For example, he had wheat, but had no barley; another had barley, but no wheat; the former gave the wheat which he had, and received the barley which he had not. How simple it was that the larger quantity should make up for the cheaper sort! So then another man gives barley, to receive wheat; lastly, another gives lead, to receive silver, only he gives much lead against a little silver; another gives wool, to receive a ready-made garment. And who can enumerate all these exchanges? But no one gives life to receive death. Not in vain then was the voice of the Physician as He hung upon the tree. For in order that He might die for us because the Word could not die, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He hung upon the Cross, but in the flesh. There was the meanness, which the Jews despised; there the dearness, by which the Jews were delivered. For for them was it said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And that voice was not in vain. He died, was buried, rose again, having passed forty days with His disciples, He ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Ghost on them, who waited for the promise. They were filled with the Holy Ghost, whom they had received, and began to speak with the tongues of all nations. Then the Jews who were present, amazed that unlearned and ignorant men, whom they had known as brought up among them with one tongue, should in the Name of Christ speak in all tongues, were in astonishment, and learned from Peter's words whence this gift came. He gave it, who hung upon the tree. He gave it, who was derided as He hung upon the tree, that from His seat in heaven He might give the Holy Spirit. They of whom He had said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, heard, believed. They believed, were baptized, and their conversion was effected. What conversion? In faith they drank the Blood of Christ, which in fury they had shed.

6. Therefore, to finish this discourse with that with which we began it, let us pray, and let us rely on God; let us live as He enjoins; and when we totter in this life, let us call upon Him as the disciples called, saying, Lord, increase our faith. Peter both put his trust in Him, and tottered; but notwithstanding he was not disregarded and left to sink, but was lifted up and raised. For his trust whence was it? Not from anything of his own; but from what was the Lord's. How? Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto You on the water. For on the water was the Lord walking. If it be Thou, bid me come unto You on the water. For I know that if it be Thou, Thou biddest, and it is done. And He says, Come. He went down at His bidding, but in his own weakness he was afraid. Nevertheless when he was afraid, he cried out, Lord, save me. Then the Lord took him by the hand, and said, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt? He first invited him, He delivered him, as he tottered, and stumbled; that it might be fulfilled which was said in the Psalm, If I said my foot has slipped, Your mercy, O Lord, aided me.

7. There are then two kinds of blessings, temporal and eternal. Temporal blessings are health, substance, honour, friends, a home, children, a wife, and the other things of this life in which we are sojourners. Put we up then in the hostelry of this life as travellers passing on, and not as owners intending to remain. But eternal blessings are, first, eternal life itself, the incorruption and immortality of body and soul, the society of Angels, the heavenly city, glory unfailing, Father and father-land, the former without death, the latter without a foe. These blessings let us desire with all eagerness, let us ask with all perseverance, not with length of words, but with the witness of groans. Longing desire prays always, though the tongue be silent. If you are ever longing, you are ever praying. When sleeps prayer? When desire grows cold. So then let us beg for these eternal blessings with all eager desire, let us seek for those good things with an entire earnestness, let us ask for those good things with all assurance. For those good things do profit him that has them, they cannot harm him. But those other temporal good things sometimes profit, and sometimes harm. Poverty has profited many, and wealth has harmed many; a private life has profited many, and exalted honour has harmed many. And again, money has profiled some, honourable distinction has profited some; profited them who use them well; but from those who use them ill, the not withdrawing them has harmed them more. And so, Brethren, let us ask for those temporal blessings too, but in moderation, being sure that if we do receive them, He gives them, who knows what is expedient for us. You have asked, and what you have asked, has not been given you? Trust your Father, who would give it you, were it expedient for you. Lo! judge in this case by your own self. For such as your son who knows not the ways of men is in regard to you, such in regard to the Lord art you yourself, who know not the things of God. Lo, your son cries a whole day before you, that you would give him a knife, or a sword; you refuse to give it him, you will not give it, you disregard his tears, lest you should have to bewail his death. Let him cry, and beat himself, or throw himself upon the ground, that you may set him on horseback; you will not do it, because he does not know how to govern the horse, he may throw and kill him. To whom you refuse a part, you are reserving the whole. But that he may grow up, and possess the whole in safety, you give him not that little thing which is full of peril to him.

8. And so, Brethren, we say, pray as much as you are able. Evils abound, and God has willed that evils should abound. Would that evil men did not abound, and then evils would not abound. Bad times! Troublesome times! This men are saying. Let our lives be good; and the times are good. We make our times; such as we are, such are the times. But what can we do? We cannot, it may be, convert the mass of men to a good life. But let the few who do give ear live well; let the few who live well endure the many who live ill. They are the grain, they are in the floor; in the floor they can have the chaff with them, they will not have them in the barn. Let them endure what they would not, that they may come to what they would. Wherefore are we sad, and blame we God? Evils abound in the world, in order that the world may not engage our love. Great men, faithful saints were they who have despised the world with all its attractions; we are not able to despise it even disfigured as it is. The world is evil, lo, it is evil, and yet it is loved as though it were good. But what is this evil world? For the heavens and the earth, and the waters, and the things that are therein, the fish, and birds, and trees, are not evil. All these are good: but it is evil men who make this evil world. Yet as we cannot be without evil men, let us, as I have said, while we live pour out our groans before the Lord our God, and endure the evils, that we may attain to the things that are good. Let us not find fault with the Master of the household; for He is loving to us. He bears us, and not we him. He knows how to govern what He made; do what He has bidden, and hope for what He has promised.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 18:7 , where we are admonished to beware of the offenses of the world.

1. The divine lessons, which we have just heard as they were being read, warn us to gather in a stock of virtues, to fortify a Christian heart, against the offenses which were predicted to come, and this from the mercy of the Lord. For what is man, says Scripture, saving that You are mindful of him? Woe unto the world because of offenses, says the Lord; the Truth says so; He alarms and warns us, He would not have us to be off our guard; for surely He would not make us desperate. Against this woe, against this evil, that is, which is to be feared, and dreaded, and guarded against, Scripture counsels, and exhorts, and instructs us in that place, where it is said, Great praise have they who love Your law, and nothing is an offense to them. He has shown us an enemy to be guarded against, but He has not omitted to show us also a wall of defense. You were thinking, as you heard, Woe unto the world because of offenses, whither you might go beyond the world, that you might not be exposed to offenses. Therefore to avoid offenses, whither will you go beyond the world, unless you fly to Him who made the world? And how shall we be able to fly to Him who made the world, unless we give ear to His law which is preached everywhere? And to give ear to it is but a small matter, unless we love it. For divine Scripture in making you secure against offenses does not say, Great peace have they who hear Your law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God. But because the doers of the law shall be justified, and, faith works by love: it says, Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing is an offense to them. To this sentiment also agrees the passage which we have chanted in course; But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Because, great peace have they who love Your law. For these meek ones are they who love the law of God. For, Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord, and teachest him out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the sinner. How diverse seem those words of Scripture, yet into one meaning do they so flow and meet together, that whatsoever out of that most rich fountain you can hear, so that you acquiesce therein, and art in loving harmony with the truth, you will be at once filled with peace; glowing with love, and fortified against offenses.

2. It is our place then to see, or seek, or learn, how we must be meek; and we are guided by that which I have just brought forward out of the Scriptures, to find what we are in quest of. Be attentive then, Beloved, for a little while; it is a weighty matter that is in hand, that we may be meek; a necessary thing in the adversities of life. But it is not the adverse circumstances of this life which are called offenses; but mark what offenses are. A man, for instance, under some hard necessity is weighed down by a press of trouble. That he is weighed down with a press of trouble, is no offense. By such pressure were even Martyrs pressed, but not oppressed. Of an offense beware, but of a press of trouble not so much. The last presses you, an offense oppresses you. What then is the difference between the two? In the press of trouble you made ready to maintain patience, to hold fast constancy, not to abandon faith, not to consent to sin. This if you maintain, or shall have maintained, the trouble that presses you shall not be your fall; but that press of trouble shall avail to the same end as in the oil press, not to destroy the olive, but to extract the oil. In a word, if in this trouble that presses you you ascribe praise unto God, how useful will the press be to you, whereby such oil is pressed out! Under such a press the Apostles sat in chains, and in that press they sang a hymn to God. What precious oil was this that was pressed and forced out! Beneath a heavy press did Job sit on the dunghill, without resource, without help, without substance, without children; full, but of worms only, as far, that is, as concerned the outward man, but because he too was full of God within, he praised God, and that press was no offense to him. Where then was the offense? When his wife came to him and said, Speak a word against God, and die. When all had been taken from him by the devil, an Eve was reserved for the exercised sufferer, not to console but to tempt her husband. See then where the offense was. She exaggerated his miseries, and her miseries too with his, and began to persuade him to blaspheme. But he who was meek, because God had taught him out of His law, and given him rest from the days of adversity; had great peace in his heart as loving the law of God, and nothing was an offense to him. She was an offense, but not to him. In a word, behold the meek man, behold one taught in the law of God, the eternal law of God I mean. For that law on tables was not yet given to the Jews in the time of Job, but in the hearts of the godly there remained still the eternal law, from which that which was given to the people was copied. Because then by the law of God he had rest given him from the days of adversity, and had great peace as loving the law of God, behold how meek he is, and what he answers. Learn hereby what I propose to enquire; who are the meek. You speak, he says, as one of the foolish women speaks. If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, shall we not bear the evil?

3. We have heard by an example who the meek are: let us, if we can, define them in words. The meek are they, to whom in all their good deeds, in all the things they do well, nothing is pleasing but God; to whom in all the evils they suffer, God is not displeasing. Now, Brethren, attend to this rule, to this pattern; let us stretch ourselves out to it, let us seek for increase, that we may fill it. For what does it profit, that we plant, and water, except God shall give the increase? For neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase. Give ear, whosoever you are, that would be meek, who would have rest from the days of adversity, who lovest the law of God, that there may be no offense unto you, and that you may have great peace, that you may possess the earth, and delight in the multitude of peace; give ear, whosoever you are that would be meek. Whatsoever good you do, be not pleased with yourself. For God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. So then whatever good you do, let nought but God be pleasing to you; whatever evil you suffer, let not God be displeasing to you. What do you need more? Do this, and you shall live. The days of adversity shall not overwhelm you; you shall escape that which is said, Woe unto the world because of offenses. For to what world is there woe because of offenses, but to that of which it is said, And the world knew Him not? Not to that world of which it is said, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. There is an evil world, and there is a good world; the evil world, are all the evil men in this world; and the good world, all the good in this world. As we observe frequently with a field. This field is full: of what? Of wheat. Yet we say also, and say truly too, This field is full of chaff. So with a tree, it is full of fruit. Another says, it is full of leaves. And both he who says it is full of fruit, says true; and he who says it is full of leaves, says true. Neither has the full display of leaves taken away the room for the fruit, nor the full display of the fruit driven off the abundance of leaves. It is full of both; but the one the wind searches out, the other the husbandman gathers in. So therefore when you hear, Woe unto the world because of offenses, be not afraid; love the law of God, nothing shall be an offense to you.

4. But your wife comes to you advising you to some evil thing. Thou dost love her as a wife should be loved; she is one of your members. But if your eye offend you, if your hand offend you, if your foot offend you, you have just heard the Gospel, cut them off, and cast them from you. Whosoever he be that is dear to you, whosoever he be that is held in high estimation by you, let him be so long of high esteem with you, so long your beloved member, as he shall not begin to offend you, that is, to advise you to any evil. Hear now how that this is the meaning of offense. I have brought forward the example of Job and his wife; but there the word offense did not occur. Hear the Gospel: when the Lord prophesied of His Passion, Peter began to persuade him not to suffer. Get behind Me, Satan, you are an offense to Me. Here undoubtedly the Lord who has given you an example of life, has taught you both what an offense is, and how an offense is to be avoided. Him to whom He had a little while before said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jona; He had shown to be His member. But when he begins to be an offense, He cuts off the member; only He restored the member, and put it into its place again. He then will be an offense to you, who shall begin to persuade you to any evil thing. And here, Beloved, take heed; this takes place for the most part not through any evil will, but through a mistaken good will. Your friend who loves you, and is loved by you again, your father, your brother, your child, your wife, sees you in an evil case, and would have you do what is evil. What do I mean by sees you in an evil case? Sees you in some press of trouble. This pressure it may be you are suffering for righteousness' sake; art suffering it because you will not give false witness. I would speak merely by way of illustration. Examples abound; for woe to the world, because of offenses. See, for instance, some powerful person, to cover his rapine and plunder, asks of you the service of a false witness. You refuse: refuse the false oath, lest you should deny Him that is true. That I may not dwell long on this, he is angry, he is powerful, he oppresses you: a friend comes who would not have you in this press of trouble, in this evil case; I pray you, do what is told you; what great matter is it? And then perhaps as Satan with the Lord, It is written of You, He shall give His Angels charge concerning You, that Thou dash not Your foot against a stone. Perhaps too this friend of yours, because he sees you are a Christian, wishes to persuade you out of the Law to do what he thinks you ought to do. Do what the other tells. What? Do what the other wishes. But it is a lie, it is false. Well, have you not read, 'All men are liar.'? Now is he an offense. He is a friend, what will you do? He is an eye, he is a hand: Cut it off, and cast it from you. What is, cut it off, and cast it from you? Consent not to him. For members in our body make up unity by consent, by consent they live, by consent are joined together one with the other. Where there is dissent, there is disease, or a sore. He is then one of your members; you will love him. But he is an offense to you; Cut him off, and cast him from you. Consent not to him; drive him off from your ears, it may be he will return amended.

5. And how will you do this that I say, Cut him off, and cast him from you, and so, it may be, amend him? Answer me, how you are going to do it? He wished to persuade you out of the Law to tell a lie. For he said, speak. And perhaps he did not dare to say, speak a lie; but thus, speak what the other wishes. You say, But it is a lie. And he to excuse it, says, All men are liars. Then do you, my brother, say against this, The mouth that lies slays the soul. Mark, it is no light thing you have heard, The mouth that lies slays the soul. What can that powerful enemy, who oppresses me, do to me, that you pity me, and my condition, and would not have me be in this evil case; whereas you would that I should be evil? What can that powerful man do to me, and what can he oppress? The flesh. He can oppress your body, you will say: I grant he may oppress it to destruction. Still how much more mildly does he deal with me, than I should with myself were I to lie! He kills my flesh; I kill my soul. He in his power and anger slays the body; the mouth that lies slays the soul. He slays the body; and die it must, though it should not be slain; but the soul which iniquity slays not, the truth receives forever. Preserve then what you can preserve; and let that perish which must perish sometime or other. You have given an answer then, but you have not solved the All men are liars. Make answer to him to this too, that he may not fancy that he has said anything to persuade to lying, in bringing a testimony out of the Law; so urging you out of the Law against the Law. For it is written in the Law, You shall not bear false witness; and it is written in the Law, All men are liars. Recur then to that which I just lately suggested, when I defined in words as best I could the meek man. He is meek to whom in all things that he does well, nothing but God is pleasing, and in all the evils which he suffers, God is not displeasing. Make answer then to him who says, Lie, for it is written, All men are liars: I will not lie, for it is written, The mouth that lies slays the soul. I will not lie, because it is written, You shall destroy them that speak lying. I will not lie, because it is written, You shall not bear false witness. Though he whom I displease by the truth harass my body with oppressions, I will give ear to my Lord, Fear not them which kill the body.

6. How then are all men liars? What! You are not a man, I suppose? Answer quickly and truly. And O that I may not be a man, that so I may not be a liar. For see; God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are all together become unprofitable: there is none that does good, no not even one. Why? Because they wished to be sons of men. But in order that he might deliver them from these iniquities, cure, heal, change, the sons of men; he gave them power to become the sons of God. What marvel then! You were men, if we were the sons of men; you were all men, and were liars, for, All men are liars. The grace of God came to you, and gave you power to become the sons of God. Hear the voice of My Father saying, I have said, You are gods; and you are all the children of the Most High. Since then they are men, and the sons of men, if they are not the children of the Most High, they are liars, for, all men are liars. If they are the sons of God, if they have been redeemed by the Saviour's grace, if purchased with His precious Blood, if born again of water and of the Spirit, if predestinated to the inheritance of heaven, then indeed are they children of God. And so thereby are gods. What then would a lie have to do with you? For Adam was a mere man, Christ, man and God; God, the Creator of all creation. Adam a mere man, the Man Christ, the Mediator with God, the Only Son of the Father, the God-man. Lo, you, O man, are far from God, and God is far above man; between them the God-man placed Himself. Acknowledge Christ, and by Him as Man ascend up to God.

7. Being then now reformed, and, if my words have been so blessed, meek, let us hold fast our profession without wavering. Let us love the law of God, that we may escape that which is written, Woe unto the world because of offenses. Now I would say a few words about offenses, of which the world is full, and how it is that offenses thicken, pressing troubles abound. The world is laid waste, the winepress is trodden. Ah! Christians, heavenly shoot, you strangers on the earth, who seek a city in heaven, who long to be associated with the holy Angels; understand that you have come here on this condition only, that you should soon depart. You are passing on through the world, endeavouring to reach Him who created it. Let not the lovers of the world, who wish to remain in the world, and yet, whether they will or no, are compelled to move from it; let them not disturb you, let them not deceive nor seduce you. These pressing troubles are not offenses. Be righteous, and they will be only exercises. Tribulation comes; it will be as you choose it, either an exercise, or a condemnation. Such as it shall find you to be, will it be. Tribulation is a fire; does it find you gold? It takes away the filth: does it find you chaff? It turns it into ashes. The pressing troubles then which abound are not offenses. But what are offenses? Those expressions, those words in which we are thus addressed. See what Christian times bring about; lo, these are the true offenses. For this is said to you, to this end, that if you love the world, you may blaspheme Christ. And this he says to you who is your friend, and counsellor; and so your eye. This he says to you who ministers to you, and shares your labours, and so your hand. This he says to you it may be who supports you, who lifts you up from a low earthly state; and so your foot. Cast them all aside, cut them off, throw them all away from you; consent not unto them. Answer such men, as he who was advised to give false witness answered. So do you answer too; say to the man who says to you, See, it is in Christian times that there are such pressing troubles; that the whole world is laid waste; answer him, And this Christ foretold me, before it came to pass.

8. For wherefore are you disturbed? Your heart is disturbed by the pressing troubles of the world, as that ship was, in which Christ was asleep. Lo! What is the cause, stout-hearted man, that your heart is disturbed? That ship in which Christ is asleep, is the heart in which faith is asleep. For what new thing, what new thing, I ask, is told you, Christian? In Christian times is the world laid waste, the world is failing. Did not your Lord tell you, the world shall be laid waste? Did not your Lord tell you, the world shall fail? Why when the promise was made, did you believe, and art disturbed now, when it is being completed? So then the tempest beats furiously against your heart; beware of shipwreck, awake up Christ. The Apostle says, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Christ dwells in you by faith. Present faith, is Christ present; waking faith, is Christ awake; slumbering faith, is Christ asleep. Arise and stir yourself; say, Lord, we perish. See what the Heathen say to us; and what is worse, what evil Christians say! Awake up, O Lord, we perish. Let your faith awake, and Christ begins to speak to you. 'Why are you troubled?' I told you beforehand of all these things. I foretold them, that when evils came, you might hope for good things, that you might not faint in the evil. Do you wonder that the world is failing? Wonder that the world is grown old. It is as a man who is born, and grows up, and waxes old. There are many complaints in old age; the cough, the rheum, the weakness of the eyes, fretfulness, and weariness. So then as when a man is old; he is full of complaints; so is the world old; and is full of troubles. Is it a little thing that God has done for you, in that in the world's old age, He has sent Christ unto you, that He may renew you then, when all is failing? Do you not know that He notified this in the seed of Abraham? The seed of Abraham, says the Apostle, which is Christ. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of One, And to your seed, which is Christ. Therefore was there a son born to Abraham in his old age, because in the old age of this world was Christ to come. He came when all things were growing old, and made them new. As a made, created, perishing thing, the world was now declining to its fall. It could not but be that it should abound in troubles; He came both to console you in the midst of present troubles, and to promise you everlasting rest. Choose not then to cleave to this aged world, and to be unwilling to grow young in Christ, who tells you, The world is perishing, the world is waxing old, the world is failing; is distressed by the heavy breathing of old age. But do not fear, Your youth shall be renewed as the eagle's.

9. See, they say, in Christian times it is that Rome perishes. Perhaps Rome is not perishing; perhaps she is only scourged, not utterly destroyed; perhaps she is chastened, not brought to nought. It may be so; Rome will not perish, if the Romans do not perish. And perish they will not if they praise God; perish they will if they blaspheme Him. For what is Rome, but the Romans? For the question is not of her wood and stones, of her lofty insulated palaces, and all her spacious walls. All this was made only on this condition that it should fall some other day. When man built it, he laid stone on stone; and when man destroyed it, he removed stone from stone. Man made it, man destroyed it. Is any injury done to Rome, because it is said, She is falling? No, not to Rome, but to her builder perhaps. Do we then its builder any injury, because we say, Rome is falling, which Romulus built? This world itself will be burnt with fire, which God built. But neither does what man has made fall to ruin, except when God wills it; nor what God has made, except when He wills. For if the work of man fall not without God's will, how can God's work fall by the will of man? Yet God both made the world that was one day to fall for you; and therefore made He you as one who was one day to die. Man himself, the city's ornament, man himself, the city's inhabitant, ruler, governor, comes on this condition that he may go, is born on this condition that he may die, entered into the world on this condition that he may pass away; Heaven and earth shall pass away: what wonder then if some time or other there should be an end of a single city? And yet perhaps the city's end is not come now; yet some time or other come it will. But why does Rome perish amid the sacrifices of Christians? Why was her mother Troy burnt amid the sacrifices of Heathens? The gods in whom the Romans have placed all their hope, yea the Roman gods in whom the Heathen Romans placed their hope, removed from the flames of Troy to found Rome. These very gods of Rome were originally the gods of Troy. Troy was burnt, and Æneas took the fugitive gods; yea rather himself a fugitive he took away these senseless gods. For they could be carried by the fugitive; but they could not flee away themselves. And coming with these gods into Italy, with these false gods, he founded Rome. It is too long to go through the whole story; yet would I briefly mention what their own writings contain. An author of theirs well known to all speaks thus; As I have received the account, the Trojans who under the guidance of Æneas were wandering about as fugitives without any settled abode, originally built and inhabited Rome. So they had their gods with them, they built Rome in Latium, and there they placed the gods to be worshipped, which before were worshipped in Troy. Juno is introduced by their poet, incensed against Æneas and the fugitive Trojans, saying,

A race of wandering slaves abhorred by me, With prosperous passage cuts the Tuscan sea, To fruitful Italy their course they steer, And for their vanquished gods, design new temples there.

Now when these vanquished gods were carried into Italy, was it as a protecting deity, or as a presage of their future fall? Love therefore the law of God, and nothing shall be an offense to you. We pray you, we beseech you, we exhort you; be meek, sympathize with the suffering, bear the weak; and on this occasion of the concourse of so many strangers, and needy, and suffering people, let your hospitality and your good works abound. Let but Christians do what Christ enjoins, and so will the Heathen blaspheme only to their own hurt.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 18:15 , If your brother sin against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone; and of the words of Solomon, he that winks with the eyes deceitfully, heaps sorrow upon men; but he that reproves openly, makes peace.

1. Our Lord warns us not to neglect one another's sins, not by searching out what to find fault with, but by looking out for what to amend. For He said that his eye is sharp to cast out a mote out of his brother's eye, who has not a beam in his own eye. Now what this means, I will briefly convey to you, Beloved. A mote in the eye is anger; a beam in the eye is hatred. When therefore one who has hatred finds fault with one who is angry, he wishes to take a mote out of his brother's eye, but is hindered by the beam which he carries in his own eye. A mote is the beginning of a beam. For a beam in the course of its growth, is first a mote. By watering the mote, you bring it to a beam; by nourishing anger with evil suspicions, you bring it on to hatred.

2. Now there is a great difference between the sin of one who is angry, and the cruelty of one who holds another in hatred. For even with our children are we angry; but who is ever found to hate his children? Among the very cattle too, the cow in a sort of weariness will sometimes in anger drive away her sucking calf; but anon she embraces it with all the affection of a mother. She is in a way disgusted with it, when she butts at it; yet when she misses it, she will seek after it. Nor do we discipline our children otherwise, than with a degree of anger and indignation; yet we should not discipline them at all, but in love to them. So far then is every one who is angry from hating; that sometimes one would be rather convicted of hating, if he were not angry. For suppose a child wishes to play in some river's stream, by whose force he would be like to perish; if you see this, and patiently suffer it, this would be hating; your patient suffering him, is his death. How far better is it to be angry and correct him, than by not being angry to allow him to perish! Above all things then is hatred to be avoided, and the beam to be cast out of the eye. Great is the difference indeed between one's exceeding due limits in some words through anger, which he afterwards wipes off by repenting of it; and the keeping an insidious purpose shut up in the heart. Great, lastly, the difference between these words of Scripture; My eye is disordered because of anger. Whereas of the other it is said, Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer. Great is the difference between an eye disordered, and clean put out. A mote disorders, a beam puts clean out.

3. In order then that we may be able well to do and to fulfil what we have been admonished of today, let us first persuade ourselves to this, above all things to have no hate. For when there is no beam in your own eye, you see rightly whatever may be in your brother's eye; and art uneasy, till you cast out of your brother's eye what you see to hurt it. The light that is in you, does not allow you to neglect your brother's light. Whereas if you hate, and would correct him, how do you improve his light, when you have lost your own light? For the same Scripture, where it is written, Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, has expressly told us this also. He that hates his brother is in darkness even until now. Hatred then is darkness. Now it cannot but be, that he who hates another, should first injure himself. For him he endeavours to hurt outwardly, he lays himself waste inwardly. Now in proportion as our soul is of more value than our body, so much the more ought we to provide for it, that it be not hurt. But he that hates another, does hurt his own soul. And what would he do to him whom he hates? What would he do? He takes away his money, can he take his faith away? He wounds his good fame, can he wound his conscience? Whatever injury he does, is but external; now observe what his injury to himself is? For he who hates another is an enemy to himself within. But because he is not sensible of what harm he is doing to himself, he is violent against another, and that the more dangerously, that he is not sensible of the evil he is doing to himself; because by this very violence he has lost the power of perception. You are violent against your enemy; by this violence of yours he is spoiled, and you are wicked. Great is the difference between the two. He has lost his money, you have lost your innocence. Ask which has suffered the heavier loss? He has lost a thing that was sure to perish, and you have become one who must now perish yourself.

4. Therefore ought we to rebuke in love; not with any eager desire to injure, but with an earnest care to amend. If we be so minded, most excellently do we practise that which we have been recommended today; If your brother shall sin against you, rebuke him between you and him alone. Why do you rebuke him? Because you are grieved, that he should have sinned against you? God forbid. If from love of yourself you do it, you do nothing. If from love to him you do it, you do excellently. In fact, observe in these words themselves, for the love of whom you ought to do it, whether of yourself or him. If he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. Do it for his sake then, that you may gain him. If by so doing you gain him, had you not done it, he would have been lost. How is it then that most men disregard these sins, and say, What great thing have I done? I have only sinned against man. Disregard them not. You have sinned against man; but would you know that in sinning against man you are lost. If he, against whom you have sinned, have rebuked you between you and him alone, and you have listened to him, he has gained you. What can has gained you, mean; but that you had been lost, if he had not gained you. For if you would not have been lost, how has he gained you? Let no man then disregard it, when he sins against a brother. For the Apostle says in a certain place, But when you sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ; for this reason, because we have been all made members of Christ. How do you not sin against Christ, who sinnest against a member of Christ?

5. Let no one therefore say, I have not sinned against God, but against a brother. I have sinned against a man, it is a trifling sin, or no sin at all. It may be, you say it is a trifling sin, because it is soon cured. You have sinned against a brother; give him satisfaction, and you are made whole. Thou did a deadly thing quickly, but quickly too have you found a remedy. Who of us, my Brethren, can hope for the kingdom of heaven, when the Gospel says, Whosoever shall say to his brother, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire? Exceeding terror! But behold in the same place the remedy: If you bring your gift to the altar, and there rememberest that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift before the altar. God is not angry that you defer to lay your gift upon the Altar. It is you that God seeks more than your gift. For if you come with a gift to your God, bearing an evil mind against your brother, He will answer you, You are lost, what have you brought Me? You bring your gift, and you are yourself no proper gift for God. Christ seeks him whom He has redeemed with His Blood, more than what you have found in your barn. So then, Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way, first be reconciled to your brother, and so you shall come and offer your gift. Lo that danger of hell fire, how quickly dissolved it is! When you were not yet reconciled, you wast in danger of hell fire; once reconciled, you offer your gift before the altar in all security.

6. But men are easy and ready enough to inflict injuries, and hard to seek for reconciliation. Ask pardon, says one, of him whom you have offended, of him whom you have injured. He answers, I will not so humble myself. But now if you despise your brother, at least give ear to your God. He that humbles himself shall be exalted. Will you refuse to humble yourself, who hast already fallen? Great is the difference between one who humbles himself, and one who lies on the ground. Already do you lie on the ground, and will you then not humble yourself? You might well say, I will not descend; if you had first been unwilling to fall.

7. This then ought one to do who has done an injury. And he who has suffered one, what ought he to do? What we have heard today, If your brother shall sin against you, rebuke him between you and him alone. If you shall neglect this, you are worse than he. He has done an injury, and by doing an injury, has stricken himself with a grievous wound; will you disregard your brother's wound? Will you see him perishing, or already lost, and disregard his case? You are worse in keeping silence, than he in his reviling. Therefore when any one sins against us, let us take great care, not for ourselves, for it is a glorious thing to forget injuries; only forget your own injury, not your brother's wound. Therefore rebuke him between you and him alone, intent upon his amendment, but sparing his shame. For it may be that through shame-facedness he will begin to defend his sin, and so you will make him whom you desire to amend, still worse. Rebuke him therefore between him and you alone. If he shall hear you, you have gained your brother; because he would have been lost, had you not done it. But if he will not hear you, that is, if he will defend his sin as if it were a just action, take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established; and if he will not hear them, refer it to the Church; but if he will not hear the Church, let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican. Reckon him no more among the number of your brethren. But yet neither is his salvation on that account to be neglected. For the very heathen, that is, the Gentiles and Pagans, we do not reckon among the number of brethren; but yet are we ever seeking their salvation. This then have we heard the Lord so advising, and with such great carefulness enjoining, that He even added this immediately, Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. You have begun to hold your brother for a publican; you bind him on earth; but see that you bind him justly. For unjust bonds justice does burst asunder. But when you have corrected, and been reconciled to your brother, you have loosed him on earth. And when you shall have loosed him on earth, he shall be loosed in heaven also. Thus you do a great thing, not for yourself, but for him; for a great injury had he done, not to you, but to himself.

8. But since this is so, what is that which Solomon says, and which we heard first today out of another lesson, He that winks with the eyes deceitfully, heaps sorrow upon men; but he that reproves openly, makes peace? If then he that reproves openly, makes peace; how rebuke him between him and you alone? We must fear, lest the divine precepts should be contrary to one another. But no: let us understand that there is the most perfect agreement in them, let us not follow the conceits of certain vain ones, who in their error think that the two Testaments in the Old and New Books are contrary to each other; that so we should think that there is any contradiction here, because one is in the book of Solomon, and the other in the Gospel. For if any one unskilful in, and a reviler of the divine Scriptures, were to say, See where the two Testaments contradict each other. The Lord says, 'Rebuke him between him and you alone.' Solomon says, 'He that reproves openly makes peace.' Does not the Lord then know what He has commanded? Solomon would have the sinners' hard forehead bruised: Christ spares his shame who blushes for his sins. For in the one place it is written, He that reproves openly makes peace; but in the other, Rebuke him between him and you alone; not openly, but apart and secretly. But would you know, whosoever you are that thinkest such things, that the two Testaments are not opposed to each other, because the first of these passages is found in the book of Solomon, and the other in the Gospel? Hear the Apostle. And surely the Apostle is a Minister of the New Testament. Hear the Apostle Paul then, charging Timothy, and saying, Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. So then not the book of Solomon, but an Epistle of Paul the Apostle seems to be at issue with the Gospel. Let us then without any prejudice to his honour lay aside Solomon for a while; let us hear the Lord Christ and His servant Paul. What sayest Thou, O Lord? If your brother sin against you, rebuke him between him and you alone. What do you say, O Apostle? Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. What are we about? Are we listening to this controversy as judges? That be far from us. Yea, rather as those whose place is under the Judge, let us knock, that we may obtain, that it be opened to us; let us fly beneath the wings of our Lord God. For He did not speak in contradiction to His Apostle, seeing that He Himself spoke in him also, as he says, Would ye receive a proof of Christ, who speaks in me? Christ in the Gospel, Christ in the Apostle: Christ therefore spoke both; one by His own Mouth, the other by the mouth of His herald. For when the herald pronounces anything from the tribunal, it is not written in the records, the herald said it; but he is written as having said it, who commanded the herald what to say.

9. Let us then so give ear to these two precepts, Brethren, as that we may understand them, and let us settle ourselves in peace between them both. Let us but be in agreement with our own heart, and Holy Scripture will in no part disagree with itself. It is entirely true, both precepts are true; but we must make a distinction, that sometimes the one, sometimes the other must be done; that sometimes a brother must be reproved between him and you alone, sometimes a brother must be reproved before all, that others also may fear. If we do sometimes the one, and sometimes the other, we shall hold fast the harmony of the Scriptures, and shall not err in fulfilling and obeying them. But a man will say to me, When am I to do this one, and when the other? Lest I 'reprove between me and him alone,' when I ought to 'reprove before all;' or 'reprove before all,' when I ought to reprove in secret.

10. You will soon see, Beloved, what we ought to do, and when; only I would we may not be slow to practise it. Attend and see: If your brother sin against you, rebuke him between him and you alone. Why? Because it is against you that he has sinned. What is that, has sinned against you? You know that he has sinned. For because it was secret when he sinned against you, seek for secresy, when you correct his sin. For if you only know that he has sinned against you, and you would rebuke him before all, you are not a reprover, but a betrayer. Consider how that just man Joseph spared his wife with such exceeding kindness, in so great a crime as he had suspected her of, before he knew by whom she had conceived; because he perceived that she was with child, and he knew that he had not come in unto her. There remained then an unavoidable suspicion of adultery, and yet because he only had perceived, he only knew it, what does the Gospel say of him? Then Joseph being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example. The husband's grief sought no revenge; he wished to profit, not to punish the sinner. And not willing to make her a public example, he was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, in sleep; and told him how it was, that she had not defiled her husband's bed, but that she had conceived of the Holy Ghost the Lord of them both. Your brother then has sinned against you; if you alone know it, then has he really sinned against you alone. For if in the hearing of many he has done you an injury, he has sinned against them also whom he has made witnesses of his iniquity. For I tell you, my dearly beloved Brethren, what you can yourselves recognise in your own case. When any one does my brother an injury in my hearing, God forbid that I should think that injury unconnected with myself. Certainly he has done it to me also; yea to me the rather, to whom he thought what he did was pleasing. Therefore those sins are to be reproved before all, which are committed before all; they are to be reproved with more secresy, which are committed more secretly. Distinguish times, and Scripture is in harmony with itself.

11. So let us act; and so must we act not only when the sin is committed against ourselves, but when the sin is so committed by any one as that it is unknown by the other. In secret ought we to rebuke, in secret to reprove him; lest if we would reprove him publicly, we should betray the man. We wish to rebuke and reform him; but what if his enemy is looking out to hear something that he may punish? For example, a Bishop knows of some one who has killed another, and no one else knows of him. I wish to reprove him publicly; but you are seeking to prosecute him. Decidedly then I will neither betray him, nor neglect him; I will reprove him in secret; I will set the judgment of God before his eyes; I will alarm his bloodstained conscience; I will persuade him to repentance. With this charity ought we to be endued. And hence men sometimes find fault with us, as if we do not reprove; or they think that we know what we do not know, or that we hush up what we know. And it may be that what you know, I know also but I will not reprove in your presence I because I wish to cure, not to act informer. There are men who commit adultery in their own houses, they sin in secret, sometimes they are discovered to us by their own wives, generally through jealousy, sometimes as seeking their husband's salvation; in such cases we do not betray them openly, but reprove them in secret. Where the evil has happened, there let the evil die. Yet do we not neglect that wound; above all things showing the man who is in such a sinful state, and bears such a wounded conscience, that that is a deadly wound which they who suffer from, sometimes by an unaccountable perverseness despise; and seek out testimonies in their favour, I know not whence, null certainly and void, saying, God cares not for sins of the flesh. Where is that then which we have heard today, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge? Lo! Whosoever you are that labourest under such a disease attend. Hear what God says; not what your own mind, in indulgence to your own sins, may say, or what your friend, your enemy rather and his own too, bound in the same bond of iniquity with you may say. Hear then what the Apostle says; Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled. But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

12. Come then, Brother, be reformed. You are afraid lest your enemy should prosecute you; and are you not afraid lest God should judge you? Where is your faith? Fear while there is the time for fear. Far off indeed is the day of judgment; but every man's last day cannot be far off; for life is short. And since this shortness is ever uncertain, you know not when your last day may be. Reform yourself today, because of tomorrow. Let the reproof in secret be of service to you now. For I am speaking openly, yet do I reprove in secret. I knock at the ears of all; but I accost the consciences of some. If I were to say, Thou adulterer, reform yourself; perhaps in the first place I might say what I had no knowledge of; perhaps suspect on a rash hearsay report. I do not then say, Thou adulterer, reform yourself; but whosoever you are among this people who art an adulterer, reform yourself. So the reproof is public; the reformation secret. This I know, that whoever fears, will reform himself.

13. Let no one say in his heart, God cares not for sins of the flesh. Do you not know, says the Apostle, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy. Let no man deceive himself. But perhaps a man will say, My soul is the temple of God, not my body, and will add this testimony also, All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. Unhappy interpretation! conceit meet for punishment! The flesh is called grass, because it dies; but take heed that that which dies for a time, rise not again with guilt. Would you ascertain a plain judgment on this point also? Do you not know, says the same Apostle, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God? Do not then any longer disregard sins of the body; seeing that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God. If you disregarded a sin of the body, will you disregard a sin which you commit against a temple? Your very body is a temple of the Spirit of God within you. Now take heed what you do with the temple of God. If you were to choose to commit adultery in the Church within these walls, what wickedness could be greater? But now you are yourself the temple of God. In your going out, in your coming in, as you abide in your house, as you rise up, in all you are a temple. Take heed then what you do, take heed that you offend not the Indweller of the temple, lest He forsake you, and you fall into ruins. Do you not know, he says, that your bodies (and this the Apostle spoke touching fornication, that they might not think lightly of sins of the body) are the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a great price. If you think so lightly of your own body, have some consideration for your price.

14. I know, and as I do every one knows, who has used a little more than ordinary consideration, that no man who has any fear of God omits to reform himself in obedience to His words, but he who thinks that he has longer time to live. This it is which kills so many, while they are saying, Tomorrow, Tomorrow; and suddenly the door is shut. He remains outside with the raven's croak, because he had not the moaning of the dove. Tomorrow, Tomorrow; is the raven's croak. Moan plaintively as the dove, and beat your breast; but while you are inflicting blows on your breast, be the better for the beating; lest you seem not to beat your conscience, but rather with blows to harden it, and make an evil conscience more unyielding instead of better. Moan with no fruitless moaning. For it may be you are saying to yourself, God has promised me forgiveness, whenever I reform myself I am secure; I read the divine Scripture, In the day that the wicked man turns away from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, I will forget all his iniquities. I am secure then, whenever I reform myself, God will give me pardon for my evil deeds. What can I say to this? Shall I lift up my voice against God? Shall I say to God, Do not give him pardon? Shall I say, This is not written, God has not promised this? If I should say ought of this, I should say falsely. You speak well and truly; God has promised pardon on your amendment, I cannot deny it; but tell me, I pray you; see, I consent, I grant, I acknowledge that God has promised you pardon, but who has promised you a tomorrow? Where you read to me that you shall receive pardon, if you reform yourself; there read to me how long you have to live. Thou dost confess, I cannot read it there. You know not then how long you have to live. Reform yourself, and so be always ready. Be not afraid of the last day, as a thief, who will break up your house as you sleep, but awake and reform yourself today. Why do you put it off till tomorrow? If your life is to be a long one, let it be both long and good. No one puts off a good dinner, because it is to be a long one, and do you wish to have a long evil life? Surely if it is to be long, it will be all the better if it be good; if it is to be short, it is well that its good be as long as possible. But men neglect their life to such a degree, as that they are unwilling to have anything bad except it. You buy a farm, and you look out for a good one; you wish to marry a wife, you choose a good one; you wish for the birth of children, and you long for good ones; you bargain for shoes, and you do not wish for bad ones; and yet a bad life you do love. How has your life offended you, that you are willing to have it only bad; that amid all your good things you should yourself alone be evil?

15. So then, my Brethren, if I should wish to reprove any of you individually in secret, perhaps he would listen to me. I reprove many of you now in public; all praise me; may some give attentive heed to me! I have no love for him who praises me with his voice, and with his heart despises me. For when you praise, and not reform yourself, you are a witness against yourself. If you are evil, and you are pleased with what I say, be displeased with yourself; because if you are displeased with yourself as being evil, when you reform, you will be well pleased with yourself, which if I mistake not I said the day before yesterday. In all my words I set a mirror before you. Nor are they my words, but I speak at the bidding of the Lord, by whose terrors I refrain from keeping silence. For who would not rather choose to keep silence, and not to give account for you? But now I have undertaken the burden, and I cannot, and I ought not to shake it off my shoulders. When the Epistle to the Hebrews was being read, my Brethren, you heard, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you. When do we it with joy? When we see man making progress in the words of God. When does the labourer in the field work with joy? When he looks at the tree, and sees the fruit; when he looks at the crop, and sees the prospect of abundance of grain in the floor; when he sees that he has not laboured in vain, has not bowed his back, and bruised his hands, and endured the cold and heat in vain. This is what he says, That they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you. Did he say, unprofitable for them? No. He said, unprofitable for you. For when those who are set over you are saddened at your evil deeds, it is profitable for them; their very sadness is profitable for them; but it is unprofitable for you. But we do not wish that anything should be profitable for us, which for you is unprofitable. Let us then, Brethren, do good together in the Lord's field; that at the reward we may rejoice together.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 17:21 , How oft shall my brother sin against me, etc.

1. Yesterday the holy Gospel warned us not to neglect the sins of our brethren: But if your brother shall sin against you, rebuke him between him and you alone. If he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he shall refuse to hear you, take with you two or three more; that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them too, tell it to the Church. But if he shall neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican. Today also the section which follows, and which we heard when it was read, relates to the same subject. For when the Lord Jesus had said this to Peter, he went on to ask his Master, how often he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him; and he enquired whether seven times would be enough. The Lord answered him, Not only seven times, but seventy times seven. Then he added a parable very full of terror: That the kingdom of heaven is like an householder, which took account with his servants; among whom he found one that owed ten thousand talents. And when he commanded all that he had, and all his family, and himself to be sold, and the debt to be paid, he fell down at his lord's feet, and prayed for delay, and obtained entire remission. For as we have heard, His lord was moved with compassion, and forgave him all the debt. Then that man free from his debt, but a bond slave of iniquity, after he had gone out from the presence of his lord, found in his turn a debtor of his own, who owed him, not ten thousand talents, the sum which had been remitted to him, but a hundred denarii; and he began to drag him by the throat, and say, Pay me that you owe. Then he besought his fellow-servant as he had done his lord; but he did not find his fellow-servant such a man as the other had found his lord. He not only would not forgive him the debt; but he did not even grant him a delay. He hurried him along with great violence to make him pay, he who had been but just now set free from his debt to his lord. His fellow-servants were displeased; and went and told their lord what was done; and the lord summoned his servant to his presence, and said to him, O you wicked servant, when you owed me so great a debt, in pity to you I forgave you all. Should not you also have had compassion on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on you? And he commanded that all which he had forgiven him should be paid.

2. It is then for our instruction that He put forth this parable, and by this warning He would save us from perishing. So, said He, shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Lo, Brethren, the thing is plain, useful is the admonition, and a wholesome obedience is by all means due, that what has been bidden may be fulfilled. For every man is at once God's debtor, and has also some brother a debtor to himself. For who is there who is not God's debtor, but he in whom there can be found no sin? And who is there who has not a brother his debtor, but he against whom no one has sinned? Think you that any one among mankind can be found, who is not himself bounden to his brother by some sin? So then every man is a debtor, yet having himself his own debtors too. The righteous God therefore appoints a rule for you toward your debtor, which He also will observe with His. For two works of mercy are there, which deliver us, which the Lord has Himself briefly laid down in the Gospel: Forgive, and you shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven, relates to pardoning. Give, and it shall be given unto you, relates to doing kindnesses. As to what He says of pardoning, you both wish your sin to be pardoned you, and you have another whom you may pardon. Again, as to the doing kindnesses; a beggar asks of you, and you are God's beggar. For we are all when we pray God's beggars; we stand, yea rather we fall prostrate before the door of the Great Householder, we groan in supplication wishing to receive something; and this something is God Himself. What does the beggar ask of you? Bread. And what do you ask of God, but Christ, who says, I am the living Bread which came down from heaven? Would you be forgiven? Forgive. Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you. Would you receive? Give, and it shall be given unto you.

3. But now hear what in so plain a precept I may cause a difficulty. In this question of forgiveness when pardon is asked, and it is due from him who should grant it, it may be a difficulty to us as it was to Peter. How often ought I to forgive? Is up to seven times sufficient? It is not sufficient, says the Lord, I say not unto you, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven. Now reckon up how often your brother has sinned against you. If you can reach the seventy-eighth fault, so as to get beyond the seventy times seven, then set about revenge. Is this then what He really means, and is it really so, that if he shall sin seventy times seven, you should forgive him; but if he shall sin seventy times and eight, it should then be lawful for you not to forgive? Nay I am bold to say, that if he should even sin seventy-eight times, you must forgive. Yea, as I have said, if he shall sin seventy-eight times, forgive. And if he sin a hundred times, forgive. And why need I say, so and so often? In one word, as often as he shall sin, forgive him. Have I then taken upon me to overpass the measure of my Lord? He fixed the limit of forgiveness in the number seventy-seven; shall I presume to overleap this limit? It is not so, I have not presumed to go at all beyond. I have heard the Lord Himself speaking in His Apostle where there is no measure or number fixed. For He says, Forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Here you have the rule. If Christ have forgiven you your sins seventy times and seven only, if He have pardoned up to this point, and refused to pardon beyond it; then do you also fix this limit, and be loth to forgive beyond it. But if Christ has found thousands of sins upon sins, and has yet forgiven all; withdraw not then your mercy, but ask the forgiveness of that large number. For it was not without a meaning that the Lord said seventy times seven; forasmuch as there is no trespass whatever which you ought not to forgive. See this servant in the parable, who being a debtor was found to have a debtor, owed ten thousand talents. And I suppose that ten thousand talents are at least ten thousand sins. For I will not say how but one talent will include all sins. But how much did the other servant owe him? He owed a hundred denarii. Now is not this more than seventy and seven? And yet the Lord was angry, because he did not forgive him. For not only is a hundred more than seventy-seven; but a hundred denarii, perhaps are a thousand asses. But what was this to ten thousand talents?

4. And so let us be ready to forgive all the trespasses which are committed against us, if we desire to be forgiven. For if we consider our sins, and reckon up what we do in deed, what by the eye, what by the ear, what by thought, what by numberless movements; I know not whether we so much as sleep without a talent. And therefore do we daily beg, daily knock at the ears of God by prayer, daily prostrate ourselves and say, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. What debts of yours? All, or a certain part? You will answer, All. So then do you with your debtor. This then is the rule you lay down, this the condition you speak of; this the covenant and agreement you mention when you pray, saying, Forgive us, as we forgive our debtors.

5. What then, Brethren, is the meaning of seventy times seven? Hear, for it is a great mystery, a wonderful sacrament. When the Lord was baptized, the Evangelist St. Luke has in that place commemorated His generations in the regular order, series, and line in which they had come down to that generation in which Christ was born. Matthew begins at Abraham, and comes down to Joseph in a descending order; but Luke begins to reckon in an ascending order. Why does the one reckon in a descending, and the other in an ascending order? Because Matthew set forth the generation of Christ by which He came down to us; and so he began to reckon when Christ was born in a descending order. Whereas, because Luke begins to reckon when Christ was baptized; in this is the beginning of ascension, he begins to reckon in an ascending order, and in his reckoning he has completed seventy-seven generations. With whom did he begin his reckoning? Observe with whom? He began to reckon from Christ up to Adam himself, who was the first sinner, and who begot us with the bond of sin. He reckoned up to Adam, and so there are reckoned seventy-seven generations; that is, from Christ up to Adam and from Adam up to Christ are the aforesaid seventy-seven generations. So then if no generation was omitted, there is no exemption of any trespass which ought not to be forgiven. For therefore did he reckon up his seventy-seven generations, which number the Lord mentioned as to the forgiveness of sins; since he begins to reckon from the baptism, wherein all sins are remitted.

6. And, Brethren, observe in this a yet greater mystery. In the number seventy-seven is a mystery of the remission of sins. So many are the generations found to be from Christ to Adam. Now then, ask with somewhat more careful diligence for the secret meaning of this number, and enquire into its hidden meaning; with more careful diligence knock, that it may be opened unto you. Righteousness consists in the observance of the Law of God: true. For the Law is set forth in ten precepts. Therefore it was that the servant in the parable owed ten thousand talents. This is that memorable Decalogue written by the finger of God, and delivered to the people by Moses, the servant of God. He owed then ten thousand talents; which signifies all sins, with reference to the number of the Law. And the other owed a hundred denarii; derived equally from the same number. For a hundred times a hundred make ten thousand; and ten times ten make a hundred. And the one owed ten thousand talents, and the other ten times ten denarii. For there was no departure from the number of the law, and in both numbers you will find every kind of sin included. Both are debtors, and both implore and beg for pardon; but the wicked, ungrateful servant would not repay what he had received, would not grant the mercy which had been undeservedly accorded to him.

7. Consider then, Brethren; every man begins from Baptism; he goes out free, the ten thousand talents are forgiven him; and when he goes out, he will soon find some fellow-servant his debtor. Let him note then, what sin itself is; for the number eleven is the transgression of the law. For the law is ten, sin eleven. For the law is denoted by ten, sin by eleven. Why is sin denoted by eleven? Because to get to eleven, there is the transgression of the ten. But the due limit is fixed in the law; and the transgression of it is sin. Now when you have passed beyond the ten, you come to eleven. This high mystery was figured out when the tabernacle was commanded to be built. There are many things mentioned there in number, which are a great mystery. Among the rest, curtains of haircloth were ordered to be made not ten, but eleven; because by haircloth is signified the confession of sins. Now what do you require more? Would you know how that all sins are contained in this number seventy-seven? Seven then is usually put for a whole; because in seven days the revolution of time is completed, and when the seventh is ended, it returns to the first again, that the same revolution may be continued. In such revolutions whole ages pass away: yet there is no departure from the number seven. For He spoke of all sins, when He said seventy times seven; for multiply that eleven seven times, and it makes seventy-seven. Therefore would He have all sins forgiven, for He marked them out by the number seventy-seven. Let no one then retain against himself by refusing to forgive, lest it be retained against him, when he prays. For God says, Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. For I have forgiven you first; you at least forgive after that. For if you will not forgive, I will call you back, and put upon you again all that I had remitted to you. For the Truth does not speak falsely; Christ neither deceives, nor is deceived, and He has said at the close of the parable, So likewise shall your Father which is in heaven do unto you. Thou findest a Father, imitate your Father. For if you will not imitate Him, you are devising to be disinherited. So likewise then shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Say not with the tongue, I forgive, and put off to forgive in the heart; for by His threat of vengeance God shows you your punishment. God knows where you speak. Man can hear your voice; God looks into your conscience. If you say, I forgive; forgive. Better is it that you should be violent in words, and forgive in the heart, than in words be soft, and in the heart relentless.

8. Now then unruly boys will beg, and take it hard to be beat taking exception against us when we wish to chastise them after this fashion. I have sinned, but forgive me. Well, I have forgiven, and he sins again. Forgive me, he cries, and I have forgiven him. He sins a third time. Forgive me, he cries, and a third time I have forgiven him. Now then the fourth time let him be beat. And he will say, What! Have I tired you out to seventy-seven times? Now if by such exceptions the severity of discipline sleep, upon the suppression of discipline wickedness will rage with impunity. What then is to be done? Let us reprove with words, and if need be with scourges; but let us withal forgive the sin, and cast away the remembrance of it from the heart. For therefore did the Lord add, from your hearts, that though through affection discipline be exercised, gentleness might not depart out of the heart. For what is so kind and gentle as the surgeon with his knife? He that is to be cut cries, yet cut he is; he that is to be cauterized cries, but cauterized he is. This is not cruelty; on no account let that surgeon's treatment be called cruelty. Cruel he is against the wounded part that the patient may be cured; for if the wound be softly dealt with, the man is lost. Thus then would I advise, my Brethren, that we love our brethren, howsoever they may have sinned against us; that we let not affection toward them depart out of our hearts, and that when need is, we exercise discipline toward them; lest by the relaxation of discipline, wickedness increase, and we begin to be accused on God's behalf, for it has been read to us, Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. Certainly, if one, as is the only true way, distinguishes the times, and so solves the question, all is true. If the sin be in secret, rebuke it in secret. If the sin be public and open, rebuke it publicly that the sinner may be reformed; and that others also may fear.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 19:17 , If you would enter into life, keep the commandments.

1. The Lord said to a certain young man, If you will enter into life, keep the commandments. He did not say, If you will enter into life eternal, but If you will enter into life; laying down that as life, which is to be life eternal. Let us first then set forth the value of the love of this life. For even this present life, under whatever circumstances, is loved; and men fear and dread to end it of whatever kind it be; however full of trouble and misery. Hence may we see, hence consider, how the life eternal should be loved; when this life so miserable, and which must sometime come to an end, is loved so much. Consider, Brethren, how greatly should that life be loved, where you will never end life. Thou dost love, it seems, this present life, where you labour so much, hastest to and fro, art busy, sufferest fatigue; yea scarcely to be enumerated are the necessities of this miserable life; sowing, ploughing, clearing the ground, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving; and after all these things you have to end your life. See the evils you suffer in this miserable life, which you love; and do you think that you shall always live, and never die? Temples, stones, marbles, joined so strongly together with iron and lead, fall into ruin for all their strength; and does a man suppose that he shall never die? Learn then, Brethren, to seek for eternal life, where you will not endure all this, but will reign with God forever. For he who wishes life, as the Prophet says, loves to see good days. For in evil days death is rather wished for than life. Do we not hear and see men when they are involved in some tribulations and distresses, in law-suits or sicknesses and they see that they are in travail, do we not hear them saying nothing else but, O God, send me death, hasten my days? Yet when sickness comes, they run about, and physicians are fetched, and money and rewards are promised. Death himself says to you, Lo, here I am, whom but a little while ago you were asking of the Lord, why would you fly from me now? I have found you to be a self-deceiver, and a lover of this miserable life.

2. But as concerning these days which we are passing now, the Apostle says, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Are not these days indeed evil which we spend in this corruptible flesh, in or under so heavy a load of the corruptible body, amid so great temptations, amid so great difficulties, where there is but false pleasure, no security of joy, a tormenting fear, a greedy covetousness, a withering sadness? Lo, what evil days! Yet no one is willing to end these same evil days, and hence men earnestly pray God that they may live long. Yet what is it to live long, but to be long tormented? What is it to live long, but to add evil days to evil days? When boys are growing up, it is as if days are being added to them; whereas they do not know that they are being diminished; and their very reckoning is false. For as we grow in up, the number of our days rather diminishes than increases. Appoint for any man at his birth, for instance, eighty years; every day he lives, he diminishes somewhat of that sum. Yet silly men rejoice at the oft-recurring birthdays, both of themselves and their children. O sensible man! If the wine in your bottle is diminished, you are sad; days are you losing, and are you glad? These days then are evil; and so much the more evil, in that they are loved. This world is so alluring, that no one is willing to finish a life of sorrow. For the true, the blessed life is this, when we shall rise again, and reign with Christ. For the ungodly too shall rise again but to go into the fire. Life then is there again, but that which is blessed. And blessed life there can be none but that which is eternal, where are good days; and those not many days, but one day. They are called days after the custom of this life. That day knows no rising, it knows no setting. To that day there succeeds no tomorrow; because no yesterday precedes it. This day, or these days, and this life, this true life, have we in promise. It is then the reward of a certain work. So if we love the reward, let us not fail in the work; and so shall we reign with Christ forever.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 19:17 , If you would enter into life, keep the commandments.

1. The Gospel lesson which has now sounded in our ears, Brethren, requires rather an attentive hearer and a doer, than an expositor. What is more clear than this light, If you will enter into life, keep the commandments? What then have I to say but, If you will enter into life, keep the commandments? Who is there that does not wish for life? And yet who is there that does wish to keep the commandments? If you do not wish to keep the commandments, why do you seek after life? If you are slow to the work, why do you hasten to the reward? The rich young man in the Gospel said that he had kept the commandments; then he heard the greater precepts, If you will be perfect, one thing is lacking to you, go sell all that you have, and give to the poor; you shall not lose them, but you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me. For what shall it profit you, if you shall do all the rest, and yet not follow Me? But as you have heard, he went away sad and sorrowful; for he had great riches. What he heard, have we heard also. The Gospel is Christ's voice. He sits in heaven; but He does not cease to speak on earth. Let us not be deaf, for He is crying out. Let us not be dead; for He is thundering. If you will not do the greater things, do at least the less. If the burden of the greater be too much for you, at least take up the less. Why are you slow to both? Why settest yourself against both? The greater are, Sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and follow Me. The less are, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness. Honour your father and your mother; and, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. These do; why do I call to you, to sell your possessions, from whom I cannot gain, that you would keep from plundering what is another's? You have heard, You shall not steal; yet you plunder. Before the eyes of so great a Judge, I find you not a thief only, but a plunderer. Spare yourself, have pity on yourself. This life yet allows you respite, do not refuse correction. Yesterday you were a thief; be not so today too. Or if perhaps you have been so today already, be not so tomorrow. Put a stop sometime to your evil doing, and so require good for a reward. You would have good things, and would not be good; your life is a contradiction to your desires. If to have a good country-seat, is a great good: how great an evil must it be to have an evil soul!

2. The rich man went away sorrowful; and the Lord said, How hardly shall he that has riches enter into the kingdom of heaven! And by putting forth a comparison He showed the difficulty to be such that it was absolutely impossible. For every impossible thing is difficult; but not every difficult thing is impossible. As to how difficult it is, take heed to the comparison; Verily I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. A camel to go through the eye of a needle! If He had said a gnat, it would be impossible. And then when His disciples heard it, they were grieved and said, If this be so, who then can be saved? What rich man? Give ear then to Christ, you poor, I am speaking to the people of God. You are more of you poor than rich, do ye then at least receive what I say, yet give heed. Whosoever of you boast of your poverty, beware of pride, lest the humble rich surpass you; beware of impiety, lest the pious rich surpass you; beware of drunkenness, lest the sober rich surpass you. Do not glory of your poverty, if they must not glory of their riches.

3. And let the rich give ear, if indeed they are rich; let them give ear to the Apostle, Charge the rich of this world, for there are who are the rich of another world. The poor are the rich of another world. The Apostles are the rich of another world, who said, As having nothing, and yet possessing all things. So that you may know of what poor he is speaking he added, of this world. Let the rich then of this world give ear to the Apostle, Charge, he says, the rich of this world, that they be not proud in their conceits. The first worm of riches is pride. A consuming moth, which gnaws the whole, and reduces it even to dust. Charge them, therefore, not to be proud in their conceits, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches (they are the Apostle's words), but in the living God. A thief may take away your gold; who can take away your God? What has the rich man, if he has not God? What has the poor man not, if he have God? Therefore he says, Nor to trust in riches, but in the living God, who gives us all things richly to enjoy; with which all things He gives also Himself.

4. If then they ought not to trust in riches, not to confide in them, but in the living God; what are they to do with their riches? Hear what: Let them be rich in good works. What does this mean? Explain, O Apostle. For many are loth to understand what they are loth to practise. Explain, O Apostle; give none occasion to evil works by the obscurity of your words. Tell us what you mean by, let them be rich in good works. Let them hear and understand; let them not be suffered to excuse themselves; but rather let them begin to accuse themselves, and to say what we have just heard in the Psalm, For I acknowledge my sin. Tell us what this is, let them be rich in good works. Let them easily distribute. And what is let them easily distribute? What! Is this too not understood? Let them easily distribute, let them communicate. You have, another has not: communicate, that God may communicate to you. Communicate here, and you shall communicate there. Communicate your bread here, and you shall receive Bread there. What bread here? That which you gather with sweat and toil, according to the curse upon the first man. What Bread there? Even Him who said, I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven. Here you are rich, but you are poor there. Gold you have, but you have not yet the Presence of Christ. Lay out what you have, that you may receive what you have not. Let them be rich in good works, let them easily distribute, let them communicate.

5. Must they then lose all they have? He said, Let them communicate, not Let them give the whole. Let them keep for themselves as much as is sufficient for them, let them keep more than is sufficient. Let us give a certain portion of it. What portion? A tenth? The Scribes and Pharisees gave tithes for whom Christ had not yet shed His Blood. The Scribes and Pharisees gave tithes; lest haply you should think you are doing any great thing in breaking your bread to the poor; and this is scarcely a thousandth part of your means. And yet I am not finding fault with this; do even this. So hungry and thirsty am I, that I am glad even of these crumbs. But yet I cannot keep back what He who died for us said while He was alive. Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. He does not deal softly with us; for He is a physician, He cuts to the quick. Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. The Scribes and Pharisees gave the tenth. How is it with you? Ask yourselves. Consider what you do, and with what means you do it; how much you give, how much you leave for yourselves; what you spend on mercy, what you reserve for luxury. So then, Let them distribute easily, let them communicate, let them lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life.

6. I have admonished the rich; now hear, you poor. You rich, lay out your money; ye poor, refrain from plundering. You rich, distribute your means; ye poor, bridle your desires. Hear, you poor, this same Apostle; Godliness with sufficiency is a great getting. Getting is the acquiring of gain. The world is yours in common with the rich; you have not a house in common with the rich, but you have the heaven in common, the light in common. Seek only for a sufficiency, seek for what is enough, and do not wish for more. All the rest is a weight, rather than a help; a burden, rather than an honour. Godliness with sufficiency is great gain. First is Godliness. Godliness is the worship of God. Godliness with sufficiency. For we brought nothing into this world. Did you bring anything hither? Nay, not even did ye rich bring anything. You found all here, you were born naked as the poor. In both alike is the same bodily infirmity; the same infant crying, the witness of our misery. For we brought nothing into this world (he is speaking to the poor), neither can we carry anything out. And having food and covering, let us be therewith content. For they who wish to be rich. Who wish to be, not who are. For they who are so, well and good. They have heard their lesson, that they be rich in good works, that they distribute easily, that they communicate. They have heard already. Do ye now hear who are not yet rich. They who wish to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many hurtful and foolish lusts. Do ye not fear? Hear what follows; which drown men in destruction and perdition. Do you not now fear? for avarice is the root of all evil? Avarice is the wishing to be rich, not the being rich already. This is avarice. Do you not fear to be drowned in destruction and perdition? Do you not fear avarice the root of all evil? Thou pluckest up out of your field the root of thorns, and will you not pluck up out of your heart the root of evil desires? Thou cleansest your field from which your body gets its fruit, and will you not cleanse your heart where your God indwells? For avarice is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and entangled themselves in many sorrows.

7. You have now heard what ye must do, you have heard what ye must fear, you have heard how the kingdom of heaven may be purchased, you have heard by what the kingdom of heaven may be hindered. Be all of one mind in obeying the word of God. God made both the rich and poor. Scripture says, The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the Maker of them both. The rich and the poor meet together. In what way, except in this present life? The rich and the poor are born alike. You meet one another as you walk on the way together. Do not oppress or defraud. The one has need, the other has plenty. But the Lord is the Maker of them both. By him who has, He helps him that needs; by him who has not, He proves him that has. We have heard, we have spoken; let us fear, let us take heed, let us pray, let us attain.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 19:21 ,Go, sell that you have, and give to the poor, etc.

1. The Gospel by the present lesson has reminded me to speak to you, Beloved, of the heavenly treasure. For our God has not, as unbelieving covetous men suppose, wished us to lose what we have: if what has been enjoined us be properly understood, and piously believed, and devoutly received; He has not enjoined us to lose, but rather shown a place where we may lay up. For no man can help thinking of his treasure, and following his riches in a kind of journeying of the heart. If then they are buried in the earth, his heart will seek the lowest earth; but if they are reserved in heaven, his heart will be above. If Christians therefore have the will to do what they know that they also make open profession of (not that all who hear know this; and I would that they who have known it, knew it not in vain); if then they have the will to lift up the heart above, let them lay up there, what they love; and though yet in the flesh on earth, let them dwell with Christ in heart; and as her Head went before the Church, so let the heart of the Christian go before him. As the members are to go where Christ the Head has gone before, so shall each man at his rising again go where his heart has now gone before. Let us go hence then by that part of us which we may; our whole man will follow whither one part of us is gone before. Our earthly house must fall to ruin; our heavenly house is eternal. Let us move our goods beforehand, whither we are ourselves getting ready to come.

2. We have just heard a certain rich man seeking counsel from the Good Master as to the means of obtaining eternal life. Great was the thing he loved, and of little value was that he was unwilling to renounce. And so in perverseness of heart, on hearing Him whom he had but now called Good Master, through the overpowering love of what was valueless, he lost the possession of what was of great price. If he had not wished to obtain eternal life, he would not have asked counsel how to obtain eternal life. How is it then, Brethren, that he rejected the words of Him whom he had called Good Master, drawn out for him as they were from the doctrine of the faith? What? Is He a Good Master before He teaches, and when He has taught, a bad one? Before He taught, He was called Good. He did not hear what he wished, but he did hear what was proper for him; he had come with longing, but he went away in sadness. What if He had told him, Lose what you have? When he went away sad, because it was said, Keep what you have securely. Go, says He, sell all that you have, and give to the poor. Are you afraid, it may be, lest you should lose it. See what follows; And you shall have treasure in heaven. Before now it may be you have set some young slave to guard your treasures; your God will be the guardian of your gold. He who gave them on earth, will Himself keep them in heaven. Perhaps he would not have hesitated to commit what he had to Christ, and was only sad because it was told him, Give to the poor; as though he would say in his heart, Had You said, Give it to Me, I will keep it in heaven for you; I would not hesitate to give it to my Lord, the 'Good Master;' but now you have said, 'Give to the poor.'

3. Let no one fear to lay out upon the poor, let no one think that he is the receiver whose hand he sees. He receives it Who bade you give it. And this I say not out of my own heart, or by any human conjecture; hear Him Himself, who at once exhorts you, and gives you a title of security. I was an hungred, says He, and you gave Me meat. And when after the enumeration of all their kind offices, they answered, When saw we You an hungred? He answered, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these of Mine, you have done it unto Me. It is the poor man who begs, but He that is Rich receives. You give to one who will make away with it, He receives it Who will restore it. Nor will He restore only what He receives; He is pleased to borrow upon interest, He promises more than you have given. Give the rein now to your avarice, imagine yourself an usurer. If you were an usurer indeed, you would be rebuked by the Church, confuted by the word of God, all your brethren would execrate you, as a cruel usurer, desiring to wring gain from other's tears. But now be an usurer, no one will hinder you. You are willing to lend to a poor man, who whenever he may repay you will do it with grief; but lend now to a debtor who is well able to pay, and who even exhorts you to receive what he promises.

4. Give to God, and press God for payment. Yea rather give to God, and you will be pressed to receive payment. On earth indeed you had to seek your debtor; and he sought too, but only to find where he might hide himself from your face. You had gone to the judge, and said, Bid that my debtor be summoned; and he on hearing this gets away, and cares not even to wish you well, though to him perhaps in his need you had given wealth by your loan. You have one then on whom you may well lay out your money. Give to Christ; He will of His own accord press you to receive, while you will even wonder that He has received ought of you. For to them who are placed on His right hand He will first say, Come, you blessed of My Father. Come whither? Receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For what? For I was an hundred, and you gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and in prison, and you visited Me. And they will say, Lord, when saw we You? What does this mean? The debtor presses to pay, and the creditors make excuses. But the trusty debtor will not let them suffer loss thereby. Do ye hesitate to receive? I have received, and are you ignorant of it? and He makes answer how He has received; Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these of Mine, you have done it unto Me. I received it not by Myself; but by Mine. What was given to them came to Me; be secure, you have not lost it. You looked to those who were little able to pay on earth; you have One who is well able to pay in heaven. I, He says, have received, I will repay.

5. And what have I received, and what do I repay? 'I was an hungred,' He says, 'and you gave Me meat;' and the rest. I received earth, I will give heaven; I received temporal things, I will restore eternal; I received bread, I will give life. Yea, we may even say thus, I have received bread, I will give Bread; I have received drink, I will give Drink; I have received houseroom, I will give a House; I was visited in sickness, I will give Health; I was visited in prison, I will give Liberty. The bread which you gave to My poor is consumed; the Bread which I will give both recruits the failing and does not fail. May He then give us Bread, He who is the living Bread which came down from heaven. When He shall give Bread, He will give Himself. For what did you intend when you lent on usury? To give money, and to receive money; but to give a smaller sum, and to receive a larger. I, says God, will give you an exchange for the better for all that you have given Me. For if you were to give a pound of silver, and to receive a pound of gold, with how great joy would you be possessed? Examine and question avarice. I have given a pound of silver, I receive a pound of gold! What proportion is there between silver and gold! Much more then, what proportion is there between earth and heaven! And your silver and gold you were to leave here below; whereas you will not abide yourself for ever here. And I will give you something else, and I will give you something more, and I will give you something better; I will give you even that which will last forever. So then, Brethren, be our avarice restrained, that another, which is holy, may be enkindled. Evil altogether is her counsel, who hinders you from doing good. You are willing to serve an evil mistress, not owning a Good Lord. And sometimes two mistresses occupy the heart, and tear the slave asunder who deserves to be in slavery to such a double yoke.

6. Yes, sometimes two opposing mistresses have possession of a man, avarice and luxuriousness. Avarice says, Keep; luxuriousness, says, Spend. Under two mistresses bidding and exacting diverse things what can you do? They have both their mode of address. And when you begin to be unwilling to obey them, and to take a step towards your liberty; because they have no power to command, they use caresses. And their caresses are more to be guarded against than their commands. What says avarice? Keep for yourself, keep for your children. If you should be in want, no one will give to you. Live not for the time present only; consult for the future. On the other hand is luxuriousness. Live while you may. Do good to your own soul. Die you must, and you know not when; you know not to whom you shall leave what you have, or who shall possess it. You are taking the bread out of your own mouth, and perhaps after your death your heir will not so much as place a cup of wine upon your tomb; or if so be he place a cup, he will drink himself drunk with it, not a drop will come down to you. Do well therefore to your own soul, when and while you can. Thus avarice did enjoin one thing; Keep for yourself, consult for the future. Luxuriousness another, Do well to your own soul.

7. But O free man, called unto liberty, be weary, be weary of your servitude to such mistresses as these. Acknowledge your Redeemer, your Deliverer. Serve Him, He enjoins easier things, He enjoins not things contrary one to another. I am bold further to say; avarice and luxuriousness did enjoin upon you contrary things, so that you could not obey them both; and one said, Keep for yourself, and consult for the future; the other said, Spend freely, do well to your own soul. Now let your Lord and your Redeemer come forth, and He shall say the same, and yet no contrary things. If you will not, His house has no need of an unwilling servant. Consider your Redeemer, consider your Ransom. He came to redeem you, He shed His Blood. Dear He held you whom He purchased at so dear a price. Thou dost acknowledge Him who bought you, consider from what He redeems you. I say nothing of the other sins which lord it proudly over you; for you were serving innumerable masters. I speak only of these two, luxuriousness and avarice, giving you contrary injunctions, hurrying you into different things. Deliver yourself from them, come to your God. If you were the servant of iniquity, be now the servant of righteousness. The words which they spoke to you, and the contrary injunctions they gave you, the very same you hear now from your Lord, yet are His injunctions not contrary. He does not take away their words, but he takes away their power. What did avarice say to you? Keep for yourself, consult for the future. The word is not changed, but the man is changed. Now, if you will, compare the counsellors. The one is avarice, the other righteousness.

8. Examine these contrary injunctions. Keep for yourself, says avarice. Suppose you are willing to obey her, ask her where you are to keep? Some well-defended place she will show you, walled chamber, or iron chest. Well, use all precautions; yet perhaps some thief in the house will burst open the secret places; and while you are taking precautions for your money, you will be in fear of your life. It may be while you are keeping up your store, he whose mind is set to plunder them, has it even in his thoughts to kill you. Lastly, even though by various precautions you should defend your treasure and your clothes against thieves; defend them still against the rust and moth. What can you do then? Here is no enemy without to take away your goods, but one within consuming them.

9. No good counsel then has avarice given. See she has enjoined you to keep, yet has not found a place where you may keep. Let her give also her next advice, Consult for the future. For what future? For a few and those uncertain days. She says, Consult for the future, to a man who, it may be, will not live even till tomorrow. But suppose him to live as long as avarice thinks he will, not as long as she can prove, or assure him, or have any confidence about, but suppose him to live as long as she thinks, that he grow old and so come to his end: when he is even now bent double with old age, and leaning on his stick for support, still is he seeking gain, and hears avarice saying still, Consult for the future. For what future? When he is even at his last breath she speaks. She says, for your children's sake. Would that at least we did not find the old men who had no children avaricious. Yet to these even, to such as these even, who cannot even excuse their iniquity by any empty show of natural affection, she ceases not to say, Consult for the future. But it may be that these will soon blush for themselves; so let us look to those who have children, whether they are certain that their children will possess what they shall leave? Let them observe in their lifetime the children of other men, some losing what they had by the unjust violence of others, others by their own wickedness consuming what they possessed; and they remain in poor estate, who were the children of rich men. Cease then to be the home-born slaves of avarice. But a man will say, My children will possess this. It is uncertain; I do not say, it is false, but at best, it is uncertain. But now suppose it to be certain, what do you wish to leave them? What you have gotten for yourself. Assuredly what you have gotten was not left you, yet you have it. If you have been able to get possession of what was not left to you, then will they also be able to get what you shall not leave to them.

10. Thus have the counsels of avarice been refuted; but now let the Lord say the same words, now let righteousness speak: the words will be the same, but not the same the meaning. Keep for yourself, says the Lord, consult for the future. Now ask Him, Where shall I keep? You shall have treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches, nor moth corrupts. Against what an enduring future shall you keep it! Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And of how many days this kingdom is, the end of the passage shows. For after He had said of those on the left hand, So these shall go away into everlasting burning; of those on the right hand He says, but the righteous into life eternal. This is consulting for the future. A future which has no future beyond it. Those days without an end are called both days, and a day. For one when he was speaking of those days, says, That I may dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days. And they are called a day, This day have I begotten you. Now those days are one day; because there is no time, in it; that day is neither preceded by a yesterday, nor succeeded by a tomorrow. So then let us consult for the future: the words indeed which avarice said to you are not different in terms from this, yet by them is avarice overthrown.

11. One thing may yet be said, But what am I to do about my children? Hear on this point also the counsel of your Lord. If your Lord should say to you, The thoughts of them concern Me more who did create, than you who begot them, perhaps you could have nothing to say. Yet you will look upon that rich man who went away sorrowful, and was rebuked in the Gospel, and will say to yourself perhaps, That rich man did evil in not selling all and giving to the poor, because he had no children; but I have children; I have those for whom I should be keeping something. In this weakness too the Lord is ready to advise with you. I would be bold to speak through His mercy; I would be bold to say something, not of my own imagining, but of His pity. Keep then for your children too, but hear me. Suppose (such is man's condition) any one should lose one of his children; mark, Brethren, mark how that avarice has no excuse, either as respects this world or the world to come. Such, I say, is man's condition; for it is not that I wish it, but we see instances. Some Christian child has been lost: you have lost a Christian child; not that you have indeed lost him, but hast sent him before you. For he is not gone quite away, but gone before. Ask your own faith: surely you too will go there presently, where he has gone before. It is but a short question I ask, which yet I suppose no one will answer. Does your son live? Ask your faith. If he live then, why is his portion seized upon by his brothers? But you will say, What, will he return and possess it? Let it then be sent to him whither he is gone before; he cannot come to his goods, his goods can go to him. Consider only with Whom he is. If any son were serving at the Court, and became the Emperor's friend, and were to say to you, Sell my portion, which is there, and send it to me; would you find what to answer him? Well, your son is now with the Emperor of all emperors, with the King of all kings, with the Lord of all lords; send to Him. I do not say your son is in need himself; but his Lord with whom he is, is in need upon the earth. He vouchsafes to receive here, what He gives in heaven. Do what some avaricious men are wont to do, make out a conveyance, bestow upon those who are in pilgrimage, what you may receive in your own country.

12. But now I am not speaking at all of yourself, but of your child. You are hesitating to give what is your own, yea, rather art hesitating to restore what is another's; surely you are hereby convicted, that it was not for your children that you were laying up. See, you do not give to your children, seeing you will even take away from your children. From this child at all events will you take away. Why is he unworthy to receive his part, because he is living with One worthier than all? There would be reason in it, if he with whom your son is living, were unwilling to receive it. Rich shall you now be for your house, but that the house of God. So far it is then from me to say to you, Give what you have; that I am saying to you, Pay that you owe. But you will say, His brothers will have it. O evil maxim, which may teach your children to wish for their brother's death. If they shall be enriched by the property of their deceased brother, take heed how they may watch for one another in your house. What then will you do? Will you divide his patrimony, and so give lessons of parricide?

13. But I am unwilling to speak of the loss of a child, lest I seem to threaten calamities, which do befall men. Let us speak in some more happy and auspicious tone. I do not say then, you will have one less; reckon rather that you have one more. Give Christ a place with your children, be your Lord added to your family; be your Creator added to your offspring, be your Brother added to the number of your children. For though there is so great a distance, yet has He condescended to be a Brother. And though He be the Father's Only Son, He has vouchsafed to have coheirs. Lo, how bountifully has He given! Why will you give in such barren sort? You have two children; reckon Him a third: you have three, let Him be reckoned as a fourth: you have five, let Him be called a sixth; you have ten, let Him be the eleventh. I will say no more; keep the place of one child for your Lord. For what you shall give to your Lord, will profit both you and your children; whereas, what you keep for your children wrongly, will hurt both you and them. Now you will give one portion, which you have reckoned as one child's portion. Reckon that you have got one child more.

14. What great demand is this, my Brethren? I give you counsel only; do I use violence? As says the Apostle, This I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you. I imagine, Brethren, that it is a light and easy thought for a father of children to suppose that he has one child more, and thereby to procure such an inheritance as you may possess for ever, both you and your children. Avarice can say nothing against it. You have cried out in acclamation at these words. Turn your words rather against her; let her not overcome you; let her not have greater power in your hearts, than your Redeemer. Let her not have greater power in your hearts, than He who exhorts us to lift up our hearts. And so now let us dismiss her.

15. What says luxuriousness? What? Do well to your own soul. See also the Lord says the same, Do well to your own soul. What luxuriousness was saying to you, the same says Righteousness to you. But consider here again in what sense the words are used. If you would do well to your own soul, consider that rich man who wished to do well to his soul, after the counsel of luxuriousness and avarice. His ground brought forth plentifully, and he had no room where to bestow his fruits; and he said, What shall I do? I have no room where to bestow my fruits; I have found out what to do; I will pull down my old barns, and build new, and will fill them, and say to my soul, You have much goods; take your pleasure. Hear the counsel against luxuriousness; You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you; and whose shall those things be which you have provided? And whither must that soul which shall be required of him go? This night it shall be required, and shall go he knows not whither.

16. Consider that other luxurious, proud, rich man. He feasted sumptuously every day, and was clothed in purple and fine linen; and the poor man laid at his gate full of sores, and desired in vain the crumbs from the rich man's table; he fed the dogs with his sores, but he was not fed by the rich man. They both died; one of them was buried; of the other what is said? He was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man sees the poor man; yea rather it is now the poor man sees the rich; he longs for a drop of water on his tongue from his finger, from him who once longed for a crumb from his table. Indeed their lot was changed. The dead rich man asks for this in vain: O let not us who are alive hear it in vain. For he wished to return again to the world, and was not permitted; he wished one of the dead to be sent to his brethren, neither was this granted him. But what was said to him? They have Moses and the Prophets; and he said, They will not hear except one go from the dead. Abraham said to him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe though one go from the dead.

17. What luxuriousness then said in a perverted sense concerning the giving of alms, and procuring rest for our souls against the time to come, that so we may do well to our souls, Moses also and the Prophets have spoken. Let us give ear while we are alive. Because there he will desire in vain to hear, who has despised these words when he heard them here. Are we expecting that one should rise even from the dead, and tell us to do well to our own souls? It has been done already: your father has not risen again, but your Lord has risen. Hear Him, and accept good counsel. Spare not your treasures, spend as freely as you can. This was the voice of luxuriousness: it has become the Lord's Voice. Spend as freely as you can, do well to your soul, lest this night your soul be required. Here then you have in Christ's Name a discourse as I think on the duty of almsgiving. This your voice now applauding, is then only well-pleasing to the Lord, if He see withal your hands active in works of mercy.

Delivered on the Lord's Day, on that which is written in the Gospel, Matthew 20:1 , The kingdom of heaven is like a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

1. You have heard out of the Holy Gospel a parable well suited to the present season, concerning the labourers in the vineyard. For now is the time of the material vintage. Now there is also a spiritual vintage, wherein God rejoices in the fruit of His vineyard. For we cultivate God, and God cultivates us. But we do not so cultivate God as to make Him any better thereby. For our cultivation is the labour of the heart, not of the hands. He cultivates us as the husbandman does his field. In then that He cultivates us, He makes us better; because so does the husbandman make his field better by cultivating it, and the very fruit He seeks in us is, that we may cultivate Him. The culture He exercises on us is, that He ceases not to root out by His Word the evil seeds from our hearts, to open our heart, as it were, by the plough of His Word, to plant the seed of His precepts, to wait for the fruit of piety. For when we have so received that culture into our heart, as to cultivate Him well, we are not ungrateful to our Husbandman, but render the fruit wherein He rejoices. And our fruit does not make Him the richer, but us the happier.

2. See then; hear how, as I have said, God cultivates us. For that we cultivate God, there is no need to be proved to you. For all men have this on their tongue, that men cultivate God, but the hearer feels a kind of awe, when he hears that God cultivates man; because it is not after the ordinary usage of men to say, that God cultivates men, but that men cultivate God. We ought therefore to prove to you, that God also does cultivate men; lest perchance we be thought to have spoken a word contrary to sound doctrine, and men dispute in their heart against us, and as not knowing our meaning, find fault with us. I have determined therefore to show you, that God does also cultivate us; but as I have said already, as a field, that He may make us better. Thus the Lord says in the Gospel, I am the Vine, you are the branches, My Father is the Husbandman. What does the Husbandman do? I ask you who are husbandmen. I suppose he cultivates his field. If then God the Father be a Husbandman, He has a field; and His field He cultivates, and from it He expects fruit.

3. Again, He planted a vineyard, as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, and let it out to husbandmen, who should render Him the fruit in the proper season. And He sent His servants to them to ask for the hire of the vineyard. But they treated them despitefully, and killed some, and contemptuously refused to render the fruits. He sent others also, they suffered the like treatment. And then the Householder, the Cultivator of His field, and the Planter, and Letter out of His vineyard, said; I will send Mine Only Son, it may be they will at least reverence Him. And so He says, He sent His Own Son also. They said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they killed Him, and cast Him out of the vineyard. When the Lord of the vineyard comes, what will He do to those wicked husbandmen? They answered, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruits in their seasons. The vineyard was planted when the law was given in the hearts of the Jews. The Prophets were sent, seeking fruit, even their good life: the Prophets were treated despitefully by them, and were killed. Christ also was sent, the Only Son of the Householder; and they killed Him who was the Heir, and so lost the inheritance. Their evil counsel turned out contrary to their designs. They killed Him that they might possess the inheritance; and because they killed Him, they lost it.

4. You have just heard too the parable out of the Holy Gospel; that the kingdom of heaven is like a householder, which went out to hire labourers into His vineyard. He went out in the morning, and hired those whom he found, and agreed with them for a denarius as their hire. He went out again at the third hour, and found others, and brought them to the labour of the vineyard. And the sixth and ninth hour he did likewise. He went out also at the eleventh hour, near the end of the day, and found some idle and standing still, and he said to them, Why stand ye here? Why do ye not work in the vineyard? They answered, Because no man has hired us. Go also, said He, and whatsoever is right I will give you. His pleasure was to fix their hire at a denarius. How could they who had only to work one hour dare hope for a denarius? Yet they congratulated themselves in the hope that they should receive something. So then these were brought in even for one hour. At the end of the day he ordered the hire to be paid to all, from the last to the first. Then he began to pay at those who had come in at the eleventh hour, and he commanded a denarius to be given them. When they who had come at the first hour saw that the others had received a denarius, which he had agreed for with themselves they hoped that they should have received more: and when their turn came, they also received a denarius. They murmured against the good man of the house, saying, Behold, you have made us who have borne the burning and heat of the day, equal and like to those who have laboured but one hour in the vineyard. And the good man, returning a most just answer to one of them, said, Friend, I do you no wrong; that is, I have not defrauded you, I have paid you what I agreed for with you. I have done you no wrong, for I have paid you what I agreed for. To this other it is my will not to render a payment, but to bestow a gift. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil, because I am good? If I had taken from any one what did not belong to me, rightly I might be blamed, as fraudulent and unjust: if I had not paid any one his due, rightly might I be blamed as fraudulent, and as withholding what belonged to another; but when I pay what is due, and give besides to whom I will, neither can he to whom I owed find fault, and he to whom I gave ought to rejoice the more. They had nothing to answer; and all were made equal; and the last became first, and the first last; by equality of treatment, not by inverting their order. For what is the meaning of, the last were first, and the first last? That both the first and last received the same.

5. How is it that he began to pay at the last? Are not all, as we read, to receive together? For we read in another place of the Gospel, that He will say to those whom He shall set on the right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. If all then are to receive together, how do we understand in this place, that they received first who began to work at the eleventh hour, and they last who were hired at the first hour? If I shall be able so to speak, as to reach your understanding, God be thanked. For to Him ought ye to render thanks, who distributes to you by me; for nought of my own do I distribute. If you ask me, for example, which of the two has received first, he who has received after one hour, or he who after twelve hours; every man would answer that he who has received after one hour, has received before him who received after twelve hours. So then though they all received at the same hour, yet because some received after one hour, others after twelve hours, they who received after so short a time are said to have received first. The first righteous men, as Abel, and Noe, called as it were at the first hour, will receive together with us the blessedness of the resurrection. Other righteous men after them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of their age, called as it were at the third hour, will receive together with us the blessedness of the resurrection. Other righteous men, as Moses, and Aaron, and whosoever with them were called as it were at the sixth hour, will receive together with us the blessedness of the resurrection. After them the Holy Prophets, called as it were at the ninth hour, will receive together with us the same blessedness. In the end of the world all Christians, called as it were at the eleventh hour, will receive with the rest the blessedness of that resurrection. All will receive together; but consider those first men, after how long a time do they receive it? If then those first receive after a long time, we after a short time; though we all receive together, yet we seem to have received first, because our hire will not tarry long in coming.

6. In that hire then shall we be all equal, and the first as the last, and the last as the first; because that denarius is life eternal, and in the life eternal all will be equal. For although through diversity of attainments the saints will shine, some more, some less; yet as to this respect, the gift of eternal life, it will be equal to all. For that will not be longer to one, and shorter to another, which is alike everlasting; that which has no end will have no end either for you or me. After one sort in that life will be wedded chastity, after another virgin purity; in one sort there will be the fruit of good works, in another sort the crown of martyrdom. One in one sort, and another in another; yet in respect to the living for ever, this man will not live more than that, nor that than this. For alike without end will they live, though each shall live in his own brightness: and the denarius in the parable is that life eternal. Let not him then who has received after a long time murmur against him who has received after a short time. To the first, it is a payment; to the other, a free gift; yet the same thing is given alike to both.

7. There is also something like this in this present life, and besides that solution of the parable, by which they who were called at the first hour are understood of Abel and the righteous men of his age, and they at the third, of Abraham and the righteous men of his age, and they at the sixth, of Moses and Aaron and the righteous men of their age, and they at the eleventh, as in the end of the world, of all Christians; besides this solution of the parable, the parable may be seen to have an explanation in respect even of this present life. For they are as it were called at the first hour, who begin to be Christians fresh from their mother's womb; boys are called as it were at the third, young men at the sixth, they who are verging toward old age, at the ninth hour, and they who are called as if at the eleventh hour, are they who are altogether decrepit; yet all these are to receive the one and the same denarius of eternal life.

8. But, Brethren, hearken ye and understand, lest any put off to come into the vineyard, because he is sure, that, come when he will, he shall receive this denarius. And sure indeed he is that the denarius is promised him; but this is no injunction to put off. For did they who were hired into the vineyard, when the householder came out to them to hire whom he might find, at the third hour for instance, and did hire them, did they say to him, Wait, we are not going there till the sixth hour? Or they whom he found at the sixth hour, did they say, We are not going till the ninth hour? Or they whom he found at the ninth hour, did they say, We are not going till the eleventh? For he will give to all alike; why should we fatigue ourselves more than we need? What He was to give, and what He was to do, was in the secret of His own counsel: come when you are called. For an equal reward is promised to all; but as to this appointed hour of working, there is an important question. For if, for instance, they who are called at the sixth hour, at that age of life that is, in which as in the full heat of noon, is felt the glow of manhood's years; if they, called thus in manhood, were to say, Wait, for we have heard in the Gospel that all are to receive the same reward, we will come at the eleventh hour, when we shall have grown old, and shall still receive the same. Why should we add to our labour? it would be answered them thus, Are you not willing to labour now, who dost not know whether you shall live to old age? You are called at the sixth hour; come. The Householder has it is true promised you a denarius, if you come at the eleventh hour, but whether you shall live even to the seventh, no one has promised you. I say not to the eleventh, but even to the seventh hour. Why then do you put off him that calls you, certain as you are of the reward, but uncertain of the day? Take heed then lest perhaps what he is to give you by promise, you take from yourself by delay. Now if this may rightly be said of infants as belonging to the first hour, if it may be rightly said of boys as belonging to the third, if it may be rightly said of men in the vigour of life, as in the full-day heat of the sixth hour; how much more rightly may it be said of the decrepit? Lo, already is it the eleventh hour, and do you yet stand still, and are you yet slow to come?

9. But perhaps the Householder has not gone out to call you? If he has not gone out, what mean our addresses to you? For we are servants of his household, we are sent to hire labourers. Why do you stand still then? You have now ended the number of your years; hasten after the denarius. For this is the going out of the Householder, the making himself known; forasmuch as he that is in the house is hidden, he is not seen by those who are without; but when he goes out of the house, he is seen by those without. So Christ is in secret, as long as He is not known and acknowledged; but when He is acknowledged, He has gone out to hire labourers. For now He has come forth from a hidden place, to be known of men: everywhere Christ is known, Christ is preached; all places whatsoever under the heaven proclaim aloud the glory of Christ. He was in a manner the object of derision and contempt among the Jews, He appeared in low estate and was despised. For He hid His Majesty, and manifested His infirmity. That in Him which was manifested was despised, and that which was hidden was not known. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But is He still to be despised now that He sits in heaven, if He were despised when He was hanging on the tree? They who crucified Him wagged their head, and standing before His Cross, as though they had attained the fruit of their cruel rage, they said in mockery, If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross. He saved others, Himself He cannot save. He came not down, because He lay hid. For with far greater ease could He have come down from the Cross, who had power to rise again from the grave. He showed forth an example of patience for our instruction. He delayed His power, and was not acknowledged. For He had not then gone out to hire labourers, He had gone out, He had not made Himself known. On the third day He rose again, He showed Himself to His disciples, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Ghost on the fiftieth day after the resurrection, the tenth after the ascension. The Holy Ghost who was sent filled all who were in one room, one hundred and twenty men. They were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with the tongues of all nations; now was the calling manifest, now He went out to hire. For now the power of truth began to be made known to all. For then even one man having received the Holy Ghost, spoke by himself with the tongues of all nations. But now in the Church oneness itself, as one man speaks in the tongues of all nations. For what tongue has not the Christian religion reached? To what limits does it not extend? Now is there no one who hides himself from the heat thereof; and delay is still ventured by him who stands still at the eleventh hour.

10. It is plain then, my Brethren, it is plain to all, do ye hold it fast, and be sure of it, that whenever any one turns himself to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, from a useless or abandoned way of life, all that is past is forgiven him, and as though all his debts were cancelled, a new account is entered into with him. All is entirely forgiven. Let no one be anxious in the thought that there remains anything which is not forgiven him. But on the other hand, let no one rest in a perverse security. For these two things are the death of souls, despair, and perverse hope. For as a good and right hope saves, so does a perverse hope deceive. First, consider how despair deceives. There are men, who when they begin to reflect on the evils they have done, think they cannot be forgiven; and while they think they cannot be forgiven, immediately they give up their souls to ruin, and perish through despair, saying in their thoughts, Now there is no hope for us; for such great sins as we have committed cannot be remitted or pardoned us; why then should we not satisfy our lusts? Let us at least fill up the pleasure of the time present, seeing we have no reward in that which is to come. Let us do what we list, though it be not lawful; that we may at least have a temporal enjoyment, because we cannot attain to the receiving an eternal. In saying such things they perish through despair, either before they believe at all, or when Christians already, they have fallen by evil living into any sins and wickednesses. The Lord of the vineyard goes forth to them, and by the Prophet Ezekial knocks, and calls to them in their despair, and as they turn their backs to Him that calls them. In whatsoever day a man shall turn from his most wicked way, I will forget all his iniquities. If they hear and believe this voice, they are recovered from despair, and rise up again from that very deep and bottomless gulf, wherein they had been sunk.

11. But these must fear, lest they fall into another gulf, and they die through a perverse hope, who could not die through despair. For they change their thoughts, which are far different indeed from what they were before, but not less pernicious, and begin again to say in their hearts, If in whatever day I turn from my most evil way, the merciful God, as He truly promises by the Prophet, will forget all my iniquities, why should I turn today and not tomorrow? Let this day pass as yesterday, in excess of guilty pleasure, in the full flow of licentiousness, let it wallow in deadly delights; tomorrow I shall 'turn myself,' and there will be an end to it. One may answer you, An end of what? Of mine iniquities, you will say. Well, rejoice indeed, that tomorrow there will be an end of your iniquities. But what if before tomorrow your own end shall be? So then you do well indeed to rejoice that God has promised you forgiveness for your iniquities, if you are converted; but no one has promised you tomorrow. Or if perchance some astrologer has promised it, it is a far different thing from God's promise. Many have these astrologers deceived, in that they have promised themselves advantages, and have found only losses. Therefore for the sake of these again whose hope is wrong, does the Householder go forth. As He went forth to those who had despaired wrongly, and were lost in their despair, and called them back to hope; so does He go forth to these also who would perish through an evil hope; and by another book He says to them, Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord. As He had said to the others, In whatsoever day a man shall turn from his most wicked way, I will forget all his iniquities, and took despair away from them, because they had now given up their soul to perdition, despairing of forgiveness by any means; so does He go forth to these also who have a mind to perish through hope and delay; and speaks to them, and chides them, Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day; for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth, and in the day of vengeance He will destroy you. Therefore put not off, shut not against yourself what now is open. Lo, the Giver of forgiveness opens the door to you; why do you delay? You ought to rejoice, were He to open after ever so long a time to your knocking; you have not knocked, yet does He open, and do you remain outside? Put not off then. Scripture says in a certain place, as touching works of mercy, Say not, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you can do the kindness at once; for you know not what may happen on the morrow. Here then is a precept of not putting off being merciful to another, and will you by putting off be cruel against your own self? You ought not to put off to give bread, and will you put off to receive forgiveness? If you do not put off in showing pity towards another, pity your own soul also in pleasing God. Give alms to your own soul also. Nay I do not say, give to it, but thrust not back His Hand that would give to you.

12. But men continually injure themselves exceedingly in their fear to offend others. For good friends have much influence for good, and evil friends for evil. Therefore it was not the Lord's will to choose first senators, but fishermen, to teach us for our own salvation to disregard the friendship of the powerful. O signal mercy of the Creator! For He knew that had He chosen the senator, he would say, My rank has been chosen. If He had first made choice of the rich man, he would say, My wealth has been chosen. If He had first made choice of an emperor, he would say, My power has been chosen. If the orator he would say, My eloquence has been chosen. If of the philosopher, he would say, My wisdom has been chosen. Meanwhile He says, let these proud ones be put off awhile, they swell too much. Now there is much difference between substantial size and swelling; both indeed are large, but both are not alike sound. Let them then, He says, be put off, these proud ones, they must be cured by something solid. First give Me, He says, this fisherman. Come, you poor one, follow Me; you have nothing, you know nothing, follow Me. Thou poor and ignorant one, follow Me. There is nothing in you to inspire awe, but there is much in you to be filled. To so copious a fountain an empty vessel should be brought. So the fisherman left his nets, the fisherman received grace, and became a divine orator. See what the Lord did, of whom the Apostle says, God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world has God chosen, yea and things which are not, as if they were, that those things which are may be brought to nought. And so now the fishermen's words are read, and the necks of orators are brought down. Let all empty winds then be taken away, let the smoke be taken away which vanishes as it mounts; let them be utterly despised when the question is of this salvation.

13. If any one in a city had some bodily sickness, and there was in that place some very skilful physician who was an enemy to the sick man's powerful friends; if any one, I say, in a city were labouring under some dangerous bodily sickness; and there was in the same city a very skilful physician, an enemy as I said, of the sick man's powerful friends, and they were to say to their friend, Do not call him in, he knows nothing; and they were to say this not from any judgment of their mind, but through dislike of him; would he not for his own safety's sake remove from him the groundless assertions of his powerful friends, and with whatever offense to them, in order that he might live but a few days longer, call that physician in, whom common report had given out as most skilful to drive away the disease of his body? Well, the whole race of mankind is sick, not with diseases of the body, but with sin. There lies one great patient from East to West throughout the world. To cure this great patient came the Almighty Physician down. He humbled Himself even to mortal flesh, as it were to the sick man's bed. Precepts of health He gives, and is despised; they who do observe them are delivered. He is despised, when powerful friends say, He knows nothing. If He knew nothing, His power would not fill the nations. If He knew nothing, He would not have been, before He was with us. If He knew nothing, He would not have sent the Prophets before Him. Are not those things which were foretold of old, fulfilled now? Does not this Physician prove the power of His art by the accomplishment of His promises? Are not deadly errors overturned throughout the whole world; and by the threshing of the world lusts subdued? Let no one say, The world was better aforetime than now; ever since that Physician began to exercise His art, many dreadful things we witness here. Marvel not at this? Before that any were in course of healing, the Physician's residence seemed clean of blood; but now rather as seeing what you do, shake off all vain delights, and come to the Physician, it is the time of healing, not of pleasure.

14. Let us then think, Brethren, of being cured. If we do not yet know the Physician, yet let us not like frenzied men be violent against Him, or as men in a lethargy turn away from Him. For many through this violence have perished, and many have perished through sleep. The frenzied are they who are made mad for want of sleep. The lethargic are they who are weighed down by excessive sleep. Men are to be found of both these kinds. Against this Physician it is the will of some to be violent, and forasmuch as He is Himself sitting in heaven, they persecute His faithful ones on earth. Yet even such as these He cures. Many of them having been converted from enemies have become friends, from persecutors have become preachers. Such as these were the Jews, whom, though violent as men in frenzy against Him while He was here, He healed, and prayed for them as He hung upon the Cross. For He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Yet many of them when their fury was calmed, their frenzy as it were got under, came to know God, and Christ. When the Holy Ghost was sent after the Ascension, they were converted to Him whom they crucified, and as believers drunk in the Sacrament His Blood, which in their violence they shed.

15. Of this we have examples. Saul persecuted the members of Jesus Christ, who is now sitting in heaven; grievously did he persecute them in his frenzy, in the loss of his reason, in the transport of his madness. But He with one word, calling to him out of heaven, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? struck down the frantic one, raised him up whole, killed the persecutor, quickened the preacher. And so again many lethargic ones are healed. For to such are they like, who are not violent against Christ, nor malicious against Christians, but who in their delay are only dull and heavy with drowsy words, are slow to open their eyes to the light, and are annoyed with those who would arouse them. Get away from me, says the heavy, lethargic man, I pray you, get away from me. Why? I wish to sleep. But you will die in consequence. He through love of sleep will answer, I wish to die. And Love from above calls out I do not wish it. Often does the son exhibit this loving affection to an aged father, though he must needs die in a few days; and is now in extreme old age. If he sees that he is lethargic, and knows from the physician that he is oppressed with a lethargic complaint, who tells him Arouse your father, do not let him sleep, if you would save his life! Then will the son come to the old man, and beat, and squeeze, or pinch, or prick him, or give him any uneasiness, and all through his dutiful affection to him; and will not allow him to die at once, die though he soon must from very age; and if his life is thus saved, the son rejoices that he has now to live some few days more with him who must soon depart to make way for him. With how much greater affection then ought we to be importunate with our friends, with whom we may live not a few days in this world, but in God's presence for ever! Let them then love us, and do what they hear us say, and worship Him, whom we also worship, that they may receive what we also hope for. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.