Other Writings, Part 9

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 20:30 , about the two blind men sitting by the way side, and crying out, Lord, have mercy on us, Thou Son of David.

1. You know, Holy Brethren, full well as we do, that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Physician of our eternal health; and that to this end He took the weakness of our nature, that our weakness might not last forever. For He assumed a mortal body, wherein to kill death. And, though He was crucified through weakness, as the Apostle says, yet He lives by the power of God. They are the words too of the same Apostle; He dies no more, and death shall have no more dominion over Him. These things, I say, are well known to your faith. And there is also this which follows from it, that we should know that all the miracles which He did on the body, avail to our instruction, that we may from them perceive that which is not to pass away, nor to have any end. He restored to the blind those eyes which death was sure sometime to close; He raised Lazarus to life who was to die again. And whatever He did for the health of bodies, He did it not to this end that they should be for ever; whereas at the last He will give eternal health even to the body itself. But because those things which were not seen, were not believed; by means of these temporal things which were seen, He built up faith in those things which were not seen.

2. Let no one then, Brethren, say that our Lord Jesus Christ does not those things now, and on this account prefer the former to the present ages of the Church. In a certain place indeed the same Lord prefers those who do not see, and yet believe, to them who see and therefore believe. For even at that time so irresolute was the infirmity of His disciples, that they thought that He whom they saw to have risen again must be handled, in order that they might believe. It was not enough for their eyes that they had seen Him, unless their hands also were applied to His limbs, and the scars of His recent wounds were touched; that that disciple who was in doubt, might cry out suddenly when he had touched and recognised the scars, My Lord and my God. The scars manifested Him who had healed all wounds in others. Could not the Lord have risen again without the scars? Yes, but He knew the wounds which were in the hearts of His disciples, and to heal them He had preserved the scars on His own Body. And what said the Lord to him who now confessed and said, My Lord and my God? Because you have seen, He said, you have believed; blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe. Of whom spoke He, Brethren, but of us? Not that He spoke only of us, but of those also who shall come after us. For after a little while when He had departed from the sight of men, that faith might be established in their hearts, whosoever believed, believed, though they saw Him not, and great has been the merit of their faith; for the procuring of which faith they brought only the movement of a pious heart, and not the touching of their hands.

3. These things then the Lord did to invite us to the faith. This faith reigns now in the Church, which is spread throughout the whole world. And now He works greater cures, on account of which He disdained not then to exhibit those lesser ones. For as the soul is better than the body, so is the saving health of the soul better than the health of the body. The blind body does not now open its eyes by a miracle of the Lord, but the blinded heart opens its eyes to the word of the Lord. The mortal corpse does not now rise again, but the soul does rise again which lay dead in a living body. The deaf ears of the body are not now opened; but how many have the ears of their heart closed, which yet fly open at the penetrating word of God, so that they believe who did not believe, and they live well, who did live evilly, and they obey, who did not obey; and we say, Such a man has become a believer; and we wonder when we hear of them whom once we had known as hardened. Why then do you marvel at one who now believes, who is living innocently, and serving God; but because you behold him seeing, whom you had known to be blind; dost behold him living, whom you had known to be dead; dost behold him hearing, whom you had known to be deaf? For consider that there are who are dead in another than the ordinary sense, of whom the Lord spoke to a certain man who delayed to follow the Lord, because he wished to bury his father; Let the dead, said He, bury their dead. Surely these dead buriers are not dead in body; for if this were so, they could not bury dead bodies. Yet does he call them dead; where, but in the soul within? For as we may often see in a household, itself sound and well, the master of the same house lying dead; so in a sound body do many carry a dead soul within; and these the Apostle arouses thus, Awake, you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. It is the Same who gives light to the blind, that awakens the dead. For it is with His voice that the cry is made by the Apostle to the dead, Awake, you that sleep. And the blind will be enlightened with light, when he shall have risen again. And how many deaf men did the Lord see before His eyes, when He said, He that has ears to hear, let him hear. For who was standing before Him without his bodily ears? What other ears then did He seek for, but those of the inner man?

4. Again, what eyes did He look for when He spoke to those who saw indeed, but who saw only with the eyes of the flesh? For when Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us; he understood indeed that if the Father were shown him, it might well suffice him; but how would the Father suffice him whom He that was equal to the Father sufficed not? And why did He not suffice? Because He was not seen. And why was He not seen? Because the eye whereby He might be seen was not yet whole. For this, namely, that the Lord was seen in the flesh with the outward eyes, not only the disciples who honoured Him saw, but also the Jews who crucified Him. He then who wished to be seen in another way, sought for other eyes. And therefore it was that to him who said, Show us the Father, and it suffices us; He answered, Have I been so long time with you; and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me, has seen the Father also. And that He might in the mean while heal the eyes of faith, he has first of all instructions given him regarding faith, that so he might attain to sight. And lest Philip should think that he was to conceive of God under the same form in which he then saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the body, he immediately subjoined; Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? He had already said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father also. But Philip's eye was not yet sound enough to see the Father, nor consequently to see the Son who is Himself Coequal with the Father. And so Jesus Christ took in hand to cure, and with the medicines and salve of faith to strengthen the eyes of his mind, which as yet were weak and unable to behold so great a light, and He said, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Let not him then who cannot yet see what the Lord will one day show him, seek first to see what he is to believe; but let him first believe that the eye by which he is to see may be healed. For it was only the form of the servant which was exhibited to the eyes of servants; because if He who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, could have been now seen as equal with God by those whom He wished to be healed, He would not have needed to empty Himself, and to take the form of a servant. But because there was no way whereby God could be seen, but whereby man could be seen, there was; therefore He who was God was made man, that that which was seen might heal that whereby He was not seen. For He says Himself in another place, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Philip might of course have answered and said, Lord, lo, I see You; is the Father such as I see You to be? Forasmuch as You have said, 'He who has seen Me, has seen the Father also'? But before Philip answered thus, or perhaps before he so much as thought it, when the Lord had said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father also; He immediately added, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? For with that eye he could, not yet see either the Father, or the Son who is equal with the Father; but that his eye might be healed for seeing, he was to be anointed unto believing. So then before you see what you can not now see, believe what as yet you see not. Walk by faith, that you may attain to sight. Sight will not gladden him in his home whom faith consoles not by the way. For so says the Apostle, As long as we are in the body, we are in pilgrimage from the Lord. And he subjoins immediately why we are still in pilgrimage, though we have now believed; For we walk by faith, He says, not by sight.

5. Our whole business then, Brethren, in this life is to heal this eye of the heart whereby God may be seen. To this end are celebrated the Holy Mysteries; to this end is preached the word of God; to this end are the moral exhortations of the Church, those, that is, that relate to the correction of manners, to the amendment of carnal lusts, to the renouncing the world, not in word only, but in a change of life: to this end is directed the whole aim of the Divine and Holy Scriptures, that that inner man may be purged of that which hinders us from the sight of God. For as the eye which is formed to see this temporal light, a light though heavenly, yet corporeal, and manifest, not to men only, but even to the meanest animals (for for this the eye is formed, to see this light); if anything be thrown or fall into it, whereby it is disordered, is shut out from this light; and though it encompass the eye with its presence, yet the eye turns itself away from, and is absent from it; and through its disordered condition is not only rendered absent from the light which is present, but the light to see which it was formed, is even painful to it. So the eye of the heart too when it is disordered and wounded turns away from the light of righteousness, and dares not and cannot contemplate it.

6. And what is it that disorders the eye of the heart? Evil desire, covetousness, injustice, worldly concupiscence, these disorder, close, blind the eye of the heart. And yet when the eye of the body is out of order, how is the physician sought out, what an absence of all delay to open and cleanse it, that that may be healed whereby this outward light is seen! There is running to and fro, no one is still, no one loiters, if even the smallest straw fall into the eye. And God it must be allowed made the sun which we desire to see with sound eyes. Much brighter assuredly is He who made it; nor is the light with which the eye of the mind is concerned of this kind at all. That light is eternal Wisdom. God made you, O man, after His own image. Would He give you wherewithal to see the sun which He made, and not give you wherewithal to see Him who made you, when He made you after His own image? He has given you this also; both has He given you. But much do you love these outward eyes, and much do you despise that interior eye; it you carry about bruised and wounded. Yea, it would be a punishment to you, if your Maker should wish to manifest Himself unto you; it would be a punishment to your eye, before that it is cured and healed. For so Adam in paradise sinned, and hid himself from the face of God. As long then as he had the sound heart of a pure conscience, he rejoiced at the presence of God; when that eye was wounded by sin, he began to dread the Divine light, he fled back into the darkness, and the thick covert of the trees, flying from the truth, and anxious for the shade.

7. Therefore, my Brethren, since we too are born of him, and as the Apostle says, In Adam all die; for we were all at first two persons if we were loth to obey the physician, that we might not be sick; let us obey Him now, that we may be delivered from sickness. The physician gave us precepts, when we were whole; He gave us precepts that we might not need a physician. They that are whole, He says, need not a physician, but they that are sick. When whole we despised these precepts, and by experience have felt how to our own destruction we despised His precepts. Now we are sick, we are in distress, we are on the bed of weakness; yet let us not despair. For because we could not come to the Physician, He has vouchsafed to come Himself to us. Though despised by man when he was whole, He did not despise him when he was stricken. He did not leave off to give other precepts to the weak, who would not keep the first precepts, that he might not be weak; as though He would say, Assuredly you have by experience felt that I spoke the truth when I said, Touch not this. Be healed then now at length, and recover the life you have lost. Lo, I am bearing your infirmity; drink the bitter cup. For you have of your own self made those my so sweet precepts which were given to you when whole, so toilsome. They were despised and so your distress began; cured you can not be, unless you drink the bitter cup, the cup of temptations, wherein this life abounds, the cup of tribulation, anguish, and sufferings. Drink then, He says, drink, that you may live. And that the sick man may not make answer, I cannot, I cannot bear it, I will not drink; the Physician, all whole though he be, drinks first, that the sick man may not hesitate to drink. For what bitterness is there in this cup, which He has not drunk? If it be contumely; He heard it first when He drove out the devils, He has a devil, and by Beelzebub He casts out devils. Whereupon in order to comfort the sick, He says, If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household? If pains are this bitter cup, He was bound and scourged and crucified. If death be this bitter cup, He died also. If infirmity shrink with horror from any particular kind of death, none was at that time more ignominious than the death of the cross. For it was not in vain that the Apostle, when setting forth His obedience, added, Made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

8. But because He designed to honour His faithful ones at the end of the world, He has first honoured the cross in this world; in such wise that the princes of the earth who believe in Him have prohibited any criminal from being crucified; and that cross which the Jewish persecutors with great mockery prepared for the Lord, even kings His servants at this day bear with great confidence on their foreheads. Only the shameful nature of the death which our Lord vouchsafed to undergo for us is not now so apparent, Who, as the Apostle says, was made a curse for us. And when as He hung, the blindness of the Jews mocked Him, surely He could have come down from the Cross, who if He had not so willed, had not been on the Cross; but it was a greater thing to rise from the grave than to come down from the Cross. Our Lord then in doing these Divine, and in suffering these human things, instructs us by His Bodily miracles and Bodily patience, that we may believe, and be made whole to behold those things invisible which the eye of the body has no knowledge of. With this intent then He cured these blind men of whom the account has just now been read in the Gospel. And consider what instruction He has by their cure conveyed to the man who is sick within.

9. Consider the issue of the thing, and the order of the circumstances. Those two blind men sitting by the way side cried out as the Lord passed by, that He would have mercy upon them. But they were restrained from crying out by the multitude which was with the Lord. Now do not suppose that this circumstance is left without a mysterious meaning. But they overcame the crowd who kept them back by the great perseverance of their cry, that their voice might reach the Lord's ears; as though He had not already anticipated their thoughts. So then the two blind men cried out that they might be heard by the Lord, and could not be restrained by the multitudes. The Lord was passing by, and they cried out. The Lord stood still, and they were healed. For the Lord Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will you that I shall do unto you? They say unto Him, That our eyes may be opened. The Lord did according to their faith, He recovered their eyes. If we have now understood by the sick, the deaf, the dead, the sick, and deaf, and dead, within; let us look out in this place also for the blind within. The eyes of the heart are clossd; Jesus passes by that we may cry out. What is, Jesus passes by? Jesus is doing things which last but for a time. What is Jesus passes by? Jesus does things which pass by. Mark and see how many things of His have passed by. He was born of the Virgin Mary; is He being born always? As an infant was He suckled; is He suckled always? He ran through the successive ages of life unto man's full estate; does He grow in body always? Boyhood succeeded to infancy, to boyhood youth, to youth man's full stature in several passing successions. Even the very miracles which He did are passed by, they are read and believed. For because these miracles are written that so they might be read, they passed by when they were being done. In a word, not to dwell long on this, He was Crucified: is He hanging on the Cross always? He was Buried, He Rose again, He Ascended into heaven; now He dies no more, death shall no more have dominion over Him. And His Divinity abides ever, yea, the Immortality of His Body now shall never fail. But nevertheless all those things which were wrought by Him in time have passed by; and they are written to be read, and they are preached to be believed. In all these things then, Jesus passes by.

10. And what are the two blind men by the way side, but the two people to cure whom Jesus came? Let us show those two people in the Holy Scriptures. It is written in the Gospel, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, that there may be one fold and One Shepherd. Who then are the two people? One the people of the Jews, and the other of the Gentiles. I am not sent, He says, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To whom did He say this? To the disciples; when that woman of Canaan who confessed herself to be a dog, cried out that she might be found worthy of the crumbs from the master's table. And because she was found worthy, now were the two people to whom He had come made manifest: the Jewish people, to wit, of whom He said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and the people of the Gentiles, whose type this woman exhibited whom He had first rejected, saying, It is not meet to cast the children's bread to the dogs; and to whom when she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table; He answered, O woman, great is your faith, be it unto you even as you will. For of this people also was that centurion of whom the same Lord says, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Because he had said, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. So then the Lord even before His Passion and Glorification pointed out two people, the one to whom He had come because of the promises to the Fathers; and the other whom for His mercy's sake He did not reject; that it might be fulfilled which had been promised to Abraham, In your seed shall all nations be blessed. Wherefore also the Apostle after the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension, when He was despised by the Jews, went to the Gentiles. Not that he was silent however towards the Churches which consisted of Jewish believers; I was unknown, he says, by face unto the Churches of Judæa which were in Christ. But they heard only that he which persecuted us in times past, now preaches the faith which once he destroyed, and they glorified God in me. So again Christ is called the Corner Stone who made both one. For a corner joins two walls which come from different sides together. And what was so different as the circumcision and uncircumcision, having one wall from Judæa, the other from the Gentiles? But they are joined together by the corner stone. For the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. There is no corner in a building, except when two walls coming from different directions meet together, and are joined in a kind of unity. The two blind men then crying out unto the Lord were these two walls according to the figure.

11. Attend now, dearly Beloved. The Lord was passing by, and the blind men cried out. What is was passing by? As we have already said, He was doing works which passed by. Now upon these passing works is our faith built up. For we believe in the Son of God, not only in that He is the word of God, by whom all things were made; for if He had always continued in the form of God, equal with God, and had not emptied Himself in taking the form of a servant, the blind men would not even have perceived Him, that they might be able to cry out. But when He wrought passing works, that is, when He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, the two blind men cried out, Have mercy on us, you Son of David. For this very thing that He David's Lord and Creator, willed also to be David's Son, He wrought in time, He wrought passing by.

12. Now what is it, Brethren, to cry out unto Christ, but to correspond to the grace of Christ by good works? This I say, Brethren, lest haply we cry aloud with our voices, and in our lives be dumb. Who is he that cries out to Christ, that his inward blindness may be driven away by Christ as He is passing by, that is, as He is dispensing to us those temporal sacraments, whereby we are instructed to receive the things which are eternal? Who is he that cries out unto Christ? Whoever despises the world, cries out unto Christ. Whoever despises the pleasures of the world, cries out unto Christ. Whoever says not with his tongue, but with his life, The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world, cries out unto Christ. Whoever disperses abroad and gives to the poor, that his righteousness may endure for ever, cries out unto Christ. For let him that hears, and is not deaf to the sound, sell that you have, and give to the poor; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not; let him as he hears the sound as it were of Christ's footsteps passing by, cry out in response to this in his blindness, that is, let him do these things. Let his voice be in his actions. Let him begin to despise the world, to distribute to the poor his goods, to esteem as nothing worth what other men love, let him disregard injuries, not seek to be avenged, let him give his cheek to the smiter, let him pray for his enemies; if any one have taken away his goods, let him not ask for them again; if he have taken anything from any man, let him restore fourfold.

13. When he shall begin to do all this, all his kinsmen, relations, and friends will be in commotion. They who love this world, will oppose him. What madness this! You are too extreme: what! Are not other men Christians? This is folly, this is madness. And other such like things do the multitude cry out to prevent the blind from crying out. The multitude rebuked them as they cried out; but did not overcome their cries. Let them who wish to be healed understand what they have to do. Jesus is now also passing by; let them who are by the way side cry out. These are they who know God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. These are by the way side, to whom as blinded in heart Jesus gives His precepts. For when those passing things which Jesus did are recounted, Jesus is always represented to us as passing by. For even unto the end of the world there will not be wanting blind men sitting by the way side. Need then there is that they who sit by the way side should cry out. The multitude that was with the Lord would repress the crying of those who were seeking for recovery. Brethren, do ye see my meaning? For I know not how to speak, but still less do I know how to be silent. I will speak then, and speak plainly. For I fear Jesus passing by and Jesus standing still; and therefore I cannot keep silence. Evil and lukewarm Christians hinder good Christians who are truly earnest, and wish to do the commandments of God which are written in the Gospel. This multitude which is with the Lord hinders those who are crying out, hinders those that is who are doing well, that they may not by perseverance be healed. But let them cry out, and not faint; let them not be led away as if by the authority of numbers; let them not imitate those who became Christians before them, who live evil lives themselves, and are jealous of the good deeds of others. Let them not say, Let us live as these so many live. Why not rather as the Gospel ordains? Why do you wish to live according to the remonstrances of the multitude who would hinder you, and not after the steps of the Lord, who passes by? They will mock, and abuse, and call you back; cry out till you reach the ears of Jesus. For they who shall persevere in doing such things as Christ has enjoined, and regard not the multitudes that hinder them, nor think much of their appearing to follow Christ, that is of their being called Christians; but who love the light which Christ is about to restore to them, more than they fear the uproar of those who are hindering them; they shall on no account be separated from Him, and Jesus will stand still, and make them whole.

14. For how are our eyes made whole? That as by faith we perceive Christ passing by in the temporal economy, so we may attain to the knowledge of Him as standing still in His unchangeable Eternity. For then is the eye made whole when the knowledge of Christ's Divinity is attained. Let your love apprehend this; attend ye to the great mystery which I am to speak of. All the things which were done by our Lord Jesus Christ in time, graft faith in us. We believe in the Son of God, not on the Word only, by which all things were made; but on this very Word, made flesh that He might dwell among us, who was born of the Virgin Mary, and the rest which the Faith contains, and which are represented to us that Christ might pass by, and that the blind, hearing His footsteps as He passes by, might by their works cry out, by their life exemplifying the profession of their faith. But now in order that they who cry out may be made whole, Jesus stands still. For he saw Jesus now standing still who says, Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. For he saw Christ's Divinity as far as in this life is possible. There is then in Christ the Divinity and the Humanity. The Divinity stands still, the Humanity passes by. What means, The Divinity stands still? It changes not, is not shaken, does not depart away. For He did not so come to us, as to depart from the Father; nor did He so ascend as to change His place. When He assumed Flesh, it changed place; but God assuming Flesh, seeing He is not in place, does not change His place. Let us then be touched by Christ standing still, and so our eyes be made whole. But whose eyes? The eyes of those who cry out when He is passing by; that is, who do good works through that faith, which has been dispensed in time, to instruct us in our infancy.

15. Now what thing more precious can we have than the eye made whole? They rejoice who see this created light which shines from heaven, or even that which is given out from a lamp. And how wretched do they seem, who cannot see this light? But wherefore do I speak, and talk of all these things, but to exhort you all to cry out, when Jesus passes by. I hold up this light which perhaps ye do not see as an object of love to you, Holy Brethren. Believe, while as yet ye see not; and cry out that you may see. How great is thought to be the unhappiness of men, who do not see this bodily light? Does any one become blind; immediately it is said; God is angry with him, he has committed some wicked deed. So said Tobias' wife to her husband. He cried out because of the kid, lest it had come of theft; he did not like to hear the sound of any stolen thing in his house; and she, maintaining what she had done, reproached her husband; and when he said, Restore it if it be stolen; she answered insultingly, Where are your righteous deeds? How great was her blindness who maintained the theft; and how clear a light he saw, who commanded the stolen thing to be restored! She rejoiced outwardly in the light of the sun; he inwardly in the light of Righteousness. Which of them was in the better light?

16. It is to the love of this light that I would exhort you, Beloved; that you would cry out by your works, when the Lord passes by; let the voice of faith sound out, that Jesus standing still, that is, the Unchangeable, Abiding Wisdom of God, and the Majesty of the Word of God, by which all things were made, may open your eyes. The same Tobias in giving advice to his son, instructed him to this, to cry out; that is, he instructed him to good works. He told him to give to the poor, charged him to give alms to the needy, and taught him, saying, My son, alms suffers not to come into darkness. The blind gave counsel for receiving and gaining light. Alms, says he, suffers not to come into darkness. Had his son in astonishment answered him, What then, father, have you not given alms, that you now speakest to me in blindness; are you not in darkness, and yet you say to me, Alms suffers not to come into darkness. But no, he knew well what the light was, concerning which he gave his son instruction, he knew well what he saw in the inner man. The son held out his hand to his father, to enable him to walk on earth; and the father to the son, to enable him to dwell in heaven.

17. To be brief; that I may conclude this Sermon, Brethren, with a matter which touches me very nearly, and gives me much pain, see what crowds there are which rebuke the blind as they cry out. But let them not deter you, whosoever among this crowd desire to be healed; for there are many Christians in name, and in works ungodly; let them not deter you from good works. Cry out amid the crowds that are restraining you, and calling you back, and insulting you, whose lives are evil. For not only by their voices, but by evil works, do wicked Christians repress the good. A good Christian has no wish to attend the public shows. In this very thing, that he bridles his desire of going to the theatre, he cries out after Christ, cries out to be healed. Others run together there, but perhaps they are heathens or Jews? Ah! Indeed, if Christians went not to the theatres, there would be so few people there, that they would go away for very shame. So then Christians run there also, bearing the Holy Name only to their condemnation. Cry out then by abstaining from going, by repressing in your heart this worldly concupiscence; hold on with a strong and persevering cry unto the ears of the Saviour, that Jesus may stand still and heal you. Cry out amidst the very crowds, despair not of reaching the ears of the Lord. For the blind men in the Gospel did not cry out in that quarter, where no crowd was, that so they might be heard in that direction, where there was no impediment from persons hindering them. Amidst the very crowds they cried out; and yet the Lord heard them. And so also do ye even amidst sinners, and sensual then, amidst the lovers of the vanities of the world, there cry out that the Lord may heal you. Go not to another quarter to cry out unto the Lord, go not to heretics, and cry out unto Him there. Consider, Brethren, how in that crowd which was hindering them from crying out, even there were they who cried out made whole.

18. For observe this too, Holy Brethren, what it is to persevere in crying out. I will speak of what many as well as myself have experienced in Christ's name; for the Church does not cease to give birth to such as these. When any Christian has begun to live well, to be fervent in good works, and to despise the world; in this newness of his life he is exposed to the animadversions and contradictions of cold Christians. But if he persevere, and get the better of them by his endurance, and faint not in good works; those very same persons who before hindered will now respect him. For they rebuke, and hinder, and withstand him so long as they have any hope that he will yield to them. But if they shall be overcome by their perseverance who make progress, they turn round and begin to say, He is a great man, a holy man, happy he to whom God has given such grace. Now do they honour him, they congratulate and bless and laud him; just as that multitude did which was with the Lord. They first hindered the blind men that they might not cry out; but when they continued to cry so as to attain to be heard, and to obtain the Lord's mercy, that same multitude now says, Jesus calls you. And they who a little before rebuked them that they should hold their peace, use now the voice of exhortation. Now he only is not called by the Lord who is not in labour in this world. But who is there in this life who is not in labour through his sins and iniquities? But if all labour, it is said to all, Come unto Me, all you that labour. Now if this is said to all, why do you ascribe your miscarriage to Him that so invites you? Come. His house is not too narrow for you; the kingdom of God is possessed equally by all, and wholly by each one; it is not diminished by the increasing number of those who possess it, because it is not divided. And that which is possessed by many with one heart, is whole and entire for each one.

19. Yet in the mysterious sense of this passage, Brethren, we recognise what is expressed most plainly in other places of the sacred books, that there are within the Church both good and bad, as I often express it, wheat and chaff. Let no one leave the floor before the time, let him bear with the chaff in the time of threshing, let him bear with it in the floor. For in the barn he will have none of it to bear with. The Winnower will come, who shall divide the bad from the good. There will then be a bodily separation too, which a spiritual separation now precedes. In heart be always separated from the bad, in body be united with them for a time, only with caution. Yet be not negligent in correcting those who belong to you, who in any way appertain to your charge, by admonition, or instruction, by exhortation, or by threats. Do it, in whatsoever way ye can. And because ye find in Scripture and in the examples of Saints, whether of those who lived before or after the coming of the Lord in this life, that the bad do not defile the good in unity with them, do not on this account become slow in the correction of the bad. In two ways the bad will not defile you; if you consent not to him, and if you reprove him; this is, not to communicate with him, not to consent to him. For there is a communication, when an agreement either of the will or of the approbation is joined to his deed. This the Apostle teaches us, when he says, Have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. And because it was a small matter not to consent, if negligence in correction accompanied it, he says, But rather reprove them. See how he comprehended both at once, Have no communication, but rather reprove them. What is, Have no communication? Do not consent to them, do not praise them, do not approve them. What is, But rather reprove them? Find fault with, rebuke, repress them.

20. But then in the correction and repressing of other men's sins, one must take heed, that in rebuking another he do not lift up himself; and that sentence of the Apostle must be thought of, Wherefore let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. Let the voice of chiding sound outwardly in tones of terror, let the spirit of love and gentleness be maintained within. If a man be overtaken in a fault, as the same Apostle says, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall you fulfil the law of Christ. And again in another place, The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; 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 held captive by him at his will. So then be neither consenting to evil, so as to approve of it; nor negligent so as not to reprove it; nor proud so as to reprove it in a tone of insult.

21. But whoever forsakes unity, violates charity; and whosoever violates charity, how great gifts soever he have, he is nothing. If he speak with the tongues of men and of angels; if he knew all mysteries, if he have all faith, so as to remove mountains, if he distribute all his goods to the poor, if he give his body to be burned, and have not charity; it is nothing; it profits him nothing. He possesses all things to no useful end, who has not that one thing by which he may use all these things well. So then let us embrace charity, studying to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Let not those seduce us who understand the Scriptures in a carnal manner, and who in making a bodily separation, are separated themselves by a spiritual sacrilege from the good grain of the Church which is spread over the whole world. For throughout the whole world has the good seed been sown. That good Sower, the Son of Man, has scattered the good seed not in Africa only, but everywhere. But the enemy has sown tares upon it. Yet what says the Householder? Let both grow together until the harvest. Grow where? In the field, of course. What is the field? Is it Africa? No! What is it then? Let us not interpret it ourselves, let the Lord speak; let us not suffer any one to make his guess at his own pleasure. For the disciples said to the Master, Declare unto us the parable of the tares. And the Lord declared it: The good seed, said He, are the children of the Kingdom. But the tares are the children of the wicked one. Who sowed them? The enemy that sowed them, said He, is the devil. What is the field? The field, said He, is this world. What is the harvest? The harvest, said He, is the end of the world. Who are the reapers? The reapers, said He, are the Angels. Is Africa the world? Is this present time the harvest? Is Donatus the reaper? Look then for the harvest throughout the whole world, throughout the whole world grow unto the harvest, throughout the whole world bear with the tares even until the harvest. Let not perverse men seduce you, that chaff so light, which flies out of the floor before the coming of the Winnower; let them not seduce you. Hold them fast even to this single parable of the tares, and suffer them not to speak of anything else. This man, one will say, surrendered the Scriptures; no, not so: but this other man surrendered them. Whosoever it might be who has surrendered them, has their faithlessness made void the faithfulness of God? What is the faithfulness of God? That which He promised to Abraham, saying, In your seed shall all nations be blessed. What is the faithfulness of God? Let both grow together until the harvest. Grow where? Throughout the field. What is throughout the field? Throughout the world.

22. Here they say; It is true both kinds did once grow throughout the world, but the good wheat is diminished, and confined to this our country, and our small communion. But the Lord does not allow you to interpret as you will. He who explains this parable Himself, shuts your mouth, your sacrilegious, profane, and ungodly mouth, that is counter to your own interests, while you run counter to the testator, even as he calls you to the inheritance. How does He shut your mouth? By saying, Let both grow together until the harvest. If the harvest has come already, let us believe that the wheat has been diminished. Though not even then shall it be diminished, but gathered up into the barn. For so He says, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn. If then they grow until the harvest, and after the harvest are gathered in, how are they diminished, you wicked, you ungodly one? I grant that in comparison with the tares and chaff the wheat is less in quantity; still both grow together until the harvest. For when iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold; the tares and the chaff multiply. But because throughout the whole world wheat cannot be wanting, which by enduring unto the end shall be saved, both grow together until the harvest. And if because of the abundance of the wicked it is said, When the Son of Man comes, do you think, shall He find faith on the earth? and by this denomination are signified all those who by transgression of the law imitate him to whom it was said, Earth you are, and unto earth shall you return; yet because of the abundance of the good also, and because of him to whom it was said, Your seed shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; is that also written, Many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, in the kingdom of God. Both then grow together until the harvest, and both the tares or chaff have their passages in the Scriptures, and the wheat theirs. And they who do not understand them, confound them and are themselves confounded; and in their blind desire they make such an uproar, that they will not be silenced even by the clear manifestation of the truth.

23. See, they say, the Prophet says, Depart ye, go out from thence, and touch no unclean thing; how then for peace sake should we bear with the wicked, from whom we are commanded to go out and depart that we touch not the unclean thing? We understand that departure spiritually, they corporally. For I also cry out with the Prophet (for however mean a vessel I am, God makes use of me to minister to you); I also cry out and say to you, Depart ye, go out from thence, and touch not the unclean thing; but with the touch of the heart, not of the body. For what is it to touch the unclean thing, but to consent to sin. And what is it to go out from thence, but to do what appertains to the rebuking of the wicked, as far as can be done, according to each one's grade and condition, with the maintenance of peace? You are displeased at a man's sin, you have not touched the unclean thing. You have reproved, rebuked, admonished him, hast administered, if the case required it, a suitable discipline, and such as does not violate unity; then you have gone out from thence. Now consider the actions of the Saints, lest perhaps this should seem to be an interpretation of my own. As Saints have understood these words, so surely ought they to be understood. Go out from them, says the Prophet. I will first maintain this meaning of the words from their customary use, and will afterwards show that that meaning is not my own. It often happens that men are accused; and when they are accused they defend themselves, and when the accused defends himself with good reason and justice, the hearers say, He has got out of this. Got out; whither has he gone? He abides still in the place where he was, yet has he got out of this. How has he got out of it? By the good account he has rendered, and by his most satisfactory defense. This is what the holy Apostles did when they shook off the dust from their feet against those who did not receive the message of peace which was sent to them. That watchman, got out from thence, to whom it was I said, I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel. For it was told him If you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity, and you shall deliver your soul. This if he do, he goes out from him, not by a bodily separation, but by the defense of his own work. For he did what it was his duty to do; though the other, whose duty it was to obey, obeyed not. This then is that, Go out from thence.

24. So cried Moses and Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Let us see then if they acted thus, if they left the people of God, and betook themselves to other nations. How many and vehement rebukes did Jeremiah utter against the sinners, and wicked ones of his people. Yet he lived among them, he entered into the same temple with them, celebrated the same mysteries; he lived in that congregation of wicked men, but by his crying out he went out from them. This is to go out from them; this is not to touch the unclean thing, the not consenting to them in will, and the not sparing them in word. What shall I say of Jeremiah, of Isaiah, of Daniel, and Ezekiel, and the rest of the prophets, who did not retire from the wicked people, lest they should desert the good who were mingled with that people, among whom themselves were able to be such as they were? When Moses himself, Brethren, was receiving the law in the mount, the people below made an idol. The people of God, the people who had been led through the waves of the Red Sea which gave way to them, and overwhelmed their enemies who followed after, after so many signs and miracles displayed in plagues upon the Egyptians even unto death, and for their protection unto deliverance, yet demanded an idol, obtained an idol by force, made an idol, adored an idol, sacrificed unto an idol. God shows His servant what the people had done, and says that He will destroy them from before His Face. Moses makes intercession for them as he was about to return to this people; yet had he a good opportunity of retiring and going out from them, as these persons understand it, that he might not touch the unclean thing, might not live among them; but he did not so. And that he might not seem to have acted thus from necessity rather than from love, God offered him another people; so that He might destroy these: I will make of you, He said, a great nation. But he did not accept it; he cleaves to the sinners, he prays for the sinners. And how does he pray? O signal proof of love, my Brethren! How does he pray? Mark that, as it were, mother's fondness, of which I have often spoken. When God threatened the sacrilegious people, Moses' tender heart trembled, and on their behalf he opposed himself to the wrath of God. Lord, he says, if You will forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of Your book which You have written. With what a father's and mother's fondness, yet with what assurance said he this, as he considered at once the justice and the mercy of God; that in that He is just, He would not destroy the righteous man; and that in that He is merciful, He would pardon the sinners.

25. It is now surely plain to your discernment, in what manner all such testimonies of the Scriptures are to be received; so that when Scripture says, that we must depart from the wicked, we are bid to understand this in no other sense, but that we depart in heart; lest by the separation from the good, we commit a greater evil than we shrink from in the union of the wicked, as these Donatists have done. But if they were truly good, and so had reproved the wicked, and not rather being themselves wicked, had defamed the good, they would for peace sake bear with any, be they who they might, seeing they have received the Maximianists as sound, whom they condemned before as lost. Undoubtedly the Prophet has said plainly, Depart ye, go out from thence, and touch not the unclean thing. But that I may understand what he said, I pay attention to what he did. By his own deeds he explains his words. He said, Depart ye. To whom did he say so? To the righteous of course. From whom did he bid them depart? From sinners and wicked men of course. I ask then, did he depart from such himself? I find that he did not. So then he understood it in another sense. For surely he would be the first to do what he enjoined. He departed from them in heart, he rebuked and reproved them. By keeping himself from consenting to them, he did not touch the unclean thing; but by rebuking them he went out free in the sight of God; and to him God neither imputes his own sins, because he sinned not; nor the sins of others, because he approved them not; nor negligence, because he kept not silence; nor pride, because he continued in unity. So then, my Brethren, how many soever you have among you, who are still weighed down by the love of the world, covetous, or perjured persons, adulterers, spectacle hunters, consulters of astrologers, of fanatics, of soothsayers, of augurs and diviners, drunkards, sensualists, whatever there is of bad that you know you have among you; show your disapprobation of it all as far as you are able, that you may in heart depart; and reprove them, that you may go out from them; and consent not to them, that ye touch not the unclean thing.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 21:19 , where Jesus dried up the fig-tree; and on the words, Luke 24:28 , where He made a pretence as though He would go further.

1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel which has just been read, has given us an alarming warning, lest we have leaves only, and have no fruit. That is, in few words, lest words be present and deeds be wanting. Very terrible! Who does not fear when in this lesson he sees with the eyes of the heart the withered tree, withered at that word being spoken to it, Let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever? Let the fear work amendment, and the amendment bring forth fruit. For without doubt, the Lord Christ foresaw that a certain tree would deservedly become withered, because it would have leaves, and would have no fruit. That tree is the synagogue, not that which was called, but that which was reprobate. For out of it also was called the people of God, who in sincerity and truth waited in the Prophets for the salvation of God, Jesus Christ. And forasmuch as it waited in faith, it was thought worthy to know Him when He was present. For out of it came the Apostles, out of it came the whole multitude of those who went before the ass of the Lord, and said, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord. There was a great company then of believing Jews, a great company of those who believed in Christ before He shed His Blood for them. For it was not in vain that the Lord Himself had come to none but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But in others, after He was crucified, and was now exalted into heaven, He found the fruit of repentance; and these He did not make to wither, but cultivated them in His field, and watered them with His word. Of this number were those four thousand Jews who believed, after that the disciples and those who were with them, filled with the Holy Ghost, spoke with the tongues of all nations, and in that diversity of tongues announced in a way beforehand, that the Church should be throughout all nations. They believed at that time, and they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but because the Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost, He found these also. But they lay hid here and there among thorns, as though wasted and dispersed by the wolves; and because they lay hid among thorns, He did not come to find them, save when torn by the thorns of His Passion; yet come He did, He found, He redeemed them. They had slain, not Him so much, as themselves. They were saved by Him who was slain for them. For, as the Apostles spoke, they were pricked; they were pricked in conscience, who had pricked Him with the spear; and being pricked they sought for counsel, received it when it was given, repented, found grace, and believing drunk that Blood which in their fury they had shed. But they who have remained in this bad and barren race, even unto this day, and shall remain unto the end, were figured in that tree. You come to them at this day, and find with them all the writings of the Prophets. But these are but leaves; Christ is an hungred, and He seeks for fruit; but finds no fruit among them, because He does not find Himself among them. For He has no fruit, who has not Christ. And he has not Christ, who holds not to Christ's unity, who has not charity. And so by this chain he has no fruit who has not charity. Hear the Apostle, Now the fruit of the Spirit is charity; so setting forth the praise of this cluster, that is, of this fruit; The fruit of the Spirit, he says, is charity, joy, peace, long-suffering. Do not wonder at what follows, when charity leads the way.

2. Accordingly, when the disciples marvelled at the withering of the tree, He set forth to them the value of faith, and said to them, If you have faith, and doubt not; that is, if in all things you have trust in God; and do not say, God can do this, this He cannot do; but rely on the omnipotence of the Almighty; you shall not only do this, but also if you shall say to this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Now we read that miracles were wrought by the disciples, yea rather by the Lord through the disciples; for, without Me, He says, ye can do nothing. The Lord could do many things without the disciples, but the disciples nothing without the Lord. He who could make even the disciples themselves, was not certainly assisted by them to make them. We read then of the Apostles' miracles, but we nowhere read of a tree being withered by them, nor of a mountain removed into the sea. Let us enquire therefore where this was done. For the words of the Lord could not be without effect. If you are thinking of trees and mountains in their ordinary and familiar sense, it has not been done. But if you think of that tree of which He spoke, and of that mountain of the Lord of which the Prophet said, In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifest; if you think of it, and understand it thus, it has been done, and done by the Apostles. The tree is the Jewish nation, but I say again, that part of it which was reprobate, not that which was called; that tree which we have spoken of is the Jewish nation. The mountain, as the prophetic testimony has taught us, is the Lord Himself. The withered tree is the Jewish nation reft of the honour of Christ; the sea is this world with all the nations. Now see the Apostles speaking to this tree which was about to be withered away, and casting the mountain into the sea. In the Acts of the Apostles they speak to the Jews who gainsay and resist the word of truth, that is, who have leaves and have no fruit, and they say to them, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you have put it from you (for you use the words of the Prophets, yet do not acknowledge Him whom the Prophets foretold, that is, you have leaves only), lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For this also was foretold by the Prophets; Behold, I have given You for a light of the Gentiles, that You may be My salvation unto the end of the earth. See then, the tree has withered away; and Christ has been removed unto the Gentiles, the mountain into the sea. For how should not the tree wither away which is planted in that vineyard, of which it was said, I will command my clouds that they rain no rain upon it?

3. Now that in order to convey this truth the Lord acted prophetically, I mean that, as concerning this tree, it was not His will merely to exhibit a miracle, but that by the miracle He conveyed the intimation of something to come, there are many things which teach and persuade us, yea even against our wills force us to believe. In the first place, what fault in the tree was it that it had no fruit, when even if it had no fruit at the proper season, that is, the season of its fruit, it would not assuredly be any fault in the tree; for the tree as being without sense and reason could not be to blame. But to this is added, that as we read it in the narrative of the other Evangelist who expressly mentions this, it was not the time for that fruit. For that was the time when the fig-tree shoots forth its tender leaves, which come, we know, before the fruit; and this we prove, because the day of the Lord's Passion was at hand, and we know at what time He suffered; and if we did not know it, we ought of course to give credit to the Evangelist who says, The time of figs was not yet. So then if it was only a miracle that was to have been set forth, and not something to be prophetically figured, it would have been much more worthy of the clemency and mercy of the Lord, to have made green again any tree He might find withered; as He healed the sick, as He cleansed the lepers, as He raised the dead. But then contrariwise, as though against the ordinary rule of His clemency, He found a green tree, not yet bearing fruit out of its proper season, but still not refusing the hope of fruit to its dresser, and He withered it away; as though He would say to us, I have no delight in the withering away of this tree, but thus I would convey to you, that I have not designed to do this without any cause for it, but only because I desired thereby to convey to you a lesson you might the more regard. It is not this tree that I have cursed, it is not on a tree without sense that I have inflicted punishment, but I have made you fear, whosoever you are that dost consider the matter, that you might not despise Christ when He is an hungered, that you might love rather to be enriched with fruit, than to be overshadowed by leaves.

4. This one thing is that which the Lord intimates that He designed to signify by what He did. What else is there? He comes to the tree being hungry, and seeks fruit. Did He not know that it was not the time for it? What the cultivator of the tree knew, did not its Creator know? He seeks on the tree then for fruit which it had not yet. Does He really seek for it, or rather make a pretence of seeking it? For if He really sought it, He was mistaken. But this be far from Him, to be mistaken! He made then a pretence of seeking it. Fearing to allow this, that he makes a pretence, you confess that He was mistaken. Again, you turn away from the idea of His being mistaken, and so run into that of His making a pretence. We are parched up between the two. If we are parched, let us beg for rain, that we may grow green, lest in saying anything unworthy of the Lord, we rather wither away. The Evangelist indeed says, He came to the tree, and found no fruit on it. He found none, would not be said of Him, unless He had either really sought for it, or made a pretence of seeking, though He knew that there was none there. Wherefore we do not hesitate, let us by no means say that Christ was mistaken. What then? Shall we say He made a pretence? Shall we say this? How shall we get out of this difficulty? Let us say what, if the Evangelist had not said of the Lord in another place, we should not of ourselves dare to say. Let us say what the Evangelist has written, and when we have said, let us understand it. But in order that we may understand it, let us first believe. For, unless ye believe, says the Prophet, you shall not understand. The Lord Christ after His Resurrection, was walking in the way with two of His disciples, by whom He was not yet recognised, and with whom He joined company as a third traveller. They came to the place whither they were going, and the Evangelist says, But He made a pretence as though He would have gone further. But they kept Him, saying, in the spirit of a courteous kindness, that it was already drawing toward evening, and praying Him to tarry there with them; being received and entertained by them, He breaks Bread, and is known of them in blessing and breaking of the Bread. So then, let us not now fear to say, that He made a pretence of seeking, if He made a pretence of going further. But here there arises another question. Yesterday I insisted at some length on the truth which is in the Apostles; how then do we find any pretence in the Lord Himself? Therefore, Brethren, I must tell you, and teach you according to my poor abilities, which the Lord gives me for your benefit, and must convey to you what ye may hold as a rule in the interpretation of all Scripture. Everything that is said or done is to be understood either in its literal signification, or else it signifies something figuratively; or at least contains both of these at once, both its own literal interpretation, and a figurative signification also. Thus I have set forth three things, examples of them must now be given; and from whence, but from the Holy Scriptures? It is said in its literal acceptation, that the Lord suffered, that He rose again, and ascended into heaven; that we shall rise again at the end of the world, that we shall reign with Him for ever, if we do not despise Him. Take all this as spoken literally, and look not out for figures; as it is expressed, so it really is. And so also with various actions. The Apostle went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, the Apostle actually did this, it actually took place, it was an action peculiar to himself. It is a fact which he tells you; a simple fact according to its literal meaning. The stone which the builders refused, has become the Head of the corner, is spoken in a figure. If we take the stone literally, what stone did the builders refuse, which became the Head of the corner? If we take the stone literally, of what corner is this stone become the Head? If we admit that it was figuratively expressed, and take it figuratively, the Cornerstone is Christ: the head of the corner, is the Head of the Church. Why is the Church the Corner? Because she has called the Jews from one side, and the Gentiles from another, and these two walls as it were coming from different quarters, and meeting together in one, she has bound together by the grace of her peace. For, He is our peace, who has made both one.

5. You have heard instances of a literal expression, and a literal action, and of a figurative expression; you are waiting for an instance of a figurative action. There are many such, but meanwhile, as is suggested by this mention of the corner-stone, when Jacob anointed the stone which he had placed at his head as he slept, and in his sleep saw a mysterious dream, ladders rising from the earth to heaven, and Angels ascending and descending, and the Lord standing upon the ladder, he understood what it was designed to figure, and took the stone for a figure of Christ, to prove to us thereby that he was no stranger to the understanding of that vision and revelation. Do not wonder then that he anointed it, for Christ received His Name from the anointing. Now this Jacob was said in the Scripture to be a man without guile. And this Jacob ye know was called Israel. Accordingly in the Gospel, when the Lord saw Nathanael, He said, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. And that Israelite not yet knowing who it was that talked with him, answered, Whence knew Thou me? And the Lord said to him, When you were under the fig-tree I saw you; as though he would say, When you were in the shadow of sin, I predestinated you. And Nathanael, because he remembered that he had been under the fig-tree, where the Lord was not, acknowledged His Divinity, and answered, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel. He who had been under the fig-tree was not made a withered fig-tree; he acknowledged Christ. And the Lord said to him, Because I said, When you were under the fig-tree I saw you, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. What are these greater things? Verily I say unto you (for he is an Israelite in whom is no guile; remember Jacob in whom was no guile; and recollect of what he is speaking, the stone at his head, the vision in his sleep, the ladder from earth to heaven, the Angels ascending and descending; and so see what it is that the Lord would say to the Israelite without guile); Verily I say unto you, You shall see heaven opened (hear, you guileless Nathanael, what guileless Jacob saw); you shall see heaven opened, and Angels ascending and descending (unto whom?) unto the Son of Man. Therefore was He, as the Son of Man, anointed on the head; for the head of the woman is the man, and the Head of the man is Christ. Now observe, He did not say, ascending from the Son of Man, and descending to the Son of Man, as if He were only above; but ascending and descending unto the Son of Man. Hear the Son of Man crying out from above, Saul, Saul. Hear the Son of Man from below, Why do you persecute Me?

6. You have heard an instance of a literal expression, as that we shall rise again; of a literal action, as that, according as it is said, Paul went up to Jerusalem to see Peter. The stone which the builders refused, is a figurative expression; the anointed stone which was at Jacob's head, is a figurative action. There is now due to your expectation an example made out of both together, something which is at once a literal fact, and which also signifies something else figured by it. We know that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free-woman; this was literally a fact, not only a story, but a fact; are you looking for that which was figured in it? These are the two Testaments. That then which is spoken figuratively, is a sort of fiction. But since it has some real event represented by it, and the very figure itself has its ground of truth, it escapes all imputation of falsehood. The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way side, some fell upon stony places, some fell among thorns, and some fell upon good ground. Who went out to sow, or when went he out, or upon what thorns, or stones or way side or in what field did he sow? If we receive this as a fictitious story, we understand it in a figurative sense; it is fictitious. For if any sower really went out, and did cast the seed in these different places, as we have heard, it were no fiction, and so no falsehood. But now though it be a fiction, yet it is no falsehood. Why? Because the fiction has some further signification, it deceives you not. It requires only one to understand it, and does not lead any one into error. And thus Christ wishing to convey this lesson to us, sought for fruit, and hereby set forth to us a figurative, and no deceiving fiction; a fiction therefore worthy of praise, not of blame; not one by the examination of which we might run into what was false; but by the diligent investigation of which we might discover what is true.

7. I see that one may say, Explain to me; what did that signify, that He made a pretence of going further? For if it had no further meaning, it is a deceit, a lie. We must then according to our rules of exposition, and distinctions, tell you what this pretence of going further, signified; He made a pretence of going further, and is kept back from going further. In so far then as the Lord Christ being as they supposed absent in respect of His Bodily presence, was thought to be really absent, He will as it were go further. But hold Him fast by faith, hold Him fast at the breaking of Bread. What shall I say more? Have ye recognised Him? If so, then have ye found Christ. I must not speak any longer on this Sacrament. They who put off the knowledge of this Sacrament, Christ goes further from them. Let them then hold It fast, let them not let Him go; let them invite Him to their home, and so they are invited to heaven.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 22:2 , etc., about the marriage of the king's son; against the Donatists, on charity. Delivered at Carthage in the Restituta.

1. All the faithful know the marriage of the king's son, and his feast, and the spreading of the Lord's Table is open to them all who will. But it is of importance to each one to see how he approaches, even when he is not forbidden to approach It. For the Holy Scriptures teach us that there are two feasts of the Lord; one to which the good and evil come, the other to which the evil come not. So then the feast, of which we have just now heard when the Gospel was being read, has both good and evil guests. All who excused themselves from this feast are evil; but not all those who entered in are good. You therefore who are the good guests at this feast do I address, who have in your minds the words, He that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself. All you who are such do I address, that you look not for the good without, that you bear with the evil within.

2. I do not doubt that you wish to hear, Beloved, who they are of whom I have spoken in my address, that they should not look for the good without, and should bear with the evil within. If all within are evil, whom do I address? If all within are good, whom did I advise them to bear with being evil? Let me first then with the Lord's assistance get out of this difficulty as best I can. If you consider good perfectly and strictly speaking, none is good but God Alone. You have the Lord saying most plainly, Why do you call Me good? There is none Good but One, that is, God. How then can that marriage feast have good and bad guests, if none is good but God Alone? In the first place ye ought to know, that after a certain sort we are all evil. Yes, doubtless after a certain sort are we all evil; but after no sort are we all good. For can we compare ourselves with the Apostles, to whom the Lord Himself said, If you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children? If we consider the Scriptures, there was but one evil one among the twelve Apostles, with reference to whom the Lord said in a certain place, And you are clean, but not all. But yet in addressing them all together, He said, If you being evil. Peter heard this, John heard this, Andrew heard this, all the rest of the eleven Apostles heard it. What did they hear? If you being 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? When they heard that they were evil, they were in despair; but when they heard that God in heaven was their Father, they revived. You being evil; what then is due to the evil, but punishment? How much more shall your Father which is in heaven? What is due to children but reward. In the name of evil is the dread of punishment; in the name of children is the hope of heirs.

3. According to a certain respect then they were evil, who after another respect were good. For to them to whom it is said, You being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children; is added immediately, How much more shall your Father which is in heaven? He is then the Father of the evil, but not of those who are to be left so; because He is the Physician of them who are to be cured. According to a certain sort then they were evil. And yet those guests of the Householder at the King's marriage, were not I suppose of that number of whom it was said, they invited good and bad, that they should be reckoned among the number of the bad, who we have heard were shut out in his person who was found not to have a wedding garment. According to a certain respect, I repeat they were bad, who yet were good; and according to a certain respect they were good, who yet were bad. Hear John according to what respect they were bad: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Behold after what respect they were bad: because they had sin. According to what respect were they good? If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If then we should say, on the principle of this interpretation which you have now heard me bring, as I think, out of the sacred Scriptures, viz. that the same men are both after a certain manner, good, and after a certain manner bad; if we should wish to receive according to this sense the words, they invited good and bad, the same persons, that is, at once good and bad; if we should wish so to receive them, we are not permitted so to do, by reason of that one who was found not having a wedding garment, and who was not merely cast forth, so as to be deprived of that feast, but so as to be condemned in the punishment of everlasting darkness.

4. But one will say, What of one man? What strange, what great matter is it, if one among the crowd not having a wedding garment crept in unperceived to the servants of the Householder? Could it be said because of that one, they invited good and bad? Attend therefore, my Brethren, and understand. That one man represented one class; for they were many. Here some diligent hearer may answer me, and say, I have no wish for you to tell me your guesses; I wish to have it proved to me that that one represented many. By the Lord's present help, I will prove it clearly; nor will I search far, that I may be able to prove it. God will assist me in His own words in this place, and will furnish you by my ministry with a plain proof of it. The Master of the house came in to see the guests. See, my Brethren, the servants' business was only to invite and bring in the good and bad; see that it is not said, that the servants took notice of the guests, and found among them a man which had not on a wedding garment, and spoke to him. This is not written. The Master of the house saw him, the Master of the house discovered, the Master of the house inspected, the Master of the house separated him out. It was not right to pass over this. But I have undertaken to establish another point, how that that one signifies many. The Master of the house then came in to see the guests, and He found there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And He says unto him, Friend, how did you come in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. For He who questioned him was One, to whom he could give no feigned reply. The garment that was looked for is in the heart, not on the body; for had it been put on externally, it could not have been concealed even from the servants. Where that wedding garment must be put on, hear in the words, Let your priests be clothed with righteousness. Of that garment the Apostle speaks, If so be that we shall be found clothed, and not naked. Therefore was he discovered by the Lord, who escaped the notice of the servants. Being questioned, he is speechless: he is bound, cast out, and condemned one by many. I have said, Lord, that Thou teachest us that in this Thou dost give warning to all. Recollect then with me, my Brethren, the words which you have heard, and you will at once discover, at once determine, that that one was many. True it was one man whom the Lord questioned, to one He said, Friend, how did you come in hither? It was one who was speechless, and of that same one was it said, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why? For many are called, but few chosen. How can any one gainsay this manifestation of the truth? Cast him, He says, into outer darkness. Him, that one man assuredly, of whom the Lord says, for many are called, but few chosen. So then it is the few who are not cast out. He was it is true but one man who had not the wedding garment. Cast him out. But why is he cast out? For many are called, but few chosen. Leave alone the few, cast out the many. It is true, that man was but one. Yet undoubtedly that one not only was many, but those many in numbers far surpassed the number of the good. For the good are many also; but in comparison of the bad, they are few. In the crop there is much wheat; compare it with the chaff, and the grains of grain are few. The same persons considered in themselves are many, in comparison with the bad are few. How do we prove that in themselves they are many? Many shall come from the East and from the West. Whither shall they come? To that feast, into which both good and bad enter. But speaking of another feast, He subjoined, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. That is the feast to which the bad shall not approach. Be that feast which now is, received worthily, that we may attain to the other. The same then are many, who are also few; in themselves many; in comparison with the bad few. Therefore what says the Lord? He found one, and said, Let the many be cast out, the few remain. For to say, many are called, but few chosen, is nothing else than to show plainly who in this present feast are accounted to be such, as to be brought to that other feast, where no bad men shall come.

5. What is it then? I would not that you all who approach the Lord's Table which is in this life, should be with the many who are to be shut out, but with the few who are to be reserved. And how shall you be able to attain to this? Take the wedding garment. You will say, Explain this 'wedding garment' to us. Without a doubt, that is the garment which none but the good have, who are to be left at the feast, reserved unto that other feast to which no bad man approaches, who are to be brought safely there by the grace of the Lord; these have the wedding garment. Let us then, my Brethren, seek for those among the faithful who have something which bad men have not, and this will be the wedding garment. If we speak of sacraments, you see how that these are common to the bad and good. Is it Baptism? Without Baptism it is true no one attains to God; but not every one that has Baptism attains to Him. I cannot therefore understand Baptism, the Sacrament itself that is, to be the wedding garment; for this garment I see in the good, I see in the bad. Peradventure it is the Altar, or That which is received at the Altar. But no; we see that many eat, and eat and drink judgment to themselves. What is it then? Is it fasting? The wicked fast also. Is it running together to the Church? The wicked run there also. Lastly, is it miracles? Not only do the good and bad perform them, but sometimes the good perform them not. See, among the ancient people Pharaoh's magicians wrought miracles, the Israelites did not; among the Israelites, Moses only and Aaron wrought them; the rest did not, but saw, and feared, and believed. Were the magicians of Pharaoh who did miracles, better men than the people of Israel who could not do them, and yet that people were the people of God. In the Church itself, hear the Apostle, Are all prophets? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues?

6. What is that wedding garment then? This is the wedding garment: Now the end of the commandment, says the Apostle, is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. This is the wedding garment. Not charity of any kind whatever; for very often they who are partakers together of an evil conscience seem to love one another. They who commit robberies together, who love the hurtful arts of sorceries, and the stage together, who join together in the shout of the chariot race, or the wild beast fight; these very often love one another; but in these there is no charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. The wedding garment is such charity as this. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not charity, I have become as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal. Tongues have come in alone, and it is said to them, How came ye in hither not having a wedding garment? Though, said he, I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. See, these are the miracles of men who very often have not the wedding garment. Though, he says, I have all these, and have not Christ, I am nothing. Is then the gift of prophecy nothing? Is then the knowledge of mysteries nothing? It is not that these are nothing; but I, if I have them, and have not charity, am nothing. How many good things profit nothing without this one good thing! If then I have not charity, though I bestow alms freely upon the poor, though I have come to the confession of Christ's Name even unto blood and fire, these things may be done even through the love of glory, and so are vain. Because then they may be done even from the love of glory, and so be vain, and not through the rich charity of a godly affection, he names them all also in express terms, and you give ear to them; though I distribute all my goods for the use of the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. This then is the wedding garment. Question yourselves; if you have it, you may be without fear in the Feast of the Lord. In one and the same man there exist two things, charity and desire. Let charity be born in you, if it be yet unborn, and if it be born, be it nourished, fostered, increased. But as to that desire, though in this life it cannot be utterly extinguished; for if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but in so far as desire is in us, so far we are not without sin: let charity increase, desire decrease; that the one, that is, charity, may one day be perfected, and desire be consumed. Put on the wedding garment: you I address, who as yet have it not. You are already within, already do ye approach to the Feast, and still have ye not yet the garment to do honour to the Bridegroom; You are yet seeking your own things, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. For the wedding garment is taken in honour of the union, the union, that is, of the Bridegroom to the Bride. You know the Bridegroom; it is Christ. You know the Bride; it is the Church. Pay honour to the Bride, pay honour to the Bridegroom. If you pay due honour to them both, you will be their children. Therefore in this make progress. Love the Lord, and so learn to love yourselves; that when by loving the Lord you shall have loved yourselves, you may securely love your neighbour as yourselves. For when I find a man that does not love himself, how shall I commit his neighbour whom he should love as himself to him? And who is there, you will say, who does not love himself? Who is there? See, He that loves iniquity hates his own soul. Does he love himself, who loves his body, and hates his soul to his own hurt, to the hurt of both his body and soul? And who loves his own soul? He that loves God with all his heart and with all his mind. To such an one I would at once entrust his neighbour. Love your neighbour as yourselves.

7. One may say, Who is my neighbour? Every man is your neighbour. Had we not all the same two parents? Animals of every species are neighbours one to the other, the dove to the dove, the leopard to the leopard, the asp to the asp, the sheep to the sheep, and is not man neighbour to man? Call to mind the ordering of the creation. God spoke, the waters brought forth swimming creatures, great whales, fish, birds, and such like things. Did all the birds come of one bird? Did all vultures come of one vulture? Did all doves come of one dove? Did all snakes come of one snake? Or all gilt-heads of one gilt-head? or all sheep of one sheep? No, the earth assuredly brought forth all these kinds together. But when it came to man, the earth did not bring forth man. One father was made for us; not even two, father and mother: one father, I say, was made for us, not even two, father and mother; but out of the one father came the one mother; the one father came from none, but was made by God, and the one mother came out of him. Mark then the nature of our race: we flowed out of one fountain; and because that one was turned to bitterness, we all became from a good, a wild olive tree. And so grace came also. One begot us unto sin and death, yet as one race, yet as neighbours one to another, yet as not merely like, but related to each other. There came One against one; against the one who scattered, One who gathers. Thus against the one who slays, is the One who makes alive. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now as whosoever is born of the first, dies; so whosoever believes in Christ is made alive. Provided, that is, that he have the wedding garment, and be invited as one who is to remain, and not to be cast out.

8. So then, my Brethren, have charity. I have explained it to be this garment, this wedding garment. Faith is praised, it is plain, it is praised: but what kind of faith this is, the Apostle distinguishes. For certain who boasted of faith, and had not a good conversation, the Apostle James rebukes and says, You believe there is one God, you do well; the devils also believe and tremble. Call to mind with me whereupon Peter was praised, whereupon called blessed. Was it because he said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God? He who pronounced Him blessed, regarded not the sound of the words, but the affection of the heart. For would ye know that Peter's blessedness lay not in these words? The devils also said the same. We know You who You are, the Son of God. Peter confessed Him to be the Son of God; the devils confessed Him to be the Son of God. Distinguish, my lord, distinguish between the two. I do make a plain distinction. Peter spoke in love, the devils from fear. And again Peter says, I am with You, even unto death. The devils say, What have we to do with You? So then you who have come to the feast, glory not of faith only. Distinguish well the nature of this faith; and then in you is recognised the wedding garment. Let the Apostle make the distinction, let him teach us; neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith. Tell us, what faith? Do not even the devils believe and tremble? I will tell you, he says, and listen, I will now draw the distinction, But faith which works by love. What faith, then, and of what kind? That which works by love. Though I have all knowledge, he says, and all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. Have faith with love; for love without faith ye cannot have. This I warn, this I exhort, this in the name of the Lord I teach you, Beloved, that you have faith with love; for you may possibly have faith without love. I do not exhort you to have faith, but love. For you cannot have love without faith; the love I mean of God and your neighbour; whence can it come without faith? How does he love God, who does not believe in God? How does the fool love God, who says in his heart, there is no God? Possible it is that you may believe that Christ has come and not love Christ. But it is not possible that you should love Christ, and yet say that Christ has not come.

9. So then, have faith with love. This is the wedding garment. You who love Christ, love one another, love your friends, love your enemies. Let not this be hard to you. What then do ye lose thereby, when you gain so much? What? Do you ask of God as some great favour, that your enemy may die? This is not the wedding garment. Turn your thoughts to the Bridegroom Himself hanging upon the Cross for you, and praying to His Father for His enemies; Father, says He, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You have seen the Bridegroom speaking thus; see too the friend of the Bridegroom, a with the wedding garment. Look at the blessed Stephen, how he rebukes the Jews as though in rage and resentment, You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you have resisted the Holy Ghost. Which of the Prophets have not your fathers killed? You have heard how severe he is with his tongue. And at once you are prepared to speak against any one; and I would it were against him who offends God, and not who offends you. One offends God, and you do not rebuke him; he offends you, and you cry out; where is that wedding garment? You have heard therefore how Stephen was severe; now hear how he loved. He offended those whom he was rebuking, and was stoned by them. And as he was being overwhelmed and bruised to death by the hands of his furious persecutors on every side, and the blows of the stones, he first said, Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit. Then after he had prayed for himself standing, he bent the knee for them who were stoning him, and said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; let me die in my body, but let not these die in their souls. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. After these words he added no more; he spoke them and departed; his last prayer was for his enemies. Learn ye hereby to have the wedding garment. So do you too bend the knee, and beat your forehead against the ground, and as you are about to approach the Table of the Lord, the Feast of the Holy Scriptures, do not say, O that mine enemy might die! Lord, if I have deserved ought of You, slay mine enemy. Because if so be that you say so, do you not fear lest He should answer you, If I should choose to slay your enemy, I should first slay you. What! Do you glory because you have now come invited hither? Think only what you were but a little while ago. Have you not blasphemed Me? Have you not derided Me? Did you not wish to wipe out My Name from off the earth? Yet now you applaud yourself because you have come invited hither! If I had slain you when you were Mine enemy, how could I have made you My friend? Why, by your wicked prayers do you teach Me to do, what I did not in your own case? Yea rather God says to you, Let me teach you to imitate Me. When I was hanging on the Cross, I said, 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do.' This lesson I taught My brave soldier. Be My recruit against the devil. In no other way will you fight at all unconquerably, unless you pray for your enemies. Yet by all means ask this, yea ask this very thing, ask that you may persecute your enemy; but ask it with discernment; distinguish well what you ask. See, a man is your enemy; answer me, what is it in him which is at enmity with you? Is it in this, that he is a man, that he is at enmity with you? No. What then? That he is evil. In that he is a man, in that he is that I made him, he is not at enmity with you. He says to you, I did not make man evil; he became evil by disobedience, who obeyed the devil rather than God. What he has made himself, is at enmity with you; in that he is evil, he is your enemy; not in that he is a man. For I hear the word man, and evil; the one is the name of nature, the other of sin; the sin I cure; and the nature I preserve. And so your God says to you, See, I do avenge you, I do slay your enemy; I take away that which makes him evil, I preserve that which constitutes him a man: now if I shall have made him a good man, have I not slain your enemy, and made him your friend? So ask on what you are asking, not that the men may perish, but that these their enmities may perish. For if you pray for this, that the man may die; it is the prayer of one wicked man against another; and when you say, Slay the wicked one, God answers you, Which of you?

10. Extend your love then, and limit it not to your wives and children. Such love is found even in beasts and sparrows. You know the sparrows and the swallows how they love their mates, how together they hatch their eggs, and nourish their young together, by a sort of free and natural kindliness, and with no thought of a return. For the sparrow does not say, I will nourish my young, that when I am grown old, they may feed me. He has no such thought; he loves and feeds them, for the love of them; displays the affection of a parent, and looks for no return. And so, I know, I am sure, do ye love your children. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Yea upon this plea it is that many of you excuse your covetousness, that you are getting for your children, and are laying by for them. But I say, extend your love, let this love grow; for to love wives and children, is not yet that wedding garment. Have faith to Godward. First love God. Extend yourselves out to God; and whomsoever you shall be able, draw on to God. There is your enemy: let him be drawn to God. There is a son, a wife, a servant; let them be all drawn to God. There is a stranger; let him be drawn to God. There is an enemy; let him be drawn to God. Draw, draw on your enemy; by drawing him on he shall cease to be your enemy. So let charity be advanced, so be it nourished, that being nourished it may be perfected; so be the wedding garment put on; so be the image of God, after which we were created, by this our advancing, engraven anew in us. For by sin was it bruised, and worn away. How is it bruised? How worn away? When it is rubbed against the earth? And what is, When it is rubbed against the earth? When it is worn by earthly lusts. For though man walks in this image, yet is he disquieted in vain. Truth is looked for in God's image, not vanity. By the love of the truth then be that image, after which we were created, engraven anew, and His Own tribute rendered to our Cæsar. For so you have heard from the Lord's answer, when the Jews tempted Him, as He said, Why do you tempt Me, you hypocrites; show Me the tribute money, that is, the impress and superscription of the image. Show me what ye pay, what ye get ready, what is exacted of you. And they showed Him a denarius; and He asked whose image and superscription it had. They answered, Cæsar's. So Cæsar looks for his own image. It is not Cæsar's will that what he ordered to be made should be lost to him, and it is not surely God's will that what He has made should be lost to Him. Cæsar, my Brethren, did not make the money; the masters of the mint make it; the workmen have their orders, he issues his commands to his ministers. His image was stamped upon the money; on the money was Cæsar's image. And yet he requires what others have stamped; he puts it in his treasures; he will not have it refused him. Christ's coin is man. In him is Christ's image, in him Christ's Name, Christ's gifts, Christ's rules of duty.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 22:42 , where the Lord asks the Jews whose son they said David was.

1. When the Jews were asked (as we have just now heard out of the Gospel when it was being read), how our Lord Jesus Christ, whom David himself called his Lord was David's Son, they were not able to answer. For what they saw in the Lord, that they knew. For He appeared to them as the Son of man; but as the Son of God He was hidden. Hence it was, that they believed that He could be overcome, and that they derided Him as He hung upon the Tree, saying, If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe in Him. They saw one part of what He was, they knew not the other, For had they known Him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Yet they knew that the Christ was to be the Son of David. For even now they hope that He will come. They know not that He has come already, but this their ignorance is voluntary. For even if they did not acknowledge Him on the tree, they ought not to have failed to acknowledge Him on His Throne. For in whose Name are all nations called and blessed, but in His whom they think not to have been the Christ? For this Son of David, that is, of the seed of David according to the flesh, is the Son of Abraham. Now if it was said to Abraham, In your seed shall all nations be blessed; and they see now that in our Christ are all nations blessed, why wait they for what is already come, and fear not that which is yet to come? For our Lord Jesus Christ, making use of a prophetic testimony to assert His authority, called Himself the Stone. Yea such a stone, that whosoever shall stumble against it shall be shaken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. For when this stone is stumbled against, it lies low; by lying low, it shakes him that stumbles against it; being lifted on high, by its coming down it grinds the proud to powder. Already therefore are the Jews shaken by that stumbling; it yet remains that by His Glorious Advent they should be ground to powder also, unless perhaps while they are yet alive, they acknowledge Him that they die not. For God is patient, and invites them day by day to the Faith.

2. But when the Jews could not answer the Lord proposing a question, and asking whose Son they said Christ was; and they answered, the Son of David; He goes on with the further question put to them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on My right hand till I make Your enemies My footstool. If David then, He says, in spirit call Him Lord, how is He his Son? He did not say, He is not his Son, but how is He his son? When he says How, it is a word not of negation, but of enquiry; as though He should say to them, You say well indeed that Christ is David's Son, but David himself does call Him Lord; whom he then calls Lord, how is He his Son? Had the Jews been instructed in the Christian faith, which we hold; had they not closed their hearts against the Gospel, had they wished to have spiritual life in them, they would, as instructed in the faith of the Church, have made answer to this question and said, Because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God: see how He is David's Lord. But because The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; see how He is David's Son. But as being ignorant, they were silent, nor when they shut their mouths did they open their ears, that what they could not answer when questioned, they might after instruction know.

3. But seeing that is a great thing to know the mystery how He is David's Son and David's Lord: how one Person is both Man and God; how in the form of Man He is less than the Father, in the form of God equal with the Father; how again He says, on the one hand, The Father is greater than I; and on the other, I and My Father are one; seeing this is a great mystery, our conduct must be fashioned, that it may be comprehended. For to the unworthy is it closed up, it is opened to those who are meet for it. It is not with stones, or clubs, or the fist, or the heel, that we knock unto the Lord. It is the life which knocks, it is to the life that it is opened. The seeking is with the heart, the asking is with the heart, the knocking is with the heart, the opening is to the heart. Now that heart which asks rightly, and knocks and seeks rightly, must be godly. Must first love God for His Own sake (for this is godliness); and not propose to itself any reward which it looks for from Him other than God Himself. For than Him is there nothing better. And what precious thing can he ask of God, in whose sight God Himself is lightly esteemed? He gives earth, and you rejoice, you lover of the earth, who art yourself become earth. If when He gives earthly goods, you rejoice, how much more ought you to rejoice when He gives you Himself, who made heaven and earth? So then God must be loved for His own sake. For the Devil not knowing what was passing in the heart of holy Job, brought this as a great charge against him, saying, Does Job worship God for His Own sake.

4. So then if the adversary brought this charge, we ought to fear lest it be brought against us. For with a very slanderous accuser have we to deal. If he seek to invent what is not, how much more will he seek to object what really is. Nevertheless let us rejoice, that ours is such a Judge, as cannot be deceived by our accuser. For if we had a man for our judge, the enemy might invent for him what he would. For none is more subtle in invention than the devil. For he it is who at this time also invents all false accusations against the saints. He knows his accusations can have no avail with God, and so He scatters them among men. Yet what does this profit him, seeing the Apostle says, Our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience? Yet think ye that he does not invent these false charges with anything of subtlety? Yes, well he knows what evil he shall work thereby, if the watchfulness of faith resist him not. For for this reason scatters he his evil charges against the good, that the weak may think that there are no good, and so may give themselves up to be hurried along, and made a prey of by their lusts, while they say within themselves, For who is there that keeps the commandments of God, or who is there that preserves chastity? and while he thinks that no one does, he himself becomes that no one. This then is the devil's art. But such a man was Job, that he could not invent any such charge against him; for his life was too well known and manifest. But because he had great riches, he brought that against him, which if it had any existence, might lie in the heart, and not appear in the conduct. He worshipped God, he gave alms; and with what heart he did this none knew, no not the Devil himself; but God had known. God gives His testimony to His own servant; the Devil calumniates the servant of God. He is allowed to be tried, Job is proved, the Devil is confounded. Job is found to worship God for His Own sake, to love Him for His Own sake; not because He gave him ought, but because He did not take away Himself. For he said, The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so is it done, blessed be the Name of the Lord. The fire of temptation approached him; but it found him gold, not stubble; it cleared away the dross from it, but did not reduce it to ashes.

5. Because then, in order to understand the mystery of God, how Christ is both man and God, the heart must be cleansed: and it is cleansed by a good conversation, by a pure life, by chastity, and sanctity, and love, and by faith, which works by love (now all this that I am speaking of, is, as it were, the tree which has its root in the heart; for it is only from the root of the heart that actions proceed; in which if you plant desire, thorns spring forth; if you plant charity, good fruit): the Lord, after that question which He had proposed to the Jews, when they were not able to answer it, immediately went on to speak of good actions, that He might show why they were unworthy to understand what He asked them. For when those proud and wretched men were not able to answer, they ought of course to have said, we do not know; Master, tell us. But no: they were speechless at the proposing of the question, and they opened not their mouth to seek instruction. And so the Lord in reference to their pride said immediately, Beware of the Scribes which love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the first rooms at feasts. Not because they hold them, but because they love them. For in these words he accused their heart. Now none can accuse the heart, but He who can inspect it. For meet it is that to the servant of God, who holds some post of honour in the Church, the first place should be assigned; because if it were not given him, it were evil for him who refuses to give it; but yet it is no good to him to whom it is given. It is meet and right then that in the congregation of Christians their Prelates should sit in eminent place, that by their very seat they may be distinguished, and that their office may be duly marked; yet not so that they should be puffed up for their seat; but that they should esteem it a burden, for which they are to render an account. But who knows whether they love this, or do not love it? This is a matter of the heart, it can have no other judge but God. Now the Lord Himself warned His disciples, that they should not fall into this leaven; as He calls it in another place, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And when they supposed that He said this to them because they had brought no bread; He answered them, Have ye forgotten how many thousands were filled with the five loaves? Then understood they, it is said, that He called their doctrine leaven. For these present temporal good things they loved, but they neither feared the evil things eternal, nor loved the good things eternal. And so their hearts being closed, they could not understand what the Lord asked them.

6. But what then has the Church of God to do, that it may be able to understand what it has first obtained grace to believe? It must make the mind capacious for receiving what shall be given it. And that this may be done, that the mind, that is, may be capacious, our Lord God suspends His promises, He has not taken them away. Therefore does He suspend them, that we may stretch out ourselves; and therefore do we stretch ourselves out, that we may grow; and therefore do we grow, that we may reach them. Behold the Apostle Paul stretching himself out unto these suspended promises: Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind, and stretching forth unto those things which are before, I press earnestly toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He was running on the earth; the prize hung suspended from heaven. He ran then on the earth; but in spirit he ascended. Behold him thus stretching himself out, behold him hanging forth after the suspended prize. I press on, he says, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

7. We must journey on then, yet for this no need of anointing the feet, or looking out for beasts, or providing a vessel. Run with the heart's affection, journey on with love, ascend by charity. Why do you seek for the way? Cleave unto Christ, who by Descending and Ascending has made Himself the Way. Do you wish to ascend? Hold fast to Him that ascends. For by your own self you can not rise. For no man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. If no one ascends but He that descended, that is, the Son of Man, our Lord Jesus, do you wish to ascend also? Be then a member of Him who Only has ascended. For He the Head, with all the members, is but One Man. And since no one can ascend, but he who in His Body is made a member of Him; that is fulfilled, that no man has ascended, but He that descended. For you can not say, Lo, why has Peter, for instance, ascended, why has Paul ascended, why have the Apostles ascended, if no one has ascended, but He that descended? The answer to this is, What do Peter, and Paul, and the rest of the Apostles, and all the faithful, what do they hear from the Apostle? 'Now you are the Body of Christ, and members in particular.' If then the Body of Christ and His members belong to One, do not make two of them. For He left 'father and mother, and clave to his wife, that two might be one flesh.' He left His Father, in that here He did not show Himself as equal with the Father; but 'emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.' He left His mother also, the synagogue of which He was born after the flesh. He clave to His Wife, that is, to His Church. Now in the place where Christ Himself brought forward this testimony, He showed that the marriage bond might not be dissolved: 'Have ye not read,' said He, 'that God which made them at the beginning, made them male and female; and said, They two shall be in one flesh? What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.' And what is the meaning of 'They two shall be in one flesh'? He goes on to say; 'Wherefore they are no more two but one flesh.' Thus 'no man has ascended, but He that descended.'

8. For that you may know, that the Bridegroom and the Bride are One according to the Flesh of Christ, not according to His Divinity (for according to His Divinity we cannot be what He is; seeing that He is the Creator, we the creature; He the Maker, we His work; He the Framer, we framed by Him; but in order that we might be one with Him in Him, He vouchsafed to be our Head, by taking of us flesh wherein to die for us); that you may know then that this whole is One Christ, He said by Isaiah, He has bound a mitre on me as a bridegroom, and clothed me with ornaments as a bride. He is then at once the Bridegroom and the Bride. That is, the Bridegroom in Himself as the Head, the Bride in the body. For they two, says He, shall be in one flesh; so now they are no more two, but one flesh.

9. Seeing then that we are of His members, in order that we may understand this mystery as I have said, Brethren, let us live holily, let us love God for His Own sake. Now He who shows to us while in our pilgrimage the form of a servant, reserves for those that reach their country the form of God. With the form of a servant has He laid down the way, with the form of God He has prepared the home. Seeing then that it is a hard matter for us to comprehend this, but no hard matter to believe it; for Isaiah says, Unless ye believe you shall not understand; let us walk by faith as long as we are in pilgrimage from the Lord, till we come to sight where we shall see face to face. As walking by faith, let us do good works. In these good works, let there be a free love of God for His Own sake, and an active love of our neighbour. For we have nothing we can do for God; but because we have something we may do for our neighbour, we shall by our good offices to the needy, gain His favour who is the source of all abundance. Let every one then do what he can for others; let him freely bestow upon the needy of his superfluity. One has money; let him feed the poor, let him clothe the naked, let him build a church, let him do with his money all the good he can. Another has good counsel; let him guide his neighbour, let him by the light of holiness drive away the darkness of doubting. Another has learning; let him draw out of this store of the Lord, let him minister food to his fellow-servants, strengthen the faithful, recall the wandering, seek the lost, do all the good he can. Something there is, which even the poor may deal out to one another; let one lend feet to the lame, another give his own eyes to guide the blind; another visit the sick, another bury the dead. These are things which all may do, so that in a word it would be hard to find one who has not some means of doing good to others. And last of all comes that important duty which the Apostle speaks of; Bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall you fulfil the law of Christ.

On the same words of the Gospel, Matthew 22:42

1. The question which was proposed to the Jews, Christians ought to solve. For the Lord Jesus Christ, who proposed it to the Jews, did not solve it Himself, to the Jews, I mean, He did not, but to us He has solved it. I will put you in remembrance, Beloved, and you will find that He has solved it. But first consider the knot of the question. He asked the Jews what they thought of Christ, whose Son He was to be; for they too look for the Christ. They read of Him in the Prophets, they expected Him to come, when He had come they killed Him; for where they read that Christ would come, there did they read that they should kill Christ. But His future coming they hoped for in the Prophets; for they did not see their future crime. He therefore so questioned them about the Christ, not as if about One who was unknown to them, or whose Name they had never heard, or whose coming they had never hoped for. For they err in that even yet they hope for Him. And we indeed hope for Him too; but we hope for Him as One who is to come as Judge, not to be judged. For the Holy Prophets prophesied both, that He should come first to be judged unrighteously, that He should come afterwards to judge with righteousness. What think ye, then, says he, of Christ? Whose Son is He? They answered Him, The Son of David. And this was entirely according to the Scriptures. But He said, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to My Lord, Sit on My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. If David then in spirit call Him Lord, how is He his Son?

2. Here then is need of a caution, lest Christ be thought to have denied that He was the Son of David. He did not deny that He was the Son of David, but He enquired the way. You have said that Christ is the Son of David, I do not deny it; but David calls Him Lord; tell me how is He his Son, who is also his Lord; tell me how? They did not tell Him, but were silent. Let us then tell by the explanation of Christ Himself. Where? By His Apostle. But first, whereby do we prove that Christ has Himself explained it? The Apostle says, Would ye receive a proof of Christ who speaks in me? So then in the Apostle has He vouchsafed to solve this question. In the first place, what said Christ speaking by the Apostle to Timothy? Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my Gospel. See, Christ is the Son of David. How is He also David's Lord? Tell us, O Apostle: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Acknowledge David's Lord. If you acknowledge David's Lord, our Lord, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord of the Angels, equal with God, in the form of God, how is He David's Son? Mark what follows. The Apostle shows you David's Lord by saying, Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And how is He David's Son? But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him. Christ of the seed of David, the Son of David, rose again because He emptied Himself. How did He empty Himself? By taking that which He was not, not by losing that which He was. He emptied Himself, He humbled himself. Though He was God, He appeared as man. He was despised as He walked on earth, He who made the heaven. He was despised as though a mere man, as though of no power. Yea, not despised only, but slain moreover. He was that stone that lay on the ground, the Jews stumbled against it, and were shaken. And what does He Himself say? Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be shaken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. First, He lay low, and they stumbled against Him; He shall come from above, and He will grind them that have been shaken to powder.

3. Thus have ye heard that Christ is both David's Son, and David's Lord: David's Lord always, David's Son in time: David's Lord, born of the substance of His Father, David's Son, born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Ghost. Let us hold fast both. The one of them will be our eternal habitation, the other is our deliverance from our present exile. For unless our Lord Jesus Christ had vouchsafed to become man, man had perished. He was made that which He made, that what He made might not perish. Very Man, Very God; God and man whole Christ. This is the Catholic faith. Whoever denies that Christ is God is a Photinian; whoever denies that Christ is man is a Manichæan. Whoever confesses that Christ is God equal with the Father and very man, that He truly suffered, truly shed His blood (for the Truth would not have set us free, if He had given a false price for us); whoever confesses both, is a Catholic. He has the country, he has the way. He has the country, In the beginning was the Word; He has the country, Being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He has the way, The Word was made flesh; He has the way, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. He is the home whither we are going, He is the way whereby we go. Let us by Him go unto Him, and we shall not go astray.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 25:1 , then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.

1. You who were present yesterday remember my promise; which with the Lord's assistance is to be made good today, not to you only, but to the many others also who have come together. It is no easy question, who the ten virgins are, of whom five are wise, and five foolish. Nevertheless, according to the context of this passage which I have wished should be read again to you today, Beloved, I do not think, as far as the Lord vouchsafes to give me understanding, that this parable or similitude relates to those women only who by a peculiar and more excellent sanctity are called Virgins in the Church, whom by a more usual term we are wont also to call, The Religious; but if I mistake not this parable relates to the whole Church. But though we should understand it of those only who are called the Religious, are they but ten? God forbid that so great a company of virgins should be reduced to so small a number! But perhaps one may say, But what if though they be so many in outward profession, yet in truth they are so few, that scarce ten can be found! It is not so. For if he had meant that the good virgins only should be understood by the ten, He would not have represented five foolish ones among them. For if this is the number of the virgins which are called, why are the doors of the great house shut against five?

2. So then let us understand, dearly Beloved, that this parable relates to us all, that is, to the whole Church together, not to the Clergy only of whom we spoke yesterday; nor to the laity only; but generally to all. Why then are the Virgins five and five? These five and five virgins are all Christian souls together. But that I may tell you what by the Lord's inspiration I think, it is not souls of every sort, but such souls as have the Catholic faith, and seem to have good works in the Church of God; and yet even of them, five are wise, and five are foolish. First then let us see why they are called five, and why virgins, and then let us consider the rest. Every soul in the body is therefore denoted by the number five, because it makes use of five senses. For there is nothing of which we have perception by the body, but by the five folded gate, either by the sight, or the hearing, or the smelling, or the tasting, or the touching. Whoever then abstains from unlawful seeing, unlawful hearing, unlawful smelling, unlawful tasting, and unlawful touching, by reason of his uncorruptness has gotten the name of virgin.

3. But if it be good to abstain from the unlawful excitements of the senses, and on that account every Christian soul has gotten the name of virgin; why are five admitted and five rejected? They are both virgins, and yet are rejected. It is not enough that they are virgins; and that they have lamps. They are virgins, by reason of abstinence from unlawful indulgence of the senses; they have lamps, by reason of good works. Of which good works the Lord says, Let your works shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Again He says to His disciples, Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. In the girded loins is virginity; in the burning lamps good works.

4. The title of virginity is not usually applied to married persons: yet even in them there is a virginity of faith, which produces wedded chastity. For that you may know, Holy Brethren, that every one, every soul, as touching the soul, and that uncorruptness of faith by which abstinence from things unlawful is practised, and by which good works are done, is not unsuitably called a virgin; the whole Church which consists of virgins, and boys, and married men and married women, is by one name called a Virgin. Whence prove we this? Hear the Apostle saying, not to the religious women only but to the whole Church together; I have espoused you to One Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. And because the devil, the corrupter of this virginity, is to be guarded against, after the Apostle had said, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ; he subjoined, But I fear, lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Few have virginity in the body; in the heart all ought to have it. If then abstinence from what is unlawful be good, whereby it has received the name of virginity, and good works are praiseworthy, which are signified by the lamps; why are five admitted and five rejected? If there be a virgin, and one who carries lamps, who yet is not admitted; where shall he see himself, who neither preserves a virginity from things unlawful, and who not wishing to have good works walks in darkness?

5. Of these then, my Brethren, yea, of these let us the rather treat. He who will not see what is evil, he who will not hear what is evil, he that turns away his smell from the unlawful fumes, and his taste from the unlawful food of the sacrifices, he who refuses the embrace of another man's wife, breaks his bread to the hungry, brings the stranger into his house, clothes the naked, reconciles the litigious, visits the sick, buries the dead; he surely is a virgin, surely he has lamps. What seek we more? Something yet I seek. What do you seek yet, one will say? Something yet I seek; the Holy Gospel has set me on the search. It has said that even of these, virgins, and carrying lamps, some are wise and some foolish. By what do we see this? By what make the distinction? By the oil. Some great, some exceedingly great thing does this oil signify. Do you think that it is not charity? This we say as searching out what it is; we hazard no precipitate judgment. I will tell you why charity seems to be signified by the oil. The Apostle says, I show unto you a way above the rest. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not charity, I have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. This, that is charity, is that way above the rest, which is with good reason signified by the oil. For oil swims above all liquids. Pour in water, and pour in oil upon it, the oil will swim above. Pour in oil, pour in water upon it, the oil will swim above. If you keep the usual order, it will be uppermost; if you change the order, it will be uppermost. Charity never falls.

6. What is it then, Brethren? Let us treat now of the five wise and the five foolish virgins. They wished to go to meet the Bridegroom. What is the meaning of to go and meet the Bridegroom? To go with the heart, to be waiting for his coming. But he tarried. While he tarries, they all slept. What is all? Both the foolish and the wise, all slumbered and slept. Think we is this sleep good? What is this sleep? Is it that at the tarrying of the Bridegroom, because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold? Are we to understand this sleep so? I like it not. I will tell you why. Because among them are the wise virgins; and certainly when the Lord said, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; He went on to say, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Where would you have those wise virgins be? Are they not among those that shall endure unto the end? They would not be admitted within at all, Brethren, for any other reason, than because they have endured unto the end. No coldness of love then crept over them, in them love did not wax cold; but preserves its glow even unto the end. And because it glows even unto the end, therefore are the gates of the Bridegroom opened to them; therefore are they told to enter in, as that excellent servant, Enter into the joy of your Lord. What then is the meaning of they all slept? There is another sleep which no one escapes. Remember ye not the Apostle saying, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that is, concerning them which are dead? For why are they called they which are asleep, but because they are in their own day? Therefore they all slept. Do you think that because one is wise, he has not therefore to die? Be the virgin foolish, or be she wise, all suffer equally the sleep of death.

7. But men continually say to themselves, Lo, the day of judgment is coming now, so many evils are happening, so many tribulations thicken; behold all things which the Prophets have spoken, are nearly fulfilled; the day of judgment is already at hand. They who speak thus, and speak in faith, go out as it were with such thoughts to meet the Bridegroom. But, lo! war upon war, tribulation upon tribulation, earthquake upon earthquake, famine upon famine, nation against nation, and still the Bridegroom comes not yet. Whilst then He is expected to come, all they who are saying, Lo, He is coming, and the Day of Judgment will find us here, fall asleep. Whilst they are saying this, they fall asleep. Let each one then have an eye to this his sleep, and persevere even unto his sleep in love; let sleep find him so waiting. For suppose that he has fallen asleep. Will not He who falls asleep afterwards rise again? Therefore they all slept; both of the wise and the foolish virgins in the parable, it is said, they all slept.

8. Lo, at midnight there was a cry made. What is, at midnight? When there is no expectation, no belief at all of it. Night is put for ignorance. A man makes as it were a calculation with himself: Lo, so many years have passed since Adam, and the six thousand years are being completed, and then immediately according to the computation of certain expositors, the Day of Judgment will come; yet these calculations come and pass away, and still the coming of the Bridegroom is delayed, and the virgins who had gone to meet him sleep. And, lo, when He is not looked for, when men are saying, The six thousand years were waited for, and, lo, they are gone by, how then shall we know when He will come? He will come at midnight. What is, will come at midnight? Will come when you are not aware. Why will He come when you are not aware of it? Hear the Lord Himself, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Lord has put in His own power. The day of the Lord, says the Apostle, will come as a thief in the night. Therefore watch by night that you be not surprised by the thief. For the sleep of death — will you, or nill ye — it will come.

9. But when that cry was made at midnight. What cry was this, but that of which the Apostle says, In the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump? For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed? And so when the cry was made at midnight, Behold, the Bridegroom comes; what follows? Then all those virgins arose. What is, they all arose? The hour will come, said the Lord Himself, when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth. Therefore at the last trumpet they all arose. Now those wise virgins had brought oil with them in their vessels; but the foolish brought no oil with them. What is the meaning of brought no oil with them in their vessels? What is in their vessels? In their hearts. Whence the Apostle says, Our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience. There is the oil, the precious oil; this oil is of the gift of God. Men can put oil into their vessels, but they cannot create the olive. See, I have oil; but did you create the oil? It is of the gift of God. You have oil. Carry it with you. What is carry it with you? Have it within, there please God.

10. For, lo, those foolish virgins, who brought no oil with them, wish to please men by that abstinence of theirs whereby they are called virgins, and by their good works, when they seem to carry lamps. And if they wish to please men, and on that account do all these praiseworthy works, they do not carry oil with them. Do you then carry it with you, carry it within where God sees; there carry the testimony of your conscience. For he who walks to gain the testimony of another, does not carry oil with him. If you abstain from things unlawful, and do good works to be praised of men; there is no oil within. And so when men begin to leave off their praises, the lamps fail. Observe then, Beloved, before those virgins slept, it is not said that their lamps were extinguished. The lamps of the wise virgins burned with an inward oil, with the assurance of a good conscience, with an inner glory, with an inmost charity. Yet the lamps of the foolish virgins burned also. Why burnt they then? Because there was yet no want of the praises of men. But after that they arose, that is in the resurrection from the dead, they began to trim their lamps, that is, began to prepare to render unto God an account of their works. And because there is then no one to praise, every man is wholly employed in his own cause, there is no one then who is not thinking of himself, therefore were there none to sell them oil; so their lamps began to fail, and the foolish betook themselves to the five wise, give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. They sought for what they had been wont to seek for, to shine that is with others' oil, to walk after others' praises. Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.

11. But they say, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. This was not the answer of those who give advice, but of those who mock. And why mock they? Because they were wise, because wisdom was in them. For they were not wise by ought of their own; but that wisdom was in them, of which it is written in a certain book, she shall say to those that despised her, when they have fallen upon the evils which she threatened them; I will laugh over your destruction. What wonder then is it, that the wise mock the foolish virgins? And what is this mocking?

12. Go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves: ye who never were wont to live well, but because men praised you, who sold you oil. What means this, sold you oil? Sold praises. Who sell praises, but flatterers? How much better had it been for you not to have acquiesced in flatterers, and to have carried oil within, and for a good conscience-sake to have done all good works; then might ye say, The righteous shall correct me in mercy, and reprove me, but the oil of the sinner shall not fatten my head. Rather, he says, let the righteous correct me, let the righteous reprove me, let the righteous buffet me, let the righteous correct me, than the oil of the sinner fatten mine head. What is the oil of the sinner, but the blandishments of the flatterer?

13. Go then to them that sell, this have you been accustomed to do. But we will not give to you. Why? Lest there be not enough for us and you. What is, lest there be not enough? This was not spoken in any lack of hope, but in a sober and godly humility. For though the good man have a good conscience; how knows he, how He may judge who is deceived by no one? He has a good conscience, no sins conceived in the heart solicit him, yet, though his conscience be good, because of the daily sins of human life, he says to God, forgive us our debts; seeing he has done what comes next, as we also forgive our debtors. He has broken his bread to the hungry from the heart, from the heart has clothed the naked; out of that inward oil he has done good works, and yet in that judgment even his good conscience trembles.

14. See then what this, Give us oil, is. They were told Go rather to them that sell. In that you have been used to live upon the praises of men, you do not carry oil with you; but we can give you none; lest there be not enough for us and you. For scarcely do we judge of ourselves, how much less can we judge of you? What is scarcely do we judge of ourselves? Because, When the righteous King sits on the throne, who will glory that his heart is pure? It may be you do not discover anything in your own conscience; but He who sees better, whose Divine glance penetrates into deeper things, discovers it may be something, He sees it may be something, He discovers something. How much better may you say to Him, Enter not into judgment with Your servant? Yea, how much better, Forgive us our debts? Because it shall be also said to you because of those torches, because of those lamps; I was hungry, and you gave Me meat. What then? Did not the foolish virgins do so too? Yea, but they did it not before Him. How then did they do it? As the Lord forbids, who said, Take heed that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven: and when you pray, be not as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward. They have bought oil, they have given the price; they have bought it, they have not been defrauded of men's praises, they have sought men's praises, and have had them. These praises of men aid them not in the judgment day. But the other virgins, how have they done? Let your works shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. He did not say, may glorify you. For you have no oil of your own self. Boast yourself and say, I have it; but from Him, for what have you that you have not received? So then in this way acted the one, and in that the other.

15. Now it is no wonder, that while they are going to buy, while they are seeking for persons by whom to be praised, and find none; while they are seeking for persons by whom to be comforted, and find none; that the door is opened, that the Bridegroom comes, and the Bride, the Church, glorified then with Christ, that the several members may be gathered together into their whole. And they went in with Him into the marriage, and the door was shut. Then the foolish virgins came afterwards; but had they bought any oil, or found any from whom they might buy it? Therefore they found the doors shut; they began to knock, but too late.

16. It is said, and it is true, and no deceiving saying, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; but now when it is the time of mercy, not when it is the time of judgment. For these times cannot be confounded, since the Church sings to her Lord of mercy and judgment. It is the time of mercy; repent. Can you repent in the time of judgment? You will be then as those virgins, against whom the door was shut. Lord, Lord, open to us. What! Did they not repent, that they had brought no oil with them? Yes, but what profits them their late repentance, when the true wisdom mocked them? Therefore the door was shut. And what was said to them? I know you not. Did not He know them, who knows all things? What then is, I know you not? I refuse, I reject you. In my art I do not acknowledge you, my art knows not vice; now this is a marvellous thing, it does not know vice, and it judges vice. It does not know it in the practice of it; it judges by reproving it. Thus then, I know you not.

17. The five wise virgins came, and went in. How many are you, my Brethren, in the profession of Christ's Name! let there be among you the five wise, but be not five such persons only. Let there be among you the five wise, belonging to this wisdom of the number five. For the hour will come, and come when we know not. It will come at midnight, Watch ye. Thus did the Gospel close; Watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour. But if we are all to sleep, how shall we watch? Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with hope, watch with charity, watch with good works; and then, when you shall sleep in your body, the time will come that you shall rise. And when you shall have risen, make ready the lamps. Then shall they go out no more, then shall they be renewed with the inner oil of conscience; then shall that Bridegroom fold you in His spiritual embrace, then shall He bring you into His House where you shall never sleep, where your lamp can never be extinguished. But at present we are in labour, and our lamps flicker amid the winds and temptations of this life; but only let our flame burn strongly, that the wind of temptation may increase the fire, rather than put it out.

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 25:24 , etc., where the slothful servant who would not put out the talent he had received, is condemned.

1. My lords, my brethren, and fellow bishops have deigned to visit us and gladden us by their presence; but I know not why they are unwilling to assist me, when wearied. I have said this to you, Beloved, in their hearing, that your hearing may in a manner intercede for me with them, that when I ask them they also may discourse unto you in their turn. Let them dispense what they have received, let them vouchsafe to work rather than excuse themselves. Be pleased, however, to hear from me, fatigued though I be and have difficulty in speaking, a few words only. For we have besides a record of God's mercies vouchsafed through a holy Martyr, which we must give willing audience to altogether. What is it then? What shall I say unto you? You have heard in the Gospel both the due recompense of the good servants, and the punishment of the bad. And the whole wickedness of that servant who was reprobate and severely condemned, was that he would not put out his money to use. He kept the entire sum he had received; but the Lord looked for profit from it. God is coveteous with regard to our salvation. If he who did not put out to use is so condemned, what must they look for who lose what they have received? We then are the dispensers, we put out, you receive. We look for profit; do ye live well. For this is the profit in our dealings with you. But do not think that this office of putting out to use does not belong to you also. You cannot execute it indeed from this elevated seat, but you can wherever ye chance to be. Wherever Christ is attacked, defend Him; answer murmurers, rebuke blasphemers, from their fellowship keep yourselves apart. So do ye put out to use, if you make gain of any. Discharge our office in your own houses. A bishop is called from hence, because he superintends, because he takes care and attends to others. To every man then, if he is the head of his own house, ought the office of the Episcopate to belong, to take care how his household believe, that none of them fall into heresy, neither wife, nor son, nor daughter, nor even his slave, because he has been bought at so great a price. The Apostolic teaching has set the master over the slave, and put the slave under the master; nevertheless Christ gave the same price for both. Do not neglect then the least of those belonging to you, look after the salvation of all your household with all vigilance. This if you do, you put out to use; ye will not be slothful servants, you will not have to fear so horrible a condemnation.

On the words of the Gospel, Mark 8:5 , etc., where the miracle of the seven loaves is related.

1. In expounding to you the Holy Scriptures, I as it were break bread for you. Do ye in hunger receive it, and break forth with a fullness of phrase from the heart; and you who are rich in your banquet, be not meagre in good works and deeds. What I deal out to you is not my own. What you eat, I eat; what ye live upon, I live upon. We have in heaven a common store-house; for from thence comes the Word of God.

2. The seven loaves signify the seven-fold operation of the Holy Spirit; the four thousand men, the Church established on the four Gospels; the seven baskets of fragments, the perfection of the Church. For by this number very constantly is perfection figured. For whence is that which is said, seven times in a day will I praise you? Does a man sin who does not praise the Lord so often? What then is seven times will I praise, but I will never cease from praise? For he who says seven times, signifies all time. Whence in this world there are continual revolutions of seven days. What then is seven times in a day will I praise You, but what is said in another place, His praise shall always be in my mouth? With reference to this perfection, John writes to seven Churches. The Apocalypse is a book of St. John the Evangelist; and he writes to seven Churches. Be hungered; own ye these baskets. For those fragments were not lost; but seeing that you too belong to the Church, they have surely profited you. In that I explain this to you, I minister to Christ; and when you hear peaceably, you sit down. I in my body sit, but in my heart I am standing, and ministering to you in anxiety; lest perhaps, not the food, but the vessel offend any of you. You know the feast of God, you have often heard it, that it is for the heart, not for the belly.

3. Of a truth four thousand men were filled by seven loaves; what is more wonderful than this! Yet even this were not enough, had not seven baskets also been filled with the fragments that remained. O great mysteries! They were works, and the works spoke. If you understand these doings, they are words. And ye too belong to the four thousand, because ye live under the fourfold Gospel. To this number the children and women did not belong. For so it is said, And they that did eat were four thousand men, excepting women and children. As though the void of understanding, and the effeminate were without number. Yet let even these eat. Let them eat: it may be the children will grow, and will be children no more; it may be the effeminate will be amended, and become chaste. Let them eat; we dispense, we deal out to them. But who these are, God inspects His feast, and if they do not amend themselves, He who knew how to invite them there, knows also how to separate them from the rest.

4. You know it, dearly Beloved; call to mind the parable of the Gospel, how that the Lord came in to inspect the guests at a certain feast of His. The Master of the house who had invited them, as it is written, found there a man which had not on a wedding garment. For to the marriage had that Bridegroom invited them who is fair in beauty above the children of men. That Bridegroom became deformed because of His deformed spouse, that he might make her fair. How did the Fair One become deformed? If I do not prove it, I am blaspheming. The testimony of his fair beauty the Prophet gives me, who says, You are fair in beauty above the children of men. The testimony of his deformity another Prophet gives me, who says, We saw Him, and He had no grace, nor beauty; but His countenance was marred, and His whole look deformed. O Prophet, who said, You are fair in beauty above the children of men; you are contradicted; another Prophet comes out against you, and says, You speak falsely. We have seen Him. What is this that you say, 'You are fair in beauty above the children of men? We have seen Him, and He had no grace nor beauty.' Are then these two Prophets at disagreement in the Cornerstone of peace? Both spoke of Christ, both spoke of the Cornerstone. In the corner the walls unite. If they do not unite, it is not a building, but a ruin. No, the Prophets agree, let us not leave them in strife. Yea, rather let us understand their peace; for they know not how to strive. O Prophet, who said, You are fair in beauty above the children of men; where did you see Him? Answer me, answer where did you see Him? Being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. There I saw Him. Do you doubt that He who is equal with God is fair in beauty above the children of men? You have answered; now let him answer who said, We saw Him, and He had no grace, nor beauty. You have said so; tell us where did you see Him? He begins from the other's words; where the other ended, there he begins. Where did he end? Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Lo, where he saw Him who was fair in beauty above the children of men; do thou tell us, where you saw that He had no grace nor beauty. But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man. Of His deformity he still further says; He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Lo, where I saw Him. Therefore are they both in peaceful concord, both are at peace together. What is more fair than God? What more deformed than the Crucified?

5. So then this Bridegroom, fair in beauty above the children of men, became deformed that He might make His Spouse fair to whom it is said, O you beauteous among women, of whom it is said, Who is this that comes up, whitened with the brightness of light, not the coloring of falsehood! He then who called them to the wedding, found a man who had not a wedding garment, and He said to him, Friend, how did you come in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. For he found not what to answer. And the Master of the house Who had invited him said, Bind him hands and feet, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For so small a fault, so great a punishment? For great it is. It is called a small fault not to have the wedding garment; small, but only by those who do not understand. How would He have been so incensed, how would He have so judged, to cast him, on account of the wedding garment which he had not, bound hands and feet into outer darkness, where was weeping and gnashing of teeth, unless it had been a very grievous fault, not to have the wedding garment? I say this; seeing you have been invited through me; for though He invited you, He invited you by my ministry. You are all at the feast, have the wedding garment. I will explain what it is, that you may all have it, and if any one now hears me who has it not, let him, before the Master of the house comes and inspects His guests, be changed for the better, let him receive the wedding garment, and so sit down in all assurance.

6. For in truth, dearly Beloved, he who was cast forth from the feast, does not signify one man; far from it. They are many. And the Lord Himself who put forth this parable, the Bridegroom Himself, who calls together to the feast, and quickens whom He calls, He has Himself explained to us, that that man does not denote one man, but many, there, in that very place, in the same parable. I do not go far for this, I find the explanation there, there I break the bread, and set it before you to be eaten. For He said, when he who had not the wedding garment was cast out thence into outer darkness, He said and added immediately, for many are called, but few chosen. You have cast forth one man from hence, and You say, for many are called, but few chosen. Without doubt the chosen are not cast forth; and they were the few guests who remained; and the many were represented in that one, because that one who has not the wedding garment is the body of the wicked.

7. What is the wedding garment? Let us search for it in the Holy Scriptures. What is the wedding garment? Without doubt it is something which the bad and good have not in common; let us discover this, and we shall discover the wedding garment. Among the gifts of God, what have not the good and bad in common? That we are men and not beasts, is a gift of God; but this is common to good and bad. That the light from heaven rises upon us, that the rain descends from the cloud, the fountains flow, the fields yield their fruit; these are gifts, but common to the good and bad. Let us go to the marriage feast, let us leave the others without, who being called come not. Let us consider the guests themselves, that is, Christians. Baptism is a gift of God, the good and bad have it. The Sacraments of the Altar the good and bad receive together. Saul prophesied for all his wickedness, and in his rage against a holy and most righteous man, even while he was persecuting him, he prophesied. Are the good only said to believe? The devils also believe and tremble. What shall I do? I have sifted all, and have not yet come to the wedding garment. I have unfolded my envelopings, I have considered all, or almost all, and have not yet come to that garment. The Apostle Paul in a certain place has brought me a great collection of excellent things; he has laid them open before me, and I have said to him, Show me, if so be you have found among them that 'wedding garment.' He begins to unfold them one by one, and to say, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, though I have all knowledge, and the gift of prophecy, and all faith, so that I could remove mountains; though I distribute all my goods to the poor, and give my body to be burned. Precious garments! nevertheless, there is not yet here that wedding garment. Now bring out to us the wedding garment. Why do you keep us in suspense, O Apostle? Peradventure prophecy is a gift of God which both good and bad have not. If, says He, I have not charity, nothing profits me. See the wedding garment; put it on, you guests, that you may sit down securely. Do not say; we are too poor to have that garment. Clothe others, and you are clothed yourselves. It is winter, clothe the naked. Christ is naked; and He will give you that wedding garment whosoever have it not. Run to Him, beseech Him; He knows how to sanctify His faithful ones, He knows how to clothe His naked ones. That ye may be able as having the wedding garment to be free from the fear of the outer darkness, and the binding of your members and hands and feet; let not your works fail. If they fail, with hands bound what can you do? With feet bound, whither will you fly? Keep then that wedding garment, put it on, and so sit down in security, when He comes to inspect. The Day of Judgment will come; He is now giving a long space, let him who erewhile was naked now be clothed.

On the words of the Gospel, Mark 8:34 , If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, etc. And on the words 1 John 2:15 , if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1. Hard and grievous does that appear which the Lord has enjoined, that whosoever will come after Him, must deny himself. But what He enjoins is not hard or grievous, who aids us that what He enjoins may be done. For both is that true which is said to Him in the Psalm, Because of the words of Your lips I have kept hard ways. And that is true which He said Himself, My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. For whatsoever is hard in what is enjoined us, charity makes easy. We know what great things love itself can do. Very often is this love even abominable and impure; but how great hardships have men suffered, what indignities and intolerable things have they endured, to attain to the object of their love? Whether it be a lover of money who is called covetous; or a lover of honour, who is called ambitious; or a lover of beautiful women, who is called voluptuous. And who could enumerate all sorts of loves? Yet consider what labour all lovers undergo, and are not conscious of their labours; and then does any such one most feel labour, when he is hindered from labour. Since then the majority of men are such as their loves are, and that there ought to be no other care for the regulation of our lives, than the choice of that which we ought to love; why do you wonder, if he who loves Christ, and who wishes to follow Christ, for the love of Him denies himself? For if by loving himself man is lost, surely by denying himself he is found.

2. The first destruction of man, was the love of himself. For if he had not loved himself, if he had preferred God to himself, he would have been willing to be ever subject unto God; and would not have been turned to the neglect of His will, and the doing his own will. For this is to love one's self, to wish to do one's own will. Prefer to this God's will; learn to love yourself by not loving yourself. For that you may know that it is a vice to love one's self, the Apostle speaks thus, For men shall be lovers of their own selves. And can he who loves himself have any sure trust in himself? No; for he begins to love himself by forsaking God, and is driven away from himself to love those things which are beyond himself; to such a degree that when the aforesaid Apostle had said, Men shall be lovers of their own selves, he subjoined immediately, lovers of money. Already you see that you are without. You have begun to love yourself: stand in yourself if you can. Why do you go without? Have you, as being rich in money, become a lover of money? You have begun to love what is without you, you have lost yourself. When a man's love then goes even away from himself to those things which are without, he begins to share the vanity of his vain desires, and prodigal as it were to spend his strength. He is dissipated, exhausted, without resource or strength, he feeds swine; and wearied with this office of feeding swine, he at last remembers what he was, and says, How many hired servants of my Father's are eating bread, and I here perish with hunger! But when the son in the parable says this, what is said of him, who had squandered all he had on harlots, who wished to have in his own power what was being well kept for him with his father; he wished to have it at his own disposal, he squandered all, he was reduced to indigence: what is said of him? And when he returned to himself. If he returned to himself, he had gone away from himself. Because he had fallen from himself, had gone away from himself, he returns first to himself, that he may return to that state from which he had fallen away by falling from himself. For as by falling away from himself, he remained in himself; so by returning to himself, he ought not to remain in himself, lest he again go away from himself. Returning then to himself, that he might not remain in himself, what did he say? I will arise and go to my Father. See, whence he had fallen away from himself, he had fallen away from his Father; he had fallen away from himself, he had gone away from himself to those things which are without. He returns to himself, and goes to his Father, where he may keep himself in all security. If then he had gone away from himself, let him also in returning to himself, from whom he had gone away, that he may go to his Father, deny himself. What is deny himself? Let him not trust in himself, let him feel that he is a man, and have respect to the words of the prophet, Cursed is every one that puts his hope in man. Let him withdraw himself from himself, but not towards things below. Let him withdraw himself from himself, that he may cleave unto God. Whatever of good he has, let him commit to Him by whom he was made; whatever of evil he has, he has made it for himself. The evil that is in him God made not; let him destroy what himself has done, who has been thereby undone. Let him deny himself, He says, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

3. And whither must the Lord be followed? Whither He is gone, we know; but a very few days since we celebrated the solemn memorial of it. For He has risen again, and ascended into heaven; there must He be followed. Undoubtedly we must not despair of it, because He has Himself promised us, not because man can do anything. Heaven was far away from us, before that our Head had gone into heaven. But now why should we despair, if we are members of that Head? Thither then must He be followed. And who would be unwilling to follow Him to such an abode? Especially seeing that we are in so great travail on earth with fears and pains. Who would be unwilling to follow Christ there, where is supreme felicity, supreme peace, perpetual security? Good is it to follow Him there: but we must see by what way we are to follow. For the Lord Jesus did not say the words we are engaged in, when He had now risen from the dead. He had not yet suffered, He had still to come to the Cross, had to come to His dishonouring, to the outrages, the scourging, the thorns, the wounds, the mockeries, the insults, Death. Rough as it were is the way; it makes you to be slow; you have no mind to follow. But follow on. Rough is the way which man has made for himself, but what Christ has trodden in His passage is worn smooth. For who would not wish to go to exaltation? Elevation is pleasing to all; but humility is the step to it. Why do you put out your foot beyond you? You have a mind to fall, not to ascend. Begin by the step, and so you have ascended. This step of humility those two disciples were loth to have an eye to, who said, Lord, bid that one of us may sit at Your right hand, and the other at the left in Your kingdom. They sought for exaltation, they did not see the step. But the Lord showed them the step. For what did He answer them? You who seek the hill of exaltation, can you drink the cup of humiliation? And therefore He does not say simply, Let him deny himself, and follow Me howsoever: but He said more, Let him take up his cross, and follow Me.

4. What is, Let him take up his cross? Let him bear whatever trouble he has; so let him follow Me. For when he shall begin to follow Me in conformity to My life and precepts, he will have many to contradict him, he will have many to hinder him, he will have many to dissuade him, and that from among those who are even as it were Christ's companions. They who hindered the blind men from crying out were walking with Christ. Whether therefore they be threats or caresses, or whatsoever hindrances there be, if you wish to follow, turn them into your cross, bear it, carry it, do not give way beneath it. There seems to be an exhortation to martyrdom in these words of the Lord. If there be persecution, ought not all things to be despised in consideration of Christ? The world is loved; but let Him be preferred by whom the world was made. Great is the world; but greater is He by whom the world was made. Fair is the world; but fairer is He by whom the world was made. Sweet is the world; but sweeter is He by whom the world was made. Evil is the world; and good is He by whom the world was made. How shall I be able to explain and unravel what I have said? May God help me? For what have I said? What have ye applauded? See, it is but a question, and yet you have already applauded. How is the world evil, if He by whom the world was made is good? Did not God make all things, and behold they were very good? Does not Scripture at each several work of creation testify that God made it good, by saying, And God saw that it was good, and at the end summed them all up together thus how that God had made them, And behold they were very good?

5. How then is the world evil, and He good by whom the world was made? How? Since the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. The world was made by Him, the heaven and earth and all things that are in them: the world knew Him not, the lovers of the world; the lovers of the world and the despisers of God; this world knew Him not. So then the world is evil, because they are evil who prefer the world to God. And He is good who made the world, the heaven, and earth, and sea, and themselves who love the world. For this only, that they love the world and do not love God, He made not in them. But themselves, all that appertains to their nature He made; what appertains to guiltiness, He made not. This is that I said a little while ago, Let man efface what he has made, and so will he be well-pleasing to Him who made Him.

6. For there is among men themselves a good world also; but one that has been made good from being evil. For the whole world if you take the word world for men, putting aside (what we call the world) the heaven and earth and all things that in them are; if you take the world for men, the whole world did he who first sinned make evil. The whole mass was corrupted in the root. God made man good; so runs the Scripture, God made man upright; and men themselves found out many cogitations. Run from these many to One, gather up your scattered things into one: flow on together, fence yourself in, abide with One; go not to many things. There is blessedness. But we have flowed away, have gone on to perdition: we were all born with sin, and to that sin wherein we were born have we too added by our evil living, and the whole world has become evil. But Christ came, and He chose that which He made, not what He found; for He found all evil, and by His grace He made them good. And so was made another world; and the world now persecutes the world.

7. What is the world which persecutes? That of which it is said to us, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever, even as God abides forever. Lo! I have spoken of two worlds, the world which persecutes, and that which it persecutes. What is the world which persecutes? All that is the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but of the world; and the world passes away. Lo, this is the world which persecutes. What is the world which it persecutes? He that does the will of God abides for ever, even as God abides forever.

8. But see, that which persecutes is called the world; let us prove whether that also which suffers persecution is called the world. What! Are you deaf to the voice of Christ who speaks, or rather to Holy Scripture which testifies, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. If the world hate you, know ye that it first hated Me. See, the world hates. What does it hate but the world? What world? God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. The condemned world persecutes; the reconciled world suffers persecution. The condemned world is all that is without the Church; the reconciled world is the Church. For He says, The Son of Man came not to judge the world, but that the world through Him may be saved.

9. Now in this world, holy, good, reconciled, saved, or rather to be saved, and now saved in hope, for we are saved in hope; in this world, I say, that is in the Church which wholly follows Christ, He has said as of universal application, Whosoever will follow Me, let him deny himself. For it is not that the virgins ought to give ear to this, and the married women ought not; or that the widows ought, and the women who still have their husbands ought not; or that monks ought, and the married men ought not; or that the clergy ought, and the laymen ought not: but let the whole Church, the whole body, all the members, distinguished and distributed throughout their several offices, follow Christ. Let the whole Church follow Him, that only Church, let the dove follow Him, let the spouse follow Him, let her who has been redeemed and endowed with the Bridegroom's blood, follow Him. There virgin purity has its place; there widowed continence has its place; married chastity there has its place; but adultery has no place of its own there; and no place there has lasciviousness, unlawful and meet for punishment. But let these several members which have their place there, in their kind and place and measure, follow Christ; let them deny themselves; that is, let them presume nothing of themselves: let them take up their cross, that is, let them in the world endure for Christ's sake whatever the world may bring upon them. Let them love Him, who Alone does not deceive, who Alone is not deceived, Alone deceives not; let them love Him, for that is true which He does promise. But because He does not give at once, faith wavers. Hold on, persevere, endure, bear delay and you have borne the cross.

10. Let not the virgin say, I shall alone be there. For Mary shall not be there alone but the widow Anna shall be there also. Let not the woman which has an husband say, The widow will be there, not I; for it is not that Anna will be there, and Susanna not be there. But by all means let them who would be there prove themselves hereby, that they who have here a lower place envy not, but love in others the better place. For, for instance, my Brethren, that you may understand me; one man has chosen a married life, another a life of continence; if he who has chosen the married life, has adulterous lusts, he has looked back; he has lusted after that which is unlawful. He too who would wish afterwards to return from continence to a married life, has looked back; he has chosen what is in itself lawful, yet he has looked back. Is marriage then to be condemned? No. Marriage is not to be condemned; but see whither he had come who has chosen it. He had already got before it. When he was living as a young man in voluptuousness, marriage was before him; he was making his way towards it; but when he had chosen continence, marriage was behind him. Remember, says the Lord, Lot's wife. Lot's wife, by looking behind, remained motionless. To whatever point then any one has been able to reach, let him fear to look back from thence; and let him walk in the way, let him follow Christ. Forgetting those things which are behind, and stretching forth unto those things which are before, let him by an earnest inward intention press on toward the prize of the calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let those that are married regard the unmarried as above themselves; let them acknowledge that they are better; let them in them love what themselves have not; and let them in them love Christ.

On the words of the Gospel, Mark 13:32 , But of that day or that hour knows no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

1. The advice, Brethren, which you have just heard Scripture give, when it tells us to watch for the last day, every one should think of as concerning his own last day; lest haply when you judge or think the last day of the world to be far distant, you slumber with respect to your own last day. You have heard what Jesus said concerning the last day of this world, That neither the Angels of heaven, nor the Son knew it, but the Father. Where indeed there is a great difficulty, lest understanding this in a carnal way, we think that the Father knows anything which the Son knows not. For indeed when He said, the Father knows it; He said this because in the Father the Son also knows it. For what is there in a day which was not made by the Word, by whom the day was made? Let no one then search out for the last Day, when it is to be; but let us watch all by our good lives, lest the last day of any one of us find us unprepared, and such as any one shall depart hence on his last day, such he be found in the last day of the world. Nothing will then assist you which you shall not have done here. His own works will succour, or his own works will overwhelm every one.

2. And how have we in the Psalm sung unto the Lord, Lord, have mercy on me, for man has trodden me down? He is called a man who lives after the manner of men. For it is said to them who live after God, You are gods, and you are all the children of the Most High. But to the reprobate, who were called to be the sons of God, and who wished rather to be men, that is, to live after the manner of men, he says, But you shall die like men, and fall as one of the princes. For that man is mortal, ought to avail for his instruction, not for boasting. Whereupon does a worm that is to die on the morrow boast himself? I speak to your love, Brethren; proud mortals ought to be made blush by the devil. For he, though proud, is yet immortal; he is a spirit, though a malignant one. The last day is kept in store for him at the end as his punishment; nevertheless he is not subject to the death to which we are subject. But man heard the sentence, You shall surely die. Let him make a good use of his punishment. What is that I have said, Let him make a good use of his punishment? Let him not by that from which he received his punishment fall into pride; let him acknowledge that he is mortal, and let it break down his elation. Let him hear it said to him, Why is earth and ashes proud? Even if the devil is proud, he is not earth and ashes. Therefore was it said, But you shall die like men, and shall fall as one of the princes. You do not consider that you are mortals, and you are proud as the devil. Let man then make a good use of his punishment, Brethren; let him make a good use of his evil, that he may make advancement to his good. Who does not know, that the necessity of our dying is a punishment; and the more grievous, that we know not when? The punishment is certain, the hour uncertain; and of that punishment alone are we certain in the ordinary course of human affairs.

3. All else of ours, both good and evil, is uncertain; death alone is certain. What is this that I say? A child is conceived, perhaps it will be born, perhaps it will be an untimely birth. So it is uncertain: Perhaps he will grow up, perhaps he will not grow up; perhaps he will grow old, perhaps he will not grow old; perhaps he will be rich, perhaps poor; perhaps he will be distinguished, perhaps abased; perhaps he will have children, perhaps he will not; perhaps he will marry, perhaps not; and so on, whatever else among good things you may name. Now look too at the evils of life: Perhaps he will have sickness, perhaps he will have not; perhaps he will be stung by a serpent, perhaps not; perhap he will be devoured by a wild beast, perhaps he will not. And so look at all evils; everywhere is there a perhaps it will be, and perhaps it will not. But can you say, Perhaps he will die, and perhaps he will not die? As when medical men examine an illness, and ascertain that it is fatal, they make this announcement; He will die, he will not get over this. So from the moment of a man's birth, it may be said, He will not get over this. When he is born he begins to be ailing. When he dies, he ends indeed this ailment: but he knows not whether he does not fall into a worse. The rich man in the Gospel had ended his voluptuous ailment, he came to a tormenting one. But the poor man ended his ailment, and arrived at perfect health. But he made choice in this life of what he was to have hereafter; and what he reaped there, he sowed here. Therefore while we live we ought to watch, and to make choice of that which we may possess in the world to come.

4. Let us not love the world. It overwhelms its lovers, it conducts them to no good. We must rather labour in it that it seduce us not, than fear lest it should fall. Lo, the world falls; the Christian stands firm; because Christ does not fall. For wherefore says the Lord, Rejoice, for that I have overcome the world? We might answer Him if we pleased, 'Rejoice,' yes do Thou rejoice. If You 'have overcome,' you rejoice. Why should we? Why does He say to us, Rejoice; but because it is for us that He has overcome, for us has fought? For wherein fought He? In that He took man's nature upon Him. Take away His birth of a virgin, take away that He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man; take away this, and where is the combat, where the contest? Where the trial? Where the victory, which no battle has preceded? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. Could the Jews have crucified this Word? Could those impious men have mocked this Word? Could this Word have been buffeted? Could this Word have been crowned with thorns? But that He might suffer all this, the Word was made flesh; and after He had suffered all this, by rising again He overcame. So then He has overcome for us, to whom He has shown the assurance of His resurrection. You say then to God, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for man has trodden me down. Do not tread down yourself, and man will not overcome you. For, lo, some powerful man alarms you. By what does he alarm you? I will spoil you, will condemn, will torture, will kill you. And you cry, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for man has trodden me down. If you say the truth, and mark yourself well, one dead treads you down, because you are afraid of the threats of a man; and man treads you down, because you would not be afraid, unless you were a man. What is the remedy then? O man, cleave to God, by whom you were made a man; cleave fast to Him, put your affiance in Him, call upon Him, let Him be your strength. Say to Him, In You, O Lord, is my strength. And then you shall sing at the threatenings of men; and what you shall sing hereafter, the Lord Himself tells you, I will hope in God, I will not fear what man can do unto me.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 7:2 , etc.; on the three dead persons whom the Lord raised.

1. The miracles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ make indeed an impression on all who hear of, and believe them; but on different men in different ways. For some amazed at His miracles done on the bodies of men, have no knowledge to discern the greater; whereas some admire the more ample fulfilment in the souls of men at the present time of those things which they hear of as having been wrought on their bodies. The Lord Himself says, For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens whom He will. Not of course that the Son quickens some, the Father others; but the Father and the Son quicken the same; for the Father does all things by the Son. Let no one then who is a Christian doubt, that even at the present time the dead are raised. Now all men have eyes, wherewith they can see the dead rise again in such sort, as the son of that widow rose, of whom we have just read out of the Gospel; but those eyes wherewith men see the dead in heart rise again, all men have not, save those who have risen already in heart themselves. It is a greater miracle to raise again one who is to live for ever, than to raise one who must die again.

2. The widowed mother rejoiced at the raising again of that young man; of men raised again in spirit day by day does Mother Church rejoice. He indeed was dead in the body but they in soul. His visible death was bewailed visibly; their death invisible was neither enquired into nor perceived. He sought them out who had known them to be dead; He Alone knew them to be dead, who was able to make them alive. For if the Lord had not come to raise the dead, the Apostle would not have said, Rise, you that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. You hear of one asleep in the words, Rise, you that sleepest; but understand it of one dead when you hear, And arise from the dead. Thus they who are even dead in the body are often said to be asleep. And certainly they all are but asleep, in respect of Him who is able to awaken them. For in respect of you, a dead man is dead indeed, seeing he will not awake, beat or prick or tear him as you will. But in respect of Christ, he was but asleep to whom it was said, Arise, and he arose immediately. No one can as easily awaken another in bed, as Christ can in the tomb.

3. Now we find that three dead persons were raised by the Lord visibly, thousands invisibly. Nay, who knows even how many dead He raised visibly? For all the things that He did are not written. John tells us this, Many other things Jesus did, the which if they should be written, I suppose that the whole world could not contain the books. So then there were without doubt many others raised: but it is not without a meaning that the three are expressly recorded. For our Lord Jesus Christ would that those things which He did on the body should be also spiritually understood. For He did not merely do miracles for the miracles' sake; but in order that the things which He did should inspire wonder in those who saw them, and convey truth to them who understand. As he who sees letters in an excellently written manuscript, and knows not how to read, praises indeed the transcriber's hand, and admires the beauty of the characters; but what those characters mean or signify he does not know; and by the sight of his eyes he is a praiser of the work, but in his mind has no comprehension of it; whereas another man both praises the work, and is capable of understanding it; such an one, I mean, who is not only able to see what is common to all, but who can read also; which he who has never learned cannot. So they who saw Christ's miracles, and understood not what they meant, and what they in a manner conveyed to those who had understanding, wondered only at the miracles themselves; whereas others both wondered at the miracles, and attained to the meaning of them. Such ought we to be in the school of Christ. For he who says that Christ only worked miracles, for the miracles' sake, may say too that He was ignorant that it was not the time for fruit, when He sought figs upon the fig-tree. For it was not the time for that fruit, as the Evangelist testifies; and yet being hungry He sought for fruit upon the tree. Did not Christ know, what any peasant knew? What the dresser of the tree knew, did not the tree's Creator know? So then when being hungry He sought fruit on the tree, He signified that He was hungry, and seeking after something else than this; and He found that tree without fruit, but full of leaves, and He cursed it, and it withered away. What had the tree done in not bearing fruit? What fault of the tree was its fruitlessness? No; but there are those who through their own will are not able to yield fruit. And barrenness is their fault, whose fruitfulness is their will. The Jews then who had the words of the Law, and had not the deeds, were full of leaves, and bare no fruit. This have I said to persuade you, that our Lord Jesus Christ performed miracles with this view, that by those miracles He might signify something further, that besides that they were wonderful and great, and divine in themselves, we might learn also something from them.

4. Let us then see what He would have us learn in those three dead persons whom He raised. He raised again the dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, for whom when she was sick petition was made to Him, that He would deliver her from her sickness. And as He is going, it is announced that she is dead; and as though He would now be only wearying Himself in vain, word was brought to her father, Your daughter is dead, why do you weary the Master any further? But He went on, and said to the father of the damsel, Be not afraid, only believe. He comes to the house, and finds the customary funeral obsequies already prepared, and He says to them, Weep not, for the damsel is not dead, but sleeps. He spoke the truth; she was asleep; asleep, that is, in respect of Him, by whom she could be awakened. So awakening her, He restored her alive to her parents. So again He awakened that young man, the widow's son, by whose case I have been now reminded to speak with you, Beloved, on this subject, as He Himself shall vouchsafe to give me power. You have just heard how he was awakened. The Lord came near to the city; and behold there was a dead man being carried out already beyond the gate. Moved with compassion, for that the mother, a widow and bereaved of her only son, was weeping, He did what you have heard, saying, Young man, I say unto you, Arise. He that was dead arose, and began to speak, and He restored him to his mother. He awakened Lazarus likewise from the tomb. And in that case when the disciples with whom He was speaking knew that he was sick, He said (now Jesus loved him), Our friend Lazarus sleeps. They thinking of the sick man's healthful sleep; say, Lord, if he sleep he is well. Then said Jesus, speaking now more plainly, I tell you, our friend Lazarus is dead. And in both He said the truth; He is dead in respect of you, he is asleep in respect of Me.

5. These three kinds of dead persons, are three kinds of sinners whom even at this day Christ does raise. For that dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was within in the house, she had not yet been carried out from the secresy of its walls into public view. There within was she raised, and restored alive to her parents. But the second was not now indeed in the house, but still not yet in the tomb, he had been carried out of the walls, but not committed to the ground. He who raised the dead maiden who was not yet carried out, raised this dead man who was now carried out, but not yet buried. There remained a third case, that He should raise one who was also buried; and this He did in Lazarus. There are then those who have sin inwardly in the heart, but have it not yet in overt act. A man, for instance, is disturbed by any lust. For the Lord Himself says, Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart. He has not yet in body approached her, but in heart he has consented; he has one dead within, he has not yet carried him out. And as it often happens, as we know, as men daily experience in themselves, when they hear the word of God, as it were the Lord saying, Arise; the consent unto sin is condemned, they breathe again unto saving health and righteousness. The dead man in the house arises, the heart revives in the secret of the thoughts. This resurrection of a dead soul takes place within, in the retirement of the conscience, as it were within the walls of the house. Others after consent proceed to overt act, carrying out the dead as it were, that that which was concealed in secret, may appear in public. Are these now, who have advanced to the outward act, past hope? Was it not said to the young man in the Gospel also, I say unto you, Arise? Was he not also restored to his mother? So then he too who has committed the open act, if haply admonished and aroused by the word of truth, he rise again at the Voice of Christ, is restored alive. Go so far he could, perish for ever he could not. But they who by doing what is evil, involve themselves even in evil habit, so that this very habit of evil suffers them not to see that it is evil, become defenders of their evil deeds; are angry when they are found fault with; to such a degree, that the men of Sodom of old said to the righteous man who reproved their abominable design, You have come to sojourn, not to give laws. So powerful in that place was the habit of abominable filthiness, that profligacy now passed for righteousness, and the hinderer of it was found fault with rather than the doer. Such as these pressed down by a malignant habit, are as it were buried. Yea, what shall I say, Brethren? In such sort buried, as was said of Lazarus, By this time he stinks. That heap placed upon the grave, is this stubborn force of habit, whereby the soul is pressed down, and is not suffered either to rise, or breathe again.

6. Now it was said, He has been dead four days. So in truth the soul arrives at that habit, of which I am speaking by a kind of four-fold progress. For there is first the provocation as it were of pleasure in the heart, secondly consent, thirdly the overt act, fourthly the habit. For there are those who so entirely throw off things unlawful from their thoughts, as not even to feel any pleasure in them. There are those who do feel the pleasure, and do not consent to them; death is not yet perfected, but in a certain sort begun. To the feeling of pleasure is added consent; now at once is that condemnation incurred. After the consent, progress is made unto the open act; the act changes into a habit; and a sort of desperate condition is produced, so as that it may be said, He has been dead four days, by this time he stinks. Therefore, the Lord came, to whom of course all things were easy; yet He found in that case as it were a kind of difficulty. He groaned in the spirit, He showed that there is need of much and loud remonstrance to raise up those who have grown hard by habit. Yet at the voice of the Lord's cry, the bands of necessity were burst asunder. The powers of hell trembled, and Lazarus is restored alive. For the Lord delivers even from evil habits those who have been dead four days; for this man in the Gospel, who had been dead four days, was asleep only in respect of Christ whose will it was to raise him again. But what said He? Observe the manner of his arising again. He came forth from the tomb alive, but he could not walk. And the Lord said to the disciples; Loose him, and let him go. He raised him from death, they loosed him from his bonds. Observe how there is something which appertains to the special Majesty of God who raises up. A man involved in an evil habit is rebuked by the word of truth. How many are rebuked, and give no ear! Who is it then who deals within with him who does give ear? Who breathes life into him within? Who is it who drives away the unseen death, gives the life unseen? After rebukes, after remonstrances, are not men left alone to their own thoughts, do they not begin to turn over in their minds how evil a life they are living, with how very bad a habit they are weighed down? Then displeased with themselves, they determine to change their life. Such have risen again; they to whom what they have been is displeasing have revived: but though reviving, they are not able to walk. These are the bands of their guilt. Need then there is, that whoever has returned to life should be loosed, and let go. This office has He given to the disciples to whom He said, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven also.

7. Let us then, dearly Beloved, in such wise hear these things, that they who are alive may live; they who are dead may live again. Whether it be that as yet the sin has been conceived in the heart, and not come forth into open act; let the thought be repented of, and corrected, let the dead within the house of conscience arise. Or whether he has actually committed what he thought of; let not even thus his case be despaired of. The dead within has not arisen, let him arise when he is carried out. Let him repent him of his deed, let him at once return to life; let him not go to the depth of the grave, let him not receive the load of habit upon him. But perhaps I am now speaking to one who is already pressed down by this hard stone of his own habit, who is already laden with the weight of custom, who has been in the grave four days already, and who stinks. Yet let not even him despair; he is dead in the depth below, but Christ is exalted on high. He knows how by His cry to burst asunder the burdens of earth, He knows how to restore life within by Himself, and to deliver him to the disciples to be loosed. Let even such as these repent. For when Lazarus had been raised again after the four days, no foul smell remained in him when he was alive. So then let them who are alive, still live; and let them who are dead, whosoever they be, in which kind soever of these three deaths they find themselves, see to it that they rise again at once with all speed.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 7:37 , And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, etc. On the remission of sins, against the Donatists.

1. Since I believe that it is the will of God that I should speak to you on the subject whereof we are now reminded by the words of the Lord out of the Holy Scriptures, I will by His assistance deliver to you, Beloved, a Sermon touching the remission of sins. For when the Gospel was being read, you gave most earnest heed, and the story was reported, and represented before the eyes of your heart. For you saw, not with the body, but with the mind, the Lord Jesus Christ sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, and when invited by him, not disdaining to go. You saw too a woman famous in the city, famous indeed in ill fame, who was a sinner, without invitation force her way into the feast, where her Physician was at meat, and with an holy shamelessness seek for health. She forced her way then, as it were unseasonably as regarded the feast, but seasonably as regarded her expected blessing; for she well knew under how severe a disease she was labouring, and she knew that He to whom she had come was able to make her whole; she approached then, not to the Head of the Lord, but to His Feet; and she who had walked long in evil, sought now the steps of Uprightness. First she shed tears, the heart's blood; and washed the Lord's Feet with the duty of confession. She wiped them with her hair, she kissed, she anointed them: she spoke by her silence; she uttered not a word, but she manifested her devotion.

2. So then because she touched the Lord, in watering, kissing, washing, anointing His feet; the Pharisee who had invited the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing He was of that kind of proud men of whom the Prophet Isaiah says, Who say, Depart far from me, touch me not, for I am clean; thought that the Lord did not know the woman. This he was thinking with himself, and saying in his heart, This man if He were a prophet, would have known what woman this is that has approached His feet. He supposed that He did not know her, because He repelled her not, because He did not forbid her to approach Him, because He suffered Himself to be touched by her, sinner as she was. For whence knew he, that He did not know her? But what if He did know, O you Pharisee, inviter and yet derider of the Lord! Thou dost feed the Lord, yet by whom you are to be fed yourself, you do not understand. Whereby do you know, that the Lord did not know what that woman had been, save because she was permitted to approach Him, save because by His sufferance she kissed His Feet, save because she washed, save because she anointed them? For these things a woman unclean ought not to be permitted to do with the Feet that are clean? So then had such a woman approached that Pharisee's feet, he would have been sure to say what Isaiah says of such; Depart from me, touch me not, for I am clean. But she approached the Lord in her uncleanness, that she might return clean: she approached sick, that she might return whole: she approached Him, confessing, that she might return professing Him.

3. For the Lord heard the thoughts of the Pharisee. Let now the Pharisee understand even by this, whether He was not able to see her sins, who could hear his thoughts. So then He put forth to the man a parable concerning two men, who owed to the same creditor. For He was desirous to heal the Pharisee also, that He might not eat bread at his house for nought; He hungered after him who was feeding Him, He wished to reform him, to slay, to eat him, to pass him over into His Own Body; just as to that woman of Samaria, He said, I thirst. What is, I thirst? I long for your faith. Therefore are the words of the Lord in this parable spoken; and there is this double object in them, both that that inviter might be cured together with those who ate at the table with Him, who alike saw the Lord Jesus Christ, and were alike ignorant of Him, and that that woman might have the assurance her confession merited, and not be pricked any more with the stings of her conscience. One, said He, owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty; He forgave them both: which loved him most? He to whom the parable was proposed answered, what of course common reason obliged him to answer. I suppose, Lord, he to whom he forgave most. Then turning to the woman he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet: she has washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with her hairs. You gave Me no kiss: this woman since the time she came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil you did not anoint: but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say, her many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

4. Here arises a difficulty which must in real truth be resolved, and which requires your fixed attention, Beloved, lest haply my words may not be equal to the removing and clearing of the whole obscurity of it by reason of the stress of time; especially as this flesh of mine exhausted by its heat, now longs to be recruited, and demanding its due, and clogging the eagerness of the soul gives proof of that which is said, The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Cause there is for fear, yea great cause for fear, lest by these words of the Lord, there steal over the minds of those who understand them not aright, who indulge their fleshly lusts, and are loth to be brought away from them into liberty, that sentiment which, even as the Apostles preached, sprung up in the tongues of slanderous men, of whom the Apostle Paul says, And as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come. For a man may say, If 'he to whom little is forgiven, loves little;' and he to whom more is forgiven, loves more; and it is better to love more, than to love less; it is right that we should sin much, and owe much which we may desire to be forgiven us, that so we may love Him the more who forgives us our large debts. For that woman in the Gospel who was a sinner, in the same proportion as she owed more, loved the more Him who forgave her her debts, as the Lord Himself says, 'Her many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much.' Now why did she love much, but because she owed much? And afterwards He added and subjoined, 'But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.' Is it not better, he may say, that much should be forgiven me, than less, that thereupon I may love my Lord the more? You see no doubt the great depth of this difficulty; ye see it, I am sure. You see too my stress of time; yes, this also do ye see and feel.

5. Accept then a few words. If I shall not do justice to the magnitude of the question, lay up for a time what I shall say at present, and hold me a debtor for some future time. Suppose now two men, that by the clearer force of examples ye may think upon what I have proposed to you. One of them is full of sins, has lived most wickedly for a length of time; the other of them has committed but few sins; they come both to grace, are both baptized, they enter debtors, they go out free; more has been forgiven to one, less to the other. I ask, how much does each love? If I shall find that he loves most, to whom the most sins have been forgiven, it is to his greater advantage that he has sinned much, his much iniquity was to his greater advantage, that so his love might not be lukewarm. I ask the other how much he loves, I find less; for if I find that he too loves, as much as the other, to whom much has been forgiven, how shall I make answer to the words of the Lord, how shall that be true which the Truth has said, To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little? See, a man says, but little has been forgiven me, I have not sinned much; yet I love as much as he, to whom much has been forgiven. Do you speak truth, or Christ? Has your lie been forgiven you to this end, that you should fix the charge of lying on Him who forgave you? If little has been forgiven you, you love little. For if but little has been forgiven you, and you love very much, you contradict Him who said, To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Therefore I give the more credit to Him, who knows you better than you know yourself. If you suppose that but little has been forgiven you, it is certain that you love but little. What then, says he, ought I to do? Ought I to commit many sins, that there may be many which He shall be able to forgive me, that I may be able to love more? It presses me sore, but may the Lord, who has proposed this saying of truth to us, deliver me out of this strait.

6. This was spoken on account of that Pharisee who thought that he had either no sins, or but few. Now unless he had had some love, he would not have invited the Lord. But how little was it! He gave Him no kiss, not so much as water for His Feet, much less tears; he did not honour Him with any of those offices of respect, with which that woman did, who well knew what need she had of being cured, and by whom she might be cured. O Pharisee, therefore do you love but little, because you fondly think that but little is forgiven you; not because little really is forgiven you, but because you think that that which is forgiven is but little. What then? he says; Am I who have never committed murder, to be reckoned a murderer? Am I who have never been guilty of adultery, to be punished for adultery? Or are these things to be forgiven me, which I have never committed? See: once more suppose two persons, and let us speak to them. One comes with supplication, a sinner covered over with thorns as a hedgehog, and timid exceedingly as a hare. But the rock is the hedgehog's and the hare's refuge. He comes then to the Rock, he finds refuge, he receives succour. The other has not committed many sins; what shall we do for him that he may love much? What shall we persuade him? Shall we go against the words of the Lord, To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little? Yes, most truly so, to whom little is really forgiven. But O you who says that you have not committed many sins: why have you not? By whose guidance? God be thanked, that by your movement and voice you have made signs that you have understood me. Now then, as I think, the difficulty has been solved. The one has committed many sins, and so is made a debtor for many; the other through God's guidance has committed but few. To Him to whom the one ascribes what He has forgiven, does the other also ascribe what he has not committed. You have not been an adulterer in that past life of yours, which was full of ignorance, when as yet you were not enlightened, as yet discerned not good and evil, as yet believed not on Him, who was guiding you though you did not know Him. Thus does your God speak to you: I was guiding you for Myself, I was keeping you for Myself. That you might not commit adultery, no enticers were near you; that no enticers were near you, was My doing. Place and time were wanting; that they were wanting again, was My doing. Or enticers were near you, and neither place nor time was wanting; that you might not consent, it was I who alarmed you. Acknowledge then His grace, to whom you also owe it, that you have not committed the sin. The other owes me what was done, and you have seen forgiven him; and you owe to me what you have not done. For there is no sin which one man commits, which another man may not commit also, if He be wanting as a Director, by whom man was made.

7. Now then seeing I have resolved this profound difficulty, as best I could in so short a space of time (or if I have not resolved it yet, let me be held, as I have already said, a debtor for the rest); let us now rather consider briefly that question of the remission of sins. Christ was supposed to be but a man both by him who invited Him, and by them who sat as guests at the table with Him. But that woman who was a sinner had seen something more than this in the Lord. For why did she all those things, but that her sins might be forgiven her? She knew then that He was able to forgive sins; and they knew that no man was able to forgive them. And we must believe that they all, they who were at the table, that is, and that woman who approached to the Feet of the Lord, all knew that no man could forgive sins. Forasmuch then as they all knew this; she who believed that He could forgive sins, understood Him to be more than man. So when He had said to the woman, Your sins are forgiven you; they immediately said, Who is this that forgives sins also? Who is this, whom the woman who was a sinner already knew? Thou who sittest at the table as if in sound health, know not your Physician; because it may be through a stronger fever you have even lost your reason. For thus the frantic patient as he laughs is bewailed by those who are in health. Nevertheless, you do well to know, and hold fast that truth; yea, hold it fast, that no man is able to forgive sins. This woman who believed that she could be forgiven by Christ, believed Christ not to be man only, but God also. Who, say they, is this that forgives sins also? And the Lord did not tell them as they said, Who is this? It is the Son of God, the Word of God; He did not tell them this, but suffering them to abide for a while still in their former opinion, He really solved the question which had excited them. For He who saw them at the table, heard their thoughts, and turning to the woman, He said, Your faith has made you whole. Let these who say, Who is this that forgives sins also? who think me to be but a man, think me but a man. For you your faith has made you whole.

8. The Good Physician not only cured the sick then present, but provided also for them who were to be hereafter. There were to be men in after times, who should say, It is I who forgive sins, I who justify, I who sanctify, I who cure whomsoever I baptize. Of this number are they who say, Touch me not. Yes, so thoroughly are they of this number, that lately, in our conference, as you may read in the records of it, when a place was offered them by the commissary, that they should sit with us, they thought it right to answer, It is told us in Scripture with such not to sit, lest of course by the contact of the seats, our contagion (as they think) should reach to them. See if this is not, Touch me not, for I am clean. But on another day, when I had a better opportunity, I represented to them this most wretched vanity, when there was a question concerning the Church, how that the evil in it do not contaminate the good: I answered them, because they would not on this account sit with us, and said that they had been so advised by the Scripture of God, seeing forsooth that it is written, I have not sat in the council of vanity; I said, If you will not sit with us, because it is written, 'I have not sat in the council of vanity;' why have ye entered this place with us, since it is written in the following words, 'And with them that do iniquity I will not enter in'? So then in that they say, Touch me not, for I am clean, they are like to that Pharisee, who had invited the Lord, and who thought that He did not know the woman, simply because He did not hinder her from touching His Feet. But in another respect the Pharisee was better, because whereas he supposed Christ to be but a man, he did not believe that by a man sins could be forgiven. There was shown then a better understanding in Jews than heretics. What said the Jews? 'Who is this that forgives sins also?' Does any man dare to usurp this to himself? What on the other hand says the heretic? It is I who forgive, I cleanse, I sanctify. Let not me, but Christ, answer him: O man, when I was thought by the Jews to be but a man, I gave forgiveness of sins to faith. (It is not I, but Christ who answers you.) And you, O heretic, mere man as you are, dost say, Come, O woman, I will make you whole. Whereas when I was thought to be but a man, I said, Go, woman, your faith has made you whole.

9. They answer, knowing not, as the Apostle says, either what they speak, or whereof they affirm: they answer and say, If men do not forgive sins, then that is false which Christ says, 'Whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven also.' But you do not know why this is said, and in what sense this is said. The Lord was about to give to men the Holy Spirit, and He wished it to be understood that sins are forgiven to His faithful by His Holy Spirit, and not by men's deserts. For what are you, O man, but an invalid who hast need of healing. Would you make yourself my physician? Together with me, seek the Physician. For that the Lord might show this more plainly, that sins are forgiven by the Holy Spirit, which He has given to His faithful ones, and not by men's deserts, after He had risen from the dead, He says in a certain place, Receive the Holy Ghost; and when He had said, Receive the Holy Ghost, He subjoined immediately, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; that is, the Spirit remits them, not ye. Now the Spirit is God. God therefore remits, not ye. But what are you in regard to the Spirit? Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? And again, Do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God? So then God dwells in His holy temple, that is in His holy faithful ones, in His Church; by them does He remit sins; because they are living temples.

10. But He who remits by man, can also remit even without man. For He who is able to give by another, has no less the power to give by Himself. To some He gave by the ministry of John. By whom did He give to John himself? With good reason, as God wished to show this, and to attest this truth, when certain in Samaria had had the Gospel preached to them, and had been baptized, and baptized by Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven deacons that were first chosen, they did not receive the Holy Ghost, though they had been baptized. Tidings were brought to the disciples who were at Jerusalem, and they came to Samaria, in order that they who had been baptized, might by imposition of their hands receive the Holy Ghost. And so it was; They came and laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. For the Holy Ghost was at that time given in such sort, that He even visibly showed Himself to have been given. For they who received Him spoke with the tongues of all nations; to signify that the Church among the nations was to speak in the tongues of all. So then they received the Holy Ghost, and He appeared evidently to be in them. Which when Simon saw, supposing that this power was of men, he wished it might be his also. What he thought to be of men, he wished to buy of men. How much money, says he, will you take of me, that by imposition of my hands the Holy Ghost may be given? Then Peter says to him with execration, You have neither part nor lot in this faith. For you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Your money perish with you; and the rest which he spoke in the same place suitably to the occasion.

11. Now why I have wished to bring this subject before you, give heed, Dearly Beloved. It was meet that God should first show that He works by the ministry of men; but afterwards by Himself, lest men should think, as Simon thought, that it was man's gift, and not God's. Though the disciples themselves knew this well already. For there were one hundred and twenty men collected together, when without the imposition of any hand the Holy Ghost came upon them. For who had laid hands on them at that time? And yet He came, and filled them first. After that offense of Simon, what did God do? See Him teaching, not by words but by things. That same Philip, who had baptized the men, and the Holy Ghost had not come upon them, unless the Apostles had met together and laid their hands upon them, baptized the officer, that is, the eunuch of queen Candace, who had worshipped in Jerusalem, and returning thence was reading in his chariot Isaiah the Prophet, and understood it not. Philip being admonished went up to his chariot, explained the Scripture, unfolded the faith, preached Christ. The eunuch believed on Christ, and said when they came unto a certain water, See water, who does hinder me to be baptized? Philip said to him, Do you believe in Jesus Christ? He answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Immediately he went down with him into the water. When the mystery and sacrament of Baptism had been accomplished, that the gift of the Holy Ghost might not be thought to be of men, there was no waiting, as in the other case, for the Apostles to come, but the Holy Ghost came immediately. Thus was Simon's thought destroyed, lest in such a thought he might have followers.

12. Again, another more wonderful example. Peter came to Cornelius the centurion, to a Gentile man, uncircumcised: he began to preach Christ Jesus both to him, and to those who were with him. While Peter was yet speaking, I do not say, when as yet he had not laid on his hands, but when he had not even yet baptized them, and when they who were with Peter were in doubt whether the uncircumcised ought to be baptized (for there had arisen an offense between the Jews who believed, and those who had been brought to the faith from among the Gentiles, between the Jews, that is, and the Christians who were baptized though uncircumcised), that God might take away this question, while Peter was speaking, the Holy Ghost came, filled Cornelius, filled them who were with him. And by this very attestation of so great a thing, as it were a loud voice came to Peter, Why do you doubt of water? Already I am here.

13. So then let every soul which is to be delivered from her manifold wickedness by the grace of the Lord, to be cleansed as it were in the Church from her filthy prostitution, believe with all assurance, approach the Feet of the Lord, seek His Footsteps, confess in pouring out tears upon them, and wipe them with her hair. The Feet of the Lord are the preachers of the Gospel. The woman's hair is all superfluous possessions. Let her wipe the Feet with her hair, yea by all means wipe them, let her do works of mercy; and when she has wiped them, let her kiss them, let her receive peace, that she may have love. She has approached to such an one, has been baptized by such an one as the Apostle Paul: from him let her hear, Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. But she has been baptized by another, by one who seeks his own things, not the things which are Jesus Christ's: let her hear from the Lord, Do what they say, but do not what they do. So let her assurance be in Him, whether she meet with a good Evangelist, or with one who acts not as he speaks. For she hears from the Lord with firm assurance, O woman, go your way, your faith has made you whole.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 9:57 , etc., where the case of the three persons is treated of, of whom one said, I will follow you wherever you go, and was disallowed: another did not dare to offer himself, and was aroused; the third wished to delay, and was blamed.

1. Give ye ear to that which the Lord has given me to speak on the lesson of the Gospel. For we have read, that the Lord Jesus acted differently, when one man offered himself to follow Him, and was disallowed; another did not dare this, and was aroused; a third put off, and was blamed. For the words, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go, what is so prompt, what so active, what so ready, and what so fitly disposed to so great a good, as this following the Lord wherever He should go? You wonder at this, saying, How is this, that one so ready found no favour with the Good Master and Lord Jesus Christ, though He was inviting disciples to give them the kingdom of Heaven? But inasmuch as He was such a Master as could see beforehand things to come, we understand, Brethren, that this man, if he had followed Christ, would have been sure to seek his own things, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. For He has said Himself, Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. And of such was this man, nor did he know himself so well as the Physician knew him. For if he saw himself to be a dissembler now, if he had known himself at this time to be full of duplicity and guile, then he did not know with Whom he was speaking. For He it is of whom the Evangelist says, He had no need that any one should testify to Him of man, for He Himself knew what was in man. What then did He answer? Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay His Head. But where has He not? In your faith. For in your heart foxes have holes, you are full of guile; in your heart birds of the air have nests; you are lifted up. Full of guile and self-elation as you are, you shall not follow Me. How can a guileful man follow Simplicity?

2. And then immediately to another who was silent, and said nothing, and promised nothing, He says, Follow Me! As much evil as He saw in the other, so much good saw He in this man. Follow Me, You say to one who has no wish for it. Lo, here is a man quite ready, I will follow You wherever You go; and yet You say to another who has no such wish, Follow Me. The first, says He, I decline, because I see in him holes, I see nests. But then why dost Thou press this other, whom Thou dost challenge to follow You, and he makes excuses? Lo, Thou dost even force him, and he does not come; Thou dost exhort him, and he does not follow. For what does he say? 'I will go first to bury my father.' The faith of his heart showed itself to the Lord; but his dutiful affection made him delay. But the Lord Christ when He is preparing men for the Gospel, will have no excuse from this carnal and temporal affection interfere. It is true that both the law of God prescribes these duties, and the Lord Himself reproves the Jews, because they destroyed this very commandment of God. And the Apostle Paul has in his Epistle laid it down, and said, This is the first commandment with promise. What? Honour your father and your mother. God of a surety spoke it. This young man then wished to obey God, and to bury his father; but it is place, and time, and circumstance, which is in this case to give way to place, and time, and circumstance. A father must be honoured, but God must be obeyed. He that begot us must be loved, but He that created us must be preferred. I am calling you, says He, to My Gospel; I have need of you for another work: this is a greater work than that which you wish to be doing. 'Let the dead bury their dead.' Your father is dead: there are other dead men to bury the dead. Who are the dead who bury the dead? Can a dead man be buried by dead men? How can they lay him out, if they are dead? How can they carry him, if they are dead? How can they bewail him, if they are dead? Yet they do lay him out, and carry, and bewail him, and they are dead; because they are unbelievers. That which is written in the Song of Songs is a lesson to us, when the Church says, Set in order love in me. What is, Set in order love in me? Make the proper degrees, and render to each what is his due. Do not put what should come before, below that which should come after it. Love your parents, but prefer God to them. Mark the mother of the Maccabees, 'My sons, I know not how ye appeared in my womb.' Conceive you I could, give you birth I could; but 'form you I could not:' hear Him therefore, prefer Him to me: trouble not yourselves, that I must remain here without you. Thus she commanded them, and they followed her. What this mother taught her children, did the Lord Jesus Christ teach him to whom He said, Follow Me.

3. See now how another disciple presented himself, to whom no one said anything: he said, Lord, I will follow You, but I will first go to bid them farewell which are at my house. I suppose this is his meaning, Let me tell my friends, lest haply they seek me as usual. And the Lord said, No man putting his hand on the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. The East calls you, and you are looking toward the west. In this lesson we learn this, that the Lord chooses whom He will. But He chooses them, as the Apostle says, both according to His Own grace, and according to their righteousness. For such are the words of the Apostle; Attend, he says, to what Elias says: Lord, they have killed Your Prophets, they have overthrown Your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what says the answer of God to him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee before Baal. You think that you are the only servant who is working faithfully: there are others too who fear Me, and they not few. For I have seven thousand there. And then he added, Even so then at this present time also. For some Jews believed, though the most were reprobate; like him who carried holes for foxes in his heart. Even so then, says he, at this present time also, there is a remnant saved through the election of grace: that is, there is the same Christ even now, as then, who also then said to that Elias, I have reserved to Myself. What is, I have reserved to Myself? I have chosen them, because I saw their hearts that they trusted in Me, and not in themselves, nor in Baal. They are not changed, they are as they were made by Me. And you who are speaking, unless you had placed your trust in Me, where would you be? Unless you were replenished by My grace, would not you too be bowing the knee before Baal? But you are replenished by My grace; because you have not put your trust at all in your own strength, but wholly in My grace. Do not therefore glory in this, as to suppose you have no fellow-servants in your service; there are others whom I have chosen, as I have chosen you, those, namely, who put their trust in Me; as the Apostle says, Even now also a remnant is saved through the election of grace.

4. Beware, O Christian, beware of pride. For though you are a follower of the saints, ascribe it always wholly to grace; for that there should be any remnant in you, the grace of God has brought to pass, not your own deserts. For the Prophet Isaiah again having this remnant in view, had said already, Except the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we should have become as Sodom, and should have been like Gomorrha. So then, says the Apostle, at this present time also a remnant is saved through the election of grace. But if by grace, says he, then is it no more of works (that is, be now no more lifted up upon your own deserts); otherwise grace is no more grace. For if you build on your own work; then is a reward rendered unto you, not grace freely bestowed. But if it be grace, it is gratuitously given. I ask you then, O sinner, Do you believe in Christ? You say, I do believe. What do you believe? That all your sins may be forgiven you freely through Him? Then have you what you have believed. O grace gratuitously given! And you, righteous man, what do you believe, that you can not keep your righteousness without God? That you are righteous then, impute it wholly to His mercy; but that you are a sinner, ascribe it to your own iniquity. Be your own accuser, and He will be your gracious Deliverer. For every crime, wickedness, or sin comes of our own negligence, and all virtue and holiness come of God's gracious goodness. Let us turn to the Lord.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 10:2 , The harvest truly is plenteous, etc.

1. By the lesson of the Gospel which has just been read, we are reminded to search what that harvest is of which the Lord says, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. Then to His twelve disciples, whom He also named Apostles, He added other seventy-two, and sent them all, as appears from His words, to the harvest then ready. What then was that harvest? For that harvest was not among these Gentiles, among whom there had been nothing sown. It remains therefore that we understand that this harvest was among the people of the Jews. It was to that harvest that the Lord of the harvest came, to that harvest He sent reapers; but to the Gentiles He sent not reapers, but sowers. Understand we then that it was harvest among the people of the Jews, sowing time among the peoples of the Gentiles. For out of that harvest were the Apostles chosen, where now that the harvest was, the grain was already ripe; for there had the Prophets sown. Delightful it is to take a view of God's husbandry, and to feel delight in His gifts, and the labourers in His field. For in this husbandry did he labour, who said, I laboured more than they all. But the strength to labour was given him by the Lord of the harvest. Therefore he added, Yet it is not I, but the grace of God which is with me. For that he was employed in this husbandry he clearly enough shows, where he says, I have planted, Apollos watered. But this Apostle, from Saul, becoming Paul, that is, from being proud, the least of all (for the name of Saul is derived from Saul; but Paul is little; whence in a way interpreting his own name, he says, I am the least of the Apostles: this Paul I say, the little, and the least, sent unto the Gentiles, says that he was sent particularly to the Gentiles. He himself so writes, we read, believe, preach it. He then in his Epistle to the Galatians says, that having been now called by the Lord Jesus, he came to Jerusalem, and communicated the Gospel unto the Apostles, that their right hands were given to him, the sign of harmony, the sign of agreement, that what they had learned from him differed in no respect from them. Afterwards he says that it was agreed between him and them, that he should go to the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision, he as a sower, they as reapers. So also with good reason, though they knew it not, did the Athenians give him his name. For as they heard the word from him, they said, Who is this sower of words?

2. Attend then and be it your delight with me to take a view of the husbandry of God and the two harvests in it, the one already past, the other yet to come; the one already past among the people of the Jews, the one yet to come among the peoples of the Gentiles. Let us prove this; and whereby, but by the Scripture of God, the Lord of the harvest? See we have it said there in this present lesson, The harvest is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. But because in that harvest there were to be gainsaying and persecuting Jews, He says, Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Let us show something clearer still touching this harvest in the Gospel according to John, where the Lord sat as He was wearied at the well, great mysteries indeed were transacted, but the time is too short to treat of them all. But give ye ear to that which relates to the present subject. For we have undertaken to show a harvest among the people, among whom the Prophets preached; for therefore were they sowers, that the Apostles might be reapers. A woman of Samaria talks with the Lord Jesus, and when the Lord among other things had told her how God ought to be worshipped, she says, We know that Messias comes who is called Christ, and He will teach us all things. And the Lord says to her, I that speak with you am He. Believe what you hear; why do you make search for what you see? I that speak with you am He. But as to what she had said, We know that the Messias will come, whom Moses and the Prophets have announced, who is called Christ. The harvest was already in the ear. When it had yet to grow it had received the Prophets as sowers, now that it had come to ripeness it waited for the Apostles as reapers. Presently as she heard this she believed and left her water-pot, and ran in haste, and began to announce the Lord. The disciples at that time had gone to buy bread; who on their return found the Lord talking with the woman, and they marvelled. Yet did they not dare to say to Him, What or why talkest Thou with her? They had astonishment in themselves, they repressed their boldness in their heart. To this Samaritan woman then the Name of Christ was nothing new, she was already waiting for His coming, already did she believe that He would come. Whence had she believed it, if Moses had not sown? But hear this more expressly noted. The Lord then said to His disciples, You say that the summer is yet far distant, lift up your eyes, and see the fields white already to harvest And then He adds, Others have laboured, and you are entered into their labours. Abraham laboured, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Prophets laboured in sowing; at the Lord's coming the harvest was found ripe. The reapers sent with the scythe of the Gospel, carried the sheaves into the Lord's floor, where Stephen was to be threshed.

3. But here comes in that Paul, and he is sent to the Gentiles. And this he does not conceal in setting forth the grace, which he had specially and peculiarly received. For he says in his Scriptures, that he was sent to preach the Gospel where Christ had not been named. But because that first harvest was past already, and all the Jews who remained are no harvest, let us consider that harvest which we ourselves are. For it has been sown by Apostles and Prophets. The Lord Himself sowed it. For He was in the Apostles, seeing that Christ also Himself reaped it. For they are nothing without Him; He is perfect without them. For He says Himself to them, For without Me, you can do nothing. What then does Christ from henceforth sowing among the Gentiles say? A sower went out to sow. There are reapers sent out to reap, here an unwearied sower went out to sow. For what fear did it cause him, that some seed fell on the way side, and some on rocky places, and some among thorns? If he had been afraid of these unmanageable grounds, he would never have got to the good ground. What is it to us, what affair of ours is it to be disputing now of the Jews, and talking of the chaff? This only concerns us, that we be not the way side, nor the rock, nor the thorns, but the good ground. Be our heart well-prepared, that from it may come the thirty, or the sixty fold, or the thousand, and the hundred fold; some more, some less; but all is wheat. Let it not be the way side, where the enemy as a bird may take away the seed trodden down by the passers by. Let it not be the rock, where the shallow soil makes it spring up immediately, so that it cannot bear the sun. Let it not be the thorns, the lusts of this world, the anxieties of an ill-ordered life. For what is worse than that anxiety of life, which does not suffer one to attain unto Life? What more miserable, than by caring for life, to lose Life? What more unhappy, than by fearing death, to fall into death? Let the thorns be rooted up, the field prepared, the seeds put in, let them grow unto the harvest, let the barn be longed for, not the fire feared.

4. My place accordingly it is, whom with all my unworthiness the Lord has appointed to be a labourer in His field, to say these things to you, to sow, to plant, to water, yea to dig round about some trees, and to apply the basket of dung; belongs it to me to do these things faithfully; to you to receive them faithfully; to the Lord to aid me in my labour, and you in your belief, all of us labouring, but in Him overcoming the world. What then belongs to your place I have already said; now I wish to say what belongs to ours. But perhaps it seems to some of you, that it is something superfluous which I have declared that I wish to say, and speaking within themselves they are saying in thought, O that he would now let us go! He has said already what belongs to our place, as to that which belongs to his, what is that to us? I think it is better that in a reciprocal and mutual love, we should belong to you. You are now indeed of one family, we of the same family are dispensers, it is true, but we all belong to one Lord. Nor what I give, do I give of my own; but of His from whom I also receive. For if I should give of my own, I shall give a lie. For he that speaks a lie, speaks of his own. So then ye ought to give ear to that which belongs to the duty of the dispenser, whether it be that you may have joy in yourselves, if you find yourselves to be such, or whether it be that you may be even in this very thing instructed. For how many are there among this people who shall some day be dispensers! I too was once where ye now are; and I who am seen now to be measuring out to my fellowservants their food from this higher place, a few years since in a lower place was receiving food with my fellow-servants. I am speaking now a Bishop to lay-men; but I know that in speaking to them I am speaking to many who will some day be bishops also.

5. Let us see then how we must understand what the Lord enjoined on them whom He sent to preach the Gospel, and let us consider in our mind this prepared harvest. Carry, He says, neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, say, Peace be to this house. If the Son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall return to you again. If it has rested, has the other lost it? This be far from the mind of Saints! So then this is not to be taken in a carnal sense; and hence it may be neither are the purse, nor shoes, nor scrip; nor above all that, where if we take it simply without examination, pride seems to be enjoined us, that we salute no man by the way.

6. Let us give heed to our Lord, our True Example and Succour. Let us prove that He is our Succour; Without Me ye can do nothing. Let us prove that He is our Example; Christ, says Peter, suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. Our Lord Himself had bags in the way, and these bags He entrusted to Judas. It is true He suffered from the thief; but I as desiring to learn of my Lord say, O Lord, You suffered from the thief, whence had Thou that of which he could take away? Me, a wretched and infirm man You have admonished not even to carry a purse; You carried bags, and had that in which You could suffer from the thief. If You had not carried them, neither could he have found anything to take away. What remains, but that he here says to me, Understand what that you hear, 'Carry no purse,' means? What is a purse? Money shut up, that is, concealed wisdom. What is, 'Carry no purse? Be not wise within your own selves only. Receive the Holy Ghost.' It should be a fountain in you, not a purse; from whence distribution is made to others, not where it is itself shut in. And the scrip is the same as the purse.

7. What are the shoes? The shoes which we use, are the skins of dead beasts, the coverings of our feet. By this then are we bidden to renounce dead works. This Moses was admonished of in a figure, when the Lord speaking to him said, Loose your shoes from off your feet; for the place wherein you stand is holy ground. What ground is so holy as the Church of God? In it therefore let us stand, let us loose our shoes, let us, that is, renounce dead works. For as touching these shoes, wherewith we walk, the same my Lord again assures me. For if He had not been shod Himself, John would not have said of Him, I am not worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoes. Be there obedience then, let not a haughty severity steal over us. I, says one, fulfil the Gospel, because I walk with naked feet. Well, you can do it, I cannot. But let us both keep that which we both receive together. How? Let us glow with charity, let us love one another; and so it shall be, that I will love your strength, and you shall bear my weakness.

8. But what do you think, who dost not choose to understand in what sense these words are used, and who art forced by your perverse interpretation to slander even the Lord Himself as to the bags and shoes; what do you think? Does it please you then, that as we meet our friends in the way, we should neither pay them our salutations if they are our betters, nor return the salutations of our inferiors? What, do you fulfil the Gospel, because you are saluted, and art silent? But thus you will not be like to the traveller going on the way, but to the milestone pointing out the way. Let us then lay aside this coarse interpretation, and understand aright the words of the Lord, and salute no man by the way. For it is not without a cause that we are enjoined this, nor would He mislike us to do what He enjoined. What then is, Salute no man by the way? It might indeed be even simply taken thus, that He has commanded us to do what He enjoins with all speed; and that His words Salute no man by the way, are as though He had said, Put all other things by, till ye accomplish what has been enjoined you; according to that style of speaking by which expressions are wont to be exaggerated in the custom of conversation. Nor need we go far; in the same discourse a little while afterwards He says, And you, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. What is, exalted to heaven? Did the walls of that city touch the clouds, or reach to the stars? But what is exalted to heaven? Thou seemest yourself to be surpassing happy, surpassing powerful, you are exceeding proud. As then for the sake of exaggeration this was said, You are exalted unto heaven to that city, which was not exalted, nor rose up unto heaven; so to express haste hyperbolically was it said, So run, so do what I have enjoined you, that travellers by the way may not in the least retard you; but disregarding all things else, hasten to the end set before you.

9. But there is another more recondite meaning in these words which it is not difficult to understand, which respects more particularly myself and all dispensers, and you too who are hearers. He that salutes, wishes salvation. For so the ancients in their letters wrote thus, Such a one sends salvation to another. Salutation derives its name from this salvation. What then is, Salute no man by the way? They who salute by the way, do so by occasion. I see that you have quickly understood me, yet for all that I must not finish yet. For you have not all understood so quickly. I have seen that some understand by their voice, I see more asking for something further by their silence. But seeing that we are talking of the way, let us walk as it were in the way: ye quick ones, wait for the slow, and walk evenly. What then did I say, He who salutes by the way, salutes only by occasion? He was not going to him whom he salutes. He was about one thing, another came in his way; he was seeking one thing, he found across his path some other thing to do. What then is it to salute by occasion? By occasion to announce salvation. Now what else is it to announce salvation, but to preach the Gospel? If then you preach, do it by love, and not by occasion. There are men then, who though they seek their own things, yet preach no other Gospel; of whom the Apostle says with sighing, For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. And these saluted, that is announced salvation, they preached the Gospel; but they sought some other thing, and therefore they saluted only by occasion. And what is this? If you are such an one, whosoever you are, you do it; nay not all of you who do it are such, but it may be that some of you who do it are. But if you are such, it is not that you do it, but it is done by you.

10. For such as these did the Apostle suffer; yet did he not enjoin them so to be. And these do something, or something is done by them; they seek something else, yet they preach the word. Care not what the preacher seeks after; be it your will to hold fast what he preaches; but let his intention be no concern of yours. Hear the word of salvation from his mouth, from his mouth hold fast this salvation. Be not the judge of his heart. If you see that he is seeking after other things, what is that to you? Hear Him who is Salvation; What they say, do. He has given you assurance who has said, What they say, do. Do they evil? Do not what they do. Do they good. They do not salute by the way, they do not preach the Gospel by occasion; be ye followers of them, even as they also are of Christ. A good man preaches to you; pluck the grape from the vine. A bad man preaches to you, pluck the grape as it hangs in the hedge. The cluster has grown on the vine-branch entangled among the thorns, but it has not grown from the thorns. By all means when you see any such thing as this and art hungry, be careful as you pluck it, lest when you put forth your hand to the grape, you be torn by the thorns. This is what I say; in such wise hear what is good, as that you imitate not the evil of the character. Let him preach by occasion, salute by the way; it will injure him because he has not given ear to the precept of Christ, Salute no man by the way; it will not injure you, who, whether you hear of salvation from a passer by, or from one who comes direct to you, dost hold fast that salvation. Hear the Apostle, who as I have said already gives us to understand this. What then? So that in every way, whether by occasion or in truth, Christ is preached; and herein I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer.

11. Let then such as these, the Apostles of Christ, the preachers of the Gospel, who salute not by the way, that is, who do not seek or do any other thing, but who in genuine charity preach the Gospel, let them come into the house, and say, Peace to this house. They speak not with the mouth only; they pour out that of which they are full; they preach peace, and they have peace. They are not as those of whom it was said, Peace, Peace, and there is no peace. What is, Peace, Peace, and there is no peace? They preach it, but they have it not; they praise it and they love it not; they say, and do not. But yet do you receive the peace, whether by occasion or in truth Christ be preached. Whoever then is full of peace, and salutes, saying, Peace to this house, if the son of peace be there, his peace shall rest upon him; if not, for perhaps there is no one of peace there, yet he who saluted has lost nothing, it shall return, says he, to you again. It shall return to you, though it never departed from you. For this He would mean to say, It profits you that you have declared it, it has not profited him at all who has not received it; you have not lost your reward, because he has remained empty; it is rendered you for your good will, it is rendered you for the charity which you have bestowed, He will render it to you who has given you assurance of it by that Angelic voice, Peace on earth to men of good will.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 10:16 , He that rejects you rejects me.

1. What our Lord Jesus Christ at that time spoke to His disciples was put in writing, and prepared for us to hear. And so we have heard His words. For what profit would it be to us if He were seen, and were not heard? And now it is no hurt, that He is not seen, and yet is heard. He says then, He that despises you, despises Me. If to the Apostles only He said, He that despises you, despises Me; do ye despise us. But if His word reach to us, and He has called us, and set us in their place, see that you despise not us, lest the wrong you shall do unto us reach to Him. For if you fear not us, fear Him who said, He that despises you, despises Me. But why do we, who are unwilling to be despised by you, speak to you, except that we may have joy of your good conversation? Let your good works be the solace of our perils. Live well, that you may not die ill.

2. And in these words which I have spoken, Live well, that you may not die ill, do not think of those who it may be have lived evilly, and have died in their beds; and the pomp of their funeral has been displayed, and they have been laid in costly coffins, in sepulchres prepared with exceeding beauty and labour; nor because each one of you perhaps is saying, I should wish so to die, do ye think that it is a vain thing I have chosen to say; when I said that I would that you should live well, that you may not die ill? On the other hand, the case of some one, it may be, occurs to you, who has both lived well, and according to the opinion of men has died ill; perhaps he has died from the fall of a house, has died by shipwreck, has died by wild beasts; and each carnal man is saying in his heart, What good is it to live well? See this man has so lived, and in this wise has he died. Return therefore to your heart; and if you are faithful ones, you will find Christ there; He speaks to you there. For I cry aloud, but He in silence gives more instruction. I speak by the sound of words; He speaks within by the fear of the thoughts. May He then engraft my word in your heart; for I have taken upon me to say, Live well, that you may not die ill. See, for faith is in your hearts, and Christ dwells there, and it is His place to teach what I desire to give utterance to.

3. Remember that rich and that poor man in the Gospel; the rich man clothed in purple and fine linen, and crammed with daily feastings; and the poor man lying before the rich man's gate, hungry, and looking for the crumbs from his table, full of sores, licked by dogs. Remember, I say; and whence do ye remember, but because Christ is there in your hearts? Tell me, what have ye asked Him within, and what has He answered. For he goes on to say, It came to pass that that poor man died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried in hell. And being in torments he lifted up his eyes, and saw Lazarus resting in Abraham's bosom. Then he cried, saying, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water, and drop it on my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Proud in the world, in hell a beggar! For that poor man did attain to his crumbs; but the other attained not to the drop of water. Of these two then, tell me, which died well, and which died ill? Do not ask the eyes, return to the heart. For if you ask the eyes, they will answer you falsely. For vastly splendid, and disguised with much worldly show, are the honours which could be paid to that rich man in his death. What crowds of mourning slaves and handmaids might there be! What pompous train of dependants! What splendid funeral obsequies! What costliness of burial! I suppose he was overwhelmed with spices. What shall we say then, Brethren, that he died well, or died ill? If you ask the eyes, he died very well; if you enquire of your inner Master, he died most ill.

4. If then those haughty men who keep their own goods to themselves, and bestow none of them upon the poor, die in this way; how do they die who plunder the goods of others? Therefore have I said with true reason, Live well, that you die not ill, that you die not as that rich man died. Nothing proves an evil death, but the time after death. On the other hand, look at that poor man; not with the eyes, for so you will err; let faith look at him, let the heart see him. Set him before your eyes lying on the ground, full of sores, and the dogs coming and licking his sores. Now when you recall him before your eyes in this guise, immediately ye loathe him, you turn your face away, and stop your nostrils: see then with the eyes of the heart. He died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man's family was seen bewailing him; the Angels were not seen rejoicing. What then did Abraham answer the rich man? Son, remember that you in your lifetime received good things. You thought nothing good, but what you had in this life. You have received them; but those days are past; and you have lost the whole; and you have remained behind to be tormented in hell.

5. Opportune then was it, Brethren, that those words should be spoken to you. Have respect unto the poor, whether lying on the ground, or walking; have respect unto the poor, do good works. You who are wont so to do, do it still and you who are not wont to do so, do it now. Let the number of those who do good works increase; since the number of the faithful increases also. You do not yet see how great is the good ye do; for so the husbandman also sees not the crop when he sows, but he trusts the ground. Wherefore do you not trust God? Our harvest will come. Think, that we are busy in travail now, are working in travail now, but sure to receive, as it is written, They went on and wept as they cast their seed; but they shall surely come with exultation, bringing their sheaves with them.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 10:38 , And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, etc.

1. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ which have just been read out of the Gospel, give us to understand, that there is some one thing for which we must be making, when we toil amid the manifold engagements of this life. Now we make for this as being yet in pilgrimage, and not in our abiding place; as yet in the way, not yet in our country; as yet in longing, not yet in enjoyment. Yet let us make for it, and that without sloth and without intermission, that we may some time be able to reach it.

2. Martha and Mary were two sisters, true kinswomen both, not only in blood, but in religion also; both clave to the Lord, both with one heart served the Lord when He was present in the flesh. Martha received Him, as strangers are usually received. Yet it was the handmaid received her Lord, the sick her Saviour, the creature her Creator. And she received Him to be fed in the body, herself to be fed in spirit. For the Lord was pleased to take on Him the form of a servant, and having taken the form of a servant in it to be fed by servants, by reason of His condescension, not His condition. For this truly was condescension, to allow Himself to be fed by others. He had a body, wherein He might hunger indeed and thirst; but do ye not know that when He hungered in the wilderness Angels ministered to Him? So then, in that He was pleased to be fed, He showed favour to them that fed Him. And what marvel is this, seeing He showed this same favour to the widow as touching the Holy Elias, whom He had before fed by the ministry of a raven? Did He fail in His power of feeding him, when He sent him to the widow? By no means. He did not fail in His power of feeding him, when He sent him to the widow; but He designed to bless the religious widow, by means of her pious office paid to His servant. Thus then was the Lord received as a, who came unto His own, and His own received Him not: but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God: adopting servants, and making them brethren; redeeming captives, and making them co-heirs. Yet let none of you, as perhaps may be the case, say, O blessed they who obtained the grace to receive Christ into their own house! Do not grieve, do not murmur, that you were born in times when you see the Lord no more in the flesh; He has not taken this blessedness from you. Forasmuch, says He, as you have done it unto the least of Mine, you have done unto Me.

3. These few words, as the shortness of the time allowed me, would I speak concerning the Lord who was pleased to be fed in the flesh, while He feeds in the spirit: let us now come to the subject which I have proposed concerning unity. Martha, who was arranging and preparing to feed the Lord, was occupied about much serving. Mary her sister chose rather to be fed by the Lord. She in a manner deserted her sister who was toiling about much serving, and she sat herself at the Lord's feet, and in stillness heard His word. Her most faithful ear had heard already; Be still, and see that I am the Lord. Martha was troubled, Mary was feasting; the one was arranging many things, the other had her eyes upon the One. Both occupations were good; but yet as to which was the better, what shall we say? We have One whom we may ask, let us give ear together. Which was the better, we heard now when the lesson was read, and let us hear again as I repeat it. Martha appeals to her Guest, lays the request of her pious complaints before the Judge, that her sister had deserted her, and neglected to assist her when she was so busied in her serving. Without any answer from Mary, yet in her presence, the Lord gives judgment. Mary preferred as in repose to commit her cause to the Judge, and had no mind to busy herself in making answer. For if she were to be getting ready words to answer, she must remit her earnest attention to hear. Therefore the Lord answered, who was in no difficulty for words, in that He was the Word. What then did He say? Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a token of love, or perhaps of exciting attention; she is named twice, that she might give the more attentive heed. Martha, Martha, hear: You are occupied about many things: but one thing is needful; for so means unum opus est, not one work, that is, one single work, but one is needful, is expedient, is necessary, which one thing Mary had chosen.

4. Consider, Brethren, this one thing, and see if even in multitude itself anything pleases, but this oneness. See how great a number, through God's mercy, you are: who could bear you, if you did not mind one thing? Whence in this many is this quiet? Give oneness, and it is a people; take oneness away, and it is a crowd. For what is a crowd, but a disordered multitude? But give ear to the Apostle: Now I beseech you, brethren. He was speaking to a multitude; but he wished to make them all one. Now I beseech you, brethren, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfected in the same mind, and in the same knowledge. And in another place, That ye be of one mind, thinking one thing, doing nothing through strife or vainglory. And the Lord prays to the Father touching them that are His: that they may be one even as We are One. And in the Acts of the Apostles; And the multitude of them that believed were of one soul, and of one heart. Therefore, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name in one together. For one thing is necessary, that celestial Oneness, the Oneness in which the Father, and the Son, and Holy Spirit are One. See how the praise of Unity is commended to us. Undoubtedly our God is Trinity. The Father is not the Son the Son is not the Father, the Holy Spirit is neither the Father, nor the Son, but the Spirit of both; and yet these Three are not Three Gods, nor Three Almighties; but One God, Almighty, the whole Trinity is one God; because One thing is necessary. To this one thing nothing brings us, except being many we have one heart.

5. Good are ministrations done to the poor, and especially the due services and the religious offices done to the saints of God. For they are a payment, not a gift, as the Apostle says, If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? Good are they, we exhort you to them, yea by the word of the Lord we build you up, be not slow to entertain the saints. Sometimes, they who were not aware of it, by entertaining those whom they knew not, have entertained angels. These things are good; yet better is that thing which Mary has chosen. For the one thing has manifold trouble from necessity; the other has sweetness from charity. A man wishes when he is serving, to meet with something; and sometimes he is not able: that which is lacking is sought for, that which is at hand is got ready; and the mind is distracted. For if Martha had been sufficient for these things, she would not have demanded her sister's help. These things are manifold, are diverse, because they are carnal, because they are temporal; good though they be, they are transitory. But what said the Lord to Martha? Mary has chosen that better part. Not you a bad, but she a better. Hear, how better; which shall not be taken away from her. Some time or other, the burden of these necessary duties shall be taken from you: the sweetness of truth is everlasting. That which she has chosen shall not be taken away from her. It is not taken away, but yet it is increased. In this life, that is, is it increased, in the other life it will be perfected, never shall it be taken away.

6. Yea, Martha, blessed in your good serving, even you (with your leave would I say it) seekest this reward for all your labour — quiet. Now you are occupied about much serving, you have pleasure in feeding bodies which are mortal, though they be the bodies of Saints; but when you shall have got to that country, will you find there any stranger whom you may receive into your house? Will you find the hungry, to whom you may break your bread? Or the thirsty, to whom you may hold out your cup? The sick whom you may visit? The litigious, whom you may set at one? The dead, whom you may bury? None of all these will be there, but what will be there? What Mary has chosen; there shall we be fed, and shall not feed others. Therefore there will that be in fullness and perfection which Mary has chosen here; from that rich table, from the word of the Lord did she gather up some crumbs. For would ye know what will be there? The Lord Himself says of His servants: Verily I say unto you, that He will make them to sit down to meat, and will pass by and serve them. What is to sit down to meat, but to be still? What is, to sit down to meat, but to rest? What is, He will pass by and serve them? First, He passes by, and so serves. And where? In that heavenly Banquet, of which he says, Verily I say unto you, Many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. There will the Lord feed us, but first He passes on from hence. For (as you should know) the Pasch is by interpretation Passing-over. The Lord came, He did divine things, He suffered human things. Is He still spit upon? Is He still struck with the palm of the hand? Is He still crowned with thorns? Is He still scourged? Is He still crucified? Is He still wounded with a spear? He has passed by. And so too the Gospel tells us, when He kept the Paschal feast with His disciples. What says the Gospel? But when the hour had come that Jesus should pass out of this world unto the Father. Therefore did He pass, that He might feed us; let us follow, that we may be fed.

Again, on the words of the Gospel, Luke 10:38 , etc., about Martha and Mary.

1. When the holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord was received by a religious woman into her house, and her name was Martha. And while she was occupied in the care of serving, her sister Mary was sitting at the Lord's Feet, and hearing His Word. The one was busy, the other was still; one was giving out, the other was being filled. Yet Martha, all busy as she was in that occupation and toil of serving, appealed to the Lord, and complained of her sister, that she did not help her in her labour. But the Lord answered Martha for Mary; and He became her Advocate, who had been appealed to as Judge. Martha, He says, you are occupied about many things, when one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken from her. For we have heard both the appeal of the appellant, and the sentence of the Judge. Which sentence answered the appellant, defended the other's cause. For Mary was intent on the sweetness of the Lord's word. Martha was intent, how she might feed the Lord; Mary intent how she might be fed by the Lord. By Martha a feast was being prepared for the Lord, in whose feast Mary was even now delighting herself. As Mary then was listening with sweet pleasure to His most sweet word, and was feeding with the most earnest affection, when the Lord was appealed to by her sister, how, think we, did she fear, lest the Lord should say to her, Rise and help your sister? For by a wondrous sweetness was she held; a sweetness of the mind which is doubtless greater than that of the senses. She was excused, she sat in greater confidence. And how excused? Let us consider, examine, investigate it thoroughly as we can, that we may be fed also.

2. For what, do we imagine that Martha's serving was blamed, whom the cares of hospitality had engaged, who had received the Lord Himself into her house? How could she be rightly blamed, who was gladdened by so great a? If this be true, let men give over their ministrations to the needy; let them choose for themselves the better part, which shall not be taken from them; let them give themselves wholly to the word, let them long after the sweetness of doctrine; be occupied about the saving knowledge; let it be no care to them, what stranger is in the street, who there is that wants bread, or clothing, or to be visited, to be redeemed, to be buried; let works of mercy cease, earnest heed be given to knowledge only. If this be the better part, why do not all do this, when we have the Lord Himself for our defender in this behalf? For we do not fear in this matter, lest we should offend His justice, when we have the support of His judgment.

3. And yet it is not so; but as the Lord spoke so it is. It is not as you understand, but it is as you ought to understand it. So mark; You are occupied about many things, when one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part. You have not chosen a bad part; but she a better. And how better? Because you are about many things, she about one thing. One is preferred to many. For one does not come from many, but many from one.

The things which were made, are many, He who made them is One. The heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that in them are, how many are they! Who could enumerate them? Who conceive their vast number? Who made all these? God made them all. Behold, they are very good. Very good are the things He made; how much better is He who made them! Let us consider then our occupations about many things. Much serving is necessary for the refreshment of our bodies. Wherefore is this? Because we hunger, and thirst. Mercy is necessary for the miserable. Thou breakest bread to the hungry; because you have found an hungry man; take hunger away; to whom do you break bread? Take houseless wandering away; to whom do you show hospitality? Take nakedness away; to whom do you furnish clothes? Let there be no sickness; whom do you visit? No captivity; whom do you redeem? No quarrelling; whom do you reconcile? No death; whom do you bury? In that world to come, these evils will not be; therefore these services will not be either. Well then did Martha, as touching the bodily — what shall I call it, want, or will, of the Lord? — minister to His mortal flesh. But who was He in that mortal flesh? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: see what Mary was listening to! The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us: see to whom Martha was ministering! Therefore has Mary chosen the better part, which shall not be taken from her. For she chose that which shall abide for ever; it shall not be taken from her. She wished to be occupied about one thing. She understood already, But it is good for me to cleave to the Lord. She sat at the feet of our Head. The more lowlily she sat, the more amply did she receive. For the water flows together to the low hollows of the valley, runs down from the risings of the hill. The Lord then did not blame Martha's work, but distinguished between their services. You are occupied about many things; yet one thing is needful. Already has Mary chosen this for herself. The labour of manifoldness passes away, and the love of unity abides. Therefore what she has chosen, shall not be taken from her. But from you, that which you have chosen (of course this follows, of course this is understood) from you, that which you have chosen shall be taken away. But to your blessedness shall it be taken away, that that which is better may be given. For labour shall be taken away from you, that rest may be given. You are still on the sea, she is already in port.

4. You see then, dearly Beloved, and, as I suppose, you understand already, that in these two women, who were both well pleasing to the Lord, both objects of His love, both disciples; ye see, I say (and an important thing it is which whosoever understand, understand hereby, a thing which, even those of you who do not understand ought to give ear to, and to know), that in these two women the two lives are figured, the life present, and the life to come, the life of labour, and the life of quiet, the life of sorrow, and the life of blessedness, the life temporal, and the life eternal. These are the two lives: do ye think of them more fully. What this life contains, I speak not of a life of evil, or iniquity, or wickedness, or luxuriousness, or ungodliness; but of labour, and full of sorrows, by fears subdued, by temptations disquieted: even this harmless life I mean, such as was suitable for Martha: this life I say, examine as best ye can; and as I have said, think of it more fully than I speak. But a wicked life was far from that house, and was neither with Martha nor with Mary; and if it ever had been, it fled at the Lord's entrance. There remained then in that house, which had received the Lord, in the two women the two lives, both harmless, both praiseworthy; the one of labour, the other of ease; neither vicious, neither slothful. Both harmless, both, I say, praiseworthy: but one of labour, the other of ease: neither vicious, which the life of labour must beware of; neither slothful, which the life of ease must beware of. There were then in that house these two lives, and Himself, the Fountain of life. In Martha was the image of things present, in Mary of things to come. What Martha was doing, that we are now; what Mary was doing, that we hope for. Let us do the first well, that we may have the second fully. For what of it have we now? How far have we it? As long as we are here, how much of it is there that we have? For in some measure are we employed in it now, and you too when removed from business, and laying aside domestic cares, you meet together, stand, listen. In so far as you do this, you are like Mary. And with greater facility do ye do that which Mary does, than I who have to distribute. Yet if I say ought, it is Christ's; therefore does it feed you, because it is Christ's. For the Bread is common to us all, of which I too live as well as you. But now we live, if you, Brethren, stand fast in the Lord. I would not that you should stand fast in us, but in the Lord. For neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 11:5 , Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, etc.

1. We have heard our Lord, the Heavenly Master, and most faithful Counsellor exhorting us, who at once exhorts us to ask, and gives when we ask. We have heard Him in the Gospel exhorting us to ask instantly, and to knock even after the likeness of intrusive importunity. For He has set before us, for the sake of example, If any of you had a friend, and were to ask of him at night for three loaves, when a friend out of his way had come to him, and he had nothing to set before him; and he were to answer that he was now at rest, and his servants with him, and that he must not be disturbed by his entreaties; but the other were to be instant and persevering in knocking, and not being alarmed in modesty to depart, but compelled by necessity to continue on; that he would rise, though not for friendship's sake, at least for the other's importunity, and would give him as many as he wished. And how many did he wish? He wished for no more than three. To this parable then, the Lord adjoined an exhortation, and urged us earnestly to ask, seek, knock, till we receive what we ask, and seek, and knock for, making use of an example from a contrary case; as of that judge who neither feared God, nor regarded man, and yet when a certain widow besought him day by day, overcome by her importunity, he gave her that which he could not in kindness give her, against his will. But our Lord Jesus Christ, who is in the midst of us a Petitioner, with God a Giver, would not surely exhort us so strongly to ask, if He were not willing to give. Let then the slothfulness of men be put to shame; He is more willing to give, than we to receive; He is more willing to show mercy, than we to be delivered from misery; and doubtless if we shall not be delivered, we shall abide in misery. For the exhortation He gives us, He gives only for our own sakes.

2. Let us awake, and believe Him who exhorts us, obey Him who promises us, and rejoice in Him who gives unto us. For perhaps, some time or other some friend out of his way has come to us too, and we have found nothing to set before him; and under the experience of this necessity, we have received both for ourselves and him. For it cannot be, but that some one of us has fallen in with a friend who asked him something, which he could not answer; and then he has discovered that he has it not, when he is pressed to give it. A friend has come to you out of the way, out, that is, of the life of this world, in which all men are passing along as strangers, and no one abides here as possessor; but to every man it is said, You have been refreshed, pass on, go on your way, give place to the next comer. Or perhaps from an evil way, that is, from an evil life, some friend of yours wearied out, and not finding the truth, by the hearing and perceiving of which he may be made happy, but exhausted amid all the lust and poverty of the world, comes to you, as to a Christian, and says, Give me an account of this, make me a Christian. And he asks what it may be you did not know through the simplicity of your faith; and so you have not whereby to recruit him in his hunger, and reminded thus you discover your own indigence; and when you wish to teach you are forced to learn; and while you blush before him who asked you, as not finding in yourself what he was seeking for, you are compelled to seek, that you may be thought worthy to find.

3. And where should you seek. Where but in the books of the Lord? Peradventure what he has asked is contained in the book, but it is obscure. Perhaps the Apostle has declared it in some Epistle: declared it in such wise, that you can read, but cannot understand it: you are not permitted to pass on. For the interrogator urges you; Paul himself, or Peter, or any of the Prophets you are not allowed to ask. For this family is now at rest with their Lord, and intense is the ignorance of this life, that is, it is midnight, and your hungry friend is urgent upon you. A simple faith haply sufficed you, him it suffices not. Is he then to be abandoned? Is he to be cast out of your house? Therefore unto the Lord Himself, unto Him with whom the family is at rest, knock by prayer, ask, be instant. He will not, as that friend in the parable, arise and give you as overcome by importunity. He wishes to give; you for your knocking hast not yet received; knock on; He wishes to give. And what He wishes to give, He defers, that you may long the more for it when deferred, lest if given quickly it should be lightly esteemed.

4. But when you have gotten the three loaves, that is, to feed on and understand the Trinity, you have that whereby you may both live yourself, and feed others. Now you need not fear the stranger who comes out of his way to you, but by taking him in may make him a citizen of the household: nor do you need fear lest you come to the end of it. That Bread will not come to an end, but it will put an end to your indigence. It is Bread, God the Father, and it is Bread, God the Son, and it is Bread, God the Holy Ghost. The Father Eternal, the Son Coeternal with Him, and the Holy Ghost Coeternal. The Father Unchangeable, the Son Unchangeable, the Holy Ghost Unchangeable. The Father Creator, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father the Shepherd and the Giver of life, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father the Food and Bread eternal, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Learn, and teach; live yourself, and feed others. God who gives to you, gives you nothing better than Himself. O you greedy one, what else were you seeking for? Or if you seek for anything else, what will suffice you whom God does suffice not?

5. But necessary it is that you have charity, that you have faith, that you have hope; that that which is given may be sweet unto you. And these same, faith, hope, charity, are three. And these too are gifts of God. For faith we have received from Him; As God, says he, has distributed to every one the measure of faith. And hope we have received from Him, to whom it is said, Wherein You have caused me to hope. And charity we have received from Him, of whom it is said, The charity of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which has been given to us. Now these three are likewise in some measure different; but all gifts of God. For there abide these three, faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these is charity. In those loaves it is not said that any one loaf was greater than the others; but simply that three loaves were asked for, and were given.

6. See other three things: Who is there of you, whom if his son ask a loaf, will he give him a stone? Or who is there of you of whom if his son ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being 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! Let us then again consider these three things, if haply there be not here those three, faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these is charity. Set down then these three things, a loaf, a fish, an egg; the greatest of these is a loaf. Therefore in these three things do we well understand charity by the loaf. On which account He has opposed a stone to a loaf; because hardness is contrary to charity. By a fish we understand faith. A certain holy man has said, and we are glad to say it too; The 'good fish' is a godly faith. It lives amidst the waves, and is not broken or dissolved by the waves. Amidst the temptations and tempests of this world, lives godly faith; the world rages, yet it is uninjured. Observe only that serpent is contrary to faith. For My faith is she betrothed to whom it is said in the Song of Songs, Come from Lebanon, My spouse, coming and passing over to Me from the beginning of faith. Therefore betrothed too, because faith is the beginning of betrothal. For something is promised by the bridegroom, and by this plighted faith is he held bound. Now to the fish the Lord opposed the serpent, to faith the devil. Wherefore to this betrothed one does the Apostle say, I have betrothed you to One Husband, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ. And, I fear lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds also should be corrupted from the purity which is in Christ; that is, which is in the faith of Christ. For he says, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Therefore let not the devil corrupt our faith, let him not devour the fish.

7. There remains hope, which, as I think, is compared to an egg. For hope has not yet arrived at attainment; and an egg is something, but not yet the chicken. So then quadrupeds give birth to young ones, but birds to the hope of young. Hope therefore exhorts us to this, to despise things present, to wait for things to come; forgetting those things which are behind, let us, with the Apostle, reach forth unto those things which are before. For so he says; But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I follow on earnestly unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing then is so hostile to hope, as to look back, to place hope, that is, in those things which flit by and pass away; but in those things should we place it, which are not yet given, but which sometime will be given, and will never pass away. But when the world is deluged by trials, as it were the sulphureous rain of Sodom, the example of Lot's wife must be feared. For she looked behind; and in the spot where she looked behind, there did she remain. She was turned into salt, that she might season the wise by her example. Of this hope the Apostle Paul speaks thus; For we are saved in hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for: but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. For what a man sees, why does he yet hope for. It is an egg, and not as yet the chicken. And it is covered with a shell; it is not seen because it is covered; let it be with patience waited for; let it feel the warmth, that it may come to life. Press on, reach forth unto the things which are before, forget the past. For the things which are seen, are temporal. Not looking back, says he, at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. Unto those things which are not seen then extend your hope, wait, endure. Look not back. Fear the scorpion for your egg. See how he wounds with the tail, which he has behind him. Let not then the scorpion crush your egg, let not this world crush your hope (so to say) with its poison, therefore against you, because behind. How loudly does the world talk to you, what an uproar does it make behind your back, that you may look back! That is, that you may place your hope in present things (and yet not even present, for they cannot be called present which have no fixedness), and may turn your mind away from that which Christ has promised, and not yet given, but who, seeing He is faithful, will give it, and may be content to look for rest in a perishing world.

8. For this cause does God mingle bitternesses with the felicities of earth, that another felicity may be sought, in whose sweetness there is no deceit; yet by these very bitternesses does the world endeavour to turn you away from your longing pursuit after the things which are before, and to turn you back. For these bitternesses, for these tribulations do you murmur and say, See, all things are perishing in Christian times. What complaint is this! God has not promised me that these things shall not perish; Christ has not promised me this. The Eternal has promised things eternal: if I believe, from a mortal, I shall be made eternal. What noise is this, O world impure! What murmuring is this! Why are you trying to turn me back? Perishing as you are, you wish to detain me; what would you do, if you had any permanence? Whom would you not beguile by your sweetness, if with all your bitternesses you impose your false nourishment upon us? For me, if I have hope, if I hold fast my hope, my egg has not been wounded by the scorpion. I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. Be the world prosperous, or be the world turned upside down; I will bless the Lord, who made the world. Yes, verily, I will bless Him. Be it well with me according to the flesh, or be it ill according to the flesh, I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. For if I bless when it is well, and blaspheme when it is ill with me; I have received the scorpion's sting, being pricked I have looked back; which be far from us. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: it is done, as the Lord pleased; blessed be the name of the Lord.

9. The city which has given us birth according to the flesh still abides, God be thanked. O that it may receive a spiritual birth, and together with us pass over unto eternity! If the city which has given us birth according to the flesh abide not, yet that which has given us birth according to the Spirit abides forever. The Lord does build up Jerusalem. Has He by sleeping brought His building to ruin, or by not keeping it, let the enemy into it? Except the Lord keep the city, he that keeps it wakes but in vain. And what city? He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. What is Israel, but the seed of Abraham? What the seed of Abraham, but Christ? And to your seed, he says, which is Christ. And to us what says he? But you are Christ's, therefore Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise. In your seed, says He, shall all nations be blessed. The holy city, the faithful city, the city on earth a sojourner, has its foundation in heaven. O faithful one, do not corrupt your hope, do not lose your charity, gird up your loins, light, and hold out your lamps before you; wait for the Lord, when He will return from the wedding. Why are you alarmed, because the kingdoms of the earth are perishing? Therefore has a heavenly kingdom been promised you, that you might not perish with the kingdoms of the earth. For it was foretold, foretold distinctly, that they should perish. For we cannot deny that it was foretold. Your Lord for whom you are waiting, has told you, Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The kingdoms of the earth have their changes; He will come of whom it is said, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

10. They who have promised this to earthly kingdoms have not been guided by truth, but have lied through flattery. A certain poet of theirs has introduced Jupiter speaking, and he says of the Romans;

To them no bounds of empire I assign, Nor term of years to their immortal line.

Most certainly truth makes no such answer. This empire which you have given without term of years, is it on earth, or in heaven? On earth assuredly. And even if it were in heaven, yet heaven and earth shall pass away. Those things shall pass away which God has Himself made; how much more rapidly shall that pass away which Romulus founded! Perhaps if we had a mind to press Virgil on this point, and tauntingly to ask him why he said it; he would take us aside privately, and say to us, I know this as well as you, but what could I do who was selling words to the Romans, if by this kind of flattery I did not promise something which was false? And yet even in this very instance I have been cautious, when I said, 'I assigned to them an empire without term of years,' I introduced their Jupiter to say it. I did not utter this falsehood in my own person, but put upon Jupiter the character of untruthfulness: as the god was false, the poet was false. For would ye know that I well knew the truth of it? In another place, when I did not introduce this stone, called Jupiter, but spoke in my own person, I said,

'Th' impending ruin of the Roman state.'

See how I spoke of the impending ruin of the state. I spoke of its impending ruin. I did not suppress it. When he spoke in truth he was not silent as to its ruin; when in flattery, he promised that it should abide forever.

11. Let us not then faint, my Brethren: an end there will be to all earthly kingdoms. If that end be now, God knows. For perhaps it is not yet, and we, through some infirmity, or mercifulness, or misery, are wishing that it may not be yet; nevertheless will it not therefore some day be? Fix your hope in God, desire the things eternal, wait for the things eternal. You are Christians, Brethren, we are all Christians. Christ did not come down into the flesh that we might live softly; let us endure rather than love the things present; manifest is the harm of adversity, deceitful is the soft blandishment of prosperity. Fear the sea, even when it is a calm. On no account let us hear in vain, Let us lift up our hearts. Why place we our hearts in the earth, when we see that the earth is being turned upside down? We cannot but exhort you, that you may have something to say and answer in defense of your hope against the deriders and blasphemers of the Christian name. Let no one by his murmuring turn you back from waiting for the things to come. All who by reason of these adversities blaspheme our Christ, are the scorpion's tail. Let us put our egg under the wings of that Hen of the Gospel, which cries out to that false and abandoned city, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen her chickens, and you would not! Let it not be said to us, How often would I, and you would not! For that hen is the Divine Wisdom; but assumed flesh to accommodate Itself to its chickens. See the hen with feathers bristling, with wings hanging down, with voice broken, and tremulous, and faint, and languid, accommodating herself to her little ones. Our egg then, that is, our hope, let us place beneath the wings of this Hen.

12. You have noticed, it may be, how a hen will tear a scorpion in pieces. O then that the Hen of the Gospel would tear in pieces and devour these blasphemers, creeping out of their holes, and inflicting hurtful stings, would pass them over into Her Body, and turn them into an egg. Let them not be angry; we seem to be excited; but we do not return curses for curses. We are cursed, and we bless, being defamed, we entreat. But let him not speak of Rome, it is said of me: O that he would hold his tongue about Rome; as though I were insulting it, and not rather entreating the Lord for it, and exhorting you all, unworthy as I am. Be it far from me to insult it! The Lord avert this from my heart, and from the grief of my conscience. Have we not had many brethren there? Have we not still? Does not a large portion of the pilgrim city Jerusalem live there? Has it not endured there temporal afflictions? But it has not lost the things eternal. What can I say then, when I speak of Rome, but that is false, which they say of our Christ, that He is Rome's destroyer, and that the gods of wood and stone were her defenders? Add what is more costly, gods of brass. Add what is costlier still, of silver and gold: the idols of the nations are silver and gold. He did not say, stone; he did not say, wood; he did not say, clay; but, what they value highly, silver and gold. Yet these silver and golden idols have eyes, and see not. The gods of gold, of wood, are as regards their costliness unequal; but as to having eyes, and seeing not, they are equal. See to what sort of guardians learned men have entrusted Rome, to those who have eyes, and see not. Or if they were able to preserve Rome, why did they first perish themselves? They say; Rome perished at the same time. Nevertheless they perished. No, they say, they did not perish themselves, but their statues. Well, how then could they keep your houses, who were not able to keep their own statues? Alexandria once lost such gods as these. Constantinople some time since, ever since it was made a grand city, for it was made so by a Christian Emperor, lost its false gods; and yet it has increased, and still increases, and remains. And remain it will, as long as God pleases. For we do not to this city either promise an eternal duration because we say this. Carthage remains now in its possession of the Name of Christ, yet once on a time its goddess Cælestis was overthrown; because celestial she was not, but terrestrial.

13. And that which they say is not true, that immediately on losing her gods Rome has been taken and ruined. It is not true at all; their images were overthrown before; and even so were the Goths with Rhadagaisus conquered. Remember, my Brethren, remember; it is no long time since, but a few years, call it to mind. When all the images in the city of Rome had been overthrown, Rhadagaisus king of the Goths came with a large army, much more numerous than that of Alaric was. Rhadagaisus was a Pagan; he sacrificed to Jupiter every day. Everywhere it was announced, that Rhadagaisus did not cease from sacrificing. Then said they all, Lo, we do not sacrifice, he does sacrifice, we, who are not allowed to sacrifice must be conquered by him who does sacrifice. But God making proof that not even temporal deliverance, nor the preservation of these earthly kingdoms, consist in these sacrifices, Rhadagaisus, by the Lord's help, was marvellously overcome. Afterwards came other Goths who did not sacrifice, they came, who though they were not Catholics in the Christian faith, were yet hostile and opposed to idols, and they took Rome; they conquered those who put their trust in idols, who were still seeking after the idols they had lost, and desiring still to sacrifice to the lost gods. And among them too were some of our brethren, and these were afflicted also: but they had learned to say, I will bless the Lord at all times. They were involved in the afflictions of their earthly kingdom: but they lost not the kingdom of heaven; yea, rather, they were made the better for obtaining it through the exercise of tribulations. And if they did not in their tribulations blaspheme, they came out as sound vessels from the furnace, and were filled with the blessing of the Lord. Whereas those blasphemers, who follow and long after earthly things, who place their hope in earthly things, when these they have lost, whether they will or no, what shall they retain? Where shall they abide? Nothing without, nothing within; an empty coffer, an emptier conscience. Where is their rest? Where their salvation? Where their hope? Let them then come, let them give over blaspheming, let them learn to adore; let the scorpions with their stings be devoured by the Hen, let them be turned into His body who makes them pass over into it; let them on earth be exercised, in heaven be crowned.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 11:39 , Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, etc.

1. You have heard the holy Gospel, how the Lord Jesus in that which He said to the Pharisees, conveyed doubtless a lesson to His own disciples, that they should not think that righteousness consists in the cleansing of the body. For every day did the Pharisees wash themselves in water before they dined; as if a daily washing could be a cleansing of the heart. Then He showed what sort of persons they were. He told them who saw them; for He saw not their faces only but their inward parts. For that you may know this, that Pharisee, to whom Christ made answer, thought within himself, he uttered nothing aloud, yet the Lord heard him. For within himself he blamed the Lord Christ, because He had so come to his feast without having washed. He was thinking, the Lord heard, therefore He answered. What then did He answer? Now do ye Pharisees wash the outside of the platter; but within you are full of guile and ravening. What! Is this to come to a feast! How did He not spare the man by whom He had been invited? Yea rather by rebuking He did spare him, that being reformed He might spare him in the judgment. And what is it that He shows to us? That Baptism also which is conferred once for all, cleanses by faith. Now faith is within, not without. Wherefore it is said and read in the Acts of the Apostles, Cleansing their hearts by faith. And the Apostle Peter thus speaks in his Epistle; So too has He given you a similitude from Noah's ark, how that eight souls were saved by water. And then he added, So also in a like figure will baptism save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience. This answer of a good conscience did the Pharisees despise, and washed that which was without; within they continued full of pollution.

2. And what did He say to them after this? But rather give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you. See the praise of alms, do, and prove it. But mark awhile; this was said to the Pharisees. These Pharisees were Jews, the choice men as it were of the Jews. For those of most consideration and learning were then called Pharisees. They had not been washed by Christ's Baptism; they had not yet believed on Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, who walked among them, yet was not acknowledged by them. How then does He say to them, Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you? If the Pharisees had paid heed to Him, and given alms, at once according to His word all things would have been clean to them; what need then was there for them to believe in Him? But if they could not be cleansed, except by believing on Him, who cleanses the heart by faith; what means, Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you? Let us carefully consider this, and perhaps He Himself explains it.

3. When He had spoken thus, doubtless they thought that they did give alms. And how did they give them? They tithed all they had, they took away a tenth of all their produce, and gave it. It is no easy matter to find a Christian who does as much. See what the Jews did. Not wheat only, but wine, and oil; nor this only, but even the most trifling things, cummin, rue, mint, and anise, in obedience to God's precept, they tithed all; put aside, that is, a tenth part, and gave alms of it. I suppose then that they recalled this to mind, and thought that the Lord Christ was speaking to no purpose, as if to those who did not give alms; whereas they knew their own doings, how that they tithed, and gave alms of the minutest and most trifling of their produce. They mocked Him within themselves as He spoke thus, as if to men who did not give alms. The Lord knowing this, immediately subjoined, But woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, who tithe mint, and cummin, and rue, and all herbs. That ye may know, I am aware of your alms. Doubtless these tithes are your alms; yea even the minutest and most trifling of your fruits do ye tithe; Yet ye leave the weightier matters of the law, judgment and charity. Mark. You have left judgment and charity, and you tithe herbs. This is not to do alms. These, says He, ought ye to do, and not to leave the other undone. Do what? Judgment and charity, justice and mercy; and not to leave the other undone. Do these; but give the preference to the others.

4. If this be so, why did He say to them, Do alms, and behold all things are clean unto you? What is, Do alms? Do mercy. What is, Do mercy? If you understand, begin with your own self. For how should you be merciful to another, if you are cruel to yourself? Give alms, and all things are clean unto you. Do true alms. What is alms? Mercy. Hear the Scripture; Have mercy on your own soul, pleasing God. Do alms, Have mercy on your own soul, pleasing God. Your own soul is a beggar before you, return to your conscience. Whosoever you are, who art living in wickedness or unbelief, return to your conscience; and there you find your soul in beggary, you find it needy, you find it poor, you find it in sorrow, nay perhaps you do not find it in need, but dumb through its neediness. For if it beg, it hungers after righteousness. Now when you find your soul in such a state (all this is within, in your heart), first do alms, give it bread. What bread? If the Pharisee had asked this question, the Lord would have said to him, Give alms to your own soul. For this He did say to him; but he did not understand it, when He enumerated to them the alms which they were used to do, and which they thought were unknown to Christ; and He says to them, I know that you do this, 'ye tithe mint and anise, cummin and rue;' but I am speaking of other alms; ye despise 'judgment and charity.' In judgment and charity give alms to your own soul. What is in judgment? Look back, and discover yourself; mislike yourself, pronounce a judgment against yourself. And what is charity? Love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; love your neighbour as yourself: and you have done alms first to your own soul, within your conscience. Whereas if you neglect this alms, give what you will, give how much you will; reserve of your goods not a tenth, but a half; give nine parts, and leave but one for your own self: you do nothing, when you do not alms to your own soul, and art poor in yourself. Let your soul have its food, that it perish not by famine. Give her bread. What bread, you will say? He speaks with you Himself. If you would hear, and understand, and believe the Lord, He would say to you Himself, I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven. Would you not first give this Bread to your own soul, and do alms unto it? If then you believe, you ought so to do, that you may first feed your own soul. Believe in Christ, and the things which are within shall be cleansed; and what is without shall be clean also. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 12:15 , And he said to them, take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness.

1. I doubt not but that you who fear God, do hear His word with awe, and execute it with cheerfulness; that what He has promised, you may at present hope for, hereafter receive. We have just now heard the Lord Christ Jesus, the Son of God, giving us a precept. The Truth, who neither deceives, nor is deceived, has given us a precept; let us hear, fear, beware. What is this precept then: I say unto you, Beware of all covetousness? What is, of all covetousness? What is, of all? Why did He add, of all? For He might have spoken thus, Beware of covetousness. It suited Him to add, of all; and to say, Beware of all covetousness.

2. Why He said this, the occasion as it were out of which these words arose, is shown to us in the holy Gospel. A certain man appealed to Him against his brother, who had taken away all his patrimony, and gave not back his proper portion to his brother. You see then how good a case this appellant had. For he was not seeking to take by violence another's, but was seeking only for his own which had been left him by his parents; these was he demanding back by his appeal to the judgment of the Lord. He had an unrighteous brother; but against an unrighteous brother had he found a righteous Judge. Ought he then in so good a cause to lose that opportunity? Or who would say to his brother, Restore to your brother his portion, if Christ would not say it? Would that judge be likely to say it, whom perhaps his richer and extortionate brother might corrupt by a bribe? Forlorn then as he was, and despoiled of his father's goods, when he had found such and so great a Judge he goes up to Him, he appeals to, he beseeches Him, he lays his cause before Him in few words. For what occasion was there to set forth his cause at length, when he was speaking to Him who could even see the heart? Master, he says, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. The Lord did not say to him, Let your brother come. No, He neither sent for him to be present, nor in his presence did He say to him who had appealed to Him, Prove what you were saying. He asked for half an inheritance, he asked for half an inheritance on earth; the Lord offered him a whole inheritance in heaven. The Lord gave more than asked for.

3. Speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. Just case, short case. But let us hear Him who at once gives judgment and instruction. Man, He says. O man; for seeing you value this inheritance so highly, what are you but a man? He wished to make him something more than man. What more did He wish to make him, from whom He wished to take covetousness away? What more did He wish to make him? I will tell you, I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. Lo, what He wished to make him, to reckon him that has no covetousness among the gods. Man, who made Me a divider among you? So the Apostle Paul His servant, when he said, I beseech you, brethren, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you, was unwilling to be a divider. And afterwards he thus admonished them who were running after his name, and dividing Christ: Every one of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Judge then, how wicked are those men, who would have Him to be divided, who would not be a divider. Who, says He, has made Me a divider among you?

4. You have petitioned for a kindness; hear counsel. I say unto you, Beware of all covetousness. Perhaps, he would say, you would call him covetous and greedy, if he were seeking another's goods; but I say, seek not even your own greedily or covetously. This is Of all, beware of all covetousness. A heavy burden this! If by any chance this burden be imposed on them that are weak; let Him be sought unto, that He who imposes it, may vouchsafe to give us strength. For it is not a thing to be lightly regarded, my Brethren, when our Lord, our Redeemer, our Saviour, who died for us, who gave His Own Blood as our ransom, to redeem us, our Advocate and Judge; it is no light matter when He says, Beware. He knows well how great the evil is; we know it not, let us believe Him. Beware, says He. Wherefore? Of what? of all covetousness. I am but keeping what is my own, I am not taking away another's; Beware of all covetousness. Not only is he covetous, who plunders the goods of others; but he is covetous too, who greedily keeps his own. But if he is so blamed who greedily keeps his own; how is he condemned who plunders what is another's! Beware, He says, of all covetousness: For a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. He that stores up great abundance, how much does he take therefrom to live? When he has taken it, and in a way separated in thought sufficient to live upon from it, let him consider for whom the rest remains; lest haply when you keep wherewith to live, you are gathering only wherewith to die. Behold Christ, behold truth, behold severity. Beware, says truth: Beware, says severity. If you love not the truth, fear severity. A man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Believe Him, He does not deceive you. On the other hand, you say, Yea, 'a man's life' does 'consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.' He does not deceive you; you deceive yourself.

5. Out of this occasion then, when that appellant was seeking his own portion, not desiring to plunder another's, arose that sentence of the Lord, wherein He said not, Beware of covetousness; but added, of all covetousness. Nor was this all: He gives another example of a certain rich man, whose ground had turned out well. There was, He says, a certain rich man, whose ground had turned out well. What is, had turned out well? The ground which he possessed had brought forth a great produce. How great? So that he could not find where to bestow it: suddenly, through his abundance he became straitened — this old covetous man. For how many years had already passed away, and yet those barns had been enough? So great then was the produce, that the accustomed places were not sufficient. And the wretched man sought counsel, not as to how he should lay the additional produce out, but how he should store it up; and in thinking he discovered an expedient. He seemed as it were wise in his own eyes, by the discovery of this expedient. Knowingly did he think of it, wisely hit upon it. What was this he wisely hit upon? I will destroy, he says, my old barns, and will build new ones greater, and will fill them; and I will say to my soul. What will you say to your soul? Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years, take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. This did the wise discoverer of this expedient say to his soul.

6. And God, who does not disdain to speak even with fools, said to him. Some of you may perhaps say, And how did God speak with a fool? O, my Brethren, with how many fools does He speak here, when the Gospel is read! When it is read, are not they who hear and do not, fools? What then did the Lord say? For he, I repeat, thought himself wise by the discovery of his expedient. You fool, He says; You fool, who seemest wise unto yourself; You fool, who hast said to your soul, You have much goods laid up for many years: today is your soul required of you! Your soul to which you have said, You have much goods, today is required, and has no good at all. Let it then despise these goods, and be herself good, that when she is required, she may depart in assured hope. For what is more perverse than a man who wishes to have much goods, and does not wish to be good himself? Unworthy are you to have them, who dost not wish to be what you wish to have. For do you wish to have a bad country house? No indeed, but a good one. Or a bad wife? No, but a good one. Or a bad hood? Or even a bad shoe? And why a bad soul only? He did not in this place say to this fool who was thinking on vain things, building barns, and who had no regard to the wants of the poor; He did not say to him, Today shall your soul be hurried away to hell: He said no such thing as this, but is required of you. I do not tell you whither your soul shall go; yet hence, where you are laying up for it such store of things, must it depart, whether you will or no. Lo, you fool, you have thought to fill your new and greater barns, as if there was nothing to be done with what you have.

7. But perhaps he was not yet a Christian. Let us hear then, Brethren, to whom as believers the Gospel is read, by whom He who spoke these things, is worshipped, whose mark is borne by us on our forehead, and is held in the heart. For of very great concernment is it where a man has the mark of Christ, whether in the forehead, or both in the forehead and the heart. You have heard today the words of the holy prophet Ezekiel, how that before God sent one to destroy the ungodly people, He first sent one to mark them, and said to him, Go and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and moan for the sins of my people that are done in the midst of them. He did not say, which are done without them; but in the midst of them. Yet they sigh and moan; and therefore are they marked on the forehead: in the forehead of the inner man, not the outer. For there is a forehead in the face, there is a forehead in the conscience. So it happens that when the inner forehead is stricken, the outer grows red; either red with shame, or pale with fear. So then there is a forehead of the inner man. There were they marked that they might not be destroyed; because though they did not correct the sins which were done in the midst of them, yet they sorrowed for them, and by that very sorrow separated themselves; and though separated in God's sight, they were mixed with them in the eyes of men. They are marked secretly, are not hurt openly. Afterwards the Destroyer is sent, and to him it is said, Go, lay waste, spare neither young nor old, male nor female, but come not near those who have the mark on their forehead. How great security is granted to you, my Brethren, who among this people are sighing, and moaning for the iniquities which are being done in the midst of you, and who do them not!

8. But that you may not commit iniquities, beware of all covetousness. I will tell you in its full extent, what is of all covetousness. In matter of lust he is covetous, whom his own wife suffices not. And idolatry itself is called covetousness; because again in matter of divine worship he is covetous, whom the one and true God suffices not. What but the covetous soul makes for itself many gods? What but the covetous soul makes to itself false martyrs? Beware of all covetousness. Lo, you love your own goods, and dost boast yourself in that you seek not the goods of others; see what evil you do in not hearing Christ, who says, Beware of all covetousness. Love your own goods, do not take away the goods of others; you have the fruits of your labour, they are justly yours; you have been left an heir, someone whose good graces you have attained has given it to you; you have been on the sea, and in its perils, hast committed no fraud, hast sworn no lie, hast acquired what it has pleased God you should, and you are keeping it greedily as in a good conscience, because you do not possess it from evil sources, and dost not seek what is another's. Yet if you give not heed to Him who has said, Beware of all covetousness, hear how great evils you will be ready to do for your own goods' sake. Lo, for example, it has chanced to you to be made a judge. You will not be corrupted, because you do not seek the goods of others; no one gives you a bribe and says, Give judgment against my adversary. This be far from you, a man, who seeks not the things of others, how could you be persuaded to do this? Yet see what evil you will be ready to do for your own goods' sake. Peradventure he that wishes you to judge evilly, and pronounce sentence for him against his adversary is a powerful man, and able to bring up false accusation against you, that you may lose what you have. Thou dost reflect, and think upon his power, think of your own goods you are keeping, which you love: not which you have possessed, but in whose power rather you are yourself unhappily fixed. This your bird-lime, by reason of which you have not the wings of virtue free, you look to; and you say within your own self, I am offending this man, he has much influence in the world; he will suggest evil accusations against me, and I shall be outlawed, and lose all I have. Thus you will give unrighteous judgment, not when you seek another's, but when you keep your own.

9. Give me a man who has given ear to Christ, give me a man who has heard with fear Beware of all covetousness; and let him not say to me, I am a poor man, a plebeian of mean estate, one of the common people, how can I hope ever to be a judge? I am in no fear of this temptation, the peril of which you have placed before my eyes. Yet lo, even this poor man I will tell what he ought to fear. Some rich and powerful person calls you to give false witness for him. What will you be doing now? Tell me. You have a good little property of your own; you have laboured for it, hast acquired, and kept it. That person requires of you; Give false witness for me, and I will give you so and so much. Thou who seekest not the things of others, sayest, That be far from me: I do not seek for what it has not pleased God to give me, I will not receive it; depart from me. Have you no wish to receive what I give? I will take away what you have already. See now prove yourself, question now your own self. Why do you look at me? Look inward on your own self, look at your own self within, examine your own self within; sit down before your own self, and summon your own self before you, and stretch yourself upon the rack of God's commandment, and torment yourself with His fear, and deal not softly with yourself; answer your own self. Lo, if any one were to threaten you with this, what would you do? I will take away from you what with so great labour you have acquired, if you will not give false witness for me. Give him that; Beware of all covetousness. O my servant, He will say to you, whom I have redeemed and made free, whom from a servant I have adopted to be a brother, whom I have set as a member in My Body, give ear to Me: He may take away what you have acquired, Me he shall not take away from you. Are you keeping your own goods, that you may not perish? What, have I not said to you, 'Beware of all covetousness'?

10. Lo, you are in confusion, tossed to and fro; your heart as a ship is shaken about by tempests. Christ is asleep: awake Him, that sleeps, and you shall be exposed no more to the raging of the storm. Awake Him, who was pleased to have nothing here, and you have all, who came even to the Cross for you, whose Bones as He was naked and hanging were numbered by them that mocked Him; and beware of all covetousness. Covetousness of money is not all; beware of covetousness of life. A dreadful covetousness, covetousness much to be feared. Sometimes a man will despise what he has, and say, I will not give false witness; I will not. You tell me, I will take away what you have. Take away what I have; you do not take away what I have within. For he was not left a poor man, who said, 'The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; it is done as it pleased the Lord; blessed' therefore 'be the Name of the Lord. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked shall I return to the earth.' Naked outwardly, well-clothed within. Naked as regards these rags, these corruptible rags outwardly, clothed within. With what? 'Let your priests be clothed with righteousness.' But what if he say to you, when you have despised the things which you possess, what if he say to you, I will kill you? If you have given ear to Christ, answer him, Will You kill me? Better that you should kill my body, than that I by a false tongue should kill my soul! What can you do to me? You will kill my body; my soul will depart at liberty, to receive again at the end of the world even this very body she has despised. What can you do to me then? Whereas if I should give false witness for you, with your tongue do I kill myself; and not in my body do I kill myself; 'For the mouth that lies kills the soul.' But perhaps you do not say so. And why do you not say so? You wish to live; you wish to live longer than God has appointed for you? Do you then beware of all covetousness? So long was it God's will that you should live, till this person came to you. It may be that he will kill you, to make a martyr of you. Entertain then no undue desire of life; and so you will not have an eternity of death. You see how that covetousness everywhere, when we wish for more than is necessary, causes us to sin. Beware we of all covetousness, if we would enjoy eternal wisdom.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 12:35 , Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and be ye yourselves like, etc. And on the words of the 34th Psalm, v. 12 , what man is he that desires life, etc.

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and went away from men, and is to come to men. And yet He was here when He came, nor did He depart when He went away, and He is to come to them to whom He said, Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world. According to the form of a servant then, which He took for our sakes, was He born at a certain time, and was slain, and rose again, and now dies no more, neither shall death have any more dominion over Him; but according to His Divinity, wherein He was equal to the Father, was He already in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. On this point you have just heard the Gospel, what admonition it has given us, putting us on our guard, and wishing us to be unencumbered and prepared to await the end; that after these last things, which are to be feared in this world, that rest may succeed which has no end. Blessed are they who shall be partakers of it. For then shall they be in security, who are not in security now; and again then shall they fear, who will not fear now. Unto this waiting, and for this hope's sake, have we been made Christians. Is not our hope not of this world? Let us then not love the world. From the love of this world have we been called away, that we may hope for and love another. In this world ought we to abstain from all unlawful desires, to have, that is, our loins girded; and to be fervent and to shine in good works, that is, to have our lights burning. For the Lord Himself said to His disciples in another place of the Gospel, No man lights a candle and puts it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light unto all that are in the house. And to show of what He was speaking, He subjoined and said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

2. Therefore He would that our loins should be girded, and our lights burning. What is, our loins girded? Depart from evil. What is to burn? What is to have our lights burning? It is this, And do good. What is that which He said afterwards, And ye yourselves like men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding: except that which follows in that Psalm, Seek after peace, and ensue it? These three things, that is, abstaining from evil, and doing good, and the hope of everlasting reward, are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, where it is written, that Paul taught them of temperance and righteousness, and the hope of eternal life. To temperance belongs, let your loins be girded. To righteousness, and your lights burning. To the hope of eternal life, the waiting for the Lord. So then, depart from evil, this is temperance, these are the loins girded: and do good, this is righteousness, these are the lights burning; seek peace, and ensue it, this is the waiting for the world to come: therefore, Be like men that wait for their Lord, when He will come from the wedding.

3. Having then these precepts and promises, why seek we on earth for good days, where we cannot find them? For I know that you do seek them, when you are either sick, or in any of the tribulations, which in this world abound. For when life draws towards its close, the old man is full of complaints, and with no joys. Amid all the tribulations by which mankind is worn away, men seek for nothing but good days, and wish for a long life, which here they cannot have. For even a man's long life is narrowed within so short a span to the wide extent of all ages, as if it were but one drop to the whole sea. What then is man's life, even that which is called a long one? They call that a long life, which even in this world's course is short; and as I have said, groans abound even unto the decrepitude of old age. This at the most is but brief, and of short duration; and yet how eagerly is it sought by men, with how great diligence, with how great toil, with how great carefulness, with how great watchfulness, with how great labour do men seek to live here for a long time, and to grow old. And yet this very living long, what is it but running to the end? You had yesterday, and you wish also to have tomorrow. But when this day and tomorrow are passed, you have them not. Therefore you wish for the day to break, that that may draw near to you whither you have no wish to come. You make some annual festival with your friends, and hear it there said to you by your well-wishers, May you live many years, you wish that what they have said, may come to pass. What? Do you wish that years and years may come, and the end of these years come not? Your wishes are contrary to one another; you wish to walk on, and do not wish to reach the end.

4. But if, as I have said, there is so great care in men, as to desire with daily, great and perpetual labours, to die somewhat later: with how great cause ought they to strive, that they may never die? Of this, no one will think. Day by day good days are sought for in this world, where they are not found; yet no one wishes so to live, that he may arrive there where they are found. Therefore the same Scripture admonishes us, and says, Who is the man that wishes for life, and loves to see good days? Scripture so asked the question, as that It knew well what answer would be given It; knowing that all men would seek for life and good days. In accordance with their desire It asked the question, as if the answer would be given It from the heart of all, I wish it; It said thus, Who is the man that wishes for life, and loves to see good days? Just as even at this very hour in which I am speaking to you, when you heard me say, Who is the man that wishes for life, and loves to see good days? ye all answered in your heart, I. For so do I too, who am speaking with you, wish for life and good days; what ye seek, that do I seek also.

5. Just as if gold were necessary for us all, and we all, I as well as you, were wishing to get at the gold, and there was some anywhere in a field of yours, in a place subject to your power, and I were to see you searching for it, and were to say to you, What are you searching for? you were to answer me, Gold. And I were to say to you, You are searching for gold, and I am searching for gold too: what you are searching for, I am searching for; but you are not searching for it where we can find it. Listen to me then, where we can find it; I am not taking it away from you, I am showing you the spot; yea, let us all follow Him, who knows where what we are seeking for, is. So now too seeing that you desire life and good days, we cannot say to you, Do not desire 'life and good days;' but this we say, Do not seek for 'life and good days' here in this world, where 'good days' cannot be. Is not this life itself like death? Now these days here hasten and pass away: for today has shut out yesterday; tomorrow only rises that it may shut out today. These days themselves have no abiding; wherefore would you abide with them? Your desire then whereby ye wish for life and good days, I not only do not repress, but I even more strongly inflame. By all means seek for life, seek for good days; but let them be sought there, where they can be found.

6. For would ye with me hear His counsel, who knows where good days and where life is? Hear it not from me, but together with me. For One says to us, Come, you children, hearken unto Me. And let us run together, and stand, and prick up our ears, and with our hearts understand the Father, who has said, Come, you children, hearken unto Me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. And then follows what he would teach us, and to what end the fear of the Lord is useful. Who is the man that wishes life, and loves to see good days? We all answer, We wish it. Let us listen then to what follows, Refrain your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile. Now say, I wish it. Just now when I said, Who is the man that wishes for life, and loves to see good days? we all answered, I. Come then, let some one now answer I. So then, Refrain your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile. Now say, I. Would you then have good days and life, and would you not refrain your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile? Alert to the reward, slow to the work! And to whom if he does not work is the reward rendered? I would that in your house you would render the reward even to him that does work! For to him that works not, I am sure you do not render it. And why? Because you owe nothing to him that does not work! And God has a reward proposed. What reward? Life and good days, which life we all desire, and unto which days we all strive to come. The promised reward He will give us. What reward? Life and good days. And what are good days? Life without end, rest without labour.

7. Great is the reward He has set before us: in so great a reward as is set before us, let us see what He has commanded us. For enkindled by the reward of so great a promise, and by the love of the reward, let us make ready at once our strength, our sides, our arms, to do His bidding. Is it as if He were to command us to carry heavy burdens, to dig something it may be, or to raise up some machine? No, no such laborious thing has He enjoined you, but has enjoined you only to refrain that member which among all your members you move so quickly. Refrain your tongue from evil. It is no labour to erect a building, and is it a labour to hold in the tongue? Refrain your tongue from evil. Speak no lie, speak no revilings, speak no slanders, speak no false witnesses, speak no blasphemies. Refrain your tongue from evil. See how angry you are, if any one speaks evil of you. As you are angry with another, when he speaks evil of you; so be angry with yourself, when you speak evil of another. Let your lips speak no guile. What is in your heart within, be that spoken out. Let not your breast conceal one thing, and your tongue utter another. Depart from evil, and do good. For how should I say, Clothe the naked, to him who up to this time would strip him that is clothed? For he that oppresses his fellow-citizen, how can he take in the stranger? So then in proper order, first depart from evil, and do good; first gird up your loins, and then light the lamp. And when you have done this, wait in assured hope for life and good days. Seek peace, and ensue it; and then with a good face will you say unto the Lord, I have done what You have bidden, render me what You have promised.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 12:56-58 , You know how to interpret the face of the Earth and the Heaven, etc.; and of the words, for as you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, on the way give diligence to be quit of him, etc.

1. We have heard the Gospel, and in it the Lord reproving those who knew how to discern the face of the sky, and know not how to discover the time of faith, the kingdom of heaven which is at hand. Now this He said to the Jews; but His words reach even unto us. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel in this way; Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In like manner too John the Baptist and His forerunner began thus; Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And now the Lord rebukes those who would not repent, when the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The kingdom of heaven, as He says Himself, will not come with observation. And again He says, The kingdom of heaven is within you. Let every one then wisely receive the admonitions of the Master, that he may not lose the season of the mercy of the Saviour, which is now being dealt out, as long as the human race is spared. For to this end is man spared, that he may be converted, and that he may not be to be condemned. God only knows when the end of the world shall come: nevertheless now is the time of faith. Whether the end of the world shall find any of us here, I know not; and perhaps it will not find us. Our time is very near to each one of us, seeing we are mortal. We walk in the midst of chances. If we were made of glass, we should have to fear chances less than we have. What is more fragile than a vessel of glass? And yet it is kept, and lasts for ages. For though the chances of a fall are feared for the vessel of glass, yet there is no fear of fever or old age for it. We then are more fragile and more infirm; because all the chances which are incessant in human things, we doubtless through our frailness are in daily dread of; and if these chances come not, yet time goes on; a man avoids this stroke, can he avoid his end? He avoids accidents which happen from without, can that which is born within be driven away? Again, now the entrails engender worms, now some other disease attacks on a sudden; lastly, let a man be spared ever so long, at last when old age comes, there is no way of putting off that.

2. Wherefore let us give ear to the Lord, let us do within ourselves what He has enjoined. Let us see who that adversary is, of whom He has put us in fear, saying, If you go with your adversary to the magistrate, give diligence in the way to be delivered from him; lest haply he deliver you to the magistrate, and the magistrate to the officer, and you be cast into prison, from whence you shall not come out, till you pay the very last farthing. Who is this adversary? If the devil; we have been delivered from him already. What a price was given for us that we might be redeemed from him! Of which the Apostle says, speaking of this our redemption, Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. We have been redeemed, we have renounced the devil; how shall we give diligence to be delivered from him, that he make us not, as sinners, his captives again? But this is not the adversary of whom the Lord gives us warning. For in another place another Evangelist has so expressed it, that if we join both expressions together, and compare both expressions of the two Evangelists with each other, we shall soon understand who this adversary is. For see, what did Luke say here? When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, give diligence in the way to be delivered from him. But the other Evangelist has expressed this same thing thus: Agree with your adversary quickly, whiles you are in the way with him. All the rest is alike: Lest haply the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Both Evangelists have explained this alike. One said, Give diligence in the way to be delivered from him; the other said, Agree with him. For you will not be able to be delivered from him, unless you agree with him. Would you be delivered from him? Agree with him. But what? Is it the devil with whom the Christian ought to agree?

3. Let us then seek out this adversary, with whom we ought to agree, lest he deliver us to the judge, and the judge to the officer; let us seek him out, and agree with him. If you sin, the word of God is your adversary. For example, it is a delight to you perchance to be drunken; it says to you, Do it not. It is a delight to you to frequent the spectacles, and such triflings; it says to you, Do it not. It is a delight to you to commit adultery; the word of God says to you, Do it not. In what sins soever you would do your own will, it says to you, Do it not. It is the adversary of your will, till it become the author of your salvation. O how goodly, how useful an adversary! It does not seek our will, but our advantage. It is our adversary, as long as we are our own adversaries. As long as you are your own enemy, you have the word of God your enemy; be your own friend, and you are in agreement with it. You shall do no murder; give ear, and you have agreed with it. You shall not steal; give ear, and you have agreed with it. You shall not commit adultery; give ear, and you have agreed with it. You shall not give false witness; give ear, and you have agreed with it. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife; give ear, and you have agreed with it. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods; give ear, and you have agreed with it. In all these things you have agreed with this your adversary, and what have you lost to yourself? Not only have you lost nothing; but you have even found yourself, who had been lost. The way, is this life; if we shall agree with the adversary, if we shall come to terms with him; when the way is ended, we shall not fear the judge, the officer, the prison.

4. When is the way ended? It is not ended at the same hour to all. Each several man has his hour when he shall end his way. This life is called the way; when you have ended this life, you have ended the way. We are going on, and the very living is advancing. Unless perhaps ye imagine that time advances, and we stand still! It cannot be. As time advances, we too advance; and years do not come to us, but rather go away. Greatly are men mistaken when they say, This boy has little good sense yet, but years will come on him, and he will be wise. Consider what you say, Will come on him, you have said; I will show that they go away, whereas you say, they come on. And hear how easily I prove it. Let us suppose that we have known the number of his years from his birth; for instance (that we may wish him well) he has to live fourscore years, he is to arrive at old age. Write down fourscore years. One year he has lived; how many have you in the total? How many have you down? Fourscore! Deduct one. He has lived ten; seventy remain. He has lived twenty; sixty remain. Yet surely, it will be said, they did come; what can this mean? Our years come that they may depart; they come, I say that they may go. For they do not come, that they may abide with us, but as they pass through us, they wear us out, and make us less and less strong. Such is the way into which we have come. What then have we to do with that adversary, that is, with the word of God? Agree with him. For you know not when the way may be ended. When the way is ended, there remain the judge, and the officer, and the prison. But if you maintain a good will to your adversary, and agree with him; instead of a judge, shall you find a father, instead of a cruel officer, an Angel taking you away into Abraham's bosom, instead of a prison, paradise. How rapidly have you changed all things in the way, because you have agreed with your adversary!

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 13:6 , where we are told of the fig-tree, which bare no fruit for three years; and of the woman which was in an infirmity eighteen years; and on the words of Psalm 9:19 , Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the nations be judged in your sight.

1. Touching the fig-tree which had its three years' trial, and bare no fruit, and the woman which was in an infirmity eighteen years, hearken to what the Lord may grant me to say. The fig-tree is the human race. And the three years are the three times; one before the Law, the second under the Law, the third under grace. Now there is nothing unsuitable in understanding by the fig-tree the human race. For when the first man sinned, he covered his nakedness with fig-leaves; covered those members, from which we derive our birth. For what before his sin should have been his glory, after sin became his shame. So before that, they were naked, and were not ashamed. For they had no reason to blush, when no sin had gone before; nor could they blush for their Creator's works, because they had not yet mingled any evil work of their own with the good works of their Creator. For they had not yet eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which they had been forbidden to eat. After then that they had eaten and sinned, the human race sprang from them; that is, man from man, debtor from debtor, mortal from mortal, sinner from sinner. In this tree then he entitles those, who through the whole range of time would not bear fruit; and for this cause the axe was hanging over the unfruitful tree. The gardener intercedes for it, punishment is deferred, that help may be administered. Now the gardener who intercedes, is every saint who within the Church prays for those who are without the Church. And what does he pray? Lord, let it alone this year also; that is, in this time of grace, spare the sinners, spare the unbelievers, spare the barren, spare the unfruitful. I will dig about it, and put a basket of dung about it; if it bear fruit, well; but if not, you shall come and cut it down. You shall come: When? You shall come in judgment, when You shall come to judge the quick and dead. Meanwhile they are spared. But what is the digging? What is the digging about it, but the teaching lowliness and repentance? For a ditch is low ground. The basket of dung understand in its good effects. It is filthy, but it produces fruit. The gardener's filth is the sinner's sorrows. They who repent, repent in filthy robes; if, that is, they understand aright, and repent in truth. To this tree then is it said, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

2. What is that woman who was in an infirmity eighteen years? In six days God finished His works. Three times six are eighteen. What the three years then in the tree signified, that do the eighteen years in this woman. She was bent down, she could not look up; because in vain did she hear, Up with your hearts. But the Lord made her straight. There is hope then, for the children, that is, even until the day of judgment come. Man ascribes much to himself. Yet what is man? A righteous man is something great. But yet a righteous man is righteous only by the grace of God. For what is man, save that you are mindful of him? Would you see what man is? All men are liars. We have chanted, Arise, Lord; let not man prevail. What is, let not man prevail? Were not the Apostles men? Were not Martyrs men? The Lord Jesus Himself, without ceasing to be God, vouchsafed to be Man. What then is, Arise, Lord; let not man prevail? If all men are liars; arise, Truth, let not falsehood prevail. If man then would be anything good, it must not be of anything of his own. For if he should wish to be anything of his own he will be a liar. If he would wish to be true, he must be so of that which is from God, not of anything of his own.

3. Therefore, Arise, Lord; let not man prevail. So much did lying prevail before the flood, that after the flood only eight men remained. By them the earth was again replenished with lying men, and out of them was elected the people of God. Many miracles were wrought, divine benefits imparted. They were brought right through to the land of promise, delivered from Egyptian bondage: Prophets were raised up among them, they received the temple, they received the priesthood, they received the anointing, they received the Law. Yet of this very people was it said afterwards, The strange children have lied unto me. At last He was sent who had been promised afore by the Prophets. Let not man prevail, even the more, because that God was made Man. But even He, though He did divine works, was despised, though He showed forth so many acts of mercy, He was apprehended, He was scourged, He was hanged. Thus far did man prevail, to apprehend the Son of God, to scourge the Son of God, to crown the Son of God with thorns, to hang the Son of God upon the tree. So far did man prevail: how far, but up to the time that having been taken down from the tree, He was laid in the sepulchre? If He had remained there, man would have prevailed indeed. But this prophecy addresses the very Lord Jesus Himself, saying, Arise, Lord, let not man prevail. O Lord, You have vouchsafed to come in the flesh, the Word made Flesh. The Word above us, the Flesh among us, the Word-flesh between God and Man: You chose a virgin to be born from according to the flesh, when You were to be conceived, You found a Virgin; when You were born, You left a Virgin. But You were not acknowledged; You were Seen, and yet wast hidden. Infirmity was seen, Power was hidden. All this was done, that You might shed that Blood, which is our Price. Thou did so great miracles, gave health to the weaknesses of the sick, showed forth many acts of mercy, and received evil for good. They mocked You, Thou hung upon the tree; the ungodly wagged their heads before You, and said, If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Had You then lost Your power, or rather were Thou showing forth Your Patience? And yet they mocked You, and yet they derided You, yet, when You were slain, they went away as if victorious. Lo, You are laid in the sepulchre: Arise, Lord, let not man prevail. Let not the ungodly enemy prevail, let not the blind Jew prevail. For when You were crucified, the Jew in his blindness seemed to himself to have prevailed. Arise, Lord, let not man prevail. It is done, yea, it is done. And now what remains, but that the nations be judged in your sight? For He has risen again, as you know, and ascended into heaven; and from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

4. Ah! unfruitful tree, mock not, because you are yet spared; the axe is delayed, be not secure; He will come and you shall be cut down. Believe that He will come. All these things which now ye see, once were not. Once the Christian people were not over the whole world. It was read of in prophecy, not seen in the earth; now it is both read and seen. Thus was the Church herself completed. It was not said to her, See, O daughter, and hear; but, Hear and see. Hear the predictions, see the completions. As then, my beloved Brethren, Christ had once not been born of a Virgin, but His birth was promised, and He was born; He had once not done His miracles, they were promised, and He did them: He had not yet suffered, it was promised, and so it came to pass: He had not risen again, it was foretold, and so fulfilled: His Name was not throughout the world, it was foretold, and so fulfilled: the idols were not destroyed and broken down, it was foretold, and so fulfilled: heretics had not assailed the Church, it was foretold, and so fulfilled. So also the Day of Judgment is not yet, but seeing it has been foretold, it shall be fulfilled. Can it be that He who in so many things has shown Himself true, should be false touching the Day of Judgment? He has given us a bond of His promises. For God has made Himself a debtor, not by owing ought, that is, not by borrowing; but by promising. We cannot therefore say to Him, Give back what You have received. Since who has first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? We cannot say to Him, Give what You have received; but we say without scruple, Give what You have promised.

5. For hence it is that we are bold to say, day by day, Your kingdom come; that when His kingdom comes, we too may reign with Him. Which has been promised to us in these words; Then will I say unto them, Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. But assuredly only if we shall have done what follows in that place. For I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat, etc. He made these promises to our fathers; but He has given us a security, for us too to read. If He who has vouchsafed to give us this security, were to make a reckoning with us and say, Read my debts, the debts, that is, of my promises, and reckon up what I have already paid, and reckon also what I still owe; see how many I have paid already; and what I owe is but little; will you for that little that remains, think Me an untrustworthy promiser? What should we have to answer against this most evident truth? Let him then who is barren repent, and bear fruit worthy of repentance. He that is bent down, who looks only on the earth, rejoices in earthly happiness, who thinks this the only happy life, where he may be happy, and who believes no other can be; whosoever he be that is so bent down, let him be made straight; if he cannot by himself, let him call upon God. For was that woman made straight by herself? Woe had it been for her, if He had not stretched out His Hand.

On the words of the Gospel, [Luke 13:21-23] , where the kingdom of God is said to be like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal; and of that which is written in the same chapter, Lord, are they few that are saved?

1. The three measures of meal of which the Lord spoke, is the human race. Recollect the deluge; three only remained, from whom the rest were to be re-peopled. Noe had three sons, by them was repaired the human race. That holy woman who hid the leaven, is Wisdom. Lo, the whole world cries out in the Church of God, I know that the Lord is great. Yet doubtless there are but few who are saved. You remember a question which was lately set before us out of the Gospel, Lord, it was said, are there few that be saved? What said the Lord to this? He did not say, Not few, but many are they who are saved. He did not say this. But what said He, when He had heard, Are there few that be saved? Strive to enter by the strait gate. When you hear then, Are there few that be saved? the Lord confirmed what He heard. Through the strait gate but few can enter. In another place He says Himself, Strait and narrow is the way which leads unto life, and few there be that go thereby: but broad and spacious is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be which walk thereby. Why rejoice we in great numbers? Give ear to me, you few. I know that you are many, who hear me, yet but few of you hear to obey. I see the floor, I look for the grain. And hardly is the grain seen, when the floor is being threshed; but the time is coming, that it shall be winnowed. But few then are saved in comparison of the many that shall perish. For these same few will constitute in themselves a great mass. When the Winnower shall come with His fan in His Hand, He will cleanse His floor, and lay up the wheat into the garner; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Let not the chaff scoff at the wheat; in this He speaks truth, and deceives no one. Be then in yourselves among many a many, few though ye be in comparison of a certain many. So large a mass is to come out of this floor, as to fill the garner of heaven. For the Lord Christ would not contradict Himself, who has said, Many there are who enter in by the narrow gate, many who go to ruin through the wide gate; contradict Himself, who has in another place said, Many shall come from the East and West. Many then are the few; both few and many. Are the few one sort, and the many another? No. But the few are themselves the many; few in comparison of the lost, many in the society of the Angels. Hearken, dearly Beloved. The Apocalypse has this written; After this I beheld of all languages, and nations, and tribes, a great multitude, which no man can number, coming with white robes and palms. This is the mass of the saints. With how much clearer voice will the floor say, when it has been fanned, separated from the crowd of ungodly, and evil, and false Christians, when those who press and do not touch (for a certain woman in the Gospel touched, the crowd pressed Christ), shall have been severed unto everlasting fire; when all they then, who are to be damned shall have been separated off, with how great assurance will the purified mass, standing at the Right Hand, fearing now for itself the admixture of no evil men, nor the loss of any of the good, now about to reign with Christ, say, I know that the Lord is great!

2. If then, my Brethren (I am speaking to the grain), if they acknowledge what I say, predestined unto life eternal, let them speak by their works, not by their voices. I am constrained to speak to you, what I ought not. For I ought to find in you matter of praise, not to seek subjects for admonition. Yet see I will say but a few words, I will not dwell upon it. Acknowledge the duty of hospitality, thereby some have attained unto God. You take in some stranger, whose companion in the way you yourself also art; for strangers are we all. He is a Christian who, even in his own house and in his own country, acknowledges himself to be a stranger. For our country is above, there we shall not be strangers. For every one here below, even in his own house, is a stranger. If he be not a stranger, let him not pass on from hence. If pass on he must, he is a stranger. Let him not deceive himself, a stranger he is; whether he will or not, he is a stranger. And he leaves that house to his children, one stranger to other strangers. Why? If you were at an inn, would you not depart when another comes? The same you do even in your own house. Your father left a place to you, you will some day leave it to your children. Neither do you abide here, as one who is to abide always, nor to those who are so to abide, will you leave it. If we are all passing away, let us do something which cannot pass away, that when we shall have passed away, and have come there whence we may not pass away, we may find our good works there. Christ is the keeper, why do you fear lest you should lose what you spend on the poor? Let us turn to the Lord, etc.

And after the Sermon.

I suggest to you, Beloved, what ye know already. Tomorrow breaks the anniversary day of the venerable lord Aurelius' ordination; he asks and admonishes you, dear Brethren, by my humble ministry, that you would be so good as to meet together with all devotion at the basilica of Faustus. Thanks be to God.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 14:16 , A certain man made a great supper, etc.

Delivered in the basilica Restituta.

1. Holy lessons have been set forth before us, to which we should both give ear, and upon which by the Lord's help I would deliver some observations. In the Apostolic lesson thanks are rendered unto the Lord for the faith of the Gentiles, of course, because it was His work. In the Psalm we have said, O God of hosts, turn us, and show us Your Face, and we shall be saved. In the Gospel we have been called to a supper; yea, rather others have been called, we not called, but led; not only led, but even forced. For so have we heard, that a certain Man made a great supper. Who is this Man, but the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus? He sent that those who had been invited might come, for the hour was now come, that they should come. Who are they who had been invited, but those who had been called by the Prophets who were sent before? When? Of old, ever since the Prophets were sent, they invited to Christ's supper. They were sent then to the people of Israel. Often were they sent, often did they call men, to come at the hour of supper. But they received those who invited them, refused the supper. What means they received those who invited them, refused the supper? They read the Prophets and killed Christ. But when they killed Him, then though they knew it not, they prepared a Supper for us. When the Supper was now prepared, when Christ had been offered up, when the Supper of the Lord, which the faithful know, had been set forth after the resurrection of Christ, and established by His Hands and Mouth, were the Apostles sent to them, to whom the Prophets had been sent before. Come ye to the supper.

2. They who would not come made excuses. And how did they excuse themselves? There were three excuses: One said, I have bought a farm, and I go to see it; have me excused. Another said, I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray you have me excused. A third said, I have married a wife, have me excused; I cannot come. Do we suppose that these are not the excuses, which hinder all men, who decline to come to this supper? Let us look into them, discuss, find them out; but only that we may beware. In the purchase of the farm, the spirit of domination is marked out; therefore pride is rebuked. For men are delighted to have a farm, to hold, to possess it, to have men in it under them, to have dominion. An evil vice, the first vice. For the first man wished to have dominion, in that he would not that any should have dominion over him. What is to have dominion, but to take pleasure in one's own power? There is a greater power, let us submit ourselves to it, that we may be able to be safe. I have bought a farm, have me excused. Having discovered pride, he would not come.

3. Another said, I have bought five pairs of oxen. Would it not have been enough, I have bought oxen? Something beyond doubt there is, which by its very obscurity challenges us to seek out, and understand; and in that it is shut, He exhorts us to knock. The five pairs of oxen are the senses of this body. There are numbered five senses of this body, as is known to all; and they who, it may be, do not consider it, will doubtless perceive it on being reminded of it. There are then found to be five senses of this body. In the eyes is the sight, the hearing in the ears, the smell in the nose, the taste in the mouth, the touch in all the members. We have perception of white and black, and things colored in whatever way, light and dark, by the sight. Harsh and musical sounds, we have perception of by the hearing. Of sweet and offensive smells, we have perception by the smell. Of things sweet and bitter by the taste. Of things hard and soft, smooth and rough, warm and cold, heavy and light, by the touch. They are five, and they are pairs. Now that they are pairs, is seen most easily in the case of the three first senses. There are two eyes, two ears, two nostrils; see three pairs. In the mouth, that is in the sense of taste, a certain doubling is found, because nothing affects the taste, unless it is touched by the tongue and the palate. The pleasure of the flesh which pertains to the touch, has this doubling in a less obvious way. For there is both an outer and an inner touch. And so it too is double. Why are they called pairs of oxen? Because by these senses of the body, earthly things are sought for. For oxen turn up the earth. So there are men far off from faith, given up to earthly things, occupied in the things of the flesh; who will not believe anything but what they attain to by the five senses of their body. In those five senses do they lay down for themselves the rules of their whole will. I will not believe, says one, anything but what I see. See, here is what I know, and am sure of. Such a thing is white, or black, or round, or square, or colored so and so; this I know, am sensible of, have a hold of; nature itself teaches it me. I am not forced to believe what you cannot show me. Or it is a voice: I perceive that it is a voice; it sings well, it sings ill, it is sweet, it is harsh. I know, I know this, it has come to me. There is a good or a bad smell: I know, I perceive it. This is sweet, this is bitter; this is salt, this insipid. I know not what you would tell me more. By the touch I know what is hard, what is soft; what is smooth, what is rough; what is warm, and what cold. What more would you show me?

4. By such an impediment was our Apostle Thomas held back, who as to the Lord Christ, the resurrection that is of Christ, would not believe even his own eyes only. Unless, says he, I put my fingers into the places of the nails and wounds, and unless I put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And the Lord who could have risen again without any vestige of a wound, kept the scars, that they might be touched by the doubting Apostle, and the wounds of his heart be healed. And yet as designing to call to His supper others, against the excuse of the five pairs of oxen, He said, Blessed they who do not see, and believe. We, my Brethren, who have been called to this supper, have not been kept back by these five pairs. For we have not in this age desired to see the Face of the Lord's Body, nor have we longed to hear the Voice proceeding out of the mouth of that Body; we have not sought in Him for any passing odour. A certain woman anointed Him with most costly ointment, that house was filled with the odour; but we were not there; lo, we did not smell, yet we believe. He gave to the disciples the Supper consecrated by His Own Hands; but we did not sit down at that Feast, and yet we daily eat this same Supper by faith. And do not think it strange that in that supper which He gave with His Own Hand, one was present without faith: the faith that appeared, afterwards was more than a compensation for that faithlessness then. Paul was not there who believed, Judas was there who betrayed. How many now too in this same Supper, though they saw not then that table, nor beheld with their eyes, nor tasted with their mouths, the bread which the Lord took in His Hands, yet because it is the same as is now prepared, how many now also in this same Supper, eat and drink judgment to themselves?

5. But whence arose an occasion, so to say, to the Lord, to speak of this supper? One of them that sat at meat with Him (for He was at a feast, whither He had been invited), had said, Blessed are they who eat bread in the kingdom of God. He sighed as though after distant things, and the Bread Himself was sitting down before him. Who is the Bread of the kingdom of God, but He who says, I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven? Do not get your mouth ready, but your heart. On this occasion it was that the parable of this supper was set forth. Lo, we believe in Christ, we receive Him with faith. In receiving Him we know what to think of. We receive but little, and we are nourished in heart. It is not then what is seen, but what is believed, that feeds us. Therefore we too have not sought for that outward sense; nor have we said, Let them believe who have seen with their eyes, and handled with their hands the Lord Himself after His resurrection, if what is said be true; we do not touch Him, why should we believe? If we were to entertain such thoughts, we should be kept back from the supper by those five pairs of oxen. That ye may know, Brethren, that not the gratification of these five senses, which softens and ministers pleasure, but a kind of curiosity was denoted, He did not say, 'I have bought five pairs of oxen,' and I go to feed them; but, I go to prove them. He who wishes to prove by the pairs of oxen, does not wish to be in doubt, just as St. Thomas by these pairs did not wish to be in doubt. Let me see, let me touch, let me put in my fingers. 'Behold,' says the Lord, 'put in your fingers along My Side, and be not unbelieving.' For your sake have I been slain; at the place which you wish to touch, have I shed My Blood, that I might redeem you; and do you still doubt of Me, unless you touch Me? Behold, this too I grant; behold, this too I show you; touch, and believe; find out the place of My wound, heal the wound of your doubting.

6. The third said, I have married a wife. This is the pleasure of the flesh, which is a hindrance to many: and I would that it were so only without, and not within! There are men who say, There is no happiness for a man, if he have not the pleasures of the flesh. These are they whom the Apostle censures, saying, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.' Who has risen to this life from the other? Who has ever told us what goes on there? We take away with us, what in the time present makes our happiness. He that speaks thus, has married a wife, attaches himself to the flesh, places his delight in the pleasures of the flesh, excuses himself from the supper; let him look well to it that he die not by an inward famine. Attend to John, the holy Apostle and Evangelist; Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. O you who come to the Supper of the Lord, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. He did not say, Have not; but, Love not. You have had, possessed, loved. The love of earthly things, is the bird-lime of the spirit's wings. Lo, you have desired, you have stuck fast. Who will give you wings as of a dove? When will you fly, whither you may in deed, seeing you have perversely wished to rest here, where you have to your hurt stuck fast? Love not the world, is the divine trumpet. By the voice of this trumpet unceasingly is it proclaimed to the compass of the earth, and to the whole world, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Whosoever loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the ambition of life. He begins at the last with which the Gospel ends. He begins at that, at which the Gospel made an end. The lust of the flesh, I have married a wife. The lust of the eyes, I have bought five pairs of oxen. The ambition of life, I have bought a farm.

7. Now these senses are denoted by the mention of the eyes only, the whole by a part, because the pre-eminence in the five senses belongs to the eyes. Wherefore though sight belongs peculiarly to the eyes, we are accustomed to use the word seeing through all the five senses. How? In the first place, in relation to the eyes themselves we say; See how white it is, look and see how white it is: this has relation to the eyes. Hear and see how musical it is! Could we say conversely, Hear and see how white it is? This expression, see, runs through all the senses; whereas the distinguishing expression of the other senses does not in its turn run through it. Mark and see how musical; smell and see how agreeable it is; taste and see how sweet it is; touch and see how soft it is. And yet surely since they are senses, we should rather say thus; Hear and be sensible how musical it is; smell and be sensible how agreeable it is; taste and be sensible how sweet it is; touch and be sensible how hot it is; handle and be sensible how smooth it is; handle and be sensible how soft it is. But we say none of these. For thus the Lord Himself after His resurrection when He appeared to His disciples, and when though they saw Him they still wavered in faith supposing that they saw a spirit, said, Why do ye doubt, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See My Hands and My Feet. It is not enough to say, See; He says, Touch, and handle, and see. Look and see, handle and see; with the eyes alone see, and see by all the senses. Because He was looking for the inner sense of faith, He offered Himself to the outward senses of the body. We have made no attainment in the Lord by these outward senses, we have heard with our ears, have believed with our heart; and this hearing not from His mouth, but from the mouth of His preachers, from their mouths who were already at the supper, and who by the pouring forth of what they there drunk in invited us.

8. Let us away then with vain and evil excuses, and come we to the supper by which we may be made fat within. Let not the puffing up of pride keep us back, let it not lift us up, nor unlawful curiosity scare us, and turn us away from God; let not the pleasure of the flesh hinder us from the pleasure of the heart. Let us come, and be filled. And who came but the beggars, the maimed, the halt, the blind? But there came not there the rich, and the whole, who walked, as they thought, well, and saw acutely; who had great confidence in themselves, and were therefore in the more desperate case, in proportion as they were more proud. Let the beggars come, for He invites them, who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we beggars through His poverty might be enriched. Let the maimed come, for they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are in evil case. Let the halt come who may say to Him, Set in order my steps in Your paths. Let the blind come who may say, Enlighten my eyes, that I may never sleep in death. Such as these came at the hour, when those who had been first invited, had been rejected for their own excuses: they came at the hour, they entered in from the streets and lanes of the city. And the servant who had been sent, brought answer, Lord, it is done as You have commanded, and yet there is room. Go out, says He, into the highways and hedges, and compel those whom you shall find to come in. Whom you shall find wait not till they choose to come, compel them to come in. I have prepared a great supper, a great house, I cannot suffer any place to be vacant in it. The Gentiles came from the streets and lanes: let the heretics come from the hedges, here they shall find peace. For those who make hedges, their object is to make divisions. Let them be drawn away from the hedges, let them be plucked up from among the thorns. They have stuck fast in the hedges, they are unwilling to be compelled. Let us come in, they say, of our own good will. This is not the Lord's order, Compel them, says he, to come in. Let compulsion be found outside, the will arise within.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 16:9 , Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, etc.

1. Our duty is to give to others the admonitions we have received ourselves. The recent lesson of the Gospel has admonished us to make friends of the mammon of iniquity, that they too may receive those who do so into everlasting habitations. But who are they that shall have everlasting habitations, but the Saints of God? And who are they who are to be received by them into everlasting habitations, but they who serve their need, and minister cheerfully to their necessities? Accordingly let us remember, that in the last judgment the Lord will say to those who shall stand on His right hand, I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat; and the rest which you know. And upon their enquiring when they had afforded these good offices to Him, He answered, When you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it unto Me. These least are they who receive into everlasting habitations. This He said to them on the right hand, because they did so: and the contrary He said to them on the left, because they would not. But what have they on the right hand who did so, received, or rather, what are they to receive? Come, says He, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat. When you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it unto Me. Who then are these least ones of Christ? They are those who have left all they had, and followed Him, and have distributed whatever they had to the poor; that unencumbered and without any worldly fetter they might serve God, and might lift their shoulders free from the burdens of the world, and winged as it were aloft. These are the least. And why the least? Because lowly, because not puffed up, not proud. Yet weigh them in the scales, these least ones, and you will find them a heavy weight.

2. But what means it, that He says they are friends of the mammon of iniquity? What is the mammon of iniquity? First, what is mammon? For it is not a Latin word. It is a Hebrew word, and cognate to the Punic language. For these languages are allied to one another by a kind of nearness of signification. What the Punics call mammon, is called in Latin, lucre. What the Hebrews call mammon, is called in Latin, riches. That we may express the whole then in Latin, our Lord Jesus Christ says this, Make to yourselves friends of the riches of iniquity. Some, by a bad understanding of this, plunder the goods of others, and bestow some of that upon the poor, and so think that they do what is enjoined them. For they say, To plunder the goods of others, is the mammon of iniquity; to spend some of it, especially on the poor saints, this is to make friends with the mammon of iniquity. This understanding of it must be corrected, yea, must be utterly effaced from the tablets of your heart. I would not that you should so understand it. Give alms of your righteous labours: give out of that which you possess rightfully. For you cannot corrupt Christ your Judge, that He should not hear you together with the poor, from whom you take away. For if you were to despoil any one who was weak, yourself being stronger and of greater power, and he were to come with you to the judge, any man you please on this earth, who had any power of judging, and he were to wish to plead his cause with you; if you were to give anything of the spoil and plunder of that poor man to the judge, that he might pronounce judgment in your favour; would that judge please even you? True, he has pronounced judgment in your favour, and yet so great is the force of justice, that he would displease even you. Do not then represent God to yourself as such an one as this. Do not set up such an idol in the temple of your heart. Your God is not such as you ought not to be yourself. If you would not judge so, but would judge justly; even so your God is better than you: He is not inferior to you: He is more just, He is the fountain of justice. Whatsoever good you have done, you have gotten from Him; and whatsoever good you have given vent to, you have drunk in from Him. Do you praise the vessel, because it has something from Him, and blame the fountain? Do not give alms out of usury and increase. I am speaking to the faithful, am speaking to those to whom we distribute the body of Christ. Be in fear and amend yourselves: that I may not have hereafter to say, You do so, and you too do so. Yet I trow, that if I should do so, you ought not to be angry with me, but with yourselves, that you may amend yourselves. For this is the meaning of the expression in the Psalm, Be angry, and sin not. I would have you be angry, but only that you may not sin. Now in order that you may not sin, with whom ought ye to be angry but with yourselves? For what is a penitent man, but a man who is angry with himself? That he may obtain pardon, he exacts punishment from himself; and so with good right says to God, Turn Your eyes from my sins, for I acknowledge my sin. If you acknowledge it, then He will pardon it. You then who have done so wrongly, do so no more: it is not lawful.

3. But if you have done so already, and have such money in your possession, and have filled your coffers thereby, and were heaping up treasure by these means: what you have comes of evil, now then add not evil to it, and make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity. Had Zacchaeus what he had from good sources? Read and see. He was the chief of the publicans, that is, he was one to whom the public taxes were paid in: by this he had his wealth. He had oppressed many, had taken from many, and so had heaped much together. Christ entered into his house, and salvation came upon his house; for so said the Lord Himself, This day is salvation come to this house. Now mark the method of this salvation. First he was longing to see the Lord, because he was little in stature: but when the crowd hindered him, he got up into a sycamore tree, and saw Him as He passed by. But Jesus saw him, and said, Zacchaeus, come down, I must abide at your house. You are hanging there, but I will not keep you in suspense. I will not, that is, put you off. You wished to see Me as I passed by, today shall you find Me dwelling at your house. So the Lord went in unto him, and he, filled with joy, said, The half of my goods I give to the poor. Lo, how swiftly he runs, who runs to make friends of the mammon of iniquity. And lest he should be held guilty on any other account, he said, If I have taken anything from any man, I will restore fourfold. He inflicted sentence of condemnation on himself, that he might not incur damnation. So then, you who have anything from evil sources, do good therewith. You who have not, wish not to acquire by evil means. Be good yourself, who does good with what is evilly acquired: and when with this evil you begin to do any good, do not remain evil yourself. Your money is being converted to good, and do you yourself continue evil?

4. There is indeed another way of understanding it; and I will not withhold it too. The mammon of iniquity is all the riches of this world, from whatever source they come. For howsoever they be heaped together, they are the mammon of iniquity, that is, the riches of iniquity. What is, they are the riches of iniquity? It is money which iniquity calls by the name of riches. For if we seek for the true riches, they are different from these. In these Job abounded, naked as he was, when he had a heart full to Godward, and poured out praises like most costly gems to his God, when he had lost all he had. And from what treasure did he this, if he had nothing? These then are the true riches. But the other sort are called riches by iniquity. Thou dost possess these riches. I blame it not: an inheritance has come to you, your father was rich, and he left it to you. Or you have honestly acquired them: you have a house full of the fruit of just labour; I blame it not. Yet even thus do not call them riches. For if you call them riches, you will love them: and if you love them, you will perish with them. Lose, that you be not lost: give, that you may gain: sow, that you may reap. Call not these riches, for the true they are not. They are full of poverty, and liable ever to accidents. What sort of riches are those, for whose sake you are afraid of the robber, for whose sake you are afraid of your own servant, lest he should kill you, and take them away, and fly? If they were true riches, they would give you security.

5. So then those are the true riches, which when we have them, we cannot lose. And lest haply you should fear a thief because of them, they will be there where none can take them away. Hear your Lord, Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where no thief approaches. Then will they be riches, when you have removed them hence. As long as they are in the earth, they are not riches. But the world calls them riches, iniquity calls them so. God calls them therefore the mammon of iniquity, because iniquity calls them riches. Hear the Psalm, O Lord, deliver me out of the hand of strange children, whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. Whose sons are as new plants, firmly rooted from their youth. Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple. Their storehouses full, flowing out from this into that. Their oxen fat, their sheep fruitful, multiplying in their goings forth. There is no breach of wall, nor going forth, no crying out in their streets. Lo, what sort of happiness the Psalmist has described: but hear what is the case with them whom he has set forth as children of iniquity. Whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. Thus has he set them forth, and said that their happiness is only upon the earth. And what did he add? They are happy the people that has these things. But who called them so? Strange children, aliens from the race, and belonging not to the seed of Abraham: they called the people happy that has these things. Who called them so? They whose mouth has spoken vanity. It is a vain thing then to call them happy who have these things. And yet they are called so by them, whose mouth has spoken vanity. By them the mammon of iniquity of the Gospel is called riches.

6. But what do you say? Seeing that these strange children that they whose mouth has spoken vanity, have called the people happy that has these things, what do you say? These are false riches, show me the true. Thou findest fault with these, show me what you praise. You wish me to despise these, show me what to prefer. Let the Psalmist speak himself. For he who said, they called the people happy that has these things, gives us such an answer, as if we had said to him, that is, to the Psalmist himself, Lo, this you have taken away from us, and nothing have you given us: lo, these, lo, these we despise; whereby shall we live, whereby shall we be happy? For they who have spoken, they will undertake to answer for themselves. For they have 'called' men 'who have' riches 'happy.' But what do you say? As if he had been thus questioned, he makes answer and says, They call the rich happy: but I say, Happy are the people whose is the Lord their God. Thus then you have heard of the true riches, make friends of the mammon of iniquity, and you shall be a happy people, whose is the Lord their God. At times we go along the way, and see very pleasant and productive estates, and we say, Whose estate is that? We are told, such a man's; and we say, Happy man! We speak vanity. Happy he whose is that house, happy he whose that estate, happy he whose that flock, happy he whose that servant, happy he whose is that household. Take away vanity if You would hear the truth. Happy he whose is the Lord his God. For not he who has that estate is happy: but he whose is that God. But in order to declare most plainly the happiness of possessions, you say that your estate has made you happy. And why? Because you live by it. For when you highly praise your estate, you say thus, It finds me food, I live by it. Consider whereby you really live. He by whom you live, is He to whom you say, With You is the fountain of life. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. O Lord my God, O Lord our God, make us happy by You, that we may come unto You. We wish not to be happy from gold, or silver, or land, from these earthly, and most vain, and transitory goods of this perishable life. Let not our mouth speak vanity. Make us happy by You, seeing that we shall never lose You. When we shall once have gotten You, we shall neither lose You, nor be lost ourselves. Make us happy by You, because Happy is the people whose is the Lord their God. Nor will God be angry if we shall say of Him, He is our estate. For we read that the Lord is the portion of my inheritance. Grand thing, Brethren, we are both His inheritance, and He is ours, seeing that we both cultivate His service and He cultivates us. It is no derogation to His honour that He cultivates us. Because if we cultivate Him as our God, He cultivates us as His field. And, (that you may know that He does cultivate us) hear Him whom He has sent to us: I, says He, am the vine, you are the branches, My Father is the Husbandman. Therefore He does cultivate us. But if we yield fruit, He prepares for us His garner. But if under the attention of so great a hand we will be barren, and for good fruit bring forth thorns, I am loth to say what follows. Let us make an end with a theme of joy. Let us turn then to the Lord, etc.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 17:3 , If your brother sin, rebuke him, etc., touching the remission of sins.

Delivered at the Table of St. Cyprian, in the presence of Count Boniface.

1. The Holy Gospel which we heard just now as it was being read, has admonished touching the remission of sins. And on this subject must ye be admonished now by my discourse. For we are ministers of the word, not our own word, but the word of our God and Lord, whom no one serves without glory, whom no one despises without punishment. He then the Lord our God, who abiding with the Father made us, and having been made for us, re-made us, He the Lord our God Jesus Christ Himself says to us what we have heard just now in the Gospel. If, He says, your brother shall sin against you, rebuke him, and if he shall repent, forgive him; and if he shall sin against time seven times in a day, and shall come and say, I repent, forgive him. He would not have seven times in a day otherwise understood than as often as may be, lest haply he sin eight times, and you be unwilling to forgive. What then is seven times? Always, as often as he shall sin and repent. For this, Seven times in a day will I praise you, is the same as in another Psalm, His praise shall always be in my mouth. And there is the strongest reason why seven times should be put for that which is always: for the whole course of time revolves in a circle of seven coming and returning days.

2. Whosoever then you are that hast your thoughts on Christ, and desirest to receive what He has promised, be not slow to do that which He has enjoined. Now what has He promised? Eternal life. And what has He enjoined? That pardon be given to your brother. As if He had said to you, O man, give pardon to a man, so that I, who am God, may come unto you. But that I may pass over, or rather pass by for a while, those more exalted divine promises in which our Creator engages to make us equal with His Angels, that we may with Him, and in Him, and by Him, live without end; not to speak of this just now, do you not wish to receive of your God this very thing, which you are commanded to give your brother? This very thing, I say, which you are commanded to give your brother, do you not wish to receive from your Lord? Tell me if you wish it not; and so give it not. What is this, but that you should forgive him that asks you, if you require to be forgiven? But if you have nothing to be forgiven you, I dare to say, be unwilling to forgive. Though I ought not even to say this. Though you have nothing to be forgiven you, forgive.

3. You are just on the point of saying to me, But I am not God, I am a man, a sinner. God be thanked that you confess that you have sins. Forgive then, that they may be forgiven you. Yet the Lord Himself our God exhorts us to imitate Him. In the first place God Himself, Christ, exhorts us, of whom the Apostle Peter said, Christ has suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps, who did no sin, neither was guile, found in His mouth. He then verily had no sin, yet did He die for our sins, and shed His Blood for the remission of sins. He took upon Him for our sakes what was not His due, that He might deliver us from what was due to us. Death was not due to Him, nor life to us. Why? Because we were sinners. Death was not due to Him, nor life to us; He received what was not due to Him, He gave what was not due to us. But since we are speaking of the remission of sins, lest ye should think it too high a thing to imitate Christ, hear the Apostle saying, Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you. Be therefore imitators of God. They are the Apostle's words, not mine. Is it indeed a proud thing to imitate God? Hear the Apostle, Be imitators of God as dearly beloved children. You are called a child: if you refuse to imitate Him, why do you seek His inheritance?

4. This would I say even if you had no sin which you might desire to be forgiven you. But as it is, whosoever you are, you are a man; though you be righteous, you are a man; whether you are a layman, or monk, or clerk, or Bishop, or Apostle, you are a man. Hear the Apostle's voice, If we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. He, that famous John and an Evangelist, he whom the Lord Christ loved beyond all the rest, who lay on His breast, he says, If we shall say. He did not say, If you shall say that you have no sin, but if we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He joined himself in the guilt, that he might be joined in the pardon also. If we shall say. Consider who it is that says, If we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we shall confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. How does He cleanse? By forgiving, not as though He found nothing to punish, but as finding something to forgive. So then, Brethren, if we have sins, let us forgive them that ask us. Let us not retain enmities in our heart against another. For the retaining of enmities more than anything corrupts this heart of ours.

5. I would then that you should forgive, seeing that I find you asking forgiveness. You are asked, forgive: you are asked, and you will ask yourself; you are asked, forgive; you will ask to be forgiven; for, lo, the time of prayer will come: I have you fast in the words you will have to speak. You will say, Our Father, which art in heaven. For you will not be in the number of children, if you shall not say, Our Father. So then you will say, Our Father, which art in heaven. Follow on; Hallowed be Your Name. Say on, Your kingdom come. Follow still on, Your will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. See what you add next, Give us this day our daily bread. Where are your riches? So you are a beggar. Nevertheless in the mean while (it is the point I am speaking of), say what is next after, Give us this day our daily bread. Say what follows this: Forgive us our debts. Now you have come to my words, Forgive us our debts. By what right? By what covenant? On what condition? On what express stipulation? As we also forgive our debtors. It is but a small thing that you do not forgive; yea you do more, you lie unto God. The condition is laid down, the law fixed. Forgive as I forgive. Therefore He does not forgive, unless you forgive. Forgive as I forgive. You wish to be forgiven when you ask; forgive him that asks of you. He that is skilled in heaven's laws has dictated these prayers: He does not deceive you; ask according to the tenor of His heavenly voice: say, Forgive us, as we also forgive, and do what you say. He that lies in his prayers, loses the benefit he seeks: he that lies in his prayers, both loses his cause, and finds his punishment. And if any one lies to the emperor, he is convicted of his lie at his coming: but when you lie in prayer, you by your very prayer are convicted. For God does not seek for witness as regards you to convict you. He who dictated the prayers to you, is your Advocate: if you lie, He is a witness against you: if you do not amend yourself, He will be your Judge. So then both say it, and do. For if you say it not, you will not obtain making your requests contrary to the law; but if you say it and do it not, you will be further guilty of lying. There is no means of evading that verse, save by fulfilling what we say. Can we blot this verse out of our prayer? Would ye that clause, Forgive us our debts, should be there, and that we should blot out what follows, As we also forgive our debtors? You shall not blot it out, lest you be first blotted out yourself. So then in this prayer you say, Give, and you say, Forgive: that you may receive what you have not, and may be forgiven what you have done amiss. So then you wish to receive, give; you wish to be forgiven, forgive. It is a brief summary. Hear Christ Himself in another place, Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. What will you forgive? What others have sinned against you. What shall you be forgiven? What you have sinned yourselves. Forgive. Give, and there shall be given you what ye desire, eternal life. Support the temporal life of the poor man, sustain the poor man's present life, and for this so small and earthly seed you shall receive for harvest life eternal. Amen.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 18:1 ,They ought always to pray, and not to faint, etc. And on the two who went up into the temple to pray: and of the little children who were presented unto Christ.

1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel builds us up unto the duty of praying and believing, and of not putting our trust in ourselves, but in the Lord. What greater encouragement to prayer than the parable which is proposed to us of the unjust judge? For an unjust judge, who feared not God, nor regarded man, yet gave ear to a widow who besought him, overcome by her importunity, not inclined thereto by kindness. If he then heard her prayer, who hated to be asked, how must He hear who exhorts us to ask? When therefore by this comparison from a contrary case the Lord had taught that men ought always to pray and not to faint, He added and said, Nevertheless, when the Son of Man shall come, do you think that He shall find faith on the earth? If faith fail, prayer perishes. For who prays for that which he does not believe? Whence also the blessed Apostle, when he exhorted to prayer, said, Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved. And in order to show that faith is the fountain of prayer, he went on and said, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? So then that we may pray, let us believe; and that this same faith whereby we pray fail not, let us pray. Faith pours out prayer, and the pouring out of prayer obtains the strengthening of faith. Faith, I say, pours out prayer, the pouring out of prayer obtains strengthening even for faith itself. For that faith might not fail in temptations, therefore did the Lord say, Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Watch, He says, and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. What is to enter into temptation, but to depart from faith? For so far temptation advances as faith gives way: and so far temptation gives way, as faith advances. For that you may know, Beloved, more plainly, that the Lord said, Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation, as touching faith lest it should fail and perish; He said in the same place of the Gospel, This night has Satan desired to sift you as wheat, and I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fail not. He that defends prays, and shall not he pray who is in peril? For in the words of the Lord, when the Son of Man shall come, do you think that He shall find faith on the earth? He spoke of that faith, which is perfect. For it is scarce found on the earth. Lo! This Church of God is full: and who would come hither, if there were no faith? But who would not remove mountains, if there were full faith? Look at the very Apostles: they would not have left all they had, have trodden under foot this world's hope, and followed the Lord, if they had not had great faith; and yet if they had full faith, they would not have said to the Lord, Increase our faith. See again, that man confessing both of himself (behold faith, yet not full faith), who when he had presented to the Lord his son to be cured of an evil spirit, and was asked whether he believed, answered and said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Lord, says he, I believe, I believe; therefore there was faith. But help my unbelief, therefore there was not full faith.

2. But inasmuch as faith belongs not to the proud, but to the humble, He spoke this parable unto certain who seemed to themselves to be righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee said, God, I thank You that I am not as the rest of men. He might at least have said, as many men. What does, as the rest of men, mean, but all except himself? I, he says, am just, the rest are sinners. I am not as the rest of men, unjust, extortioners, adulterers. And, lo, from your neighbour, the publican, you take occasion of greater pride. As, he says, this publican. I, he says, am alone, he is of the rest. I am not, says he, such as he is, through my righteous deeds, whereby I have no unrighteousness. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. In all his words seek out for any one thing that he asked of God, and you will find nothing. He went up to pray: he had no mind to pray to God, but to laud himself. Nay, it is but a small part of it, that he prayed not to God, but lauded himself. More than this he even mocked him that did pray. But the Publican stood afar off; and yet he was in deed near to God. The consciousness of his heart kept him off, piety brought him close. But the Publican stood afar off: yet the Lord regarded him near. For the Lord is high, yet has He respect unto the lowly. But those that are high as was this Pharisee, He knows afar off. The high indeed God knows afar off, but He does not pardon them. Hear still more the humility of the Publican. It is but a small matter that he stood afar off; he did not even lift up his eyes unto heaven. He looked not, that he might be looked upon. He did not dare to look upwards, his conscience pressed him down: but hope lifted him up. Hear again, he smote his breast. He punished himself: wherefore the Lord spared him for his confession. He smote his breast, saying, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. See who he is that prays. Why do you marvel that God should pardon, when he acknowledges his own sin? Thus you have heard the case of the Pharisee and Publican; now hear the sentence; you have heard the proud accuser, you have heard the humble criminal; hear now the Judge. Verily I say unto you. The Truth says, God says, the Judge says it. Verily I say unto you, That Publican went down from the temple justified rather than that Pharisee. Tell us, Lord, the cause. Lo! I see that the publican goes down from the temple justified rather than the Pharisee. I ask why? Do you ask why? Hear why. Because every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. You have heard the sentence, beware of its evil cause. In other words, you have heard the sentence, beware of pride.

3. Let now those ungodly babblers, whosoever they be, who presume on their own strength, let them hear and see these things: let them hear who say, God made me a man, I make myself just. O you who are worse and more detestable than the Pharisee! The Pharisee in the Gospel did indeed call himself just, but yet he gave thanks to God for it. He called himself just, but yet he gave God thanks. I thank You, O God, that I am not as the rest of men. I thank You, O God. He gives God thanks, that he is not as the rest of men: and yet he is blamed as being proud and puffed up; not in that he gave God thanks, but in that he desired as it were no more to be added unto him. I thank you that I am not as the rest of men, unjust. So then you are just; so then you ask for nothing; so then you are full already; so then the life of man is not a trial upon earth; so then you are full already; so then you abound already, so then you have no ground for saying, Forgive us our debts! What must his case be then who impiously impugns grace, if he is blamed who give thanks proudly?

4. And, lo, after the case had been stated, and the sentence pronounced, little children also came forth, yea, rather, are carried and presented to be touched. To be touched by whom, but the Physician? Surely, it will be said, they must be whole. To whom are the infants presented to be touched? To whom? To the Saviour. If to the Saviour, they are brought to be saved. To whom, but to Him who came to seek and to save what was lost. How were they lost? As far as concerns them personally, I see that they are without fault, I am seeking for their guiltiness. Whence is it? I listen to the Apostle, By one man sin entered into the world. By one man, he says, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men by him in whom all sinned. Let then the little children come, let them come: let the Lord be heard. Suffer little children to come unto Me. Let the little ones come, let the sick come to the Physician, the lost to their Redeemer: let them come, let no man hinder them. In the branch they have not yet committed any evil, but they are ruined in their root. Let the Lord bless the small with the great. Let the Physician touch both small and great. The cause of the little ones we commend to their elders. Speak ye for them who are mute, pray for them who weep. If you are not their elders to no purpose, be ye their guardians: defend them who are not able yet to manage their own cause. Common is the loss, let the finding be common: we were lost all together, together be we found in Christ. Uneven is the desert, but common is the grace. They have no evil but what they have drawn from the source: they have no evil but what they have derived from the first original. Let not them keep them off from salvation, who to what they have so derived have added much more evil. The elder in age is the elder in iniquity too. But the grace of God effaces what you have derived, effaces too what you have added. For, where sin abounded, grace has superabounded.

On the words of the Gospel, Luke 24:36 , He himself stood in the midst of them, and says unto them, peace be unto you, etc.

1. The Lord appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, as you have heard, and saluted them, saying, Peace be unto you. This is peace indeed, and the salutation of salvation: for the very word salutation has received its name from salvation. And what can be better than that Salvation Itself should salute man? For Christ is our Salvation. He is our Salvation, who was wounded for us, and fixed by nails to the tree, and being taken down from the tree, was laid in the sepulchre. And from the sepulchre He arose, with His wounds healed, His scars kept. For this He judged expedient for His disciples, that His scars should be kept, where by the wounds of their hearts might be healed. What wounds? The wounds of unbelief. For He appeared to their eyes, exhibiting real flesh, and they thought they saw a spirit. It is no light wound, this wound of the heart. Yea, they have made a malignant heresy who have abided in this wound. But do we suppose that the disciples had not been wounded, because they were so quickly healed? Only, Beloved, suppose, if they had continued in this wound, to think that the Body which had been buried, could not rise again, but that a spirit in the image of a body, deceived the eyes of men: if they had continued in this belief, yea, rather in this unbelief, not their wounds, but their death would have had to be bewailed.

2. But what said the Lord Jesus? Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts ascend into your hearts? If thoughts ascend into your heart, the thoughts come from the earth. But it is good for a man, not that a thought should ascend into his heart, but that his heart should itself ascend upwards, where the Apostle would have believers place their hearts, to whom he said, If you be risen with Christ, mind those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Seek those things which are above, not the things which are upon the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ your life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. In what glory? The glory of the resurrection. In what glory? Hear the Apostle saying of this body, It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. This glory the Apostles were unwilling to assign to their Master, their Christ, their Lord: they did not believe that His Body could rise from the sepulchre: they thought Him to be a Spirit, though they saw His flesh, and they believed not their very eyes. Yet we believe them who preach but do not show Him. Lo, they believed not Christ who showed Himself to them. Malignant wound! Let the remedies for these scars come forth. Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts ascend into your hearts? See My hands and My feet, where I was fixed with the nails. Handle and see. But ye see, and yet do not see. Handle and see. What? That a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have. When He had thus spoken, so it is written, He showed them His hands and His feet.

3. And while they were yet in hesitation, and wondered for joy. Now there was joy already, and yet hesitation continued. For a thing incredible had taken place, yet taken place it had. Is it at this day a thing incredible, that the Body of the Lord rose again from the sepulchre? The whole cleansed world has believed it; whoever has not believed it, has remained in his uncleanness. Yet at that time it was incredible: and persuasion was addressed not to the eyes only, but to the hands also, that by the bodily senses faith might descend into their heart, and that faith so descending into their heart might be preached throughout the world to them who neither saw nor touched, and yet without doubting believed. Have ye, says He, anything to eat? How much does the good Builder still to build up the edifice of faith? He did not hunger, yet He asked to eat. And He ate by an act of His power, not through necessity. So then let the disciples acknowledge the verity of His body, which the world has acknowledged at their preaching.

4. If haply there be any heretics who still in their hearts maintain that Christ exhibited Himself to sight, but that Christ's was not very flesh; let them now lay aside that error, and let the Gospel persuade them. We do but blame them for entertaining this conceit: He will damn them if they shall persevere in it. Who are you who dost not believe that a body laid in the sepulchre could rise again? If you are a Manichee, who dost not believe that He was crucified either, because you do not believe that He was even born, you declare that all that He showed was false. He showed what was false, and do you speak the truth? Thou dost not lie with your mouth, and did He lie in His body? Lo you suppose that He appeared unto the eyes of men what He really was not, that He was a spirit, not flesh. Hear Him: He loves you, let Him not condemn you. Hear Him speaking: lo, He speaks to you, you unhappy one, He speaks to you, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts ascend into your heart? See, says He, My hands and My feet. Handle and see, because a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see Me have. This spoke the Truth, and did He deceive? It was a body then, it was flesh; that which had been buried, appeared. Let doubting perish, and meet praise ensue.

5. He showed himself then to the disciples. What is Himself? The Head of His Church. The Church was foreseen by Him as in you to be throughout the world, by the disciples it was not yet seen. He showed the Head, He promised the Body. For what did He add next? These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you. What is this, While I was yet with you? Was He not with them then when He was speaking to them? What is, when I was yet with you? Was with you as mortal, which now I am not. I was with you when I had yet to die. What is, with you? With you who were to die, Myself to die. Now I am no more with you: for I am with those who are to die, Myself to die no more forever. This then is what I said to you. What? That all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me. I told you that all things must be fulfilled. Then opened He their understanding. Come then, O Lord, employ Your keys, open, that we may understand. Lo, Thou dost tell all things, and yet are not believed. You are thought to be a spirit, art touched, art rudely handled, and yet they who touch You hesitate. Thou dost admonish them out of the Scriptures, and yet they understand You not. Their hearts are closed, open, and enter in. He did so. Then opened He their understanding. Open, O Lord, yea, open the heart of him who is in doubt concerning Christ. Open his understanding who believes that Christ was a phantom. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.

6. And He said to them. What? That thus it behooved. That thus it is written, and thus it behooved. What? That Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead the third day. And this they saw, they saw Him suffering, they saw Him hanging, they saw Him with them alive after His resurrection. What then did they not see? The Body, that is, the Church. Him they saw, her they saw not. They saw the Bridegroom, the Bride yet lay hid. Let him promise her too. Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. This is the Bridegroom, what of the Bride? And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. This the disciples did not yet see: they did not yet see the Church throughout all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. They saw the Head, and they believed the Head touching the Body. By this which they saw, they believed that which they saw not. We too are like to them: we see something which they saw not, and something we do not see which they did see. What do we see, which they saw not? The Church throughout all nations. What do we not see, which they saw? Christ present in the flesh. As they saw Him, and believed concerning the Body, so do we see the Body; let us believe concerning the Head. Let what we have respectively seen help us. The sight of Christ helped them to believe the future Church: the sight of the Church helps us to believe that Christ has risen. Their faith was made complete, and ours is made complete also. Their faith was made complete from the sight of the Head, ours is made complete by the sight of the Body. Christ was made known to them wholly, and to us is He so made known: but He was not seen wholly by them, nor by us has He been wholly seen. By them the Head was seen, the Body believed. By us the Body has been seen, the Head believed. Yet to none is Christ lacking: in all He is complete, though to this day His Body remains imperfect. The Apostles believed; through them many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem believed; Judæa believed. Samaria believed. Let the members be added on, the building added on to the foundation. For no other foundation can any man lay, says the Apostle, than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Let the Jews rage madly, and be filled with jealousy: Stephen be stoned, Saul keep the raiment of them who stone him, Saul, one day to be the Apostle Paul. Let Stephen be killed, the Church of Jerusalem dispersed in confusion: out of it go forth burning brands, and spread themselves and spread their flame. For in the Church of Jerusalem, as it were burning brands were set on fire by the Holy Spirit, when they had all one soul, and one heart to God-ward. When Stephen was stoned, that pile suffered persecution: the brands were dispersed, and the world was set on fire.

7. And then intent on his furious schemes, that Saul received letters from the chief of the priests, and began his journey in his cruel rage, breathing out slaughter, thirsting for blood, to drag bound and to hurry off to punishment whomsoever he could, and from every quarter that he could, and to satiate himself with the shedding of their blood. But where was God, where was Christ, where He that had crowned Stephen? Where, but in heaven? Let Him now look on Saul, and mock him in his fury, and call from heaven, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' I am in heaven, and you in earth, and yet you persecute Me. Thou dost not touch the body, but my members you are treading down. Yet what are you doing? What are you gaining? 'It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.' Kick as you will, you only distress yourself. Lay aside your fury then, recover soundness. Lay aside evil counsel, seek after good succour. By that voice he was struck to the earth. Who was struck to the earth? The persecutor. Lo, by that one word was he overcome. After what were you going, after what was your fury carrying you? Those whom you were seeking out, now you follow; whom you were persecuting, now for them you suffer persecution. He rises up the preacher, who was struck to the earth, the persecutor. He heard the Lord's voice. He was blinded, but in the body only, that he might be enlightened in heart. He was brought to Ananias, catechised on sundry points, baptized, and so came forth an Apostle. Speak then, preach, preach Christ, spread His doctrine, O you goodly leader of the flock, but lately a wolf. See him, mark him, who once was raging. But for me, God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Spread the Gospel: scatter with your mouth what you have conceived in your heart. Let the nations hear, let the nations believe; let the nations multiply, let the Lord's empurpled spouse spring forth from the blood of Martyrs. And from her how many have come already, how many members have cleaved to the Head, and cleave to Him still and believe! They were baptized, and others shall be baptized, and after them shall others come. Then I say, at the end of the world shall the stones be joined to the foundation, living stones, holy stones, that at the end the whole edifice may be built by that Church, yea by this very Church which now sings the new song, while the house is in building. For so the Psalm itself says, When the house was in building after the captivity; and what says it, Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth. How great a house is this! But when does it sing the new song? When it is in building. When is it dedicated? At the end of the world. Its foundation has been already dedicated, because He has ascended into heaven, and dies no more. When we too shall have risen to die no more, then shall we be dedicated.

On the words of the Gospel, John 1:1 , In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, etc. Against the Arians.

1. The section of the Gospel which has been read, most dearly beloved brethren, looks for the pure eye of the heart. For from John's Gospel we have understood our Lord Jesus Christ according to His Divinity for the creating of the whole creation, and according to His Humanity for the recovery of the creature fallen. Now in this same Gospel we find what sort and how great a man was John, that from the dignity of the dispenser it may be understood of how great a price is the Word which could be announced by such a man; yea, rather how without price is That which surpasses all things. For any purchasable thing is either equal to the price, or it is below it, or it exceeds it. When any one procures a thing for as much as it is worth, the price is equal to the thing which is procured; when for less, it is below it; when for more, it exceeds it. But to the Word of God nothing can either be equalled, or to exchange can anything be below It, or above It. For all things can be below the Word of God, for that all things were made by Him; yet are they not in such wise below, as if they were the price of the Word, that any one should give something to receive That. Yet if we may say so, and if any principle or custom of speaking admit this expression, the price for procuring the Word, is the procurer himself, who will have given himself for himself to This Word. Accordingly when we buy anything we look out for something to give, that for the price we give we may have the thing we wish to buy. And that which we give is without us; and if it was with us before, what we give becomes without us, that that which we procure may be with us. Whatever price the purchaser may find it, it must needs be such as that he gives what he has, and receives what he has not; yet so that he from whom the price goes himself remains, and that for which he gives the price is added to him. But whoever would procure this Word, whoever would have it, let him not seek for anything without himself to give, let him give himself. And when he shall have done this, he does not lose himself, as he loses the price when he buys anything.

2. The Word of God then is set forth before all men; let them who can, procure It, and they can who have a godly will. For in That Word is peace; and peace on earth is to men of good will. So then whoever will procure it, let him give himself. This is as it were the price of the Word, if so it may in any way be said, when he that gives does not lose himself, and gains the Word for which he gives himself, and gains himself too in the Word to whom he gives himself. And what gives he to the Word? Not ought that is any other's than His, for whom he gives himself; but what by the Same Word was made, that is given back to Him to be remade; All things were made by Him. If all things, then of course man too. If the heaven, and earth, and sea, and all things that are therein, if the whole creation; of course more manifestly he, who being made after the image of God by the Word was made man.

3. I am not now, brethren, discussing how the words, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, can be understood. After an ineffable sort it may be understood; it cannot by the words of man he made to be understood. I am treating of the Word of God, and telling you why It is not understood. I am not now speaking to make It understood, but I tell you what hinders It from being understood. For He is a certain Form, a Form not formed, but the Form of all things formed; a Form unchangeable, without failure, without decay, without you, without place, surpassing all things, being in all things, as at once a kind of foundation in which they are, and a Head-stone under which they are. If you say that all things are in Him, you lie not. For This Word is called the Wisdom of God; and we have it written, In Wisdom have You made all things. Lo, then in Him are all things: and yet in that He is God, under Him are all things. I am showing how incomprehensible is what has been read; yet it has been read, not that it should be comprehended by man, but that man should sorrow that he comprehends it not, and find out whereby he is hindered from comprehending, and remove those hindrances, and, himself changed from worse to better, aspire after the perception of the unchangeable Word. For the Word does not advance or increase by the addition of those who know It; but is Entire, if you abide; Entire, if you depart; Entire, when you return; abiding in Itself, and renewing all things. It is then the Form of all things, the Form unfashioned, without you, as I have said, and without space. For whatsoever is contained in space, is circumscribed. Every form is circumscribed by bounds; it has limits wherefrom and whereunto it reaches. Again, what is contained in place, and has extension in a sort of bulk and space, is less in its parts than in the whole. God grant that you may understand.

4. Now from the bodies which are day by day before our eyes, which we see, which we touch, among which we live, we are able to judge how that every body has a form in space. Now everything which occupies a certain space, is less in its parts than in its whole. The arm, for instance, is a part of the human body; of course the arm is less than the whole body. And if the arm be less, it occupies a smaller space. So again the head, in that it is a part of the body, is contained in less space, and is less than the whole body of which it is the head. So all things which are in space, are less in their several parts than in the whole. Let us entertain no such idea, no such thought concerning That Word. Let us not form our conceptions of spiritual things from the suggestion of the flesh. That Word, That God, is not less in part than in the whole.

5. But you are not able to conceive of any such thing. Such ignorance is more pious than presumptuous knowledge. For we are speaking of God. It is said, And the Word was God. We are speaking of God; what marvel, if you do not comprehend? For if you comprehend, He is not God. Be there a pious confession of ignorance, rather than a rash profession of knowledge. To reach to God in any measure by the mind, is a great blessedness; but to comprehend Him, is altogether impossible. God is an object for the mind, He is to be understood; a body is for the eyes, it is to be seen. But do you think that you comprehend a body by the eye? You can not at all. For whatever you look at, you do not see the whole. If you see a man's face, you do not see his back at the time you see the face; and when you see the back, you do not at that time see the face. Thou dost not then so see, as to comprehend; but when you see another part which you had not seen before, unless memory aid you to remember that you have seen that from which you withdraw, you could never say that you had comprehended anything even on the surface. Thou handlest what you see, turnest it about on this side and that, or yourself dost go round it to see the whole. In one view then you can not see the whole. And as long as you turn it about to see it, you are but seeing the parts; and by putting together that you have seen the other parts, you fancy that you see the whole. But this must not be understood as the sight of the eyes, but the activity of the memory. What then can be said, Brethren, of that Word? Lo, of the bodies which are before our eyes we say they cannot comprehend them by a glance; what eye of the heart then comprehends God? Enough that it reach to Him if the eye be pure. But if it reach, it reaches by a sort of incorporeal and spiritual touch, yet it does not comprehend; and that, only if it be pure. And a man is made blessed by touching with the heart That which ever abides Blessed; and that is this Very Everlasting Blessedness, and that Everlasting Life, whereby man is made to live; that Perfect Wisdom, whereby man is made wise; that Everlasting Light, whereby man becomes enlightened. And see how by this touch you are made what you were not, you do not make that you touch be what it was not before. I repeat it, there grows no increase to God from them that know Him, but to them that know Him, from the knowledge of God. Let us not suppose, dearly beloved Brethren, that we confer any benefit on God, because I have said that we give Him in a manner a price. For we do not give Him anything whereby He can be increased, Who when you fall away, is Entire, and when you return, abides Entire, ready to make Himself seen that He may bless those who turn to Him, and punish those with blindness who turn away. For by this blindness, as the beginning of punishment, does He first execute vengeance on the soul that turns away from Him. For whoever turns away from the True Light, that is from God, is at once made blind. He is not yet sensible of his punishment, but he has it already.

6. Accordingly, dearly beloved brethren, let us understand that the Word of God is incorporeally, inviolably, unchangeably, without temporal nativity, yet born of God. Do we think that we can any how persuade certain unbelievers that that is not it, consistent with the truth, which is said by us according to the Catholic faith,which is contrary to the Arians, by whom the Church of God has been often tried, forasmuch as carnal men receive with greater ease what they have been accustomed to see? For some have dared to say, The Father is greater than the Son, and precedes Him in you; that is, the Father is greater than the Son, and the Son is less than the Father, and is preceded by the Father in you. And they argue thus; If He was born, of course the Father was before His Son was born to Him. Attend; may He be with me, while your prayers assist me, and with godly heed desire to receive what He may give, what He may suggest to me; may He be with me, that I may be able in some sort to explain what I have begun. Yet, brethren, I tell you before I begin, if I shall not be able to explain it, do not suppose that it is the failure of the proof, but of the man. Accordingly I exhort and entreat you to pray; that the mercy of God may be with me, and make the matter be so explained by me, as is meet for you to hear, and for me to speak. They then say thus; If He be the Son of God, He was born. This we confess. For He would not be a Son, if He were not born. It is plain, the faith admits it, the Catholic Church approves it, it is truth. They then go on; If the Son was born to the Father, the Father was before the Son was born to Him. This the faith rejects, Catholic ears reject it, it is anathematized, whoever entertains this conceit is without, he belongs not to the fellowship and society of the saints. Then says he, Give me an explanation, how the Son could be born to the Father, and yet be coeval with Him of whom He was born?

7. And what can we do, brethren, when we are conveying lessons of spiritual things to carnal men; even if so be we ourselves too are not carnal, when we intimate these spiritual truths to carnal men, to men accustomed to the idea of earthly nativities, and seeing the order of these creatures, where succession and departure separates off in age them that beget and them that are begotten? For after the father the son is born, to succeed the father, who in time of course must die. This do we find in men, this in other animals, that the parents are first, the children after them in time. Through this custom of observation they desire to transfer carnal things to spiritual, and by their intentness on carnal things are more easily led into error. For it is not the reason of the hearers which follows those who preach such things, but custom which even entangles themselves, that they do preach such things. And what shall we do? Shall we keep silence? Would that we might! For perchance by silence something might be thought of worthy of the unspeakable subject. For whatsoever cannot be spoken, is unspeakable. Now God is unspeakable. For if the Apostle Paul says, that he was caught up even unto the third heaven, and that he heard unspeakable words; how much more unspeakable is He, who showed such things, which could not be spoken by him to whom they were shown? So then, brethren, it were better if we could keep silence, and say, This the faith contains; so we believe; you are not able to receive it, you are but a babe; you must patiently endure till your wings be grown, lest when you would fly without wings, it should not be the free course of liberty, but the fall of temerity. What do they say against this? O if he had anything to say, he would say it to me. This is the mere excuse of one who is at fault. He is overcome by the truth, who does not choose to answer. He to whom this is said, if he make no answer, though he be not conquered in himself is yet conquered in the wavering brethren. For the weak brethren hear it, and they think that there is really nothing to be said; and perhaps they think right that there is nothing to be said, yet not that there is nothing to be felt. For a man can express nothing which he cannot also feel; but he may feel something which he cannot express.

8. Nevertheless, saving the unspeakableness of that Sovereign Majesty, lest when we shall have produced certain similitudes against them, any one should think that we have by them arrived at that which cannot be expressed or conceived by babes (and if it can be at all even by the more advanced, it can only be in part, only in a riddle, only through a glass; but not as yet, face to face), let us too produce certain similitudes against them, whereby they may be refuted, not it comprehended. For when we say that it may very possibly happen, that it may be understood, that He may both be born, and yet Coeternal with Him of whom He was born, in order to refute this, and prove it as it were to be false, they bring forth similitudes against us. From whence? From the creatures, and they say to us, Every man of course was before he begot a son, he is greater in age than his son; and so a horse was before he begot his foal, and a sheep, and the other animals. Thus do they bring similitudes from the creatures.

9. What! Must we labour too, that we may find resemblances of those things which we are establishing? And what if I should not find any, might I not rightly say, The Nativity of the Creator has, it may be, no resemblance of itself among the creatures? For as far as He surpasses the things which are here, in that He is there, so far does He surpass the things which are born here, in that He was born there. All things here have their being from God; and yet what is to be compared with God? So all things which are born here, are born by His agency. And so perhaps there is no resemblance of His Nativity found, as there is none found whether of His Substance, Unchangeableness, Divinity, Majesty. For what can be found here like these? If then it chance that no resemblance of His Nativity either be found, am I therefore overwhelmed, because I have not found resemblances to the Creator of all things, when desiring to find in the creature what is like the Creator?

10. And in very truth, Brethren, I am not likely to discover any temporal resemblances which I can compare to eternity. But as to those which you have discovered, what are they? What have you discovered? That a father is greater in time than his son; and therefore you would have the Son of God to be less in time than the Eternal Father, because you have found that a son is less than a father born in time. Find me an eternal father here, and you have found a resemblance. Thou findest a son less than a father in time, a temporal son less than a temporal father. Have you found me a temporal son younger than eternal father? Seeing then that in Eternity is stability, but in time variety; in Eternity all things stand still, in time one thing comes, another succeeds; you can find a son of lesser age succeeding his father in the variety of time, for that he himself succeeded to his father also, not a son born in time to a father eternal. How then, Brethren, can we find in the creature anything coeternal, when in the creature we find nothing eternal? You find an eternal father in the creature, and I will find a coeternal son. But if you find not an eternal father, and the one surpasses the other in you; it is sufficient, that for a resemblance I find something coeval. For what is coeternal is one thing what is coeval another. Every day we call them coeval who have the same measure of times; the one is not preceded by the other in time, yet they both whom we call coeval once began to be. Now if I shall be able to discover something which is born coeval with that of which it is born; if two coeval things can be discovered, that which begets, and that which is begotten; we discover in this case things coeval, let us understand in the other things coeternal. If here I shall find that a thing begotten has begun to be ever since that which begets began to be, we may understand at least that the Son of God did not begin to be, ever since He that begot Him did not begin to be. Lo, brethren, perhaps we may discover something in the creature, which is born of something else, and which yet began to be at the same time as that of which it is born began to be. In the latter case, the one began to be when the other began to be; in the former the one did not begin to be, ever since the other began not to be. The first then is coeval, the second coeternal.

11. I suppose that your holiness has understood already what I am saying, that temporal things cannot be compared to eternal; but that by some slight and small resemblance, things coeval may be with things coeternal. Let us find accordingly two coeval things; and let us get our hints as to these resemblances from the Scriptures. We read in the Scriptures of Wisdom, For she is the Brightness of the Everlasting Light. Again we read, The unspotted Mirror of the Majesty of God. Wisdom Herself is called, The Brightness of the Everlasting Light, is called, The Image of the Father; from hence let us take a resemblance, that we may find two coeval things, from which we may understand things coeternal. O you Arian, if I shall find that something that begets does not precede in time that which it begot, that a thing begotten is not less in time than that of which it is begotten; it is but just that you concede to me, that these coeternals may be found in the Creator, when coevals can be found in the creature. I think that this indeed occurs already to some brethren. For some anticipated me as soon as I said, For She is the Brightness of the Everlasting Light. For the fire throws out light, light is thrown out from the fire. If we ask which comes from which, every day when we light a candle are we reminded of some invisible and indescribable thing, that the candle as it were of our understanding may be lighted in this night of the world. Observe him who lights a candle. While the candle is not lighted, there is as yet no fire, nor any brightness which proceeds from the fire. But I ask, saying, Does the brightness come from the fire, or the fire from the brightness? Every soul answers me (for it has pleased God to sow the beginnings of understanding and wisdom in every soul); every soul answers me, and no one doubts, that that brightness comes from the fire, not the fire from the brightness. Let us then look at the fire as the father of that brightness; for I have said before that we are looking for things coeval, not coeternal. If I desire to light a candle, there is as yet no fire there, nor yet that brightness; but immediately that I have lighted it, together with the fire comes forth the brightness also. Give me then here a fire without brightness, and I believe you that the Father ever was without the Son.

12. Attend; The matter has been explained by me as so great a matter could be, by the Lord helping the earnestness of your prayers, and the preparation of your heart, you have taken in as much as you were able to receive. Yet these things are ineffable. Do not suppose that anything worthy of the subject has been spoken, if it only be for that things carnal are compared with coeternal, things temporal with things abiding ever, things subject to extinction to things immortal. But inasmuch as the Son is said also to be the Image of the Father, let us take from this too a sort of resemblance, though in things very different, as I have said before. The image of a man looking into a glass is thrown out from the glass. But this cannot assist us for the clearing of that which we are endeavouring in some sort to explain. For it is said to me, A man who looks into a glass of course, 'was' already, and was born before that. The image came out only as soon as he looked at himself. For a man who looks in a glass, 'was' before he came to the glass. What then shall we find, from which we may be able to draw out such a resemblance, as we did from the fire and the brightness? Let us find one from a very little thing. You know without any difficulty how water often throws out the images of bodies. I mean, when any one is passing, or standing still along the water, he sees his own image there. Let us suppose then something born on the water's side, as a shrub, or an herb, is it not born together with its image? As soon as ever it begins to be, its image begins to be with it, it does not precede in its birth its own image; it cannot be showed to me that anything is born upon the water's side, and that its image has appeared afterwards, whereas it first appeared without its image; but it is born together with its image; and yet the image comes from it, not it from the image. It is born then together with its image, and the shrub and its image begin to be together. Do you not confess that the image is begotten of that shrub, not the shrub of the image? So then you confess that the image is from that shrub. Accordingly that which begets and that which is begotten began to be together. Therefore they are coeval. If the shrub had been always, the image from the shrub would have been always too. Now that which has its being from something else, is of course born of it. It is possible then that one that begets might always be, and always be together with that which was born of him. For here it was that we were in perplexity and trouble, how the Eternal Nativity might be understood. So then the Son of God is so called on this principle, that there is the Father also, that He has One from whom He derives His Being; not on this, that the Father is first in time, and the Son after. The Father always was, the Son always from the Father. And because whatever is from another thing, is born, therefore the Son was always born. The Father always was, the image from Him always was; as that image of the shrub was born of the shrub, and if the shrub had always been, the image would also have always been born from the shrub. You could not find things begotten coeternal with the eternal begetters, but you have found things born coeval with those that begot them in time. I understand the Son coeternal with the Eternal who begot Him. For what with regard to things of time is coeval, with regard to things eternal is coeternal.

13. Here there is somewhat for you to consider, Brethren, as a protection against blasphemies. For it is constantly said, See you have produced certain resemblances; but the brightness which is thrown out from the fire, shines less brilliantly than the fire itself, and the image of the shrub has less proper subsistence, than that shrub of which it is the image. These instances have a resemblance, but they have not a thorough equality: wherefore they do not seem to be of the same substance. What then shall we say, if any one say, The Father then is to the Son, such as the brightness is to the fire, and the image to the shrub? See I have understood the Father to be eternal; and the Son to be coeternal with Him; nevertheless say we that He is as the brightness which is thrown out from and is less brilliant than the fire, or as the image which is reflected from and has less real existence than the shrub? No, but there is a thorough equality. I do not believe it, he will say, because you have not discovered a resemblance. Well then, believe the Apostle, because he was able to see what I have said. For he says, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Equality is perfect likeness in every way. And what said he? Not robbery. Why? Because that is robbery which belongs to another.

14. Yet from these two comparisons, these two kinds, we may perhaps find in the creature a resemblance whereby we may understand how the Son is both coeternal with the Father, and in no respect less than He. But this we cannot find in one kind of resemblances singly: let us join both kinds together. How both kinds? One, of which they themselves give instances of resemblances, and the other, of which we gave. For they gave instances of resemblances from those things which are born in time, and are preceded in time by them of whom they are born, as man of man. He that is born first is greater in time; but yet man and man, that is of the same substance. For man begets a man, and a horse a horse, and a sheep a sheep. These beget after the same substance, but not after the same time. They are diverse in time, but not in nature diverse. What then do we praise here in this nativity? The equality of nature surely. But what is wanting? The equality of time. Let us retain the one thing which is praised here, that is, the equality of nature. But in the other kind of resemblances, which we gave from the brightness of the fire and the image of the shrub, you find not an equality of nature, you do find an equality of time. What do we praise here? Equality of time. What is wanting? Equality of nature. Join the things which you praise together. For in the creatures there is wanting something which you praise, in the Creator nothing can be wanting: because what you find in the creature, came forth from the Hand of the Creator. What then is there in things coeval? Must not that be given to God which you praise here in? But what is wanting must not be attributed to that Sovereign Majesty, in the which there is no defect. See I offer to you things begetting coeval with things begotten: in these you praise the equality of time, but find fault with the inequality of nature. What you find fault with, do not attribute to God; what you praise, attribute to Him; so from this kind of resemblances you attribute to Him instead of a cotemporaneousness a coeternity, that the Son may be coeternal with Him of whom He was born. But from the other kind of resemblances, which itself too is a creature of God, and ought to praise the Creator, what do you praise in them? Equality of nature. You had before assigned coeternity by reason of the first distinction; by reason of this last, assign equality; and the nativity of the same substance is complete. For what is more mad, my brethren, than that I should praise the creature in anything which does not exist in the Creator? In man I praise equality of nature, shall I not believe it in Him who made man? That which is born of man is man; shall not that which is born of God, be That which He is of whom He was born? Converse have I none with works which God has not made. Let then all the works of the Creator praise Him. I find in the one case a cotemporaneousness, I get at the knowledge of a coeternity in the other. In the first I find an equality of nature, I understand an equality of substance in the other. In this then that is wholly, which in the other case is found in the several parts, and several things. It is then wholly here altogether, and not only what is in the creature; I find it wholly here, but as being in the Creator, in so much higher a way, in that the one is visible, the Other Invisible; the one temporal, the Other Eternal; the one changeable, the Other Unchangeable; the one corruptible, the Other Incorruptible. Lastly, in the case of men themselves, what we find, man and man, are two men; here the Father and the Son are One God.

15. I render unspeakable thanks to our Lord God, that He has vouchsafed, at your prayers, to deliver my infirmity from this most perplexed and difficult place. Yet above all things remember this, that the Creator transcends indescribably whatever we could gather from the creature, whether by the bodily senses, or the thought of the mind. But would you with the mind reach Him? Purify your mind, purify your heart. Make clean the eye whereby That, whatever It be, may be reached. For blessed are the clean in heart, for they shall see God. But while the heart was not cleansed, what could be provided and granted more mercifully by Him, than that That Word of whom we have spoken so great and so many things, and yet have spoken nothing worthy of Him; that That Word, by whom all things were made, should become that which we are, that we might be able to attain to That which we are not? For we are not God; but with the mind or the interior eye of the heart we can see God. Our eyes dulled by sins, blinded, enfeebled by infirmity, desire to see; but we are in hope, not yet in possession. We are the children of God. This says John, who says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; he who lay on the Lord's Breast, who drew in these secrets from the Bosom of His Heart; he says, Dearly beloved, we are the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. This is promised us.

16. But in order that we may attain, if we cannot yet see God the Word, let us hear the Word made Flesh; seeing we are carnal, let us hear the Word Incarnate. For for this cause came He, for this cause took upon Him our infirmity, that you might be able to receive the strong words of a God bearing your weakness. And He is truly called milk. For He gives milk to infants, that He may give the meat of wisdom to them of riper years. Suck then now with patience, that you may be fed to your heart's most eager wish. For how is even the milk, wherewith infants are suckled, made? Was it not solid meat on the table? But the infant is not strong enough to eat the meat which is on the table; what does the mother do? She turns the meat into the substance of her flesh, and makes milk of it. Makes for us what we may be able to take. So the Word was made Flesh, that we little ones, who were indeed as infants with respect to food, might be nourished by milk. But there is this difference; that when the mother makes the food turned into flesh milk, the food is turned into milk; whereas the Word abiding Itself unchangeably assumed Flesh, that there might be, as it were, a tissue of the two. What He is, He did not corrupt or change, that in your fashion, He might speak to you, not transformed and turned into man. For abiding unalterable, unchangeable, and altogether inviolable, He became what you are in respect of you, what He is in Himself in respect of the Father.

17. For what does He say Himself to the infirm, to the end that recovering that sight, they may be able in some measure to reach the Word by whom all things were made? 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, that I am meek and lowly in heart. What does the Master, the Son of God, the Wisdom of God, by whom all things were made, proclaim? He calls the human race, and says, Come unto Me, all you that labour, and learn of Me. You were thinking haply that the Wisdom of God would say, Learn how I have made the heavens and the stars; how all things also were numbered in Me before they were made, how by virtue of unchangeable principles your very hairs were numbered. Did you think that Wisdom would say these things, and such as these? No. But first that. That I am meek and lowly in heart. Lo, see here what ye can comprehend, brethren; it is surely a little thing. We are making our way to great things, let us receive the little things, and we shall be great. Would you comprehend the height of God? First comprehend the lowliness of God. Condescend to be humble for your own sake, seeing that God condescended to be humble for your sake too; for it was not for His own. Comprehend then the lowliness of Christ, learn to be humble, be loth to be proud. Confess your infirmity, lie patiently before the Physician; when you shall have comprehended His lowliness, you rise with Him; not as though He should rise Himself in that He is the Word; but you rather, that He may be more and more comprehended by you. At first you understood falteringly and hesitatingly; afterwards you will understand more surely and more clearly. He does not increase, but you make progress, and He seems as it were to rise with you. So it is, brethren. Believe the commandments of God, and do them, and He will give you the strength of understanding. Do not put the last first, and, as it were, prefer knowledge to the commandments of God; lest ye be only the lower, and none the more firmly rooted. Consider a tree; first it strikes downwards, that it may grow up on high; fixes its root low in the ground, that it may extend its top to heaven. Does it make an effort to grow except from humiliation? And would you without charity comprehend these transcendent matters, shoot toward the heaven without a root? This were a ruin, not a growing. With Christ then dwelling in your hearts by faith, be ye rooted and grounded in charity, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

On the same words of the Gospel, John 1 , In the beginning was the word, etc.

1. All you who are looking for a man's many words, understand the One Word of God, In the beginning was the Word. Now, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But, The Word was, since we have heard, In the beginning God made. Acknowledge we in Him the Creator; for Creator is He who made; and the creature what He made. For no creature which was made was, as God the Word was, by whom it was made, always. Now when we heard The Word was, with whom was It? We understand the Father who did not make nor create the Same Word, but begot Him. For, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Whereby made He them? The Word was, and the Word was with God; but what kind of Word? Did it sound and so pass away? Was it a mere thought, and motion of the mind? No. Was it suggested by memory, and uttered? No. What kind of Word then? Why do you look for many words from me? The Word was God. When we hear, The Word was God, we do not make a second God; but we understand the Son. For the Word is the Son of God. Lo, the Son, and What but God? For The Word was God. What the Father? God of course. If the Father is God and the Son God, do we make two Gods? God forbid. The Father is God, the Son God; but the Father and the Son One God. For the Only Son of God was not made, but born. In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth; but the Word was of the Father. Was the Word therefore made by the Father? No. All things were made by Him. If by Him all things were made, was He too made by Himself? Do not imagine that He by whom you hear all things were made was Himself made among all things. For if He were made Himself, all things were not made by Him, but Himself was made among the rest. You say, He was made; what, by Himself? Who can make himself? If then He was made, how by Him were all things made? See, Himself too was made, as you say, not I, for that He was begotten, I do not deny. If then you say that He was made, I ask by what, by whom? By Himself? Then He was, before He was made, that He might make Himself. But if all things were made by Him, understand that He was not Himself made. If you are not able to understand, believe, that you may understand. Faith goes before; understanding follows after; since the Prophet says, Unless ye believe, you shall not understand. The Word was. Look not for time in Him, by whom times were made. The Word was. But you say, There was a time that the Word was not. You say falsely; nowhere do you read this. But I do read for you, In the beginning was the Word. What look you for before the beginning? But if you should be able to find anything before the beginning, this will be the beginning. He is mad who looks for anything before the beginning. What then does he say was before the beginning? In the beginning was the Word.

2. But you will say, The Father both 'was,' and was before the Word. What are you looking for? In the beginning was the Word. What you find, understand; seek not for what you are not able to find. Nothing is before the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. The Son is the Brightness of the Father. Of the Wisdom of the Father, which is the Son, it is said, For He is the brightness of the Everlasting Light. Are you seeking for a Son without a Father? Give me a light without brightness. If there was a time when the Son was not, the Father was a light obscure. For how was He not an obscure Light, if It had no brightness? So then the Father always, the Son always. If the Father always, the Son always. Do you ask of me, whether the Son were born? I answer, born. For He would not be a Son if not born. So when I say, the Son always was, I say in fact was always born. And who understands, Was always born? Give me an eternal fire, and I will give you an eternal brightness. We bless God who has given to us the holy Scriptures. Be not blind in the brightness of the light. Brightness is engendered of the Light, and yet the Brightness is Coeternal with the Light that engenders It. The Light always, its Brightness always. It begot Its Own Brightness; but was it ever without Its Brightness? Let God be allowed to beget an eternal Son. I pray you hear of whom we are speaking; hear, mark, believe, understand. Of God are we speaking. We confess and believe the Son coeternal with the Father. But you will say, When a man begets a Son, he that begets is the elder, and he that is begotten the younger. It is true; in the case of men, he that begets is the elder, and he that is begotten, the younger, and he arrives in time to his father's strength. But why, save that while the one grows, the other grows old? Let the father stand still a while, and in his growing the son will follow on him, and you will see him equal. But see, I give you whereby to understand this. Fire engenders a coeval brightness. Among men you only find sons younger, fathers older; you do not find them coeval: but as I have said, I show you brightness coeval with its parent fire. For fire begets brightness, yet is it never without brightness. Since then you see that the brightness is coeval with its fire, suffer God to beget a Coeternal Son. Whoever understands, let him rejoice: but whoever understands not, let him believe. For the word of the Prophet cannot be disannulled; Unless ye believe, you shall not understand.

On the same words, John 1 . In the beginning was the word, etc.

1. That our Lord Jesus Christ in seeking lost man was made Man, our preaching has never withholden, and your faith has ever retained; and moreover, that this our Lord, who for our sakes was made Man, was always God with the Father, and always will be, yea rather always Is; for where there is no succession of time, there is no has been and will be. For that of which it is said, it has been, is now no more; that of which it is said, it will be, is not yet; but He always is, because He truly is, that is, is unchangeable. For the Gospel lesson has just now taught us a high and divine mystery. For this beginning of the Gospel St. John poured forth for that he drank it in from the Lord's Breast. For you remember, that it has been very lately read to you, how that this St. John the Evangelist lay in the Lord's bosom. And wishing to explain this clearly, he says, On the Lord's breast; that we might understand what he meant, by in the Lord's bosom. For what, think we, did he drink in who was lying on the Lord's breast? Nay, let us not think, but drink; for we too have just now heard what we may drink in.

2. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. O glorious preaching! O the result of the full feast of the Lord's Breast! In the beginning was the Word. Why do you seek for what was before It? In the beginning was the Word. If the Word had been made (for made indeed that was not by which all things were made); if the Word had been made, the Scripture would have said, In the beginning God made the Word; as it is said in Genesis, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. God then did not in the beginning make the Word; because, In the beginning was the Word. This Word which was in the beginning, where was It? Follow on, And the Word was with God. But from our daily hearing the words of men we are wont to think lightly of this name of Word. In this case do not think lightly of the Name of Word; The Word was God. The same, that is the Word, was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.

3. Extend your hearts, help the poverty of my words. What I shall be able to express, give ear to; on what I shall not be able to express, meditate. Who can comprehend the abiding Word? All our words sound, and pass away. Who can comprehend the abiding Word, save He who abides in Him? Would you comprehend the abiding Word? Do not follow the current of the flesh. For this flesh is indeed a current; for it has none abiding. As it were from a kind of secret fount of nature men are born, they live, they die; or whence they come, or whither they go, we know not. It is a hidden water, till it issue from its source; it flows on, and is seen in its course; and again it is hidden in the sea. Let us despise this stream— flowing on, running, disappearing— let us despise it. All flesh is grass, and all the glory of flesh is as the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls away. Would you endure? But the word of the Lord endures forever.

4. But in order to succour us, The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us. What is, The Word was made Flesh? The gold became grass. It became grass for to be burned; the grass was burned, but the gold remained; in the grass It perishes not, yea, It changed the grass. How did It change it? It raised it up, quickened it, lifted it up to heaven, and placed it at the right Hand of the Father. But that it might be said, And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us, let us recollect awhile what went before. He came unto His Own, and His Own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. To become, for they were not; but He was Himself in the beginning. He gave them then power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in His Name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Lo, born they are, in whatever age of the flesh they may be; ye see infants; see and rejoice. Lo, they are born; but they are born of God. Their mother's womb is the water of baptism.

5. Let no man in poorness of soul entertain this conceit, and turn over such most beggarly thoughts in his mind, and say to himself, How 'in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: all things were made by Him;' and lo, 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us?' Hear why it was done. To those we know who believed on Him He has given power to become the sons of God. Let not those then to whom He has given power to become the sons of God, think it impossible to become the sons of God. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Do not imagine that it is too great a thing for you to become the sons of God; for your sakes He became the Son of man, who was the Son of God. If He was made, that He might be less, who was more; can He not bring it to pass, that of that less which we were, we may be something more? He descended to us, and shall not we ascend to Him? For us He accepted our death, and shall He not give us His Life? For you He suffered your evil things, and shall He not give you His good things?

6. But how, one will say, can it be, that the Word of God, by whom the world is governed, by whom all things both were, and are created, should contract Himself into the womb of a Virgin; should abandon the world, and leave the Angels, and be shut up in one woman's womb? Thou skillest not to conceive of things divine. The Word of God (I am speaking to you, O man, I am speaking to you of the omnipotence of the Word of God) could surely do all, seeing that the Word of God is omnipotent, at once remain with the Father, and come to us; at once in the flesh come forth to us, and lay concealed in Him. For He would not the less have been, if He had not been born of flesh. He was before His own flesh; He created His own mother. He chose her in whom He should be conceived, He created her of whom He should be created. Why do you marvel? It is God of whom I am speaking to you: The Word was God.

7. I am treating of the Word, and perchance the word of men may furnish somewhat like; though very unequal, far distant, in no way comparable, yet something which may convey a hint to you by way of resemblance. Lo, the word which I am speaking to you, I have had previously in my heart: it came forth to you, yet it has not departed from me; that began to be in you, which was not in you; it continued with me when it went forth to you. As then my word was brought forth to your sense, yet did not depart from my heart; so That Word came forth to our senses, yet departed not from His Father. My word was with me, and it came forth into a voice: the Word of God was with the Father, and came forth into Flesh. But can I do with my voice that which He could do with His Flesh? For I am not master of my voice as it flies; He is not only master of His Flesh, that It should be born, live, act; but even when dead He raised It up, and exalted unto the Father the Vehicle as it were in which He came forth to us. You may call the Flesh of Christ a Garment, you may call It a Vehicle, and as perchance Himself vouchsafed to teach us, you may call It His Beast; for on this beast He raised him who had been wounded by robbers; lastly, as He said Himself more expressly, you may call It a Temple; This Temple knows death no more, Its seat is at the right Hand of the Father: in This Temple shall He come to judge the quick and dead. What He has by precept taught, He has by example manifested. What He has in His own Flesh shown, that ought you to hope for in your flesh. This is faith; hold fast what as yet you see not. Need there is, that by believing you abide firm in that you see not; lest when you shall see, you be put to shame.

On the same words of John 1 ., In the beginning was the word, etc.

1. The beginning of John's Gospel, In the beginning was the Word. Thus he begins, this he saw, and transcending the whole creation, mountains, air, the heavens, the stars, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, all Angels, and Archangels, transcending all; he saw the Word in the beginning, and drank It in. He saw above every creature, he drank in from the Lord's breast. For this same St. John the Evangelist is he whom Jesus specially loved; insomuch that he lay on His Breast at supper. There was this secret, that therefrom might be drunk in, what in the Gospel was to be poured forth. Happy they who hear and understand. Of the next degree of blessedness are they who though they understand not, believe. For how great a thing it is to see This Word of God, who can explain in human words?

2. Lift up your hearts, my Brethren, lift them up as best ye can; whatsoever occurs to you from the idea of any body whatsoever, reject. If the Word of God occurs to you under the idea of the light of this sun, expand, extend how you will, set no bounds in your thought to that light; it is nothing to the Word of God. Whatsoever of this sort the mind conceives, is less in one part than in the whole. Of the Word conceive as Whole everywhere. Understand ye what I say; because of my stress of time I am limiting myself as much as I can for your sakes. Understand ye what I say. Lo, this light from heaven, which is called by the name of the sun, when it comes forth, it enlightens the earth, unfolds the day, develops forms, distinguishes colors. Great blessing it is, great gift of God to all mortal men; let His works magnify Him. If the sun is so beauteous, what more beauteous than the sun's Maker? And yet look, Brethren; lo, he pours his rays through the whole earth; penetrates open places, the closed resist him; he sends his light through windows; can he also through a wall? To the Word of God all is open, from the Word of God nothing is hid. Observe another difference, how far from the Creator is the creature, especially the bodily creature. When the sun is in the East, it is not in the West. Its light indeed shed from that vast body reaches even to the West; but itself is not there. When it begins to set, then it will be there. When it rises, it is in the East; when it sets it is in the West. By these operations of his, it has given name to those quarters. Because it is in the East when it rises at the East, it has made it be called the Rising Sun; because it is at the West when it sets at the West, it has made it be called the Setting Sun. At night it is nowhere seen. Is the Word of God so? When It is in the East, is It not in the West; or when It is in the West, is It not in the East? Or does It ever leave the earth, and go under or behind the earth? It is Whole everywhere. Who can in words explain this? Who see it? By what means of proof shall I establish to you what I say? I am speaking as a man, it is to men I speak; I am speaking as one weak, to men weaker am I speaking. And yet, my brethren, I am bold to say that I do in some sort see what I am saying to you, though through a glass, or darkly, I do in some sort understand even within my heart a word touching this thing. But it seeks to go forth to you, and finds no meet vehicle. The vehicle of the word is the sound of the voice. What I am saying within my own self I seek to say to you, and words fail. For I wish to speak of the Word of God. How great a Word, what kind of Word? All things were made by Him. See the works, and stand in awe of the Worker. All things were made by Him.

3. Return with me, O human infirmity, return, I say. Let us comprehend these human things if we can. We are men, I who speak, I am a man, and to men I speak, and utter the sound of my voice. I convey the sound of my voice to men's ears, and by the sound of my voice I somehow through the ear lay up understanding also in the heart. Let us then speak on this point what and how we can, let us comprehend it. But if we have not ability to comprehend even this, in respect of the Other what are we? Lo, you are listening to me; I am speaking a word. If any one goes out from us, and is asked outside what is being done here, he answers, The Bishop is speaking a word. I am speaking a word of the Word. But what a word, of what a Word? A mortal word, of the Word Immortal; a changeable word, of the Word Unchangeable; a passing word of the Word Eternal. Nevertheless, consider my word. For I have told you already, the Word of God is Whole everywhere. See, I am speaking a word to you; what I say reaches to all. Now that what I am saying might come to you all, did ye divide what I say? If I, were to feed you, to wish to fill not your minds, but your bodies, and to set loaves before you to be satisfied therewith; would ye not divide my loaves among you? Could my loaves come to every one of you? If they came to one only, the rest would have none. But now see, I am speaking, and you all receive. Nay, not only all receive, but all receive it whole. It comes whole to all, to each whole. O the marvels of my word! What then is the Word of God? Hear again. I have spoken; what I have spoken, has gone forth to you, and has not gone away from me. It has reached to you, and has not been separated from me. Before I spoke, I had it, and you had not; I spoke, and you began to have, and I lost nothing. O the marvel of my word! What then is the Word of God? From little things form conjectures of things great. Consider earthly things, laud the heavenly. I am a creature, you are creatures; and such great miracles are done with my word in my heart, in my mouth, in my voice, in your ears, in your hearts. What then is the Creator? O Lord, hear us. Make us, for that You have made us. Make us good, for that You have made us enlightened men. These white-robed, enlightened ones hear Your word by me. For enlightened by Your grace they stand before You. This is the day which the Lord has made. Only let them labour, let them pray for this, that when these days shall have gone by, they may not become darkness, who have been made the light of the wonders and the blessings of God.

On the words of the Gospel, John 1:10 , The world was made through him, etc.

1. By the Lord was the world made, and the world knew Him not. What world was made by Him, what world knew Him not? For it is not the same world that was made by Him, which knew Him not. What is the world that was made by Him? The heaven and earth. How did not the heaven know Him, when at His Passion the sun was darkened? How did not the earth know Him, when as He hung upon the Cross, it quaked? But the world knew Him not, whose Prince he is, of whom it is said, Behold, the prince of this world comes, and finds nothing in me. Wicked men are called the world; unbelieving men are called the world. They have gotten their name from that they love. By the love of God we are made gods; so by the love of the world, we are called the world. But God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. The world then knew Him not. What? all men?

2. He came unto His Own, and His Own received Him not. All things are His, but they are called His Own, from among whom His mother was, among whom He had taken Flesh, to whom He had sent before the heralds of His advent, to whom He had given the law, whom He had delivered from the Egyptian bondage, whose father Abraham according to the flesh He elected. For He said truth, Before Abraham was, I am. He did not say, Before Abraham was, or before Abraham was made, I was made. For in the beginning the Word was, not, was made. So then He came unto His Own, He came to the Jews. And His Own received Him not.

3. But as many as received Him. For of course the Apostles were there, who received Him. There were they who carried branches before His beast. They went before and followed after, and spread their garments, and cried with a loud voice, Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He That comes in the Name of the Lord. Then said the Pharisees unto Him, Restrain the children, that they cry not out so unto You. And He said, If these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out. Us He saw when He spoke these words; If these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out. Who are stones, but they who worship stones? If the Jewish children shall hold their peace, the elder and the younger Gentiles shall cry out. Who are the stones, but they of whom speaks that very John, who came to bear witness of the Light? For when he saw these self-same Jews priding themselves on their birth from Abraham, he said to them, O generation of vipers. They called themselves the children of Abraham; and he addressed them, O generation of vipers. Did he do Abraham wrong? God forbid! He gave them a name from their character. For that if they were the children of Abraham, they would imitate Abraham; as He too tells them who say to Him, We be free, and were never in bondage to any man; we have Abraham for our father. And He said, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. You wish to kill Me, because I tell you the truth. This did not Abraham. You were of his stock, but you are a degenerate stock. So then what said John? O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Because they came to be baptized with the baptism of John unto repentance. Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. And say not in your hearts, We have Abraham to our father. For God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. For God is able of these stones which he saw in the Spirit; to them he spoke; he foresaw us; For God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Of what stones? If these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out. You have just now heard, and cried out. It is fulfilled, The stones shall cry out. For from among the Gentiles we came, in our forefathers we worshipped stones. Therefore are we called dogs too. Call to mind what that woman heard who cried out after the Lord, for she was a Canaanitish woman, a worshipper of idols, the handmaid of devils. What said Jesus to her? It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. Have ye never noticed, how dogs will lick the greasy stones? So are all the worshippers of images. But grace has come to you. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. See you have here some just now born: to them has He given power to become the sons of God. To whom has He given it? To them that believe in His Name.

4. And how do they become the sons of God? Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. Having received power to become the sons of God, they are born of God. Mark then: They are born of God, not of blood, like their first birth, like that wretched birth, issuing out of wretchedness. But they who are born of God, what were they? Whereby were they first born? Of blood; of the joint blood of the male and female, of the carnal union of male and female, from this were they born. From whence now? They are born of God. The first birth of the male and female; the second birth of God and the Church.

5. Lo, they are born of God; whereby is it brought to pass that they should be born of God, who were first born of men? Whereby is it brought to pass, whereby? And the Word was made Flesh, that It might dwell among us. Wondrous exchange; He made Flesh, they spirit. What is this? What condescension is here, my brethren! Lift up your minds to the hope and comprehension of better things. Give not yourselves up to worldly desires. You have been bought with a Price; for your sakes the Word was made Flesh; for your sakes He who was the Son of God, was made the Son of man: that you who were the sons of men, might be made sons of God. What was He, what was He made? What were ye, what were ye made? He was the Son of God. What was He made? The Son of man. You were the sons of men. What were ye made? The sons of God. He shared with us our evil things, to give us His good things. But even in that He was made the Son of man, He is different much from us. We are the sons of men by the lust of the flesh; He the Son of man by the faith of a virgin. The mother of any other man whatever conceives by a carnal union; and every one is born of human parents, his father and his mother. But Christ was born of the Holy Ghost, and the Virgin Mary. He came to us, but from Himself departed not far; yea from Himself as God He departed never; but added what He was to our nature. For He came to that which He was not, He did not lose what He was. He was made the Son of man; but did not cease to be the Son of God. Hereby the Mediator, in the middle. What is, in the middle? Neither up above, nor down below. How neither up above, nor down below? Not above, since He is Flesh; not below, since He is not a sinner. But yet in so far as He is God, above always. For He did not so come to us, as to leave the Father. From us He went, and did not leave us; to us will He come again, and will not leave Him.

On the words of the Gospel, John 1:48 ,When you were under the fig tree, I saw you, etc.

1. What we have heard said by the Lord Jesus Christ to Nathanael, if we understand it aright, does not concern him only. For our Lord Jesus saw the whole human race under the fig-tree. For in this place it is understood that by the fig-tree He signified sin. Not that it always signifies this, but as I have said in this place, in that fitness of significancy, in which you know that the first man, when he sinned, covered himself with fig leaves. For with these leaves they covered their nakedness when they blushed for their sin; and what God had made them for members, they made for themselves occasions of shame. For they had no need to blush for the work of God; but the cause of sin preceded shame. If iniquity had not gone before, nakedness would never have been put to the blush. For they were naked, and were not ashamed. For they had committed nothing to be ashamed for. But why have I said all this? That we may understand that by the fig-tree sin is signified. What then is, when you were under the fig-tree, I saw you? When you were under sin, I saw you. And Nathanael looking back upon what had occurred, remembered that he had been under a fig-tree, where Christ was not. He was not there, that is, by His Bodily Presence; but by His knowledge in the Spirit where is He not? And because he knew that he was under the fig-tree alone, where the Lord Christ was not; when He said to him, When you were under the fig-tree, I saw you; he both acknowledged the Divinity in Him, and cried out, You are the King of Israel.

2. The Lord said, Because I said to you, I saw you when you were under the fig-tree, do you marvel? You shall see greater things than these. What are these greater things? And He said, You shall see heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Let us call to mind the old story written in the sacred Book. I mean in Genesis. When Jacob slept at a certain place, he put a stone at his head; and in his sleep he saw a ladder reaching from earth even unto heaven; and the Lord was resting upon it; and Angels were ascending and descending by it. This did Jacob see. A man's dream would not have been recorded, had not some great mystery been figured in it, had not some great prophecy been to be understood in that vision. Accordingly, Jacob himself, because he understood what he had seen, placed a stone there, and anointed it with oil. Now ye recognise the anointing; recognise The Anointed also. For He is the Stone which the builders rejected; He was made the Head of the corner. He is the Stone of which Himself said, Whosoever shall stumble against This Stone shall be shaken; but on whomsoever That Stone shall fall, It will crush him. It is stumbled against as It lies on the earth; but It will fall on him, when He shall come from on high to judge the quick and dead. Woe to the Jews, for that when Christ lay low in His humility, they stumbled against Him. This Man, say they, is not of God, because He breaks the sabbath day. If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross. Madman, the Stone lies on the ground, and so you deride It. But since you deride It, you are blind; since you are blind, you stumble, since you stumble, you are shaken; since you have been shaken by It as It now lies on the ground, hereafter shall you be crushed by It as It fails from above. Therefore Jacob anointed the stone. Did he make an idol of it? He showed a meaning in it, but did not adore it. Now then give ear, attend to this Nathanael, by the occasion of whom the Lord Jesus has been pleased to explain to us Jacob's vision.

3. You that are well instructed in the school of Christ, know that this Jacob is Israel too. They are two names; for they are one man. His first name Jacob, which is by interpretation supplanter, he received when he was born. For when those twins were born, his brother Esau was born first; and the hand of the younger was found on the elder's foot. He held his brother's foot who preceded him in his birth, and himself came after. And because of this occurrence, because he held his brother's heel, he was called Jacob, that is, Supplanter. And afterwards, when he was returning from Mesopotamia, the Angel wrestled with him in the way. What comparison can there be between an Angel's and a man's strength? Therefore it is a mystery, a sacrament, a prophecy, a figure; let us therefore understand it. For consider the manner of the struggle too. While he wrestles, Jacob prevailed against the Angel. Some high meaning is here. And when the man had prevailed against the Angel, he kept hold of Him; yes, the man kept hold of Him whom he had conquered. And said to Him, I will not let You go, except Thou bless me. When the conqueror was blessed by the Conquered, Christ was figured. So then that Angel, who is understood to be the Lord Jesus, says to Jacob, You shall not be any more called Jacob, but Israel shall your name be, which is by interpretation, Seeing God. After this He touched the sinew of his thigh, the broad part, that is, of the thigh, and it dried up; and Jacob became lame. Such was He who was conquered. So great power had this Conquered One, as to touch the thigh, and make lame. It was then with His Own will that He was conquered. For He had power to lay down His strength, and He had power to take It up. He is not angry at being conquered, for He is not angry at being crucified. For He even blessed him, saying, You shall not be called Jacob, but Israel. Then the supplanter was made the seer of God. And He touched, as I have said, his thigh, and made him lame. Observe in Jacob the people of the Jews, those thousands who followed and went before the Lord's beast, who in concert with the Apostles worshipped the Lord, and cried out, Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord. Behold Jacob blessed. He has continued lame until now in them who are at this day Jews. For the broad part of the thigh signifies the multitude of increase. Of whom the Psalm, when it prophesied that the Nations should believe, speaks, saying, A people whom I have not known, has served Me; by the hearing of the ear it has obeyed Me. I was not there, and I was heard; here I was, and I was killed. A people whom I have not known, has served Me; by the hearing of the ear it has obeyed Me. Therefore, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. And it goes on, The strange children have lied unto Me; concerning the Jews. The strange children have lied unto Me, the strange children have faded away and have halted from their paths. I have pointed out Jacob to you, Jacob blessed and Jacob lame.

4. But as arising out of this occasion, this must not be passed over, which may haply of itself perplex some of you; with what design is it, that when this Jacob's grandfather Abraham's name was changed (for he too was first called Abram, and God changed his name, and said, You shall not be called Abram, but Abraham); from that time he was not called Abram. Search in the Scriptures, and you will see that before he received another name, he was called only Abram; after he received it, he was called only Abraham. But this Jacob, when he received another name, heard the same words, You shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall you be called. Search the Scriptures, and see how that he was always called both, both Jacob and Israel. Abram after he had received another name, was called only Abraham. Jacob after he had received another name, was called both Jacob and Israel. The name of Abraham was to be developed in this world; for here he was made the father of many nations, whence he received his name. But the name of Israel relates to another world, where we shall see God. Therefore the people of God, the Christian people in this present time, is both Jacob and Israel, Jacob in fact, Israel in hope. For the younger people is called the Supplanter of its brother the elder people. What! Have we supplanted the Jews? No, but we are said to be their supplanters, for that for our sakes they were supplanted. If they had not been blinded, Christ would not have been crucified; His precious Blood would not have been shed; if that Blood had not been shed, the world would not have been redeemed. Because then their blindness has profited us, therefore has the elder brother been supplanted by the younger, and the younger is called the Supplanter. But how long shall this be?

5. The time will come, the end of the world will come, and all Israel shall believe; not they who now are, but their children who shall then be. For these present walking in their own ways, will go to their own place, will pass on to everlasting damnation. But when they shall have been made all one people, that shall come to pass which we sing, I shall be satisfied when Your glory shall be manifested. When the promise which is made to us, that we see face to face, shall come. Now we see through a glass darkly, and in part; but when both people, now purified, now raised again, now crowned, now changed into an immortal form, and into everlasting incorruption, shall see God face to face, and Jacob shall be no more, but there shall be Israel only; then shall the Lord see him in the person of this holy Nathanael, and shall say, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. When you hear, Behold an Israelite indeed; let Israel come into your mind; when Israel shall come into your mind, let his dream come into your mind, in which he saw a ladder from earth even to heaven, the Lord standing upon it, the Angels of God ascending and descending. This dream did Jacob see. But after this he was called Israel; that is, some little time after as he came from Mesopotamia, and on his journey. If then Jacob saw the ladder, and he is also called Israel; and this Nathanael is an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile; therefore when he wondered because the Lord. said to him, I saw you under the fig-tree; did He say to him, You shall see greater things than these. And so He announced to him Jacob's dream. To whom did He announce it? To him whom He called an Israelite, in whom was no guile. As if He had said, His dream, by whose name I have called you, shall be manifested in you; make no haste to wonder, you shall see greater things than these. You shall see heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending unto the Son of Man. See what Jacob saw; see why Jacob anointed the stone with oil; see why Jacob prophetically signified and prefigured the Anointed One. For that action was a prophecy.

6. Now I know what you are waiting for; I understand what you would hear from me. This too will I briefly declare, as the Lord enables me; ascending and descending unto the Son of Man. How — if they descend to Him, He is here; if they ascend to Him, He is above. But if they ascend to Him, and descend to Him, He is at once above and here. It cannot any way possibly be, that they should ascend to Him, and descend to Him, unless He be both there whither they ascend, and here whither they descend — How do we prove that He is both there, and that He is here? Let Paul, who was first Saul, answer us. He found it by experience, when he was first a persecutor, and afterwards became a preacher; first Jacob, afterwards Israel; who was himself too of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. In him let us see Christ above, Christ below. First, the very Voice of the Lord from heaven shows this; Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? What! Had Paul ascended into heaven? Had Paul so much as cast a stone into heaven? He was persecuting the Christians, binding them, haling them to be put to death, searching them out in every place where they lay hid, when they were found on no consideration sparing them. To whom the Lord Christ says, Saul, Saul. Whence cries He? From heaven. Therefore He is above. Why do you persecute Me? Therefore He is below. Thus have I explained all, though briefly, yet as well as I could to you, Beloved. I have ministered to you according to my duty, and now for your duty, do ye think upon the poor. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.

On the words of the Gospel, John 2:2 , and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage.

1. You know, Brethren, for you have learned it as believing in Christ, and continually too do we by our ministry impress it upon you, that the humility of Christ is the medicine of man's swollen pride. For man would not have perished, had he not been swollen up through pride. For pride, as says the Scripture, is the beginning of all sin. Against the beginning of sin, the beginning of righteousness was necessary. If then pride be the beginning of all sin, whereby should the swelling of pride be cured, had not God vouchsafed to humble Himself? Let man blush to be proud, seeing that God has humbled Himself. For when man is told to humble himself, he disdains it; and when men are injured, it is pride that makes them wish to be avenged. Forasmuch as they disdain to humble themselves, they wish to be avenged; as if another's punishment could be any profit to any man. One who has been hurt and suffered wrong wishes to be avenged; he seeks his own remedy from another's punishment, and gains a great torment. The Lord Christ therefore vouchsafed to humble Himself in all things, showing us the way; if we but think meet to walk thereby.

2. Among His other acts, lo, the Virgin's Son comes to the marriage; who being with the Father instituted marriage. As the first woman, by whom came sin, was made of a man without a woman; so the Man by whom sin was done away, was made of a woman without a man. By the first we fell, by the other we rise. And what did He at this marriage? Of water He made wine. What greater sign of power? He who had power to do such things, vouchsafed to be in need. He who made of water wine could also have of stones made bread. The power was the same; but then the devil tempted Him, therefore Christ did it not. For you know that when the Lord Christ was tempted, the devil suggested this to Him. For He was an hungred, since this too He vouchsafed to be, since this too made part of His Humiliation. The Bread was hungry, as the Way fainted, as saving Health was wounded, as the Life died. When then He was an hungred as you know, the tempter said to Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And He made answer to the tempter, teaching you to answer the tempter. For to this end does the general fight, that the soldiers may learn. What answer did He make? Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And He did not make bread of the stones, who of course could as easily have done it, as He made of water wine. For it is an exercise of the same power to make bread of stone; but He did it not, that He might despise the tempter's will. For no otherwise is the tempter overcome, but by being despised. And when He had overcome the devil's temptation, Angels came and ministered to Him. He then who had so great power, why did He not do the one, and do the other? Read, yea, recollect what you have just heard, when He did this, when, that is, He made of the water wine; what did the Evangelist add? And His disciples believed on Him. Would the devil on the other occasion have believed on Him?

3. He then who could do so great things, was hungry, and thirsty, was wearied, slept, was apprehended, beaten, crucified, slain. This is the way; walk by humility, that you may come to eternity. Christ-God is the Country whither we go; Christ-Man is the Way whereby we go. To Him we go, by Him we go; why fear we lest we go astray? He departed not from the Father; and came to us. He sucked the breasts, and He contained the world. He lay in the manger, and He fed the Angels. God and Man, the same God who is Man, the same Man who is God. But not God in that wherein He is Man, God, in that He is the Word; Man, in that the Word was made Flesh; by at once continuing to be God, and by assuming man's Flesh; by adding what He was not, not losing what He was. Therefore henceforward, having now suffered in this His humiliation, dead, and buried, He has now risen again, and ascended into heaven, there He is, and sits at the right Hand of the Father: and here He is needy in His poor. Yesterday too I set this forth to your Affection by occasion of what He said to Nathanael, You shall see a greater thing than this. For I say unto you, You shall see Heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending unto the Son of Man. We searched out what this meant, and spoke at some length; must we recapitulate the same today? Let those who were present remember; yet I will briefly run over it.

4. He would not say, ascending unto the Son of Man, unless He were above; He would not say, descending unto the Son of Man, unless He were also below. He is at once above, and below; above in Himself, below in His; above with the Father, below in us. Whence also was that Voice to Saul, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? He would not say, Saul, Saul, unless that He was above. But Saul was not persecuting Him above. He then who was above would not have said, Why do you persecute me? unless He were below also. Fear Christ above; recognise Him below. Have Christ above bestowing His bounty, recognise Him here in need. Here He is poor, there He is rich. That Christ is poor here, He tells us Himself for me, I was an hungred, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was a stranger, I was in prison. And to some He said, You have ministered unto Me, and to some He said, You have not ministered unto Me. Lo, we have proved Christ poor; that Christ is Rich, who knows not? And even here it was a property of these riches to turn the water into wine. If he who has wine is rich, how rich is He who makes wine? So then Christ is rich and poor; as God, rich; as Man, poor. Yea rich too now as Very Man He has ascended into heaven, sits at the right Hand of the Father; yet still He is poor and hungry here, thirsty, and naked.

5. What are you? Rich, or poor? Many tell me, I am poor; and they tell the truth. I recognise some poor having something, and some having want. But some have much gold and silver. O that they would acknowledge themselves poor! Poor they will acknowledge themselves, if they acknowledge the poor about them. For how is it? How much soever you have, you rich man whosoever you are, you are God's beggar. The hour of prayer comes, and there I prove you. You make your petition. How are you not poor, who makest your petition? I say more, You make petition for bread. Will you not have to say, Give us our daily bread? Thou, who ask for daily bread, are you poor, or rich? And yet Christ says to you, Give Me of that which I have given you. For what did you bring here, when you came hither? All things that I created, yourself created hast found here; nothing did you bring, nothing shall you take away. Why will you not give Me of Mine Own? For you are full, and the poor man is empty. Look at your first origin; naked were ye both born. Thou too then wast born naked. Great store have you found here; did you bring ought with you? I ask for Mine Own; give, and I will repay. You have found Me a bountiful giver, make Me at once your debtor. It is not enough to say, 'You have found Me a bountiful giver, make Me at once your debtor;' let Me regard you as lending upon interest. You give me but little, I will repay more. You give me earthly things, I will repay heavenly. You give me temporal things, I will restore eternal. I will restore you to yourself, when I shall have restored you unto Me.

On the words of the Gospel, John 5:2 , Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, etc.

1. The lesson of the Gospel has just sounded in our ears, and made us intent to know what is the meaning of what has been read. This, I suppose, is looked for from me, this I promise, by the Lord's assistance, to explain as well as I can. For without doubt it is not without a meaning, that those miracles were done, and something they figured out to us bearing on eternal saving health. For the health of the body which was restored to this man, of how long duration was it? For what is your life? says Holy Scripture; it is a vapour that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. Therefore in that health was restored to this man's body for a time, some enduringness was restored to a vapour. So then this is not to be valued much; Vain is the health of man. And, brethren, recollect that Prophetical and Evangelical testimony, for it is read in the Gospel; All flesh is grass, and all the glory of flesh as the flower of grass; the grass withers, the flower falls away, the Word of the Lord endures forever. The Word of the Lord communicates glory even to the grass, and no transitory glory; for even to flesh He gives immortality.

2. But first passes away the tribulation of this life, out of which He gives us help, to whom we have said, Give us help from tribulation. And all this life is indeed a tribulation to the understanding. For there are two tormentors of the soul, torturing it not at once, but alternating their tortures. These two tormentors' names are, Fear and Sorrow. When it is well with you, you are in fear; when it is ill, you are in sorrow. This world's prosperity, whom does it not deceive, its adversity not break? In this grass, and in the days of grass, the surer way must be kept to, the Word of God. For when it had been said, All flesh is grass, and all the glory of flesh as the flower of grass, the grass withers, the flower falls away; as though we should ask, What hope has grass? What stability the flower of grass? it is said, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And whence, you will say, is that Word to me? The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us. For the Word of the Lord says to you, Do not reject My promise, for I have not rejected your grass. This then that the Word of the Lord has granted to us, that we might hold to Him, that we might not pass away with the flower of grass; this, I say, that He has granted to us, that the Word should be made Flesh, taking Flesh, not changed into flesh, abiding, and assuming, abiding what He was, assuming what He was not; this, I say, that He has granted to us, that pool also signifies.

3. I am speaking briefly. That water was the Jewish people; the five porches were the Law. For Moses wrote five books. Therefore was the water enclosed by five porches as that people was held in by the Law. The troubling of the water is the Lord's Passion among that people. He who descended was healed, and only one; for this is unity. Whosoever are offended at the Passion of Christ are proud; they will not descend, they are not healed. And, say they, Am I to believe that God was Incarnate, that God was born of a woman, that God was crucified, scourged, dead, wounded, buried? Be it far from me to believe this of God, it is unworthy of Him. Let the heart speak, not the neck. To the proud the humiliation of the Lord seems unworthy of Him, therefore is saving health from such far off. Lift not yourself up; if you would be made whole, descend. Well might piety be alarmed, if Christ in the flesh subject to change were only spoken of. But now the truth sets forth to you, Christ Unchangeable in His Nature as the Word. For, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; not a word to sound, and so pass away; for the Word was God. So then your God endures unchangeable. O true piety; your God endures, fear not; He does not perish, and through Him, you too do not perish. He endures, He is born of a woman, but in the Flesh. The Word made even His Mother. He who was before He was made, made her in whom He was to be made Himself. He was an infant, but in the Flesh. He nursed, He grew, He took nourishment, He ran through the several stages of life, He came to man's estate, but in the Flesh. He was wearied, and He slept, but in the Flesh. He suffered hunger and thirst, but in the Flesh. He was apprehended, bound, scourged, assailed with railings, crucified finally, and killed, but in the Flesh. Why are you alarmed? The Word of the Lord endures forever. Whoever rejects this humiliation of God, does not wish for healing from the deadly swelling of pride.

4. So then by His Flesh did the Lord Jesus Christ grant hope to our flesh. For He took on Him what we knew well in this earth, what abounds here, to be born, and to die. To be born and to die, abounded here; to rise again and to live for ever, was not here. Poor earthly merchandize found He here, He brought here strange and heavenly. If you are alarmed at death, love the resurrection. He has given you help out of tribulation; for vain your health had ever been. Let us acknowledge therefore and love the saving health in this world strange, that is, health everlasting, and live we in this world as strangers. Let us think that we are but passing away, so shall we be sinning less. Let us rather give thanks to our Lord God, that He has been pleased that the last day of this life should be both near and uncertain. From the earliest infancy even to decrepit old age, it is but a short span. If Adam had died today, what would it have profited him, that he had lived so long? What long time is there in that in which there is an end? No one recalls yesterday; today is pressed on by tomorrow, that it may pass away. In this little span let us live well, that we may go whence we may not pass away. And now even as we are talking, we are indeed passing away. Our words run on, and the hours fly by; so does our age, so our actions, so our honours, so our misery, so our happiness here below. All passes away, but let us not be alarmed; The Word of God endures forever. Let us turn to the Lord, etc.