Alms adorn the soul; extirpate covetousness. 5 upon the evil and the good. But the unbelievers,' you say, INTROD. 'believe not.' I say then, hereby shall they believe, if we do g these works. For if they see that we take pity on all, and are enrolled under Him for our Teacher, they will know that it is in imitation of Him that we do so. And this we are not to do any how, but with observance and caution. For, Let mercy, It says, and true faith be with thee. He well said true. For He willeth it not to be of rapine or fraud. For this were not faith; this were no true mercy. For he that plundereth must lie and forswear himself. So do not thou, saith he, but have faith with thy mercy. Let us put on this ornament. Let us make a golden chain for our neck, of mercy I mean, while we are here. For if this age pass, we can use it no longer. And why? THERE there are no poor, THERE there are no riches, no more want THERE. While we are children, let us not rob ourselves of this ornament. For as with children, when they become men, these are taken away, and they are advanced to another dress; so too is it with us. There will be no more alms by money There, but others far nobler. Let us not then deprive ourselves of this! Let us make our soul appear beautiful! Great are alms, beautiful, and honourable, great is that gift, but great, above all, is goodness. If we learn to despise riches, we shall learn other things besides. For behold how many good things spring from hence! He that giveth alms, as he ought to give, learns to despise wealth. He that learns to despise wealth has cut up the root of evil. So that he does not do a greater good than he receives, not merely in that there is a recompense due, and a requital for alms, but also in that his soul becomes philosophic, and elevated, and rich. He that gives alms is instructed not to admire riches or gold. And this lesson once fixed in his mind, he has gotten a great step toward mounting to Heaven, and has cut away ten thousand occasions of strife, and contention, and envy, and dejection. For ye know, yes, ye know, that all evil is done for riches, and unnumbered wars are made for riches. But he that has learned to despise them, has placed The LXX. have faith, probably in the sense of truth, which Aquila has, and the Hebrew requires; true is added by St. Chrys, to mark this. hía, which carries on the simile. He probably refers to the benefits conferred by the Saints on those on earth. 6 Mercy can open the gates of Heaven. INTROD. himself in quietness. He no longer fears loss; for this hath alms taught him. He no longer desires what is his neighbour's; for how should he, that parts with his own, and gives? He no longer envies the rich man; for how should he, that is willing to become poor? He clears the eye of his soul. And these are but here. But hereafter it is not to be told what blessings he shall win. He shall not abide without with the foolish virgins, but shall enter in with those that were wise, together with the Bridegroom, having his lamps bright. And though they have endured hardship in virginity, he that hath not so much as tasted these hardships shall by this be better than they. Such is the power of Mercy. She brings in her nurslings with much boldness. For she is known to the porters in Heaven, that keep the gates of the Bride-Chamber, and not known only, but reverenced; and those whom she knows to have honoured her, she will bring in with great boldness, and none will gainsay, but all make room. For if she brought God down to earth, and prevailed with him to become man, much more shall she be able to raise a man to Heaven; for great is her might. If then from mercy and lovingkindness God became man, and she persuaded Him to become a servant', much rather will she bring her servants into His own house. Her then let us love, on her let us set our affection, not one day, nor two, but all our life long, that she may acknowledge us. If she acknowledge us, the Lord will acknowledge us too. If she own us not, the Lord too will disown us, and will say, I know you not. But may it be ours to hear no such voice, but that happy one instead, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Which may we all obtain, by His grace and lovingkindness, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with Whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory now and for ever, and world without end. Amen. Matt. 25, 34. k Such a repetition is common with St. Chrysostom, sometimes perhaps from his own excitement. Here it seems rather meant to temper the warmth of his eloquence, and fix a sober thought. So B. The printed text is, and He persuaded Himself to become a servant, much rather will He bring His servants into His own house.' HOMILY I. PHIL. i. 1, 2. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the HERE, as writing to those of equal honour, he does not set (1) down his rank of Teacher, but another, and that a great one. And what is that? He calls himself a servant, and not an Apostle. For great truly is this rank too, and the sum of all good things, to be a servant of Christ, and not merely to be called so. The servant of Christ, he truly is free from sin, and being a genuine servant, he will not be capable of becoming a servant to any other, since so he would not be Christ's servant, but by halves. And in writing to the Romans again, he says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. But Rom. 1, writing to the Corinthians and to Timothy he calls himself1. an Apostle. On what account then does he do this? Not because they were superior to Timothy. Far from it. But rather because he honours them, and shews them attention, beyond all others to whom he wrote. For he also bears witness to great virtue in them. And besides, there indeed he was about to order many things, and therefore assumed his rank as an Apostle. But here he gives them no injunctions but such as they could apprehend of themselves. E. V. with the Bishops, reading the preposition separately. b Ms. Colb. while there he was,' i. e. in his intended visit. 2 Cor. 1, 15. &c. PHIL. 1, 2. 3. 6. Deut. 7, diano νίαν 5, 22. 8 Bishops sometimes called Presbyters and Deacons. To the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi. Since it was likely that the Jews too would call themselves Ex. 19, saints from the first oracle, when they were called a holy and peculiar people; for this reason he added, to the saints 6. &c. in Christ Jesus. For these alone are holy, and those henceforward profane. To the fellow- Bishops and Deacons. What is this? were there several Bishops of one city? Certainly not; but he called the Presbyters so. For then they still interchanged the titles, and the Bishop was called a Deacon. For this cause in writing to Timothy, he said, Fulfil thy ministry', when he was a Bishop. For that he was 1 Tim. a Bishop appears by his saying to him, Lay hands suddenly on no man. And again, Which was given thee with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. Yet Presbyters would not have laid hands on a Bishop. And again, in writing to Titus, he says, For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. Tit. 1, If any be blameless, the husband of one wife; which he says of the Bishop. And after saying this, he adds ver. 7. immediately, For a Bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God, not self willed. So then, as I said, both the Presbyters were of old called Bishops and Deacons of Christ, and the Bishops Presbyters; and hence even now many Bishops write, 'To my fellow-Presbyter, and, 'To my fellow-Deacon.' But otherwise the specific name is distinctly appropriated to each, the Bishop and the Priest. To the fellowBishops, he says, and Deacons. 5. 6. Ver. 2. Grace be with you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here one might reasonably enquire how it is that though he no where else writes to the Clergy, neither in Rome, nor in Corinth, nor in Ephesus, but in general, to all the saints, or believers, or beloved, yet here he writes to the Clergy? It was because they sent, and bare fruit, and were those who dispatched Epaphroditus to him. Ver. 3. I thank my God, he says, upon every remembrance of you. C Aiánoves, usually in E. V. Minister, when thus used. d Gr. Presbyters. See 1 Tim. 3, 2. but his reason for taking it thus is rather that xarà A seems to imply one for each city. The Teacher's joy. Constancy of the Philippians. 9 He said in another of his writings, Obey them that have the HOM. I. rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for Heb.13, your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do 17. it with joy, and not with grief. If then the grief be for the wickedness of the disciples, the doing it with joy would be for their advancement. This then is what he means. As often as I remember you, I glorify God. But this he does from his being conscious of many good things in them. I both give glory, he says, and pray. I do not cease because ye have attained unto virtue, but I continue praying for you. I thank my God, he says, upon every remembrance of you. Ver. 4. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy. Always', not only while I am praying. And he hath well added, with joy. For it is possible to do this with grief too, as when he says elsewhere, For out of much affliction and 2 Cor. anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears. Ver. 5. For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day even until now. 2, 4. (2) 1, 15. Great is that he here witnesseth of them, and not only so, but very great, and what one might witness of Apostles and Evangelists. For ye did not, because ye were entrusted with one city, he saith, care for that only, but ye do your best to be sharers of my labours, being every where at hand, and working with me, and taking part in my preaching. It is not once, or the second, or third time, but always, from the time ye believed until now, ye have asssumed the readiness of Apostles. Behold now, those indeed that were in Rome turned away from him; for hear him saying, This thou 2 Tim. knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. And again, Demas hath forsaken me: and, at my first ib. 4,10. answer no man stood with me. But these, although absent, took part in his tribulations, both sending men to him, and ministering to him according to their ability, and leaving out nothing by any means. And this ye do not now only, saith he, but always, in every way assisting me. So then the giving assistance is a fellowship in the Gospel. For when one preacheth, and thou waitest on the preacher, thou sharest f The stop might be after' always,' but that is harsh. This was at a later period. But the comparison is in general terms. 16. |