Psalm 91 (Vulgate 90)

First Sermon

This Psalm is that from which the devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ: let us therefore attend to it, that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him Who before us was 282 Our Lord the Worker of Old Testament miracles. tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gate, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is to enter by the gate? To enter by Christ, Who Himself said, / am the door: and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways. And how are we to imitate the ways of Christ? Are we to imitate Him in the glorious power which He had as God in the flesh? is it to this that He exhorts us, this that He requires of us, that we should work such miracles as He wrought? Or does not our Lord Jesus Christ both now and evermore govern the universe with the Father? Is it to govern heaven and earth, and all that are in them, with Him, that He calls man, or that man too may become a creator, through whom all things may be created, as all things were through Christ? Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ invites you neither to those works, which He did from the beginning, of which it is written, By Him all things were made: nor to those which He performed on earth. He tells you not this: Thou shalt not be My disciple, unless thou hast t walked upon the waves, or raised him who was four days (*ea<^ or °Pene(l the eyes of the born blind. Not this either. What is it then to enter by the door? Learn of Me y for I am meek and lowly in heart. What He became on thy account, that thou shouldest attend to in Him, that thou mayest imitate Him. Even before He was born of Mary He wrought miracles, for who ever worked them except He of Whom it is said, He only doeth wondrous things. For it was by His power that those, who in former days worked miracles, were enabled to do so: by the power of Christ, Elias raised the dead. Unless indeed we are to suppose Peter greater than Christ, because Christ with His voice raised the sick; while, when Peter was passing by, the sick were brought out to be touched by his shadow. And yet can it be said that Peter is more mighty than Christ? Why then had Peter such power? Because Christ was in Peter. Hence our Saviour's words, All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; meaning, that those who came on a mission of Christ imitated in temptation as well as persecution. 283 their own, were not sent by Me, they came without Me, I was not in them, nor did I introduce them; all the miracles therefore wrought either by His predecessors or successors, were the work of the same Lord Christ, Who performed miracles when He was Himself present. Neither then does He exhort us to imitate those miracles which He worked before He became Man: but He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts; be courageous, be of long suffering • thou shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it: for if thou depart from the help of the Most High, without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.

2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see them openly rage against themselves: imagining they are then imitating the sufferings of Christ, in case men openly persecute them; but if assailed by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he was conquered, and conquered too when openly attacking Him. This do thou, if thou wishest to enter by the door, when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he asks for a man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things he received that power: the whole glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not. For when the devil robbed him of all things, these were his words, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; he said not, The Lord gave, and21" the devil hath taken away: since the devil could have taken nothing from him, had not the Lord permitted him. And for this cause God allowed him, that the man might be tried, 284 Satan conquered by abiding in God's protection. and the devil conquered. When he struck him with a blow, it was by God's leave. Even when from head to foot he was wasted by worms, not even then did he attribute any power to the devil: but when his wife, whom alone the devil had left, not as the consoler of her husband, but his own helper, advised him thus, Say some word against God, and die: he replied, Thou speakestas one of the foolish women speaketh. If we have received good at the hands of God, shall we not endure evil?

3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is (ver. 1, 2.) who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, who shall abide under the protection of Goa\ in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my taker up, and my refuge: my God. Who speaks thus to the Lord? He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High: not under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the immortality in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the Most High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God threatened, not what the devil promised, had come to pass in them.

4. (Ver. 3.) Thus then do thou say also, In Him will I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me, not I myself. Observe whether he teaches any thing but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee? From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word. Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so? Many have fallen into the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say? The devil and his angels spread their snares, as hunters do: and those who walk in Christ tread afar from those snares: for he dares not spread his net in Christ: he What is our danger from a * harsh word.' 285 sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let then thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the snares of the devil: when thou wanderest from the way, there is the snare: on this side and that he sets his nooses, on this side and that his snares: among those nooses lies thy path. But dost thou wish to tread in safety? Turn not ever so slightly right or left: and let Him be thy way Who was made thy Way, that through Himself He may lead thee to Himself, and thou shalt not dread the nooses of the6, hunters.

But what is, from a harsh word? The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word: for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen: they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you? Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you? Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a hedge, and stones are thrown into the hedge: those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit a bird by throwing a stone into a hedge? But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets; and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil. Yet why, my brethren, do I refrain from saying, what God urges me to say, and what I must not pass unsaid? However you may receive it, God compels me to say it: unless 1 say it, T fall into the snares of the huuters; for if fear of man's detraction hinder me from stating it, I am myself for fear of a harsh word falling into the snares, while I am admonishing you not to fear the words of men. What is it then that I have to tell you? Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter: so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then doth it profit, my brother, if thou occasionally find a city in which there is no heathen? No one there insults a man because he is a Christian, for this reason, that there is no Pagan therein: but there are many Christians who lead a bad life, among whom those who are resolved to live righteously, and to be sober among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the consnlters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no such things, and among spectators of frivolous shows will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words, when they address such a one, ' Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come from heaven.' They insult him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side: and if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is it, when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way? On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door? Let him say; What words am I called, who am a servaut and a sinner? To my Lord Jesus they said, Thou hast a devil. You have just heard the harsh words spoken against our Lord: it was not necessary for our Lord to suffer this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou fall into the snares of the hunters.

5. (Ver. 4.) He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings. He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself; He will defend th#e, to deliver thee from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, between His shoulders, may be understood both in front and behind: for the shoulders are about the head; but in the words, ' thou shalt hope under His wings,* it is clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee: only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings; how much more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one? For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God is not without ground; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, speaks of Himself as likened to a hen; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not. That Jerusalem would not: let us be willing. She, when she abandoned her hen's wings, was carried off by the powers of the air, presuming on her own strength, when she was weak: let us, confessing our want of strength, fly to the shelter of God's wings: for He will be to us as a hen defending her young. There is nothing offensive in the name of the hen: for if you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no: but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers: she changes altogether from love for her chickens: she weakens herself because they are weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, that we might hope under His wings.

6. (Ver. 4 — 6.) His truth shall surround thee with a shield. What are the wings, the same is the shield: since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could the one be the same as the other? can wings be a shield or a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really a Stone, He could not be a Lion; if a Lion, He could not be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb, and^vu6' Stone, and Calf, and any thing else of the sort, meta-5. phorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb,29.hn nor Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these are likenesses, not literal names. His truth shall be thy shield, it is said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in God. One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose one that presumes upon himself, is a despiser, confesses not his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even raise his eyes, but beat upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Both this was a sinner, and that 9 but the one mocked, the other mourned: the one was despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on

God. His truth, then, shall surround thee with a shield.

7. Thou shall not be afraid for any terror by night, nor the arrow that Jlieth by day; for the matter1 that. walketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noon-day. These two clauses above correspond to the two below; Thou shall not fear for the terror by nighty from the arrow that Jlieth by day: both because of the terror by night, from the matter that tralketh in darkness: and because of the arrow that Jlieth by day, from the ruin of the devil of the noon-day. What ought to be feared by night, and what by day? When any man sins in ignorance, he sins, as it were, by night: when he sins in full knowledge, by day. The two former sins then are the lighter: the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, if, by God's blessing, I can explain it so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night: the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow that Jlieth by day. What.are light temptations? Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly if declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, I mean those whose faith is as yet unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may horje for a life to come; as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for th« future: the matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them. But some there are who know that they are called to a future hope; that what God has promised is not of this life, or this earth; that all these temptations must be endured, that we may receive what God hath promised us for evermore; all this they know: when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.

8. But why does he say, at noon-day? The persecution is very hot; and thus the noon signifies the excessive heat. My beloved brethren, hear me prove this from the Scriptures. When our Lord was speaking of the sower who went forth to sow, and some of the seeds fell by the way-side, some upon stony places, and some among thorns, He condescended to explain the parable Himself; and when He came to the seed which fell on the stony places, He said thus, He that received the seed into stony places, the same are they that hear the word, and for a while rejoice at the3^23' word; and when tribulation ariseth because of the word, by and by they are offended. For what had He said of the seed which fell in these places f When the sun was up, He saith, they were scorched; and because they had no deep root, they withered away. These then are they who for a while rejoice at the word, and when persecution hath arisen because of the word, they wither. Why do they wither? Because they had no firm root. What is that root? Love: in the Apostle's words, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love; for, as the love of money is the root of all evil, so is love the root of all good. This ye know, and I have often repeated it; but why have I wished to call it to mind? That ye may understand this Psalm, in which the demon that is in the noon-day, represents the heat of a furious persecution: for these are our Lord's words, The sun was up; and because they had no root, they withered away: and when explaining it, He applies it to those who are offended when persecution ariseth, because they have not root in themselves. We are therefore right in understanding by the demon that destroyeth in tb* noon-day, a violent persecution. Listen, beloved, while I describe the persecution, from which the Lord hath rescued His Church. At first, when the emperors and kings of the world imagined that they could extirpate from the earth the Christian name by persecution, they proclaimed, that any one who confessed himself a Christian, should be smitten. He who did not to be smitten, denied that he was a Christian, knowing the sin he was committing: the arrow that flieth by day reached him. But whoever regarded not the present life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow, by confessing himself a Christian; smitten in the flesh, he was liberated in the spirit: resting with God, he began peacefully to await the redemption of his body in the resurrection of the dead: he escaped from that temptation, from the arrow that flieth by day. " Whoever professes himself a Christian, let him be beheaded;" was as the arrow that flieth by day. The devil that is in the noonday was not yet abroad, burning with a terrible persecution, and afflicting with great heat even the strong. For hear what followed; when the enemy saw that many were hastening to martyrdom, and that the number of fresh converts increased in proportion to that of the sufferers, they said among themselves, We shall annihilate the human race, so many thousands are there who believe in His Name; if we kill all of them, there will hardly be a survivor on earth. The sun then began to blaze, and to glow with a terrible heat. Their first edict had been, Whoever shall confess himself a Christian, let him be smitten. Their second was, Whoever shall have confessed himself a Christian, let him be tortured, and tortured even until he deny himself a Christian. Compare the arrow that flieth by day, and the devil that destroyed at the noon. What was the arrow flying by day? that any confessing Christian should be smitten. What faithful believer would not avoid the arrow by a speedy death? But the second, viz. If he confess himself a Christian, let him not be slain, but tortured until he deny: if he deny, let him be dismissed: was the demon of the noon. Many therefore who denied not, failed amid the tortures; for they were tortured until they denied. But to those who persevered in professing «Christ, what could the sword do, by killing the body at one stroke, and sending the soul to God? This was the result of protracted tortures also: yet who could be found able to resist such cruel and continued torments? Many failed: those, I believe, who presumed uppn themselves, who dwelt not under the defence of the Most High, and under the shadow of the God of Heaven; who said not to the Lord, Thou art my lifter up: who trusted not beneath the shadow of His wings, but reposed much confidence in their own strength. They are thrown down by God, to shew them that it is He that protects them, He overrules their temptations, He allows so much only to befal them, as each person can sustain.

9. (Ver. 7.) Many then fell before the demon of the noonday. Would ye know how many? He goes on, and says, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said? For our Lord Jesus is not only in Himself, but in us also. Remember those words, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? when no one touched Him, and yet He said, why persecutest thou Me? did He not account Himself in us? when He said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me, did He not account Himself as in us? For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is it said, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand by thy right hand? Because they shall fall before the devil, that destroyeth at noon. It is a terrible thing, myl>rethren, to fail from beside Christ, from His right hand; but how shall they fall from beside Him? Why the one beside Him, the other at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him, ten thousand at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him? Because a thousand are fewer than the ten thousand who shall fall at His right hand. Who these are will soon be clear in Christ's name; for to some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who left all things, and followed Him. Peter said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee: and He gave them this promise, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Do not imagine that it was to them alone that this promise was made; for where, in that case, will the Apostle Paul sit, who laboured more abundantly than they all, if only twelve shall sit there? For St. Paul is the thirteenth: since out of the twelve, Judas fell, and in his place Matthias was ordained, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles. Thus the twelve thrones were filled up; but shall not he, who laboured more than all, have a seat? Or is the number twelve the perfection of the tribunal? For thousands shall sit in twelve seats. But some one may possibly ask, How do you prove to me that Paul will be among the judges? Hear his own words; Know ye not that we shall judge Angels? Thus he did not hesitate to account himself in the fulness of his faith among those who shall judge with Christ. Those judges then are the heads of the Church, the perfect. To such He said, If thou wilt be perfect^ go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor. What means the expression, if thou wilt be perfect? it means, if thou wilt judge with Me, and not be judged. That young man went away very sorrowful: but many have done, and are doing this command: and these are they who shall judge with Him. But many promise themselves they shall judge with Christ, because they forsake all, and follow Christ: but they have a self- presumption, a certain swelling and pride, which God alone can discern, and they cannot escape the sickness of the noon-day, that is, the fall caused by the glowing heat of a too severe persecution. Many such at that period, who had distributed their all to the poor, and already promised themselves a seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their torments under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of the noon-day, and denied Christ. These are they who have fallen beside Him: when about to sit with Christ for the judgment of the world, they fell.

10. I will now explain who are they who fall on the right hand of Christ, Ye know that when the judgment-seat is described, where those who have willed to be and actually become perfect, rooted and grounded in love, so that they cannot wither from the sun and the demon of the noon-day, shall judge with Christ, our Lord saith, Before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from his goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left; and they shall be judged. There will be many who shall judge, but they will be fewer than those who will Others that seemed such shall fall, but more of the rest. 293 stand before the tribunal; the latter will be as ten thousand, die former as a thousand. What will He say to those placed on His right hand? / was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; it is clear that these words will be addressed to those who have enough of this world's riches to discharge those humane offices. Yet both will reign together: for the one are as soldiers, the other as the provincial pay-masters1 who give the soldiers their supplies: both the soldier and the provincial, nevertheless, act under the same Emperor. The soldier is brave, the provincial devoted to his duties; the brave soldier fights with his prayers against the devil, the devoted provincial provides the soldier with his pay. Those placed on the right hand shall hear at last these words, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. There were then many, at that time when the sun of persecution and the demon of the noon-day glowed with terrible heat, there were many, who promised themselves that they should judge with Christ; yet they could not sustain the heat of persecution, and fell from beside Him; there were others there, who did not promise themselves the judicial seat; but through their works of charity promised themselves a place on the right hand of Christ, among those to whom He would say, 6 Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world? And because many have fallen from that hope of being judges, but yet many, many more from that of being on His right hand, the Psalmist thus addresses Christ, A thousand shall fall beside Thee, and ten thousand at Thy right hand. And since there shall be many, who regarded not all these things, with whom, as it were with His own limbs, Christ is one, he adds, But it shall not come nigh Tliee. Were these words addressed to the Head alone? Surely not; surely neither (doth it come nigh) to Paul, nor Peter, nor all the Apostles, nor all the Martyrs," who failed not in their torments. What then do the words, it shall not come nigh, mean? Why were they thus tortured? The torture came nigh the flesh, but it did not reach the region of faith. Their faith then was far beyond the reach of the terrors threatened by their torturers. Let them torture, terror will not come nigh; let them torture, but they will mock the torture, putting their trust in Him who conquered before them, that the rest might conquer. And who conquer, except they who trust not in themselves? Attend, my beloved; for all he has said above refers to this. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my upholder and my refuge: and in Him will I trust. For He shall deliver me from the snare of the hunter. " He shall deliver me," not I myself. He shall defend thee between His shoulders: but when? when thou shalt trust beneath His wings: His truth shall encompass thee with a shield. Because, then, thou hast trusted in Him, and reposed all thy hopes in Him, what follows? Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the matter that walketh in darkness, nor for the downfal and the devil that is in the noon-day. Who will not fear? He who trusts not in himself, but in Christ. But those who trust in themselves, although they even hope to judge at the side of Christ, although they hoped they should be at His right hand, as if He said to them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; yet the devil that is at noon overtook them, the raging heat of persecution, terrifying with violence; and many fell from the hope of the seat of judgment, of whom it is said, A thousand shall fall beside thee; many too fell from the hope 0f reward for their duties1, of whom it was said, And ten thousand at thy right hand. But this downfal and devil that is at noon-day shall not come nigh thee, that is, the Head and the body; for the Lord knows who are His. Ver. 8. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. What is this? Why nevertheless? Because the wicked were allowed to tyrannize over Thy servants, and to persecute them. Will they then have been allowed to persecute Thy servants with impunity? Not with impunity, for although Thou hast permitted them, and Thine own have thence received a brighter crown, nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. For the evil which they willed, not the good they unconsciously were the agents of, will be recompensed them. All that is wanting is the eye of faith, by which we may see that they are raised for a time only, while they shall mourn for evermore; and to those into whose hands is given temporal power over the servants of God, it shall be said, Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. But if every man have but41" eyes in the sense in which it is said, With thine eyes shalt thou behold, it is no unimportant thing to look upon the wicked flourishing in this life, and to have an eye to him, to consider what will become of him in the end, if he fail to reform his ways: for those who now would thunder upon others, will afterwards feel the thunderbolt themselves. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly.

11. Ver. 9. For Thou, Lord, art my hope. He has now come to the power which rescues him from falling by the downfall and the devil of the noon-day. For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of defence very high. What do the words very high mean? For many make their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal persecution; but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou may est fly from the wrath to come. Within Thou hast set thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto Thee: neither shall any plague come nigh Thy dwelling. For He shall give His Angels charge over Tttee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. They shall bear Thee in their hands: that Thou hurt not Tfiy foot against a stone. These are the very words which the devil said to our Lord when he tempted Him; but as they demapd very careful consideration, let us defer them and the latter part of this Psalm until to-morrow, (as we owe you a discourse for tomorrow also,) to begin again at the same place, in order to avoid fatiguing you; lest, when we are anxious to clear up an obscure passage, any haste on our part may binder your understanding it.

12. I doubt not that you remember, beloved, such of you as were present yesterday at my sermon, that the shortness

Second Discourse

of time prevented my concluding the exposition of the Psalm, a part of which was thus deferred until this day. You who were here yesterday, remember this; you who were not, may now know it. On this account I have caused to be read to you the chapter in the Gospel, wherein our Lord was tempted from the words of this Psalm. On this account Christ was tempted, that the Christian may not be overcome by the tempter: He, as the Master, willed to be tempted in all things, because we are tempted: just as He willed to die, because we die: as He willed to rise again, since we too shall rise again. For all those works which He shewed forth in humanity, Who was made Man for us, He shewed forth on our account, since He was God, through Whom we were made. And we have often impressed upon you, beloved, what we do not fear to reiterate frequently: in order that, since many of you possibly cannot read, either because they have no leisure, or know not letters, at least by constantly listening they may not forget their healthful faith. Certainly, by repeating them we may appear troublesome to some, while however we may be building up others. For we are well assured that there are many of retentive memory, and careful reading in Holy Writ, who know what we are about to say; and perhaps they wish us to say what they do not know. But if they are quicker, let them see that they are travelling with others not so quick; for when two persons of different speed are travelling in company, it is in the power of the quicker, and not of him who is more slow, to give or to deny his company; because if the swifter is pleased to do his utmost, the slower will not keep up with him, and so he must needs rein in his own speed, in order not to leave his fellow-traveller behind. What I have so often said, and now repeat, — as the Apostle says, To write the same things to you is not grievous, but for you it is safe, — is this. Our Lord Jesus Christ is as one whole perfect Man, both Head and Body: we acknowledge the Head in that Man Who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was buried, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth on the right hand of the Father, whence we await His coming as Judge of the quick and the dead. This is the Head of the Church. The Body of this Head is the Church; not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world as well: not that of this age only, but from Abel himself—^ down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one city; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the Angels, who are our fellow-citizens: we toil, because we are as yet pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival. Letters have reached us too from that city, apart from which we are wandering: those letters are the Scriptures, which exhort us to live well. Why do I speak of letters only? The King himself descended, and became a path to us in our wanderings: that walking in Him, we may neither stray, nor faint nor fall among robbers, nor be caught in the snares which are set near our path. This character, then, we recognise in the whole Person of Christ, together with the Church: Himself alone born of the Virgin, Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, Mediator between God and man: Mediator for this purpose, that He may reconcile by Himself those who had2' fallen back: for a mediator is only between two persons. We had fallen away from the Majesty of God, and by our sins offended Him; His Son was sent as our Mediator, who by His blood might atone for our sins, by which we were separated from God: and placing Himself between us and the Almighty, might restore and reconcile us to Him, having turned away from Whom, we were held bound in our sins. He Himself is our Head, He is God, co-equal with the Father, the Word of God, by Whom all things were made: but God to create, Man to renew; God to make, Man to3, restore. Looking upon Him, then, let us hear the Psalm. Listen, beloved. This is the teaching and doctrine of this school, which may enable you to understand, not this Psalm only, but many, if ye keep in mind this rule. Sometimes a Psalm, and all prophecy as well, in speaking of Christ, praises the Head alone, and sometimes from the Head goes to the Body, that is, the Church, and without apparently changing the Person spoken of: because the Head is not separate from the Body, and both are spoken of as one. For observe, beloved, what I say. Clear, assuredly, to all is the Psalm in which it is said of our Lord, They pierced My hands and?*. -My feet: they numbered all My bones: they parted My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. Even the Jews when they hear this are confounded: so evidently is it a prophecy of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. But our Lord Jesus Christ had no sins: yet in the commencement of that Psalm it is said, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me; and art so far from my health, and the words of my complaint? Ye see then what is said in the character of the Head, what in that of the Body. The sins belong to us: the suffering for us belongeth to the Head: but on account of His suffering for us, the sins which belong to us are remitted. Thus also it is in this Psalm.

2. I have treated of the first verses yesterday: but let us briefly run over them. (Ver. 1.) Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, I took occasion, beloved brethren, to exhort you from these verses to put no trust in yourselves, but all in Him in Whom is our strength, for it is by means of His aid that we conquer, not by presuming in ourselves. The God of Heaven therefore defends us, if we say to the Lord what follows. (Ver. 2.) He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope and my strong hold: my God, in Him will I trust. (Ver. 3.) For he shall deliver thee from the snares of the hunter: and from a harsh word. I said, that many fearing a harsh word have fallen into the hunter's snares; a man is insulted because he is a Christian, he becomes ashamed of his profession, and by means of a harsh word he falls into the snares of the devil. Again, a man is insulted, because among many Christians he lives a better life than they: and fearing the hard words of his insulting foe, he becomes a prey to the devil's snares, so that he is not wheat on the floor, but rather follows the chaff. But he who trusts in God, is rescued from the snare of the hunters, and from the harsh word. But in what manner does God defend thee? He shall defend thee between His shoulders; that is, He will place thee before His breast, that He may defend thee under His wings: if thou acknowledge thy weakness, in order that as a weak chicken thou mayest fly beneath the wings of thy mother, lest thou be seized by the kite; for the powers of the air, the devil and his angels, are kites, and their wish is to seize upon our weakness. Let us then fly beneath the wings of our Mother the Divine Wisdom, since that Wisdom — voluntarily weakened Herself on our behalf, when the Word^ohn was made flesh. Just as the hen weakeneth herself together with her chickens, that she may defend them beneath herMat.23, wings: so our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being in the form 0/philip. God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, in order2) that He might undergo weakness with us, and protect us under His wings; made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man.

And thou shalt be safe under His wings: His truth shall encompass thee with a shield and buckler. (Ver. 5.) Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night. The temptations of ignorance are the terror by night: the sins of knowledge are the arrow that flieth by day: for ignorance is understood by night, and the making manifest by day. Some sin through ignorance, others with full knowledge: they that sin ignorantly are overthrown by the terror by night: they that sin with knowledge are stricken by the arrow that flieth by day. And as these things happen in the heavier persecutions, the further we advance, as if towards the noon, whoever falls under that heat will fall as it were by the devil that is at noon-day. And many have fallen by this heat, as I yesterday explained to you, my beloved, because in the heat of the persecution it was proclaimed, Let the Christians be tortured, until they deny themselves Christians. Whereas before when they confessed they were beheaded, they were afterwards tortured to make them deny: and as every one that was accused was tortured, until he denied, the confession of Christians was tortured, their denial acquitted. Great then was the fury of the persecutors. Whoever fell under that temptation, fell by the devil that was of the noon. And how many did fall! Many who were hoping that they might share their Lord's judgment-seat, fell from beside Him. Many too who hoped they should be on His right hand, as provincial paymasters among the holy soldiers of the Cross, to whom it should be said, / was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat, (for there will be many on His right hand,) have fallen from that hope, and more of these than of those who hoped for the judgment-seat. For they are the fewer that shaN judge with the Lord, and the more that shall stand before Him. But those who shall stand before Him, will be in different conditions. For some shall be on the left, others on the right: some that they may reign, others that they may be punished: some that they may hear the words, Come, ye blessed of My Father; others, that they may be addressed thus, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting preparea* fw tfre devil and his angels. Of those then who fall by the downfall and the demon of the noon-day, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand by thy right hand. But it shall not come nigh thee. What is this? The devil of the noonday overthrows not thee. What wonder if it overthrow not the Head? But it overthrows not those either who hold so close to the Head, as the Apostle says, The Lord knoweth them that are His. For there are some so predestined, that the Lord knoweth who belong to His own body. Since then that temptation shall not approach them in such force as to overwhelm them, it is said concerning them, but it shall not come nigh thee. But lest those sinners who were allowed to practise such cruelties against the Christians, may be attended to by some weak persons, and lest it be said, Lo, what is the will of God, that such power is given to ungodly and wicked men against His servants? Consider a little with thy eyes, the eyes of faith, and thou shalt see the retribution upon sinners in the end, to whom at present only sufficient power is given to try thy faith. For these words follow: Yea, with thine eyes thou shalt behold, and see the reward of the ungodly.

8. Ver. 9 — 12. Because Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil come near unto Thee. These words are addressed to our Lord; Because Tliou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil come near unto Thee: neither shall any scourge come nigh Thy dwelling. Next follow the words which ye have heard spoken by the devil: For He hath given His Angels charge over Thee, to keep Tliee in all Thy ways. They shall bear Thee in their hands, that Thou hurt not Thy foot against a stone. To whom does he say this? To whom did he say For Thou, Lord, art my help? 1 suppose it is no longer needful to explain to Christians who is the Lord in this passage. If they understand by it God the Father, how shall the Angels bear Him in their hands, lest He hurt His foot against a stone? You see this also, that our Lord Christ, when He was speaking of the body, suddenly begins to speak of the Head. Our Head is spoken of in one passage, in the words, For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Tliou hast set Thine house of defence very high. For this cause, Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high, because Thou, Lord, art my hope. What means this? Attend, my beloved: Because Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high. We need no longer wonder what the meaning of this is: for in the following verse it is added, that, because Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high, there shall no evil come near unlo Thee: neither shall any scourge come nigh Thy dwelling. But we do not read in the Gospel, that at any time the Angels bore our Lord, that He might not hurt His foot against a stone: and yet we understand this. For these things have already past: and were prophesied with reason, since they were to happen. And we cannot say, Christ will come later, so that He may not strike His foot against a stone: for He will come to judge. Wherein then is the prophecy fulfilled? Attend, my beloved.

9. First listen to these verses: For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high. The human race knew that man died, but did not know that be arose again: it had therefore reason for fear, but not for hope. In order that He, then, Who for discipline awed them with the fear of death, might give them the hope of resurrection for the reward of eternal life, our Lord Jesus Christ was the first to rise from the dead. He died after many: He arose before all: He suffered that in dying, which many suffered before Him: He did that in His resurrection, which no one did before Him: for when will the Church receive this, except in the end? What the members are to hope, has gone before in the Head: you know well, my beloved, their way of speaking with one another. Let then the Church say unto her Lord Jesus Christ, let the body say to its Head, For Thou* Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high: that is, Thou hast risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, that by ascending Thou mightest set Thine house of defence very high, and become my hope, when I despaired on earth, and believed not that I should rise again; I now believe, because my Head has ascended into heaven: where the Head has gone before, the limbs will in course follow. I imagine these words are now clear: they may be more clearly paraphrased thus. Thou hast arisen from the dead before me, that I might have a hope of resurrection which I had not before, so that I might hope I should follow Thee, whither Thou hast gone before me. These are the words of the Church to her Lord, of the body to its Head.

10. Do not then wonder if no evil shall happen unto thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The flesh is the Lord's tabernacle. The Word dwelt in the flesh, and the flesh became a tabernacle for God: in that very tent our Chief carried on war on our behalf: in that very tent He was tempted by the enemy, lest His soldiers should faint. And because He shewed that very flesh to our eyes, because our eyes rejoice in that light, and are delighted with that visible illumination, because He made His flesh manifest to the eyes of all men, a Psalm says, He hath set His tabernacle in the sun. What is, in the sun f Openly, clearly, in the light of this world; that is, in the light which overspread the earth from heaven, there He hath placed His dwelling. But how could He set His tent there, if He were not as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber? for this further description follows, He cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. The tabernacle is the very same as the spouse: the Word the Bridegroom, and the bridal chamber the Virgin's womb. And what saith the Apostle? And they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. And what are our Lord's own words in the Gospel? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. One instead of two, of the Word and the flesh, one Man, one God. But this tabernacle of our Lord's felt the scourge in this world, as it is well known, the Lord was scourged. Does Tt feel the lash in heaven? And wherefore not? Because He hath set His house o{~^ defence very high, that He might be our hope; and no evil shall come near unto him; neither shall any plague come nigh His dwelling. He is far above all the heavens: but His feet rest upon the earth: His head is in heaven: His body on earth. But when His feet were being scourged, and trampled down by Saul, the Head cried out, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Lo, no man persecutes the Head: lo, the Head is in heaven: since " Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over9' Him no evil shall come near unto Thee: neither shall any plague come nigh Jliy dwelling. But that we may not imagine that the Head is cut off from the body: for it is separated in point of place, but joined in feeling; that very communion of feeling cried from Heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? He prostrated Saul with a voice of reproach, while He raised him by the hand of pity. He who persecuted the body of Christ, became a member of Christ: that thus he might feel therein what he had inflicted before.

11. What then, my brethren, what is said of our Head? For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil come near unto Tfiee: neither shall any plague come nigh Thy dwelling. Of this we have spoken, for He hath given His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. You heard these words but now, when the Gospel was being read; attend therefore. Our Lord, after He was baptized, fasted. Why was He baptized? That we might not scorn to be baptized. For when John said to our Lord, Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I ought to be baptized by Thee; and our Lord14,16, replied, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil aU righteousness; He wished to fulfil all humility, so that He should be washed, Who had no defilement. Why this? On account of the pride of those who were to come after Himself. Suppose any catechumen, who perchance in his learning and piety excels many of the faithful: he finds many baptized who are ignorant, many who live not as he does himself, in such continence and chastity: perhaps he does not think of marriage, while he sees another of the faithful, if not in fornication, at least using his marriage license too freely; he may perhaps lift up the neck of pride, and say, what need have I of baptism, to receive what this man has, whom I already surpass, both in my life and knowledge? To such a one our Lord would say, 6 How and how far hast thou surpassed him? as much as I surpass thee? The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant a0QVe ftjs lor^ Ji {s enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. Do not be so puffed up, as to dispense with baptism. Thou shalt seek the baptism of the Lord, 1 sought that of a servant.' Our Lord, then, was baptized, and after baptism He was tempted; He fasted forty days, a number which has, as I have often mentioned, a deep meaning. All things cannot be explained at once, lest needful time be too much taken up. After forty days He was an hungred. He could have fasted without ever feeling hunger; but then how could He be tempted? or had He not overcome the tempter, how couldest thou learn to struggle with him? He was hungry; and then the tempter said, If Thou be the Son of God> command that these stones be made bread. Was it a great thing for our Lord Jesus Christ to make bread out of stones, when He satisfied so many thousands with five loaves? He made bread out of nothing. For whence came that quantity of food, which could satisfy so many thousands? The sources of that bread are in the Lord's hands. This is nothing wonderful; for He Himself made out of five loaves bread enough for so many thousands, Who also every day out of a few seeds raises up on earth immense harvests. These are the miracles of our Lord: but from their constant operation they are disregarded. What then, my brethren, was it impossible for the Lord to create bread out of stones? He made men even out of stones, in the words of John the Baptist himself, God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Why then did He not so? That he might teach thee how to answer the tempter, so that if thou wast reduced to anj straits and the tempter suggested, if thou wast a Christian and belongedst to Christ, would He desert thee now? would He not have sent thee help? Possibly the Physician has still the knife in His hand, and therefore leaves thee: yet fie does not forsake thee: just as He listened not to the prayers of Paul, because He did listen to him. For Paul says, that he was not heard when he complained of the messenger of Satan, who was a thorn in his flesh, by whom he says he was buffetted. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, thai it might depart12'^'9' from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. As if a man said to his physician, who had given him a blister, This plaister is troublesome to me: I pray you take it away^ And the physician replies, No; you must let it remain *for some time; you cannot otherwise recover. The physician did not listen to his patient with a view to consult his pleasure, but his health. Be therefore strong, my brethren: and when ye are tempted by some want, beneath the scourge and the instruction of God, while He is both preparing and keeping for you an eternal inheritance, let not the devil suggest to you, If thou wert righteous, would He not send thee bread by means of the raven, as He did to Elias? Where is that thou hast read, I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread? Do thou answer the26, devil, The Scripture speaks truth, / never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread; for I have a bread of mine own that thou knowest not of. What bread? Listen to our Lord; Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Dost thou think the word of God bread? If the Word of God, through which all things were made, was not bread, He would not say, / am the bread which came down from heaven. Thou hast therefore learnt to answer the tempter,41, when pressed with hunger.

12. What, if he tempt thee in these words: If thou wast a Christian, thou wouldest do miracles, as many Christians have done? Thou, deceived by a wicked suggestion, wouldest tempt the Lord thy God, so as to say to Him, If I am a Christian, and am before Thine eyes, and Thou dost account me at all in the number of Thine own, let me also do something like the many works which Thy Saints have done? Thou hast tempted God, as if thou wert not a Christian, unless thou didst this. Many who desired such things have fallen. For that Simon the sorcerer desired such gifts of the Apostles, when he wished to buy the Holy Spirit for money. He loved the power of working miracles, but loved not the imitation of humility. Thus, when some disciple, or some one from the crowd, wished to follow the Lord, from witnessing the miracles which He did: the Lord saw that he was proud, and sought not the path of humility, but the puffing up of power, and said, The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests; but the Sun of Man hath not where to lay His head. The foxes have holes in thee: the birds of the air have nests in thee. The foxes mean deceit: the birds of the air pride: for as the birds seek the regions above, so do the proud: and as foxes have treacherous holes, so have also all plotters against others. What then was our Lord's answer? Pride and deceit may dwell in thee: Christ hath not where to dwell in thee: where to lay His head, because the laying of His head is the humility of Christ: unless He laid down His head, thou wouldest not be justified. Even His disciples, when they desired such things, and wTere already wishing for a seat in His kingdom, before they gained the path of humility, when He was asked by the mother of His disciples, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, the other on Thy left, were seeking power: but through the suffering of humility we come to the power of the kingdom. Our Lord saith, Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink off Why do ye think of the loftiness of the kingdom, and yet imitate not My humility? What then, if he tempt thee thus, "work miracles?" that thou mayest not tempt God, what shouldest thou answer? What our Lord answered. The devil said to Him, Cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His Angels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. If Thou shalt cast Thyself down, Angels shall receive Thee. And it might indeed, my brethren, happen, if our Lord had cast Himself down, the attending Angels would receive our Lord's flesh; but what does He say to him f It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, Thou thinkest Me a man. For the Ministry of Angels to our Lord as Man. 307 devil came to Him with this view, that he might try whether He were the Son of God. He saw His Flesh; but His — might appeared in His works: the Angels had borne witness. He saw that He was mortal, so that he might tempt Him, that by Christ's temptation the Christian might be taught. What then is written? Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Let us not then tempt the Lord, so as to say, If we belong to Thee, let us work a miracle.

13. Let us return to the words of the Psalm. He hath given His Angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. They shall bear Thee in their hands, lest at any time Thou hurt Thy foot against a stone. Christ was raised up in the bands of Angels, when He was taken up into heaven: not that, if Angels had not sustained Him, He would have fallen: but because they were attending on their King. Say not, Those who sustained Him are better than He Who was sustained. Are then cattle better than men, because they sustain the weakness of men? And we ought not to speak thus either; for if the cattle withdraw their support, their riders fall. But how ought we to speak of it? For it is said even of God, Heaven is My throne. Because then heaven supports Him, and God sits thereon, is therefore heaven the better? Thus also in this Psalm we may understand it of the service of the ADgels: it does not pertain to any infirmity in our Lord, but to the honour they pay, and to their service. But our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead. Wherefore? Hear the Apostle: He was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification. Also the Gospel saith of the Holy Ghost: The Holy Ghost teas not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. What39, is the glorification of Jesus? He arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Glorified by God by His ascent into heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. But in the Law, in Exodus the book of Moses, from the day when the lamb was slain and eaten, fifty days are numbered; and the Law was given, written by the finger of God on tables of stone. What the finger of God is, the Gospel explaineth to us; for the finger of God is the Holy Ghost. How do we prove this? Our Lord, when answering those who accused Him of casting out devils in the name of 308 Christ1 s mystical feet not hurt on the stone of the Law. Beelzebub, saith, If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God; and another Evangelist, in relating the same saying, saith, If I with the finger of God cast out devils. What therefore *s m one statea< clearly, is darkly expressed in another. Thou didst not know what was the ringer of God, but another Evangelist explains it by terming it the Spirit of God. The Law then written by the finger of God was given on the fiftieth day after the slaughter of the lamb, and the Holy Ghost descended on the fiftieth day after the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The lamb was slain, the Passover was celebrated, the fifty days were completed, and the Law was given. But that Law was to cause fear, not love: but that fear might be changed into love, He Who was truly righteous was slain: of Whom that lamb whom the Jews were slaying was the type. He arose from the dead: and from the day of our Lord's Passover, as from that of the slaying of the Paschal lamb, fifty days are counted; and the Holy Ghost descended, now in the fulness of love, not in the punishment of fear. Why have I said this? For this then our Lord arose, and was glorified, that He might send His Holy Spirit. And I said long ago that this was so, because His head is in heaven, His feet on earth. If His head is in heaven, His feet on earth; what means our Lord's feet on earth? Our Lord's saints on earth. Who are our Lord's feet? The Apostles sent throughout the whole world. Who are our Lord's feet? All the Evangelists, in whom our Lord travelleth over all nations. It was to be feared lest the Evangelists should be hurt against a stone: for when He was set in Heaven as the head, the feet which were toiling upon the ground might be hurt against a stone. What stone? The Law given on the tables of stone. That they might not therefore be impeached before the Law, not having received grace, and be held accursed in the Law: for this liability to the Law is that very stumbling against the stone: those whom the Law held condemned, the Lord absolved, that they might no more hurt their feet against the Law. That the feet of this Head might not incur guilt of the Law, the Holy Ghost was sent to inspire love, and to release from fear. Fear did not fulfil the Law, love fulfilled it. Men feared, but they fulfilled The Law fulfilled through the gift of Love. 309 not: they loved, and they fulfilled. How did they fear, and yet not fulfil? how did they love, and fulfil? Men used to fear, and to plunder others' goods: they loved, and they gave away their own. We need not therefore wonder that our Lord was raised up to heaven by the hands of Angels, that His foot might not dash against a stone: lest those who on earth toiled in his body, while they were travelling over the whole world might become guilty of the Law, He took from them fear, and filled them with love. Through fear Peter thrice denied Him, for he had not yet received the Holy Ghost: afterwards, when he had received the Holy69~ Spirit, he began to preach with confidence. He who at the words of the maid-servant thrice denied, after he had received the Holy Ghost, confessed, amid the stripes of the rulers, Him Whom he had denied. This is no wonder: for the Lord dissolved that threefold fear by threefold love.29'40' For when He arose from the dead He said to Peter, Peter, lovest thou Me? He said not, Fearest thou Me? For if he still feared, he would be hurting his feet against the stone. Lovest thou Me? He saith. Peter replies, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Once was enough. Perhaps it might satisfy me, who see not the heart; how much more would it suffice the Lord, Who saw how with his whole soul Peter said, / love Thee. It is not enough for our Lord, to answer once: He asketh a second time, and Peter answereth: He asketh a third time; and now Peter, wearied, as if our Lord doubted of his love, Lord, he saith, Thou k no west all things: Tliou knowest that I love TJiee. But our Lord16 so dealt with him, as if He said, thrice thou hast denied Me through fear: thrice confess Me through love. With that love and that charity He filled His disciples. Why? Because He hath set His house of defence very high: because when glorified He sent the Holy Ghost, He released the faithful from the guilt of the Law, that His feet might not dash against a

14. The rest is clear, my brethren, for it has often been treated of. (Ver. 13.) Thou 1 shalt go upon the asp and the basilisk; the lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy™^ feet. Ye know who the serpent is, and how the Church treadeth upon him, as she is not conquered, because she is 310 Satan the lion in fierceness, the dragon in sleight. on her guard agaiust his cunning. And after what manner he is a lion and a dragon, I believe you know also, beloved. The lion openly rages, the dragon lies secretly in covert: the devil hath each of these forces and powers. When the Martyrs were being slain, it was the raging lion: when heretics are plotting, it is the dragon creeping beneath us. Thou hast conquered the lion; conquer also the dragon: lion hath not1 crushed thee, let not the dragon deceive tnee« Let us prove that it was the lion, when he openly did rage. Peter exhorting the Martyrs saith, Know ye not that your adversary the devil goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? The lion openly raging sought whom he might devour: how does the dragon plot against us? By means of heretics. In fear of these, Paul, lest the Church should by them be corrupted from her virginity of faith, which she beareth in her heart, saith, J espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ; but I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ A few women in the Church have bodily virginity: but the virginity of the heart all the faithful have. In the very matter of faith he feared that the heart's virginity would be corrupted by the devil: and those who have lost it, are uselessly virgins in their bodies. What does a woman who is corrupt in heart preserve in her body? Thus a Catholic married woman is before a virgin heretic. For the first is not indeed a virgin in her body, but the second has become married in her heart; and married not unto God as her husband, but unto the dragon. But what shall the Church do? Thou shalt go upon the asp and the basilisk. The basilisk is the king of serpents, as the devil is the king of wicked spirits. The lion and the dragon thou shalt tread under thy feet.

15. These are the words of God to the Church. (Ver. 14.) Because he hath set his love in me, therefore will I deliver him. Not only therefore the Head, which now sits in heaven, because He hath set His house of defence very high, to which no evil shall happen, neither shall any plague come nigh His dwelling; but we also, who are toiling on earth, Faith to be roused in trouble. Length of days. 311 and are still living in temptations, whose steps are feared for, lest they fall into snares, may hear the voice of the Lord our God consoling us, and saying to us, Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: 1 will set him up, because he hath known my name.

16. (Ver. 15.) He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble. Fear not when thou art in trouble, as if the Lord were not with thee. Let faith be with thee, and God is with thee in thy trouble. There are waves on the sea, and thou art tossed in thy bark, because Christ sleepeth. Christ slept in the ship, while the men were perishing. If thy faith sleep in thy heart, Christ is as24,26, it were sleeping in thy ship: because Christ dwelleth in thee through faith, when thou beginnest to be tossed, awake Christ sleeping: rouse up thy faith, and thou shalt be assured that He deserts thee not. But thou thinkest thou art forsaken, because He rescueth thee not when thou thyself dost wish. He delivered the Three Children from the fire? Did He, Who did this, desert the Maccabees? God forbid! He delivered both of these: the first bodily, that the faithless might be confounded; the last spiritually, that the faithful might imitate them. / am with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.

17. (Ver. 16.) With length of days will I satisfy him. What is length of days? Eternal life. Brethren, imagine not that length of days is spoken of in the same sense as days are said to be long in summer, short in winter. Hath he such days to give us? That length is one that hath no end, eternal life, that is promised us in long days. And truly, since this sufficeth, with reason he saith, will I satisfy him. What is long in time, if it hath an end, satisfieth us not: for that reason it should not be even called long. And if we are covetous, we ought to be covetous of eternal life: long for such a life, as hath no end. Lo, a line in which our covetousness may be extended. Dost thou wish money without limit? Long for eternal life without limit. Dost thou wish that thy possession may have no end? Seek for eternal life. With length of days will I satisfy him.

18. / will shew him my salvation. Nor is this, my brethren, to be briefly passed over. / will shew him my salvation: He means, I will shew him Christ Himself. Why? Was He not seen on earth? What great thing hath He to shew us? But He did not appear such as we shall see Him. He appeared in that shape in which those who saw Him crucified Him: behold, those who saw Him, crucified Him: we have not seen Him, yet we have believed. They had eyes, have not we? yea, we too have the eyes of the heart: but, as yet we see through faith, not by sight. When will it be sight? When shall we, as the Apostle saith, see Him face to face? which God promiseth us as the high reward of all our toils. Whatever thou toilest in, thou toilest for this purpose, that thou mayest see Him. Some great thing it is we are to see, since all our reward is seeing; and our Lord Jesus Christ is that very great sight. He Who appeared humble, will Himself appear great, and will rejoice us, as He is even now seen of His Angels. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Listen to the Lord Himself, Who gave this promise, saying in the Gospel, He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him. And as if it were asked of Him, And what wilt Thou give to him who loveth Thee? He answereth, / will manifest Myself to him. Let us long for, and let us love Him: let us burn with love toward Him, if we are His betrothed. Our husband is absent, let us wait for Him: He Whom we are longing for will come. He hath given such a pledge, let not the spouse fear lest she be forsaken by her Husband. He doth not forfeit His pledge. What pledge hath He given? He hath poured out His blood. What pledge hath He given? He hath sent the Holy Ghost. Will the Husband forfeit such pledges? If He loved us not, He would not give such pledges. He loveth us now. O that we could love Him as He doth?

No man hath greater love, that that he lay down his life for his friends:" and how can we lay down our lives for Him? What doth it profit Him, since He hath set His house of defence very high, nor doth any scourge come nigh His dwelling? But what saith John? Even as Christ laid down His life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Each man who layeth down bis life for his brother, layeth it down for Him: just as in feeding his brother, he is feeding Christ. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me. Let^'J^ us love and imitate Him: let us run after his ointments, as is said in the Song of Solomon: Because of the savour of thy good ointments, we will run after thee. For He came, and gave forth a savour that filled the world. Whence was that fragrance? From heaven. Follow then towards heaven, if thou do not answer falsely when it is said, Lift up your hearts, lift up your thoughts, your love, your hope: that it may not rot upon the earth. Thou darest not put wheat on the damp earth, lest it rot; because thou hast toiled and reaped, thou hast threshed and winnowed it. Dost thou seek a spot for thy wheat, and seekest thou not a place for thy heart? seekest thou not a place for thy treasure? Do whatever thou canst on earth; spend, thou shalt not lose, but store up. And who keepeth thy treasure? Christ, Who also keepeth thee. He knoweth how to keep thee; knoweth He not how to keep thy treasure? But why doth He wish that thou change the place of thy treasure, except that thou mayest change the place of thy heart? For no man concerneth himself except about his treasure. How many are there here who are now my listeners, and yet their heart is no where but in their money bags? Ye are on earth, because what ye love is on earth: let that be sent to heaven, and there will be thy heart. For wherever thy treasure is, there will be thy heart also.