If therefore ye are eager in getting
spiritual
things, be ye devout in expending carnal things.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
With which fire may the fervent in spirit
God quickening us, u>e depart not from Him. 1 1 1
barn, and they too that are inflamed with the love of God Ver. and their neighbour. And thus, as all good works are 17' 18- wrought by good fear and good love, so by evil fear and
evil love all sins are committed. Therefore, Things set
alight withfire and dug up, to wit, all sins, by the rebuke of Thy countenance shall perish.
14. Ver. 17. Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand, awl upon the Son of Man Whom Thou hast strengthened
Thyself. (Ver. 18. ) And we depart not from Thee. How
long is the generation crooked and provoking, and one Ps. 78,8. which directeth not their heart ? Let Asaph say, Let Thy
mercy shew herself, do well with Thy vineyard ; perfect her. Forasmuch as blindness in part befel Israel, in order that ~Rom. il,
the fulness of the Gentiles might come in, and so all Israel25' might be saved. Thy face having been shewn upon the Man of Thy right hand, Whom Thou hast strengthened to Thyself, we depart not from Thee. How long dost Thou rebuke us ?
How long censure? 'JTiis do, And we depart not from Thee. Thou wilt quicken us, and Thy Name we will invoke. Thou shall be sweet to us, Thou wilt quicken us. For aforetime
we did love earth, not Thee: but Thou hast mortified our Col. 3, members which are upon the earth. For the Old Testament,6' having earthly promises, seemeth to exhort that God should
not be loved for nought, but that He should be loved because
He giveth something on earth. What dost thou love, so as not to love God ? Tell me. Love, if thou canst, any thing which He hath not made. Look round upon the whole creation, see whether in any place thou art held with the birdlime of desire, and hindered from loving the Creator,
except it be by that very thing which He hath Himself created, Whom thou despisest. But why dost thou love those things, except because they are beautiful ? Can they be as beautiful as He by Whom they were made ? Thou admirest these things, because thou seest not Him : but through those things which thou admirest, love Him Whom thou seest not. Examine the creation ; if of itself it stay therein but of Him, for no other reason pre judicial to lover, than because preferred to the Creator. Why have said this? With reference to this verse, brethren. Dead, say, were they that did worship
I
a
if it
is I
it is
:
is
it is,
112 IVhat gifts God reserves for them that love Him.
Psalm God that it might be well with them after the flesh : For to ^-xxx- be wise after the flesh is death : and dead are they that do 6. ' not worship God gratis, that is, because of Himself He is
good, not because He giveth such and such good things, which He giveth even to men not good. Money wilt thou have of God ? Even a robber hath it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have. Is this all for the sake of which thou
Pb. 73,2. dost worship Him? Thy feet will totter, thou wilt suppose thyself to worship without cause, when thou seest those things to be with them who do not worship Him. All these things, I say, He giveth even to evil men, Himself alone
Lat. LXXX.
He reserveth for good men. Thou wilt quicken
dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave ; dead we were, when of the earthly man we did bear the image.
Thou wilt quicken us; Thou wilt renew us, the life of the inward man Thou wilt give us. And Thy Name we will invoke ; that is, Thee we will love. Thou to us wilt be the sweet forgiver of our sins, Thou wilt be the entire reward of the justified. (Ver. 20. ) O Lord God of virtues, convert ms, and shew Thy face, and we shall be whole.
PSALM LXXXI. EXPOSITION.
A Sermon to the people of Carthage.
We have undertaken to speak to you of the present Psalm ; let your quietness aid our voice, for it is somewhat worn out : the attention of the hearers, and the help of Him Who bids me speak, will give it strength. For a Title this Psalm hath, Unto the end for the presses, on the fifth of the Sabbath, a Psalm to Asaph himself. Into one title many mysteries are heaped together, still so that the lintel of the Psalm indicates the things within. As we have to speak of
the presses, let no one expect that we shall speak of a vat, ' Hscinisof a press, of olive baskets because neither the Psalm hath
us; for
Troubles to be expected in the ' winepress' of the Church. 1 13
this, and therefore it indicateth the greater mystery. Far Title. indeed if the text of the Psalm contained any thing of the
sort, there would be some one who would imagine that the presses were to be taken to the letter, and nothing more to
be sought there, nor any thing put mystically, and signified in sacred meaning ; but he would say, The Psalm speaketh simply of presses, and thou tellest me of I know not what beside that thou imaginest !
No such thing did ye hear in this when it was reading. Therefore take the presses for the mystery of the Church, which is now transacting. In the presses we observe three things, pressure, and of the pressure two things, one to be
laid up, the other to be thrown away. There takes place
then in the press a treading, a crushing, a weight : and with
these the oil strains out secretly into the vat, the lees run Kernel
nm
openly down the streets.
Look intently on this great spectacle. For God ceaseth
not to exhibit to us that which we may look upon with great joy, nor is the madness of the Circus to be compared with this spectacle. That belongeth to the lees, this to the oil. When therefore ye hear the blasphemers babble impudently and say that distresses abound in Christian times ; for ye know that they love to say this : and it is an old proverb, yet one that began from Christian times, ' God gives no rain ; count it to the Christians? ! ' Although it was those of old that said thus. But these now say also, ' That God sends rain, count it to the Christians ! God sends no rain ; we sow not. God sends rain; we reap not! ' And they wilfully make that an occasion of shewing pride, which ought to make them more earnest in supplication, choosing
rather to blaspheme than to pray.
When therefore they talk of such things, when they make
such boasts, when they say these things, and say them in defiance, not with fear, but with loftiness, let them not
? ' Due ad Christianos. ' al. (Heat and St. Cyprian to Demetrianus, Christianus,' with other variations, speaking of the like complaints with The Ben. Editor refers to DeCiv. Dei, respect to other calamities ; to which
c. 3. where a similar proverb" may be added, St. Aug. De Civ. Dei, noticed, and Tertull. Apol. o. 40. If c. 1. of the sack of Rome, such the Tiber rises to the walls, the Nile complaint being the occasion of his rises not upon the fields, presently the writing the book for its refutation,
cry The Christians to the HonB " VOL. IV.
is, '
if
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114 The better sort in the Church less seen than the bad.
P8alm disturb you. For suppose that pressures abound; be thou lxxxI' oil. Let the lees, black with the darkness of ignorance, be insolent ; and let as though cast away in the streets, go
but do thou by thyself in thy heart, where He Who seeth in secret will requite thee, strain off into
the vat.
The olive on the tree shaken indeed by some tempests,
not crushed by the squeezings of the press there fore both hang together from the tree, both what to be thrown away, and what to be stored up. But when comes to the press, the squeezing, either distinguished,
gibing publicly
yet
and one thing sought after, the other is Would ye know the force of these presses To name some one thing about which even they murmur who make them How great plunderings, they say, are there in
our times, how great distresses of the innocent, how great robberies of other men's goods Thus indeed thou takest notice of the lees, that other men's goods are seized; to the oil thou givest no heed, that to the poor are given even men's own. The old time had no such plunderers of other men's
separated, rejected.
but the old time had no such givers of their own Be thou somewhat more curious about the press, choose not to see that only which flows off in public view,
there somewhat for thee to find by seeking. Discuss, listen, take knowledge, how many are doing that, which when one rich man heard from the mouth of the Lord, he
goods goods.
From the Gospel many hear, Go, .
Mat. 19,<<,en/ away sorrowful.
22 ' sell all that thou possessest, and give to the poor, and thou
shall have treasure in the heavens: and come, follow Me. Dost thou not observe how many are doing But few,'
are those. ' Yet those few are the oil and those who make good use of the things that they possess belong to the oil. Add up all, and thou wilt see thy householder's store full. Thou seest such plunderer, as thou hast never seen see thou such a despiser of his own goods, as thou hast never seen. Praise the presses. . Now fulfilled the
Rev. 22, prophecy from the Apocalypse, Let the righteous become more righteous, and let the filthy grow filthier still. Behold the presses in this sentence Let the righteous become more
sor- righteous, and let the filthy' grow filthier still.
they say,
5 21 '
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Mystery ofthe 'fifth day Holy Baptism. 1 15
2. Wherefore also on the fifth of the sabbath? What is Titlf. this? Let us go back to the first works of God, if perchance
we may not there find somewhat in which we may also understand a mystery. For the sabbath is the seventh day,
on which God rested from all His works, intimating the Gen. 2, great mystery of our future resting from all our works. First 2'
of the sabbath then is called that first day, which we also
call the Lord's day; second of the sabbath, the second day;
third of the sabbath, the third day; fourth of the sabbath,
the fourth day; the fifth of the sabbath, then, is the fifth
from the Lord's day; after which the sixth of the sabbath is
the sixth day, and the sabbath itself the seventh day. See
ye therefore to whom this Psalm speaketh. For it seems to
me that it speaketh to the baptized. For on the fifth day
God from the waters created animals : on the fifth day, that
is, on the ' fifth of the sabbath,' God said, Let the waters Gen. 1, bring forth creeping things of living souls. See ye, therefore, 20-
ye in whom the waters have already brought forth creeping things of living souls. For ye belong to the presses, and in you, whom the waters have brought forth, one thing is strained out, another is thrown away. For there are many that live not worthily of the baptism which they have re ceived. For how many that are baptized have chosen rather to be filling the Circus than this Basilica ! How many that are baptized are either making booths in the streets, or complaining that they are not made !
But this Psalm, For the presses, and on the fifth of the sabbath, is sung unto Asaph. Asaph was a certain man called by this name, as Idithun, as Core, as other names that we find in the titles of the Psalms : yet the interpretation of this name intimates the mystery of a hidden truth. Asaph, in fact, in Latin is interpreted 4 congregation. ' Therefore, For the presses, on the fifth of the sabbath, it is sung unto Asaph, that is, for a distinguishing pressure, to the baptized, born again of water, the Psalm is sung to the Lord's congregation. We have read the title on the
lintel, and have understood what it means by these presses. Now if you please let us see the very house of the com position, that is, the interior of the press. Let us enter, look
in, rejoice, fear, desire, avoid. For all these things ye are to i2
l5-
certain place, reproving and grieving, that no one had com municated with him in the matter of giving and receiving. What is, 'in the matter of giving and receiving,' but that
116
Rejoicing in God. Meaning of' Psalm' and ' Tabret. '
-
Ps*lm find in this inward house, that is, in the text of the Psalm -x **- itself, when we shall have begun to read, and, with the Lord's help, to speak what He grants us. Lord,
3. Behold yourselves, 0 Asaph, congregation of the
(ver. 1. ) Exult ye unto God our helper. Ye who are gathered together to-day, ye are this day the congregation of the Lord, if indeed unto you the Psalm is sung, Exult ye unto God our helper. Others exult unto the Circus, ye unto God : others exult unto their deceiver, do ye exult unto your
helper : others exult unto their god their belly, do ye exult
unto your God your helper. Jubilate unto the God of Jacob. cun. 26, Because Je also belong to Jacob: yea, ye are Jacob, the younger people to which the elder is servant. Jubilate unto the God of Jacob. Whatsoever ye cannot explain in words,
yet do not therefore forbear exulting: what ye shall be^able to explain, cry out; what ye cannot, jubilate. For from the abundance of joys, he that cannot find words suflicient, useth to break out into jubilating; Jubilate unto the God of Jacob.
4. Ver. 2. Take the Pialm, and give the tabret. Both
take, and give. What is, take ? what, give ? Take the
Phil. 4, Psalm, and give the tabret. The Apostle Paul saith in a
l Cor. 9, which he hath openly set forth in another place. Ifwe have sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things. And it is true that a tabret, which is made of hide, belongs to the flesh. The Psalm, therefore, is spiritual, the tabret, carnal. Therefore, people of God, con gregation of God, take ye the Psalm, and give the tabret :
take ye spiritual things, and give carnal. This also is what at that blessed Martyr's table b we exhorted you, that re ceiving spiritual things ye should give carnal. For these
b St. Cyprian'*, who is Darned in there he was offered up, and because by 6. 23. namely, at Carthage, on the spot that very offering of his he prepared iif his martyrdom. "In that same that table, not to feed or be fed on, but j,lace," says St. Aug. Ser. 1)3, "a whereon sacrifice might be offered to ti. i,le was constructed to God, which is God, to Whom himself also was offered. " (ailed Cyprian's table, not because
Cyprian ever ate there, but because
(Ben. )
The Psaltery, heavenly thoughts, New Moon, new life. 1 17
which are built for the time, are needful for receiving the Ver. bodies either of the living or of the dead, but in time that is ------ passing by. Shall we after God's judgment take up these buildings to Heaven ? Yet without these we shall not be
able to do at this time the things which belong to the pos sessing of Heaven.
If therefore ye are eager in getting spiritual things, be ye devout in expending carnal things.
Take the psalm, and give the tabret: take our voice, return your hands.
5. The pleasant psaltery1, with the harp. I remember ' or, The
that we once intimated to your charity the difference
psaltery and harp : let the thoughtful who remember recol- ><*>>(- lect, let those who either have not heard, or do not remember, learn. Of those two musical instruments, psaltery and harp, this
is the difference, that the psaltery hath that hollow wood, by which the strings are made to ring, in the upper part : the chords are struck below, that they may sound above. But in
the harp this same hollow of the wood holdeth the lower place : as though the other should be of heaven, this of earth. For heavenly is the preachiBg of the word of God.
But if we wait for heavenly things, let us not be sluggish in working at earthly things; because, the psaltery is pleasant,
but, with the harp. The same is expressed in another way
as above, Take the psalm, and give the tabret : here for
psalm, is put psaltery, for tabret, harp. Of this, however, we are admonished, that to the preaching of God's word we make answer by bodily works.
6. Ver. 3. Sound the trumpet. This Loudly and boldly preach, be not affrighted as the Prophet says in certain place, "Cry out, and lift up as with a trumpet thy voice. " Is. 68, Sound the trumpet in the beginning the month of the trumpet. It was ordered, that in the beginning of the month
there should be sounding of the trumpet: and this even
now the Jews do in bodily sort, after the spirit they under
stand not. For the beginning of the month, the new
moon the new moon, the new life. What the new moon? If any, then, in Christ, he is a new creature. Cor. What is, sound the trumpet in the beginning the month
the trumpet With all confidence preach ye the new life,
fear not the noise of the old life.
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118 Joseph sold into Egypt, Christ given over to Gentiles.
Psalm 7. Ver. 4. Because it is a commandment for Israel, and
l**xI- a judgment for the God of Jacob. Where a commandment,
Rom. 2, there judgment. For, They that have sinned in the Law, by
12, the Law shall be judged. And the very giver of the com-
M'
John 9, mandment, the Lord Christ, the Word made flesh, saith, For
judgment I
am come into the world, that they that see not may see, and they that see may be made blind. What is, That they that see not may see, they that see be made blind, but that the lowly be exalted, the proud thrown down? For not they that see are to be made blind, but those who to themselves seem to see are to be convicted of blindness. This is brought about in the mystery of the press, that they
who see not may see, and they that see be made blind.
8. Ver. 5. A testimony in Joseph He made that. Look
you, brethren, what is it ? Joseph is interpreted augment
ation. Ye remember, ye know of Joseph sold into Egypt: 1 Oxf. Joseph sold into Egypt 1 is Christ passing over to the Gen-
t^es- There Joseph after tribulations was exalted, and here the Christ, after the suffering of the Martyrs, was glorified, word*, thenceforth to Joseph the Gentiles rather belong, and thence- Is. 64,1. forth augmentation; because, " Many are the children of her
that was desolate, rather than of her that hath the husband. " A testimony in Joseph He made it, till he should go out of the land of Egypt. Observe that also here the fifth of the sabbath is signified : when Joseph went out from the
land of Egypt, that is, the people multiplied through Joseph,
he was caused to pass through the Red sea. Therefore Gen. l, then also the waters brought forth creeping things of living
repeat
20,
souls. No other thing was it that there in figure the passage of that people through the sea foreshewed, than the passing ofIthe Faithful through Baptism; the apostle is wit-
would not have you ignorant, brethren, he said,
1 Cor. ness: for
10? 1- 2' that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea, andwere all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Nothing else then the passing through the sea did signify, but the Sacrament of the baptized ; nothing else the pursuing Egyptians, but the multitude of past sins. Ye see most evident mysteries. The Egyptians press, they urge ; so then sins follow close, but no farther than to the water. Why then dost thou fear, who hast not yet come, to
Joseph, freedfrom bondage, hears a ' new language. ' 119
come to the Baptism of Christ, to pass through the Red sea? Ver. What is Red? Consecrated with the Blood of the Lord. ----- Why fearest thou to come ? The consciousness, perhaps, of
some huge offences goads and tortures in thee thy mind, and
says to thee that it is so great a thing thou hast committed,
that thou mayest despair to have it remitted thee. Fear lest
there remain any thing of thy sins, if there lived any one ofEx. 14, the Egyptians ! "''
But when thou shalt have passed the Red sea, when
thou shalt have been led forth out of thine offences
with a mighty hand and with a strong arm, thou wiltExod. perceive mysteries that thou knowest not: since Joseph rjJut! 6, himself too, wfien he came out of the land of Egypt, heard31'
a language which he knew not. Thou shalt hear a language
which thou knowest not : which they that know now hear
and recognise, bearing witness and knowing. Thou shalt
hear where thou oughtest to have thy heart : which just now Matt. 6, when I said many understood and answered by acclamation, off. 01"1 the rest stood mute, because they have not heard the language Euch. which they knew not. Let them hasten, then, let them pass
over, let them learn. A language which he had not known
he heard.
9. Ver. 6. He turned away from burdens his back. Who turned away from burdens his back, but He that cried, Come Mat. ll, unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden ? In another no manner this same thing is signified. What the pursuit of
the Egyptians did, the same thing do the burdens of sins.
He turned away from burdens his back. As if thou should-
est say, From what burdens? His hands in the basket did
serve. By the basket are signified servile works; to cleanse,
to manure, to carry earth, is done with a basket", such works
are servile : because every one that doeth sin, is the slave John 8, of sin ; and if the Son shall have made you free, then will
ye be free indeed. Justly also are the rejected things of
the world counted as baskets, but even baskets did God
fill with morsels: Twelve baskets did He fill with morsels : Mat. U, because He chose the rejected things this world 20
of
confound the things that were mighty. But also when27-
c To this day it is common in many usually do with a barrow, countries to do with a basket what we
/<>iCor. l,
}4Cor! 10, 2-
l 20 Deliverance in Baptism. Trial of contradiction.
Psalm with the basket Joseph did serve, he then carried earth, because he did make bricks. His hands in the basket did serve.
10. Ver. 8. In tribulation thou didst call on Me, and I delivered thee. Let each Christian conscience recognise
Exod. itself, if it have devoutly passed the Red sea, if with faith
m believing and observing it hath heard a strange language which it knew not, let it recognise itself as having been heard in its tribulation. For that was a great tribulation, to be weighed down with loads of sins. How does the con science, lifted from the earth, rejoice. Lo, thou art baptized, thy conscience which was yesterday overladen, to-day re-
joiceth thee. Thou hast been heard in tribulation, remember thy tribulation. Before thou eamest to the water, what anxiety didst thou bear on thee ! what fastings didst thou practise ! what tribulations didst thou carry in thy heart ! what inward, pious, devout prayers! Slain are thine enemies; all thy sins are blotted out. In tribulation thou didst call upon me, and I delivered thee.
11. / heard thee in the hidden part of the tempest. Not iIn a tempest of the sea, but in a tempest of thIe heart.
heard thee in the hidden part the of
proved thee in the water of contradiction. Truly, brethren, truly, he that was heard in the hidden part of the tempest ought to be proved in the water of contradiction. For when he hath
believed, when he hath been baptized, when he hath begun to go in the way of God, when he hath striven to be strained into the vat, and hath drawn himself out from the lees that run in the street, he will have many disturbers, many insulters, many detractors, many discouragers, many that even threaten where they can, that deter, that depress. This is all the ' water of contradiction. ' I suppose there are some here to day, for instance, I think it likely there are some here whom their friends wished to hurry away to the circus, and to I know not what triflings of this day's festivity : perchance they have brought those persons with them to church. whether they have brought those with them, or whether they have by them not permitted themselves to be led away to the circus, in the ' water of contradiction' have they been tried. Do not then be ashamed to proclaim what thou
tempest:
But
The ' waters' of open contradiction nearly dried up. 1 2 1
knowest, to defend even among blasphemers what thou hast Ver. believed. For if thou art heard in the hidden part of the ------
tempest, with the heart doth one believe unto righteousness : Rom. io, if thou art proved in the water of contradiction, with the10' mouth is confession made unto salvation. For how much is
that water of contradiction ? even now it is nearly dried up.
Our ancestors felt it : when to the word of God, when to the mysteries of Christ, the Gentiles offered fierce resistance,
the water was disturbed. For that waters are sometimes to
be understood for peoples, the Scripture of the Apocalypse evidently sheweth, where when many waters were seen, and Rev. 17, it was asked what they were, it was answered, Tliey are15' peoples. They therefore endured the water of contradiction,
when the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain P&. 2, things ; when the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers 2- took counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Christ. When the heathen raged, then did that lion roaring Jud. 14, come to meet the strong man Samson, as he went to take a6'
wife from the foreigners ; that is Christ going down to take a Church from the Gentiles. But what did he ? He seized, held, crushed, tore the lion ; he became in His hands like a kid of the goats. For what could the raging people become, but a sick sinner ? But now that fierceness has been slain, no longer docs the royal power so roar, no more does the people of the Gentiles rage as it meets Christ: yea, truly, in the very kingdom of the Gentiles we find laws for the Church, like as it were a honeycomb in the mouth of the lion. Why then should I now fear the water of contra diction, which is now nearly all dried up ? That is now almost silent, if the lees do not contradict. However much the bad that are aliens may rage, O that our own bad peo/ple would not help them !
heard thee in the hidden part
thee in the water of contradiction. Ye recollect what was
said of Christ, that He was thus born for the fall of many, Lute 2, and the rising again of many, and for a sign to be spoken 34, against. We know, we see : the sign of the Cross has been
set up, and it has been spoken against. There has been speaking against the glory of the Cross: but there was a
title over the Cross which was not to be corrupted. For
of
the tempest,
I
proved
122 Caution to those in the Church. Vanity of ' new gads?
Psalm there is a titie in the Psalm, For the inscription of the title,
corruPl thou not. It was sign to be spoken against for Tit. the Jews said, Make not, King of the Jews, but make it, }2? fnl9'that He said am the King of the Jews. Conquered was
P*
the contradiction was answered, " What have written,
have written. "
heard thee in the hidden part of the tempest, proved
thee in the water ofcontradiction.
12. All this, from the beginning of the Psalm up to this
verse, we have heard of the oil of the press. What remains rather for grief and warning for belongs to the lees of
the press, even to the end perchance also not without
But even this too profitable to hear, that he who sees himself
meaning in the interposition of the Diapsalma.
John lb. 14.
4. 6-
nations are silver and gold. Great are they, because they are of gold and silver; costly they arc, shining they are; but yet, Eyes they have, and see not! New are these gods.
" Recens forte Homo, sed sempi- bard, Sentences, book iii. dist. 12. ternus Deus. " Quoted by Peter Lorn- Ben.
already of the oil may rejoice; he that in danger of running among the lees may beware. To both give heed, choose the one, fear the other.
Ver. 8. Hear, My people, and will speak, and will bear witness unto thee. For not to a strange people, Iss. 6,3. not to people that belongs not to the press " Judge ye"
He saith, " between Me and My vineyard. "
Hear, my people, and will speak, and will bear
witness unto thee.
13. Ver. Israel, thou shall have heard Me, there
shall not be in thee any new god. A new god one made for the time but our God not new, but from eternity to eternity. And our Christ new, perchance, as Man but eternal God. For what before the beginning? And truly, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. And our Christ Himself the Word made flesh, that He might dwell in us. Far be then, that there should be in any one new god. A new
either a stone or a phantom. He not, saith one, stone have a silver and gold one. Justly did he choose
Ps. 116, to name the very costly things, who said, The idols of the
god
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Heretics, as well as Pagans, make new gods. 123
What newer than a god out of a w orkshop ? Yea, though Vrr. those now old ones spiders' webs have covered over, they --^-- that are not eternal are new.
So much for the Pagans. One beside, taking in vain the Exod. name of the Lord his God, hath made for himself a Christ Arfui. that is a creature, a Christ unequal and not coeval with Him
that begetteth, speaking of a Son of God, and denying the
Son of God.
God quickening us, u>e depart not from Him. 1 1 1
barn, and they too that are inflamed with the love of God Ver. and their neighbour. And thus, as all good works are 17' 18- wrought by good fear and good love, so by evil fear and
evil love all sins are committed. Therefore, Things set
alight withfire and dug up, to wit, all sins, by the rebuke of Thy countenance shall perish.
14. Ver. 17. Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand, awl upon the Son of Man Whom Thou hast strengthened
Thyself. (Ver. 18. ) And we depart not from Thee. How
long is the generation crooked and provoking, and one Ps. 78,8. which directeth not their heart ? Let Asaph say, Let Thy
mercy shew herself, do well with Thy vineyard ; perfect her. Forasmuch as blindness in part befel Israel, in order that ~Rom. il,
the fulness of the Gentiles might come in, and so all Israel25' might be saved. Thy face having been shewn upon the Man of Thy right hand, Whom Thou hast strengthened to Thyself, we depart not from Thee. How long dost Thou rebuke us ?
How long censure? 'JTiis do, And we depart not from Thee. Thou wilt quicken us, and Thy Name we will invoke. Thou shall be sweet to us, Thou wilt quicken us. For aforetime
we did love earth, not Thee: but Thou hast mortified our Col. 3, members which are upon the earth. For the Old Testament,6' having earthly promises, seemeth to exhort that God should
not be loved for nought, but that He should be loved because
He giveth something on earth. What dost thou love, so as not to love God ? Tell me. Love, if thou canst, any thing which He hath not made. Look round upon the whole creation, see whether in any place thou art held with the birdlime of desire, and hindered from loving the Creator,
except it be by that very thing which He hath Himself created, Whom thou despisest. But why dost thou love those things, except because they are beautiful ? Can they be as beautiful as He by Whom they were made ? Thou admirest these things, because thou seest not Him : but through those things which thou admirest, love Him Whom thou seest not. Examine the creation ; if of itself it stay therein but of Him, for no other reason pre judicial to lover, than because preferred to the Creator. Why have said this? With reference to this verse, brethren. Dead, say, were they that did worship
I
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if it
is I
it is
:
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112 IVhat gifts God reserves for them that love Him.
Psalm God that it might be well with them after the flesh : For to ^-xxx- be wise after the flesh is death : and dead are they that do 6. ' not worship God gratis, that is, because of Himself He is
good, not because He giveth such and such good things, which He giveth even to men not good. Money wilt thou have of God ? Even a robber hath it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have. Is this all for the sake of which thou
Pb. 73,2. dost worship Him? Thy feet will totter, thou wilt suppose thyself to worship without cause, when thou seest those things to be with them who do not worship Him. All these things, I say, He giveth even to evil men, Himself alone
Lat. LXXX.
He reserveth for good men. Thou wilt quicken
dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave ; dead we were, when of the earthly man we did bear the image.
Thou wilt quicken us; Thou wilt renew us, the life of the inward man Thou wilt give us. And Thy Name we will invoke ; that is, Thee we will love. Thou to us wilt be the sweet forgiver of our sins, Thou wilt be the entire reward of the justified. (Ver. 20. ) O Lord God of virtues, convert ms, and shew Thy face, and we shall be whole.
PSALM LXXXI. EXPOSITION.
A Sermon to the people of Carthage.
We have undertaken to speak to you of the present Psalm ; let your quietness aid our voice, for it is somewhat worn out : the attention of the hearers, and the help of Him Who bids me speak, will give it strength. For a Title this Psalm hath, Unto the end for the presses, on the fifth of the Sabbath, a Psalm to Asaph himself. Into one title many mysteries are heaped together, still so that the lintel of the Psalm indicates the things within. As we have to speak of
the presses, let no one expect that we shall speak of a vat, ' Hscinisof a press, of olive baskets because neither the Psalm hath
us; for
Troubles to be expected in the ' winepress' of the Church. 1 13
this, and therefore it indicateth the greater mystery. Far Title. indeed if the text of the Psalm contained any thing of the
sort, there would be some one who would imagine that the presses were to be taken to the letter, and nothing more to
be sought there, nor any thing put mystically, and signified in sacred meaning ; but he would say, The Psalm speaketh simply of presses, and thou tellest me of I know not what beside that thou imaginest !
No such thing did ye hear in this when it was reading. Therefore take the presses for the mystery of the Church, which is now transacting. In the presses we observe three things, pressure, and of the pressure two things, one to be
laid up, the other to be thrown away. There takes place
then in the press a treading, a crushing, a weight : and with
these the oil strains out secretly into the vat, the lees run Kernel
nm
openly down the streets.
Look intently on this great spectacle. For God ceaseth
not to exhibit to us that which we may look upon with great joy, nor is the madness of the Circus to be compared with this spectacle. That belongeth to the lees, this to the oil. When therefore ye hear the blasphemers babble impudently and say that distresses abound in Christian times ; for ye know that they love to say this : and it is an old proverb, yet one that began from Christian times, ' God gives no rain ; count it to the Christians? ! ' Although it was those of old that said thus. But these now say also, ' That God sends rain, count it to the Christians ! God sends no rain ; we sow not. God sends rain; we reap not! ' And they wilfully make that an occasion of shewing pride, which ought to make them more earnest in supplication, choosing
rather to blaspheme than to pray.
When therefore they talk of such things, when they make
such boasts, when they say these things, and say them in defiance, not with fear, but with loftiness, let them not
? ' Due ad Christianos. ' al. (Heat and St. Cyprian to Demetrianus, Christianus,' with other variations, speaking of the like complaints with The Ben. Editor refers to DeCiv. Dei, respect to other calamities ; to which
c. 3. where a similar proverb" may be added, St. Aug. De Civ. Dei, noticed, and Tertull. Apol. o. 40. If c. 1. of the sack of Rome, such the Tiber rises to the walls, the Nile complaint being the occasion of his rises not upon the fields, presently the writing the book for its refutation,
cry The Christians to the HonB " VOL. IV.
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114 The better sort in the Church less seen than the bad.
P8alm disturb you. For suppose that pressures abound; be thou lxxxI' oil. Let the lees, black with the darkness of ignorance, be insolent ; and let as though cast away in the streets, go
but do thou by thyself in thy heart, where He Who seeth in secret will requite thee, strain off into
the vat.
The olive on the tree shaken indeed by some tempests,
not crushed by the squeezings of the press there fore both hang together from the tree, both what to be thrown away, and what to be stored up. But when comes to the press, the squeezing, either distinguished,
gibing publicly
yet
and one thing sought after, the other is Would ye know the force of these presses To name some one thing about which even they murmur who make them How great plunderings, they say, are there in
our times, how great distresses of the innocent, how great robberies of other men's goods Thus indeed thou takest notice of the lees, that other men's goods are seized; to the oil thou givest no heed, that to the poor are given even men's own. The old time had no such plunderers of other men's
separated, rejected.
but the old time had no such givers of their own Be thou somewhat more curious about the press, choose not to see that only which flows off in public view,
there somewhat for thee to find by seeking. Discuss, listen, take knowledge, how many are doing that, which when one rich man heard from the mouth of the Lord, he
goods goods.
From the Gospel many hear, Go, .
Mat. 19,<<,en/ away sorrowful.
22 ' sell all that thou possessest, and give to the poor, and thou
shall have treasure in the heavens: and come, follow Me. Dost thou not observe how many are doing But few,'
are those. ' Yet those few are the oil and those who make good use of the things that they possess belong to the oil. Add up all, and thou wilt see thy householder's store full. Thou seest such plunderer, as thou hast never seen see thou such a despiser of his own goods, as thou hast never seen. Praise the presses. . Now fulfilled the
Rev. 22, prophecy from the Apocalypse, Let the righteous become more righteous, and let the filthy grow filthier still. Behold the presses in this sentence Let the righteous become more
sor- righteous, and let the filthy' grow filthier still.
they say,
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Mystery ofthe 'fifth day Holy Baptism. 1 15
2. Wherefore also on the fifth of the sabbath? What is Titlf. this? Let us go back to the first works of God, if perchance
we may not there find somewhat in which we may also understand a mystery. For the sabbath is the seventh day,
on which God rested from all His works, intimating the Gen. 2, great mystery of our future resting from all our works. First 2'
of the sabbath then is called that first day, which we also
call the Lord's day; second of the sabbath, the second day;
third of the sabbath, the third day; fourth of the sabbath,
the fourth day; the fifth of the sabbath, then, is the fifth
from the Lord's day; after which the sixth of the sabbath is
the sixth day, and the sabbath itself the seventh day. See
ye therefore to whom this Psalm speaketh. For it seems to
me that it speaketh to the baptized. For on the fifth day
God from the waters created animals : on the fifth day, that
is, on the ' fifth of the sabbath,' God said, Let the waters Gen. 1, bring forth creeping things of living souls. See ye, therefore, 20-
ye in whom the waters have already brought forth creeping things of living souls. For ye belong to the presses, and in you, whom the waters have brought forth, one thing is strained out, another is thrown away. For there are many that live not worthily of the baptism which they have re ceived. For how many that are baptized have chosen rather to be filling the Circus than this Basilica ! How many that are baptized are either making booths in the streets, or complaining that they are not made !
But this Psalm, For the presses, and on the fifth of the sabbath, is sung unto Asaph. Asaph was a certain man called by this name, as Idithun, as Core, as other names that we find in the titles of the Psalms : yet the interpretation of this name intimates the mystery of a hidden truth. Asaph, in fact, in Latin is interpreted 4 congregation. ' Therefore, For the presses, on the fifth of the sabbath, it is sung unto Asaph, that is, for a distinguishing pressure, to the baptized, born again of water, the Psalm is sung to the Lord's congregation. We have read the title on the
lintel, and have understood what it means by these presses. Now if you please let us see the very house of the com position, that is, the interior of the press. Let us enter, look
in, rejoice, fear, desire, avoid. For all these things ye are to i2
l5-
certain place, reproving and grieving, that no one had com municated with him in the matter of giving and receiving. What is, 'in the matter of giving and receiving,' but that
116
Rejoicing in God. Meaning of' Psalm' and ' Tabret. '
-
Ps*lm find in this inward house, that is, in the text of the Psalm -x **- itself, when we shall have begun to read, and, with the Lord's help, to speak what He grants us. Lord,
3. Behold yourselves, 0 Asaph, congregation of the
(ver. 1. ) Exult ye unto God our helper. Ye who are gathered together to-day, ye are this day the congregation of the Lord, if indeed unto you the Psalm is sung, Exult ye unto God our helper. Others exult unto the Circus, ye unto God : others exult unto their deceiver, do ye exult unto your
helper : others exult unto their god their belly, do ye exult
unto your God your helper. Jubilate unto the God of Jacob. cun. 26, Because Je also belong to Jacob: yea, ye are Jacob, the younger people to which the elder is servant. Jubilate unto the God of Jacob. Whatsoever ye cannot explain in words,
yet do not therefore forbear exulting: what ye shall be^able to explain, cry out; what ye cannot, jubilate. For from the abundance of joys, he that cannot find words suflicient, useth to break out into jubilating; Jubilate unto the God of Jacob.
4. Ver. 2. Take the Pialm, and give the tabret. Both
take, and give. What is, take ? what, give ? Take the
Phil. 4, Psalm, and give the tabret. The Apostle Paul saith in a
l Cor. 9, which he hath openly set forth in another place. Ifwe have sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things. And it is true that a tabret, which is made of hide, belongs to the flesh. The Psalm, therefore, is spiritual, the tabret, carnal. Therefore, people of God, con gregation of God, take ye the Psalm, and give the tabret :
take ye spiritual things, and give carnal. This also is what at that blessed Martyr's table b we exhorted you, that re ceiving spiritual things ye should give carnal. For these
b St. Cyprian'*, who is Darned in there he was offered up, and because by 6. 23. namely, at Carthage, on the spot that very offering of his he prepared iif his martyrdom. "In that same that table, not to feed or be fed on, but j,lace," says St. Aug. Ser. 1)3, "a whereon sacrifice might be offered to ti. i,le was constructed to God, which is God, to Whom himself also was offered. " (ailed Cyprian's table, not because
Cyprian ever ate there, but because
(Ben. )
The Psaltery, heavenly thoughts, New Moon, new life. 1 17
which are built for the time, are needful for receiving the Ver. bodies either of the living or of the dead, but in time that is ------ passing by. Shall we after God's judgment take up these buildings to Heaven ? Yet without these we shall not be
able to do at this time the things which belong to the pos sessing of Heaven.
If therefore ye are eager in getting spiritual things, be ye devout in expending carnal things.
Take the psalm, and give the tabret: take our voice, return your hands.
5. The pleasant psaltery1, with the harp. I remember ' or, The
that we once intimated to your charity the difference
psaltery and harp : let the thoughtful who remember recol- ><*>>(- lect, let those who either have not heard, or do not remember, learn. Of those two musical instruments, psaltery and harp, this
is the difference, that the psaltery hath that hollow wood, by which the strings are made to ring, in the upper part : the chords are struck below, that they may sound above. But in
the harp this same hollow of the wood holdeth the lower place : as though the other should be of heaven, this of earth. For heavenly is the preachiBg of the word of God.
But if we wait for heavenly things, let us not be sluggish in working at earthly things; because, the psaltery is pleasant,
but, with the harp. The same is expressed in another way
as above, Take the psalm, and give the tabret : here for
psalm, is put psaltery, for tabret, harp. Of this, however, we are admonished, that to the preaching of God's word we make answer by bodily works.
6. Ver. 3. Sound the trumpet. This Loudly and boldly preach, be not affrighted as the Prophet says in certain place, "Cry out, and lift up as with a trumpet thy voice. " Is. 68, Sound the trumpet in the beginning the month of the trumpet. It was ordered, that in the beginning of the month
there should be sounding of the trumpet: and this even
now the Jews do in bodily sort, after the spirit they under
stand not. For the beginning of the month, the new
moon the new moon, the new life. What the new moon? If any, then, in Christ, he is a new creature. Cor. What is, sound the trumpet in the beginning the month
the trumpet With all confidence preach ye the new life,
fear not the noise of the old life.
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118 Joseph sold into Egypt, Christ given over to Gentiles.
Psalm 7. Ver. 4. Because it is a commandment for Israel, and
l**xI- a judgment for the God of Jacob. Where a commandment,
Rom. 2, there judgment. For, They that have sinned in the Law, by
12, the Law shall be judged. And the very giver of the com-
M'
John 9, mandment, the Lord Christ, the Word made flesh, saith, For
judgment I
am come into the world, that they that see not may see, and they that see may be made blind. What is, That they that see not may see, they that see be made blind, but that the lowly be exalted, the proud thrown down? For not they that see are to be made blind, but those who to themselves seem to see are to be convicted of blindness. This is brought about in the mystery of the press, that they
who see not may see, and they that see be made blind.
8. Ver. 5. A testimony in Joseph He made that. Look
you, brethren, what is it ? Joseph is interpreted augment
ation. Ye remember, ye know of Joseph sold into Egypt: 1 Oxf. Joseph sold into Egypt 1 is Christ passing over to the Gen-
t^es- There Joseph after tribulations was exalted, and here the Christ, after the suffering of the Martyrs, was glorified, word*, thenceforth to Joseph the Gentiles rather belong, and thence- Is. 64,1. forth augmentation; because, " Many are the children of her
that was desolate, rather than of her that hath the husband. " A testimony in Joseph He made it, till he should go out of the land of Egypt. Observe that also here the fifth of the sabbath is signified : when Joseph went out from the
land of Egypt, that is, the people multiplied through Joseph,
he was caused to pass through the Red sea. Therefore Gen. l, then also the waters brought forth creeping things of living
repeat
20,
souls. No other thing was it that there in figure the passage of that people through the sea foreshewed, than the passing ofIthe Faithful through Baptism; the apostle is wit-
would not have you ignorant, brethren, he said,
1 Cor. ness: for
10? 1- 2' that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea, andwere all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Nothing else then the passing through the sea did signify, but the Sacrament of the baptized ; nothing else the pursuing Egyptians, but the multitude of past sins. Ye see most evident mysteries. The Egyptians press, they urge ; so then sins follow close, but no farther than to the water. Why then dost thou fear, who hast not yet come, to
Joseph, freedfrom bondage, hears a ' new language. ' 119
come to the Baptism of Christ, to pass through the Red sea? Ver. What is Red? Consecrated with the Blood of the Lord. ----- Why fearest thou to come ? The consciousness, perhaps, of
some huge offences goads and tortures in thee thy mind, and
says to thee that it is so great a thing thou hast committed,
that thou mayest despair to have it remitted thee. Fear lest
there remain any thing of thy sins, if there lived any one ofEx. 14, the Egyptians ! "''
But when thou shalt have passed the Red sea, when
thou shalt have been led forth out of thine offences
with a mighty hand and with a strong arm, thou wiltExod. perceive mysteries that thou knowest not: since Joseph rjJut! 6, himself too, wfien he came out of the land of Egypt, heard31'
a language which he knew not. Thou shalt hear a language
which thou knowest not : which they that know now hear
and recognise, bearing witness and knowing. Thou shalt
hear where thou oughtest to have thy heart : which just now Matt. 6, when I said many understood and answered by acclamation, off. 01"1 the rest stood mute, because they have not heard the language Euch. which they knew not. Let them hasten, then, let them pass
over, let them learn. A language which he had not known
he heard.
9. Ver. 6. He turned away from burdens his back. Who turned away from burdens his back, but He that cried, Come Mat. ll, unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden ? In another no manner this same thing is signified. What the pursuit of
the Egyptians did, the same thing do the burdens of sins.
He turned away from burdens his back. As if thou should-
est say, From what burdens? His hands in the basket did
serve. By the basket are signified servile works; to cleanse,
to manure, to carry earth, is done with a basket", such works
are servile : because every one that doeth sin, is the slave John 8, of sin ; and if the Son shall have made you free, then will
ye be free indeed. Justly also are the rejected things of
the world counted as baskets, but even baskets did God
fill with morsels: Twelve baskets did He fill with morsels : Mat. U, because He chose the rejected things this world 20
of
confound the things that were mighty. But also when27-
c To this day it is common in many usually do with a barrow, countries to do with a basket what we
/<>iCor. l,
}4Cor! 10, 2-
l 20 Deliverance in Baptism. Trial of contradiction.
Psalm with the basket Joseph did serve, he then carried earth, because he did make bricks. His hands in the basket did serve.
10. Ver. 8. In tribulation thou didst call on Me, and I delivered thee. Let each Christian conscience recognise
Exod. itself, if it have devoutly passed the Red sea, if with faith
m believing and observing it hath heard a strange language which it knew not, let it recognise itself as having been heard in its tribulation. For that was a great tribulation, to be weighed down with loads of sins. How does the con science, lifted from the earth, rejoice. Lo, thou art baptized, thy conscience which was yesterday overladen, to-day re-
joiceth thee. Thou hast been heard in tribulation, remember thy tribulation. Before thou eamest to the water, what anxiety didst thou bear on thee ! what fastings didst thou practise ! what tribulations didst thou carry in thy heart ! what inward, pious, devout prayers! Slain are thine enemies; all thy sins are blotted out. In tribulation thou didst call upon me, and I delivered thee.
11. / heard thee in the hidden part of the tempest. Not iIn a tempest of the sea, but in a tempest of thIe heart.
heard thee in the hidden part the of
proved thee in the water of contradiction. Truly, brethren, truly, he that was heard in the hidden part of the tempest ought to be proved in the water of contradiction. For when he hath
believed, when he hath been baptized, when he hath begun to go in the way of God, when he hath striven to be strained into the vat, and hath drawn himself out from the lees that run in the street, he will have many disturbers, many insulters, many detractors, many discouragers, many that even threaten where they can, that deter, that depress. This is all the ' water of contradiction. ' I suppose there are some here to day, for instance, I think it likely there are some here whom their friends wished to hurry away to the circus, and to I know not what triflings of this day's festivity : perchance they have brought those persons with them to church. whether they have brought those with them, or whether they have by them not permitted themselves to be led away to the circus, in the ' water of contradiction' have they been tried. Do not then be ashamed to proclaim what thou
tempest:
But
The ' waters' of open contradiction nearly dried up. 1 2 1
knowest, to defend even among blasphemers what thou hast Ver. believed. For if thou art heard in the hidden part of the ------
tempest, with the heart doth one believe unto righteousness : Rom. io, if thou art proved in the water of contradiction, with the10' mouth is confession made unto salvation. For how much is
that water of contradiction ? even now it is nearly dried up.
Our ancestors felt it : when to the word of God, when to the mysteries of Christ, the Gentiles offered fierce resistance,
the water was disturbed. For that waters are sometimes to
be understood for peoples, the Scripture of the Apocalypse evidently sheweth, where when many waters were seen, and Rev. 17, it was asked what they were, it was answered, Tliey are15' peoples. They therefore endured the water of contradiction,
when the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain P&. 2, things ; when the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers 2- took counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Christ. When the heathen raged, then did that lion roaring Jud. 14, come to meet the strong man Samson, as he went to take a6'
wife from the foreigners ; that is Christ going down to take a Church from the Gentiles. But what did he ? He seized, held, crushed, tore the lion ; he became in His hands like a kid of the goats. For what could the raging people become, but a sick sinner ? But now that fierceness has been slain, no longer docs the royal power so roar, no more does the people of the Gentiles rage as it meets Christ: yea, truly, in the very kingdom of the Gentiles we find laws for the Church, like as it were a honeycomb in the mouth of the lion. Why then should I now fear the water of contra diction, which is now nearly all dried up ? That is now almost silent, if the lees do not contradict. However much the bad that are aliens may rage, O that our own bad peo/ple would not help them !
heard thee in the hidden part
thee in the water of contradiction. Ye recollect what was
said of Christ, that He was thus born for the fall of many, Lute 2, and the rising again of many, and for a sign to be spoken 34, against. We know, we see : the sign of the Cross has been
set up, and it has been spoken against. There has been speaking against the glory of the Cross: but there was a
title over the Cross which was not to be corrupted. For
of
the tempest,
I
proved
122 Caution to those in the Church. Vanity of ' new gads?
Psalm there is a titie in the Psalm, For the inscription of the title,
corruPl thou not. It was sign to be spoken against for Tit. the Jews said, Make not, King of the Jews, but make it, }2? fnl9'that He said am the King of the Jews. Conquered was
P*
the contradiction was answered, " What have written,
have written. "
heard thee in the hidden part of the tempest, proved
thee in the water ofcontradiction.
12. All this, from the beginning of the Psalm up to this
verse, we have heard of the oil of the press. What remains rather for grief and warning for belongs to the lees of
the press, even to the end perchance also not without
But even this too profitable to hear, that he who sees himself
meaning in the interposition of the Diapsalma.
John lb. 14.
4. 6-
nations are silver and gold. Great are they, because they are of gold and silver; costly they arc, shining they are; but yet, Eyes they have, and see not! New are these gods.
" Recens forte Homo, sed sempi- bard, Sentences, book iii. dist. 12. ternus Deus. " Quoted by Peter Lorn- Ben.
already of the oil may rejoice; he that in danger of running among the lees may beware. To both give heed, choose the one, fear the other.
Ver. 8. Hear, My people, and will speak, and will bear witness unto thee. For not to a strange people, Iss. 6,3. not to people that belongs not to the press " Judge ye"
He saith, " between Me and My vineyard. "
Hear, my people, and will speak, and will bear
witness unto thee.
13. Ver. Israel, thou shall have heard Me, there
shall not be in thee any new god. A new god one made for the time but our God not new, but from eternity to eternity. And our Christ new, perchance, as Man but eternal God. For what before the beginning? And truly, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. And our Christ Himself the Word made flesh, that He might dwell in us. Far be then, that there should be in any one new god. A new
either a stone or a phantom. He not, saith one, stone have a silver and gold one. Justly did he choose
Ps. 116, to name the very costly things, who said, The idols of the
god
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Heretics, as well as Pagans, make new gods. 123
What newer than a god out of a w orkshop ? Yea, though Vrr. those now old ones spiders' webs have covered over, they --^-- that are not eternal are new.
So much for the Pagans. One beside, taking in vain the Exod. name of the Lord his God, hath made for himself a Christ Arfui. that is a creature, a Christ unequal and not coeval with Him
that begetteth, speaking of a Son of God, and denying the
Son of God.
