In no part of
Scripture
seek ought else, let none enjoin on you ought else; whatever is hidden in Holy Scripture, this is hidden in it; whatever is plain in Holy Scripture, this is plain in it.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v6
But when the flame of love has reached
them, and they have come to life again from the dead, let
them hear from the Apostle, Ye were sometime darkness, Eph. 5, but now are ye light in the Lord. These, brethren, are the
coals we look on, when we are pierced by the arrow of God,
and wish to change our life, but are hindered by the evil tongues of men, such as he was just now complaining of,
which endeavour to lead us astray from the way of truth,
and to lead us in preference into their own errors, and say
to us that even if we promise, we shall not fulfil. Then we. observe these coals: he that was yesterday a drunkard,
to-day is sober; he that was yesterday an adulterer, to-day
is chaste ; he that yesterday seized others' goods, to-day
gives freely of his own. All these are coals offire. The examples of the coals are added to the wound of the arrows,
(for I need not fear to say ' the wound,' when the Spouse
herself saith, / am wounded with love,) and then the hay Cant. 2, is consumed, and so they are called devouring coals. The lXX. hay is devoured, but the gold is purified, and the man
exchanges death for life, and begins to be himself too a burning coal; such a coal as was the Apostle, who before
was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, a coal
black and extinguished ; but when he had obtained mercy,
he was set on fire from heaven, the voice of Christ set him
on fire, all the blackness in him perished, he began to be
fervent in spirit, to set others on fire with that wherewith
he was set on fire himself. Are we to understand such
coals offire as this here too, who fall upon those evil men,
and cast them down ? Evidently we are not forbidden to understand it in this way. I see that here shines forth to
us a sentiment not improbable and free from blame. I understand those coals to fall upon these men, that they
may be cast down. For on some they come, to set them
on fire; on others, to cast them down. For that coal himself
said, To the one we are the savour of death unto death, <</<</2 Cor. 2,
? 23-2 We should desire, not to teach others,
Psai. m to the other the savour of death unto death. For they see c -- the righteous blazing with the Spirit, bright with light, and envying them, they fall; this is how coals of fire shall fall upon them upon earth, and they shall be cast down. What upon earth While they are as yet in this life, excluding the punishment which reserved for the wicked, these coals
cast them down, before the everlasting fire cometh. Coals offire shall fall upon them upon earth, and shall cast them down. In miseries they shall not stand. Misery cometh to them, and they bear not; but the righteous standeth,
Rom. as he stood, who saith, We glory in tribulations also,
3- &c'
knott ing that tribulation uorketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. But when upon them any pressure, any misery hath fallen, they stand not, they fall. For when such men meet with these kind of pressures, they are unable to bear them, they fall into evil acts of iniquity, because they are delivered over by their own longing to the sinner.
15. man full of words shall not be guided upon earth. man full words loveth lies. For what pleasure hath he, save in speaking He careth not what he speaketh, so long as he speaks. cannot be that he will be guided.
What then ought the servant of God to do, who kindled with these coals, and himself made coal of salvation, what should he do He should wish rather to hear than to
Jami'sl, speak; as written, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. And may be so, let him desire this, not to
be obliged to speak and talk and teach. For behold
to you, beloved, we speak now to you, brethren, to teach you somewhat: how much better were that we all knew, and none taught another so should there not be one speaking, another hearing, but all hearing Him alone, to
Pn. 51,8. Whom said, To my hearing T/iou shall give exultation and joy. Whence was that John too rejoiced, not so much because he was preacher and speaker, but
John because he was hearer. For he saith, The friend the bridegroom standeth and heareth him, and rejoiceth greatly because the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, beloved
say
of
is
by
' 1'
3,
A
A
5,
a
it
is? of ? if
of
1
a
is it
a
?
it
is
it
? It
it
a
is
is,
but to be taught by God. 233
brethren, I can quickly tell you wherein each one may Ver. prove himself, not by never speaking, but by requiring a 10, -- case where it is his duty to speak ; let him be glad to be
silent, in will, let him speak to teach, when he must. For
when must thou needs speak and teach ? When thou meetest with one ignorant, when thou meetest with one unlearned. If it delight thee always to teach, thou wishest always to have some ignorant one to teach. But if thou wishest well to others, and wishest all to be learned, thou wishest not always to have those whom thou mayest teach, and so the practice or proof of thy teaching will not be in will, but in necessity. Let thy joy be in hearing God, thy duty in thine own speaking, so shalt thou not be a man full of words, lest thou be not guided. Why art thou willing to speak, unwill ing to hear? Thou ever goest without, thou declinest to
reiurn within. For He that teacheth thee is within ; when
thou teachest, thou, as it were, goest forth to those who are without. For from within we hear the truth, and we speak it
to those who are without, outside our heart. For we are said indeed to have in our heart those of whom we are thinking, but
we are said so only because we seem to have a sort of image of
them stamped upon us. For, were they altogether within, surely they would know what is in our hearts, and so would
have no need for us to speak to them. But if this delight
thee, that thou art busy without, take heed lest thou be puffed up without, and be unable to return by the narrow
way, and so thy God be unable to say to thee, Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord; but say, because that which thou21, lovedst was without, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him it,. 30. into outer darkness. For in shewing that it is an evil thing
to be cast without, he sheweth also that it is a good thing to enter within. For to the good servant what said He? Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord: but to the wicked servant, Cast him into outer darkness. Let us not then love most what is outward, but what is inward. At what is inward let us rejoice; in what is outward let us act of necessity, not of free will. A man full of words shall not be guided upon the earth.
16. Evil shall hunt the unrighteous man to destruction. Evils come, and he standeth not; therefore said he, they
Mat. 25,
Evils destroy the wicked, not the good.
Psalm shall hunt him to destruction. For many good men, many _5! ? f^_ righteous men evils have befallen, evils have, as it were, found them. For therefore hath he said, shall hunt them,
Mat. 10,
because every one wisheth to hide himself from evil, but when he is found by evil he is, as it were, made into a prey. But is it only the evil who fly from evils when they are sought by evils? Is it not said to the good also, When they persecute you in this city,flee ye into another ? There fore when the evil pursued the good, that is, our martyrs, when they seized them, they hunted them, but not to destruction. For the flesh was pressed down, the spirit was crowned ; the spirit was cast out from the body, yet
was nought done to the flesh which might hinder it for the future. Let the flesh be burned, scourged, mangled ; is it therefore withdrawn from its Creator, because it is given into the hands of its persecutor? Will not He Who created it from nothing, re-make it better than it was ? So then whenever the righteous are taken, the wicked have hunted them, but not to destruction. But they who shall not be guided, and are full of words, evils shall hunt them to destruction. Wherefore ? Because in miseries they shall not stand.
/ know that the Lord will maintain the right
the needy. This needy one is not full of words ; for he that is
17.
of
ver. 12.
full of words, wisheth to abound, knoweth not to hunger. Matt. 7, But they are needy to whom it is said, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and ye shall find; ask, and it shall be given unto you. He is needy of whom it is said,
Matt. 5, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous ness, for they shall be filled. They groan among the stum bling-blocks of the wicked, they pray to their Head, to be delivered from the wicked man, and set free from the unrighteous man. These then are they whose cause the
Lord will not neglect ; although now they suffer hardships,
their glory shall appear, when their Head appeareth. For to Col. 3,3. such while placed here it is said, Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. So then we are poor, our
John6,lifeishid; letuscrytoHimthatisourBread. ForHeis the living Bread, Which came down from heaven ; and He Who in the way refresheth us, in our wants will fill us.
The Bliss of the righteous, in God. 235
must we hunger till we be filled. / know that the Lord will --: maintain the right of the needy. Sure was he that the Lord would maintain the right of the needy and the cause of the poor. He shall shew the unrighteous how He loveth His righteous ones ; He shall shew the rich how He loveth His poor ones. By the rich, He meant the proud ; by the poor, the humble : by the rich, them who through abundance
seek not ; by the poor, those who through longing sigh. The Lord will maintain their cause.
18. But the just shall confess to Thy Name. Both when 'er. 13. Thou shalt plead their cause, and when Thou shalt maintain
their right, they shall confess to Thy Name; nought shall
they attribute to their own merits, all they shall attribute
to nought save to Thy mercy : But the just shall confess to
Thy Name. And because they shall confess to Thy Name,
so that how righteous soever they have been, they claim nothing to themselves as their own, attribute nothing to themselves as their own ; what shall be done, that they may
direct their heart ? For when they turn to themselves, they
twist their heart ; when they turn to the Lord, they direct their
heart. And where will be pleasure, where rest, where joy,
where bliss? Will it be in themselves? No; but in that
they are light. Now are ye light in the Lord, said he. Eph. s,8. Therefore see what followeth, see wherewith he concludeth.
For now we are refreshed, that we niay endure: because needs Vee.
The upright shall dwell with Thy Countenance. For ill was it with them in their own countenance; well will it be with them with Thy Countenance. For when they loved
their own countenance, in the sweat of their countenance Gen. 3, . 19
did they eat bread. Let them return : then, their sweat being wiped away, their toils finished, their groaning done,
Thy Countenance shall come to them with abundance to satisfy them. Nought more shall they seek, for nought
better have they ; no more shall they abandon Thee, nor
be abandoned by Thee. For after His Resurrection, what
was said of the Lord? Thou shalt fill me with joy withPs. 16.
Thy Countenance. Without His Countenance He would
not give us joy. For this do we cleanse our countenance,
that we may rejoice in His Countenance. For now are Uohn3, we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
12 13 --
1
The beatific Vision.
Psalm shall be ; but we know that, when He shall appear, we Cxl' shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is ; for the upright shall dwell with Thy Countenance. Think we, with the Countenance of the Father, and not with that of the Son ? or with the Countenance of the Son, and not of
the Father? or is the Countenance of Father and Son and Holy Ghost in some sense one ? Let us see whether the Son Himself do not promise us His own Countenance, to gladden us therewith. The Lord God hath just inspired us to have the following passage of the Gospel read, that it might bear witness to this Psalm. The Lord Himself saith,
John 14, He that heareth these commandments of Mine and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me : and he that loveth Me, shall
Lat. cin.
PSALM CXLI. Sermon to the People.
I will love him, and will shew him Myself. What sort of reward is this He hath promised, beloved? Did not they already see Him, to whom He promised to shew Himself? Was He not before them ?
be loved of My Father, and
Was not the Face of His flesh close before their eyes? What is it that He willed to shew to them who already saw Him ? Forasmuch as they saw Him in such form as the Jews crucified Him in, yet was He God, hidden under that flesh, because men could see the Man, but the God they could
Matt. 5, not, although in Man; because too, blessed are the pure in heartyfor they shall see God; He gave the Form of Man both to good and evil, the Form of God He preserved for the pure and good, that we may rejoice in Him, and it may be well with us for ever with His Countenance.
1. Ye have heard, brethren, our instruction and our request from the mouth of the Apostle, when his Epistle was being read just now. For he saith, Continue in prayer,
Col. 4,
2, 3- 4' and watch therein ; withal praying also for us, that God
would open unto us a door of utteranceI, to speak His
mystery, that I may make it manifest as speak. ought to
Deign to consider these words mine also. For there are in Holy Scripture deep mysteries, which are for this cause
Love, the end of the Law. 237 hidden, lest they should be held cheap; for this cause ^'r. n.
:--
2. For what will ye hear or learn, brethren, more important
or more healthful, than, Thou shall love the Lord thy God Mat. 22, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 1 ' etc' mind; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Think
not that these two commandments are little ; On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. What
soever then healthfully is either conceived in the mind, or uttered by the mouth, or is carved from any page of holy
Writ, hath no end save love. For even evil-livers are
enticed to one another by the fellowship of an evil con
science, and are said to love one another, to be unwilling
to leave one another, to be won by intercourse among themselves, to long for one another when apart, to rejoice
when they meet. This love is of hell. It hath lime, to
drag down to the abyss; not wings, to lift aloft to heaven.
But what is true love, that it may be separated and distin guished from others which are called love ? That which
is called the true love of Christians is defined by Paul, and
so marked off by its definitions, as to be entirely distinguished
from the rest. The end, saith he, of the commandments isiTim. 1, love. He might have ended here; for in other places5* where he was speaking as unto them that knew, he said no
more; Love, saith he, is the fulfilling of the Law; and he Rom. 13, said not what law. Therefore did he not say here, because 10,
he had said elsewhere. Here therefore, Love is the ful
filling of the Law. Thou askest, perhaps, what love ? what sort of love ? Thou art told in another place, The end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart. Now see whether robbers have among themselves love out of a
pure heart. This is a pure heart in regard of love, when thou lovest man according to God's will : for thou oughtest
sought, that they may employ us; for this cause opened, that they may feed us. The Psalm which we have just sung is in many parts somewhat obscure. When by the help of the Lord what has been said shall begin to be expounded and explained, ye will see that ye are hearing things which ye knew already. But for this cause are they said in manifold ways, that variety of expression may remove all weariness of the truth.
238 The Psalms Christ's Words: some in His own
Psalm to love thyself too in such wise that the rule be not broken, MaT^i Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. For if thou 39. lovest thyself amiss and unprofitably, by loving thy neighbour
also in the same way, what dost thou benefit him ? But in what way dost thou love thyself amiss? In the way that Scripture hinteth, which flattereth no man, and con- vinceth thee that thou lovest not thyself, yea rather con-
P<<. 11, vinceth thee that thou hatest thyself. He that lovelh
''
iniquity, it saith, hateth his own soul. If then thou lovest iniquity, thinkest thou that thou lovest thyself? Thou art mistaken. And if thou love thy neighbour in this way, thou wilt lead him to iniquity, and thy love will be the snare of him thou lovest. Love then is out of a pure heart, in agreement with God's will, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. This love then thus defined by the Apostle hath two commandments, to love God, and to love our neighbour.
In no part of Scripture seek ought else, let none enjoin on you ought else; whatever is hidden in Holy Scripture, this is hidden in it; whatever is plain in Holy Scripture, this is plain in it. If it were no where plain, it would not feed thee ; if it were no where hidden, it would not exercise thee. This work crieth in these words out of a pure heart, out of the heart of them that are such as He Who here now prayeth. And who this is I will soon tell you : it is Christ.
3. But the words ye are about to hear are unworthy to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one who understood not would think that it is rash in me to have said, that the speaker in this Psalm was Christ. For how can it rightly be said of our Lord Jesus Christ, of that Lamb without spot, of Him in Whom alone no sin was found, Who alone could most truly say, Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and findeth nothing in Me, that is, no blame, no fault, Who alone paid that which He seized not, Who alone could offer innocent blood, the only Son of God, Who took flesh, not to decrease Himself, but to increase us; of such an one, I say, how could this be rightly understood,
John 14, 30'
v. 3. 4. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and a door of re straint around my lips; that Thou turn not aside my heart to wicked words, to making excuses in sins? For plainly this is the meaning. ' Guard Thou, O Lord, my mouth
Person ; some in the person of His Body. 239
with Thy commandments as with a gate and door, that my Ver.
heart be not turned aside to wicked words. ' What wicked
words ? Those which make excuses for sins. Let me
not choose to excuse, rather than to accuse, my sins.
These words fit not our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For
what sins did He commit, which He ought to have confessed,
rather than defended? These are our words: and yet assuredly it is Christ that speaketh. If they be our words,
how is it Christ that speaketh ? Where is the love whereof
I was speaking? Know ye not that it maketh us one
in Christ ? Love crieth to Christ from us, love crieth from
Christ for us. How doth love cry to Christ from us?
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon Joel 2,
'
Cor 12,27.
the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How doth love cry
from Christ for us ? Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? Acts 9,
Ye, saith the Apostle, are the Body of Christ, and members. *'
If then He be the Head, we the Body, it is one that speaketh ; whether the head speak or the members, it is one Christ that speaketh. And it is the property of the head to speak in the name of the members also. Observe our own habit: first, how none among our members can speak, save the head : then further, how the head in us speaketh in the name of all the members. Some one in some narrow place hath trod on thy foot ; thou art treading on me, saith the head : some one hath wounded thy hand; thou bast wounded me, saith the head. The tongue which is in thy head undertaketh to represent all thy members, it speaketh for them all. In the same way then let us hear Christ speaking, but let each hear therein his own voice, adhering as it were in Christ's Body. For sometimes He will speak words wherein none of us can find himself represented, but which belong to the Head alone : yet doth He not sever Himself from our words, and raise Himself aloft to those which are His own specially; nor doth He not return from His own special ones to ours.
--
For of Him and the Church it is said, And they twain Eph. s, shall be one flesh. Wherefore He Himself too saith in the31' 2-
Gpspel of this very thing, Now therefore they are no more Mat. 19, twain, but one flesh. All this is not new: ye have heard6'
it continually : but it is needful that it be mentioned as
210 The whole Church cries, through Christ, to God.
Psalm occasion serves, first, because the Scriptures themselves
Cx11'
41
and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. What is this flowing of sweat from His whole Body, but the
ver. 2.
5. Let my prayer be setforth in Thy sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice. That this is wont to be understood of the Head Himself, every Christian acknowledgeth. For when the day was now sinking towards
I7.
again, did not lose it against His will. Still we too are figured there. For what of Him hung upon the tree, save what He took of us ? And how can it be that the Father should leave and abandon His only-begotten Son, especially when He is one God with Him ? Yet, fixing our weakness upon
which we handle are so interwoven, that many things are repeated in many places ; and further, because it is profitable. For the cares of this world produce thorns and choke the seed : it is fitting that that be often brought to our recol lection by the Lord, which the world forceth us to forget,
have cried unto Thee, hear Thou me. This we all can say. This not I alone say : whole Christ saith it. But it is said rather in the name of the Body : for He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed ; and when He prayed, drops of blood streamed down from His whole
4. Lord, I
Luke22, Body. So is it written in the Gospel : Jesus prayed earnestly,
ver. l.
suffering of martyrs from the whole Church ? Lord, I
have cried unto Thee,Ihear Thou me : listen unto the voice of my
cry unto Thee. Thou though test the business of crying already finished, when thou saidst,
prayer, while
/
not thyself safe. If tribulation be finished, crying is finished: but if tribulation remain for the Church, for the Body/of Christ, even to the end of the world, let it not only say, have cried unto Thee, but also, Listen unto the voice of my prayer, while I cry unto Thee.
have cried unto Thee. Thou hast cried ; yet think
John 10, evening, the Lord upon the Cross laid down His life to lake it
Rom. 6, the Cross, where, as the Apostle saith, our old man is
Ps. 22, \, crucified with Him, He cried out in the voice of that our
Mat. 27, old man, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
4G'
That then is the evening sacrifice, the Passion of the Lord, the Cross of the Lord, the offering of a salutary Victim, the whole burnt-offering acceptable to God. That evening
Christ confesseth sin in the name of His Body. 24 1
sacrifice produced, in His Resurrection, a morning offering. ver. Prayer then, purely directed from a faithful heart, riseth like ----- incense from a hallowed altar. Nought is more delightful
than the odour of the Lord : such odour let all have who believe.
6. Our old man, then, saith the Apostle, is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence
forth we should not serve sin. Therefore in the Psalm, after the words, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? far from my health, immediately is subjoined, the words of my sins. What sins, if thou regard the Head ? And yet that the words in the Psalms were His, He Himself testified on the Cross, He said the very words, He uttered the very verse.
There is no room left for man's conjecture ; no opportunity
for denial to any Christian whatever. What I read in the Psalms, that I hear from the Lord. In the Psalm too I recognise what I read in the Gospel, They pierced My p>>. 22, Hands and My Feet, they counted all My Bones: they\7,le-
considered and gazed upon Me : they parted My garments,
and cast lots for My vesture. All these things as they were foretold, so did they come to pass ; like as we have heard, Ps. 48,8. so have we also seen. Therefore if our Lord Jesus Christ, figuring us in the love of His Body, though He was Himself without sin, yet said, The words of My sins, and said this
in the name of His Body, who among His members dareth
to say that he hath no sin, save he who dareth to puff himself up under the name of a false righteousness, and to accuse Christ of falsehood ? Confess then, O member, that
for thee thy Head uttered it. And that we may confess
this, do this, not justify ourselves in the sight of Him Who
alone is righteous, Who juslifieth the ungodly, He hath Rom. 4, added at once the words of His Body, Set, O Lord, a ualch5ver 3
before my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips. He said not a barrier of restraint, but a door of restraint. A door is opened as well as shut. If then it be a door, let it be both opened and shut; opened, to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a door of restraint, not
of ruin.
7. For what doth this door of restraint profit us ? What
doth Christ pray in the name of His Body ? That Thou ver. 4. vol. vt. R
242 He identifies Himself with His Members.
I'sai. m turn not aside My heart to wicked words. What is, My JETMl. heart ? The heart of My Church ; the heart, that is, of My Body. Observe those words where this rule is laid
Acts 9, down for us: Saul, Saul, why perseculest thou Me? yet
liat. 25 nad no one touched Him. 35. &c. meat : and
/ was hungry, and ye gave Me
I
Me drink : and the rest. Then they ask, When saw we Thee hungry or thirsty ? He answers, Forasmuch as ye did unto one of the least of Mine, ye did it unto Me. These passages ought not to be strange
was thirsty,
ye gave
to Christians, especially since in them are rules established for understanding all other Scriptures too, and either they will not be disturbed, or, if they are, will soon be set right. Just as then in that passage the righteous are to say, Lord,
I
eat? when saw we Thee hungry? and He is to answer,
wherefore hast Thou said,
was hungry, and ye gave Me to
Forasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of Mine,
ye have done it unto Me; so in this passage too let us speak 1Mss. in 1to Christ inwardly, in our inner man, for there He deigneth Chnsto, to dwell by faith. For He is not far from us, and so not Christ. sneh that we can speak to Him ; since He Himself hath
denieth, The lifting up of My Hands is an evening sacrifice. So thou go then and say, Set, O Lord, a watch upon my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips, that Thou turn not aside my heart to wicked words, to making excuses in sins. Wherefore prayest Thou thus, Lord ? What sins of Thine canst Thou make excuses for? He answereth,
When one of My members thus prayeth, I pray thus: just as in the other place He answered, Forasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of Mine, ye have done it unto Me.
8. But when thine heart hath not been turned aside, O member of Christ, when thy heart hath not been turned aside to wicked words, to making excuses in sins, with men that work in iniquity, thou shalt also not unite with their elect. For this followeth, And I will not unite with their elect. Who are their elect? Those who justify them-
Lukel8, selves. Who are their elect? Those who trust in them- 11.
said, Lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end
the world. Let us then too speak to Him, since He hath given us His Voice in this Psalm. For that is His Voice, as none
of
The Pattern of the ' Woman that was a sinner. ' 243
selves that they are righteous, andIdespise others, as the Ver.
He were a prophet, would know what manner of woman 39' this is that touched His feet. Here thou recognisest the words of that other Pharisee, who invited our Lord to his house ; when the woman of that city, who was a sinner, came and approached His Feet. She, the unchaste one, who once went unabashed after fornication, but now came yet more un abashed after salvation, forced her way into a strange house. But He Who there sat at meat was not a stranger. She was not a strange woman following any chance guest, but a hand maid her Lord. She drew near to His Feet, because she desired to follow His Footsteps; she washed them with her tears, she wiped them with the hairs of her head. What are
the Feet of Christ, save they by whom He hath traversed
the whole world? How beautiful are the feet of them that U. 52,7. publish peace, that bring glad tidings of good things! How
many then have received the feet of the Lord, so as by Mat. 10, receiving a righteous man in the^iame of a righteous man,41' 42' to receive a righteous man's reward; and received a prophet
in the name of a prophet, so as to receive a prophet's reward! And whosoever, saith He, shall give to drink unto
Pharisee said in the temple, Lord,
not as other men are. Who are their elect ? This Man, i/ Luke 7,
of a disciple, verily
thank Thee that
I
am ----
one of these little onesIa cup of cold water only in the name
say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. He then who with such kindness received the
Feet of the Lord, what did He expend save the superfluities he had in his house ? Rightly, since the hair is as it were a superfluity, did she with it wipe the Lord's Feet. Thy superfluities become necessaries to thee, if thou with them follow the Feet of the Lord. She then desired to be healed, conscious of the greatness of her wound. But surely it was not a great wound, a mean Physician. The Pharisees were loth to be touched by the unclean, they shunned all contact with sinners, and if it happened that they could not avoid their touch, they washed themselves. And almost every hour they washed not only themselves, but also their vessels, their couches, their cups, their platters, as the Lord recordeth in the Gospel. Inasmuch then as the Pharisee knew this woman, and certainly, had she drawn near to his feet, would
11 -2
244 The Pharisee s want of love.
Psalm have repelled her, lest his sanctity should be defiled ; for it xl-L was in his body, not in his heart; (and because he had it not in his heart, clearly it was but a false sanctity that he had in his body ;) forasmuch, I say, as he would himself have repelled her, when the Lord did not so, he thought that He Luke 7, knew not who she was, and said within himself, This man,
39. &c. y jje were a pfolihet, would know what manner of woman this is which hath approached His Feet. He said not, ' would have repelled her,' but, ' would have known who she was;' as though it followed that, if He knew, He would repel. From the fact then that He did not repel her, he felt sure further that He did not know her. But the Lord so had His eyes fixed on that woman, as to have His ears fixed upon the heart of the Pharisee : and so, when He heard his thought, He set before him the parable, which ye know. A certain creditor had two debtors : the one owed him five hundred pence, and the other fifty: and when they had
nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
I
ask of thee, saith He, which of them will love him most? Then answered he, now compelled by truth to give sentence against
fhimself, / suppose, saith he, Lord, that he to whom he orgave most. * And He turned to the woman, and said unto
Simon, Seest thou this woman ?
thou gavest Me no kiss, but she hath not ceased to kiss My Feet : thou gavest Me no water to My Feet, she hath washed My Feet with her tears : thou gavest Me Ino oil, she hath anointed Me with ointment.
her sins, which ate many, are forgiven, for she loved much. Wherefore ? Because she confessed, because "she wept, because her heart was not turned aside to wicked words,' to offering excuses in sins ; because she united not herself with their elect; that is, with those that defend themselves.
9. For even this woman 'herself, if her heart had turned aside to wicked words, would not have lacked wherewith to defend her sins. Do not women daily, her equals in de filement, but not her equals in confession, harlots, teresses, doers of shameful deeds, defend their sins ?
If they have not been seen, they deny them: if they have been caught and convicted, or have done their deeds openly,
they defend them. And how easy is their defence, how
I entered into thine house,
Wherefore
unto
say Lthee,
adul
The folly of making excuses for sin. 245
ready, yet how headlong; how common, yet how blas- Vfr. phemous ! Had God not willed had not done it: God ------ willed it: fortune willed it: fate willed it. She saith not,
said, Lord, have mercy upon me; she saith not, like that sinner coming to the feet of her Physician, Heal my soul, for have sinned against Thee. And from whom do they
get this defence, my brethren not only from the unlearned, but from the learned also. They sit and count the stars, their distances, their orbits, their speed, their positions, their movements: they observe all these, describe them, form conjectures. Men think them learned, and great. All this learning and greatness defence of sin. Thou wilt be an adulterer, because Venus in particular quarter for thee thou wilt be murderer, because Mars is. Mars then
murderer, not thou Venus an adulteress, not thou. Beware, lest for both Mars and Venus thou be condemned. For God, Who to condemn, knoweth that thou art the man, thou that sayest, It not to the Judge that knoweth. Further, the very astrologer himself who selleth to thee the very fables that ensnare thee, that thou shouldest not obtain even thy death for nothing --(for thou buyest death of the astrologer for price, who hast spurned life from Christ without price --the very astrologer, say, he see his wife behave herself somewhat wantonly, or pay more than due regard to any strangers, or often to betake herself to the window, doth he not seize her, beat her, administer discipline to her in his own house Let his wife reply,
If thou canst, beat Venus, not me will not he answer,
Fool, that which belongeth to the lord and master one thing, what displayed to the purchaser another thing Who then are their elect? The elect of the evil, the elect of the wicked, with whom we must not unite, that is, with whom we must have no dealings. But who are they
Ps. 41,4.
They that think themselves righteous, and despise others^aMH, as sinners, as were the Pharisees or who, because their
sins are manifest, being either detected, or done publicly, defend and maintain them, that nothing may be laid to their charge, and that men may judge that they have done no
evil, but that God has done all, because He has either, as they say, created man so, or so ordered the stars, or
it
;
is
is is
?
is ? ?
them, and they have come to life again from the dead, let
them hear from the Apostle, Ye were sometime darkness, Eph. 5, but now are ye light in the Lord. These, brethren, are the
coals we look on, when we are pierced by the arrow of God,
and wish to change our life, but are hindered by the evil tongues of men, such as he was just now complaining of,
which endeavour to lead us astray from the way of truth,
and to lead us in preference into their own errors, and say
to us that even if we promise, we shall not fulfil. Then we. observe these coals: he that was yesterday a drunkard,
to-day is sober; he that was yesterday an adulterer, to-day
is chaste ; he that yesterday seized others' goods, to-day
gives freely of his own. All these are coals offire. The examples of the coals are added to the wound of the arrows,
(for I need not fear to say ' the wound,' when the Spouse
herself saith, / am wounded with love,) and then the hay Cant. 2, is consumed, and so they are called devouring coals. The lXX. hay is devoured, but the gold is purified, and the man
exchanges death for life, and begins to be himself too a burning coal; such a coal as was the Apostle, who before
was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, a coal
black and extinguished ; but when he had obtained mercy,
he was set on fire from heaven, the voice of Christ set him
on fire, all the blackness in him perished, he began to be
fervent in spirit, to set others on fire with that wherewith
he was set on fire himself. Are we to understand such
coals offire as this here too, who fall upon those evil men,
and cast them down ? Evidently we are not forbidden to understand it in this way. I see that here shines forth to
us a sentiment not improbable and free from blame. I understand those coals to fall upon these men, that they
may be cast down. For on some they come, to set them
on fire; on others, to cast them down. For that coal himself
said, To the one we are the savour of death unto death, <</<</2 Cor. 2,
? 23-2 We should desire, not to teach others,
Psai. m to the other the savour of death unto death. For they see c -- the righteous blazing with the Spirit, bright with light, and envying them, they fall; this is how coals of fire shall fall upon them upon earth, and they shall be cast down. What upon earth While they are as yet in this life, excluding the punishment which reserved for the wicked, these coals
cast them down, before the everlasting fire cometh. Coals offire shall fall upon them upon earth, and shall cast them down. In miseries they shall not stand. Misery cometh to them, and they bear not; but the righteous standeth,
Rom. as he stood, who saith, We glory in tribulations also,
3- &c'
knott ing that tribulation uorketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. But when upon them any pressure, any misery hath fallen, they stand not, they fall. For when such men meet with these kind of pressures, they are unable to bear them, they fall into evil acts of iniquity, because they are delivered over by their own longing to the sinner.
15. man full of words shall not be guided upon earth. man full words loveth lies. For what pleasure hath he, save in speaking He careth not what he speaketh, so long as he speaks. cannot be that he will be guided.
What then ought the servant of God to do, who kindled with these coals, and himself made coal of salvation, what should he do He should wish rather to hear than to
Jami'sl, speak; as written, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. And may be so, let him desire this, not to
be obliged to speak and talk and teach. For behold
to you, beloved, we speak now to you, brethren, to teach you somewhat: how much better were that we all knew, and none taught another so should there not be one speaking, another hearing, but all hearing Him alone, to
Pn. 51,8. Whom said, To my hearing T/iou shall give exultation and joy. Whence was that John too rejoiced, not so much because he was preacher and speaker, but
John because he was hearer. For he saith, The friend the bridegroom standeth and heareth him, and rejoiceth greatly because the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, beloved
say
of
is
by
' 1'
3,
A
A
5,
a
it
is? of ? if
of
1
a
is it
a
?
it
is
it
? It
it
a
is
is,
but to be taught by God. 233
brethren, I can quickly tell you wherein each one may Ver. prove himself, not by never speaking, but by requiring a 10, -- case where it is his duty to speak ; let him be glad to be
silent, in will, let him speak to teach, when he must. For
when must thou needs speak and teach ? When thou meetest with one ignorant, when thou meetest with one unlearned. If it delight thee always to teach, thou wishest always to have some ignorant one to teach. But if thou wishest well to others, and wishest all to be learned, thou wishest not always to have those whom thou mayest teach, and so the practice or proof of thy teaching will not be in will, but in necessity. Let thy joy be in hearing God, thy duty in thine own speaking, so shalt thou not be a man full of words, lest thou be not guided. Why art thou willing to speak, unwill ing to hear? Thou ever goest without, thou declinest to
reiurn within. For He that teacheth thee is within ; when
thou teachest, thou, as it were, goest forth to those who are without. For from within we hear the truth, and we speak it
to those who are without, outside our heart. For we are said indeed to have in our heart those of whom we are thinking, but
we are said so only because we seem to have a sort of image of
them stamped upon us. For, were they altogether within, surely they would know what is in our hearts, and so would
have no need for us to speak to them. But if this delight
thee, that thou art busy without, take heed lest thou be puffed up without, and be unable to return by the narrow
way, and so thy God be unable to say to thee, Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord; but say, because that which thou21, lovedst was without, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him it,. 30. into outer darkness. For in shewing that it is an evil thing
to be cast without, he sheweth also that it is a good thing to enter within. For to the good servant what said He? Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord: but to the wicked servant, Cast him into outer darkness. Let us not then love most what is outward, but what is inward. At what is inward let us rejoice; in what is outward let us act of necessity, not of free will. A man full of words shall not be guided upon the earth.
16. Evil shall hunt the unrighteous man to destruction. Evils come, and he standeth not; therefore said he, they
Mat. 25,
Evils destroy the wicked, not the good.
Psalm shall hunt him to destruction. For many good men, many _5! ? f^_ righteous men evils have befallen, evils have, as it were, found them. For therefore hath he said, shall hunt them,
Mat. 10,
because every one wisheth to hide himself from evil, but when he is found by evil he is, as it were, made into a prey. But is it only the evil who fly from evils when they are sought by evils? Is it not said to the good also, When they persecute you in this city,flee ye into another ? There fore when the evil pursued the good, that is, our martyrs, when they seized them, they hunted them, but not to destruction. For the flesh was pressed down, the spirit was crowned ; the spirit was cast out from the body, yet
was nought done to the flesh which might hinder it for the future. Let the flesh be burned, scourged, mangled ; is it therefore withdrawn from its Creator, because it is given into the hands of its persecutor? Will not He Who created it from nothing, re-make it better than it was ? So then whenever the righteous are taken, the wicked have hunted them, but not to destruction. But they who shall not be guided, and are full of words, evils shall hunt them to destruction. Wherefore ? Because in miseries they shall not stand.
/ know that the Lord will maintain the right
the needy. This needy one is not full of words ; for he that is
17.
of
ver. 12.
full of words, wisheth to abound, knoweth not to hunger. Matt. 7, But they are needy to whom it is said, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and ye shall find; ask, and it shall be given unto you. He is needy of whom it is said,
Matt. 5, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous ness, for they shall be filled. They groan among the stum bling-blocks of the wicked, they pray to their Head, to be delivered from the wicked man, and set free from the unrighteous man. These then are they whose cause the
Lord will not neglect ; although now they suffer hardships,
their glory shall appear, when their Head appeareth. For to Col. 3,3. such while placed here it is said, Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. So then we are poor, our
John6,lifeishid; letuscrytoHimthatisourBread. ForHeis the living Bread, Which came down from heaven ; and He Who in the way refresheth us, in our wants will fill us.
The Bliss of the righteous, in God. 235
must we hunger till we be filled. / know that the Lord will --: maintain the right of the needy. Sure was he that the Lord would maintain the right of the needy and the cause of the poor. He shall shew the unrighteous how He loveth His righteous ones ; He shall shew the rich how He loveth His poor ones. By the rich, He meant the proud ; by the poor, the humble : by the rich, them who through abundance
seek not ; by the poor, those who through longing sigh. The Lord will maintain their cause.
18. But the just shall confess to Thy Name. Both when 'er. 13. Thou shalt plead their cause, and when Thou shalt maintain
their right, they shall confess to Thy Name; nought shall
they attribute to their own merits, all they shall attribute
to nought save to Thy mercy : But the just shall confess to
Thy Name. And because they shall confess to Thy Name,
so that how righteous soever they have been, they claim nothing to themselves as their own, attribute nothing to themselves as their own ; what shall be done, that they may
direct their heart ? For when they turn to themselves, they
twist their heart ; when they turn to the Lord, they direct their
heart. And where will be pleasure, where rest, where joy,
where bliss? Will it be in themselves? No; but in that
they are light. Now are ye light in the Lord, said he. Eph. s,8. Therefore see what followeth, see wherewith he concludeth.
For now we are refreshed, that we niay endure: because needs Vee.
The upright shall dwell with Thy Countenance. For ill was it with them in their own countenance; well will it be with them with Thy Countenance. For when they loved
their own countenance, in the sweat of their countenance Gen. 3, . 19
did they eat bread. Let them return : then, their sweat being wiped away, their toils finished, their groaning done,
Thy Countenance shall come to them with abundance to satisfy them. Nought more shall they seek, for nought
better have they ; no more shall they abandon Thee, nor
be abandoned by Thee. For after His Resurrection, what
was said of the Lord? Thou shalt fill me with joy withPs. 16.
Thy Countenance. Without His Countenance He would
not give us joy. For this do we cleanse our countenance,
that we may rejoice in His Countenance. For now are Uohn3, we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
12 13 --
1
The beatific Vision.
Psalm shall be ; but we know that, when He shall appear, we Cxl' shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is ; for the upright shall dwell with Thy Countenance. Think we, with the Countenance of the Father, and not with that of the Son ? or with the Countenance of the Son, and not of
the Father? or is the Countenance of Father and Son and Holy Ghost in some sense one ? Let us see whether the Son Himself do not promise us His own Countenance, to gladden us therewith. The Lord God hath just inspired us to have the following passage of the Gospel read, that it might bear witness to this Psalm. The Lord Himself saith,
John 14, He that heareth these commandments of Mine and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me : and he that loveth Me, shall
Lat. cin.
PSALM CXLI. Sermon to the People.
I will love him, and will shew him Myself. What sort of reward is this He hath promised, beloved? Did not they already see Him, to whom He promised to shew Himself? Was He not before them ?
be loved of My Father, and
Was not the Face of His flesh close before their eyes? What is it that He willed to shew to them who already saw Him ? Forasmuch as they saw Him in such form as the Jews crucified Him in, yet was He God, hidden under that flesh, because men could see the Man, but the God they could
Matt. 5, not, although in Man; because too, blessed are the pure in heartyfor they shall see God; He gave the Form of Man both to good and evil, the Form of God He preserved for the pure and good, that we may rejoice in Him, and it may be well with us for ever with His Countenance.
1. Ye have heard, brethren, our instruction and our request from the mouth of the Apostle, when his Epistle was being read just now. For he saith, Continue in prayer,
Col. 4,
2, 3- 4' and watch therein ; withal praying also for us, that God
would open unto us a door of utteranceI, to speak His
mystery, that I may make it manifest as speak. ought to
Deign to consider these words mine also. For there are in Holy Scripture deep mysteries, which are for this cause
Love, the end of the Law. 237 hidden, lest they should be held cheap; for this cause ^'r. n.
:--
2. For what will ye hear or learn, brethren, more important
or more healthful, than, Thou shall love the Lord thy God Mat. 22, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 1 ' etc' mind; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Think
not that these two commandments are little ; On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. What
soever then healthfully is either conceived in the mind, or uttered by the mouth, or is carved from any page of holy
Writ, hath no end save love. For even evil-livers are
enticed to one another by the fellowship of an evil con
science, and are said to love one another, to be unwilling
to leave one another, to be won by intercourse among themselves, to long for one another when apart, to rejoice
when they meet. This love is of hell. It hath lime, to
drag down to the abyss; not wings, to lift aloft to heaven.
But what is true love, that it may be separated and distin guished from others which are called love ? That which
is called the true love of Christians is defined by Paul, and
so marked off by its definitions, as to be entirely distinguished
from the rest. The end, saith he, of the commandments isiTim. 1, love. He might have ended here; for in other places5* where he was speaking as unto them that knew, he said no
more; Love, saith he, is the fulfilling of the Law; and he Rom. 13, said not what law. Therefore did he not say here, because 10,
he had said elsewhere. Here therefore, Love is the ful
filling of the Law. Thou askest, perhaps, what love ? what sort of love ? Thou art told in another place, The end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart. Now see whether robbers have among themselves love out of a
pure heart. This is a pure heart in regard of love, when thou lovest man according to God's will : for thou oughtest
sought, that they may employ us; for this cause opened, that they may feed us. The Psalm which we have just sung is in many parts somewhat obscure. When by the help of the Lord what has been said shall begin to be expounded and explained, ye will see that ye are hearing things which ye knew already. But for this cause are they said in manifold ways, that variety of expression may remove all weariness of the truth.
238 The Psalms Christ's Words: some in His own
Psalm to love thyself too in such wise that the rule be not broken, MaT^i Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. For if thou 39. lovest thyself amiss and unprofitably, by loving thy neighbour
also in the same way, what dost thou benefit him ? But in what way dost thou love thyself amiss? In the way that Scripture hinteth, which flattereth no man, and con- vinceth thee that thou lovest not thyself, yea rather con-
P<<. 11, vinceth thee that thou hatest thyself. He that lovelh
''
iniquity, it saith, hateth his own soul. If then thou lovest iniquity, thinkest thou that thou lovest thyself? Thou art mistaken. And if thou love thy neighbour in this way, thou wilt lead him to iniquity, and thy love will be the snare of him thou lovest. Love then is out of a pure heart, in agreement with God's will, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. This love then thus defined by the Apostle hath two commandments, to love God, and to love our neighbour.
In no part of Scripture seek ought else, let none enjoin on you ought else; whatever is hidden in Holy Scripture, this is hidden in it; whatever is plain in Holy Scripture, this is plain in it. If it were no where plain, it would not feed thee ; if it were no where hidden, it would not exercise thee. This work crieth in these words out of a pure heart, out of the heart of them that are such as He Who here now prayeth. And who this is I will soon tell you : it is Christ.
3. But the words ye are about to hear are unworthy to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one who understood not would think that it is rash in me to have said, that the speaker in this Psalm was Christ. For how can it rightly be said of our Lord Jesus Christ, of that Lamb without spot, of Him in Whom alone no sin was found, Who alone could most truly say, Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and findeth nothing in Me, that is, no blame, no fault, Who alone paid that which He seized not, Who alone could offer innocent blood, the only Son of God, Who took flesh, not to decrease Himself, but to increase us; of such an one, I say, how could this be rightly understood,
John 14, 30'
v. 3. 4. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and a door of re straint around my lips; that Thou turn not aside my heart to wicked words, to making excuses in sins? For plainly this is the meaning. ' Guard Thou, O Lord, my mouth
Person ; some in the person of His Body. 239
with Thy commandments as with a gate and door, that my Ver.
heart be not turned aside to wicked words. ' What wicked
words ? Those which make excuses for sins. Let me
not choose to excuse, rather than to accuse, my sins.
These words fit not our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For
what sins did He commit, which He ought to have confessed,
rather than defended? These are our words: and yet assuredly it is Christ that speaketh. If they be our words,
how is it Christ that speaketh ? Where is the love whereof
I was speaking? Know ye not that it maketh us one
in Christ ? Love crieth to Christ from us, love crieth from
Christ for us. How doth love cry to Christ from us?
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon Joel 2,
'
Cor 12,27.
the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How doth love cry
from Christ for us ? Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? Acts 9,
Ye, saith the Apostle, are the Body of Christ, and members. *'
If then He be the Head, we the Body, it is one that speaketh ; whether the head speak or the members, it is one Christ that speaketh. And it is the property of the head to speak in the name of the members also. Observe our own habit: first, how none among our members can speak, save the head : then further, how the head in us speaketh in the name of all the members. Some one in some narrow place hath trod on thy foot ; thou art treading on me, saith the head : some one hath wounded thy hand; thou bast wounded me, saith the head. The tongue which is in thy head undertaketh to represent all thy members, it speaketh for them all. In the same way then let us hear Christ speaking, but let each hear therein his own voice, adhering as it were in Christ's Body. For sometimes He will speak words wherein none of us can find himself represented, but which belong to the Head alone : yet doth He not sever Himself from our words, and raise Himself aloft to those which are His own specially; nor doth He not return from His own special ones to ours.
--
For of Him and the Church it is said, And they twain Eph. s, shall be one flesh. Wherefore He Himself too saith in the31' 2-
Gpspel of this very thing, Now therefore they are no more Mat. 19, twain, but one flesh. All this is not new: ye have heard6'
it continually : but it is needful that it be mentioned as
210 The whole Church cries, through Christ, to God.
Psalm occasion serves, first, because the Scriptures themselves
Cx11'
41
and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. What is this flowing of sweat from His whole Body, but the
ver. 2.
5. Let my prayer be setforth in Thy sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice. That this is wont to be understood of the Head Himself, every Christian acknowledgeth. For when the day was now sinking towards
I7.
again, did not lose it against His will. Still we too are figured there. For what of Him hung upon the tree, save what He took of us ? And how can it be that the Father should leave and abandon His only-begotten Son, especially when He is one God with Him ? Yet, fixing our weakness upon
which we handle are so interwoven, that many things are repeated in many places ; and further, because it is profitable. For the cares of this world produce thorns and choke the seed : it is fitting that that be often brought to our recol lection by the Lord, which the world forceth us to forget,
have cried unto Thee, hear Thou me. This we all can say. This not I alone say : whole Christ saith it. But it is said rather in the name of the Body : for He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed ; and when He prayed, drops of blood streamed down from His whole
4. Lord, I
Luke22, Body. So is it written in the Gospel : Jesus prayed earnestly,
ver. l.
suffering of martyrs from the whole Church ? Lord, I
have cried unto Thee,Ihear Thou me : listen unto the voice of my
cry unto Thee. Thou though test the business of crying already finished, when thou saidst,
prayer, while
/
not thyself safe. If tribulation be finished, crying is finished: but if tribulation remain for the Church, for the Body/of Christ, even to the end of the world, let it not only say, have cried unto Thee, but also, Listen unto the voice of my prayer, while I cry unto Thee.
have cried unto Thee. Thou hast cried ; yet think
John 10, evening, the Lord upon the Cross laid down His life to lake it
Rom. 6, the Cross, where, as the Apostle saith, our old man is
Ps. 22, \, crucified with Him, He cried out in the voice of that our
Mat. 27, old man, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
4G'
That then is the evening sacrifice, the Passion of the Lord, the Cross of the Lord, the offering of a salutary Victim, the whole burnt-offering acceptable to God. That evening
Christ confesseth sin in the name of His Body. 24 1
sacrifice produced, in His Resurrection, a morning offering. ver. Prayer then, purely directed from a faithful heart, riseth like ----- incense from a hallowed altar. Nought is more delightful
than the odour of the Lord : such odour let all have who believe.
6. Our old man, then, saith the Apostle, is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence
forth we should not serve sin. Therefore in the Psalm, after the words, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? far from my health, immediately is subjoined, the words of my sins. What sins, if thou regard the Head ? And yet that the words in the Psalms were His, He Himself testified on the Cross, He said the very words, He uttered the very verse.
There is no room left for man's conjecture ; no opportunity
for denial to any Christian whatever. What I read in the Psalms, that I hear from the Lord. In the Psalm too I recognise what I read in the Gospel, They pierced My p>>. 22, Hands and My Feet, they counted all My Bones: they\7,le-
considered and gazed upon Me : they parted My garments,
and cast lots for My vesture. All these things as they were foretold, so did they come to pass ; like as we have heard, Ps. 48,8. so have we also seen. Therefore if our Lord Jesus Christ, figuring us in the love of His Body, though He was Himself without sin, yet said, The words of My sins, and said this
in the name of His Body, who among His members dareth
to say that he hath no sin, save he who dareth to puff himself up under the name of a false righteousness, and to accuse Christ of falsehood ? Confess then, O member, that
for thee thy Head uttered it. And that we may confess
this, do this, not justify ourselves in the sight of Him Who
alone is righteous, Who juslifieth the ungodly, He hath Rom. 4, added at once the words of His Body, Set, O Lord, a ualch5ver 3
before my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips. He said not a barrier of restraint, but a door of restraint. A door is opened as well as shut. If then it be a door, let it be both opened and shut; opened, to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a door of restraint, not
of ruin.
7. For what doth this door of restraint profit us ? What
doth Christ pray in the name of His Body ? That Thou ver. 4. vol. vt. R
242 He identifies Himself with His Members.
I'sai. m turn not aside My heart to wicked words. What is, My JETMl. heart ? The heart of My Church ; the heart, that is, of My Body. Observe those words where this rule is laid
Acts 9, down for us: Saul, Saul, why perseculest thou Me? yet
liat. 25 nad no one touched Him. 35. &c. meat : and
/ was hungry, and ye gave Me
I
Me drink : and the rest. Then they ask, When saw we Thee hungry or thirsty ? He answers, Forasmuch as ye did unto one of the least of Mine, ye did it unto Me. These passages ought not to be strange
was thirsty,
ye gave
to Christians, especially since in them are rules established for understanding all other Scriptures too, and either they will not be disturbed, or, if they are, will soon be set right. Just as then in that passage the righteous are to say, Lord,
I
eat? when saw we Thee hungry? and He is to answer,
wherefore hast Thou said,
was hungry, and ye gave Me to
Forasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of Mine,
ye have done it unto Me; so in this passage too let us speak 1Mss. in 1to Christ inwardly, in our inner man, for there He deigneth Chnsto, to dwell by faith. For He is not far from us, and so not Christ. sneh that we can speak to Him ; since He Himself hath
denieth, The lifting up of My Hands is an evening sacrifice. So thou go then and say, Set, O Lord, a watch upon my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips, that Thou turn not aside my heart to wicked words, to making excuses in sins. Wherefore prayest Thou thus, Lord ? What sins of Thine canst Thou make excuses for? He answereth,
When one of My members thus prayeth, I pray thus: just as in the other place He answered, Forasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of Mine, ye have done it unto Me.
8. But when thine heart hath not been turned aside, O member of Christ, when thy heart hath not been turned aside to wicked words, to making excuses in sins, with men that work in iniquity, thou shalt also not unite with their elect. For this followeth, And I will not unite with their elect. Who are their elect? Those who justify them-
Lukel8, selves. Who are their elect? Those who trust in them- 11.
said, Lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end
the world. Let us then too speak to Him, since He hath given us His Voice in this Psalm. For that is His Voice, as none
of
The Pattern of the ' Woman that was a sinner. ' 243
selves that they are righteous, andIdespise others, as the Ver.
He were a prophet, would know what manner of woman 39' this is that touched His feet. Here thou recognisest the words of that other Pharisee, who invited our Lord to his house ; when the woman of that city, who was a sinner, came and approached His Feet. She, the unchaste one, who once went unabashed after fornication, but now came yet more un abashed after salvation, forced her way into a strange house. But He Who there sat at meat was not a stranger. She was not a strange woman following any chance guest, but a hand maid her Lord. She drew near to His Feet, because she desired to follow His Footsteps; she washed them with her tears, she wiped them with the hairs of her head. What are
the Feet of Christ, save they by whom He hath traversed
the whole world? How beautiful are the feet of them that U. 52,7. publish peace, that bring glad tidings of good things! How
many then have received the feet of the Lord, so as by Mat. 10, receiving a righteous man in the^iame of a righteous man,41' 42' to receive a righteous man's reward; and received a prophet
in the name of a prophet, so as to receive a prophet's reward! And whosoever, saith He, shall give to drink unto
Pharisee said in the temple, Lord,
not as other men are. Who are their elect ? This Man, i/ Luke 7,
of a disciple, verily
thank Thee that
I
am ----
one of these little onesIa cup of cold water only in the name
say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. He then who with such kindness received the
Feet of the Lord, what did He expend save the superfluities he had in his house ? Rightly, since the hair is as it were a superfluity, did she with it wipe the Lord's Feet. Thy superfluities become necessaries to thee, if thou with them follow the Feet of the Lord. She then desired to be healed, conscious of the greatness of her wound. But surely it was not a great wound, a mean Physician. The Pharisees were loth to be touched by the unclean, they shunned all contact with sinners, and if it happened that they could not avoid their touch, they washed themselves. And almost every hour they washed not only themselves, but also their vessels, their couches, their cups, their platters, as the Lord recordeth in the Gospel. Inasmuch then as the Pharisee knew this woman, and certainly, had she drawn near to his feet, would
11 -2
244 The Pharisee s want of love.
Psalm have repelled her, lest his sanctity should be defiled ; for it xl-L was in his body, not in his heart; (and because he had it not in his heart, clearly it was but a false sanctity that he had in his body ;) forasmuch, I say, as he would himself have repelled her, when the Lord did not so, he thought that He Luke 7, knew not who she was, and said within himself, This man,
39. &c. y jje were a pfolihet, would know what manner of woman this is which hath approached His Feet. He said not, ' would have repelled her,' but, ' would have known who she was;' as though it followed that, if He knew, He would repel. From the fact then that He did not repel her, he felt sure further that He did not know her. But the Lord so had His eyes fixed on that woman, as to have His ears fixed upon the heart of the Pharisee : and so, when He heard his thought, He set before him the parable, which ye know. A certain creditor had two debtors : the one owed him five hundred pence, and the other fifty: and when they had
nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
I
ask of thee, saith He, which of them will love him most? Then answered he, now compelled by truth to give sentence against
fhimself, / suppose, saith he, Lord, that he to whom he orgave most. * And He turned to the woman, and said unto
Simon, Seest thou this woman ?
thou gavest Me no kiss, but she hath not ceased to kiss My Feet : thou gavest Me no water to My Feet, she hath washed My Feet with her tears : thou gavest Me Ino oil, she hath anointed Me with ointment.
her sins, which ate many, are forgiven, for she loved much. Wherefore ? Because she confessed, because "she wept, because her heart was not turned aside to wicked words,' to offering excuses in sins ; because she united not herself with their elect; that is, with those that defend themselves.
9. For even this woman 'herself, if her heart had turned aside to wicked words, would not have lacked wherewith to defend her sins. Do not women daily, her equals in de filement, but not her equals in confession, harlots, teresses, doers of shameful deeds, defend their sins ?
If they have not been seen, they deny them: if they have been caught and convicted, or have done their deeds openly,
they defend them. And how easy is their defence, how
I entered into thine house,
Wherefore
unto
say Lthee,
adul
The folly of making excuses for sin. 245
ready, yet how headlong; how common, yet how blas- Vfr. phemous ! Had God not willed had not done it: God ------ willed it: fortune willed it: fate willed it. She saith not,
said, Lord, have mercy upon me; she saith not, like that sinner coming to the feet of her Physician, Heal my soul, for have sinned against Thee. And from whom do they
get this defence, my brethren not only from the unlearned, but from the learned also. They sit and count the stars, their distances, their orbits, their speed, their positions, their movements: they observe all these, describe them, form conjectures. Men think them learned, and great. All this learning and greatness defence of sin. Thou wilt be an adulterer, because Venus in particular quarter for thee thou wilt be murderer, because Mars is. Mars then
murderer, not thou Venus an adulteress, not thou. Beware, lest for both Mars and Venus thou be condemned. For God, Who to condemn, knoweth that thou art the man, thou that sayest, It not to the Judge that knoweth. Further, the very astrologer himself who selleth to thee the very fables that ensnare thee, that thou shouldest not obtain even thy death for nothing --(for thou buyest death of the astrologer for price, who hast spurned life from Christ without price --the very astrologer, say, he see his wife behave herself somewhat wantonly, or pay more than due regard to any strangers, or often to betake herself to the window, doth he not seize her, beat her, administer discipline to her in his own house Let his wife reply,
If thou canst, beat Venus, not me will not he answer,
Fool, that which belongeth to the lord and master one thing, what displayed to the purchaser another thing Who then are their elect? The elect of the evil, the elect of the wicked, with whom we must not unite, that is, with whom we must have no dealings. But who are they
Ps. 41,4.
They that think themselves righteous, and despise others^aMH, as sinners, as were the Pharisees or who, because their
sins are manifest, being either detected, or done publicly, defend and maintain them, that nothing may be laid to their charge, and that men may judge that they have done no
evil, but that God has done all, because He has either, as they say, created man so, or so ordered the stars, or
it
;
is
is is
?
is ? ?
