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1. We undertook, in the name of the Lord, and promised to you,
beloved, to treat of that grace and truth of God, full of which the
only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, appeared
to the saints, and to show how, as a matter belonging to the New
Testament, it is to be distinguished from the Old Testament.
Give, then, your attention that what I receive in my measure from
God you in your measure may receive and hear the same. For it will
only remain if, when the seed is scattered in your hearts, the birds
take it not away, nor thorns choke it, nor heat scorch it, and there
descend upon it the rain of daily exhortations and your own good
thoughts, by which that is done in the heart which in the field is done
by means of harrows, so that the clod is broken, and the seed covered
and enabled to germinate: that you bear fruit at which the husbandman
may be glad and rejoice. But if, in return for good seed and good
rain, you bring forth not fruit but thorns, the seed will not be
blamed, nor will the rain be in fault; but for thorns due fire is
prepared.
2. I do not think that I need spend much time in endeavoring to
persuade you that we are Christian men; and if Christians, by virtue
of the name, belonging to Christ. Upon the forehead we bear His
sign; and we do not blush because of it, if we also bear it in the
heart. His sign is His humility. By a star the Magi knew Him;
and this sign was given by the Lord, and it was heavenly and beautiful
He did not desire that a star should be His sign on the forehead of
the faithful, but His cross. By it humbled, by it also glorified;
by it He raised the humble, even by that to which He, when humbled,
descended. We belong, then, to the gospel, we belong to the New
Testament. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ." We ask the apostle, and he says to us, since we
are not under the law but under grace. "He sent therefore His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, that He might redeem those who
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Behold, for this end Christ came, that He might redeem those who
were under the law; that now we may not be under the law, but under
grace. Who, then, gave the law? He gave the law who gave likewise
grace; but the law He sent by a servant, with grace He Himself came
down. And in what manner were men made under the law? By not
fulfilling the law. For he who fulfills the law is not under the law,
but with the law; but he who is under the law is not raised up, but
pressed down by the law. All men, therefore, being placed under the
law, are by the law made guilty; and for this purpose it is over their
head, that it may show sins, not take them away. The law then
commands, the Giver of the law showeth pity in that which the law
commands. Men, endeavoring by their own strength to fulfill that
which the law commands, fell by their own rash and headstrong
presumption; and not with the law, but under the law, became guilty:
and since by their own strength they were unable to fulfill the law,
and were become guilty under the law, they implored the aid of the
Deliverer; and the guilt which the law brought caused sickness to the
proud. The sickness of the proud became the confession of the humble.
Now the sick confess that they are sick; let the physician come to
heal the sick.
3. Who is the Physician? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is our
Lord Jesus Christ? He who was seen even by those by whom He was
crucified. He who was seized, buffeted, scourged, spit upon,
crowned with thorns, suspended upon the cross, died, pierced by the
spear, taken down from the cross, laid in the sepulchre. That same
Jesus Christ our Lord, that same Jesus exactly, He is the
complete Physician of our wounds. That crucified One at whom insults
were cast, and while He hung on the cross His persecutors wagging the
head, and saying. "If he be the Son of God, let him come down
from the cross," He, and no other, is our complete Physician.
Wherefore, then, did He not show to his deriders that He was the
Son of God; so that if He allowed Himself to be lifted up upon the
cross, at least when they said, " If he be the Son of God, let
him come down from the cross," He should then come down, and show to
them that He was the very Son of God whom they had dared to deride?
He would not. Wherefore would He not? Was it because He could
not? Manifestly He could. For which is greater, to descend from
the cross or to rise from the sepulchre? But He bore with His
insulters; for the cross was taken not as a proof of power, but as an
example of patience. There He cured thy wounds, where He long bore
His own; there He healed thee of death eternal, where He vouchsafed
to die the temporal death. And did He die, or in Him did death
die? What a death was that, which slew death!
4. Is it, however, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself His whole
self who was seen, and held, and crucified? Is the whole very self
that? It is the same, but not the whole, that which the Jews saw;
this is not the whole Christ. And what is? "In the beginning was
the Word." In what beginning? "And the Word was with God."
And what word? "And the Word was God." Was then perhaps this
Word made by God? No. For "the same was in the beginning with
God." What then? Are the other things which God made not like
unto the Word? No: because "all things were made by Him, and
without Him was not anything made." In what manner were all things
made by Him? Because "that which was made in Him was life;" and
before it was made there was life. That which was made is not life;
but in the art, that is, in the wisdom of God, before it was made,
it was life. That which was made passes away; that which is in wisdom
cannot pass away. There was life, therefore, in that which was
made. And what sort of life, since the soul also is the life Of the
body? Our body has its own life; and when it has lost it, the death
of the body ensues. Was then the life such as this? No; but "the
life was the light of men." Was it the light of cattle? For this
light is the light of men and of cattle. There is a certain light of
men: let us see how far men differ from the cattle, and then we shall
understand what is the light of men. Thou dost not differ from the
cattle except in intellect; do not glory in anything besides.
Dost thou presume upon thy strength? By the wild beasts thou art
surpassed. Upon thy swiftness dost thou presume? By the flies thou
art surpassed. Upon thy beauty dost thou presume? How great beauty
is there in the feathers of a peacock! Wherein then art thou better?
In the image of God. Where is the image of God? In the mind, in
the intellect. If then thou art in this respect better than the
cattle, that thou hast a mind by which thou mayest understand what the
cattle cannot understand; and therein a man, because better than the
cattle; the light of men is the light of minds. The light of minds is
above minds and surpasses all minds. This was that life by which all
things were made.
5. Where was it? Was it here? was it with the Father, and was it
not here? or, what is more true, was it both with the Father and
here also? If then it was here, wherefore was it not seen? Because
"the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it
not." Oh men, be not darkness, be not unbelieving, unjust,
unrighteous, rapacious, avaricious lovers of this world: for these
are the darkness. The light is not absent, but you are absent from
the light. A blind man in the sunshine has the sun present to him,
but is himself absent from the sun. Be ye not then darkness. For
this is perhaps the grace regarding which we are about to speak, that
now we be no more darkness, and that the apostle may say to us, "We
were sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord." Because then
the light of men was not seen, that is, the light of minds, there was
a necessity that a man should give testimony regarding the light, who
was not in darkness, but who was already enlightened; and
nevertheless,because enlightened,not the light itself, "but that He
might bear witness of the light." For "he was not that light."
And what was the light? "That was the true light which enlightened
every man that cometh into the world." And where was that light?
"In this world it was." And how was it "in this world?" As the
light of the sun, of the moon, and of lamps, was that light thus in
the world? No. Because "the world was made by Him, and the world
knew Him not;" that is to say, "the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness comprehended it not." For the world is darkness;
because the lovers of the world are the world. For did not the
creature acknowledge its Creator? The heavens gave testimony by a
star; the sea gave testimony, and bore its Lord when He walked upon
it; the winds gave testimony, and were quiet at His bidding; the
earth gave testimony, and trembled when He was crucified. If all
these gave testimony, in what sense did the world not know Him,
unless that the world signifies the lovers of the world, those who with
their hearts dwell in the world? And the world is evil, because the
inhabitants of the world are evil; just as a house is evil, not
because of its walls, but because of its inhabitants.
6. "He came unto His own;" that is to say, He came to that
which belonged to Himself; "and His own received Him not."
What, then, is the hope, unless that "as many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become the sons of God"? If they become
sons, they are born; if born, how are they born? Not of flesh,
"nor of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man;
but of God are they born." Let them rejoice, therefore, that they
are born of God; let them believe that they are born of God; let
them receive the proof that they are born of God: "And the Word
became flesh, and dwelt among us." If the Word was not ashamed to
be born of man, are men ashamed to be born of God? And because He
did this, He cured us; and because He cured us, we see. For
this, "that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," became a
medicine unto us, so that as by earth we were made blind, by earth we
might be healed; and having been healed, might behold what? "And we
beheld," he says, "His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth."
7. "John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was
He of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me is made before me."
He came after me, ad He preceded me. What is it, "He is made
before me"? He preceded me. Not was made before I was made, but
was preferred before me, this is "He was made before me."
Wherefore was He made before thee, when He came after thee?
"Because He was before me." Before thee, O John! what great
thing to be before thee! It is well that thou dost bear witness to
Him; let us, however, hear Himself saying, "Even before
Abraham, I am." But Abraham also was born in the midst of the
human race: there were many before him, many after him. Listen to
the voice of the Father to the Son: "Before Lucifer I have
begotten Thee." He who was begotten before Lucifer Himself
illuminates all. A certain one was named Lucifer, who fell; for he
was an angel and became a devil; and concerning him the Scripture
said, "Lucifer, who did arise in the morning, fell" And why was
he Lucifer? Because, being enlightened, he gave forth light. But
for what reason did he become dark! Because he abode not in the
truth? Therefore He was before Lucifer, before every one that is
enlightened; since before every one that is enlightened, of necessity
He must be by whom all are enlightened who can be enlightened.
8. Therefore this follows: "And of His fullness have all we
received." What have ye received? "And grace for grace." For so
run the words of the Gospel, as we find by a comparison of the Greek
copies. He does not say, And of His fullness have all we received
grace for grace; but thus He says: "And of His fullness have all
we received, and grace for grace," that is, have we received; so
that He would wish us to understand that we have received from His
fullness something unexpressed, and something besides, grace for
grace. For we received of His fullness grace in the first instance;
and again we received grace, grace for grace, What grace did we, in
the first instance, receive? Faith: walking in faith, we walk in
grace. How have we merited this? by what previous merits of ours?
Let not each one flatter himself, but let him return into his own
conscience, seek out the secret places of his own thoughts, recall the
series of his deeds; let him not consider what he is if now he is
something, but what he was that he might be something: he will find
that he was not worthy of anything save punishment. If, then, thou
wast worthy of punishment, and He came not to punish sins, but to
forgive sins, grace was given to thee, and not reward rendered.
Wherefore is it called grace? Because it is bestowed gratuitously.
For thou didst not, by previous merits, purchase that which thou
didst receive. This first grace, then, the sinner received, that
his sins were forgiven. What did he deserve? Let him interrogate
justice, he finds punishment; let him interrogate mercy, he finds
grace. But God promised this also through the prophets; therefore,
when He came to give what He had promised, He not only gave grace,
but also truth. How was truth exhibited? Because that was done which
had been promised.
9. What, then, is "grace for grace"? By faith we render God
favorable to us; and inasmuch as we were not worthy to have our sins
forgiven, and because we, who were unworthy, received so great a
benefit it is called grace. What is grace? That which is freely
given. What is "freely given"? Given, not paid.
If it was due, wages were given, not grace bestowed; but if it was
reply due, thou wast good; but if, as is true, thou wast evil, but
didst believe on Him who justifieth the ungodly (What is, Who
justifieth the ungodly? Of the ungodly maketh pious), consider what
did by right hang over thee by the law, and what thou hast obtained by
grace. But having obtained that grace of faith, thou shalt be just by
faith (for the just lives by faith); and thou shalt obtain favor of
God by living by faith. And having obtained favor from God by living
by faith, thou shalt receive immortality as a reward, and life eternal
And that is grace. For because of what merit dost thou receive life
eternal? Because of grace. For if faith is grace, life eternal is,
as it were, the wages of faith: God, indeed, appears to bestow
eternal life as if it were due (To whom due? To the faithful,
because he had merited it by faith); but because faith itself is
grace, life eternal also is grace for grace.
10. Listen to the Apostle Paul acknowledging grace, and
afterwards desiring the payment of a debt. What acknowledgment of
grace is there in Paul?
"Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but
I obtained," saith he, "mercy." He said that he who obtained it
was unworthy; that he had, however, obtained it, not through his own
merits, but through the mercy of God. Listen to him now demanding
the payment of a debt, who had first received unmerited grace:
"For," saith he, "I am now ready to be offered up, and the time
of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness." Now he demands a debt, he
exacts what is due. For consider the following words: "Which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall render unto me in that day."
That he might in the former instance receive grace, he stood in need
of a merciful Father; for the reward of grace, of a just judge,
Will He who did not condemn the ungodly man condemn the faithful man?
And yet, if thou dost rightly consider, it was He who first gave
thee faith, whereby thou didst obtain favor; for not of thine own
didst thou so obtain favor that anything should be due to thee.
Wherefore, then, in afterwards bestowing the reward of immortality,
He crowns His own gifts, not thy merits. Therefore, brethren,
"we all of His fullness have received;" of the fullness of His
mercy, of the abundance of His goodness have we received.
What? The remission of sins that we might be justified by faith.
And what besides? "And grace for grace;" that is, for this grace
by which we live by faith we shall receive another grace. What,
then, is it except grace? For if I shall say that this also is due,
I attribute something to myself as if to me it were due. But God
crowns in us the gifts of His own mercy; but on condition that we walk
with perseverance in that grace which in the first instance we received
11. "For the law was given by Moses;" which law held the
guilty. For what saith the apostle? "The law entered that the
offense might abound." It was a benefit to the proud that the offense
abounded, for they gave much to themselves, and, as it were,
attributed much to their own strength; and they were unable to fulfill
righteousness without the aid of Him who had commanded it. God,
desirous to subdue their pride, gave the law, as if saying: Behold,
fulfill, and do not think that there is One wanting to command. One
to command is not wanting, but one to fulfill.
12. If, then, there is one wanting to fulfill, whence does he not
fulfill? Because born with the heritage of sin and death. Born of
Adam, he drew with him that which was there conceived. The first man
felt, and all who were born of him from him derived the concupiscence
of the flesh. It was needful that another man should be born who
derived no concupiscence. A man and a man: a man to death and a man
to life. Thus saith the apostle: "Since, indeed, by man death,
by man also the resurrection of the dead." By which man death, and
by which man the resurrection of the dead? Do not make haste: he goes
on to say, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be
made alive." Who belong to Adam? All who are born of Adam. Who
to Christ? All who were born through Christ. Wherefore all in
sin? Because no one was born except through Adam. But that they
were born of Adam was of necessity, arising from damnation; to be
born through Christ is of will and grace. Men are not compelled to be
born through Christ: not because they wished were they born of Adam.
All, however, who are of Adam are sinners with sin: all who are
through Christ are justified, and just not in themselves, but in
Him. For in themselves, if thou shouldest ask, they being to
Adam: in Him, if thou shouldest ask, they belong to Christ.
Wherefore? Because He, the Head, our Lord Jesus Christ, did
not come with the heritage of sin; but He came nevertheless with
mortal flesh.
13. Death was the punishment of sins; in the Lord was the gift of
mercy, not the punishment of sin. For the Lord had nothing on
account of which He should justly die. He Himself says, "Behold,
the prince of this world cometh, and findeth nothing in me."
Wherefore then dost Thou die? "But that all may know that I do the
will of my Father, arise, let us go hence." He had not in Himself
any reason why He should die, and He died: thou hast such a reason,
and dost thou refuse to die? Do not refuse to bear with an equal mind
thy desert, when He did not refuse to suffer, to deliver thee from
eternal death. A man and a man but the one nothing but man, the other
God-man. The one a man of sin, the other of righteousness. Thou
didst die in Adam, rise in Christ; for both are due to thee. Now
thou hast believed in Christ, render nevertheless that which thou
owest through Adam. But the chain of sin shall not hold thee
eternally; because the temporal death of thy Lord slew thine eternal
death. The same is grace, my brethren, the same is truth, because
promised and manifested.
14. This grace was not in the Old Testament, because the law
threatened, did not bring aid; commanded, did not heal; made
manifest, but did not take away our feebleness: but it prepared the
way for that Physician who was to come with grace and truth; as a
physician who, about to come to any one to cure him, might first send
his servant that he might find the sick man bound. He was not sound;
he did not wish to be made sound and lest he should be made sound, he
boasted that he was so. The law was sent, it bound him; he finds
himself accused, now, he exclaims against the bandage. The Lord
comes, cures with somewhat bitter and sharp medicines: for He says to
the sick, Bear; He says, Endure; He says, Love not the world,
have patience, let the fire of continence cure thee, let thy wounds
endure the sword of persecutions. Weft thou greatly terrified although
bound? He, free and unbound, drank what He gave to thee; He first
suffered that He might console thee, saying, as it were, that which
thou fearest to suffer for thyself, I first suffer for thee. This is
grace, and great grace.Who can praise it in a worthy manner?
15. I speak, my brethren, regarding the humility of Christ. Who
can speak regarding the majesty of Christ, and the divinity of
Christ? In explaining and speaking of the humility of Christ, to do
so in any fashion we find ourselves not sufficient, indeed wholly
insufficient: we commend Him entire to your thoughts, we do not
endeavor to fill Him up to your hearing. Consider the humility of
Christ. But who, thou sayest, may explain it to us, unless thou
declare it? Let Him declare it within. Better does He declare it
who dwelleth within, than he who crieth without. Let Himself show to
you the grace of His humility, who has begun to dwell in your hearts.
But now, if in explaining and setting forth His humility we are
deficient, who can speak of His majesty? If "the Word made flesh"
disturbs us, who shall explain "In the beginning was the Word"?
Keep hold then, brethren, upon the entireness of Christ.
16. "The law was given by Moses: grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ." By a servant was the law given, and made men guilty: by
an Emperor was pardon given, and delivered the guilty. "The law was
given by Moses." Let not the servant attribute to himself more than
was done through him. Chosen to a great ministry as one faithful in
his house, but yet a servant, he is able to act according to the law,
but cannot release from the guilt of the law. "The law," then,
"was given by Moses: grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
17. And lest, perhaps, any one should say, And did not grace and
truth come through Moses, who saw God? immediately he adds, "No
one hath seen God at any time." And how did God become known to
Moses? Because the Lord revealed Himself to His servant. What
Lord? The same Christ, who sent the law beforehand by His
servant, that He might Himself come with grace and truth. "For no
one hath seen God at any time." And whence did He appear to that
servant as far as he was able to receive Him? But "the
Only-begotten," he says, "who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has declared Him." What signifieth "in the bosom of the Father?"
In the secret of the Father. For God has not a bosom, as we have,
in our garments, nor is He to be thought of sitting, as we do, nor
is He girt with a girdle so as to have a bosom; but because our bosom
is within, the secret of the Father is called the bosom of the
Father. And He who knew the Father, being in the secret of the
Father, He declared Him. "For no man hath seen God at any
time." He then came and narrated whatever He saw. What did Moses
see? Moses saw a cloud, he saw an angel, he saw a fire. All that
is the creature: it bore the type of its Lord, but did not manifest
the presence of the Lord Himself. For thou hast it plainly stated in
the law: "And Moses spoke with the Lord face to face, as a friend
with his friend." Following the same scripture, thou findest Moses
saying: "If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me Thyself
plainly, that I may see Thee." And it is little that he said
this: he received the reply, "Thou canst not see my face." An
angel then spoke with Moses, my brethren, bearing the type of the
Lord; and all those things which were done by the angel promised that
future grace and truth. Those who examine the law well know this; and
when we have opportunity to speak somewhat of this matter also, we
shall not fail to speak to you, beloved brethren, as far as the Lord
may reveal to us.
18. But know this, that all those things which were seen in bodily
form were not that substance of God. For we saw those things with the
eyes of the flesh: how is the substance of God seen? Interrogate the
Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."
There have been men who, deceived by the vanity of their hearts, have
said, The Father is invisible, but the Son is visible. How
visible? If on account of His flesh, because He took flesh, the
matter is manifest. For of those who saw the flesh of Christ, some
believed, some crucified; and those who believed doubted when He was
crucified; and unless they had touched the flesh after the
resurrection, their faith would not have been recalled. If, then,
on account of His flesh the Son was visible, that we also grant, and
it is the Catholic faith; but if before He took flesh, as they say,
that is, before He became incarnate, they are greatly deluded, and
grievously err. For those visible and bodily appearances took place
though the creature, in which a type might be exhibited: not in any
fashion was the substance itself shown and made manifest. Give heed,
beloved brethren, to this easy proof. The wisdom of God cannot be
beheld by the eyes. Brethren, if Christ is the Wisdom of God and
the Power of God; if Christ is the Word of God, and if the word
of man is not seen with the eyes, can the Word of God be so seen?
19. Expel, therefore, from your hearts carnal thoughts, that you
may be really under grace, that you may belong to the New Testament.
Therefore is life eternal promised in the New Testament. Read the
Old Testament, and see that the same things were enjoined upon a
people yet carnal as upon us. For to worship one God is also enjoined
upon us. "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain" is also enjoined upon us, which is the second commandment.
"Observe the Sabbath-day" is enjoined on us more than on them,
because it is commanded to be spiritually observed. For the Jews
observe the Sabbath in a servile manner, using it for luxuriousness
and drunkenness. How much better would their women be employed in
spinning wool than in dancing on that day in the balconies? God
forbid, brethren, that we should call that an observance of the
Sabbath. The Christian observes the Sabbath spiritually,
abstaining from servile work. For what is it to abstain from servile
work? From sin. And how do we prove it? Ask the Lord.
"Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." Therefore is the
spiritual observance of the Sabbath enjoined upon us. Now all those
commandments are more enjoined on us, and are to be observed: "Thou
shall not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shall not
steal. Thou shall not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy
mother. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. Thou shall not
covet thy neighbor's wife." Are not all these things enjoined upon
us also? But ask what is the reward, and thou wilt find it there
said: "That thine enemies may be driven forth before thy face, and
that you may receive the land which God promised to your fathers."
Because they were not able to comprehend invisible things, they were
held by the visible. Wherefore held? Lest they should perish
altogether, and slip into idol-worship. For they did this, my
brethren, as we read, forgetful of the great miracles which God
performed before their eyes. The sea was divided; a way was made in
the midst of the waves; their enemies following, were covered by the
same waves through which they passed: and yet when Moses, the man of
God, had departed from their sight, they asked for an idol, and
said, "Make us gods to go before us; for this man has deserted
us." Their whole hope was placed in man, not in God. Behold, the
man is dead: was God dead who had rescued them from the land of
Egypt? And when they had made to themselves the image of a calf,
they offered it adoration, and said, "These be thy gods, O
Israel, which delivered thee out of the land of Egypt." How soon
forgetful of such manifest grace! By what means could such a people be
held except by carnal promises?
20. The same things are commanded in the Decalogue as we are
commanded to observe; but the same promises are not made as to us.
What is promised to us? Life eternal. "And this is life eternal,
that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
Thou hast sent." The knowledge of God is promised: that is, grace
for grace. Brethren, we now believe, we do not see; for faith the
reward will be to see what we believe The prophets knew this, but it
was concealed before He came. For a certain lover sighing, says in
the Psalms: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I
seek after." And dost thou ask what he seeks? For perhaps he seeks
a land flowing with milk and honey carnally, although this is to be
spiritually sought and desired; or perhaps the subjection of his
enemies, or the death of foes, or the power and riches of this world.
For he glows with love, and sighs greatly, and burns and pants. Let
us see what he desires: "One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that will I seek after." What is it that he doth seek after?
"That I may well," saith he, "in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life." And suppose that thou dwellest in the house of the
Lord, from what source will thy joy there be derived? "That I may
behold," saith he, "the beauty of the Lord."
21. My brethren, wherefore do you cry out, wherefore do you
exult, wherefore do you love, unless that a spark of this love is
there? What do you desire? I ask you. Can it be seen with the
eyes? Can it be touched? Is it some fairness which delights the
eyes? Are not the martyrs vehemently beloved; and when we commemorate
them do we not burn with love? What is it that we love in them,
brethren? Limbs torn by wild beasts? What is more revolting if thou
askest the eyes of the flesh? what more fair if thou askest the eyes of
the heart? How appears in your eyes a very fair young man who is a
thief? How shocked are your eyes! Are the eyes of the flesh
shocked? If you interrogate them, nothing is more shapely and better
formed than that body; the symmetry of the limbs and the beauty of the
color attract the eyes; and yet, when thou hearest that he is a
thief, your mind recoils from the man. Thou beholdest on the other
hand a bent old man, leaning upon a staff, scarcely moving himself,
ploughed all over with wrinkles. Thou hearest that he is just: thou
lovest and embracest him. Such are the rewards promised to us, my
brethren: love such, sigh after such a kingdom, desire such a
country, if you wish to arrive at that with which our Lord came, that
is, at grace and truth. But if you covet bodily rewards from God,
thou art still under the law, and therefore thou shalt not fulfill the
law. For when thou seest those temporal things granted to those who
offend God, thy steps falter, and thou sayest to thyself: Behold,
I worship God, daily I run to church, my knees are worn with
prayers, and yet I am constantly sick: there are men who commit
murders, who are guilty of robberies, and yet they exult and have
abundance; it is well with them. Was it such things that thou
soughtest from God? Surely thou didst belong to grace. If,
therefore, God gave to thee grace, because He gave freely, love
freely. Do not for the sake of reward love God; let Him be the
reward. Let thy soul say, "One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord."
Do not fear that thine enjoyment will fail through satiety: such will
be that enjoyment of beauty that it will ever be present to thee, and
thou shalt never be satisfied; indeed thou shalt be always satisfied,
and yet never satisfied. For if I shall say that thou shalt not be
satisfied, it will mean famine; and if I shall say thou shalt be
satisfied, I fear satiety: where neither satiety nor famine are, I
know not what to say; but God has that which He can manifest to those
who know not how to express it, yet believe that they shall receive.
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