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EPHESIANS v. 5, 6.
"For this ye know of a surety, that no
fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, which is an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no man
deceive you with empty words: for because of
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the
sons of disobedience."
THERE were, it is likely, in the time of
our forefathers also, some who "weakened the
hands of the people" (Jer. xxxviii. 4),
and brought into practice that which is mentioned
by Ezekiel,-or rather who did the works of
the false prophets, who "profaned God among
His people for handfuls of barley" (Ezek.
xiii. 19); a thing, by the way, done
methinks by some even at this day. When, for
example, we say that he who calleth his brother
a fool shall depart into hell-fire, others
say, "What? Is he that calls his brother a
fool to depart into hell-fire? Impossible,"
say they. And again, when we say that "the
covetous man is an idolater," in this too again
they make abatements, and say the expression is
hyperbolical. And in this manner they underrate
and explain away all the commandments. It was
in allusion then to these that the blessed
Paul, at this time when he wrote to the
Ephesians, spoke thus, "For this ye know,
that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor
covetous man, which is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and
God"; adding, "let no man deceive you with
empty words." Now "empty words" are those
which for a while are gratifying, but are in
nowise borne out in facts; because the whole
case is a deception.
"Because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the sons of disobedience."
Because of "fornication," he means, because
of "covetousness," because of
"uncleanness," or both because of these
things, and because of the "deceit," inasmuch
as there are deceivers. "Sons of
disobedience"; he thus calls those who are
utterly disobedient, those who disobey Him.
Ver. 7, 8. "Be not ye, therefore,
partakers with them. For ye were once
darkness, but are now light in the Lord."
Observe how wisely he urges them forward;
first, from the thought of Christ, that ye
love one another, and do injury to no man;
then, on the other hand, from the thought of
punishment and hell-fire. "For ye were once
darkness," says he, "but are now light in the
Lord." Which is what he says also in the
Epistle to the Romans; "What fruit then had
ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now
ashamed?" (Rom. vi. 21), and reminds
them of their former wickedness. That is to
say, thinking what ye once were, and what ye
are now become, do not run back into your former
wickedness, nor do "despite to the grace"
(Heb. x. 29) of God.
"Ye were once darkness, but are now light in
the Lord!"
Not, he says, by your own virtue, but through
the grace of God has this accrued to you. That
is to say, ye also were sometime worthy of the
same punishments, but now are so no more.
"Walk" therefore "as children of light."
What is meant however by "children of light,"
he adds afterwards.
Ver. 9, 10. "For the fruit of the light
is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord."
"In all goodness," he says: this is opposed
to the angry, and the bitter: "and
righteousness"; this to the covetous: "and
truth"; this to false pleasure: not those
former things, he says, which I was
mentioning, but their opposites. "In all";
that is, the fruit of the Spirit ought to be
evinced in everything. "Proving what is
well-pleasing unto the Lord"; so that those
things are tokens of a childish and imperfect
mind.
Ver. 11, 12, 13. "And have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather even reprove them. For
the things which are done by them in secret it is
a shame even to speak of. But all things when
they are reproved, are made manifest by the
light."
He had said, "ye are light." Now the light
reproves by exposing the things which take place
in the darkness. So that if ye, says he, are
virtuous, and conspicuous, the wicked will be
unable to lie hidden. For just as when a candle
is set, all are brought to light, and the thief
cannot enter; so if your light shine, the
wicked being discovered shall be caught. So
then it is our duty to expose them. How then
does our Lord say, "Judge not, that ye be
not judged"? (Matt. vii. I, 3.) Paul
did not say "judge," he said "reprove,"
that is, correct. And the words, "Judge
not, that ye be not judged," He spoke with
reference to very small errors. Indeed, He
added, "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in
thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam
that is in thine own eye?" But what Paul is
saying is of this sort. As a wound, so long as
it is imbedded and concealed outwardly, and runs
beneath the surface, receives no attention, so
also sin, as long as it is concealed, being as
it were in darkness, is daringly committed in
full security; but as soon as "it is made
manifest," becomes "light"; not indeed the
sin itself, (for how could that be?) but the
sinner. For when he has been brought out to
light, when he has been admonished, when he has
repented, when he has obtained pardon, hast
thou not cleared away all his darkness? Hast
thou not then healed his wound? Hast thou not
called his unfruitfulness into fruit? Either
this is his meaning, or else what I said
above, that your life "being manifest, is
light." For no one hides an irreproachable
life; whereas things which are hidden, are
hidden by darkness covering them.
Ver. 14. "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall shine upon thee."
By the "sleeper" and the "dead," he means
the man that is in sin; for he both exhales
noisome odors like the dead, and is inactive
like one that is asleep, and like him he sees
nothing, but is dreaming, and forming fancies
and illusions. Some indeed read, "And thou
shalt touch Christ "; but others, "And
Christ shall shine Upon thee "; and it is
rather this latter. Depart from sin, and thou
shalt be able to behold Christ. "For every
one that doeth ill, hateth the light, and
cometh not to the light." (John iii. 20.
) He therefore that doeth it not, cometh to
the light.
Now he is not saying this with reference to the
unbelievers only, for many of the faithful, no
less than unbelievers, hold fast by wickedness;
nay, some far more. Therefore to these also it
is necessary to exclaim, "Awake, thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall shine upon thee." To these it is fitting
to say this also, "God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living." (Matt. xxii.
32.) If then he is not the God of the
dead, let us live.
Now there are some who say that the words,
"the covetous man is an idolater," are
hyperbolical. However, the statement is not
hyperbolical, it is true. How, and in what
way? Because the covetous man apostatizes from
God, just as the idolater does. And lest you
should imagine this is a bare assertion, there
is a declaration of Christ which saith, "Ye
cannot serve God and Mammon." (Matt. vi.
24.) If then it is not possible to serve
God and Mammon, they who serve Mammon have
thrown themselves out of the service of God;
and they who have denied His sovereignty, and
serve lifeless gold, it is plain enough that
they are idolaters. "But I never made an
idol," a man will say, "nor set up an altar,
nor sacrificed sheep, nor poured libations of
wine; no, I came into the church, and lifted
up my hands to the Only-begotten Son of God;
I partake of the mysteries, I communicate in
prayer, and in everything else which is a
Christian's duty. How then," he will say,
"am I a worshiper of idols?" Yes, and this
is the very thing which is the most astonishing
of all, that when thou hast had experience, and
hast "tasted" the lovingkindness of God, and
"hast seen that the Lord is gracious" (Ps.
xxxiv. 8), thou shouldest abandon Him who is
gracious, and take to thyself a cruel tyrant,
and shouldest pretend to be serving Him, whilst
in reality thou hast submitted thyself to the
hard and galling yoke of covetousness. Thou
hast not yet told me of thy own duty done, but
only of thy Master's gifts. For tell me, I
beseech thee, whence do we judge of a soldier?
Is it when he is on duty guarding the king, and
is fed by him, and called the king's own, or
is it when he is minding his own affairs and
interests? To pretend to be with him, and to
be attentive to his interests whilst he is
advancing the cause of the enemy, we declare to
be worse than if he breaks away from the king's
service, and joins the enemy. Now then thou
art doing despite to God, just as an idolater
does, not with thine own mouth singly, but with
the ten thousands of those whom thou hast
wronged. Yet you will say, "an idolater he is
not." But surely, whenever they say, "Oh!
that Christian, that covetous fellow," then
not only is he himself committing outrage by his
own act, but he frequently forces those also
whom he has wronged to use these words; and if
they use them not, this is to be set to the
account of their reverence.
Do we not see that such is the fact? What else
is an idolater? Or does not he too worship
passions, oftentimes not mastering his
passions? I mean, for example, when we say
that the pagan idolater worships idols, he will
say, "No, but it is Venus, or it is
Mars." And if we say, Who is this Venus?
the more modest amongst them will say, It is
pleasure. Or what is this Mars? It is
wrath. And in the same way dost thou worship
Mammon. If we say, Who is this Mammon? It
is covetousness, and this thou art worshiping.
"I worship it not," thou wilt say. Why
not? Because thou dost not bow thyself down?
Nay, but as it is, thou art far more a
worshiper in thy deeds and practices; for this
is the higher kind of worship. And that you may
understand this, look in the case of God; who
more truly worship Him, they who merely stand
up at the prayers, or they who do His will?
Clearly enough, these latter. The same also
is it with the worshipers of Mammon; they who
do his will, they truly are his worshipers.
However, they who worship the passions are
oftentimes free from the passions. One may see
a worshiper of Mars oftentimes governing his
wrath. But this is not true of thee; thou
makest thyself a slave to thy passion.
Yes, but thou slayest no sheep? No, thou
slayest men, reasonable souls, some by famine,
others by blasphemies. Nothing can be more
frenzied than a sacrifice like this. Who ever
beheld souls sacrificed? How accursed is the
altar of covetousness! When thou passest by
this idol's altar here, thou shalt see it
reeking with the blood of bullocks and goats;
but when thou shalt pass by the altar of
covetousness, thou shalt see it breathing the
shocking odor of human blood. Stand here before
it in this world, and thou shalt see, not the
wings of birds burning, no vapor, no smoke
exhaled, but the bodies of men perishing. For
some throw themselves among precipices, others
tie the halter, others thrust the dagger through
their throat. Hast thou seen the cruel and
inhuman sacrifices? Wouldest thou see yet more
shocking ones than these? Then I will show
thee no longer the bodies of men, but the souls
of men slaughtered in the other world. Yes,
for it is possible for a soul to be slain with
the slaughter peculiar to the soul; for as there
is a death of the body, so is there also of the
soul. "The soul that sinneth," saith the
Prophet," it shall die." (Ezek. xviii.
4.) The death of the soul, however, is not
like the death of the body; it is far more
shocking. For this bodily death, separating
the soul and the body the one from the other,
releases the one from many anxieties and toils,
and transmits the other into a manifest abode:
then when the body has been in time dissolved and
crumbled away, it is again gathered together in
incorruption, and receives back its own proper
soul. Such we see is this bodily death. But
that of the soul is awful and terrific. For
this death, when dissolution takes place, does
not let it pass, as the body does, but binds it
down again to an imperishable body, and consigns
it to the unquenchable fire. This then is the
death of the soul. And as therefore there is a
death of the soul, so is there also a slaughter
of the soul. What is the slaughter of the
body? It is the being turned into a corpse,
the being stripped of the energy derived from the
soul. What is the slaughter of the soul? It
is its being made a corpse also. And how is the
soul made a corpse? Because as the body then
becomes a corpse when the soul leaves it
destitute of its own vital energy, so also does
the soul then be come a corpse, when the Holy
Spirit leaves it destitute of His spiritual
energy.
Such for the most part are the slaughters made
at the altar of covetousness. They are not
satisfied, they do not stop at men's blood no,
the altar of covetousness is not glutted, unless
it sacrifice the very soul itself also, unless
it receive the souls of both, the sacrificer and
the sacrificed. For he who sacrifices must
first be sacrificed, and then he sacrifices;
and the dead sacrifices him who is yet living.
For when he utters blasphemies, when he
reviles, when he is irritated, are not these so
many incurable wounds of the soul?
Thou hast seen that the expression is no
hyperbole. Wouldest thou hear again another
argument, to teach you how covetousness is
idolatry, and more shocking than idolatry?
Idolaters worship the creatures of God ("for
they worshiped," it is said, "and served the
creature rather than the Creator") (Rom.
i. 25); but thou art worshiping a creature
of thine own. For God made not covetousness
but thine own insatiable appetite invented it.
And look at the madness and folly. They that
worship idols, honor also the idols they
worship; and if any one speak of them with
disrespect or ridicule, they stand up in their
defense; whereas thou, as if in a sort of
intoxication, art worshiping an object, which
is so far from being free from accusation, that
it is even full of impiety. So that thou, even
more than they, excellest in wickedness. Thou
canst never have it to say as an excuse, that it
is no evil. If even they are in the highest
degree without excuse, yet art thou in a far
higher, who art forever censuring covetousness,
and reviling those who devote themselves to it,
and who yet doth serve and obey it.
We will examine, if you please, whence
idolatry took its rise. A certain wise man
(Wisd. xiv. 16) tells us, that a certain
rich man afflicted with untimely mourning for his
son, and having no consolation for his sorrow,
consoled his passion in this way: having made a
lifeless image of the dead, and constantly
gazing at it, he seemed through the image to
have his departed one still; whilst certain
flatterers, "whose God was their belly"
(Phil. iii. 19), treating the image with
reverence in order to do him honor, carried on
the custom into idolatry. So then it took its
rise from weakness of soul, from a senseless
custom, from extravagance. But not so
covetousness: from weakness of soul indeed it
is, only that it is from a worse weakness. It
is not that any one has lost a son, nor that he
is seeking for consolation in sorrow. nor that
he is drawn on by flatterers. But how is it?
I will tell you. Cain in covetousness
overreached God; what ought to have been given
to Him, he kept to himself; what he should
have kept himself, this he offered to Him; and
thus the evil began even from God. For if we
are God's, much more are the first-fruits of
our possessions. Again, men's violent passion
for women arose from covetousness. "They saw
the daughters of men" (Gen. vi. 2), and
they rushed headlong into lust. And from hence
again it went on to money; for the wish to have
more than one's neighbor of this world's
goods, arises from no other source, than from
"love waxing cold." The wish to have more
than one's share arises from no other source
than recklessness, misanthropy, and arrogance
toward others. Look at the earth, how wide is
its extent? How far greater than we can use the
expanse of the sky and the heaven? It is that
He might put an end to thy covetousness, that
God hath thus widely extended the bounds of the
creation. And art thou then still grasping and
even thus? And dost thou hear that covetousness
is idolatry, and not shudder even at this?
Dost thou wish to inherit the earth? Then hast
thou no inheritance in heaven. Art thou eager
to leave an inheritance to others, that thou
mayest rob thyself of it? Tell me, if any one
were to offer thee power to possess all things,
wouldest thou be unwilling? It is in thy power
now, if thou wilt. Some, however, say, that
they are grieved when they transmit the
inheritance to others, and would fain have
consumed it themselves, rather than see others
become its masters. Nor do I acquit thee of
this weakness; for this too is characteristic of
a weak soul. However, at least let as much as
this be done. In thy will leave Christ thine
heir. It were thy duty indeed to do so in thy
lifetime, for this would show a right
disposition. Still, at all events, be a
little generous, though it be but by necessity.
For Christ indeed charged us to give to the
poor with this object, to make us wise in our
lifetime, to induce us to despise money, to
teach us to look down upon earthly things. It
is no contempt of money, as you think, to
bestow it upon this man and upon that man when
one dies, and is no longer master of it. Thou
art then no longer giving of thine own, but of
absolute necessity: thanks to death, not to
thee. This is no act of affection, it is thy
loss.
However, let it be done even thus; at least
then give up thy passion.
MORAL. Consider how many acts of plunder,
how many acts of covetousness, thou hast
committed. Restore all fourfold. Thus plead
thy cause to God. Some, however, there are
who are arrived at such a pitch of madness and
blindness, as not even then to comprehend their
duty; but who go on acting in all cases, just
as if they were taking pains to make the judgment
of God yet heavier to themselves. This is the
reason why our blessed Apostle writes and says,
"Walk as children of light." Now the
covetous man of all others lives in darkness,
and spreads great darkness over all things
around.
"And have no fellowship," he adds, "with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
even reprove them; for the things which are done
by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak
of; but all things when they are reproved are
made manifest by the light." Hearken, I
entreat you, all, as many of you as like not to
be hated for nothing, but to be loved. "What
need is there to be hated?" one says. A man
commits a robbery, and dost thou not reprove
him, but art afraid of his hatred? though
this, however, is not being hated for nothing.
But dost thou justly convict him, and yet fear
the hatred? Convict thy brother, incur enmity
for the love's sake which thou owest to
Christ, for the love's sake which thou owest
to thy brother. Arrest him as he is on his road
to the pit of destruction. For to admit him to
our table, to treat him with civil speeches,
with salutations, and with entertainments,
these are no signal proofs of friendship. No,
those I have mentioned are the boons which we
must bestow upon our friends, that we may rescue
their souls from the wrath of God. When we see
them lying prostrate in the furnace of
wickedness, let us raise them up. "But,"
they say, it is of no use, he is
incorrigible." However, do thou thy duty,
and then thou hast excused thyself to God.
Hide not thy talent. It is for this that thou
hast speech, it is for this thou hast a mouth
and a tongue, that thou mayest correct thy
neighbor. It is dumb and reasonless creatures
only that have no care for their neighbor, and
take no account of others. But dost thou while
calling God, "Father," and thy neighbor,
"brother," when thou seest him committing
unnumbered wickednesses, dost thou prefer his
good-will to his welfare? No, do not so, I
entreat you.
There is no evidence of friendship so true as
never to overlook the sins of our brethren.
Didst thou see them at enmity? Reconcile
them. Didst thou see them guilty of
covetousness? Check them. Didst thou see them
wronged? Stand up in their defense. It is not
on them, it is on thyself thou art conferring
the chief benefit. It is for this we are
friends, that we may be of use one to another.
A man will listen in a different spirit to a
friend, and to any other chance person. A
chance person he will regard perhaps with
suspicion, and so in like manner will he a
teacher, but not so a friend.
"For," he says, "the things which are done
by them in secret it is a shame even to speak
of: but all things when they are reproved are
made manifest by the light." What is it he
means to say here? He means this. That some
sins in this world are done in secret, and some
also openly; but in the other it shall not be
so. Now there is no one who is not conscious to
himself of some sin. This is why he says,"
But all the things when they are reproved are
made manifest by the light." What then? Is
this again, it will be said, meant concerning
idolatry? It is not; the argument is about our
life and our sins. "For everything that is
made manifest," says he, "is light."
Wherefore, I entreat you, be ye never
backward to reprove, nor displeased at being
reproved. For as long indeed as anything is
carried on in the dark, it is carried on with
greater security; but when it has many to
witness what is done, it is brought to light.
By all means then let us do all we can to chase
away the deadness which is in our brethren, to
scatter the darkness, and to attract to us the
"Sun of righteousness." For if there be many
shining lights, the path of virtue will be easy
to themselves, and they which are in darkness
will be more easily detected, while the light is
held forth and puts the darkness to flight.
Whereas if it be the reverse, there is fear
lest as the thick mist of darkness and of sin
overpowers the light, and dispels its
transparency, those shining lights themselves
should be extinguished. Let us be then disposed
to benefit one another, that one and all, we
may offer up praise and glory to the God of
lovingkindness, by the grace and
loving-kindness of the only begotten Son with
whom to the Father, together with the Holy
Ghost, be glory, strength, honor now and
forever and forever. Amen.
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