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ACTS XVI. 13, 14.
"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by
a river side, where prayer was wont (Chrys.
"was thought likely") to be made; and we sat
down, and spake unto the women which resorted
thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a
seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira,
which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart
the Lord opened, that she attended unto the
things which were spoken of Paul."
SEE again Paul judaizing. "Where it was
thought," it says, both from the time and from
the place, "that prayer would be.--Out of
the city, by a river side:" for it is not to
be supposed that they prayed only where there was
a synagogue; they also prayed out of synagogue,
but then for this purpose they set apart, as it
were, a certain place, because as Jews they
were more corporeal--and, "on the
sabbath-day," when it was likely that a
multitude would come together. "And we sat
down, and spake to the women which resorted
thither." Mark again the freedom from all
pride. "And a certain woman :" a woman and
she of low condition, from her trade too: but
mark (in her) a woman of elevated mind
(filosofon). In the first place, the fact of
God's calling her bears testimony to her:
"And when she was baptized," it says, "she
and her household "--mark how he persuaded all
of them--"she besought us, saying, If ye
have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come
into my house, and abide there. And she
constrained us" (v. 15): then look at her
wisdom, how she importunes (duswpei), the
Apostles how full of humility her words are,
how full of wisdom. "If ye have judged me
faithful," she says. Nothing could be more
persuasive. Who would not have been softened by
these words? She did not request (or,
"claim") did not entreat simply: but she left
them to decide, and (yet) exceedingly forced
them: "And she constrained. us," it says,
by those words. And again m a different way:
for see how she straightway bears fruit, and
accounts it a great gain. "If ye have judged
me," that is, That ye did judge me is
manifest, by your delivering to me such (holy)
mysteries (i.e. sacraments, see p. 225,
note ): and she did not dare to invite them
before this. But why was there any
unwillingness on the part of Paul and those with
them, that they should need to be constrained?
It was either by way of calling her to greater
earnestness of desire, or because Christ had
said, "Enquire who is worthy, and there
abide." (Luke x. 8.) (It was not that
they were unwilling), but they did it for a
purpose._ And it came to pass," it says,
"as we went to prayer, a certain damsel
possessed with a spirit of divination met us,
which brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying: the same followed Paul and us,
and cried, saying, These men are the servants
of the most high God, which show unto us the
way of salvation." (v. 16, 17.) What
may be the reason that both the demon spoke these
words, and Paul forbade him? Both the one
acted maliciously, and the other wisely: the
demon wished in fact to make himself credible.
For if Paul had admitted his testimony, he
would have deceived many of the believers, as
being received by him: therefore he endures to
speak what made against himself, that he may
establish what made for himself: and so the
demon himself uses accommodation (sugkatabasei)
in order to destruction. At first then, Paul
would not admit it, but scorned it, not wishing
to cast himself all at once upon miracles; but
when it continued to do this, and pointed to
their work (kai to ergon edeiknu) "who preach
unto us the way of salvation," then he
commanded it to come out. For it says, "Paul
being grieved, turned and said to the spirit,
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her. And he came out the same
hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of
their gains was gone, they caught Paul and
Silas." (v. 18, 19.) So then Paul
did all, both miracles and teaching, but of the
dangers Silas also is partaker. And why says
it, "But Paul being grieved?" It means,
he saw through the malice of the demon, as he
saith, "For we are not ignorant of his
devices." (2 Cor. ii. 11.) "And when
her masters saw that the hope of their gains was
gone." Everywhere money the cause of evils.
O that heathen cruelty! they wished the girl to
be still a demoniac, that they might make money
by her. "They caught Paul and Silas," it
says, "and dragged them into the marketplace
unto the rulers, and brought them unto the
magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews,
do exceedingly trouble our city!" (v.
20): by doing what? Then why did you not
drag them (hither) before this? "Being
Jews:" the name was in bad odor. "And teach
customs, which are not lawful for us to
receive, neither to observe, being Romans."
(v. 21.) They made a charge of treason of
it (epi kaqosiwsin hgagon). Why did they not
say, Because they cast out the demon, they
were guilty of impiety against God? For this
was a defeat to them: but instead of that, they
have recourse to a charge of treason (epi
kaqosiwsin): like the Jews when they said,
"We have no king but Caesar: whoso maketh
himself a king speaketh against Caesar."
(John xix. 14, 12.) "And the
multitude rose up together against them: and the
magistrates rent off their clothes, and
commanded to beat them." (v. 22.) O the
irrational conduct! They did not examine, did
not allow them to speak. And yet, such a
miracle having taken place, ye ought to have
worshipped them, ought to have held them as
saviors and benefactors. For if money was what
ye wished, why, having found so great wealth,
did ye not run to it? This makes you more
famous, the having power to cast out demons than
the obeying them. Lo, even miracles, and yet
love of money was mightier. "And when they had
laid man)' stripes upon them, they cast them
into prison."--great was their wrath--"
charging the jailer to keep them safely" (v.
23): "who, having received such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison, and made
their feet fast in the stocks." (v. 24.)
Observe, he also again thrust them into the
"inner" prison: and this too was done
providentially, because there was to be a great
miracle.
(Recapitulation.) "Out of the city."
(v. 13.) The place was convenient for
hearing the word, aloof from troubles and
dangers. "On the sabbath." As there was no
work going on, they were more attentive to what
was spoken. "And a certain woman, named
Lydia, a seller of purple" (v. 14):
observe how the writer of the history is not
ashamed of the occupations (of the converts):
moreover neither was this city of the
Philippians a great one. Having learnt these
things, let us also be ashamed of no man.
Peter abides with a tanner (ch. ix. 43):
(Paul) with a woman who was a seller of
purple, and a foreigner. Where is pride?
"Whose heart the Lord opened." Therefore we
need God, to open the heart: but God opens
the hearts that are willing: for there are
hardened hearts to be seen. "So that she
attended to the things which were spoken of
Paul." The opening, then, was God's
work, the attending was hers: so that it was
both God's doing and man's. And she was
baptized (v. 15), and receives the
Apostles with such earnestness of entreaty;
with more than that used by Abraham. And she
speaks of no other token than that whereby she
was saved (Gen. xviii. 3): she says not,
"If ye have judged me" a great, a devout
woman; but what? "faithful to the Lord:" if
to the Lord, much more to you.
"If ye have judged me:" if ye do not doubt
it. And she says not, Abide with me, but,
"Come into my house and abide:" with great
earnestness (she says it).
Indeed a faithful woman l--"A certain damsel
possessed with a spirit of Python." (v.
16.) Say, what is this demon? The god,
as they call him, Python: from the place he is
so called. Do you mark that Apollo also is a
demon? And (the demon) wished to bring them
into temptation: (therefore) to provoke them,
"the same followed Paul and us, and cried,
saying, These men are the servants of the most
high God, which show unto us the way of
salvation." (v. 17.) O thou accursed,
thou execrable one! if then thou knowest that it
is "His way of salvation" that "they show,"
why dost thou not come out freely? But just
what Simon wished, when he said, "Give me,
that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may
receive the Holy Ghost" (ch. viii. 19),
the same did this demon: since he saw them
becoming famous, here also he plays the
hypocrite: by this means he thought to be
allowed to remain in the body, if he should
preach the same things. But if Christ
"receive not testimony from man," (John v.
34), meaning John, much less from a demon.
"Praise is not comely in the mouth of a
sinner" (Ecclus. xv. 9), much less from a
demon. For that they preach is not of men, but
of the Holy Ghost. Because they did not act
in a spirit of boasting. "And Paul being
grieved," etc. By their clamor and shouting
they thought to alarm them (the magistrates):
saying, "These men do exceedingly trouble our
city." (v. 18-20.) What sayest thou?
Dost thou believe the demon? Why not here
also? He saith, They are "servants of the
most high God;" thou sayest, "They
exceedingly trouble our city:" he saith,
"They show us the way of salvation;" thou
sayest, "They teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive." (v. 21.)
Observe, how they do not attend even to the
demon, but look only to one thing, their
covetousness. But observe them (Paul and
Silas), how they do not answer, nor plead for
themselves; "For when," saith he, "I am
weak, then am I strong. My grace is
sufficient for thee, for My strength is made
perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. xii. 9): so
that by reason of their gentleness also they
should be admired. "And the magistrates,"
etc., "charging the jailer to keep them
safely" (v. 22): that they may be the
means of a greater miracle. The stricter the
custody, the greater the miracle. It was
probably from the wish to cut short the
disturbance, that the magistrates did these
things; because they saw the crowd urgent, and
wished to stay their passion at the instant,
therefore they inflicted the stripes: at the
same time it was their wish to hear the matter,
and that was why they cast them into prison and
gave charge "to keep them safely." And, it
says, "he made them fast in the stocks" (v.
24), (to xulon) as we should say, the
nervum (nerbon).
What tears do not these things call for!
(Think) what they suffer, while we (live)
in luxury, we in theatres, we perishing and
drowning (in dissolute living), seeking always
idle amusement, not enduring to suffer pain for
Christ, not even as far as words, not even as
far as talk. These things I beseech you let us
ever call to mind, what things they suffered,
what things they endured, how undismayed they
were, how unoffended. They were doing God's
work, and suffered these things! They did not
say, Why do we preach this, and God does not
take our part? But even this was a benefit to
them, even apart from the truth, in the thing
itself; it made them more vigorous, stronger,
intrepid. "Tribulation worketh endurance."
(Rom. v. 4.) Then let us not seek loose
and dissolute living. For as in the one case
the good is twofold, that the sufferers are made
strong, and that the rewards are great; so in
the other the evil is twofold, that such are
rendered more enervated, and that it is to no
good, but only evil. For nothing can be more
worthless than a man who passes all his time in
idleness and luxury. For the man untried, as
the saying is, is also unapproved; unapproved
not only in the contests, but also in everything
else. Idleness is a useless thing, and in
luxury itself nothing is so unsuited to the end
proposed as the leading a luxurious life: for it
palls with satiety, so that neither the
enjoyment of the viands is so great, nor the
enjoyment of relaxation, but all becomes vapid,
and runs to waste.
Then let us not seek after this. For if we
will consider which has the pleasanter life, he
that is toiled and hardworked, or he that lives
in luxury, we shall find it to be the former.
For in the first place, the bodily senses are
neither clear nor sound, but dull (kaunai) and
languid; and when those are not right, even of
health there is plainly no enjoyment. Which is
the useful horse, the pampered or the
exercised? which the serviceable ship, that
which sails, or that which lies idle? which the
best water, the running or the stagnant? which
the best iron, that which is much used, or that
which does no work? does not the one shine
bright as silver, while the other becomes all
over rusty, useless, and even losing some of
its own substance? The like happens also to the
soul as the consequence of idleness: a kind of
rust spreads over it, and corrodes both its
brightness and everything else. How then shall
one rub off this rust? With the whetstone of
tribulations: so shall one make the soul useful
and fit for all things. Else, how, I ask,
will she be able to cut off the passions, with
her edge turned (anaklwshs) and bending like
lead? How shall she wound the devil?--And
then to whom can such an one be other than a
disgusting spectacle--a man cultivating
obesity, dragging himself along like a seal? I
speak not this of those who are naturally of this
habit, but of those who by luxurious living have
brought their bodies into such a condition, of
those who are naturally of a spare habit. The
sun has risen, has shot forth his bright beams
on all sides, and roused up each person to his
work: the husbandman goes forth with his spade,
the smith with his hammer, and each artisan with
his several instruments, and you will find each
handling his proper tools; the woman also takes
either her distaff or her webs: while he, like
the swine, immediately at the first dawn goes
forth to feed his belly, seeking how he may
provide sumptuous fare. And yet it is only for
brute beasts to be feeding from morning to
night; and for them, because their only use is
to be slaughtered.
Nay, even of the beasts, those which carry
burdens and admit of being worked, go forth to
their work while it is yet night. But this
man, rising from his bed, when the
(noon-tide) sun has filled the market-place,
and people are tired of their several works,
then this man gets up, stretching himself out
just as if he were indeed a hog in fattening,
having wasted the fairest part of the day in
darkness. Then he sits there for a long time on
his bed, often unable even to lift himself up
from the last evening's debauch, and having
wasted (still) more time in this
(listlessness), proceeds to adorn himself,
and issues forth, a spectacle of unseemliness,
with nothing human about him, but with all the
appearance of a beast with a human shape: his
eyes rheumy from the effect of wine, ***
while the miserable soul, just like the lame,
is unable to rise, bearing about its bulk of
flesh, like an elephant. Then he comes and
sits in (various) places, and says and does
such things, that it were better for him to be
still sleeping than to be awake. If it chance
that evil tidings be announced, he shows himself
weaker than any girl; if good, more silly than
any child; on his face there is a perpetual
yawn. He is a mark for all that would do harm,
if not for all men, at least for all evil
passions; and wrath easily excites such a man,
and lust, and envy, and all other passions.
All flatter him, all pay court to him,
rendering his soul weaker than it is already:
and each day he goes on and on, adding to his
disease. If he chance to fall into any
difficulty of business, he becomes dust and
ashes, and his silken garments are of no help to
him. We have not said all this without a
purpose, but to teach you, that none of you
should live idly and at random. For idleness
and luxury are not conducive to work, to good
reputation, to enjoyment. For who will not
condemn such a man? Family, friends, kinsfolk
(will say), He is indeed a very encumbrance
of the ground.
Such a man as this has come into the world to no
purpose: or rather, not to no purpose, but to
ill purpose against his own person, to his own
ruin, and to the hurt of others. But that this
is more pleasant--let us look to this; for
this is the question. Well then, what can be
less pleasant than (the condition of) a man who
has nothing to do; what more wretched and
miserable? Is it not worse than all the fetters
in the world, to be always gaping and yawning,
as one sits in the market-place, looking at the
passers by? For the soul, as its nature is to
be always on the move, cannot endure to be at
rest. God has made it a creature of action: to
work is of its very nature; to be idle is
against its nature. For let us not judge of
these things from those who are diseased, but
let us put the thing itself to the proof of
fact. Nothing is more hurtful than leisure,
and having nothing to do: indeed therefore hath
God laid on us a necessity of working: for
idleness hurts everything. Even to the members
of the body, inaction is a mischief. Both
eye, if it perform not its work, and mouth,
and belly, and every member that one could
mention, falls into the worst state of disease:
but none so much as the soul. But as inaction
is an evil, so is activity in things that ought
to be let alone. For just as it is with the
teeth, if one eats not, one receives hurt to
them, and if one eats things unfitting, it jars
them, and sets them on edge: so it is here;
both if the soul be inactive, and if inactive in
wrong things, it loses its proper force. Then
let us eschew both alike; both inaction, and
the activity which is worse than inaction. And
what may that be? Covetousness, anger,
envyings, and the other passions. As regards
these, let us make it our object to be
inactive, in order that we may obtain the good
things promised to us, through the grace and
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ', with Whom
to the Father, together with the Holy
Spirit, be glory, might, honor, now and
ever, world without end. Amen.
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