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PHILIPPIANS ii. 19--21.
"But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you,
that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I
have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state. For they
all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ."
HE had said, "have fallen out unto the progress of the Gospel; so
that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian
guard." (Phil. i. 12, 13.) Again, "Yea, and if I am
offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith." (Phil. ii.
17.) By these words he strengthened them. Perchance they might
suspect that his former words were spoken just to comfort them.
What then? "I send Timothy unto you," says he; for they desired
to hear all things that concerned him. And wherefore said he not,
"that ye may know my state," but, "that I may know yours"?
Because Epaphroditus would have reported his state before the arrival
of Timothy. Wherefore further on he says, "But I counted it
necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother (Phil. ii.
25); but I wish to learn of your affairs. For it is likely that
he had remained long time with Paul through his bodily weakness. So
that he says, I wish to "know your state." See then how he refers
everything to Christ, even the mission of Timothy, saying, "I
hope in the Lord Jesus," that is, I am confident that God will
facilitate this for me, that I too may be of good courage, when I
know your state. As I refreshed you when ye heard the very things of
me which ye had prayed for, that the Gospel had advanced, that its
enemies were put to shame, that the means by which they thought to
injure, rather made me rejoice; thus too do I wish to learn of your
affairs, that I too may be of good courage when I know your state.
Here he shows that they ought to rejoice (or his bonds, and to be
conformed to them, for they begat in him great pleasure; for the
words, "that I too may be of good comfort," imply, just as you
are.
Oh, what longing had he toward Macedonia He testifies the same to
the Thessalonians, as when he says, "But we, brethren, being
bereaved of you for a short season," &c. (1 Thess. ii. 17.)
And here he says, "I hope to send Timothy" that I may "know your
state," which is a proof of excessive care: for when he could not
himself be with them, he sent his disciples, as he could not endure to
remain, even for a little time, in ignorance of their state. For he
did not learn all things by revelation of the Spirit, and for this we
can see some reason; for if the disciples had believed that it were
so, they would have lost all sense of shame, but now from expectation
of concealment, they were more easily corrected. In a high degree did
he call their attention by saying, "that I too may be of good
comfort," and rendered them more zealous, so that, when Timothy
came he might not find any other state of things, and report it to
him. He seems to have acted in like sort in his own person, when he
delayed his coming to the Corinthians, that they might repent;
wherefore he wrote, "to spare you I forbare to come to Corinth."
(2 Cor. i. 23.) For his love was manifested not simply in
reporting his own state, but in his desire to learn of theirs; for
this is the part of a soul which has a care of others, which takes
thought for them, which is always wrestling for them.
At the same time too, he honors them by sending Timothy. "What
sayest thou? dost thou send Timothy? and wherefore?" Because "I
have no one likeminded"; that is, none of those whose care is like
mine, none who "will care truly for you." (Phil. ii. 20.)
Had he then no one of those who were with him? No one likeminded,
that is, who has yearnings and takes thought for you as I do. No one
would lightly choose, he means, to make so long a journey for this
purpose. Timothy is the one with me who loves you? For I might have
sent others, but there was none like him. This then is that
likemindedness, to love the disciples as the master loves them.
"Who," says he, "will truly care for you," that is, as a
father. "For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus
Christ" (Phil. ii. 21), their own comfort, their own safety.
This too he writes to Timothy. But why doth he lament such things as
these? To teach us his hearers not to fall in like sort, to teach his
hearers not to seek for remission from toil; for he who seeks remission
from toil, seeks not the things that are Christ's, but his own. We
ought to be prepared against every toil, against every distress.
Ver. 22. "Ye know the proof of him, that as a child serveth a
father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Gospel."
And that I speak not at random, "ye yourselves," he says,
"know, that as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in
furtherance of the Gospel." He presents then Timothy to them, and
with reason, that he might enjoy much honor from them. This too he
does when he writes to the Corinthians, and he says, "Let no man
therefore despise him, for he worketh the work of the Lord as I also
do." (1 Cor. xvi. 10.) This he said not as caring for him,
but for those who receive him, that they might receive a great reward.
Ver. 23. "Him therefore," he says, "I hope to send
forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me," that is,
when I see where I stand, and what end my affairs will have.
Ver. 24. "But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall
come to you shortly."
I am not therefore sending him, as though I myself would not come,
but that I may be of good courage when I know your state, that even
in the mean time I may not be ignorant of it. "But I trust in the
Lord," says he. See how he makes all things depend on God, and
speaks nothing of his own mind. That is, God willing.
Ver. 25. "But I counted it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow-worker, and
fellow-soldier."
And him too he sends with the same praises as Timothy, for he
commended him on these two points; first, in that he loved them, when
he says, "who will care truly for you "; and secondly, in that he
had approved himself in the Gospel. And for the same reason, and in
the same terms, he praises this man also: and how? By calling him a
brother, and a fellow-worker, and not stopping at this point, but
also "fellow-soldier," he showed how he shared in his dangers, and
testifies of him the same things which he testifies of himself. For
"fellow-soldier" is more than "fellow-worker "; for perchance he
gave aid in quiet matters, yet not so in wars and dangers; but in
saying "fellow-soldier," he showed this too.
Ver. 25. "To send to you your messenger, and minister to my
needs"; that is, I give you your own, since I send to you him that
is your own, or, perhaps, that is your Teacher. Again he adds many
things concerning his love, in saying, Ver. 26, 27. "Since
he longed after you all, and was sore troubled, because ye had heard
that he was sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God
had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might
not have sorrow upon sorrow."
Here he aims at a farther point, making it manifest, that
Epaphroditus too was well aware, how he was beloved of them. And
this is no light thing toward loving. You know how he was sick, he
says; and he grieved that on his recovery he did not see you, and free
you from the grief ye had by reason of his sickness. Here too he gives
another reason for sending so late to them, not from any remissness,
but he kept Timothy because he had no one else, (for, as he had
written, he had "no one likeminded,") and Epaphroditus because of
his sickness. He then shows that this was a long sickness, and had
consumed much time, by adding, "for he was sick nigh unto death."
You see how anxious Paul is to cut off from his disciples all occasion
of slighting or contempt, and every suspicion that his not coming was
because he despised them. For nothing will have such power to draw a
disciple toward one, as the persuasion that his superior cares for
him, and that he is full of heaviness on his account, for this is the
part of exceeding love. Because "ye have heard," he says, "that
he was sick; for he was sick nigh unto death." And that I am not
making an excuse, hear what follows. "But God had mercy on him."
What sayest thou, O heretic? Here it is written, that God's
mercy retained and brought back again him who was on the point of
departure. And yet if the world is evil, it is no mercy to leave a
man in the evil. Our answer to the heretic is easy, but what shall we
say to the Christian? for he perchance will question, and say, "if
to depart and to be with Christ is far better," how saith he that he
hath obtained mercy? I would ask why the same Apostle says, that
"it is more needful to abide with you"? For as it was needful for
him, so too for this man, who would hereafter depart to God with more
exceeding riches, and greater boldness. Hereafter that would take
place, even if it did not now, but the winning souls is at an end for
those who have once departed thither. In many places too, Paul
speaks according to the common habits of his hearers, and not every
where in accordance with his own heavenly wisdom: for he had to speak
to men of the world who still feared death. Then he shows how he
esteemed Epaphroditus, and thence he gets for him respect, by
saying, that his preservation was so useful to himself, that the mercy
which had been shown to Epaphroditus reached him also. Moreover,
without this the present life is a good; were it not so, why does
Paul rank with punishment untimely deaths? as when he says, "For
this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and not a few sleep"
(1 Cor. xi. 30); for the future life is not (merely) better
than an evil state, since (then) it were not good, but better than a
good state.
"Lest I should have," he says, "sorrow upon sorrow"; sorrow
from his death in addition to that which sprung from his sickness. By
this he shows how much he prized Epaphroditus.
Ver. 28. "I have sent him therefore the more diligently." What
means "more diligently"? It is, without procrastination, without
delay, with much speed, having bidden him lay all aside, and to go to
you, that he might be freed from heaviness; for we rejoice not on
hearing of the health of those we love, so much as when we see them,
and chiefly so when this happens contrary to hope, as it was in the
case of Epaphroditus.
"I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that when ye see him
again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful." How
"less sorrowful"? Because if ye rejoice, I too rejoice, and he
too joys at a pleasure of such sort, and I shall be "less
sorrowful." He said not sorrowless, but "less sorrowful," to show
that his soul never was free from sorrow: for he who said, "Who is
weak, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I burn not?"
(2 Cor. xi. 29), when could such an one be free from sorrow?
That is, this despondency I now cast off.
Ver. 29. "Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy."
"In the Lord" either means spiritually and with much zeal, or
rather "in the Lord" means God willing. Receive him in a manner
worthy of saints, as saints should be received with all joy.
All this he does for their sakes, not for that of his messengers, for
greater gain has the doer than the receiver of a good deed. "And such
hold in honor," that is, receive him in a manner worthy of saints.
Ver. 30. "Because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto
death, hazarding his life, to supply that which was lacking in your
service towards me."
This man had been publicly sent by the city of the Philippians, who
had come as minister to Paul, and perchance bringing him some contri
bution, for toward the end of the Epistle he shows that he also
brought him money, when he says, "Having received of Epaphroditus
the things that came from you." (Phil. iv. 18.)
It is probable then, that on his arrival at the city of Rome, he
found Paul in great and urgent peril, so that those who were
accustomed to resort to him were unable safely to do so, but were
themselves in peril by their very attendance; which is wont to happen
chiefly in very great dangers, and the exceeding wrath of kings, (for
when any one has offended the king, and is cast into prison, and is
strictly guarded, then even his servants are debarred from access,
which probably then befell Paul,) and that Epaphroditus, being of a
noble nature, despised all danger, that he might go in unto him, and
minister unto him, and do everything which need required. He
therefore sets forth two facts, by which he gains for him their
respect; the one, that he was in jeopardy well nigh unto death, he
says, for my sake; the other, that in so suffering he was
representing their city, so that the recompense for that his peril
would be accounted to those who sent him, as if the city had sent him
as their ambassador, so that a kind reception of him and approval of
what he had done may rather be called a participation in the things that
he had dared. And he said not, "for my sake," but obtains the more
credit for his words, by saying, "because for the work of God,"
since he acted not for my sake, but for God's sake "he was nigh unto
death." What then? though by the providence of God he died not,
yet he himself regarded not his life, and gave himself up to any
suffering that might befall him, so as not to remit his attendance on
me. And if he gave himself up to death to attend on Paul, much more
would he have endured this for the Gospel's sake. Or rather, this
also had been for the Gospel's sake, even to have died for Paul.
For we may bind about our brows the crown of martyrdom, not only by
refusing to sacrifice, but such causes as these also make death
martyrdom, and if I may say something startling, these latter do so
far more than the former. For he who dares to face death for the
lesser cause, will much rather for the greater. Let us therefore,
when we see the Saints in danger, regard not our life, for it is
impossible without daring ever to perform any noble act, but need is
that he who takes thought beforehand for his safety here, should fall
from that which is to come.
"To supply," he says, "your lack of service toward me." What is
this? the city was not present, but by sending him, it fulfilled
through him all service toward me. He therefore supplied your lack of
service, so that for this reason too he deserves to enjoy much honor,
since, what ye all should have done, this hath he performed on your
behalf. Here he shows that there is also a foregoing service rendered
by those in safety to those in danger, for so he speaks of the lack,
and the lack of service. Seest thou the spirit of the Apostle?
These words spring not from arrogance, but from his great care towards
them; for he calls the matter a "service" and a "lack," that they
may not be puffed up, but be moderate, nor think that they have
rendered some great thing, but rather be humble-minded.
For we owe the saints a debt, and are not doing them a favor. For as
supplies are due by those who are in peace and not engaged in war to
such as stand in the army and fight (for these stand on their
behoof), thus too is it here. For if Paul had not taught, who
would have cast him into prison? Wherefore we ought to minister to the
Saints. For is it not absurd to contribute to an earthly king, when
engaged in war, all that he wants, as clothing and food, not
according to his need alone, but abundantly, whilst to the King of
Heaven, when engaged in war, and contending against far more bitter
foes (for it is written. "our wrestling is not against flesh and
blood") (Eph. vi. 12), we will not supply urgent necessity?
What folly is this! What ingratitude! What base love of gain!
But, as it seems, the fear of man has greater force with us than
hell, and the future torments. For this cause, in truth, all things
are turned upside down; for political affairs are daily accomplished
with much earnestness, and one must not be left behind, whilst of
spiritual things there is no account taken at all; but the things which
are demanded of us of necessity, and with compulsion, as though we
were slaves, and against our wills, are laid down by us with much
readiness, while such as are asked from willing minds, and as if from
free men, are again deficient. I speak not against all, but against
those who are behindhand with these supplies For might not God have
made these contributions compulsory? Yet He would not, for He has
more care of you than of those whom you support. Wherefore He would
not that you should contribute of necessity, since there is no
recompense. And yet many of those who stand here are lower minded than
the Jews. Consider how great things the Jews gave, tithes,
first-fruits, tithes again, and again other tithes, and besides this
thirteenths, and the shekel, and no one said, how much they devour;
for the more they receive, the greater is the reward.
They say not, They receive much, they are gluttons; which words I
hear now from some. They for their part, while they are building
houses, and buying estates, still think they have nothing; but if any
priest is clothed in dress more bright than usual, and enjoys more than
what is necessary for his sustenance, or has an attendant, that he may
not be forced himself to act unbecomingly, they set the matter down for
riches. And in truth we are rich even at this rate, and they admit it
against their will; for we, though we have but little, are rich,
whilst they, though they get everything about them, are poor.
How far shall our folly extend? does it not suffice to our punishment
that we do no good deed, but must we add to it the punishment of evil
speaking? For if what he has were your gifts, you lose your reward by
upbraiding him for what you gave. In a word, if thou didst give it,
why dost thou upbraid him? You have already borne witness to his
poverty, by saying that what he has are your gifts. Why then dost
thou upbraid? Thou shouldest not have given, didst thou intend so to
do. But dost thou speak thus, when another gives? It is then more
grievous, in that when thou thyself hast not given, thou upbraidest
for another man's good deeds. How great reward thinkest thou those
who are thus spoken of will receive? It is for God's sake they thus
suffer. How and wherefore? Had they so willed, they might have
taken up a trader's life, even though they received it not from their
ancestors. For I hear many speaking thus at random, when we say that
a certain man is poor. Had he willed, they say, he might have been
rich, and then tauntingly add, His father, his grandfather, and I
know not who was so; but now see what a robe he wears! But what?
tell me, ought he to go about naked? You then start nice questionings
on these points, but see lest thou thus speakest against thyself.
Listen to that exhortation of Christ, which says, "Judge not that
ye be not judged." (Matt. vii. 1.) He might, it is true, if
he had willed, have led a trader's or a merchant's life, and would
surely not have lacked. But he would not. What then, says one, is
he here profited? Tell me, what is he profited? Does he wear silken
robes? Does he proudly clear his way through the forum with a troop of
followers? Is he borne along on horseback? Does he build houses,
having where to dwell? If he act so, I too accuse him, and spare
him not, but declare that he is unworthy of the priesthood. For how
can he exhort others not to spend their time on these superfluities,
who cannot advise himself? But if he has sufficient for support, is
he therefore doing wrong? Would you have him lead a vagabond life,
and beg? Wouldest not thou too, his disciple, be put to shame? But
if thy father in the flesh did this, thou wouldest think shame of the
thing. If thy spiritual father be compelled so to do, wilt thou not
veil thy head, and even think thou art sinking into the earth? It is
written, "A father's dishonor is a reproach to the children."
(Ecclus. iii. 11.) But what? Should he perish with famine?
This were not like a pious man; for God willeth it not. But what do
they straightway philosophize? It is written, say they, "Get you
no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, neither two coats,
nor yet staves" (Matt. x. 9, 10), whilst these men have three
or four garments, and beds well spread. I am forced now to heave a
bitter sigh, and, but that it had been indecorous, I had wept too!
How so? Because we are such curious searchers into the motes of
others, while we feel not the beams in our own eyes. Tell me, why
sayest thou not this to thyself? The answer is, Because the command
is laid only on our Teachers. When then Paul says, "having food
and covering we shall be therewith content" (1 Tim. vi. 8),
says he this only to Teachers? By no means, but to all men; and
this is clear, if we will begin farther back. For what does he say?
"Godliness with contentment is great gain ( 1 Tim. vi. 6); for
we brought nothing into this world, it is certain that neither can we
carry anything out" (1 Tim. vi. 7); he then straightway adds,
"And having food and covering, we shall be therewith content; but
they that desire to be rich, fall into a temptation and a snare, and
many foolish and hurtful lusts." (1 Tim. vi. 8, 9.) You see
that this is spoken to all; and how is it when he says again, "Make
not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Rom.
xiii. 14), is not this said absolutely to all? and what when he
says, "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but God shall
bring to nought both it and them" ( 1 Cor. vi. 13); or what
when he says, "But she that giveth herself to pleasure, is dead
while she liveth" (1 Tim. v. 6), speaking of a widow. Is then
the widow a Teacher? Has not he said himself, "But I permit not a
woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man"? (1 Tim. ii.
12.) But if a widow, in old age, (and age has need of great
attendance,) and a woman's nature too, (for the woman's sex,
being weak, has need of more refreshment,) if then,where there is
both the age and the nature, he suffers her not to live in luxury, but
even says that she is dead, (for he did not simply forbid a life of
luxury, but said, "she who giveth herself to luxury is dead while she
liveth,") and thus hath cut her off, (for she that is dead is cut
off,) what indulgence then will any man have, who does those things,
for which a woman and an aged one too is punished?
Yet no one gives a thought to these things, no one searches them out.
And this I have been compelled to say, not from any wish to free the
priests from these charges, but to spare you. They indeed suffer no
harm at your hands, even if it is with cause and justice that they are
thus charged of being greedy of gain; for, whether ye speak, or
whether ye forbear, they must there give an account to the Judge, so
that your words hurt them not at all; but if your words are false
besides, they for their part gain by these false accusations, whilst
ye hurt yourselves by these means. But it is not so with you; for be
the things true, which ye bring against them, or be they false, ye
speak ill of them to your hurt. And how so? If they be true, in
that ye judge your Teachers, and subvert order, ye do it to your
hurt. For if we must not judge a brother, much less a Teacher. But
if they be false, the punishment and retribution is intolerable; for
of "every idle word ye shall give account." (Matt. xii. 36.)
For your sake then I thus act and labor.
But as I said, no one searches out these things, no one busies
himself about these things, no one communes with himself on any of
these things. Would ye that I should add still more? "Whosoever
forsaketh not all that he hath, saith the Christ, is not worthy of
Me." (Luke xiv. 33; Matt. x. 37.) What when he says,
"It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven"?
(Matt. xix. 23; Mark x. 24.) What when he says again,
"Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your
consolation"? (Luke vi. 24.) No one searches this out, no one
bears it in mind, no one reasons with himself, but all sit as severe
inquisitors on other men's cases. Yet this is to make themselves
sharers in the charges. But listen, that for your own sake I may
free the priests from the charges, which ye say lie against them, for
the persuasion that they transgress the law of God, inclines you not a
little towards evil. Come then, let us examine this matter. Christ
said, "Provide neither gold nor silver, neither two coats, neither
shoes, nor girdle, nor yet staves." (Matt. x. 9, 10.)
What then? tell me, did Peter transgress this command? Surely he
did so, in having a girdle and a garment, and shoes, for listen to
the words of the Angel, "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals."
(Acts xii. 8.) And yet he had no such great need of sandals, for
at that season a man may go even unshod; their great use is in the
winter, and yet he had them. What shall we say of Paul, when he
writes thus to Timothy, "Do thy diligence to come before winter"?
(2 Tim. iv. 21.) He gives him orders too and says, "The
cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus bring when thou comest, and
the books, especially the parchments." (2 Tim. iv. 13.) See
he speaks of a cloak, and no one can say that he had not another which
he wore; for if he did not wear one at all, it were superfluous to
order this one to be brought, and if he could not be without one to
wear, it is clear he had a second.
What shall we say of his remaining "two whole years in his own hired
dwelling"? (Acts xxviii. 30.) Did then this chosen vessel
disobey Christ? this man who said, "Yet I live; and yet no longer
I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. ii. 20), concerning whom
Christ testified, saying, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me"?
(Acts ix. 15.) I ought to leave this difficulty with you,
without supplying any solution to the question. I ought to exact of
you this penalty for your negligence in the Scriptures, for this is
the origin of all such difficulties. For we know not the Scriptures,
we are not trained in the law of God, and so we become sharp inquirers
into the faults of others, whilst we take no account of our own. I
ought then to have exacted from you this penalty. But what shall I
do? Fathers freely give to their sons many things beyond what is
fitting: when their fatherly compassion is kindled, on seeing their
child with downcast look, and wasted with grief, they themselves also
feel sharper pangs than he, and rest not until they have removed the
ground of his dejection.
So be it at least here, be ye at least dejected at not receiving,
that ye may receive well. What then is it? They opposed not, far be
it; but diligently followed the commands of Christ, for those
commands were but for a season, and not enduring; and this I say not
from conjecture, but from the divine Scriptures. And how? Luke
relates that Christ said to His disciples, "When I sent you forth
without purse, and wallet, and girdle, and shoes, lacked ye
anything? And they said nothing. (Luke xxii. 35.) But for the
future provide them." But tell me, what could he do? could he have
but one coat? How then? If need was that this be washed, should
he, because without it, stay at home? should he without it go abroad
in an unbecoming manner, when need called? Consider what a thing it
would have been that Paul, who made the circuit of the world with such
great success, should remain at home for want of raiment, and thus
hinder his noble work. And what if violent cold had set in, or rain
had drenched it, or perhaps frozen in, how could he dry his raiment?
must he again remain without it? And what if cold had deprived his
body of strength? must he waste away with disease, and be unable to
speak? For hear what be says to Timothy, to prove that they were not
furnished with adamantine bodies, "Use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities." (1 Tim. v.
23.) And again, when he speaks of another, "I counted it
necessary to send to you your messenger, and minister to my needs."
(Phil. ii. 25.) "For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death;
but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also."
(Phil. ii. 27.) So that they were subject to every sort of
sickness. What then? must they die? By no means. For what cause
then did Christ at that time give them that command? To show His own
power, and to prove that in after times He was able to do it, though
He did it not. But wherefore did He not do it? They were much more
admirable than the Israelites, whose shoes did not wax old, neither
their garments, and that too whilst they were journeying through that
desert where the glowing rays of the sun strike so hot, that they are
capable of consuming even stones. (Ref. to Deut. xxix. 5.)
Why then did he do this? For thy sake. For since thou wouldest not
remain in health, but be full of wounds, He gave you that which might
serve for medicine. And this is hence manifest; could He not
Himself have fed them? He that gave to thee, who wast an enemy with
Him, would He not much more have given to Paul? He who gave to the
Israelites, those murmurers, those fornicators, those idolaters,
would He not much more have given to Peter, who spent all for His
sake? He who suffered wicked men to possess aught, would He not much
more have freely given to John, who for Him forsook even his father?
Yet he would not: through your hands he feeds them, that you may be
sanctified. And see the excess of His lovingkindness. He chose that
His disciples should be in want, that thou mightest be a little
refreshed.
For if He had freed them from all want, they would have been much
more admirable, far more glorious. But then that which is to thee
salvation would have been cut off. God willed not then that they
should be admirable, that thou mightest be saved, but that they should
rather be lowered. He hath suffered them to be less accounted of,
that thou mightest be able to be saved. The Teacher who receiveth is
not equally reverenced, but he who receives not is chiefly honored.
But then in the latter case the disciple is not benefited, he is
hindered of his fruit. Seest thou the wisdom of God who thus loveth
man? For as He Himself sought not His own glory, nor had respect
to Himself, but when He was in glory, chose to be dishonored for thy
sake, thus too is it in the case of your Teachers. When they might
have been highly reverenced, He preferred that they should be subject
to contempt for thy sake, that thou mightest be able to profit, that
thou mightest be able to be rich. For he is in want of the things of
this life, that you may abound in things spiritual. If then He might
have made them above all want, He showed that for thy sake He suffers
them to be in want. Knowing then these things, let us turn ourselves
to well doing, not to accusations. Let us not be overcurious about
the failings of others, but take account of our own; let us reckon up
the excellences of other men, while we bear in mind our faults; and
thus shall we be well pleasing to God. For he who looks at the faults
of others, and at his own excellences, is injured in two ways; by the
latter he is carried up to arrogance, through the former he falls into
listlessness. For when he perceives that such an one hath sinned,
very easily will he sin himself; when he perceives that he hath in
aught excelled, very easily becometh he arrogant. He who consigns to
oblivion his own excellences, and looks at his failings only, whilst
he is a curious enquirer of the excellences, not the sins, of others,
is profited in many ways. And how? When he sees that such an one
hath done excellently, he is raised to emulate the same; when he sees
that he himself hath sinned, he is rendered humble and modest. If we
act thus, if we thus regulate ourselves, we shall be able to obtain
the good things which are promised, through the grace and
lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom,
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