Fifty Spiritual Homilies

1 Luke xjv. 32. race of men. He washed their wounds, and healed them, and brought them into the heavenly bridechamber. Great then is the dignity of Christians, so great that there is nothing to compare with it. But if the Christian becomes high-minded and allows evil to steal over him, he is like a city without a wall, and the robbers come into it from any quarter they please, with nothing to hinder them, and lay it waste and set it on fire. Thus, whilst thou art taking things easily, and paying no heed to thyself, the spirits of wickedness come in upon thee, and destroy and lay waste thy mind, dissipating thy thoughts upon this present world. 48. Many people who are well informed about outward things, and pursue knowledge, and take pains about the correctness of their lives, consider that this constitutes perfection, not looking deep into their hearts, or seeing the bad things there which keep the soul in. According to the inner meaning of evil, it is a root in the members ; the thief is in the house, that is, the opposing power. It is a defiant and an invisible force ; and unless a man sets himself to combat sin, the inward evil gradually spreads, and by multiplying carries the man along into open sins, to commit them. Evil is continually gushing up like the eye of a well-spring. Be thou then busied upon stopping the streams of evil, lest thou shouldest fall into a thousand wrong things and be like one in stupor.

Suppose there to be a nobleman living at ease in affluence, and the officers of the governor and those who serve warrants arrest him, carrying him off to the governor, saying, " You are accused on a serious charge, and your head is in danger." At the very tidings of such a fear, he loses all his ideas, and is like one in a stupor. 49. Conceive, then, that it is thus with the spirits of wickedness.

The world that you see round you, from the king to the beggar, are all in confusion and disorder and battle, and none of them knows the reason, or that it is the manifestation of the evil which crept in through Adam's disobedience, the sting of death.1 For the sin which crept in, being a kind of invisible power of Satan, and a reality, implanted all evils. Without being detected it works upon the inner man and upon the mind, and contends with the thoughts ; but men are not aware that they are doing these things at the instigation of an alien force. They think it all to be natural, and that they do these things of their own determination, while those who have the peace of Christ in their minds, and His enlightenment, know very well the source of these movements. 50. The world is subject to the lust of evil, and knows it not, and there is an unclean fire which kindles the heart, and so spreads into all the members, and disposes men to lasciviousness and a thousand wrong things. Those who let themselves be tickled and pleased with it commit the sin inwardly in the heart, and thus the evil gets room, and they fall into open impurity. Mark that the same is true of the love of money, and of vain glory, pride, envy, anger. A man is invited to a dinner, and many meats are offered him ;

sin suggests that he should taste them all, and so his soul is pleased and becomes overloaded. Lusts are intolerable mountains, among which are rivers of dragons 2 and venomous beasts and serpents. As if a whale were to swallow up a man in its belly, so sin swallows up souls. They are burning flames of fire, and fiery darts of the wicked one. The apostle says, That ye may be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one.3 The evil got room, and has laid its foundations around the soul.

51. But the prudent, when the passions bestir themselves, 1 i Cor. xv. 56. 2 The same phrase recurs in XVI. 13 and in XLTII.3. It looks like a reminiscence of some bible text, but it does not appear to be taken from any of the Greek versions of the O.T. 8 Eph. vi. 1 6. will not comply, but are angry with the evil desires, and make themselves enemies to themselves. For Satan has a great wish to rest and stretch himself in the soul, and is annoyed and cramped when the soul will not comply with him. Some there are under the command of the divine power, who if they see a young man with a woman may perhaps think a little, but their mind is not denied, nor do they inwardly commit sin; but it is not yet possible to be confident in such a case. There are others in whom the thing is at an end, quenched, and withered up ; but these are the measures of the great ones. As men in the trade go down naked Into the deep of the sea, into the watery death, to find there pearls that will do for a royal crown, and purple dye, so those who embrace the single life go naked out of the world, and go down into the deep of the sea of evil and into the gulf of darkness, and from those depths they take and bring up precious stones suitable for the crown of Christ, for the heavenly church, for a new world, and a city of light, and a people of angels.

52. As in a net many kinds of fishes are included, and they cast back the worse kinds at once into the sea, so the net of grace is spread over all, and seeks satisfaction ; but men will not consent, therefore they are thrown back again into the very pit of darkness. As much sand is washed away before the gold is found, and that in very small grains like millet, so out of many there are few found to be approved. Those who have the work of the kingdom are made manifest, and those who only dress up the word of it appear. Those who are seasoned with the heavenly salt appear, and those who speak out of the treasures of the Spirit. The vessels in which God is well pleased appear, and He gives them His own grace ; while others with much patience eceive the hallowing power, in divers manners, as the Lord wills. So he who speaks, unless he be guided by heavenly light and wisdom, cannot satisfy the mind of every one, since there are so many different purposes, some at war, and some at rest. 53. If a city has been laid waste, and one wishes to rebuild it, he at once demolishes completely the things that are ruinous and fallen, and so begins to dig and to lay his foundations where he dug, and to carry up the building, though there is as yet no house ;

and he who wishes to make a pleasure garden in a waste, ill-smelling place begins first to clean it up, and to make a fence round it, and to prepare water-courses, and then he plants, and the plants grow, that thus after a long time the garden may bear fruit ; so the purposes of men since the fall are dried up, laid waste, and thorny. God said to the man, Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to thee.1 There is need, therefore, of much toil and labour, for a man to seek and lay up the foundation, till fire shall come into men's hearts, and shall begin to clear off the thorns ; and so they begin to be sanctified, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost for ever. Amen.

That spiritual persons are subject to temptations and to the adversities which spring from the first sin. 1. ALL spiritual substances, that is to say, of angels, and human souls, and devils, were made by the Creator innocent and perfectly simple. The fact that some of them turned to evil was an after-effect of their free will. It was by their own choice that they departed from the right way of thinking. If we say that they were so made by the Creator, we say that God is an unjust judge for sending Satan to the fire. There are certain heretics who say that matter is without beginning, and that matter is the root, and that the root is power, and an evenly matched power. To this you may fairly reply, " Which then is the conquering power ? Certainly that of God. Then the vanquished is no longer a match, either in duration or in power." Those who say that evil is a substantive thing, know nothing. To God there is no substantive evil, according to His divine freedom from passion ; but in us it works with full force and makes itself felt, suggesting all foul concupiscences. It is not mixed up with us, however, as some say, like the mixture of wine with water ; it is as corn by itself and tares by themselves, though both in the same field ; as in a house, the thief in one part, and the master in another.

2. Here is a well-spring running with clear water, and there is mud under it. When one stirs the mud, the whole well-spring is fouled. So the soul, when stirred, is fouled and mingled with evil, and Satan becomes one thing with the soul, both being spirits, in the act of fornication or of murder. For this reason, he that is joined to the harlot is one body.1 But at another moment the soul subsists by itself, penitent for what it has done, and weeps and prays, and remembers God. For if the soul were always plunged in evil, how could it act thus ? since Satan is never willing that men should come to repentance, for he knows no compassion. The wife according to agreement with her husband becomes one with him, but at another moment they are parted ; because it often happens that one of them dies and the other lives. Something of the same kind takes place in the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. They become one Spirit, for he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.2 This takes place when the man is swallowed up in grace. 3. There are some, however, who have a taste of God, but are still subject to the influence of the enemy, and think it strange, in their lack of experience, that after the visitation of God they should still be subject to doubts about the mysteries of Christianity.

Those who have grown old in them do not think it strange. As skilled husbandmen, from long experience, in a season of plenty are not entirely without care, but look forward to times of dearth and short supplies, and, on the other hand, when those times of dearth and short supplies overtake them, are not very despondent, in view of changes for the better, so in the spiritual realm, when the soul falls into divers temptations,3 it neither considers it strange, nor is despondent, because it knows that it is permitted on sufferance to be tested and disciplined by evil. On the other hand, when it is in much wealth and contentment it is not without care, but looks forward to the coming change.

The sun, which is a bodily and created thing, shines down into unsavoury places, where there are mud and 1 i Cor. vi. 16. 2 i Cor. vi. 17. 3 Jas; i. 2. impurities, without being injured or defiled ; how much rather does the pure and holy Spirit keep company with the soul, when still subject to influence from the wicked one, without contracting anything from them. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.1 4. When therefore a man is deep in, and is rich in grace, there is still a remnant of evil with him. He has a helper at hand to succour him. So when one is in adversities and in great billows of suffering, he ought not to despond ; for if Jie does, sin thrives and makes more way in him. But when one has constant hope in God, the evil diminishes and dries out. That some are palsied or maimed, in fever or sickness, this is a consequence of sin. For sin is the root of all evils, and the passions caused by the desires of the soul and by evil thoughts are owing to it. If there is a running spring, and the places about it are moist and boggy, yet when the weather gets hot, the spring and the places near it dry up. So with God's servants, upon whom grace abounds, this grace dries up the desire which comes from the wicked one, and that which comes from nature likewise ; since now the men of God are greater than the first Adam.

5. God is infinite and incomprehensible. He shows Himself everywhere, in the mountains, and in the sea, and beneath the deep ; yet not by change of place, like the angels who come down from heaven to the earth. He is in heaven, and He is here. But you will say to me, " How can God be in hell ? or how can He be in the darkness, or in Satan, or in places that are unsavoury ? " I answer that He is impassible and contains all things, for He is infinite, while Satan, being His creature, is tied. That which is good is not soiled, nor darkened. If you say that He does not contain all things, including hell and Satan, you make Him limited with regard to that place where the wicked one 1 John i. 5. is, so that we have to look for another, above Him. God must be everywhere ; but because of the mystery of the Godhead and the fineness in Him, the darkness, though contained in Him, comprehends Him not ; nor can the evil partake of His purity, even though it be in Him. To God there is no such thing as a substantive evil, since He is in nothing injured by it.

6. To us, however, evil is a reality, because it dwells and works in the heart, suggesting wicked and defiling thoughts, and not allowing us to pray purely, but bringing our mind into captivity to this world. It has clothed itself with our souls, and touched even our bones and members. As Satan therefore is in the air, and God is in no way injured by being there also, so sin is in the soul, and the grace of God is there likewise, without suffering any injury. As a servant near his master is always in fear because of being so near, and does nothing without him, so ought we to refer our thqughts to our Master, Christ, who knows the heart, and to disclose them to Him, and to have within the hope and confidence that " He is my glory, and He is my Father, and He is my riches." Thou oughtest continually to have in thy conscience care and fear. Even if a man has not the grace of God so firmly planted and fixed in him, that night and day the thing which hourly guides and wakens and directs him to good things is joined to his soul as by a natural bond, at least, let him see to it that he has this care, this fear, this labour, this contrition of heart continually fixed, as an unalterable fact of nature.

7. Like a bee secretly forming her comb in the hive, grace secretly forms in hearts the love of herself, and changes them from bitterness to sweetness, from roughness to smoothness. As a silversmith and engraver, engraving a plate, partly covers up the various little animals that he is cutting, but when he has finished, displays it flashing with the light, so the Lord, the true artificer, engraves our hearts, i.3$ FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES and silently makes them new, until they pass away from the body, and then the beauty of the soul is shown. Those who wish to construct bowls, and to depict animals upon them, first make their design in wax, and then cast them after the likeness, so that the work is finished in accordance with that design. So sin, though it is a spirit, has an image, and assumes many forms; and in the same manner the inner man is like one of these animals, with an image and a shape, for the inner man is a likeness of the outer. Great then is the vessel, and precious, since in it alone of all the creatures the Lord was well pleased. And the good thoughts of the soul are like precious stones and pearls, and the impure thoughts are filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness l and ill-savour.

8. Christians then are of another world, sons of the heavenly Adam, a new race, children of the Holy Ghost, shining brethren of Christ, like their Father, the heavenly shining Adam. Of that city, of that kindred, of that power, they are not of this world, but of another world. He Himself says, Ye are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.2 But as a merchant on a voyage of many stages, in the multiplication of his merchandise, sends to his friends to procure him houses, gardens, clothes that he requires, and when he sets out for home, brings with him great wealth, and his friends and kinsfolk welcome him with great rejoicing, so in spiritual things, if any are making the heavenly wealth their merchandise, their fellow citizens, the spirits of saints and angels, are aware of it, and say with admiration, " Our brethren on the earth have come into great wealth." So they, having the Lord with them at their departure, come with mighty rejoicing to those above, and those who belong to the Lord receive them, having prepared for them there houses, and gardens, and clothes all bright and costly. 1 Matt, xxiii. 27. z John xvii. 16.

9. We need sobriety in all things, then, in order that the good things that we seem to have may not turn to our hurt. For those who are naturally kind, unless they secure themselves, are gradually drawn aside by their very kindness ; and those who have wisdom are deceived by their wisdom. A man must be well tempered together in all directions, kindness with severity, wisdom with discretion, word with deed, in everything to trust in the Lord, not in himself. For virtue is seasoned with many different spices, as an article of necessary diet is seasoned with condiment of some kind — not with honey only, but with pepper sometimes— and so is found good for food. 10. Those who say that sin is not in man, are like people plunged under a deluge of many waters, who will not acknowledge it, but say, "We heard a sound of waters." Plunged under the depth of the waves of evil, they say that sin is not in their mind or thoughts. There is a difference between those who have a theory and talk, but are not seasoned with the salt of heaven — who discourse of a royal table, but have never eaten or enjoyed it— and a man who has had a sight of the king himself, to whom the treasures have been opened, and he has entered in, and inherited them, and eaten and drunk of the costly viands.

11. If a mother has an only son, very handsome, wise, adorned with all things good, upon whom she sets all her hopes, and it falls out that she buries him, then endless distress comes upon her, and mourning that cannot be comforted. So ought the mind, when the soul has died to God, to take up mourning and tears, endless distress, to have a contrite heart, to be in fear and care, and at the same time to have a hunger and thirst for what is good continually. Such an one passes into the hands of God's grace and of hope, and he no longer remains in that mourning, but rejoices as one that finds a treasure, and again trembles for fear he should lose it, for the thieves are coming. Like a man who has suffered many losses by thieves, and has got away from them with much difficulty, and after this has come into great affluence and a large fortune, and has no more dread of loss because of his abundant wealth; so spiritual men, after first passing through many temptations and dreadful places, and then filled with grace and replete with good things, are no longer in terror of those who would plunder them, since their wealth is not small ; yet they fear, not with the beginner's fear of evil spirits, but with fear and care how to employ the spiritual gifts entrusted to them.

12. Such an one despises himself beyond all sinners, and holds this notion implanted in him as if by nature, and the farther he advances in the knowledge of God, the more he considers himself an ignoramus, and the more he learns, the less he thinks he knows. It is grace which ministers this effect, and makes it like a part of nature in the soul. As a little child is carried by a strong young man, and he who carries it takes it about wherever he pleases, so the grace that works in the deep carries the soul, and lifts it up to the heavens, to the perfect world, to the everlasting rest. But even in grace there are measures and degrees of rank. The commander-in-chief, who has access to the king, differs from the captain. As a house that is filled with smoke discharges it also into the open air, so the evil compressed into the soul is discharged without and produces fruits. As those to whom is committed the government of a province or of the royal treasury are all the time in anxiety lest they should after all offend the king, so those who have been entrusted with a spiritual work are always in anxiety, and though they are at rest, are as if they had never found it. For the kingdom of darkness which had broken into the city of the soul, and the barbarous forces which keep possession of its ranges, are in course of expulsion from it. 13. Christ the King sends to avenge the city, and throws

the usurpers into chains, and settles heavenly troops and an armament of holy spirits there, as in their own country; and then the sun shines in the heart, and its rays run through into all the members ; and so a deep peace is the reigning power there. But the man's resolution in combat and strife, and his genuine worth, and his goodwill towards God, are then shown when grace withdraws and he will still be brave and cry to God. You, when you hear that there are rivers of dragons, and mouths of lions, and the dark forces beneath the heaven, and fire that burns and crackles in the members, think nothing of it, not knowing that unless you receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit,'1 they hold your soul as it departs from the body, and do not suffer you to rise to heaven. In like manner, when you hear of the dignity of the soul, how precious the intelligent substance is, you do not understand that it was not of angels, but of human nature, that He said, Let Us make after Our image and likeness,2 and that heaven and earth pass away, but that you were called to immortality, and adoption and brotherhood, and marriage with the King. In the world around us, all that belongs to the bridegroom is the bride's ; and all that belongs to the Lord, no matter what it is, He commits to you. He came to your aid in person, to call you up above ; and you neither consider nor understand your dignity. Justly the inspired man mourns over your fall, saying, Man being in honour hath no understanding, but is compared unto the beasts without reason, and is made like unto them.3 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.

1 2 Cor. i. 22. 2 Gen. i. 26. 3 Ps. xlix. 20.

Concerning the spiritual unction of Christians, and their glory, and that without Christ it is impossible to be saved or to become a partaker of eternal life. i. PERFECT Christians, who have been permitted to arrive at measures of perfection and to come very near the King, these are continually consecrated to the cross of Christ. As in the days of the prophets the unction was more precious than all things else, since unction made them kings and prophets, so now spiritual men, who are anointed with the heavenly unction, become Christs according to grace, so that they too are kings, and prophets of heavenly mysteries. These are sons, and lords, and gods, made prisoners and captives,1 plunged deep, crucified, consecrated. If the anointing of oil, which came from a material plant, a visible tree, had such force that those who were anointed received dignity beyond dispute — for it was a fixed rule, so that they were appointed kings ; David, for instance, after being anointed, immediately fell into persecutions and was afflicted, and then after seven years became king — how much more do all who are anointed in mind and the inner man with the hallowing and cheering oil of gladness? the heavenly spiritual oil, receive the stamp of that kingdom of. the imperishable and everlasting power, the earnest of the Spirit* the Holy Ghost the Comforter. He is called the Comforter, because He comforts and cheers those who are in afflictions.

1 That is, to grace and to God. 2 Heb. i. 9. 3 2 Cor. v. 5. 142 2. These, being anointed from the tree of life, Jesus Christ, the heavenly plant, are privileged to come to measures of perfection, the measures of the kingdom and the adoption, truly sharers of the secrets of the heavenly King, having free access to the Almighty, entering into His palace, where the angels and the spirits of the saints are, even while they are still in this world. Although they have not yet received the perfect inheritance prepared for them in that age, they are sure, from the earnest which they have now received, as if already crowned and reigning ; and being about to reign with Christ, they are not surprised at the abundance and freedom of the Spirit. Why ? Because while still in the flesh they had that relish of sweetness, and that effectual working of power. 3. When a man is a friend of the emperor, employed about the palace, acquainted with his secrets, and seeing his purple, if that man is made emperor himself and crowned, he is not surprised or taken aback, since he has long been exercised in the secrets of the palace. No boorish or uneducated person, or stranger to the secret, can go in and reign, but only those of experience and training. So Christians, who in that age are to reign, are not surprised, having already learned the secrets of grace. When man first transgressed the commandment, the devil covered the soul all over with a covering of darkness. Then grace comes, and wholly removes the veil, so that the soul, now cleared, and regaining its proper nature, created without blemish and clear, continually beholds clearly with its clear eyes the glory of the true light and the true sun of righteousness l beaming in the heart itself.

4. As at the end of the world the firmament is removed and the righteous thenceforth live in the kingdom and the light and the glory, seeing nothing else but how Christ in glory is always on the right hand of the Father, so these 1 Mai. iv. 2. men even now are caught away into that age, and are taken captive, and behold all the beauties and the wonders that are done there. On earth as we are, we have our citizenship in heaven^1 spending our time and activities in that world, so far as the mind and the inner man are concerned* As the visible eye, when clear, always clearly sees the sun, so the mind perfectly cleansed always sees the glory of the light of Christ, and is with the Lord night and day, in like manner as the Lord's body united with the Godhead is always with the Holy Ghost. Men do not, however, attain these measures in a moment, but with labour and pains and much contention. Some there are who have grace with them working and abiding, yet evil also is with them inwardly, and the two modes of citizenship, of light and of darkness, are at work upon the same heart.

5. But you will say to me, " What communion hath light with darkness P 2 Where is the divine light darkened or troubled ; and the undefiled and pure, where is it defiled?" It is written, The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not? We must not therefore think of these things under a single aspect and without dissection. So great is the repose of some men in God's grace that they become stronger than the evil that is with them, and having a gift of prayer and much repose in God, at another moment they are under the influence of evil thoughts, and are deceived by sin, though they are still in the grace of God. Light-minded people, who have not learned the business, when grace to some extent works upon them, imagine that there is no more such a thing as sin. But those who have discretion and are prudent dare not deny that even when we have the grace of God we are liable to the influence of foul and polluting thoughts. 1 Phil. iii. 20. z 2 Cor. vi. 14. 3 John i. 5 ; cp. Homily XVI. 3. 6. We have often found among the brethren that they have found such gladness and grace that for five or six years, they say, concupiscence had withered away, and after this, when they supposed that they were free from it, the evil, which had been concealed, set upon them, and they were all on fire with concupiscence, so that they were surprised, and said, "After so long a time, whence did this evil rise against us?" No man of sound mind dares to say, "While grace is with me, I am completely set free from sin." Both the two characters are at work upon the mind.

People of no experience in these matters, when grace has had some little effect upon them, imagine that they have already conquered, and are perfect Christians. For my part, I say that the fact is this ; — when the sun is in the sky, shining in a clear air, and clouds come about him and cover him, and make the air thick, and yet the sun, far within, is not robbed either of his light or of his proper being, so is it with those who are not completely cleansed. Being in the grace of God, and yet held by sin beneath the surface, they have the natural motions and their actual thoughts strong towards God, and yet are not entirely belonging to good. 7. And on the other hand some who under the surface are held by the good side, the side of grace, are still in bondage and subjection to bad thoughts and the side of evil.

It needs great discretion, therefore, to know by experience that this is the state of the case. I assure you that even the apostles, though they had the Comforter, were not entirely without anxiety. With joy and gladness they had fear and trembling, proceeding from grace itself, not from the side of evil; but the same grace secured them, that they might not swerve, though it were but a little. If a man throws a bit of a stone against a wall, it does not injure the wall or move it from its place. A dart flung at one who wears a breast-plate hurts neither the iron nor the wearer's body; it strikes and bounds back. So even though a fragment of evil got near the apostles, it did not injure them, because they were clothed with the perfect power of Christ, and they, being themselves perfect, were at liberty to work their righteousnesses. 8. Since then some will have it that after grace the soul is without anxiety, God requires the will of the soul, even in the perfect, for the service of the Spirit, that they may act in agreement. The apostle says, Quench not the Spirit.1 Some among them were unwilling to be burdensome to others ; some walked for themselves ; others took from men of the world and distributed to the poor. This was a worthier part. Some who have grace care only about themselves, others endeavour to benefit their neighbour's souls also.

These are far superior to the others. Some who have grace, for God's name's sake deliver up their bodies to mockeries and sufferings. These again are above those. Some in the pursuit of virtue are disposed to boast and to be honoured of men, saying that they are Christians and partake of the Holy Ghost. Others endeavour to hide themselves even from meeting men. These are much superior to those others. You see how even in perfection goodwill towards God completed by the natural will is found superior and in greater abundance.

If a man clothed in beggarly garments should see himself in a vision rich, and on waking from sleep should see himself again poor and naked, so those who utter a spiritual discourse seem to speak suitably enough, but if they have not the thing they discourse about verified in their mind by tasting and power and personal experience, they stand in a vain show. Or like a woman decked out in silks and arrayed in pearls, who offers herself in a place of ill fame, the heart of these men is a resort of unclean spirits, while they set themselves up to discourse 1 j Thess. v. 19. of righteousness, when they have never had a glimpse of the realities. 10. A fish cannot live out of the water ; no one can walk without feet, or see light without eyes, or speak without a tongue, or hear without ears. So without the Lord Jesus, and the working of divine power, no one can know the mysteries and wisdom of God, or be rich and a Christian. The wise, the warriors, the brave men, the philosophers of God, are those who are led and shepherded in the inner man by the divine power. The philosophers of the Greeks learn to make speeches; others are rude in speech* but rejoicing and exulting in the grace of God, men of piety. Let us judge which are the better. The kingdom of God, it says, is not in word, but in deed and in power.2

n. For a man to say, "This bread is made of corn," is easy enough. He should tell us how bread is prepared in detail, and baked. To talk of freedom from passions, and of perfection, is easy ; but in experience to be brought to perfection is the lot of few. The gospel says in short compass, " Thou shalt not be angry ; thou shalt not covet. If any man smite thee on the cheek, turn to him the other also. If any man judge to take away thy cloak, give him thy coat also." 3 The apostle, tracing out how the work of cleansing should be done, little by little with patience and perseverance, teaches at large, first feeding with milk, like babes, then carrying on to growth and to full age. The gospel said that the garment was made of wool ; the apostle declared in detail, how it is made. 12. So those who utter spiritual discourses, without tasting what they discourse of, are like a man who travels on a desert plain, assailed by burning heat, and being thirsty, draws a picture of a running stream of water, with a sketch of himself drinking, when all the while his lips are parched, and his tongue also, by the thirst that possesses 1 2 Cor. xi. 6. 2 i Cor. iv. 20. 3 Matt. v. 39 ff.

him ; or as if a man should discourse of honey, that it is sweet, though never having tasted it, he does not know the force of the sweetness. Such is the case with those who make discourse about perfection, and rejoicing, or freedom from passions, without having the effectual working and personal knowledge of them. The things are not all as they describe them. When a man of that kind is once permitted to find himself in the reality, he judges in his own mind : "I have not found it to be as I supposed. I discoursed in one way, and the Spirit works in another." 13. For Christianity is indeed meat and drink; and the more a man eats of it, the more his mind is allured by the sweetness, and is not to be restrained or satisfied, but asks for more, without ever being filled, and goes on eating. If a man is thirsty, and there is given him a pleasant draught, then, when he has begun to taste it, he gets the more eagerly close to the drink, more ardent for it than before. And indeed the tasting of the Spirit is well-nigh without a limit, so that it is really like the supposed case. And these are not mere words. This is the practical working of the Holy Ghost mysteriously ministering in the mind.

Some imagine that because they abstain from marriage and other visible things, they are already saints. That is not so. Evil still lives and lifts itself up in the mind and in the heart. The saint is one who is cleansed and sanctified in the inner man. For where truth raises its head, there error attacks, endeavouring to conceal and obscure it. 14. When the Jews possessed the priesthood, then those of that nation were persecuted and afflicted, because they stood firm in the truth, Eleazar and the Maccabees. Now that after the cross and the veil the Spirit has departed from them, the truth has been revealed here and works here. So those of this nation are persecuted in turn. The persecution and affliction which befell that nation was that the lovers of the truth might witness to it. For how shall the truth appear, unless it has adversaries who are false and oppose the truth? Even among the brethren there are some who endure sufferings and afflictions, and yet have need of much wariness, lest they fall. One of the brethren was once at prayer with a certain person, and was taken captive by divine power, and caught away, and saw the city of Jerusalem above, and shining figures, and infinite light, and heard a voice, saying, " This is the place of repose of the righteous ; " and shortly after, he was puffed up, and imagined that what he had seen concerned himself, and after that, he was found to fall into the nethermost depths of sin, into a thousand evil things.

15. If one who had been inside and aloft fell thus, how can the ordinary man say, "By fasting, and making myself a stranger, and dispersing my property, I am a saint already " ? Mere abstention from evil things is not perfection— only if thou hast entered into thy ruined mind, and hast slain the serpent that lies under the mind beneath the surface of the thoughts, and burrows into what we call the secret chambers and storehouses of the soul and murders thee — for the heart is a deep gulf — only, I say, if thou hast killed him, and cast- out all the uncleanness that was in thee. All the philosophers, and the law, and the prophets, and the coming of the Saviour, have to do with purity. There is no man, Jew or Greek, that does not love purity, though they cannot be pure. We must go on seeking how and by what means the purity of the heart may be gained. Certainly no other way than through Him who was crucified for us. He is the way, the life, the truth, the door, the pearl, the living heavenly bread. Without that truth it is impossible to know truth, or to be saved. As therefore in regard to the outer man and visible affairs thou didst renounce all and hast distributed thy property, so in the matter of worldly wisdom, if thou hast knowledge and the

force of words/thou oughtest to cast all away, and to esteem them as nothing, that so thou mayest be built up by the foolishness of preaching? which preaching is the true wisdom, which has not the pride of words, but has a power that works effectually by means of the holy cross. Glory be to the consubstantial Trinity for ever. Amen. 1 i Cor. i. 21.

Concerning the Christians' treasure, which is Christ and the Holy Ghost, who practises them in various ways to come to perfection. i. IF a man is very rich in this world, and possesses a hidden treasure, out of that treasure and wealth that he has he purchases whatever he has a mind to purchase. Whatever rare articles in the world he fancies, he readily amasses them, relying upon the treasure, because by means of it he easily procures any piece of property he fancies. In like manner those who seek at God's hand, and have found, and have the heavenly treasure of the Spirit, which is the Lord Himself shining in their hearts, accomplish every righteousness of virtues, and every acquisition of goodness commanded by the Lord, out of the treasure of Christ in them, and by means of it they amass a yet more abundant heavenly wealth. By means of that heavenly treasure they effect every virtue of righteousness, relying upon the multitude of the spiritual riches within them, and easily work ev'ery righteousness and commandment of the Lord by means of the invisible wealth of grace that is in them. The apostle says, Having this treasure in earthen vessels,1 that is, the treasure which it was granted to them in this life to possess within themselves, the sanctifying power of the Spirit ; and again, Who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification , and redemption* 1 2 Cor. iv. 7. 2 i Cor. i. 30.

2. So one who has found and has within him this heavenly treasure of the Spirit, effects thereby every righteousness of commandments and every accomplishment of virtues unblameably and purely, without forcing and with ease. Let us therefore beseech God, and seek and beg of Him, to bestow on us the treasure of His Spirit, and that thus we may be able to walk in all His commandments unblameably and purely, and to fulfil all the righteousness of the Spirit purely and perfectly, by means of the heavenly treasure, which is Christ. For he that is poor and naked and needy and famished in the world can acquire nothing; his poverty restrains him ; but the possessor of treasure, as I said, easily acquires such articles as he fancies, without painful effort. Thus the soul that is naked and destitute of the fellowship of the Spirit, and lies under the horrible poverty of sin, cannot, if it would, produce any of the fruits of the Spirit of righteousness in truth, before partaking of the Spirit. 3. Nevertheless, every one should force himself to ask of the Lord to be permitted to receive and find the heavenly treasure of the Spirit, so as to be able without difficulty and with readiness to do all the commandments of the Lord unblameably and purely, which before he could not succeed in doing, whatever force he might use. Poor and naked of the fellowship of the Spirit, how could he acquire such heavenly possessions, without any spiritual treasure or wealth ? But the soul which has found the Lord, the true treasure, by seeking of the Spirit and faith and much patience, works out the fruits of the Spirit, as I said before, with ease ; and all righteousness and commandments of the Lord, which the Spirit has commanded, she does, in herself, and by herself, purely, and perfectly, and unblameably.

4. Let us use another illustration. If there is a rich man, and he makes a costly repast, he spends out of his wealth and the treasure that he has, and is under no fear that he will run short of anything, being so rich ;• and so he entertains the guests whom he has invited at cost and with splendour, setting before them many different dishes of the latest fashion. The poor man, who has no such wealth, if he wishes to provide a repast for a few friends, has all to borrow, the very dishes, the drapery, and everything else ; and then, after the invited guests have dined on a poor man's dinner, when it is over, he gives back to each person that he had borrowed of, a silver dish, a piece of drapery, or whatever else it was, and so, when all is given back, he himself remains poor and naked, having no wealth of his own to entertain himself with. 5. In the same way, when those who are rich in the Holy Ghost, really having the heavenly wealth and the fellowship of the Spirit in themselves, speak to any the word of truth, when they impart spiritual discourses to any and desire to entertain souls, it is out of their own wealth and out of their own treasure, which they possess within themselves, that they speak, and out of this that they entertain the souls of the hearers of the spiritual discourse ;

and they have no fear lest they should run short, because they possess within themselves a heavenly treasure of goodness, upon which they draw to entertain those whom they are spiritually feasting. But one who is poor, and does not possess of the wealth of Christ, and has no spiritual wealth in his soul, yielding a stream of all goodness, both of words and of deeds, and of divine ideas, and of mysteries unspeakable, even if he wishes to speak a word of truth and to entertain some of his hearers, yet not possessing in himself the word of God in power and reality, but only repeating from memory, and borrowing words from various parts of the bible, or what he has heard from spiritual men, and relating and teaching this — see, he seems to entertain others, and others enjoy what he tells them, but after he has gone through it, each word goes back to the source from which it was taken, and he himself remains once more naked and

i54 FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES poor, having no treasure of the Spirit for his own, upon which he draws to entertain others, not being himself first entertained, nor rejoicing in the Spirit. 6. For this reason we should first seek from God with labour of heart and in faith, that He would grant us to find His wealth, the true treasure of Christ, in our hearts, in the power and effectual working of the Spirit. In this way, first finding in ourselves the Lord to be our profit and salvation and eternal life, we may then profit others also, as is possible and attainable, drawing upon Christ, the treasure within, for all goodness of spiritual words, and setting forth mysteries of heaven. For thus it pleased the goodness of the Father to dwell in every one who believes and asks of Him. He that loveth Me, it says, shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him ; J and again, We will come, I and My Father, and will make Our abode with him.2 Thus the infinite kindness of the Father willed; thus the inconceivable love of Christ was pleased ; thus the unspeakable goodness of the Spirit promised. Glory to the unspeakable compassion of the Holy Trinity.

7. For those to whom it has been given to become children of God, and to be born from above of the Spirit, who have within them Christ shining and refreshing them, are led in many different ways of the Spirit, and acted upon by grace invisibly in the heart, in spiritual rest. Let us employ figures of tangible enjoyments in the world, to signify in some measure the dealings of grace in the heart. There are times when they are as if entertained at a royal banquet, and rejoicing with 'joy and gladness inexpressible. At another moment they are like a bride reposing in communion with her bridegroom in a divine repose. Another time they become like angels without bodies, they are so light and unencumbered, body and all. Another time they 1 John xiv. 21. 2 John xiv. 23. are as if drunken with strong drink, being exhilarated and intoxicated with the Spirit, with the intoxication of divine and spiritual mysteries. 8. Another time they are as if in weeping and lamentation for the human race ; and in supplication for the whole Adam they take up a mourning and a weeping, being consumed by the love of the Spirit towards mankind. At another they are fired by the Spirit with such rejoicing and love, that if it were possible they would take every man into their own hearts, without distinguishing between bad and good. Sometimes they are so humbled beneath all others in the humility of the Spirit, that they think themselves to be the last and least of all.

Sometimes the Spirit keeps them in such joy unspeakable 1 that they are wearied out. Another time they are like a mighty man who has taken the king's whole armour, and come down upon his enemies to battle, and fights against them powerfully, and has conquered ; for, like him, the spiritual man takes the heavenly weapons of the Spirit, and comes down upon the enemies, and battles with them, and puts them under his feet. 9. At another time the soul reposes in a certain great quietness and calm and peace, with no sense of anything else but spiritual pleasure, and repose unspeakable, and well-being. At another, it is instructed by grace in a kind of unspeakable understanding and wisdom, and the knowledge of the unsearchable Spirit, in things which it is impossible to utter with tongue and speech. So various are the dealings of grace in them, and in so many ways does it lead the soul which it refreshes according to the will of God, and exercises it in different manners, in order to restore it to the heavenly Father perfect and faultless and pure.

10. But the operations of the Spirit of which I have spoken belong to the great measures which are near perfection. For these various refreshings of grace, though they 1 i Pet. i. 8. are expressed in different manners, are constantly brought to bear upon such people, one operation succeeding another. For when the soul arrives at the perfection of the Spirit, perfectly cleansed from passion, -and united and mingled with the Spirit Paraclete by that unspeakable communion, and is permitted to become spirit itself in mixture with the Spirit, then it is made all light, all eyev all spirit, all joy, all rest, all gladness, all love, all compassion, all goodness and loving-kindness. As in the bottom of the sea a stone is encompassed on every side by water, so these men, mingled in every way with the Spirit, are made like Christ, having in themselves the virtues of the power of the Spirit unalterably, being faultless and spotless and pure within and without. ii. Restored by the Spirit, how can they produce outwardly the fruit of evil ? At all times and in all circumstances the fruits of the Spirit shine forth in them. Let us then beseech God, and believe in love and much hope, that He may give us the heavenly grace of the gift of the Spirit, that that Spirit Himself may govern us also, and guide us into all the will of God, and

refresh us in all the variety of His refreshing, in order that through such governance and exercise of grace, and spiritual improvement, we may be allowed to attain the perfection of the fulness of Christ, as the apostle says, That ye may be filled with all the fulness of Christ,1 and again, Till we all come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.2 The Lord has promised to bestow on all that believe in Him and ask in truth the mysteries of the unspeakable communion of the Spirit. Let us therefore devote ourselves entirely to the Lord, and hasten to obtain the good things we have spoken of. Dedicated in soul and body, and nailed to the cross of Christ, let us become fit for the eternal kingdom, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.

1 Eph. iii. 19. 8 Eph. iv. 13.

Christians who desire to make progress and to grow ought to force themselves to every good thing, so as to deliver themselves from indwelling sin, and to be filled with the Holy Ghost. i. THE man who desires to come to the Lord, and to be found worthy of eternal life, and to become the dwellingplace of Christ, and to be filled with the Holy Ghost, that he may be able to produce the fruits of the Spirit, and perform the commandments of Christ purely and faultlessly, ought to begin by first believing the Lord steadfastly, and giving himself wholly to the words of His commandments, and renouncing the world altogether, that his whole mind may be occupied about nothing secular. And he should persevere continually in prayer, continually waiting in expectant faith for the visitation and succour of the Lord, keeping the aim of his mind always fixed upon this. Then he should force himself to every good work and to all the commandments of the Lord, because of sin that is present with him. For instance, let him force himself to humility of mind in sight of all men, and to consider himself less and worse than them, not seeking honour, or praise, or the glory of men, from anyone, as it is written in the gospel,1 but always having the Lord only before his eyes, and His commandments, desiring to please Him only in the meekness of the heart, as the Lord says, Learn of Me, because

1 John *ii. 44O 157 I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.1 2. In like manner let him accustom himself to be merciful, kind, compassionate, good, to the utmost of his power, as the Lord says, Be ye good and kind, even as your heavenly Father is pitiful ; 2 and again He says, // ye love Me, keep My commandments ; 3 and again, Be violent, for the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force,* and, Strive to enter in by the strait gate.5 Above all things let him keep the humility and conduct of the Lord, and His meekness and behaviour, as his pattern, in all never-forgetful memory. Let him persevere in prayers, always beseeching and believing, that the Lord may come and dwell in him, and may perfect and strengthen him in all His commandments, and that the Lord Himself may become'the dwellingplace of his soul, and thus one day, what he now does by force with a reluctant heart, he may do willingly, accustoming himself always to what is good, and being ever mindful of the Lord, and in much love waiting for Him in the Holy Spirit. Then the Lord, beholding such a purpose, and his good diligence, how he forces himself to the remembrance of the Lord, and ever compels his heart, whether it will or no, to that which is good, and to humility and meekness and charity, and guides it to the best of his power by force, shows mercy upon him, and delivers him from his enemies and from indwelling sin, filling him with the Holy Ghost; and thus afterwards without force or labour he does all the commandments of the Lord in truth, or rather the Lord in him does His own commandments, and then he brings forth the fruits of the Spirit purely.

3. But before this, in coming to the Lord, a man must thus force himself to that which is good, even against the inclination of his heart, continually expecting His mercy 1 Matt xi. 29. 2 Luke vi. 36. 3 John xiv. 15. 4 Matt. xi. 12. 5 Luke xiii. 24. with no doubtful faith, and force himself to charity, when he has no charity — force himself to meekness, when he has no meekness — force himself to pity, and to have a merciful heart — force himself to be looked down upon, and when he is looked down upon, to bear it patiently, and when he is made light of or put to shame, not to be angry, as it is said, Beloved, avenge not yourselves * — to force himself to prayer, when he has not spiritual prayer ; and thus God, beholding him thus striving, and compelling himself by force, in spite of an unwilling heart, gives him the true prayer of the Spirit, gives him true charity, meekness, bowels of mercies? true kindness, and in short fills him with the fruits of the Spirit. 4. But if a man forces himself only to prayer, when he has no prayer, that he may obtain the grace of prayer, but will not force himself to meekness and humility and charity and the rest of the Lord's commandments, and takes no pains or trouble or striving to succeed in these, as far as purpose and freewill can go, sometimes a grace of prayer is given him, in part, with refreshment and gladness from the Spirit, according to his asking ;

but in character he is like what he was before. He has no meekness, because he did not seek it with pains, or prepare himself beforehand to become so. He has no humility, because he did not ask for it, or force himself to it. He has not charity towards all men, because he had no concern or striving about it in his asking for prayer ; and in the accomplishment of his work, he has no faith and trust in God, because he did not know himself, did not discover that he was without it, or take trouble at any cost to himself, seeking from the Lord to obtain firm faith towards Him and a real trust.

5. For as everyone forces and compels himself to prayer in spite of the reluctance of the heart, so ought he to force himself likewise to trust, and so to humility, and so to charity, and so to meekness, sincerity and simplicity, and 1 Rom. xii. 19. 2 Q^ ^ I2< so unto all patience and longsuffering (according to that which is written) with joyfulness ; J and so to think little of himself, and to esteem himself poor and last ; and so not to engage in conversation to no profit, but always to meditate and speak the things of God with mouth and heart ; so also not to be angry or clamorous, according to that which is said, Let all bitterness, and anger, and clamour, be put away from you, with all malice ; 2 — to all the ways of the Lord, to all practice of virtue and of good and noble living, to all behaviour of goodness, to all humility of meekness, not to be proud, high-minded, or puffed up, or to speak against any one. f~ 6. To all these things must a man force himself, who desires / to approve himself to Christ and to please Him in order I that the Lord, seeing his earnestness and purpose in comI pelling himself thus to all goodness and simplicity, and kindness and humility, and charity and prayer, and driving himself to them by force, may give him His whole self — the Lord Himself in truth doing all these things purely in him , without labour or forcing, which before he could not do even by force because of sin that was with him ;

and all the practices of virtue come to him like nature. For from that time onward, the Lord coming and dwelling in him, and he in Him, Himself performs in him His own commandments, without effort, filling him with the fruits of the Spirit. But if a man forces himself only to prayer, until he shall receive a gift of it from God, but does not in like manner force and compel and accustom himself to these other things, he cannot in truth perform them purely and faultlessly. He should prepare himself in this way to that which is good to the best of his power ; for sometimes the divine grace comes to him while asking and praying. For God is good and kind, and to those who ask Him He gives what they ask. But if a man has not the things of which we 1 Col. i. ii. 2 Eph. iv. 31.

have spoken, and has not accustomed or adapted himself to them beforehand, even if he receives grace, he will lose it, and falls by pride, or at least makes no progress or increase in the grace that came to him, since he does not give himself to the commandments of the Lord with a will. For the dwelling-place and repose of the Spirit is humility, chanty and meekness, and the other commandments of the Lord. 7. One who wishes to please God in truth, and to receive from Him the heavenly grace of the Spirit, and to increase and be perfected in the Holy Ghost, ought, therefore, to force himself to all the commandments of God, and to subdue his heart, however unwilling it may be, according to the saying, Therefore hold I straight all Thy commandments, and all false ways I utterly abhor.1 As a man forces and compels himself to perseverance in prayer, until he has succeeded in this, so in like manner, if he only /will, he forces and compels himself to all the practices of virtue, and forms a good habit, and thus always asking and praying the Lord, and obtaining his petition, and receiving a taste of God, and becoming a partaker of the Holy Ghost, he causes the gift that was bestowed on him to grow and thrive, resting in his humility, in charity, in meekness.

8. The Spirit Himself bestows these things upon him, and teaches him true prayer, true charity, true meekness, to which before he forced himself, and sought for them, and cared for them, and meditated upon them, and they were given him ; and having thus grown up and been perfected in God, he is permitted to become an heir of the kingdom. The humble never falls. Whence indeed could he fall, being lower than all ? A proud mind is a great humiliation ; a humble mind is a great exaltation and honour and dignity. Let us therefore force and compel ourselves to humility, though our heart may dislike it, and to meekness, and to charity, praying and beseeching God in faith, hope, and 1 Ps. cxix. 128. charity incessantly with such an expectancy and aim, that He would send His Spirit into our hearts, that we may pray and worship God in spirit and in truth,1 9. that the Spirit Himself may pray in us, that the Spirit Himself may teach us true prayer, which now we have not, though we force ourselves to it ; true humility, which now we cannot attain, even by force ; may teach us to bring forth in truth bowels of mercies,1 kindness, and all the commandments of the Lord, without pain or forcing, as the Spirit Himself knows how, filling us with His fruits ; and thus the commandments of the Lord

being fulfilled by us through His Spirit, who alone knows the will of the Lord, and the Spirit having perfected us in Himself and Himself perfected in us, when we are once cleansed from every defilement and spot of sin, He will present our souls pure and faultless, like fair brides, to Christ, we resting in God in His kingdom, and God resting in us world without end. Glory to His compassions and to His mercy and love, that He has vouchsafed such honour and glory to mankind, has vouchsafed to make them sons of the heavenly Father, and has called them brethren of His own. To Him be glory for ever. Amen.

1 John iv. 24. z Col. iii. 12.

Only Christ, the true Physician of the inner man, can htal the soul, and array it in the garment of grace. 1. IF any one is naked for want of the divine and heavanly raiment, which is the power of the Holy Ghost — as it is said, // any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His l — let him weep and beseech the Lord, that he may receive the spiritual raiment from heaven, that his soul, now naked of the heavenly operation, may be clothed, beciuse the man who is not clad in the raiment of the Spirit is covered with much shame of vile affections.2 In the outer world, if any one is naked, he is in great shame and disgrace, and friends turn away from friends when they are naked, and kinsfolk from those belonging to them, and children, seeing their father stripped naked, have turned their faces away, not to look upon their father's naked body, and have gone backwards and covered him, and have not till then turned their faces to him. In the same way God's face is turned away from souls that are not clothed with the raiment of the Spirit in full assurance, from men who have not put on the Lord Jesus Christ 3 in power and reality.

2. The first man when he beheld himself naked was ashamed, so great is the disgrace attaching to nakedness. If then in bodily things nakedness means so much shame, how much more is the soul which is naked of divine power, and wears not, nor is clad with the unspeakable, incorruptible 1 Rom. viii. 9. 2 Rom. i. 26. 3 Rom. xiii. 14. heavenly raiment, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in reality, covered with still greater shame and disgrace of vile affections ; and every one who is naked of that divine glory ought to be as much ashamed of himself and as much aware of his disgrace, as Adam was when he was naked. Although he made himself an apron of fig-leaves, he wore his shame and nakedness none the less, acknowledging his poverty. Let such a soul then ask of Christ, who gives glory and arrays therewith in light unspeakable, not making for itself a cloak of vain thoughts, deceiving itself with the imagination of a righteousness of its own, or fancying that it possesses the vesture of salvation. 3. If anyone takes his stand upon a righteousness and redemption of his own, not looking for the righteousness of God which is the Lord, as the apostle says, Who is made to its righteousness and redemption?- he labours in vain and to no purpose. For all the dream of a righteousness of his own is at the last day manifested as nothing but filthy rags, as the prophet Esaias says, All our righteousness is as filthy rags.2 Let us then beg and implore God to clothe us \\ith the garment of salvation?

our Lord Jesus Christ, the unspeakable light, which souls that have once worn it shall never put off again, but in the resurrection their bodies also shall be glorified by the glory of the light, with which faithful and noble souls are even now clad, as the apostle saySj He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.* Glory to His unspeakable compassion and His inexpressible mercy.

4. And again, as the woman that was diseased with an issue of blood, on believing truly and touching the Lord's hem, at once found cure, and the flow of the unclean fountain of her blood dried up, so every soul that has the 1 i Cor. i. 30. 2 Isa. Ixiv. 6. 3 Isa. Ixi. 10. * Rom. viii, n. incurable wound of sin, the fountain of unclean and evil thoughts, if it only comes to Christ and implores in true faith, finds saving cure of that incurable fountain of the passions, and that fountain which sends up the unclean thoughts fails and dries up through the power of Jesus only ; — nothing else can cure this wound. For the enemy at the transgression of Adam so contrived to wound and darken the inner man, the directing mind which sees God.1 Thenceforth his eyes looked clearly upon bad things and upon the passions, but were shut out from the good things of heaven. 5. He was so sore wounded that none could cure him but the Lord only. To Him alone it was possible. He came and took away the sin of the world ; 2 that is, He dried up the unclean fountain of the thoughts of the soul. As that diseased woman spent all that she had upon those who professed to be able to cure her, but could be healed by none, until she approached the Lord, truly believing and touching the hem of His garment, and then at once felt the cure, and the issue of blood staunched, so the soul, wounded at the beginning with the incurable wound of evil passions, none, whether righteous men, or fathers, or prophets, or patriarchs, had force to heal.

6. Moses came, but he could not bestow a complete cure. Priests, gifts, tithes, sabbaths, new-moons, washings, sacrifices, burnt offerings, and every other righteousness, was performed under the law, and the soul could not get cured- and cleansed from the unclean issue of bad thoughts. Every righteousness of the soul was unavailing to heal man, until the Saviour came, the true Physician, who cures without cost, who gave Himself a ransom for mankind. He alone accomplished the great, saving deliverance and cure of the soul. He set it free from bondage, and brought it out of darkness, glorifying it with His own light. He dried 1 See below, p. 292. 2 John i. 29. up the fountain of unclean thoughts that was in it. Behold, it says, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world* 7. The earth could not be cured and healed of so great an invisible plague by any medicines of her own, that is, by righteous actions proceeding only from herself; but by the heavenly divine nature of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Only by this medicine could man find cure and attain life, being cleansed in heart by the Holy Ghost. But as that woman, though she could not be cured, and remained undone, yet had feet to come to the Lord, and coming to find cure ; and as that blind man, though he could not pass over and come to the Lord, because he could not see, yet sent a swifter messenger in his voice, saying Thou Son of David, have mercy on me,2 and thus believed and found cure by the Lord's coming to him and making him to see clearly, so the soul, though undone by vile affections, and blinded by the darkness of sin, yet has the power of will to cry out and call to Jesus, that He would come and work eternal deliverance for the soul.

8. Had not that blind man cried out, had not that sick woman come to the Lord, they would not have found cure ; so, unless a man comes to the Lord of his own free will and with whole purpose of heart, and petitions Him with assurance of faith, he finds no cure. Why was it that they were at once cured on believing, while we have not yet seen truly clear, and have not been cured of the hidden affections? And yet the Lord takes more thought for the immortal soul than for the body, — the soul which, if it once gains clear sight, according to him who says, Open thou mine eyes3 shall never again be blinded, and once cured shall never have wrecked health. If the Lord came upon earth and took such care of perishable bodies, how much more of the 1 John i. 29. a Mark x. 47, 3 Ps. cxix. 18. immortal soul, made after His own likeness ? It is because of our unbelief, because of our divided mind, because we do not love Him with all the heart, nor really believe Him, that we have not yet found the spiritual cure and salvation. Let us then believe Him, and come to Him in reality, that He may speedily work in us the true cure. He has promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?- and to open to them that knock, and to be found of them that seek,2 and He that has made the promise cannot lie. To Him be glory and might for ever. Amen.

1 Luke xi. 13. a Matt. vii. 7.

A Christian man has a twofold warfare set before him, an inward and an outward, the latter, in withdrawing from earthly distractions ; the former, in the heart, against the suggestions of the spirits of wickedness. 1. THE man who wishes really to please God, and is in truth an enemy to the opposite party of evil, has to wrestle in two conflicts and two contentions — one in the visible affairs of this life, by withdrawing from earthly distractions and from the love of worldly ties and from affections of sin — the other, in hidden things, by fighting against the spirits of wickedness themselves, as the Apostle said, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.1 2. When man transgressed the commandment, and was exiled from Paradise, he was bound down in two ways and with two different chains. One was in this life, in the affairs of this life, and in the love of the world, that is to say, the love of fleshly pleasures and lusts, of wealth, and glory, and possessions, of wife and children, of kinsfolk, of country, of particular places, of clothes, and of all other things of sense, from which the word of God bids him be loosed by his own free choice — since what binds every man to the things of sense is his own consent — in order that, having loosed and emancipated himself from all these, he may be able to master the commandment perfectly. But besides this, in the hidden region, the soul is hedged and hemmed and walled round, and bound with chains of darkness by the

1 Eph. vi. 12. 168 spirits of wickedness, unable to love the Lord as it would, or to believe as it would, or to pray as it would. On all sides, both in things manifest and in things hidden, contrariety has come down to us from the transgression of the first man. 3. Accordingly, as soon as a man hears the word of God, and makes the effort, and casts away the affairs of this life and the bonds of the world, and denies all the fleshly pleasures, and looses himself from these, then, when attending constantly upon the Lord and giving all his time to Him, he is in a position to discover that there is another wrestling, in the heart, another hidden opposition, and another war with the suggestions of the spirits of wickedness, and another contest in front of him. Thus standing steadfast and calling upon the Lord in undoubting faith and much patience, and looking for the succour that comes from Him, he is enabled to obtain from that source inward deliverance from the bonds and hedges and earthworks and darkness of the spirits of wickedness, which are the workings of the hidden passions. 4. But this war can be brought to nought by the grace and power of God. By himself no man can deliver himself from the contrariety and error of thoughts and of unobserved passions and of devices of the evil one.

If, however, a man is entangled among the things of sense by the affairs of this world, and meshed in various earthly bonds, and carried away by the lusts of evil, he does not so much as discover that there is another wrestling and pummelling and battle within. Let it be that when a man makes the effort and takes himself away, and looses himself from these visible bonds of secular and material affairs and fleshly pleasures, and begins to attend constantly upon the Lord, emptying himself of this world, he is then at length in a position to recognise the inward wrestling of passions in the field against him, and the inward battle, and the evil thoughts : if, as I said before, he does not make the effort, i?o FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES and deny the world, and loose himself from earthly desires with all his heart, and determine wholly and entirely to cleave to the Lord, he does not discover the error of the hidden spirits of wickedness, and the hidden passions of evil, but is a stranger to himself, as one who knows not that he is wounded, and has hidden passions without being aware of them. He is still bound to the visible order, and entangled with the affairs of this world, and does not mind it. 5. The man who has really denied the world, and has made the effort and flung off the burden

of the earth, and has taken himself away from the vain desires of fleshly pleasures, and glory, and authority and human honours, and has withdrawn from them with his whole heart — since the Lord secretly helps him in this open effort, in proportion to his denial of the will of the world — and has taken his stand to serve the Lord, and attended constantly upon it with his whole self, body and soul, this man, I say, finds contrariety, and hidden passions, and unseen bonds, and secret battle and effort, and hidden striving;

and thus beseeching the Lord, and receiving from heaven the armour of the Spirit, which the blessed apostle reckons up, the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, and the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit,1 and arming himself with these, he will be able to stand against the hidden wiles of the devil amidst the wickednesses of the present. Having provided himself with this armour by all prayer and perseverance and supplication and fasting, and all by faith, . he will be able to fight out the battle against the principalities and the powers, and the world rulers; and thus having overcome the opposing forces by the co-operation of the Spirit and his own earnestness in all virtues, he will become meet for eternal life, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; to whom be glory and might for ever. Amen.

1 Eph. vi. 14.

Concerning the twofold state of those who depart out of this i. WHEN the soul of a man departs out of the body, a great mystery is there accomplished. If it is under the guilt of sins, there come bands of devils, and angels of the left hand, and powers of darkness take over that soul, and hold it fast on their side. No one ought to be surprised at this. If, while alive and in this world, the man was subject and compliant to them, and made himself their bondman, how much more, when he departs out of this world, is he kept down and held fast by them. That this is the case, , you ought to understand from what happens on the good side. God's holy servants even now have angels continually beside them, and holy spirits encompassing and protecting them ; and when they depart out of the body, the bands of angels take over their souls to their own side, into the pure world, and so they bring them to the Lord ; to whom be glory and might for ever. Amen.

As only those born of the seed royal can wear the costly royal pearl, so only the children of God are allowed to wear the pearl of heaven. 1. THE great, costly, royal pearl, which serves for a king's crown, is suitable only for a king, and only a king can wear it. Another man is not allowed to wear such a pearl. So unless a man is begotten by the royal Spirit of God, and is made to be of the royal family of heaven and a child of God, according as it is written, But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become children of God,1 he cannot wear the costly pearl of heaven, the image of the inexpressible light, which is the Lord, being no king's son. For those who possess and wear the pearl, live and reign with Christ for ever. So said the apostle, As we have worn the image of the earthy, we shall also wear the image of the heavenly? 2. As long as a horse grazes in the scrub among the wild animals he is in no subjection to men; but when he is caught for the purpose of taming, they put on him a heavy bridle, until he learns to walk properly and in good order. Then he is exercised by a skilled rider, that he may become serviceable for war; then they put armour on him, the breastplate and the coat of mail, and first they hang up a bridle and shake it before the horse's eyes, that he may get accustomed to it and not shy at it ; and when thus taught by his rider, he learns to war with the enemy. Without rider and without breastplate, a horse is of no use for war. But when he has been trained and is accustomed to the

1 John i. 12. 2 i Cor. xv. 49. war, he no sooner smells the battle and hears the sound of it, than he charges readily upon the enemy of his own accord, so that the sound that he makes is enough to strike terror into the foe. In like manner, the soul, which since the transgression is wild and in no subjection, roams l in the desert of the world with the wild beasts, which are the spirits of wickedness, in sin withholding service. But when it hears the word of God, and believes, it is bridled by the Spirit, and puts away its wild ways and the fleshly mind, being guided by Christ its rider. Then it gets into distress, and the process of taming, and difficulty, that it may be proved, in order that by degrees it may be brought into subjection by the Spirit, the sin that is in it diminishing by degrees and disappearing. Thus the soul, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation, and the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit? is taught to war against its enemies. Thus, being armed with the Spirit of the Lord, it contends against the spirits o4 wickedness, and quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one. Without the armour of the Spirit, it does not come into the righting line ; but when it has the Lord's armour, as soon as it hears and perceives hot battles, it goeth on, as it says in Job, with a shout and a cry? because at the very sound of its prayer the enemies fall prostrate. Thus having contended and conquered in the battle by the Spirit, it carries off crowns of victory with great boldness, and thus rests with the heavenly King ; to whom be glory and might for ever. Amen.

1 All the MSS. appear to read TreAc^Vrat, "approaches" ; but the sense seems to require TrAa^erat M roams." 2 Eph. vi. 14. 3 The best approved text of the LXX in Job xxxix. 25 has ffiiv aX/j-ari /col Kpavyrt "with a leap and a shout," in place of our words "^the^ thunder of the captains and the shouting." But other texts have ffvv a\a\dyfj.aTi (or crvva\a\a.y/j.ari} Kal Kpavyfi "with a shout and a cry," and this must have been how Macarius* read it. "Goeth on" comes from verse 21.

The state of Christians is like merchandise, and like leaven. A s merchants amass earthly gains, so Christians gather together their thoughts that were scattered about the world. A s leaven turns the whole lump into leaven, so the leaven of sin permeates the whole race of Adam; but Christ puts a heavenly leaven of goodness in faithful souls. 1. CHRISTIANS are like merchants trading for very great gains. As merchants amass out of the earth earthly gains, so Christians collect together out of all the earth, by means of all virtues and the power of the Spirit, the thoughts of their own heart in this present age. This is the greatest and the true merchandise. For this world is opposed to the world above, and this present age to the eternity above. The Christian therefore, according to holy scripture, must deny the world, and be translated and pass in mind out of this present age, in which the mind is placed and exposed to allurements ever since the transgression of Adam, into another age, and in frame of thought must liv.e in the world of the Godhead above, as it is said, But our conversation is in heaven.* 2. But there is no succeeding in this unless the soul will deny this world and shall believe in the Lord wholeheartedly, in which case the power of the Spirit of God is able to gather in the heart, now scattered over the whole earth, to the love of the Lord, and to translate its frame of

1 Phil. iii. 20. 174 mind into the eternal world. From the time of Adam's transgression the thoughts of the soul have been scattered away from the love of God to this present age, being mingled with material and earthly thoughts. But as Adam, when he transgressed, took into his system a leaven of evil affections, so by participation all who were born of him, and the whole race of Adam, partook of that leaven, and ever since it has grown and increased, until the affections of sin have so developed in men that they have come to fornications and lasciviousnesses and idolatries -and murders and other wrong things, until humanity is all leavened with evil. To such an extent has the evil developed among men, that they have come to think that there is no God, and to worship inanimate stones instead, and to be unable so much as to take in the notion of a God. To such an extent has the leaven of wrong affections leavened the race of the old Adam. 3. In the same manner, the Lord, when He came on earth, was pleased to suffer on behalf of all, and to purchase them with His own blood, and to put the heavenly leaven of goodness in faithful souls, when they have been humbled under sin, and then by a process of growth and development to fulfil in them every righteousness enjoined upon them and all virtues, until they are leavened into one in that which is good, and become with the Lord one Spirit, according to St.

Paul's saying,1 so that sin and wickedness cannot even in thought come into the soul so completely and entirely leavened with the Divine Spirit, as it is said, Charity thinketh no evil, and the rest.2 But without the previous leavening from heaven, which is the power of the Divine Spirit, it is impossible for the soul to be leavened with the goodness of the Lord, and to arrive at life, even as the race of Adam could never have been perverted to such malice and wickedness, if the previous 1 i Cor. vi. 17. 2 i Cor. xiii. 5.

leavening of malice, which is sin, had not crept into him, being, as it is, a power of Satan of a spiritual and immaterial nature. 4. If a person were to knead flour without first putting in leaven, however much pains he may think good to take, turning it over and over, and working it up, the lump remains unleavened and unfit for food; but if leaven is put in, it draws to itself the whole lump of flour, and works it all to leaven, as the Lord said in His comparison of the kingdom, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.1 If there were meat, and a person were to take all manner of care of it, but did not salt it with the salt which destroys worms and prevents ill odour, the meat stinks and decays and becomes unserviceable to man. In the same way conceive of all mankind as being so much meat or dough, and imagine the salt and the leaven to belong to another world, the divine nature of the Holy Ghost. Now if this heavenly leaven of the Spirit, this good, holy salt of the Godhead, from yonder age and from yonder home, be not mixed and put into the human nature of men, there is no ridding the soul of the ill odour of wickedness, there is no leavening it from the heaviness and unleavened condition of evil.

5. Whatever the soul may think fit to do of itself, whatever care and pains it may take, relying only, upon its own power, and thinking to be able to effect a perfect success by itself, without the co-operation of the Spirit, it is greatly mistaken. It is of no use for the heavenly places ; it is of no use for the kingdom — that soul which supposes that it can achieve perfect purity of itself, and by itself alone, without the Spirit. Unless the man who is under the influence of passions will come to God, denying the world, and will believe with patience and hope to receive a good 1 Matt. xiii. 33. thing foreign to his" own nature, namely the power of the Holy Ghost, and unless the Lord shall drop upon the soul from on high the life of the Godhead, such a man will never experience true life, will never recover from the drunkenness of materialism ; the enlightenment of the Spirit will never shine in that benighted soul, or kindle in it a holy [daytime ; it will never awake out of that deepest sleep of ignorance, and so come to know God of a truth through God's power and the efficacy of grace.

6. Unless a man is permitted thus through faith to receive grace, he is not qualified or adapted for the kingdom ; but on the other hand, if he receives the grace of the Spirit, and does not at all change his mind, or do despite to grace by negligence or wrong-doing, and thus contends for some time without grieving the Spirit, he shall be enabled to obtain eternal life. As one perceives the workings of evil by the passions, by anger, by concupiscence, by envy, by heaviness, by wicked thoughts and other wrong things, so ought one to perceive the grace and power of God by the virtues, by kindness, by goodness, by cheerfulness, by gaiety, by divine gladness, in order to be likened to and mingled with the good and divine nature, with the kind and holy workings of grace. When the will is gradually and progressively tested by time and opportunity, whether it is continually at one with grace and is found well-pleasing, it comes gradually to be altogether in the Spirit, and so being wrought by the Spirit to holiness and purity is made meet for the kingdom. Glory and worship to the undefiled Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost for ever. Amen.

This Homily teaches that no man, without being strengthened by Christ, is capable of overcoming the stumbling-blocks of the evil one, and what those who desire the divine glory must do. It teaches also that through Adam's disobedience we came down into bondage to carnal passions, from which we are delivered by the mystery that is in the cross. It instructs us besides that the power of tears and of the divine fire is great. 1. Those upon whom the divine law is written, not with ink and letters, but implanted in hearts of flesh, these, having the eyes of their mind enlightened, and reaching after a hope, not tangible and seen, but invisible and immaterial, have power to get the better of the stumblingblocks of the evil one, not by themselves, but from the power that never can be defeated. But those who have not been honoured with God's word, nor instructed by divine law, are vainly puffed up? and fancy that by their own free will they can bring to nought the- resources of sin — sin which is only condemned through the mystery contained in the cross. It lies in the power of man's free will to resist the devil, but it does not extend to an absolute command over the passions. Except the Lord build the house, it says, and keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain, and the builder laboureth in vain.2

2. You cannot go upon the asp and basilisk? and tread 1 Col. ii. 1 8. 2 Ps. cxxvii. i. 3 This is the LXX version of Ps. xci. 13. 178 under your feet the lion and the dragon, without first purging yourself as far as human ability goes, and being strengthened by Him who said to the apostles, Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. 1 If human nature had had force, without the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, to stand against the wiles of the devil,2 the apostle would not have said, The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly? and again, Whom the Lord shall destroy with the Spirit of His mouth.4' That is why we are bidden of the Lord to pray, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.5 If we are not delivered by the superior power from the fiery darts of the wicked one and admitted to the adoption of sons, our social existence is in vain ; we are far from the power of God. 3. Accordingly, one who wishes to be a partaker of the divine glory, and to see as in a glass the form of Christ in the ruling faculty of his own soul,6 ought with insatiable affection and an inclination which is never filled, with all his

heart and all his might, by night and when it is day, to seek the help which comes mightily from God, of which, as I have said before, it is impossible to partake, unless a man first abstains from the luxury of the world, from the desires of the opposing power, which is alien to the light, and is an activity of wickedness with no kinship to a good activity, but wholly estranged from it. Therefore, if you wish to know why we, who were created in honour and put to live in 'paradise, came at last to be compared unto the beasts that have no understanding and were made like to them,7 having fallen from the glory of innocence, understand that, having become by the transgression the slaves of the fleshly

1 Luke x. 19. 2 Eph. vi. n. 3 Rom. xvi. 20. 4 2Thess. ii. 8. « Matt. vi I3 6 Tb yyenoviKov is a technical word of the later Greek philosophy. Ilesychius gives 6 vovs (the intelligence) as its equivalent. 7 So the LXX renders Ps. xlix. 12 and 20. i8o FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES passions, we shut ourselves out of the happy land of the living,'1 and being reduced to captivity we are still sitting by the waters of Babylon 2 ; and because we are still held in Egypt, we have not yet inherited the land of promise, flowing with milk and honey.3 We have not yet been leavened with the leaven of sincerity,4 but are still in the leaven of wickedness. Our heart is not yet sprinkled with the blood of God ; for the snare of hell,5 and the hook of sin is still fixed in it. 4. We have not yet taken to ourselves the gladness of Christ's salvation, for the sting of death 6 is still rooted in us. We have not yet put on the new man, which after God is created in holiness? since we have not yet put off the old man which is corrupt according to the sinful lusts.8 We have not yet borne the image of the heavenly? nor been made conformed to His glory.™ We have not yet worshipped God in spirit and in truth,11 because sin reigns in our mortal body.'1'2- We have not yet beheld the glory of the incorruptible,™ for we are still under the operation of the moonless night •-14 We have not yet put on the armour of light,15 since we have not yet put off the armour and the darts and the works of darkness.

We have not yet been transformed by the renewing of the mind, for we are still conformed to this world 16 in the vanity of the mind11 We are not yet glorified with Christ, because we have not suffered with Him.18 We do not yet bear in our body the marks of Him,19 and are not in the secret of the cross of Christ, for we are still in the affections and lusts of the flesh.20 We are not yet heirs of God and joint

1 Ps. cxvi. 9 (LXX cxiv. 9). 2 Ps. cxxxvii. i.. 3 Ex. iii. 8, etc. 4 A curious recollection of I Cor. v. 8. 5 Prov. ix. 1 8 (LXX). 6 i Cor. xv. 55. 7 Eph. iv. 24. 8 Eph. iv. 22. 9 i Cor. xv. 49. 10 Phil. iii. 21. 11 John iv. 24. 12 Rom. vi. 12. 13 Rom. i. 23. 14 A reminiscence of Ps. xi. 2 "privily" (LXX x. 3). 15 Rom. xiii. 12. 16 Rom. xii. 2. 17 Eph. iv. 17. 18 Rom. viii. 17. 19 Gal. vi. 17. 20 Gal. v. 24. heirs with Christ,'1 for the spirit of bondage is still in us, not that of adoption.2 We have not yet become the temple of God and the habitation of the Holy Ghost,3 for we are still the temple of idols and the hold of the spirits of wickedness because of our propensity to the passions. 5. In truth we have not yet acquired simplicity of conduct or the brightness of the mind. We have not yet had vouchsafed to us the guileless and reasonable milk 4 and the growth invisible. The day has not yet dawned upon us, nor the day star risen in our hearts.5 We have not yet been mingled with the sun of righteousness? nor begun to flash with His rays. We have not yet received the likeness of the Lord nor been made partakers of the divine nature.1 We have not yet become the genuine purple of the King, nor the unfalsified image of God.

We are not yet smitten with the passionate love of God, or stricken by the spiritual charity of the Bridegroom. We are not yet acquainted with that ineffable communion, and have not experienced the power and peace that there is in sanctification. To sum it all up, we are not yet a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people? forasmuch as we are still serpents, a generation of vipers?

6. How should we be anything but serpents, we who are not found in obedience to God, but in the disobedience which came by the serpent ? How to bewail the calamity as it deserves, I cannot find. How to cry aloud and weep to Him that is able to expel the error lodged within me, I do not know. How shall I sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? 10 How shall I lament for Jerusalem ? How shall I flee from the grievous bondage of Pharaoh ? How am I to quit the foul place of sojourn ? How can I deny the bitter tyranny? How can I get out of the land of 1 Rom. viii. 17. 2 Rom. viii. 15. 3 i Cor. iii. 16. 4 i Pet. ii. 2. 5 2 Pet. i. 19. 6 Mai. iv. 2. 7 2 Pet. i. 4. 8 i Pet. ii. 9. 9 Matt, xxiii. 33. 10 Ps. cxxxvii. 4. ifi2 FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES Egypt ? How can I cross the Red Sea ? how pass the great wilderness? how escape perishing from the bite of serpents ? how conquer the aliens ? How shall I utterly destroy the heathen within me ? How shall I receive the oracles of the law of God upon these tables of mine ? How shall I see the true pillar of light, and of the cloud proceeding from the Holy Ghost?

How shall I enjoy the manna of eternal delight ? how drink the water from the life-giving rock ? How am I to pass over Jordan, entering into the good land of promise? How am I to see the Captain of the Lord's host, whom Joshua the son of Nun, when he saw Him, immediately fell down and worshipped ? 7. Unless I go through all this and destroy the heathen within me, I cannot go into the sanctuary of God x and rest, nor become a partaker of the glory of the King.

Therefore labour to become a child of God without fault, and to enter into that rest,2 whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Christ.3 Labour to be enrolled in the church in heaven with the firstborn* that you may be found at the right hand of the majesty 5 of the Most High. Labour to enter into the holy city, the Jerusalem that is at peace, that is above, above all, where also is Paradise. You have no other way to be admitted to these wonderful and blessed types, unless you pour out tears day and night, like him who says, Every night wash I my bed, and water my couch with my tears.6 You know well that they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.1 The prophet says boldly, Hold not Thy peace at my tears;8 and again, Put my tears into Thy bottle ; are not these things noted in Thy book ? 9 and, My 1 Ps. Ixxiii. 17. 2 Heb. iv. u. 8 Heb, vi. 20. 4 Heb. xii. 23. 5 Heb. i. 3. 6 Ps. vi. 6. * 7 Ps. cxxvi. 6. 8 Ps. xxxix. 13. 9 Ps. Ivi. 8. Macarius has, Thou didst set my tears as in Thy promise. This follows the LXX, except in omitting before Thee after tears.

tears have been my meat day and night;1 and in another psalm, / have mingled my drink with weeping.21 8. For the tear that is really shed out of much affliction and anguish of heart 3 in the knowledge of the truth, with burning of the inward parts, is indeed a food of the soul, supplied from the heavenly bread, of which Mary preeminently partook, when she sat at the feet of the Lord and wept, after the testimony of the Saviour Himself. He says, Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.4' O those precious pearls in the flow of blessed tears ! O that immediate and ready hearing ! What a strong, wise mind ! What keen love of the Spirit of the Lord, moving vehemently towards the unsullied Bridegroom ! What a sting of desire in the soul for God the Word ! What swift communion of the bride with the heavenly Bridegroom ! 9. Imitate her then, my child; imitate her whose eyes were fixed upon nothing but Him only, who said, / am come to send fire upon the earth, and I would that it were already kindled? There is indeed a burning of the Spirit, which burns hearts into flame. The immaterial divine fire his the effect of enlightening souls and 'trying them, like unalloyed gold in the furnace, but of consuming iniquity, like thorns or stubble ;

for our God is a consuming fire,6 taking vengeance on them that know Him not in flaming fire, and on them that obey not His gospel.1 It was this fire that worked in the apostles, when they spoke with fiery tongues. It was this fire which shone by the voice round St. Paul, enlightening his mind, but blinding his sense of sight ; for not without the flesh did he see the power of that light. It was this fire which appeared to Moses in the bush. This fire, in the shape of a chariot, caught up Elias from the

1 Ps. xlii. 3. 2 Ps. cii. 9. 3 2 Cor. ii. 4. 4 Luke x. 42. Macarius seems to join this passage with Luke vii. 38. 5 Luke xii. 49. 6 Heb. xii. 29. 7 2 Thess. i. 8. earth. The blessed David was seeking the operation of this fire when he said, Examine me, 0 Lord, and prove me: try out my reins and my heart.* 10. It was this fire which warmed the heart of Cleopas and those with him while the Saviour talked after His resurrection. So the angels and ministering spirits partake of the shining of this fire, according to what is said, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire.'2' It is this fire which burns up the beam that is in the inward eye, making the mind clear, that, recovering its natural power of penetration, it may see without interruption the wonderful things of God, according as one says, Open Thou mine eyes, that I may see the wondrous things of Thy law.3 This fire drives away devils, and destroys sin ; but it is the power of resurrection, and the effectual working of immortality, the illumination of holy souls, and the strengthening of rational powers. Let us pray that this fire may reach us also, that always walking in light, we may never for a moment dash our feet against a stone,4' but shining as lights in the world, may hold forth the word of everlasting life ; 5 that enjoying ourselves among the good things of God we may rest with the Lord in life, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Concerning the worth and value, the power and efficiency of the immortal soul, and how it is tempted by Satan and obtains deliverance from the temptations. It contains also some questions full of very great instruction. 1. Do not regard lightly the immaterial substance of the soul, beloved one. The immortal soul is a precious vessel. See how great the heaven and the earth are, and God was not satisfied with them, but only with thee. Consider thy dignity and thy nobility, that to thy succour the Lord came in person, not by the medium of angels, to recall thee who wert lost, thee who wert wounded, and to restore to thee the primal fashioning of the pure Adam. For man was master from the sky above to the things beneath, and capable of discerning the affections, without any connexion with devils, pure from sin, the image and likeness of God. But by the transgression he is lost, and wounded and brought to death. Satan has darkened his mind. In one thing this is so, and in another he lives and discerns, and has a will. 2. Question. When the Holy Ghost comes, is not the natural desire eradicated along with the sin ?

Answer. I have already said that sin is eradicated, and man recovers the primal fashioning of the pure Adam. Man, however, by the power of the Spirit and the spiritual regeneration, not only comes to the measures of the first Adam, but is made greater than he. Man is deified. 3. Question. Is Satan let loose upon us by measure, or does he fight as he pleases ? i86 FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES Answer. As for him, his attack is not directed only against Christians, but against idolaters, and against all the world. If therefore he were allowed to fight as he pleases, he would have demolished all. Why ? Because that is his object and his will. But as the potter puts his vessels in, and heats the furnace gradually by measure, not overmuch, lest, if they were baked too violently, they should crack, and not too little, lest they should be spoiled by being halfbaked ; and if the silversmith or goldsmith applies the fire by measure, for if the fire is in excess, the gold and the silver are melted, and get watery, and are spoiled; and if the mind of man knows how to measure the burden to the beast, to the camel or whatever animal it is, according to its burden-bearing capacity ; how much rather does God, knowing what vessels men are, let loose the enemy power accordingly, in different degrees ?

4. And as the earth is one, but here is rocky and there rich, and one part is suitable for vine-culture, another for growing wheat or barley, so do these fields of human hearts and wills differ from each other, and so are the gifts of grace from above bestowed. To one is given a ministry of the word, to another discernment, to a third gifts of healings.1 God knows a man's capacity for stewardship, and distributes His different gifts accordingly. In the like manner with regard to warfare the enemy power is let loose upon men by a kind of measure, according as each man is able to receive and bear the brunt. 5. Question. When a man has received the divine power, and is in some degree altered by it, does he still remain in the state of nature ? Answer. In order that the will may be tested, even after grace, to see what way it inclines and gives consent, nature remains as it was before, the hard man in his hardness, and the light-hearted in his light-heartedness. It sometimes 1 i Cor. xii. 9. happens that an unlearned person is spiritually born again, and converted to a state of wisdom, and hidden mysteries are made known to him ; and yet he remains by nature an unlearned man. Another was made by nature hard ; and he gives up his will to godliness, and God accepts him ; but the hardness of his nature remains, though God is satisfied in him. Another is of kindly habits, gentle, and good : he gives himself to God, and God accepts him ; but if he does not continue in works of goodness, He is not satisfied. The whole nature of Adam1 is liable to change, for better or for worse, capable of what is wrong, yet, if it so pleases, without carrying it into effect.

6. It is like writing in a book. You write what you did not mean to write, and you erase it again. The book takes any kind of writing. So the hard man gave his will to God, was converted to what is good, was accepted by God ; for God, to show His compassions, accepts men of all kinds, every sort of disposition. The apostles, when they came into a city, stayed there some time, and healed some of those who were ill, and others not. The apostles themselves would have liked to raise all their dead, and bring to health all who were ill, and they had not entirely their own way : they were not permitted to do all that they liked. In like manner, when Paul was seized by the ethnarch, if the grace that was with him had but willed it, he would have made ethnarch and wall to cleave asunder — and he a man possessed of the Paraclete ; but the apostle was let down by means of a basket.2 Where then was the divine power that was with them ? These things happened providentially, that in some matters they did signs and wonderful works, and in some were powerless, in order to show the difference of faith between those who believed not and those who believed, and to test and display the freedom of the will, whether some would take offence at their weaker side. If 1 z". e. mankind. 2 2 Cor. xi. 32 f.

i88 FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES the apostles had done every single thing that they liked, men and their free will would have been planted in God's service by compulsory force because of the miracles, and it would no longer have been the work of faith or of unbelief. Christianity is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.* 7. What is written'of Job is not without significance, how Satan desired him.2 He was not able to do anything of himself, without leave. What does the devil say to the Lord ? " Give him into my hands : surely he will bless Thee to Thy face." 3 Job is the same to-day, and God is the same, and the devil is the same. In proportion as a man finds the help of God, and is zealous and fervent in grace, Satan desires him, and says to the Lord, "Because Thou succourest him, and helpest him, he serves Thee : let him go, and deliver him to me, surely he will bless Thee to Thy face." So, just because the soul is comforted, grace withdraws, and the soul is delivered to temptations. The devil comes, bringing ten thousand evils to bear — despair, giving it up, wicked thoughts — afflicting the soul, to loosen it and estrange it from hope of God.

8. But the prudent soul, when in miseries and affliction, never despairs, but holds what it holds, and whatever he may bring to bear, it endures amidst ten thousand temptations, saying, " If I die for it, I will not let Him go." Then, if the man endures to the end, the Lord begins to argue with Satan, " Thou seest how many miseries and afflictions thou hast brought to bear upon him ; and he has not listened to thee, but serves Me, and fears Me." Then the devil is ashamed, and has nothing more to say. In Job's case, if he had known that in spite of falling into temptations Job would dare and not be worsted, he would never 1 Rom. ix. 33. 2 Luke xxii. 31. 3 This is the LXX rendering in Job. i. n, ii. 5. The translators seem to have understood it ironically ; or perhaps they intended a mark of interrogation, " Will he surely? " have desired him, for fear of being ashamed. So it is still with those who endure afflictions and temptations ; Satan is ashamed and sorry, because he has got nothing by it. The Lord begins to reason with him, "Behold, I gave thee permission ; behold, I suffered thee to tempt him. Wast thou able to do anything ? Did he listen to thee at all ? "

9. Question. Does Satan know all a man's thoughts and intentions ? Answer. If one man, by being with another, knows about him, and you, who are twenty years old, know the affairs of your neighbour, can Satan fail to know your reasonings ? He has been with you from your birth. He is six thousand years old.1 Yet I do not say that he knows what a man will do before he tempts him. The tempter tempts, but does not know whether the man will yield or not yield, till such time as the soul gives up its will into bondage. Nor do I say that the devil knows all the thoughts and devices of the heart. Suppose there is a tree with many branches and many limbs. A man may be able to grasp two or three branches of the tree. So the soul has many branches and many limbs. There are some branches of thought and intention which Satan grasps ; there are other thoughts and intentions not grasped by Satan. 10. In one thing the side of evil is the stronger when thoughts spring up, in another the man's thought is more than conqueror, receiving succour and deliverance from God, and resisting sin. At one point the man is mastered, at another he has his will. Sometimes he comes to God with fervour, and Satan knows it, and sees that he is acting against him, and cannot restrain him. Why ? Because he has the will to cry to God; he has the natural fruits of loving God, of believing, of seeking and coming. In the outer world, the husbandman tills the. ground ; but in spite of his tilling, he

Old Testament, which differs from the Hebrew. i9o FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES needs rains and showers from above. If no moisture comes from above, the husbandman has no profit from his tilling of the ground. So is it with the spiritual world. There are two factors to be taken into consideration. The man must cultivate with a will the ground of his heart, and labour upon it — for God requires the man's labour and toil and travail. But unless clouds of heaven make their appearance from above, and showers of grace, the husbandman does not profit by his toil. ii. This is the mark of Christianity — however much a man toils, and however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to say, " This is not fasting," and in praying, " This is not prayer," and in perseverance at prayer, " I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to practise and to take pains " ; and even if he is righteous before God, he should say, " I am not righteous, not I ; I do not take pains, but only make a beginning every day." He should every day have the hope and the joy and the expectation of the coming kingdom and deliverance, and to say, " If to-day I have not been delivered, I shall to-morrow." As the man who plants a vine has the joy and the hope in himself, before ever he embarks upon the toil, and sketches out vineyards in his mind, and reckons up the income, when there has been no wine yet, and so enters upon the toil — for the hope and expectation make him labour cheerfully, and for the time being he incurs many expenses out of pocket ;

and in like manner the man who builds a house, and the man who tills a field, are at much expense to themselves first, in hope of the advantage to come; so it is here. If a man does not keep before his eyes the joy and the hope, " I shall find deliverance and life," he cannot endure the afflictions, or the burden, and adopt the narrow way. It is the presence of hope and joy that make him labour and endure the afflictions.

12. But as it is not easy for a brand to escape from the fire, so neither can the soul escape out of the fire of death, except with a great deal of trouble. For the most part, Satan, under pretext of good thoughts, that in such and such a way you can please God, offers suggestions to the soul, and underhand seduces it to subtle and specious notions, and it does not know how to discern that it is being seduced, and thus it falls into the snare and perdition of the devil.1 The most deadly weapon of the combatant and champion is this, to enter into the heart and make war there upon Satan, and to hate himself and to deny his own soul, to be angry with it and rebuke it, and to resist the desires that dwell there, and grapple with his thoughts, and fight with himself. 13. If outwardly you keep your body from corruption and fornication, but inwardly commit adultery, to God you are an adulterer and a fornicator in your thoughts, and you have gained nothing by the virginity of your body. If there is a young woman and a young man, and he by guile wheedles her till she is corrupted, she then becomes an object of loathing to her spouse, because she has been unfaithful. So the incorporeal soul, if it holds fellowship with the serpent that lurks within, the wicked spirit, goes a-whoring from God, as it is written, Everyone that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already in his hearth There is a fornication effected in the body, and there is a fornication of the soul, when it holds fellowship with Satan. The same soul is partner and sister either of devils, or of God and the angels ; and if it commits adultery with the devil, it is unfit for the heavenly Bridegroom.