to say, ing your condemnation, I entreat you, not to forbear coming, but to render yourselves worthy both of being present, and of approaching. Tell me, were any king to give command and "If any man does this, let him partake of my table; say, would ye not do all ye could to be admitted? He hath invited us to heaven, to the table of the great and wonderful King, and do we shrink and hesitate, instead of hastening and running to it? And what then is our hope of salvation? We cannot lay the blame on our weakness; we cannot on our nature. It is indolence and nothing else that renders us unworthy. So far have I spoken of myself. But may He that pricketh the heart, He that giveth the Spirit of compunction, pierce your hearts, and plant the seeds in the depth of them, that so through His fear ye may conceive, and bring forth the spirit of salvation, and come near with boldness. For, "thy children," it is said, "are like olive plants round about thy table." (Ps. cxxviii: 3.) O, then, let there be nothing old, nothing wild, nothing harsh. For of such sort are the young plants that are fit for fruit, for the beautiful fruit, fruit I mean of the olive-tree. And thriving they are, so as all to be round about the table, and come together here, not in vain or by chance, but with fear and reverence. For thus shall ye behold with boldness even Christ Himself in heaven, and shall be counted worthy of that heavenly kingdom, which may God grant we may all attain, in Jesus Christ, our Lord with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honor, now and ever, and for ages of ages. Amen. HOMILY IV. CHAPTER. II. VERSES 1-3. "And you did He quicken, when ye were dead | world, according to the prince of the power of through your trespasses and sins, wherein aforetime ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all once lived, in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature child ren of wrath even as the rest." 1 THERE is, we know, a corporal, and there is also a spiritual, dying. Of the first it is no crime to partake, nor is there any peril in it, inasmuch as there is no blame attached to it, for it is a matter of nature, not of deliberate choice. It had its origin in the transgression of the firstcreated man, and thenceforward in its issue it passed into a nature, and, at all events, will quickly be brought to a termination; whereas this spiritual dying, being a matter of deliberate choice, has criminality, and has no terinination. Observe then how Paul, having already shown how exceedingly great a thing it is, in so much that to heal a deadened soul is a far greater thing than to raise the dead, so now again lays it down in all its real greatness. "And you," saith he "when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, wherein aforetime ye walked according to the course of this the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience." You observe the gentleness of Paul, and how on all occasions he encourages the hearer, not bearing too hard upon him. For whereas he had said, Ye have arrived at the very last degree of wickedness, (for such is the meaning of becoming dead,) that he may not excessively distress them,2 (because men are put to shame when their former misdeeds are brought forward, cancelled though they be, and no longer attended with danger,) he gives them, as it were, an accomplice, that it may not be supposed that the work is all their own, and that accomplice a powerful one. And who then is this? The Devil. He does much the same also in the Epistle to the Corinthians, where, after saying, "Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters," (1 Cor. vi: 9.) and after enumerating all the other vices, and adding in conclusion, "shall inherit the kingdom of God; he then adds, "and such were some of you;" he does not say absolutely, "ye were,' " but " some of you were," that is, thus in some sort were ye. Here the heretics attack us. They tell us that these expressions ("prince of all the power of the air," etc.) are used with reference to God, and letting loose their unbridled tongue, they fit these 2 [Paul's motive .n this passage is probably not what Chrysostom says, but, on the contrary, to show how desperately bad their state was.-G. A.] things to God, which belong to the Devil alone. lest he should slander the flesh, or lest it should How then are we to put them to silence? By be supposed that the transgression was not great, the very words they themselves use; for, if He observe how he guards the matter, is righteous, as they themselves allow, and yet hath done these things, this is no longer the act of a righteous being, but rather of a being most unrighteous and corrupted; and corrupted God cannot possibly be. "Doing," he says, "the desires of the flesh Ver. 4. "But God, being rich in mercy.' Further, why does he call the Devil "the prince" of the world? Because nearly the whole human race has surrendered itself to him, and all are willingly and of deliberate choice his slaves. And to Christ, though He promises unnumbered blessings, not any one so much as gives any heed; whilst to the Devil, though it is said also in another place; "In the multipromising nothing of the sort, but sending them tude of thy mercies." (Ps. lxix: 17.) And again, on to hell, all yield themselves. His kingdom" Have mercy upon me, according to the multhen is in this world, and he has, with few titude of thy tender mercies." (Ps. li: 1.) exceptions, more subjects and more obedient Ver. 4. "For His great love,3 wherewith He subjects than God, in consequence of our indol- loved us." According to the power," saith he, "of the air, of the spirit."1 Why did He love us? For these things are not deserving of love, but of the sorest wrath, and punishment. And thus it was of great mercy. Ver. 5. "Even when we were dead through our trespasses He quickened us together with Christ. Here again he means, that Satan occupies the space under Heaven, and that the incorporeal powers are spirits of the air, under his operation. For that his kingdom is of this age, i. e., will cease with the present age, hear what he Again is Christ introduced, and it is a matsays at the end of the Epistle; "Our wrestling ter well worthy of our belief, because if the is not against flesh and blood, but against the Firstfruits live, so do we also. He hath quickprincipalities, against powers, against the world ened both Him, and us. Seest thou that all rulers of this darkness;" (Eph. vi: 12.) where, this is said of Christ incarnate? Beholdest lest when you hear of world-rulers you should thou "the exceeding greatness of His power to therefore say that the Devil is uncreated, he us-ward who believe?" (Eph. i: 19.) Them elsewhere (Gal. i: 4.) calls a perverse time, that were dead, them that were children of "an evil world," not of the creatures. For he wrath, them hath he quickened. seems to me, having had dominion beneath the thou "the hope of his calling?" sky, not to have fallen from his dominion, even Ver. 6. "He raised us up with Him and after his transgression. made us sit with Him." "That now worketh," he says, "in the sons of disobedience." Beholdest Beholdest thou the glory of His inheritance ? Chrysostom understands the words according to the order in which they stand in the original text, nuev Tékva puσel opуns, "we were natural" or "genuine children of wrath," referring "by nature" not to "we were" but to "children." To say that we were by "nature" under wrath, might have seemed all one with saying that God created Adam under wrath. When then we so speak, we must take the word "nature" in S. Augustine's sense, not to mean our literal nature, but "as referring to our birth." quod dixi, natura esse male animæ nullo modo queunt, si quæritur quomodo accipiamus quod ait Apostolus, Fuimus et nos naturâ filii iræ, &c.'" respondemus, naturam in his verbis meis me intelligi voluisse illam, quæ proprie natura dicitur, in quå sine vitiis creati sumus. Nam ista propter "In eo You observe that it is not by force, nor by compulsion, but by persuasion, he wins us over; "disobedience " or "untractableness" is his word, as though one were to say, by guile and persuasion he draws all his votaries to himself. And not only does he give them a word of encouragement by telling them they have an associate, but also by ranking him-originem natura appellatur, quæ origo utique habet vitium, self with them, for he says, "Among whom we also all once lived." "All," because he cannot say that any one is excepted. "In the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." That is, having no spiritual affections. Yet, "["The word amp which is commonly confined to the region of the air, may be extended to all that supra-terrestrial but sub-celestial region which seems to be, if not the abode, at least the haunt of evil spirits. cf Jobi: 7."-Ellicott.-G. A.] quod est contra naturam. August. Retract. i. 15. §. 6. vid, also de Lib. Arb. iii. 54.] "That man is a born subject of wrath from birth, an object of the divine condemnation, is not at all a doctrine of the Apostle, according to whom man by his actual sin falls under the wrath of God, inasmuch as he becomes subject to and follows the inborn principle of sin in opposition to his moral will which he likewise by nature bears in himself. Certainly man is born with this natural sinful quality, i. e., with the princiill is vanquished (Rom. vii, cf. Jo. iii: 6.) It is not, however, the ple of sin, by the awakening and development of which the moral mere fact of this inborn presence having its basis in his flesh that in and of itself makes him a child of wrath, but he only becomes so when that constitution of his moral nature, that mingling of the two opposite principles in his natural disposition has brought about the victory of the sin-principle, which however is the case with every one."-Meyer.-G. A.] 3 [Διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ : “ namely, in order to satisfy it."-Meyer.-G. A.] That "He hath raised us up together," is plain. But that He hath made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," how does this hold? It holds as truly, as that He hath raised us together. For as yet no one is actually raised, excepting that inasmuch as as the Head hath risen, we also are raised, just as in the history, when Jacob did obeisance, his wife also did obeisance to Joseph. (Gen. xxxvii: 9, 10.) And so in the same way hath He also made us to sit with Him." For since the Head sitteth, the body sitteth also with it, and therefore he adds "in Christ Jesus." Or again, if it means, not this, it means that by the laver of Baptism He hath "raised us up with Him." How then in that case hath He made "us to sit with Him?" Because, saith he, "if we suffer we shall also reign with Him," (2 Tim. ii: 12.) if we be dead with Him we shall also live with Him. Truly there is need of the Spirit and of revelation, in order to understand the depth of these mysteries. And then that ye may have no distrust about the matter, observe what he adds further. Ver. 7. "That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in kindness towards us, in Christ Jesus." prepared of My Father." (Matt. xx: 23.). So that it hath been prepared. And well saith he, "in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus," for to sit on His right hand is honor above all honor, it is that beyond which there is none other. This then he saith, that even we shall sit there. Truly this is surpassing riches, truly surpassing is the greatness of His power, to make us sit down with Christ. Yea, hadst thou ten thousand souls, wouldest thou not lose them for His sake? Yea, hadst thou to enter the flames, oughtest thou not readily to endure it? And He Himself too saith again, "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." (John. xii: 26.) Why surely had ye to be cut to pieces every day, ought ye not, for the sake of these promises cheerfully to embrace it? Think, where He sitteth? above all principality and power. And with whom it is that thou sittest? With Him. And who thou art? One dead, by nature a child of wrath. And what good hast thou done? None. Truly now it is high time to exclaim, "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" (Rom. xi :33.) Ver. 8. "For by grace," saith he "have ye been saved."2 In order then that the greatness of the benefits bestowed may not raise thee too high, observe how he brings thee down: "by grace ye have been saved," saith he, "Through faith; Then, that, on the other hand, our free-will be not impaired, he adds also our part in the work, and yet again cancels it, and adds, "And that not of ourselves." Neither is faith, he means, "of ourselves." Because had He not come, had He not called us, how had we been able to believe? for "how," saith he, "shall they believe, unless they hear?" (Rom. x: 14.) So that the work of faith itself is not our own. Whereas he had been speaking of the things which concerned Christ, and these might be nothing to us, (for what, it might be said, is it to us, that He rose) therefore he shows that they do moreover extend to us, inasmuch as He is made one with us. Only that our concern in the matter he states separately. "Us," saith he, "who were dead through our trespasses He raised up with Him, and made us sit with Him." Wherefore, as I was saying, be not unbelieving, take the demonstration he adduces both from former things, and from His Headship, and also from His desire to show forth His goodness. For how will He show it, unless this come to pass? And He will show it in the ages to come. What? that the blessings are "It is the gift," said he, "of God," it is both great, and more certain than any other."not of works." For now the things which are said may to the unbelievers seem to be foolishness; but then all shall know them. Wouldest thou understand too, how He hath made us sit together with Him? Hear what Christ Himself saith to the disciples, "Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. xix: 28.) And again, "But to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give, but it is for them for whom it hath been [This is Meyer's view. He says: "By virtue of the dynamic connection of Christ with believers as the head with its body their revivification is objectively comprehended in His." Ellicott says; "Though the simple meaning of ovvnyeiper and συνεκάθισαν seems to confine their reference to what is future and objective; still as ouvesworo yoev though primarily spiritual and present may have a physical and future reference, so here a present spiritual resurrection and enthronement may be alluded .-G. A.] Was faith then, you will say, enough to save us? No; but God, saith he, hath required this, lest He should save us, barren and without work at all. His expression is, that faith saveth, but it is because God so willeth, that faith saveth. Since, how, tell me, doth faith save, without works? This itself is the gift of God. "That no man should glory.' That he may excite in us proper feeling Ver. 9. ["Confirmatory explanation of the truth and justice of the expression, 'the exceeding riches of His grace' by a recurrence to the statement made parenthetically in verse 5."-Ellicott.-G. A.) [Meyer objects to this interpretation saying: "How violent is this taking to pieces of the text, since οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν and οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων present themselves in a manner alike natural and weighty as elements belonging to one flow of the discourse! The τοῦτο refers to the salvation just designated as regards its specific mode." So substantially Ellicott.-G. A.] things to God, which belong to the Devil alone. How then are we to put them to silence? By the very words they themselves use; for, if He is righteous, as they themselves allow, and yet hath done these things, this is no longer the act of a righteous being, but rather of a being most unrighteous and corrupted; and corrupted God cannot possibly be. Further, why does he call the Devil the prince" of the world? Because nearly the whole human race has surrendered itself to him, and all are willingly and of deliberate choice his slaves. And to Christ, though He promises unnumbered blessings, not any one so much as gives any heed; whilst to the Devil, though promising nothing of the sort, but sending them on to hell, all yield themselves. His kingdom then is in this world, and he has, with few exceptions, more subjects and more obedient subjects than God, in consequence of our indol ence. "According to the power," saith he, "of the air, of the spirit." Here again he means, that Satan occupies the space under Heaven, and that the incorporeal powers are spirits of the air, under his operation. For that his kingdom is of this age, i. e., will cease with the present age, hear what he says at the end of the Epistle; "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of this darkness;" (Eph. vi: 12.) where, lest when you hear of world-rulers you should therefore say that the Devil is uncreated, he elsewhere (Gal. i: 4.) calls a perverse time, "an evil world," not of the creatures. For he seems to me, having had dominion beneath the sky, not to have fallen from his dominion, even after his transgression. "That now worketh," he says, "in the sons of disobedience." You observe that it is not by force, nor by compulsion, but by persuasion, he wins us over; "disobedience or "untractableness" is his word, as though one were to say, by guile and persuasion he draws all his votaries to himself. And not only does he give them a word of encouragement by telling them they have an associate, but also by ranking self with them, for he says, 66 lest he should slander the flesh, or lest it should be supposed that the transgression was not great, observe how he guards the matter, 66 'Doing," he says, "the desires of the flesh and of the mind." That is, the pleasurable passions. We provoked God to anger, he saith, we provoked Him to wrath, we were wrath, and nothing else. For as he who is a child of man is by nature man, so also were we children of wrath2 even as others; i. e., no one was free, but we all did things worthy of wrath. Ver. 4. "But God, being rich in mercy." Not merely merciful, but rich in mercy; as it is said also in another place; "In the multitude of thy mercies." (Ps. lxix: 17.) And again, "Have mercy upon me, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies." (Ps. li: 1.) Ver. 4. "For His great love,3 wherewith He loved us." Why did He love us? For these things are not deserving of love, but of the sorest wrath, and punishment. And thus it was of great mercy. Ver. 5. "Even when we were dead through our trespasses He quickened us together with Christ." Again is Christ introduced, and it is a matter well worthy of our belief, because if the Firstfruits live, so do we also. He hath quickened both Him, and us. Seest thou that all this is said of Christ incarnate? Beholdest thou "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe?" (Eph. i: 19.) Them that were dead, them that were children of wrath, them hath he quickened. Beholdest thou "the hope of his calling?" Ver. 6. "He raised us up with Him and made us sit with Him." Beholdest thou the glory of His inheritance? Chrysostom understands the words according to the order in which they stand in the original text, huer Tékva Dvoel opуns, “ we were natural" or "genuine children of wrath," referring "by nature" not to" we were" but to "children." To say that we were by "nature" under wrath, might have seemed all one with saying that God created Adam under wrath. When then we so speak, we must take the word "nature" in S. Augustine's sense, not to mean our literal nature, but "as referring to our birth." "In eo quod dixi, naturâ esse male animæ nullo modo queunt, si quæritur quomodo accipiamus quod ait Apostolus, Fuimus et nos naturâ filii iræ, &c.'" respondemus, naturam in his verbis meis me intelligi voluisse illam, quæ proprie natura him-originem natura appellatur, quæ origo utique habet vitium, dicitur, in quâ sine vitiis creati sumus. Nam ista propter quod est contra naturam. August. Retract. i. 15. §. 6. vid, also de Lib. Arb. iii. 54.] "That man is a born subject of wrath from birth, an object of the divine condemnation, is not at all a sin falls under the wrath of God, inasmuch as he becomes subdoctrine of the Apostle, according to whom man by his actual ject to and follows the inborn principle of sin in opposition to his moral will which he likewise by nature bears in himself. Certainly 'Among whom we also all once lived." "All," because he cannot say that any one is excepted. "In the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. That is, having no spiritual affections. "The word amp which is commonly confined to the region of the air, may be extended to all that supra-terrestrial but sub-celes-with every one."-Meyer.-G. A.] tial region which seems to be, if not the abode, at least the haunt of evil spirits, cf Jobi: 7."-Ellicott.-G. A.] man is born with this natural sinful quality, i. e., with the principle of sin, by the awakening and development of which the moral will is vanquished (Rom. vii, cf. Jo. iii: 6.) It is not, however, the mere fact of this inborn presence having its basis in his flesh that in and of itself makes him a child of wrath, but he only becomes Yet, so when that constitution of his moral nature, that mingling of the two opposite principles in his natural disposition has brought about the victory of the sin-principle, which however is the case 3 [Διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ : “ namely, in order to satisfy it," Meyer.-G. A.] That "He hath raised us up together," is plain. But that He hath made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," how does this hold? It holds as truly, as that He hath raised us together. For as yet no one is actually raised, excepting that inasmuch as as the Head hath risen, we also are raised, just as in the history, when Jacob did obeisance, his wife also did obeisance to Joseph. (Gen. xxxvii: 9, 10.) And so in the same way "hath He also made us to sit with Him." For since the Head sitteth, the body sitteth also with it, and therefore he adds "in Christ Jesus." Or again, if it means, not this, it means that by the laver of Baptism He hath "raised us up with Him." How then in that case hath He made us to sit with Him?" Because, saith he, "if we suffer we shall also reign with Him," (2 Tim. ii: 12.) if we be dead with Him we shall also live with Him. Truly there is need of the Spirit and of revelation, in order to understand the depth of these mysteries. And then that ye may have no distrust about the matter, observe what he adds further. Ver. 7. "That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in kindness towards us, in Christ Jesus." prepared of My Father." (Matt. xx: 23.) So that it hath been prepared. And well saith he, "in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus," for to sit on His right hand is honor above all honor, it is that beyond which there is none other. This then he saith, that even we shall sit there. Truly this is surpassing riches, truly surpassing is the greatness of His power, to make us sit down with Christ. Yea, hadst thou ten thousand souls, wouldest thou not lose them for His sake? Yea, hadst thou to enter the flames, oughtest thou not readily to endure it? And He Himself too saith again, “Where I am, there shall also My servant be." (John. xii: 26.) Why surely had ye to be cut to pieces every day, ought ye not, for the sake of these promises cheerfully to embrace it? Think, where He sitteth? above all principality and power. And with whom it is that thou sittest? With Him. And who thou art? One dead, by nature a child of wrath. And what good hast thou done? None. Truly now it is high time to exclaim, "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" (Rom. xi :33.) Ver. 8. "For by grace," saith he "have ye been saved."2 In order then that the greatness of the benefits bestowed may not raise thee too high, observe how he brings thee down: "by grace ye have been saved," saith he, "Through faith; Then, that, on the other hand, our free-will be not impaired, he adds also our part in the work, and yet again cancels it, and adds, "And that not of ourselves." Neither is faith, he means, 3 "of ourselves." Because had He not come, had He not called us, how had we been able to believe? for "how," saith he, "shall they believe, unless they hear?" (Rom. x: 14.) So that the work of faith itself is not our own. Whereas he had been speaking of the things which concerned Christ, and these might be nothing to us, (for what, it might be said, is it to us, that He rose) therefore he shows that they do moreover extend to us, inasmuch as He is made one with us. Only that our concern in the matter he states separately. "Us," saith he, "who were dead through our trespasses He raised up with Him, and made us sit with Him." Wherefore, as I was saying, be not unbelieving, take the demonstration he adduces both from former things, and from His Headship, and also from His desire to show forth His goodness. For how will He show it, unless this come to pass? And He will show it in the ages to come. What? that the blessings are both great, and more certain than any other."not of works.' For now the things which are said may to the unbelievers seem to be foolishness; but then all shall know them. Wouldest thou understand too, how He hath made us sit together with Him? Hear what Christ Himself saith to the disciples, "Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. xix: 28.) And again, "But to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give, but it is for them for whom it hath been [This is Meyer's view. He says: "By virtue of the dynamic connection of Christ with believers as the head with its body their revivification is objectively comprehended in His." Ellicott says: • Though the simple meaning of συνήγειρεν and συνεκάθισεν seems to confine their reference to what is future and objective; still as ovvesworocyoev though primarily spiritual and present may have a physical and future reference, so here a present spiritual resurrection and enthronement may be alluded .-G. A.] "It is the gift," said he, "of God," it is Was faith then, you will say, enough to save us? No; but God, saith he, hath required this, lest He should save us, barren and without work at all. His expression is, that faith saveth, but it is because God so willeth, that faith saveth. Since, how, tell me, doth faith save, without works? This itself is the gift of God. "That no man should glory." That he may excite in us proper feeling ง Ver. 9. "["Confirmatory explanation of the truth and justice of the expression, 'the exceeding riches of His grace' by a recurrence to the statement made parenthetically in verse 5."-Ellicott.-G. A.) [Meyer objects to this interpretation saying: "How violent is this taking to pieces of the text, since οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν and οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων present themselves in a manner alike natural and weighty as elements belonging to one flow of the discourse! The τοῦτο refers to the salvation just designated as regards its specific mode." So substantially Ellicott.-G. A.] |