Fifty Spiritual Homilies

Fifty Spiritual Homilies

continued

HOMILY XI

That the power of the Holy Ghost in man’s heart is like fire; and what things we need, in order to distinguish the thoughts that spring up in the heart; and concerning the dead serpent fixed by Moses at the top of the pole, which was a type of Christ. The Homily contains two dialogues, one between Christ and the evil one, Satan; the other between sinners and the same. 1. THAT heavenly fire of the Godhead, which Christians receive in their hearts now in this present world, that same fire which now ministers inwardly in the heart becomes outward when the body is dissolved, and recomposes the members, and causes a resurrection of the members that had been dissolved. As the fire that ministered on the altar at Jerusalem lay buried in a pit during the time of the captivity, and the selfsame fire, when peace came and the captives returned home, was renewed, as it were, and ministered in its accustomed manner, so now the heavenly fire works upon this body that is so near us, which after its dissolution turns to mire, and renews it, and raises up the bodies that had decayed. The inward fire that now dwells in the heart becomes then external, and causes a resurrection of the body.

2. The fire in the furnace under Nabuchodonosor was no divine fire, but a creature; but the Three Children, because of their righteousness, while they were in the visible fire, had in their hearts the divine and heavenly fire ministering within their thoughts and exerting its energy in them. That very fire showed itself outside them. It stood between them and the visible fire, and restrained it, that it should not burn the righteous, nor do them any manner of hurt. In like manner, when the mind of Israel and their thoughts were bent upon departing far from the living God and turning to idolatry, Aaron was compelled to tell them to bring their golden vessels and ornaments. Then the gold and the vessels, which they cast into the fire, became an idol, and the fire, as it were, copied their intention. That was a wonderful thing. They, secretly, in purpose and thought, determined upon idolatry, and the fire accordingly fashioned the vessels thrown upon it into an idol, and then they committed idolatry openly. As, then, the Three Children, having thoughts of righteousness, received in themselves the fire of God, and worshipped the Lord in truth, so now faithful souls receive that divine and heavenly fire, in this world, in secret; and that fire forms a heavenly image upon their humanity. 3.

As the fire formed the golden vessels, and they became an idol, so does the Lord, who copies the intentions of faithful and good souls, and forms an image even now in the soul according to their desire, and at the resurrection it appears external to them, and glorifies their bodies within and without. But as the bodies of some are at this time decayed for a season, and dead, and dissolved, so also are their thoughts decayed by the action of Satan, and are dead to the life indeed, and buried in mire and earth; for their soul is perished. As, therefore, the Israelites cast the golden vessels into the fire, and they became an idol, so now the man has given over his pure and good thoughts to evil, and they have been buried in the mire of sin, and are become an idol. And what shall a man do to discover them, and discern them, and cast them out of his own fire? Here the soul has need of a divine lamp, even of the Holy Ghost, who sets in order the darkened house. It needs the bright sun of righteousness, which enlightens and rises upon the heart, as an instrument to win the battle.

4. That woman who lost the piece of silver, first lighted the lamp, and then set the house in order, and thus, the house being set in order and the lamp lit, the piece of silver was found, buried in dirt and filth and earth. So now the soul cannot of itself find its own thoughts, and disengage them; but when the divine lamp is lit, it lights up the darkened house, and then the soul beholds its thoughts, how they lie buried in the filth and mire of sin. The sun rises, and then the soul beholds its loss, and begins to recall the thoughts that were mingled among the dirt and the uncleanness. For indeed the soul lost her image when she transgressed the commandment. 5. Suppose there is a king, and he has goods and servants under him to minister to him, and he happens to be taken by his enemies and carried captive. When he is taken and removed from his country, his ministers and servants cannot but follow after him. Thus Adam was created pure by God for His service, and these creatures were given him to minister to his wants. He was appointed lord and king of all creatures. But when the evil word came to him, and conversed with him, he first received it by the outward hearing, then it penetrated through his heart, and took possession of all his being. When he was thus seized, creation, which served him and ministered to him, was seized with him. Through him death reigned over every soul, and defaced every image of Adam in consequence of his disobedience, so that men were turned and came to the worship of devils. Lo, the fruits of the earth, which were created good by God, are offered to the devils—bread, and wine, and oil; and they set animals upon their altars; yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils.

6. At this point comes He in person, who fashioned body and soul, and undoes the whole business of the wicked one, and his works accomplished in men’s thoughts, and renews and forms a heavenly image, and makes a new thing of the soul, that Adam may again be king over death and lord of the creatures. In the shadow of the law, Moses was called the Saviour of Israel, because he brought them out of Egypt. So now the true Redeemer, Christ, goes through into the hidden places of the soul, and brings it out of dark Egypt, and the heavy yoke, and the bitter bondage. He commands us, therefore, to come out of the world, and to become poor of all visible things, and to have no earthly care, but night and day to stand at the door, and wait for the time when the Lord shall open the closed hearts, and shall pour upon us the gift of the Spirit.

7. He told us therefore to leave gold, silver, kinsfolk, to sell that which we have and distribute to the poor, and to treasure it up and seek it in heaven. For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The Lord knew that in this quarter Satan prevails over the thoughts, to drag them down to anxiety for material, earthly things. For this reason God, in providential care for thy soul, told thee to renounce all, in order that even against thy will thou mightest seek the heavenly riches, and keep thy heart Godwards; for even if thou shouldest wish to return to the creaturely things, thou findest nothing visible in thy possession. Wiliest thou, nillest thou, thou art compelled to send thy mind to heaven, where thou hast treasured these things and laid them up; for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

8. In the law God commanded Moses to make a serpent of brass, and lift it up, and fix it upon the top of a pole, and as many as were stung by the serpents, when they fixed their attention upon the brazen serpent, obtained healing. This was done by way of a dispensation, in order that those who were held by earthly cares, and the worship of idols, and the pleasures of Satan, and all manner of ungodliness, might by this means to some extent look upward to things above, and gaining a respite from things below, might give heed to higher things, and again proceed from these to that which is highest; and thus advancing little by little to the higher and loftier kind, might learn to know that there is a Most Highest surpassing all the creation. So likewise He commanded thee also to make thyself poor, and to sell all and give to the poor, in order that after that, even if thou shouldest wish to sink down upon the earth, it might be impossible. Searching into thy heart, thou beginnest to commune with thy thoughts, “Inasmuch as we have nothing upon earth, let us be getting heavenwards, where our treasure is, where we have set up a business.” Thy mind begins to uplift an eye to the height, to seek the things above, and in so doing to make progress.

9. What, however, is the dead serpent? The serpent fixed upon the top of the pole healed those that were stung. The dead serpent overcame the live ones. Thus it is a figure of the body of the Lord. The body which He took of the ever Virgin Mary, He offered it up upon the cross, and hung it there, and fastened it upon the tree; and the dead body overcame and slew the live serpent creeping in the heart. Here was a great marvel, how the dead serpent slew the live one; but as Moses made a new thing, when he made a likeness of the live serpent, so also the Lord made a new thing from the Virgin Mary, and put this on, instead of bringing with Him a body from heaven. The heavenly Spirit entered in and wrought in Adam, and brought him into combination with the Godhead, and put on human flesh, and fashioned it in the womb. As no serpent of brass was ever commanded by the Lord to be made in the world until Moses, so a new and sinless body was never seen in the world until the Lord. For when the first Adam transgressed the commandment, death reigned over his children without exception. So a dead body overcame the live serpent.

10. This wonderful thing is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness. But what says the apostle? But we preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to us that are saved Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. In the dead body is life. Here is redemption; here is light. Here the Lord comes to death, and discourses with him, and bids him bring the souls out of hell and death, and give them back to Him. Behold then, death, troubled at these things, goes in to his ministers, and gathers together all his powers; and the prince of wickedness produces the bond-deeds, and says, “See, these obeyed my words; see how men worshipped us. But God, who is a just judge, displays His justice here also, and says to him, “Adam obeyed thee, and thou didst take possession of all the hearts of him. Humanity obeyed thee. What is My body doing here? This is without sin. That body of the first Adam was under obligation to thee, and thou hast a right to keep the bond-deeds of it; but to Me all bear witness that I never sinned. I owe thee nothing, and all bear witness that I am the Son of God. Above the heavens came a voice and bore witness upon the earth, This is My beloved Son; hear Him. John witnesses, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;

and the scripture again, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in Him; and, The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me. And thou thyself, O Satan, bearest witness to Me, saying, I know Thee, who Thou art, the Son of God; and again, What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to torment us before the time? There are three that bear witness to Me—He that is above the heavens sends forth a voice; they that are on earth; and thou thyself. Therefore I purchase the body that was sold to thee through the first Adam; I cancel thy bonds. I paid the debts of Adam, when I was crucified and descended into hell; and I command thee, O hell and darkness and death, bring out the imprisoned souls of Adam. Thus the evil powers, stricken with terror, give back the imprisoned Adam.

11. But when you hear that at that time the Lord delivered the souls from hell and darkness, and went down to hell, and did a glorious work, do not imagine that these things are so very far from your own soul. Man is capable of admitting and receiving the evil one. Death keeps fast hold of the souls of Adam, and the thoughts of the soul lie imprisoned in the darkness. When you hear of sepulchres, do not think only of visible ones; your own heart is a sepulchre and a tomb. When the prince of wickedness and his angels burrow there, and make paths and thoroughfares there, on which the powers of Satan walk into your mind and thoughts, are you not a hell, a tomb, a sepulchre, a dead man towards God? There it was that Satan coined reprobate silver. In this soul he sowed seeds of bitterness. It is leavened with old leaven; a fountain of mire springs there. Well, then, the Lord comes into souls that seek after Him, into the deep of the heart-hell, and there lays His command upon death, saying, “Bring out the imprisoned souls that are seeking after Me, which thou detainest by force.” So He breaks through the heavy stones that lie on the soul, opens the sepulchres, raises up the man that is dead indeed, brings out of the dark jail the imprisoned soul.

12. Just as if a man were bound hand and foot with chains, and some one came and loosed his bands, and let him walk free without interference, so the Lord looses from its bonds the soul that is bound with the chains of death, and lets it go, and sets the mind free to walk at ease and unhindered into God’s air. Suppose a man were in the middle of a river in full flood, and overwhelmed by the water lay lifeless, drowned, with dreadful monsters all round him. If another man, who is not used to swimming, should wish to save the one who fell in, he too is lost, and is drowned with him. Clearly there is need of a skilled swimmer, an expert, to go out into the depth of the water of the gulf, and dive, and bring up the drowned man there among the monsters. The water itself, when it sees a man skilled and knowing how to navigate it, helps such a man, and bears him up to the surface. The soul, in the same way, has been plunged and drowned in the abyss of darkness and the deep of death, and is dead and parted from God among dreadful monsters; and who is able to go down into those secret chambers and the depths of hell and death, except that expert Workman who fashioned the body? In His own person He enters into two quarters, into the depth of hell, and into the deep gulf of the heart, where the soul with its thoughts is held fast by death, and brings up out of the darksome hole the Adam that lay dead. And death itself, through practice, becomes an assistance to man, like the water to the swimmer.

13. What difficulty is there to God in entering into death, or into the deep gulf of the heart either, and calling up the dead Adam from thence? In the natural world there are houses and tenements where mankind dwell, and there are places where wild beasts dwell, lions, or dragons, or other venomous beasts. If the sun, which is but a creature, enters in every direction, through windows, through doors, and into the dens of lions, and into the holes of serpents, and comes out again without taking any harm, how much more does the God and Lord of all enter into the holes and dwelling-places where death pitched his tent, and into souls, and rescue Adam from thence without being injured by death? The rain, too, comes down from heaven, and reaches down into the lower parts of the earth, and there moistens and renews the dried roots, and makes there a new growth.

14. One man maintains conflict and hardship and war against Satan. This man’s heart is contrite; he is in care and mourning and tears. Such an one has come to stand in two separate realms. If, then, in this state of things he perseveres, the Lord is with him for the battle, and protects him; for he seeks in earnest, and knocks at the door till He opens to him. Again, if you see here a good brother, it is grace which has established him. But the man without foundation has no such fear of God. His heart is not contrite. He is in no fear, nor does he secure his heart and members, not to walk disorderly. This man’s soul is altogether free, for he has not yet entered into conflict. There is then a difference between the man in conflict and hardship, and the man who does not know what battle is. Even the seeds, when cast into the ground, undergo hardship with the frosts, with the winter, with the coldness of the air, and in due season the growth is quickened.

15. It sometimes happens that Satan talks in the heart, “See how many wrong things thou hast done! See how many follies thy soul is filled with, and thou art weighed down with sins, that thou canst not be saved.” This he does, to reduce thee to despair, and to make thee think that thy repentance is not acceptable. For since by the transgression wickedness entered in, it talks with the soul every hour, like man with man. Answer him then thou, “I have the testimonies of the Lord in writing, that say, I desire not the death of the sinner, but his repentance, and that he should turn from his wickedness and live.” It was for this that He came down, to save sinners, to raise the dead, to quicken lost lives, to give light to those in darkness. In truth He came, and called us to the adoption of sons, to a holy city which is ever at peace, to the life that never dies, to glory incorruptible. Only let us put a good finish to our beginning. Let us abide in poverty, in the condition of strangers, in suffering affliction, in petition to God, knocking importunately at the door. Near as the body is to the soul, the Lord is nearer, to come and open the locked doors of the heart, and to bestow on us the riches of heaven. He is good and kind to man, and His promises cannot lie, if only we continue seeking Him to the end. Glory be to the compassions of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost for ever. Amen.

HOMILY XII

Concerning the state of Adam before he transgressed God’s commandment, and after he had lost both his own image and the heavenly. The Homily contains some very profitable questions. I. ADAM, on transgressing the commandment, suffered a twofold disaster. He lost the pure and lovely possession of his nature, which was after the image and likeness of God; and he lost also that very image in which was laid up for him according to promise all the heavenly inheritance. Suppose there were a coin, bearing the image of the king, and it were stamped afresh with a wrong stamp; the gold is lost, and the image is of no value. Such was the disaster which befell Adam. Great riches and a great inheritance had been prepared for him. Suppose there were a great estate, and it had many sources of revenue in it; here a flourishing vineyard, there fruitful fields, there flocks and herds, there gold and silver; so valuable was the estate before the disobedience, the estate consisting in Adam’s own vessel. But when he entertained evil intentions and thoughts, he was lost from God.

2. We do not say, however, that everything was lost, and destroyed, and died. He died from, God, but to his own nature he lives. For behold, the whole world walks the earth, and does its business. But God’s eye sees their mind and their imaginations, and as it were looks round them and past them, and makes no communion with them, because nothing that they think is well-pleasing to God. If there are houses of promiscuous reception and of ill-fame, and places where disorders and debaucheries are carried on godly people, as they pass, loathe them, and seeing refuse to see, for these things are to them dead. So God casts an eye upon those who have revolted from His word and from His commandment, but His eye passes on from them, and makes no communion there, nor can the Lord find a resting-place in their thoughts. 3. Question. How can any one be poor in spirit, especially when he is inwardly conscious that he is a changed man, and has made progress, and has come to a knowledge and understanding which he did not possess before?

Answer. Until a man acquires these things and makes progress, he is not poor in spirit, but has some opinion of himself; but when he comes to this understanding and point of progress, grace itself teaches him to be poor in spirit, which means that a man being righteous and chosen of God does not esteem himself to be anything, but holds his soul in abasement and disregard, as if he knew nothing and had nothing, though he knows and has. This is a fixed thing, like a law of nature, in the mind of men. Do you not see how our forefather Abraham, elect as he was, described himself as dust and ashes, and David, anointed to be king, had God with him, and yet what does he say? I am a worm and no man, a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people. 4. Those therefore who desire to be fellow-heirs with these, and fellow-citizens of the heavenly city, and to be glorified with them, ought to have this humility of mind, and not to think themselves to be anything, but to keep the heart contrite. Though grace works after a different manner in each individual Christian, and has a diversity of members, yet all are of one city, of the same mind, of the same tongue, recognising one another. As there are many members in the body, but one soul is in them all and moves them, so one Spirit works differently in all, but they are of one city, and of one way. All the righteous have gone the straight and narrow way, being persecuted, tormented, reviled, living in goatskins, in dens, in caves of the earth. The apostles likewise say, Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and reviled, and have no certain dwelling-place. Some of them were beheaded, some crucified, others afflicted in various ways. And the Lord of prophets and apostles Himself, how did He fare, as if He had forgotten His divine glory? He was made an example for us; He wore in mockery a crown of thorns upon His head; He submitted to spittings, buffets, and the cross.

5. If God so fared on earth, thou oughtest also to copy Him. The apostles and the prophets fared thus, and we, if we would be built upon the foundation of the Lord and of the apostles, ought to copy them. The apostle says by the Holy Spirit, Be ye imitators of me, as I am of Christ. But if thou lovest the glories of men, and desirest to be worshipped, and seekest repose, thou art turned out of the way. It behoves thee to be crucified with the Crucified, to suffer with Him that suffered, that so thou mayest be glorified with Him that is glorified. The bride must needs suffer with the Bridegroom, and so become partner and fellow heir with Christ. It is not feasible, without sufferings, and without the rough, straight, narrow way, to enter into the city of the saints, and be at rest, and reign with the King to ages without end.

6. Question. You said that Adam lost both his own image and the heavenly one. If then he partook of the heavenly image, had he the Holy Ghost? Answer. So long as the Word of God was with him, and the commandment, everything was his. The Word Himself was to him an inheritance; He was his clothing, and a glory that was his defence; He was his instruction. He suggested to him to give all things names: “Call this heaven, this sun, this moon, this earth, this a bird, this a beast, this a tree;” as he was taught, so he named them. 7. Question. Had he the experience and fellowship of the Spirit? Answer. The Word Himself being with him was everything to him, whether knowledge, or experience, or inheritance, or instruction. What does John say of the Word? In the beginning was the Word. You see that the Word was everything. If there was also an outward glory with him, let us take no offence at it; for it says that they were naked, and that they did not look at each other; and after transgressing the commandment they saw that they were naked, and were ashamed.

8. Question. Then before this, were they clothed with the glory of God for a cloak? Answer. As in the case of the prophets, the Spirit wrought in them and taught them, and was within them, and appeared to them outwardly, so with Adam. The Spirit, when it pleased Him, was with him, and taught him, and suggested, “Speak thus,” and he said it. For the Word was all things to him, and so long as he abode in the commandment he was a friend of God. And yet why should we be surprised if in spite of such conditions of existence he transgressed the commandment? Those who have been filled with the Holy Ghost still have the thoughts of nature, and have the will to comply with them. Thus Adam, though present with God in paradise, transgressed of himself by his own will, and obeyed the evil side. Still, even after the transgression, he had knowledge.

9. Question. What kind of knowledge? Answer. When a robber is brought into court, and the trial begins, and the magistrate says to him, “When you were doing these wrong things, did you not know that you would be liable to be taken and put to death?” He has not the face to say “No.” He knew, and when punishment ensues, he remembers and confesses all. And does not the whoremonger know that he is doing wrong? And the man who is stealing, does he not know that it is a sin? Thus, even without the scriptures, do not men know from natural reasoning that there is a God? They cannot say in that day, “We did not know that Thou, God, art.” He says to them, “Did ye not know the thunders and lightnings from heaven, that there is a God who governs the creation?” Why then did the devils cry out, Thou art the Son of God; why art Thou come to torment us before the time? Even now at the shrines of martyrs they say, “You burn me, you burn me.” They did not, then, know the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The transgression of Adam conveyed the knowledge.

10. Every one begins to ask, what state Adam was in, and what happened to him. Adam himself received the knowledge of good and evil. We hear from the scriptures that he was in a state of honour and purity, and on transgressing the commandment he was cast out of paradise, and God was wroth with him. So he learns what things are good for him; and having learnt what things are evil he secures himself, that he may not sin any more and fall into the condemnation of death. Now we know that the whole creation of God is governed by God. He it was that made heaven and earth, animals, creeping things, beasts. We see them all, but do not know the number of them. What man is there that knows? God only, who is in all things, even in the unborn offspring of the animals. Does He not know the things that are under the earth, and that are above the heavens?

11. Let us then leave these things, and rather seek, like good men of business, to gain possession of a heavenly inheritance and the things that are profitable to our souls. Let us learn to gain possessions which will stay by us. If you, who are but human, begin to search the thoughts of God, and to say, “I have found out something, and comprehend it,” the human mind will be found surpassing the thoughts of God. But in this you are much mistaken; and the more you desire to search and get to the bottom, the more you get out of your depth, and fail to comprehend anything. Those visitations of His which happen to you—what He works day by day in you, and how—these are beyond expression or comprehension; you can do nothing but receive them with thankfulness, and believe. Have you been able to take cognisance of your own soul from the time when you were born till now? If so, declare to me the thoughts that spring up in you from dawn to dusk. Tell me the cogitations of three days. Nay, you cannot. If then you could not comprehend the thoughts of your own soul, how can you find out the thoughts and mind of God?

12. Nay, eat as much bread as you find, and leave the wide earth to pursue its way; go to the brink of the river, and drink as much as you need, and pass on, and seek not to know whence it comes, or how it flows. Do your best to have your foot cured, or the disease of your eye, that you may see the light of the sun, but do not enquire how much light the sun has, or how high it rises. The animal which is profitable for your use, that take: why do you go off to the hills and try to discover how many wild asses and other beasts dwell there? The babe, when it comes to its mother’s breast, takes the milk and thrives; it does not search for the root and well-spring from which it flows so. It sucks the milk, and empties the whole measure; and another hour passes—the breast fills up. The babe knows nothing of it, nor the mother either, although the supply proceeds from all her members. If then, you seek the Lord in the depth, there you find Him. If you seek in the water, you find Him there, doing wonders. If you seek Him in the den, there you find Him between two lions, guarding the righteous Daniel. If you seek Him in fire, there you find Him, succouring His servants. If you seek Him in the mountain, there you find Him with Elias and Moses. He is everywhere—beneath the earth, and above the heavens, and within us as well. He is everywhere. So too your own soul is near you, and within you, and without you; for wherever you please, in countries far away, there your mind is, whether westward or eastward, or in the skies; there it is found.

13. Let us then seek above all things to have the brand and seal of the Lord upon us; because in the day of judgment, when the severity of God is shewn, and all the tribes of the earth, even all Adam, are gathered together, when the good Shepherd calls His own flock, all those who have the brand recognise their own Shepherd, and the Shepherd takes knowledge of those who have His own seal, and gathers them together from all the nations. Those that are His hear His voice, and go behind Him. The world is divided into two parts, and one flock is dark, which goes into eternal fire, and one is full of light, which is led up to the heavenly rest. What we now make our own, within our souls, the same then shines and is manifested, and clothes our bodies with glory. 14. As in the season of the month of Xanthicus, the roots buried in the earth put forth their own fruits, and their own blossoms and beauties, and bear fruit, and the good roots are manifested, and those that have thorns are made manifest, so in that day each one makes evident by his own body what he has done. The good things and the bad are alike manifested. There lies all the judgment and the retribution. There is another food besides this visible food. When Moses went up into the mount, he fasted forty days. He went up a man and no more; he came down possessed of God. Now see; we behold in ourselves that if the body is not supported by victuals, in a few days it is worn out; yet when Moses had fasted for forty days, he came down more full of vigour than all of them. It was because he was fed by God, and his body was provided with another and a heavenly food. The Word of God was made food to him, and he had a glory in his countenance. What happened to him was an example. That glory now shines inwardly in the hearts of Christians; at the resurrection, their bodies are covered, as they rise, with another, a divine, raiment, and are fed with a heavenly meat.

15. Question. What is meant by a woman praying with her head uncovered? Answer. Because in the apostles’ time they wore their hair loose for a covering. For this reason the Lord and the apostles came into the world of creation, and taught it sobriety. The woman, however, stands as a type of the church. Whereas in the visible world the women at that time wore their hair undone for a covering, the church clothes and wraps her children in divine and glorified garments. And in the old days of the church of Israel the congregation was one, and it was covered by the Spirit, and they were clothed with the Spirit for a glory, although they themselves did not correspond with it. Well, the word “church” is used of the individual soul, as well as of many; for the soul gathers together all her faculties and is thus a church to God. For the soul was fitted for communion with the heavenly Bridegroom, and mingles with the heavenly One. This is observed both of the many and of the one. Thus the prophet says of Jerusalem, I found thee desolate and naked, and I clothed thee, and so forth, as if he spoke of a single person.

16. Question. What does it mean when Martha said to the Lord about Mary, “I am hard at work about many things, while she sits beside Thee”? Answer. What Mary might well have said to Martha, the Lord, anticipating her, replied—that she had left everything to sit at the Lord’s feet, and bless God all day long. You see, her sitting was for love’s sake. But that God’s word may be made clearer, listen to this. If any one loves Jesus, and attends to Him in earnest, and not in a casual way, but in love abides by Him, God is already devising to make some return to that soul for its love, although the man does not know what he is to receive, or what portion God is about to give to the soul. When Mary loved Him, and sat at His feet, the gift that was added to her was no casual gift; He gave her a certain hidden virtue from His own substance. The very words which God spoke in peace to Mary were so many spirits, and a power; and these words entering into her heart were made a soul to her soul and a spirit to her spirit, and a divine power was filled into her heart. Where that power shall lodge, it cannot but abide permanently, as a possession not to be taken away. For this reason the Lord, who knew what He gave her, said Mary hath chosen the good part. But after a time the things which Martha had done so eagerly in the way of service brought her to that gift of grace. She too received divine power in her soul.

17. What is there to be surprised at if those who came to the Lord, and were personally attached to Him, received His power, when the apostles spoke the word, and the Holy Ghost fell on those who believed? Cornelius received power from the word which he heard; how much more, when the Lord spoke the word to Mary, or to Zacchæus, or to the sinful woman who let her hair down and wiped the Lord’s feet, or to the woman of Samaria, or to the robber, did power go out, and the Holy Ghost was mingled with their souls? And still those who love God, and leave all things, and persevere in prayer, are taught in secret things that they knew not. The truth itself is manifested to them, according to their choice, and teaches them, I am the truth. The apostles themselves, before the crucifixion, by continuing with the Lord, saw great signs—how the lepers were cleansed and the dead raised up, and knew not how divine power goes up and down and ministers in the heart, and that they should be spiritually born again, and mingled with the heavenly soul, and become a new creation. Because of the signs which He did, they loved the Lord. But the Lord said to them, “Why marvel ye at the signs? I give unto you a great inheritance, which the whole world hath not.”

18. His words seemed strange to them, until He rose from the dead, and carried up His body on our behalf above the heavens; and then the Paraclete Spirit entered into their souls and was mingled with them, and the Truth in person manifests itself in faithful souls, and the heavenly Man comes to be with the man that thou art, and becomes one communion with thee. As many as give themselves to serve, and eagerly do all things out of zeal and faith and the love of God, that very service after a time brings them into the knowledge of the truth itself. The Lord is manifested to their souls, and teaches them the ways of the Holy Ghost. Glory and worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.

HOMILY XIII

What fruit God expects from Christians. 1. ALL things that are seen were created by God, and He gave them to men for refreshment and enjoyment, and He gave them also a law of righteousness. But from the time of Christ’s coming God seeks other fruit, and another righteousness, purity of the heart, a good conscience, kind words, holy and good thoughts, and all the discipline of the saints. The Lord says, “Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. In the law it is written, Thou shalt not commit fornication; but I say unto you, Thou shalt not desire, neither shalt thou be angry.” He who wishes to be a friend of God, and a brother and son of Christ, must do something more than other men, that is, to consecrate heart and mind themselves, and to stretch up his thoughts towards God. In this way God secretly gives life and help to the heart, and entrusts Himself to it. When a man gives God his secret things, that is, his mind and thoughts, not occupying himself elsewhere, nor wandering away, but putting constraint upon himself, then the Lord deems him worthy of mysteries, in greater sanctity and purity, and gives him heavenly food and spiritual drink.

2. A man who is possessed of much substance, and has both servants and children, gives a different kind of food to the servants from what he gives to his own born children, because the children are their father’s heirs, and eat with him, being made like to their father. Even so Christ, the true Master of the house, who created all things Himself, nourishes the evil and the unthankful, but the children whom He has begotten of His own substance, to whom He has imparted of His grace, in whom the Lord is formed, these He provides beyond others with special refreshment and diet and meat and drink. Going up and down with Jesus their Father, they receive the gift of Himself, as the Lord says, He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him, and he shall not see death. Those who possess the true inheritance have been begotten as sons of a heavenly Father, and pass their time in their Father’s house, as the Lord says, The servant abideth not in the house, but the son abideth for ever.

3. If we then desire to be born of the heavenly Father, we ought to do something that exceeds the rest of mankind—diligence, effort, zeal, love, a good conversation, to be in faith and fear, as desiring to attain good things of such magnitude, and to inherit God. The Lord, it says, is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thus the Lord, beholding our good purpose and our endurance, performs His mercy, and cleanses us from the defilement of sin, and from the eternal fire that is in us, and makes us meet for the kingdom. Glory to His tender compassion and to the good pleasure shewn of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

HOMILY XIV

Those who give their thoughts and their mind to God do so in the hope that the eyes of their heart may be enlightened, and God vouchsafes to them mysteries in the greatest sanctity and purity, and imparts to them of His grace. What we who desire to attain the good things of heaven ought to do. Then the apostles and the prophets are compared to the sun’s rays coming in at a window. The Homily also teaches what is Satan’s “Earth,” and what that of the angels, and that both are intangible and invisible. 1. ALL works visibly done in the world are done in hope, with a view to partaking of the results of the labour. If it were not for the assurance of enjoyment from the toil, no advantage would be gained. The husbandman sows in hope of fruits, and is supported under his labours by the expectation. He that plougheth, the apostle says, plougheth in hope. He that takes a wife, does it in hope of having heirs. The merchant commits himself to the sea and the risk of death for the sake of gain. So also in the Kingdom of Heaven a man gives himself up in hope that the eyes of his heart may be enlightened, withdrawing from the affairs of this life, and keeping himself free for prayers and supplications, looking for the Lord, when He shall come and manifest Himself to him, and shall cleanse him from the sin that dwells in him.

2. He puts no confidence, however, in his labours and manner of life, until he obtains the things hoped for, until the Lord comes and dwells in him in the full experience and energy of the Spirit. And when he tastes the goodness of the Lord, and delights in the fruits of the Spirit, and the veil of darkness is taken away, and the light of Christ shines upon him and works in him in joy unspeakable, then is he fully satisfied, having the Lord with him in great affection, as the merchant in the illustration rejoices when he has gained. But he still has conflict and fear from the robber spirits of wickedness, lest he should grow slack and lose his labour, before he is accepted in the kingdom of heaven, in the Jerusalem which is above. 3. Let us then beseech God that He would put off from us the old man, and put on us the heavenly Christ, here and now, so that being in gladness, and thus being led by Him, we shall be in great tranquillity. The Lord, who desires to fill us with the taste of the kingdom, says, Without Me ye can do nothing.

And yet He knew how to enlighten many by means of the apostles. They were but creatures, but they nourished their fellow servants. Thoughts that were dead and corrupted they quickened and restored to life by their good conversation and instruction. It is possible for one creature to nourish and quicken another. The clouds, the rain and the sun, when so commanded, quicken the seeds of wheat or barley, though they are only creatures. Like light which comes in through a window, while the sun sends out his beams upon all the world, so the prophets were the lights of their own house of Israel, and no more; but the apostles were suns, shooting out their beams into all the quarters of the world. 4. Well, there is an “earth,” on which the beasts dwell; and there is an “earth” in the air, in which the birds walk and live. If the birds wish to stand or walk on land, there are fowlers to catch them. The fishes too have an “earth,” which is the water of the sea. Wherever anything is born, on land or in the air, there it has its existence, its sustenance, and its pleasure. In the same way there is a Satanic “earth” and home, where the powers of darkness and the spirits of wickedness live and walk and take their pleasure; and there is a luminous “earth” of the Godhead, where the camps of angels and of holy spirits walk and take pleasure. That darksome earth cannot be seen with the eyes of this body, nor be felt; neither is the luminous earth of the Godhead felt, or seen by the fleshly eyes. But to those who are spiritual both are discernible to the heart’s eye, that Satanic earth of darkness and the luminous earth of the Godhead.

5. The fable of those without says that there are mountains, which are fiery, because there is fire in them, and there are there animals like sheep. Those who hunt them make iron wheels, and cast hooks and throw them into the fire, because those animals have fire for their meat, and fire for their drink, their pleasure, their increase, and their life. Fire is everything to them. If you bring them out into another air, they die. When their coats are dirtied, they are not washed in water, but in the fire, and they get cleaner and whiter. Christians in like manner have that heavenly fire for their meat. That is their pleasure. That cleanses, and washes, and sanctifies their heart. That brings them to increase. That is their air and their life. If they go out of it, they are destroyed by the evil spirit, as the animals in the fable die when they leave the fire, as the fish when they leave the waters. As fourfooted beasts cast into the sea are drowned, as birds walking on the ground are taken by the fowlers, so the soul which will not stay in that “earth” is stifled and perishes. If it has not that divine fire for meat and drink and raiment, and cleansing of heart and sanctification of soul, it is taken by the evil spirits and demolished. But as for us, let us enquire in earnest whether we have been sown in that unseen “earth,” and engrafted in the heavenly vine. Glory be to, His mercies. Amen.