Fifty Spiritual Homilies

Fifty Spiritual Homilies

continued

HOMILY XVIII

Concerning the Christians’ treasure, which is Christ and the Holy Ghost, who practises them in various ways to come to perfection. 1. 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 every 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, 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.

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 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; and again, We will come, I and My Father, and will make Our abode with him. 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 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 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 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 eye, 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. 11. 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, and again, Till we all come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. 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.

HOMILY XIX

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. 1. THE man who desires to come to the Lord, and to be found worthy of eternal life, and to become the dwelling-place 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, 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 I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

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; and again He says, If ye love Me, keep My commandments; and again, Be violent, for the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force, and, Strive to enter in by the strait gate. 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 dwelling-place 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 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 so unto all patience and longsuffering (according to that which is written) with joyfulness; 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;—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.

6. To all these things must a man force himself, who desires to approve himself to Christ and to please Him in order that the Lord, seeing his earnestness and purpose in compelling 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 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, charity 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. 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 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, 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, 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.

HOMILY XX

Only Christ, the true Physician of the inner man, can heal the soul, and array it in the garment of grace. 1. IF any one is naked for want of the divine and heavenly raiment, which is the power of the Holy Ghost—as it is said, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His—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, because the man who is not clad in the raiment of the Spirit is covered with much shame of vile affections. 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 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 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 us 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. Let us then beg and implore God to clothe us with 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 says, 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 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. 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; 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 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, 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 eyes 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 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, and He that has made the promise cannot lie. To Him be glory and might for ever. Amen.

HOMILY XXI

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. 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 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, 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, 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.

HOMILY XXII

Concerning the twofold state of those who depart out of this life. 1. 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.

HOMILY XXIII

1 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, 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 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 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.

3 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 of wickedness, and quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one. Without the armour of the Spirit, it does not come into the fighting 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.

HOMILY XXIV

The state of Christians is like merchandise, and like leaven. As merchants amass earthly gains, so Christians gather together their thoughts that were scattered about the world. As 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 live 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 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, 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. 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 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. 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 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.

HOMILY XXV

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 stumbling-blocks 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. You cannot go upon the asp and basilisk, and tread 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. If human nature had had force, without the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, to stand against the wiles of the devil, 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. That is why we are bidden of the Lord to pray, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 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, 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, having fallen from the glory of innocence, understand that, having become by the transgression the slaves of the fleshly passions, we shut ourselves out of the happy land of the living, and being reduced to captivity we are still sitting by the waters of Babylon; and because we are still held in Egypt, we have not yet inherited the land of promise, flowing with milk and honey. We have not yet been leavened with the leaven of sincerity, but are still in the leaven of wickedness. Our heart is not yet sprinkled with the blood of God;

for the snare of hell, 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 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. 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, because sin reigns in our mortal body. We have not yet beheld the glory of the incorruptible, for we are still under the operation of the moonless night. We have not yet put on the armour of light, 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 in the vanity of the mind. We are not yet glorified with Christ, because we have not suffered with Him. We do not yet bear in our body the marks of Him, and are not in the secret of the cross of Christ, for we are still in the affections and lusts of the flesh. We are not yet heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, for the spirit of bondage is still in us, not that of adoption.

We have not yet become the temple of God and the habitation of the Holy Ghost, 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 and the growth invisible. The day has not yet dawned upon us, nor the day star risen in our hearts. 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. 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? 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 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 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, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Christ. Labour to be enrolled in the church in heaven with the firstborn that you may be found at the right hand of the majesty 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. You know well that they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. The prophet says boldly, Hold not Thy peace at my tears; and again, Put my tears into Thy bottle; are not these things noted in Thy book? and, My ears have been my meat day and night; and in another psalm, I have mingled my drink with weeping.

8. For the tear that is really shed out of much affliction and anguish of heart 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. 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, I 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 has 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, taking vengeance on them that know Him not in flaming fire, and on them that obey not His gospel. 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 earth. The blessed David was seeking the operation of this fire when he said, Examine me, O 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.

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. 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, but shining as lights in the world, may hold forth the word of everlasting life; 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.

HOMILY XXVI

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? 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 half-baked; 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. 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 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 Adam 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. 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 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. 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.” 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 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. 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 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. 11. 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. 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 heart. 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.

14. Question. Is Satan ever quiet, and a man set free from warfare, or has he war as long as he lives? Answer. Satan is never quiet from warring. As long as ever a man lives in this world and wears the flesh, he has to war. But when all the fiery darts of the wicked one are quenched, what harm does it do the man, if Satan does try conclusions with him? A man is a friend of the king’s, and an adversary brings a suit against him. When he has the king to favour and befriend him, and the king gives him a helping hand, he takes no harm. When any one succeeds in passing through all ranks and degrees and becomes a friend of the king’s, no one then can do him any harm. There are in the outward world cities which receive gifts and subsidies from the emperor. If they do perform some service, they lose nothing by it, when they gain and get such advantages from the emperor. So Christians, even if the enemy fights against them, have taken up their quarters with the Godhead, and have put on the power and rest from on high, and do not mind the war.

15. As the Lord put on the body, leaving behind all principality and power, so Christians put on the Holy Ghost, and are at rest. Even if war comes outwardly, Satan may knock, but they are secured within by the power of the Lord, and do not mind Satan. He tempted the Lord in the wilderness forty days, and what harm did it do Him, to approach His body outwardly? Inwardly He was God. So Christians, though outwardly tempted, are inwardly filled with the Godhead, and are in nothing injured. But if any one has reached these measures, he has arrived at the perfect love of Christ, and at the fulness of the Godhead. One that is not so, has still war within. For an hour he is at rest in prayer; at another hour he stands in affliction and at war. Such is the will of the Lord. Because he is still a child, He practises him in the wars; and both things spring up in him, light and darkness, rest and affliction. They rest in prayer, and at another hour they are in distress.

16. Do you not hear what Paul says, “Though I have all gifts, though I give my body to be burned, though I speak with the tongues of angels, and have not charity, I am nothing. These gifts serve only as inducements. Those who are contented with them, are but children, though in the light. Many of the brethren have come to such measures, and had gifts of healing, and revelation and prophecy, and because they did not reach the perfect love, wherein lies the bond of perfectness, war came upon them, and they took no heed, and fell. But if anyone reaches the perfect love, that man is from thenceforth fast bound, and is the captive of grace. If anyone approaches within a little of the measure but does not reach to be fast bound in love itself, such an one is still subject to fear, and war, and falling, and unless he takes good care of himself, Satan throws him.

17. In this way many have erred when grace came to them. They thought that they had attained perfection, and said, “That is enough; we need no more.” But the Lord has no end, and there is no comprehending Him. Christians do not presume to say, “We have comprehended,” but are humbled, still seeking night and day. In the outer world, there is no end to learning, and no man knows it except a scholar who has acquired some degree of learning. So in the matter before us, God cannot be comprehended or measured, unless by those who have had a taste of Him, whom they have personally received, and they recognise their own incapacity. If a man who has a smattering of learning goes to a country place, where the people are no scholars, he is admired by them as a scholar, because they are altogether illiterate, and have no means of judging. But let that same man with his small amount of learning pass into a city where there are rhetoricians and real scholars; he dare not appear among them, or open his mouth, because the true scholars consider him illiterate.

18. Question. If a man who is still at war, and who still has both these things in his soul—sin and grace—is removed from this world, where does he go, when both sides have a hold upon him? Answer. He goes where his mind aims, and where his love is. Only if affliction and war come upon you, you ought to resist, and to hate it. That the war comes upon you is not your doing, but to hate it, is; and then the Lord, seeing your mind, that you are striving, and that you love Him with your whole soul, parts death from your soul in one moment—which is not hard for Him to do—and takes you to His bosom and into the light. In a moment of time He snatches you out of the mouth of darkness, and translates you at once into His kingdom. For to God all things are easy to do in a moment of time, if only your love is set upon Him. God needs man’s working, because the soul is capable of fellowship with the Godhead.

19. I have often already made use of the parable of the husbandman, how after labouring and putting his seed into the ground he must wait for the rain from above. Unless clouds appear and winds blow, the labour of the husbandman is of no use. The seed lies bare. Apply this to the spiritual order. If the man rests only upon his own working, and does not receive in addition something which his nature cannot supply, he cannot yield to the Lord fruits worthy of Him. Now what is man’s working? To renounce, to go out of the world, to pray when it is hard, to be on the watch, to love God and the brethren. This is his own doing. But if he rests upon this working of his own, and does not hope to receive anything else besides, and the winds of the Holy Ghost do not blow upon the soul, and if clouds of heaven do not appear, nor rain from heaven fall and moisten the soul, the man cannot yield to the Lord fruits worthy of Him.

20. It is written that when the husbandman sees the branch bearing fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit, but that which beareth not fruit he rooteth out, and giveth it to burning. But this is the part of man, that whether he fasts, or keeps watch, or prays, or does some fine thing, he should ascribe all to the Lord, and say, “If God had not enabled me, I could not have fasted, or prayed, or gone out of the world.” In this way, God, seeing your intention, that you ascribe to God the things that are yours, which you do of your own nature, bestows upon you in return the things that are His—the spiritual things, the divine and heavenly things. And what are they? The fruits of the Spirit, gladness and mirth. 21. Question. But since there are natural fruits like these, love, faith, prayer, show us the difference, how the natural things are, and how the spiritual.

Answer. The things which you do of yourself are all very well, and acceptable to God, but they are not quite pure. For instance, you love God, but not perfectly. The Lord comes, and gives a love which is unchangeable, the heavenly love. You pray in the natural manner with wandering and doubt; God gives you the pure prayer, in Spirit and in truth. In the visible world, the soil of itself for the most part produces thorns; the husbandman digs, works it carefully, puts in seed, but the thorns which no one sowed, spring up and multiply; for after the transgression it was said to Adam, Thistles and thorns shall the earth bring forth unto thee. The husbandman again takes trouble, digs up the thorns, and yet they multiply. Apply this spiritually. Since the transgression the ground of the heart brings forth thorns and thistles. The man works it, takes trouble, and still the thorns of the evil spirits spring up. Then the Holy Ghost Himself helpeth the infirmities of men, and the Lord puts heavenly seed in that ground of the heart, and works it; and though the seed is cast, the thistles and thorns still spring up. Again the Lord and the man together work the ground of the soul, and yet the evil spirits and the thorns shoot up there and grow, until the summer comes, and grace abounds, and the thorns are withered by the heat of the sun.

22. For though evil is present with nature, yet it no longer has the same dominion over it, or the same range. The delicate blades of the wheat may be choked by the tares; but when summer comes, after the drying off of the fruits, the tares harm the wheat no more. If there should happen to be thirty peck of pure wheat, and a mixture of tares of perhaps a quart is in it, what comparison does it bear? It is swamped in the abundance of the wheat. So in grace, when the gift of God and grace abounds in the man, and he is rich in the Lord, and yet evil is present to some extent, it cannot seriously harm the man, nor has it any force or range against him. The coming of the Lord and His provision had this object—to liberate those who were in bondage to evil, and bound over, and subject to it, and to make them conquerors of the death of sin. Brethren therefore ought not to think it strange, if some people give them trouble, with a view to getting rid of evil.

23. In the Old Testament, Moses and Aaron, when they held the priesthood, had much to suffer. Caiaphas, when he occupied their seat, himself persecuted and condemned the Lord; yet the Lord, in respect for the priesthood, suffered him to execute the office. The prophets likewise were persecuted by their own nation. Peter was the successor of Moses, entrusted with Christ’s new church and with the true priesthood; for we have now a baptism of fire and the Spirit, and a circumcision in the heart. For the divine and heavenly Spirit lodges in the mind; nevertheless even these perfect ones, so long as they are in the flesh, are not free from anxiety, because of the freedom of their will, but are still subject to fear, and for that same reason are allowed to be tempted. But if the soul succeeds in reaching that city of the saints, then, but not before, it is able to live without trouble and temptations. There, no longer is there anxiety, or trouble, or weariness, or old age, or Satan, or warfare, but rest, joy, peace, and salvation. The Lord is in the midst of them, and He is called the Saviour, becauses He saves the captives. He is called the Physician, forasmuch as He gives the heavenly and divine medicine, and heals the sufferings of the soul; for in some respects they have dominion over the man. To speak of them in comparison, Jesus is King and God; Satan is an usurper and a tyrant.

24. Well, God and His angels wish to adopt this man for the kingdom with themselves, the devil likewise and his angels desire to adopt him to themselves. The soul is in the middle between the two subsistences, and to whichever side the will of the soul inclines, of that side it becomes a possession and a son. And as a father, who sends his son to a foreign country, where he will meet with venomous creatures by the way, gives him remedies and antidotes, in order that if the venomous creatures or dragons attack him he may give them his remedy and kill them; so endeavour, I charge you, to receive the heavenly remedy, the healing and antidote of the soul, that by means of it you may kill the poisonous beasts of unclean spirits. It is indeed no easy matter to get a clean heart; only with much effort and labour can a man get a clean conscience and heart, that the evil may be quite eradicated.

25. It sometimes happens that grace comes to a man without his heart being cleansed. The reason why those who have fallen fell was that they did not believe that after grace smoke and sin could still be present with them. But all the righteous have gone the straight and narrow way to please God, and gone on it to the end. Abraham was rich toward God, as well as to the world, but he called himself dust and ashes. David says, A very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people, a worm and no man. In like manner all the prophets and apostles were ill-treated and reviled. The Lord Himself, who is the Way, and is God, when He came for thy sake, not for His own, to be a pattern to thee of every good thing—see to what humiliation He came, having taken the form of a servant, who is God, the Son of God, King, the Son of the King, giving healing remedies and curing those that are wounded, when He Himself appeared outwardly as one of the wounded.

26. But do not despise His divine dignity when thou beholdest Him outwardly humbled as one like us. It was for our sake that he appeared thus, not for His own. Consider, at the hour when they cried, Crucify Him, crucify Him, and the multitude came together, how He was humbled beyond all men. In the ordinary world, if there be a malefactor, and he receives sentence from the magistrate, he is then abhorred by the whole people, and set at nought. So was the Lord at the hour of the cross. As a man that was going to die, He was held of no account by the Pharisees. And when they spat in His face, and put on Him the crown of thorns, and buffeted Him, what further humiliation could He have undergone? It is written, I gave My back to the smiters, and I hid not My face from shame and spitting, and my cheeks from buffeting. If God condescends to such insults and sufferings and humiliation, thou, who art by nature clay and of mortal nature, howsoever thou mayest be humbled, thou wilt never do anything like Thy Master. God for thy sake humbled himself, and thou wilt not be humbled for thine own sake, but art proud and puffed up. He came to take upon Him thy afflictions and thy burdens, and to give Thee His own rest; and thou art unwilling to bear troubles and to suffer in order to gain healing for thy wounds. Glory be to His patience and long-suffering for ever. Amen.