[4178] 2 Cor. ix. 9.
[4179] 2 Cor. ix. 10, 11.
[4180] 2 Cor. ix. 12.
[4181] 1 John iii. 17.
[4182] Luke xiv. 12-14.
2. In works and alms, even if by smallness of power less be done, that the will itself is sufficient.
In the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "If there be a ready will, it is acceptable according to what a man hath, not according to that which he hath not; nor let there be to others a mitigation, but to you a burdening. [4183]
[4183] 2 Cor. viii. 12, 13.
3. That charity and brotherly affection are to be religiously and stedfastly practised.
In Malachi: "Hath not one God created us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why have ye certainly deserted every one his brother?" [4184] Of this same thing according to John: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." [4185] Also in the same place: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love than this has no man, than that one should lay down his life for his friends." [4186] Also in the same place: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." [4187] Also in the same place: "Verily I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth concerning everything, whatever you shall ask it shall be given you from my Father which is in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them." [4188] Of this same thing in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "And I indeed, brethren, could not speak unto you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I have given you milk for drink, not meat: for while ye were yet little ye were not able to bear it, neither now are ye able. For ye are still carnal: for where there are in you emulation, and strife, and dissensions, are ye not carnal, and walk after man?" [4189] Likewise in the same place: "And if I should have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods for food, and if I should deliver up my body to be burned, but have not charity, I avail nothing. Charity is great-souled; charity is kind; charity envieth not; charity dealeth not falsely; is not puffed up; is not irritated; thinketh not evil; rejoiceth not in injustice, but rejoiceth in the truth. It loveth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, beareth all things. Charity shall never fail." [4190] Of this same thing to the Galatians: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and accuse one another, see that ye be not consumed one of another." [4191] Of this same thing in the Epistle of John: "In this appear the children of God and the children of the devil. Whosoever is not righteous is not of God, and he who loveth not his brother. For he who hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." [4192] Also in the same place: "If any one shall say that he loves God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?" [4193] Of this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles: "But the multitude of them that had believed acted with one soul and mind: nor was there among them any distinction, neither did they esteem as their own anything of the possessions that they had; but all things were common to them." [4194] Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: If thou wouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave thou thy gift before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift at the altar." [4195] Also in the Epistle of John: "God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." [4196] Also in the same place: "He who saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is a liar, and walketh in darkness even until now." [4197]
[4184] Mal. ii. 10.
[4185] John xiv. 27.
[4186] John xv. 12, 13.
[4187] Matt. v. 9.
[4188] Matt. xviii. 19, 20.
[4189] 1 Cor. iii. 1-3.
[4190] 1 Cor. xiii. 2-8.
[4191] Gal. v. 14, 15.
[4192] 1 John iii. 10, 15.
[4193] 1 John iv. 20.
[4194] Acts iv. 32.
[4195] Matt. v. 23, 24. [I think this harmonizes with Heb. xiii. 10.]
[4196] 1 John iv. 16.
[4197] 1 John ii. 9.
4. That we must boast in nothing, since nothing is our own.
In the Gospel according to John: "No one can receive anything, except it were given him from heaven." [4198] Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "For what hast thou that thou hast not received? But if thou hast received it, why boastest thou, as if thou hadst not received it?" [4199] Also in the first of Kings: "Boast not, neither speak lofty things, and let not great speeches proceed out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge." [4200] Also in the same place: "The bow of the mighty men has been made weak, and the weak are girt about with strength." [4201] Of this same thing in the Maccabees: "It is just to be subjected to God, and that a mortal should not think things equal to God." [4202] Also in the same place: "And fear not the words of a man that is a sinner, because his glory shall be filth and worms. Today he shall be lifted up, and to-morrow he shall not be found; because he is turned into his earth, and his thought has perished." [4203]
[4198] John iii. 27.
[4199] 1 Cor. iv. 7.
[4200] 1 Sam. ii. 3, 4.
[4201] 1 Sam. ii. 3, 4.
[4202] 2 Macc. ix. 12.
[4203] 1 Macc. ii. 62, 63.
5. That humility and quietness are to be maintained in all things.
In Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord God, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is the stool of my feet. What seat will ye build for me, or what is the place for my rest? For all those things hath my hand made, and all those things are mine. And upon whom else will I look, except upon the lowly and quiet man, and him that trembleth at my words?" [4204] On this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." [4205] Of this same thing, too, according to Luke: "He that shall be least among you all, the same shall be great." [4206] Also in the same place: "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be made low, and whosoever abaseth himself shall be exalted." [4207] Of this same thing to the Romans: "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, (take heed) lest He also spare not thee." [4208] Of this same thing in the thirty-third Psalm: "And He shall save the lowly in spirit." [4209] Also to the Romans: "Render to all what is due: tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour; owe no man anything, except to love another." [4210] Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: "They love the first place of reclining at feasts, and the chief seat in the synagogues, and salutations in the market, and to be called of men Rabbi. But call not ye Rabbi, for One is your Master." [4211] Also in the Gospel according to John: "The servant is not greater than his lord, nor the apostle greater than He that sent himself. If ye know these things, blessed shall ye be if ye shall do them." [4212] Also in the eighty-first Psalm: "Do justice to the poor and lowly." [4213]
[4204] Isa. lxvi. 1, 2.
[4205] Matt. v. 5.
[4206] Luke ix. 48.
[4207] Luke xiv. 11.
[4208] Rom. xi. 20, 21.
[4209] Ps. xxxiv. 18.
[4210] Rom. xiii. 7, 8.
[4211] Matt. xxiii. 6-8.
[4212] John xiii. 16, 17.
[4213] Ps. lxxxii. 3.
6. That all good and righteous men suffer more, but ought to endure because they are proved.
In Solomon: "The furnace proveth the vessels of the potter, and the trial of tribulation righteous men." [4214] Also in the fiftieth Psalm: "The sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart God will not despise." [4215] Also in the thirty-third Psalm: "God is nearest to them that are contrite in heart, and He will save the lowly in spirit." [4216] Also in the same place: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but out of them all the Lord will deliver them." [4217] Of this same matter in Job: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked also shall I go under the earth: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so it is done; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all these things which happened to him Job sinned in nothing with his lips in the sight of the Lord." [4218] Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." [4219] Also according to John: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. But in the world ye shall have affliction; but have confidence, for I have overcome the world." [4220] Concerning this same thing in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted. For which thing I thrice besought the Lord, that it should depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for strength is perfected in weakness." [4221] Concerning this same thing to the Romans: "We glory in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we also glory in afflictions: knowing that affliction worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope does not confound; because the love of God is infused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us." [4222] On this same subject, according to Matthew: "How broad and spacious is the way which leadeth unto death, and many there are who go in thereby: how straight and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it!" [4223] Of this same thing in Tobias: "Where are thy righteousnesses? behold what thou sufferest." [4224] Also in the Wisdom of Solomon: "In the places of the wicked the righteous groan; but at their ruin the righteous will abound."
[4214] Ecclus. xxvii. 5.
[4215] Ps. li. 17.
[4216] Ps. xxxiv. 18.
[4217] Ps. xxxiv. 19.
[4218] Job i. 21, 22.
[4219] Matt. v. 4.
[4220] John xvi. 33.
[4221] 2 Cor. xii. 7-9.
[4222] Rom. v. 2-5.
[4223] Matt. vii. 13, 14.
[4224] Tob. ii. 14.
[4225] Prov. xxviii. 28.
7. That we must not grieve the Holy Spirit, whom we have received.
Paul the apostle to the Ephesians: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed in the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be taken away from you." [4226]
[4226] Eph. iv. 30, 31. [For the sealing, see Acts xix. 6, Heb. vi. 2.]
8. That anger must be overcome, lest it constrain us to sin.
In Solomon in the Proverbs: "Better is a patient man than a strong man; for he who restrains his anger is better than he who taketh a city." [4227] Also in the same place: "The imprudent man declareth his anger on the same day, but the crafty man hideth away his dishonour." [4228] Of this same thing to the Ephesians: "Be ye angry, and sin not. Let not the sun set upon your wrath." [4229] Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Ye have heard that it was said by the ancients, Thou shalt not kill; and whoever shall kill shall be guilty of the judgment. But I say unto you, That every one who is angry with his brother without cause shall be guilty of the judgment." [4230]
[4227] Prov. xvi. 32.
[4228] Prov. xii. 16.
[4229] Eph. iv. 16.
[4230] Matt. v. 21, 22.
9. That brethren ought to support one another.
To the Galatians: "Each one having others in consideration, lest ye also should be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so ye shall fulfil the law of Christ." [4231]
[4231] Gal. vi. 1, 2.
10. That we must trust in God only, and in Him we must glory.