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26.

9.

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6.

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334 Grace to be sought by alms. Testamentary the lowest kind.

HOMIL. the arena1 is not broken up for thee, but thou art standing XVIII within the line, and thou art able even by a struggle at the diargo last to recover all thy defeats? Thou art not yet come Luke 16, to where the rich man was, for thee to hear it said, there is a gulph betwixt you and us. The Bridegroom is not yet at Mat. 25, hand, that one should fear to give you of our oil. Still canst thou buy and store up. And there is not one yet to say, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you; but there are many that sell, the naked, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned. Give food to these, clothing to those, visit the sick, and the oil will come more than from fountains. The day 2 Ms.om. of account is not here. Use the time as need be, and make deductions from the debts, and to him that oweth an hundred Luke 16, measures of oil, say, Take thy bill and write fifty. And with money, and with words", and with every other thing do in like manner, imitating that steward. And advise this to thyself, and also to thy relatives, for thou hast still the power Luke16, of saying so. Thou art not yet come to the necessity of calling in another in their behalf, but thou hast power to give advice at once to thyself and to them. But when thou art gone away thither, neither of these things wilt thou have it in thy power to do at need. And with good reason. thou who hast had so long a period fixed thee, and neither done thyself good, nor any else, how when thou art under the Judge's hands shalt thou be able to obtain this grace? Putting all these things together then, let us cling fast to our own salvation, and not lose the opportunity of this life present. For it is possible, it is, even at our last breath to please God. It is possible to gain approval by thy last will, not indeed in such way as in our lifetime, still it is possible. How, and in what way? If thou leavest Him among thine heirs, and givest Him also a portion of thine whole estate. Hast thou not fed Him in thy lifetime? At all events when departed, when thou art no longer owner, give Him a share of thy goods. He is loving unto man, He doth not deal niggardly by thee. It is a mark to be sure of a greater desire, and so it will be more rewarded, to feed Him in thy lifetime. But if thou hast not done this, at all events do

3 καὶ

αὐτῷ

3

Ms. om. 'words,' which however may mean offence given by words.

For

11, 6.

see p.

Advice to make God coheir with one's children. 335 the next best thing. Leave Him joint-heir1 with thy ROM. children, and if thou art dilatory over this, bethink thyself, that His Father made thee joint-heir with Him, and break 108. down thy inhuman spirit. For what excuse wilt thou have if thou dost not even make Him a sharer with thy children, who made thee share the Heaven, and was slain for thee? And yet all that ever He did, He did not in repayment of a debt, but as bestowing a favour. But you, after so great benefits, have been made a debtor as well. And yet, though things are so, it is as if receiving a favour, not as demanding payment of a debt, that He crowneth thee; and this too when what He is to receive is His own. Give then thy money, which is now no longer of any use to thee, and of which thou art no longer owner, and He will give thee a Kingdom which shall be of service to thee perpetually, and with it will bestow also the things of this life. For if He be made the joint-heir of thy children, He doth lighten their orphanage for them, do away with tyrannizings, beat off plottings, stop the mouths of pettifoggers. And if they themselves be unable to stand up for their bequeathments, He will Himself stand up, and not let them be broken through. But if He do even allow this, then He makes up of Himself all that was ordered in the will with still greater liberality, because He has been but mentioned in it. Leave Him then thine heir. For it is to Him that thou art upon the point of going. He will be thy judge Himself in the trial for all that hath been done here. But there are some so miserable and pinched, that though they have no children, still they have not the courage to do this, but approve of giving that they have to hangers on, and to flatterers, and to this person and to that, sooner than to Christ, who hath done them so great benefits. And what can be more unreasonable than this conduct? For if one were to compare men of this cast to asses, aye, or to stones, one shall not still be saying any thing tantamount to their unreasonableness and senselessness. Nor could one find a similitude to put before you their madness and dementedness. For what pardon shall they obtain for not having fed Him in their lifetime, who, even when they are on the point of departing to Him, have not the inclination to give Him but a trifle out of those goods,

XVIII..

σίαν

336

Men favour their slaves above Christ.

HOMIL. of which they are no longer the owners, but are of such an inimical and hostile disposition, as not even to give Him a share in what is useless to themselves. Do you not know how many of mankind have not even been counted worthy to obtain an end of this kind, but have been snatched off suddenly? But thee doth God empower to give orders to thy kindred, and to speak with them about thy property, and set all that is in thy house in order. What defence then wilt thou have to set up, when even after receiving this favour from Him, thou hast treacherously given up the benefit, and art standing as it were in diametrical opposition to thy forefathers in the faith? For they even in their lifetime sold all, and brought it to the Apostle's feet. But thou, even at thy death, dost not give any share to them that need. What is the better part, and Iain gives one much boldness', is to remedy poverty in one's lifetime. But if thou hast not been minded to do this, at all events do upon thy death-bed some noble act. For this is not what a strong love for Christ would do, yet still it is an act of love. For if thou wilt not have the high place" with the Lambs, still even to be with Him at all' is no light thing, and so not to be placed with the goats nor on the left hand. But if thou wilt not do this, what plea is to rescue thee, 2 Mar. when neither the fear of God nor thy money having become and Ms. henceforth of no use to thee, nor the leaving of safety behind thee to thy children, nor the laying up of much pardon there against the time to come, will make thee merciful to man? Wherefore I advise, as the best thing, that in your lifetime you give the larger half of your goods to the poor. But if there be any of so narrow a soul as not to have the heart to do so, at all events let them by necessity become merciful. For when you were living as if there were no death, then you clung close to your goods. But now since you have learnt that you are to die, at least now give over your opinion, and deliberate about your affairs as one that must die. Or rather as one that ought to enjoy immortal life for evermore.

of death

For if what

I am going to say be distasteful, and big with horror, still it must be said. Reckon with thy slaves the Lord. Art thou giving thy slaves liberty? Give Christ liberty from famine,

Η προεδρίαν, mar. προσεδρείαν, near place.

1 So mar. Sav. and Ms. to be after them.

11, 6.

No help in Judgment for those who neglect Christ here. 337 from distress, from imprisonment, from nakedness. Art thou ROM. horrified at the words? Is it not then more horrible when thou dost not even thus much? And here the word makes thy blood curdle. But when thou art gone to that world, and hast to hear things far more grievous than these, and seest the tortures which are incurable, what wilt thou say? To whom wilt thou flee for refuge? Whom wilt thou call to thy alliance and assistance? Will it be Abraham? He will not hearken to thee. Or those virgins? They will not give thee of their oil. Thy father then or thy grandfather? But none even of these, if he be ever so holy, will have it in his power to reverse that sentence1. Weighing then all these things, to Ms. Him who alone is Lord to blot out the bill against thee, and to quench that flame, to Him make prayer and supplication, and propitiate Him, by now feeding Him and clothing Him continually that in this world thou mayest depart with a good hope, and when thou art there thou mayest enjoy eternal blessings, which may we all attain to by the grace and love toward man, &c.

end that

quarrel

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HOMILY XIX.

HOMIL.

XIX.

Is. 29,

10.

Lukell,

19.

ROM. xi. 7.

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

He had said that God did not cast off His people; and to shew in what sense He had not cast them off, he takes refuge in the Prophets again. And having shewn by them that the more part of the Jews were lost, that he might not seem to be again bringing forward an accusation of his own, and to make his discourse offensive, and to be attacking them as enemies, he takes refuge in David and Isaiah, and says,

Ver. 8. According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber.

Or rather we should go back to the beginning of his argument. Having then mentioned the state of things in Elijah's time, and shewn what grace is, he proceeds, What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. Now this is as much what an accuser would say, as what one who was putting a question. For the Jew, he means, is inconsistent with himself when he seeketh for righteousness, which he will not accept. Then to leave them with no excuse, he shews, from those who have accepted it, their unfeeling spirit, as he says, But the election hath obtained it, and they are the condemnation of the others. And this is what Christ says, But if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Wherefore they

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