Homilies on Romans, Homily 18

“How then will they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written.” Here again he takes away every excuse they have. Since he had said, “I testify that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge,” and that “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they did not submit themselves” to it, he next shows that they deserved punishment before God for this ignorance itself. He does not say this directly, but proves it by continuing his argument through questions, exposing their guilt more clearly by building the whole passage out of objections and answers. But look further back. The Prophet, he says, said, “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Now someone might perhaps say, “But how could they call on Him in Whom they had not believed?” Then, after the objection, comes his question: And why did they not believe? Then another objection. Someone may certainly say, And how could they believe, since they had not heard? Yet they did hear, he implies. Then another objection: “And how could they hear without a preacher?” Then another answer: Yet people did preach, and many were sent out for this very purpose. And how do we know that these are the people who were sent? Next he brings in the prophet, who says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace and bring good news of good things!” (Is. lii. 7.) You see how he identifies the preachers by the kind of preaching they do. For these men went around everywhere telling of nothing else but those unspeakable good things and the peace God had made with humanity. And so, he implies, when you refuse to believe, it is not us you disbelieve, but Isaiah the prophet, who said many years ago that we would be sent, would preach, and would say what we do say. If, then, salvation came from calling on Him, calling on Him from believing, believing from hearing, hearing from preaching, and preaching from being sent; and if they were sent and did preach, and the prophet went around with them to identify them, announce them, and say that these were the people the prophets had described so many ages ago, whose very feet they praised because of the content of their preaching; then it is perfectly clear that their failure to believe was entirely their own fault. For God had completely fulfilled His part. Ver. 16, 17. “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (ib. liii. 1.) Since they pressed him with yet another objection—that if these were the people God had sent on this mission, everyone should have listened to them—notice Paul’s judgment. See how he shows that the very thing causing their confusion actually clears away confusion and difficulty. What troubles you, O Jew, he would say, after so much abundant evidence and proof of these points? That not everyone submitted to the Gospel? Why, this very thing, taken together with the others, can assure you that my statements are true: the fact that some do not believe. For the prophet foretold this too. Notice his extraordinary wisdom as well: he shows more than they were looking for or expected him to be able to say in reply. For what are you saying? he means. That not everyone has believed the Gospel? Well, Isaiah foretold this too long ago. Or rather, not only this, but much more. Your complaint is, Why didn’t everyone believe? But Isaiah goes further. For what does he say? “Lord, who has believed our report?” Then, after clearing away this difficulty by making the Prophet a defensive wall against them, he returns to his previous line of argument. He had said that they must call on Him, that those who call must believe, that those who believe must first hear, that those who are to hear must have preachers, and that the preachers must be sent. He had also shown that they were sent and had preached. Now, as he is about to introduce another objection, he first takes the opportunity offered by another quotation from the Prophet, with which he had answered the objection a little earlier, and weaves it into his argument, connecting it with what came before. Since he had quoted the Prophet as saying, “Lord, who has believed our report” (ἀκοᾕ), he aptly takes up the quotation as proof of his statement, “So then faith comes by hearing” (ἀκοἥς). And he does not leave this as a bare assertion. Since the Jews were always seeking a sign and a sight of the Resurrection, and eagerly straining to see it, he says, Yet the Prophet promised no such thing, but said that we were to believe through hearing. So he establishes this first, saying, “So then faith comes by hearing.” Then, since this seemed an unimpressive thing to say, see how he raises its importance. For he says, I was not speaking of mere hearing, or of having to hear people’s words and believe them. I mean a far greater kind of hearing. For hearing is “by the word of God.” They were not speaking their own words, but telling what they had learned from God. And this is greater than miracles. For we are equally bound to believe and obey God whether He speaks or works miracles, since both works and miracles come from His words. For heaven and everything else were established in this way. (Ps. xxxiii. 6–8.) After showing, then, that we ought to believe the prophets, who always speak God’s words, and not look for anything more, he next turns to the objection I mentioned and says, Ver. 18. “But I say, Have they not heard?” What if, he means, the preachers were sent and preached what they were commanded, but these people did not hear? Then comes a completely adequate answer to the objection. “Yes, indeed, their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” What are you saying? he means. They have not heard? Why, the whole world and the ends of the earth have heard. And have you not heard, when the heralds stayed among you for so long and came from your own land? How could that possibly be? Surely, if the ends of the world heard, you must have heard all the more. Then comes another objection. Ver. 19. “But I say, Did Israel not know?” For what if they heard, he means, but did not know what was being said or understand that these were the people who had been sent? Should they not be forgiven for their ignorance? By no means. For Isaiah had described their character in the words, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace.” (Is. lii. 7.) And before him, the Lawgiver himself had done so. So he continues: “First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy through those who are no people, and through a foolish nation I will anger you.” (Deut. xxxii. 21.) And so, even from Moses, they should have been able to recognize the preachers: not only from the fact that the Jews disbelieved, not from the preachers’ proclaiming peace, not from their bringing good news of those good things, not from the word’s being sown in every part of the world, but from the very fact that they saw their inferiors, those among the Gentiles, receiving greater honor. For these Gentiles suddenly embraced a wisdom that neither the Jews nor their ancestors had ever heard (ἑφιλοσόφουν). This was a sign of such extraordinary honor that it should have stung them, stirred them to jealousy, and reminded them of Moses’ prophecy, which said, “I will provoke you to jealousy through those who are no people.” For it was not only the greatness of the honor that was enough to stir their jealousy, but also the fact that a nation had come to enjoy these things that was so insignificant it could hardly be considered a nation at all. “For I will provoke you to jealousy through those who are no nation, and through a foolish nation I will anger you.” For what could be more foolish than the Greeks (Heathen, see pp. 373, 377)? Or more insignificant? See how God had long ago given indications and clear signs of these times in every possible way, to remove their blindness. For this did not happen in some little corner, but on land, at sea, and in every part of the globe. And they saw people they had formerly despised now enjoying countless blessings. They should therefore have recognized that this was the people of whom Moses said, “I will provoke you to jealousy through those who are no people, and through a foolish nation I will anger you.” Was Moses, then, the only one who said this? No, for Isaiah also says it after Him. This is why Paul said, “First Moses,” to show that a second would come who says the same things more clearly and plainly. Just as he says above that Isaiah cries out, so he does here too. Ver. 20. “But Isaiah is very bold and says.” What he means is something like this. He forced himself to speak and was eager to set things bare before your eyes rather than speak in veiled language. He chose to run (Origen in loc.) into danger by speaking plainly rather than protect his own safety and leave you any excuse for your refusal to understand. Although prophecy did not usually speak so clearly, he still tells everything beforehand clearly and distinctly, to silence you completely. Everything! What does that include? Why, your being cast out and their being brought in. He speaks as follows: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was revealed to those who did not ask about Me.” (Is. lxv. 1.) Who, then, are those who did not seek? Who are those who did not ask about Him? Clearly, not the Jews, but those among the Gentiles who until then had not known Him. Just as Moses identified them by the words “no people” and “a foolish nation,” so here too he identifies them on the same basis: their extreme ignorance. And this was a very serious charge against the Jews, that those who did not seek Him found Him, while those who sought Him lost Him. Ver. 21. “But to Israel He says, All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and argumentative people.” (Is. lxv. 2.) Notice now that the difficulty so many people question turns out to have been present long ago in the Prophet’s words, along with a clear solution. And what is it? You heard Paul say earlier, “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness. But Israel, which pursued the law of righteousness, has not attained the law of righteousness.” (Rom. ix. 30, 31.) Isaiah says this here too. For saying, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I was revealed to those who did not ask about me,” is the same as saying “that the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness.” Then, to show that what was happening came not only from God’s grace but also from the disposition of those who came to Him, just as the rejection of the others came from the argumentative spirit of those who disobeyed, listen to what he says next: “But to Israel He says, All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and argumentative people.” By the day he means the whole period of the former dispensation. Stretching out His hands means calling them, drawing them to Him, and inviting them. Then, to show that the fault was entirely their own, he says, “to a disobedient and argumentative people.” You see what a serious charge this is against them! For even when He invited them, they did not obey Him but argued against Him, although they saw Him doing this not once or twice or three times, but throughout the whole period. Yet others, who had never known Him, were able to draw Him to themselves. He does not mean that they themselves had the power to do this. Rather, to remove pride even from the Gentiles and show that His grace accomplished everything, He says, I was revealed, and I was found. Someone may ask, Did they contribute nothing, then? By no means, for accepting what they found and coming to know what was revealed to them were their own contributions. Then, to keep the Jews from saying, But why weren’t You revealed to us too? he states something greater: I was not only revealed, but I even continue with My hands stretched out, inviting them and showing all the care of an affectionate father and a mother devoted to her child. See how he has given us a very clear answer to all the difficulties raised earlier, showing that their ruin came from their own disposition and that they are wholly undeserving of pardon. For although they had both heard and understood what was said, even then they were unwilling to come to Him. And what is far more, He did not merely cause them to hear and understand these things. When they were disobedient and argumentative, He added to the other measures something with even greater power to stir them and draw them to Him. What was this? His angering them and making them jealous. For you know the overpowering strength of this passion and how much natural power jealousy has to end all argument and rouse those who have grown careless. And why speak of human adults when its power is so great even in irrational animals and children before they reach maturity? For a child will often refuse to obey its father’s call and remain stubborn. But when another child receives attention, it comes into its father’s arms even without being called. What calling could not do, provoking jealousy will. God did this too. For He not only called and stretched out His hands, but also stirred up jealousy in them by bringing people far inferior to them (something that makes people intensely jealous), not into the good things they themselves enjoyed, but (a much stronger step, which makes the feeling even more overpowering) into far greater and more necessary good things, such as they had never even imagined in a dream. Still, they did not submit. What pardon, then, do people deserve who display such extreme stubbornness? None. Yet he does not say this himself. He leaves his hearers’ consciences to draw it as the conclusion of what he has said, and in his usual wisdom confirms it again by what follows. He did this above as well, introducing objections both about the Law (see on Rom. vii. 7, pp. 420, I) and about the people that charged them with more than they were actually guilty of. Then, in the answer intended to refute the objection, he conceded as much as he wished and as the case allowed, making what he said easier to accept. He does the same here, writing as follows: Chap. xi. ver. 1. “I say then, Has God rejected His people whom He foreknew? Absolutely not.” He introduces the question someone in doubt would ask, as though prompted by what has been said. After making this alarming statement, he denies it, making his audience ready to accept what follows. Here too he proves what he had worked to establish through all the earlier arguments. What is that? That even if only a few are saved, the promise still stands. This is why he does not simply say “people,” but “people whom He foreknew.” Then he continues his proof that the “people” were not cast off: “For I too am an Israelite, descended from Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” I, he says, the teacher, the preacher. Now, since this seemed contrary to what had been said earlier in the words, “Who has believed our report?” and, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and argumentative people,” and, “I will provoke you to jealousy through those who are no people,” he was not satisfied with rejecting the idea or saying, “Absolutely not.” He establishes it by taking it up again and saying, “God has not rejected His people.” But someone may say, This is an assertion, not proof. Notice, then, the proof, both the first and what follows it. The first is that he himself belonged to that race. If He were about to cast them off, He would not have chosen from among them the man to whom He entrusted all the preaching, the affairs of the world, all the mysteries, and the whole economy. This, then, is one proof. The next is his phrase, “people whom He foreknew”—that is, those He clearly knew were suited to it and would receive the faith. (Pococke on Hos. p. 23. See Acts ii. 41; iv. 4; xxi. 20.) For three, five, even ten thousand among them were believers. And so, to prevent anyone from saying, Are you the people, then? And because you have been called, has the nation been called? he continues: Ver. 2. “He has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew.” As though he said, I have three, five, or ten thousand with me. What then? Have the people dwindled to three, five, or ten thousand—those descendants who rivaled the stars of heaven or the sand of the sea in number? Is this how you deceive and cheat us, by making yourself and the few with you the whole people? Did you fill us with empty hopes and say that the promise has been fulfilled, when everyone is lost and salvation comes down to a few? This is all empty, inflated talk! We cannot put up with sophistry like this! Now, to prevent them from saying this, see how he goes on to answer. He does not actually state the objection, but anticipates it by grounding his answer in ancient history. What, then, is the answer? Ver. 2–5. “Do you not know,” he says, “what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he (so most; mss. Sav. who) appeals to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars; I alone am left, and they are trying to kill me. But what does God’s answer say to him? I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. So too at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” What he means is roughly this: “God has not rejected His people.” For if He had, He would have accepted none of them. But if He accepted some, He has not rejected them. Still, someone says, if He had not rejected them, He would have accepted them all. That does not follow, since in Elijah’s time the portion to be saved had fallen to “seven thousand,” and now too there are probably many who believe. If you do not know who they are, that is no wonder, for that prophet, great and good as he was, did not know. But God arranged things for Himself even when the prophet did not know about them. Consider Paul’s judgment, though. While proving the point before him, he also quietly strengthens the charge against them. This is why he quoted the whole passage: to put their perversity on display and show that they had been this way from long ago. If he had not wanted this, but had focused entirely on proving that the people were represented by the few, he would have said that even in Elijah’s time seven thousand were left. But instead he reads them the earlier part of the passage too, taking care throughout to show that what they did to Christ and the Apostles was nothing strange, but their usual practice. For to prevent them from saying, We put Christ to death as a deceiver and persecute the Apostles as impostors, he brings forward the text that says, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down your altars.” (1 Kings xix. 14.) Then, to avoid making his speech painful to them, he gives another reason for introducing the text. He quotes it as though his purpose were to demonstrate other things, rather than to accuse them. And even through what had happened before, he leaves them without any excuse. Notice how strong the accusation is because of the person speaking. It is neither Paul nor Peter nor James nor John, but someone they held in the highest esteem: the foremost of the Prophets, the friend of God, a man so zealous on their behalf that he even endured hunger for them, who even to this day has never died. What, then, does this man say? “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars; I alone am left, and they are trying to kill me.” What could be more brutally cruel than this? When they should have begged pardon for the offenses they had already committed, they intended to kill him too. All these things put them entirely beyond pardon. For they committed these outrages not while the famine prevailed, but when the season was favorable, their disgrace had been removed, the demons (i.e. false gods) had been put to shame, God’s power had been shown, and the king had bowed beneath it. They went from murder to murder, killing their teachers and those who would lead them to a better frame of mind. What, then, could they say to this? Were these men deceivers too? Were they impostors too? Did they not know where these men came from either? But they caused you distress. Yes, but they also told you good things. And what about the altars? Surely the altars did not cause you distress too? Did they also anger you? See what evidence they were always giving of their stubbornness and insolence! This is why Paul also says elsewhere, when writing to the Thessalonians, “You too have suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they have from the Jews, who killed both the Lord and their own prophets, persecuted us, do not please God, and oppose all people” (1 Thess. ii. 14, 15). This is what he says here too: they both tore down the altars and killed the prophets. But what does God’s answer say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.” (1 Kings xix. 18.) And what does this have to do with the present subject? someone may ask. It has a great deal to do with it. For here he shows that God’s usual practice is to save the worthy, even if the promise is made to the whole nation. He pointed this out above when he said, “Though the number of the children of Israel is like the sand of the sea, a remnant will be saved,” and, “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom.” (Rom. ix. 27, 29.) He points it out from this passage too. So he goes on to say, “So too at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” Notice that each word has its own place, showing both God’s grace and the obedient disposition of those who receive salvation. By saying election, he showed His approval of them; by saying grace, he showed God’s gift. Ver. 6. “And if by grace, then it is no longer from works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is from works, then it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” In the words just quoted, he again attacks the Jews’ argumentative spirit and on this basis deprives them of an excuse. For you cannot even say, he means, that the Prophets called, God invited, the circumstances cried out, and the provocation to jealousy was enough to draw us to Him, but what was commanded was burdensome, and that is why we could not approach, since a display of works and laborious good deeds was demanded of us. You cannot even say this. For how could God have demanded this of you, when it would only overshadow His grace? He said this to show how deeply He desired their salvation. (Deut. v. 29.) For not only would their salvation be easy to bring about, but displaying His love for humanity was also God’s greatest glory. Why, then, are you afraid to approach, since no works are demanded of you? Why are you bickering and quarreling when grace is offered to you, and why do you keep bringing up the Law to me for no purpose at all? You will not be saved by it, and you will also spoil this gift, since if you stubbornly insist on being saved by the Law, you abolish this grace of God. Then, so that they would not find this strange, he first used the example of those seven thousand and said that they were saved by grace. For when he says, “So too at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace,” he shows that they too were saved by grace. And not only through this, but also through the words, “I have reserved for Myself.” For this is the language of One Who shows that He Himself made the chief contribution. And if it is by grace, someone will ask, why were we not all saved? Because you were unwilling. For grace, although it is grace, saves the willing, not those who refuse it and turn away from it, who persist in fighting and opposing it. Notice that throughout, the point he is proving is, “It is not as though the Word of God had failed.” He shows that the promise came to the worthy and that these, though few, can still be God’s people. Indeed, he had stated this forcefully at the beginning of the Epistle, where he says, “For what if some did not believe” (Rom. iii. 3). He did not even stop there, but continued, “Yes, let God be true, and every person a liar.” (ib. 4.) Here again he confirms it in another way, showing the power of grace and that some were always being saved while others perished. Let us then give thanks that we belong to those who are being saved and that, unable to save ourselves by works, we were saved by God’s gift. But let us give thanks not only in words, but also in works and actions. For this is true thanksgiving: doing the things through which God is sure to be glorified and fleeing the things from which we have been set free. For if, after insulting the King, we have been honored instead of punished, and then go and insult Him again, we are exposed as utterly ungrateful and would justly suffer the greatest punishment, far greater than before. For our earlier insolence did not show us to be as ungrateful as the insolence committed after receiving honor and so much care. Let us then flee the things from which we have been set free, and not give thanks only with our mouths, so that it will not be said of us too, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Is. xxix. 13.) For how can it be anything but shameful when the “heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. xix. 1), yet you, for whose sake the heavens that glorify Him were made, do things that cause the God Who made you to be blasphemed because of you? For this, both the person who blasphemes and you yourself will be liable to punishment. The heavens too glorify God not by speaking aloud, but by prompting others to glorify Him when they see them, and yet they are said “to declare the glory of God.” In the same way, those who display an admirable life glorify God even when they remain silent, when others glorify Him because of them. For He is honored more because of a spotless life than because of heaven. So when we speak with the Gentiles, we cite (4 mss. read or point to the reading, “let us not cite”) before them not the heavens, but the people whom He has persuaded to rival the Angels, although they had been in a worse condition than beasts. And we (1 mss. “let us”) silence them by speaking of this change. For a human being is far better than heaven and can possess a soul brighter than the heavens’ beauty. Heaven, though visible for so long, did little to persuade people. But Paul, after preaching for a short time, drew the whole world to him. (St. Aug. on Ps. xix. 4.) For he possessed a soul no less great than heaven, able to draw everyone to him. Our soul is not even a match for the earth, but his is equal to the heavens. Heaven remains within its own boundary and order, but the height of his soul rose above all the heavens and spoke with Christ Himself. (2 Cor. x. 15; Rom. xv. 19, etc.) Its beauty was so great that even God proclaims it. The angels marveled at the stars when they were made. (Job xxxviii. 7.) But He marveled at this soul when He said, “He is a chosen vessel for Me.” (Acts ix. 15.) Clouds often overshadow this Heaven. But no trial overshadowed Paul’s soul. Even in storms he was clearer to see than the clear sky (σταθερἅς μεσημβρίας) at noon and shone continually as he had before the clouds came. For the Sun Who shone in him sent out rays that no gathering of trials could cloud over; even then He shone all the more. So he says, “My grace is enough for you, for My Strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. xii. 9.) Let us then strive to be like him, and if we are willing, this heaven, the sun, and the whole world will be as nothing compared even with what we become. For these things are for us, and we are not for them. Let us show that we are worthy of having had them made for us. For if we prove unworthy of these things, how will we be worthy of a kingdom? Indeed, all who live in a way that brings blasphemy on God are unworthy to see the sun. Those who blaspheme Him are unworthy to enjoy the creatures that glorify Him, just as a son who insults his father is unworthy to be served by the servants his father approves. So these creatures will enjoy glory, and great glory, while we will have to undergo punishment and vengeance. How miserable it will be, then, if the creation made for you is transformed “according to the glorious freedom of the children of God,” (Rom. viii. 21) while we, who were made children of God and for whose sake creation will enjoy that great festival, are sent away to destruction and hell because of our great carelessness! To keep this from happening, let those of us who have a pure soul keep it pure—or rather, make its brightness more intense. And let those of us whose soul is stained not despair. For “if,” he says, “your sins are like purple, I will make them white as snow. And if they are like scarlet, I will make them white as wool.” (Is. i. 18.) When God is the One making the promise, do not doubt. Instead, do the things through which you can bring these promises to yourself. Are the terrible and outrageous acts you have committed beyond counting? And what of it? You have not yet gone down into the grave, where no one will give praise. (ib. xxxviii. 18; Ps. vi. 5.) The arena (θέατρον) has not yet closed for you. You are still standing within its bounds, and even by a final struggle you can recover from all your defeats. You have not yet come to where the rich man was, to hear it said, “There is a gulf between you and us.” (Luke xvi. 26.) The Bridegroom is not yet here, so that someone should be afraid to give you some of his oil. You can still buy it and store it up. No one is yet saying, “No, otherwise there may not be enough for us and you” (Matt. xxv. 9). There are still many who sell it: the naked, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned. Give food to these and clothing to those; visit the sick, and the oil will flow more abundantly than from fountains. The day of accounting is not here. Use the time as you should, reduce the debts, and say to the person who owes “a hundred measures of oil, Take your bill and write fifty.” (Luke xvi. 6.) Do the same with money, with words, and with everything else, imitating that steward. Give this advice to yourself and to your relatives, for you still have the power to say it. You have not yet reached the point where you must call on someone else on their behalf. You can still give advice directly to yourself and others. (ib. 28.) But once you have gone there, you will be unable to do either of these things when you need to. And with good reason. For you have been given so much time and have done neither yourself nor anyone else any good. How, when you are in the Judge’s hands, will you be able to obtain this favor? Taking all these things together, then, let us hold tightly to our own salvation and not lose the opportunity of this present life. For it is possible—yes, possible—even at our last breath to please God. It is possible to win approval through your last will, though not in the same way as during our lifetime; still, it is possible. How, and in what way? If you include Him among your heirs and give Him too (καὶ αὐτᾥ) a portion of your whole estate. Have you not fed Him during your lifetime? At least give Him a share of your goods when you depart, when you are no longer their owner. He loves humanity; He does not deal stingily with you. Feeding Him during your lifetime certainly shows greater eagerness and will therefore receive a greater reward. But if you have not done this, at least do the next best thing. Leave Him as joint-heir (see p. 384) with your children. If you hesitate over this, remember that His Father made you joint-heir with Him, and break down your hardheartedness. For what excuse will you have if you do not even make Him a sharer with your children, when He gave you a share in Heaven and was killed for you? Everything He ever did was done as a favor, not as repayment of a debt. But after receiving such great benefits, you have also become a debtor. Yet even so, He crowns you as though receiving a favor rather than demanding repayment of a debt—and this when what He is to receive is His own. Give, then, your money, which is now no longer useful to you and which you no longer own, and He will give you a Kingdom that will benefit you forever. With it He will also grant the things of this life. For if He is made joint-heir with your children, He eases their orphanhood, puts an end to plots against them, drives off insults, and silences unscrupulous lawyers. If they themselves cannot defend their inheritances, He will defend them Himself and will not allow the provisions to be violated. But even if He does allow this, He Himself makes up everything specified in the will with still greater generosity, simply because He has been mentioned in it. Leave Him, then, as your heir. For you are about to go to Him. He Himself will be your Judge in the trial concerning everything done here. But some people are so miserable and miserly that, although they have no children, they still cannot bring themselves to do this. They prefer giving what they have to hangers-on and flatterers, to this person and that, rather than to Christ, Who has given them such great benefits. What could be more unreasonable than this conduct? If someone compared people like this to donkeys, or even to stones, the comparison would still fall short of their irrationality and senselessness. Nor could anyone find a comparison that would convey their madness and derangement to you. For what pardon will they obtain for failing to feed Him during their lifetime, when even as they are about to depart to Him, they are unwilling to give Him even a little of the goods they no longer own? Their disposition is so hostile and antagonistic that they will not even give Him a share in what is useless to themselves. Do you not know how many people have not even been considered worthy to obtain an end like this, but have been snatched away suddenly? Yet God enables you to give instructions to your family, speak with them about your property, and put everything in your house in order. What defense, then, will you offer when, even after receiving this favor from Him, you have treacherously thrown away its benefit and stand, as it were, directly opposed to your ancestors in the faith? For even during their lifetime they sold everything and brought it to the Apostle’s feet. But even at your death you give no share to those in need. The better course, which gives a person great confidence, is to relieve poverty during one’s lifetime. But if you have been unwilling to do this, at least do something noble on your deathbed. This is not what a strong love for Christ would do, but it is still an act of love. For even if you will not take the high place with the Lambs, it is no small thing to come after them at all, and thus avoid being placed with the goats or on the left. But if you will not even do this, what plea will rescue you, when neither the fear of death, nor the fact that your money will now be useless to you, nor leaving your children secure, nor storing up abundant pardon there for the time to come can make you merciful to others? So I advise you, as the best course, to give more than half of your goods to the poor during your lifetime. But if any are so narrow in soul that they cannot bring themselves to do this, at least let necessity make them merciful. For when you lived as though there were no death, you clung tightly to your goods. But now that you have learned you are going to die, at least now abandon your former outlook and consider your affairs as someone who must die—or rather, as someone who ought to enjoy immortal life forever. For even if what I am about to say is distasteful and full of horror, it must still be said. Count the Lord among your slaves. Are you giving your slaves freedom? Give Christ freedom from hunger, distress, imprisonment, and nakedness. Are you horrified by these words? Is it not more horrible, then, when you fail to do even this much? Here, the words make your blood run cold. But when you have gone to that world and must hear things far more terrible than these, and see the torments that cannot be cured, what will you say? To whom will you flee for refuge? Whom will you call to your side for help? Abraham? He will not listen to you. Those virgins? They will not give you any of their oil. Your father, then, or your grandfather? But none of them, however holy, will have the power to reverse that sentence. Weigh all these things, then, and pray and plead with Him Who alone has the authority to erase the bill against you and quench that flame. Win His favor by continually feeding and clothing Him now, so that you may depart from this world with good hope and, when you are there, enjoy eternal blessings. May we all attain them through His grace and love for humanity, etc.