VIII.

30.

In the Godhead, Essence and Attribute are identical. 545 he spake, and addest,' He said true.' Then another, who JOHN did not understand, asks, 'What said he? or what is it thou praisest? Both heard me, I said the thing to both, but to one of them God said it. If it is allowable to compare great things with small-for what are we to Him?-yet something or other in incorporeal and spiritual manner God doeth in us, which is neither sound to strike the ear, nor colour to be discerned by the eyes, nor smell to be perceived by the nostrils, nor taste to be judged of by the palate, nor hard or soft to be felt by the touch; yet something there is that is easy to feel, impossible to explain. If then God, as I had begun to say, speaketh in our hearts without sound, in what manner speaketh He to His Son? In this way, therefore, my brethren, in this way do ye, as much as ye can, conceive it, as I said; if one may in any sort compare great things with small; in this way conceive ye it. Incorporeally the Father spake to the Son, because incorporeally the Father begat the Son. And not taught Him, as if He had begotten Him ignorant and in need of teaching; but this, "taught," is the same as, "begat Him knowing;" and this, The Father taught Me, is the same as, The Father begat Me knowing. For if (which few understand) the essence of Truth be simple, to the Son, "To Be" is the same as << to know;" the Esse and the Nosse is identical. From Him therefore hath He that He should know, from Whom He hath it that He should be: not that He should first have from Him To Be, and after To know; but as by begetting He gave Being, so by begetting gave He Knowing; because to Truth, which as I said is simple in its essence, the Esse and the Nosse, To Be and To Know, are not one and other, but is one and the self-same thing.

6. He said therefore these things to the Jews, and added; And He That sent Me is with Me. Already He had said this before, but as it is a mighty matter, He repeatedly puts them in mind of it: hath sent Me, and, is with Me. If then He sent Thee, O Lord, not One was sent by Other, but Ye Both came. And yet, albeit Both are together, One was sent, the Other did send: because the sending is the Incarnation, and Incarnation is of the Son only, not of the Father. Therefore, the Father sent the Son, yet quitted not the Son. For it is not so, that whither the Father sent the

N n

24.

10.

546

From the lowly foundation of faith,

HOMIL. Son, there the Father was not. For where is He not, He XL. That made all things? Where is He not, Who hath said, Jer. 23, I fill heaven and earth? But haply, the Father is every John 1, where, the Son not every where?' Hear the Evangelist; He was in this world, and the world was made by Him. Therefore, saith Christ, He that sent Me, by Whose authority as that of a Father, I became incarnate, is with Me, hath not left Me. Wherefore not left Me? Hath not left Me alone, saith He, because the things that pleased Him, 1 do always, The Equality itself is always, not from a certain beginning and thenceforth, but without beginning, without end. For God's begetting hath not beginning of time, because by the Begotten were all times made.

v. 30.

v. 31.

7. As He spake these words, many believed on Him. Would to God, that while I speak, many who were otherwise minded may understand, and believe on Him! Thus some, belike, in this multitude are Arians. I do not venture to suspect that there are Sabellians, who affirm the Father to be the same person with the Son: for this heresy is out of date, and little by little has become eviscerated and reduced to a mere skeleton. But the Arians' heresy seems still to have some stirrings as it were of a dead body rotting, or at most, of a man who has the bare life in him. It behoves that the rest be delivered from it, as many have been thence delivered. And indeed this city did not use to have them; but since many foreigners have come in, some of these also have come. Lo, as the Lord spake these words, many Jews believed on Him: lo, while I speak, let the Arians believe, not on me, but with me!

8. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him: If ye shall continue in My word. Shall continue, because ye are initiated, because ye have begun to be therein. If ye continue, that is, in the faith which began to be in you when ye believed, whither shall ye come? See what sort of beginning it is, whither it bringeth a man. Thou hast loved the foundation, mark the summit of the edifice, and from this lowliness seek other loftiness. For faith hath lowliness; knowledge and immortality and eternity hath not lowliness but loftiness; a raising up, no falling short; an eternal stability, no storming by any enemy, no fear of failing. Great is that which be

the superstructure rises to a glorious elevation.

547

VIII. 31.

ginneth with faith, but it is despised. The foundation in a JOHN building too is wont to be despised by the ignorant. great ditch is made; stones are thrown in at random; no polish there, no beauty apparent; just as in the root of a tree there is no beauty apparent; yet all that delighteth thee in the tree sprung from the root. But thou seest the root, and hast no delight in it; thou seest the tree, and admirest it. Thou fool, that which thou admirest sprung but from that in which thou hast no delight! It seems to thee a small thing, the faith of believers; thou hast not a balance wherewith to weigh it. Hear then what it cometh to in the end, and see how great it is as the Lord saith in another place, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed. What more Mat.17, lowly, what more forcible? What more minute, what hotter? 19. Then ye also, saith He, if ye continue in My Word, in which ye have believed, to what shall ye be brought in the end? Ye shall be My disciples indeed. And what advantageth it us? And ye shall know the truth.

I Cor.

9. What promiseth He them that believe, my brethren? And ye shall know the truth. What? Knew they it not, when the Lord spake? if they knew it not, how did they believe? They did not believe because they knew, but in order that they might know, therefore they believed. For we believe in order to know, not know in order to believe. The thing we are to know, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Is.64,4. neither hath ascended into the heart of man. For what is 2, 9. faith, but, to believe what thou seest not? Faith then is, what thou seest not, to believe; truth is, what thou hast believed, to see: as Himself in a certain place saith. To this end, the John20, Lord first, in order to make faith, walked on earth. He was Man, He had been made lowly; He was seen of all, not known of all; by many He was rejected, by the multitude put to death, by few mourned: but yet even of them by whom He was mourned was He not yet known as He was. All this is a kind of first outline of faith, and of the structure that was to be. Which thing the Lord having in view, saith in a certain place, He that loveth Me, keepeth My com- John14, mandments; and he that loveth Me, shall be loved of My 21. Father, and I will love him, and shew Myself unto him. Whom they that heard, of course did already see; yet to

29.

3, 2.

XL.

548 Fulness of knowledge in the Light of God's countenance.

HOMIL. them, if they loved, He promised the seeing of Him. So likewise here, Ye shall know the truth. How? What Thou hast said, is that not truth? It is truth; only, as yet it is believed, not seen. If there be a continuing in that which is believed, there shall be a coming unto that which may be seen. Thence saith John himself the holy Evangelist 1 John in his Epistle, Beloved, saith he, we are sons of God, but it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. Already we are, and something we shall be. What more shall we be than we are? Hear: It hath not yet appeared what we shall be: we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Wherefore? Because we shall see Him as He is. A mighty promise! but it is the wages of faith. Thou seekest the wages; let the work go before. If thou believest, demand the wages of faith; but if thou believest not, with what face wilt thou seek the wages of faith? If then ye continue in My Word, ye shall be My disciples indeed: that ye may behold the Truth Itself as It is: not by words that sound, but by light that shineth, when that shall have satiated us Ps. 4, 6. which we read in the Psalm, It is signed upon us, even the LXX. Light of Thy Countenance, O Lord. We are money of Vulg. God's mint, we are coin that has wandered far from the

and

treasury. By our wandering, the impress that was upon us is worn out; there is One come to reform us, because it was He that formed us: He too seeketh His own coin, as doth Mat. 22, Cæsar his; therefore saith He, Render unto Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's, and unto God the things that be God's; to Cæsar, the coin of the realm; to God, your own selves. Then, I say, shall the truth be expressed in us.

21.

10. What shall I say to you, my beloved? O that there were an heart in any measure panting for that ineffable glory! O that we felt with groans our state as pilgrims and foreigners, and loved not the world, and at the door of Him Who hath called us did with pious mind keep up a perpetual knocking! Desire is to the heart as its bosom and lap; we shall receive, if we stretch out our desire as widely as we This is the very purpose of the Scripture concerning us, for this very purpose is the assembling of the congregations, for this the celebrating of sacraments, for this holy Baptism, for this the chaunting of the praise of God, for this

can.

VIII.

31, 32.

Pass through the world, longing for the eternal home, 549 our very preaching; that this desire may not only be sown, JoHN and may take root, but also grow to the measure of such capacity, that it may be equal to receive what eye hath not seen, ear heard, nor hath ascended into the heart of man. But then, love ye with me. He loveth not much money, who loveth God! Even I have gently handled your infirmity; I did not dare to say, Loveth not money; but only, Not much loveth money as if money might be loved, only not much! O, if we worthily love God, we shall not love money at all! Money will be to thee the furnishing of thy pilgrimage, not provocative of lust; a thing to use for necessity, not to enjoy for delight. Love God, if that which thou hearest and praisest hath wrought any thing with thee. Use the world, let not the world take thee! That thou hast entered into the world, is because thou art on a journey: thou camest to depart hence, not to remain: thou art on a journey, this life is the inn. Use money, as the traveller in the inn useth table, cup, pitcher, bed, to leave them, not to remain. If such ye be, lift up your heart ye who can, and hear me; if such ye be, ye shall come to His promises. For it is not much for you, because mighty is the hand of Him Who called you. He hath called, let Him be called upon; let it be said to Him, Thou hast called us, we call upon Thee; lo, we have heard Thy vocation, hear Thou our invocation; bring us whither Thou hast promised, perfect that Thou hast begun; forsake not Thine own gifts, forsake not Thine own field, let Thy plants enter into Thy barn! Temptations abound in the world, but greater is He That made the world: temptations abound, but that man faileth not, who putteth his trust in Him, in Whom is no failing.

11. Hereunto have I given you these exhortations, my brethren, because the liberty of which our Lord Jesus Christ speaketh, is not of this present time. See what He added: Ye shall be My disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth" liberabit vos." What meaneth this? Shall make you free. And in fact, the Jews, carnal and carnally judging, (not these which had believed, but those who in that crowd were men that believed not,) imagined that they were wronged, in that He said to them, the truth shall make you free. They were indignant that they should

v. 32.