Homilies on Second Timothy 3

Hold the pattern of sound words which you heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus;

guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

You know this, that all those in Asia turned away from me;

among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he came to Rome he sought me out very diligently and found me.

May the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that Day.

And all that he ministered in Ephesus, you know very well.

Not by letters alone did he lay before the disciple what was to be done, but already also by word of mouth.

And this he made plain in many places and in other passages, saying:

Whether by word or by epistle, as by us;

and much more so here too.

Let us not, then, suppose that the things concerning the teaching were spoken deficiently;

for he delivered many things to him also unwritten;

which, then, reminding him of, he said:

Hold the pattern of sound words which you heard from me.

And what is it that he says? Just as with painters, he says, I have impressed upon you an image of virtue and of all things pleasing to God, laying down in your soul, as it were, a rule and an archetype and definite bounds.

So whether you need to take counsel about faith, or about love, or about self-discipline, take your examples from thence;

you will have no need to seek an image from others, since all things lie ready there.

Guard the good deposit.

How? Through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

For it is not within the power of a human soul or strength, when so much has been entrusted, to suffice for it.

Why? Because the robbers are many, the darkness deep;

the devil still stands over us and lies in wait;

we do not know at what hour, at what moment, he sets upon us.

How then, he says, shall we suffice for the guarding? Through the Holy Spirit—that is, if we have the Spirit with us;

if we do not put the grace to flight, He will be present.

For unless the Lord build the house, in vain have the builders labored;

unless the Lord guard the city, in vain have they watched who guard it.

This is our wall, this our fortress, this our refuge.

If, then, He dwells in us and Himself guards it, what need is there of exhortation? That we may hold fast to Him, he says, that we may guard Him, and not drive Him away by wicked deeds.

Then he sets forth the temptations, not wishing to cast down the disciple, but to rouse him, so that if ever he himself should fall into these, he might not be dismayed as at something strange, but look to his teacher and remember all that had befallen him.

What then does he say? Since it was likely that when arrested he would be abandoned, and would enjoy no kindness, no support, no help, but would even be betrayed by the very faithful and his friends, hear what he says:

You know this, that all those in Asia turned away from me.

It was likely that there were then many in Rome from the regions of Asia;

but no one stood by me, he says, no one acknowledged me, all became estranged.

And behold his philosophic soul.

He stated only what had happened; he did not curse them;

but the one who did this good deed he even praised, and prays for him countless blessings; yet upon those others he uttered no curse, but what does he say? Among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

May the Lord, he says, grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he came to Rome he sought me out very diligently and found me.

Observe how everywhere he speaks of the shame, not of the danger, so that Timothy might not be afraid—although the matter was full of dangers;

for at that time he had given offense to Nero, having taken to himself as a friend one of those who were closely attached to him.

But when he came, he says, to Rome, not only did he not shun meeting with me, but he even sought me out and found me.

May the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that Day.

And all that he ministered in Ephesus, you know very well.

Such ought the faithful to be, hindered neither by fear, nor by threat, nor by shame, but cooperating with one another, as in war standing by and helping.

For they bestow a favor not so much upon those in danger as upon themselves, making themselves partakers, through the deeds done toward those men, of the crowns owed to them.

For instance: one of those devoted to God stands in affliction, suffering many terrible things and contending with much endurance;

you have not yet been drawn into this contest;

it is possible for you, if you should so wish, even without entering the arena, to become a sharer in the crowns laid up for him—by being present, by anointing him, by encouraging, by rousing him.

And that this is so, hear what he says writing elsewhere:

Nevertheless you have done well in that you shared with me in my affliction;

for even in Thessalonica you sent once and again for my need.

And how did those who were absent share in the affliction of him who was present with it? How? Because, he says, you sent to me the things for my need, once and again.

And again, speaking about Epaphroditus, he says:

For he drew near to death, hazarding his life, that he might fill up what was lacking in your service toward me.

For just as with kings, not only those who fight but also those who guard the baggage share in the honor—and not simply so, but often they have obtained equal gifts, although they neither bloodied their hands, nor laid down their arms, nor even at all beheld the battle-line of the enemy;

much more is this so in the case of these afflictions.

For he who helps the athlete wasting away with hunger, he who is present, he who encourages with words, he who

provides all the rest of the care—he has an equal share with the one who contends.

For do not picture to yourself Paul the athlete, the unconquerable and invincible one, but rather some other of the multitude, who, had he not met with much comfort and much encouragement, would perhaps never have stood firm, would never have contended at all.

Thus those who stand outside the contests become, for the one who has entered into the contests, the cause of his victory, and may become partakers of the crowns that are laid up for that victory.

And what wonder is it, if one who shares with those still living is deemed worthy of the same reward as those who contend? For just as it is possible to have fellowship, even after death, with those who have departed, who already lie at rest, who are already crowned, who have need of nothing—

for hear Paul saying:

'Sharing in the remembrances of the saints.'

And how, he says, is it possible to share? When you admire the man, when you do some one of those things for which he was crowned, you have plainly shared with him in his struggles and his crowns.

'May the Lord grant unto him,' he says, 'to find mercy from the Lord in that day.'

Therefore he shall have his recompense in that fearful and terrible day, when we shall have need of much mercy.

'May the Lord grant unto him,' he says, 'to find mercy from the Lord.'

Two Lords? By no means; but to us there is one Lord, Christ Jesus, and one God.

At this point those who are sick with the disease of Marcion pounce upon what has been said;

but let them learn that this is customary to Scripture, and that in many places one may find Scripture employing this manner of speaking, as when it says:

'The Lord said unto my Lord';

and again, 'I said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord';

'The Lord rained down from the Lord.'

But this is indicative of persons who are of one substance, not dividing the nature;

for it says this, not that we should conceive of two substances differing from one another, but that we should understand two persons, each being of the same substance.

What is this? Not something else, but mercy.

For since he himself obtained mercy from Onesiphorus, he prays that this man too may obtain the same from God.

And if Onesiphorus, who exposed himself to dangers, is saved through mercy, how much more shall we be.

For fearful are the accounts to be rendered, fearful, and in need of much loving-kindness, that we may not hear that dread word:

'Depart, I know you not, ye that work iniquity';

that again we may not hear that fearful word:

'Depart, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels';

that we may not hear, 'There is a chasm between us and you';

that we may not hear that word full of horror, 'Take him, and cast him into the outer darkness';

that we may not hear that word full of great fear, 'Wicked and slothful servant.'

For exceedingly dreadful and fearful is that tribunal;

and yet God is gentle, and yet He is kind.

For He is called the God of compassions, and the God of comfort, and good as none is good, and kind and gracious and full of mercy, and He desires not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should turn and live.

Whence then, whence is that day so full of anguish? A river of fire is drawn along before His face, the books of our deeds are opened, that day is as a burning furnace, angels run to and fro, and many furnaces are set forth.

How then is He loving toward mankind? How merciful? How good? Loving toward mankind indeed even thus, and from these very things the greatness of His love toward mankind is most clearly shown.

For it is on this account that He shakes such great fear over us, that we may at last, even if pressed on through these things, be roused to the longing for the kingdom.

But consider with me how he does not simply bear witness to Onesiphorus, but says:

As if he were some athlete oppressed by drought, by the afflictions,

he restored me, he says, and strengthened me anew.

'And in how many things he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest better.'

Not only at Ephesus, he says, but here also.

For such ought he to be who is sober and awake—not

to work once, nor twice, nor thrice, but throughout the whole of life.

For just as our body, when it has been nourished but once, does not thereby possess sustenance for the whole of life, but needs also daily food,

so also here, in the matter of godliness, we have need each day of the help that comes from works.

For we have need of much mercy;

for it is because of our sins that the God who loves mankind does all those things, needing none of them Himself, but doing all for our sakes.

For on this account He declared and recounted all things to us, and not only recounted them, but also confirms them by deeds.

For He was worthy of belief even from His words alone;

but that no one might suppose the words to be mere hyperbole or bare threat, He adds also the full assurance that comes from works.

How? By bringing punishments both privately and publicly.

And that you might learn from the very facts, at one time He chastised Pharaoh, at another He brought on the deluge of waters and that utter destruction, at another the punishment by fire.

And even now we see many of the wicked being punished and paying the penalty;

and these are foreshadowings of Gehenna.

For that we may not sleep, nor be slothful, nor forget the words, He reminds us through works and rouses us, here showing tribunals, courts of judgment, and reckonings.

Then, is there among men such great care for justice, while with God, who Himself ordained these things, there is no account of them? And how could this deserve belief? For indeed, both in the household and in the marketplace and everywhere one may see courts of judgment.

For in the household the master judges his servants every day, and demands from them a reckoning of their faults, and some he punishes, while others he pardons.

In the fields again the husbandman and his wife have their judgment every day;

in ships the pilot judges, in camps the general judges the soldiers;

and one may find many tribunals;

in the crafts the teacher judges the pupil.

And so both privately and publicly all judge one another, and nowhere would one see the account of justice neglected, but all everywhere rendering their reckonings.

Then, here the search for justice is so scattered abroad, throughout city and household, and in each single one of us; but there, where the right hand of God is full of righteousness, and His righteousness is as the mountains of God, there is there no account of justice? And how does God, the Judge, who is both just and mighty and long-suffering, bear with it, and not demand the penalties? Here you have the reason:

'He is long-suffering,' it says, and He is long-suffering because He is drawing you to repentance;

but if you persist, 'After thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up unto thyself wrath.'

If then He is just, He renders according to desert, and does not overlook unpunished those who do evil;

if He is mighty, He renders even after death, and in the resurrection;

but if, being long-suffering, He bears with us, let us not be troubled, nor say, Why does He not exact vengeance here? For if this were done, the human race would have been snatched away beforehand, if each day He demanded from us a reckoning for our transgressions.

For there is not, there is not a day pure of sins, but either in some great or in some small matter we give offence.

So that not even to the twentieth year would each of us have attained, had not His long-suffering and His goodness been great, affording us a long term for repentance, that we might put off our transgressions.

Let each one, therefore, entering with an upright conscience into the things he has done, and bringing his whole life into the midst, examine whether he is not worthy of ten thousand punishments and chastisements;

and whenever he is indignant, Why does not such a one, doing ten thousand base things, pay the penalty, let him consider his own deeds, and he will put an end to his indignation.

For those things appear great, because they are done in great and conspicuous matters;

But if he were to examine his own deeds, perhaps he would find them to be more.

For to seize and to grasp at more than one's due is one and the same thing, whether it be in the matter of gold, or of anything else.

For both spring from the same disposition of mind, and he who has pilfered a small thing will not shrink from pilfering a great one as well.

And if he does not do so, this has not come about through any virtue of his, but through the mere circumstance of the opportunity not presenting itself.

The poor man who wrongs one poorer than himself would surely not, if only he had the power, have overlooked the rich man too; but the matter comes about henceforth from his weakness, not from any choice of his.

'Such a one holds office,' he says, 'and plunders the goods of those he rules.'

But do you not plunder? Tell me.

For do not say to me that he plunders talents of gold, while you but ten obols;

since in the matter of almsgiving too, some cast in gold, but she cast in two mites, and yet brought no less than they.

Wherefore? Because it is the purpose that is judged, and not the gift.

Then in the case of almsgiving you think it right that God should judge thus, and that one should carry off no less on account of poverty, if you cast in two mites, than those who lay down ten thousand talents of gold; but in the case of covetousness not so? And how could that be reasonable? Just as she, casting in two mites, brought no less by reason of her purpose, so also you, having filched two mites, are in no better case than those men; but, if one must say something startling, you are even more greedy than they.

For just as, whether a man commit adultery with the king's wife, or with the poor man's, or with the slave's, he is equally an adulterer—the sin being judged not by the difference of persons, but by the wickedness of the purpose of him who dared it;

and I would rather call him an adulterer who commits adultery with the ordinary woman than him who does so with the queen herself;

for in the latter case there was wealth and beauty and many other things to allure, but in the former nothing;

so that this man would rather be the adulterer.

Again, I would rather call that man a drunkard who has indulged in poor wine;

and so too a covetous man him who does not despise even small things.

For he who plunders great things might perhaps despise the small ones;

but he who pilfers the small things will by no means despise the great;

so that this man is rather the thief.

For he who does not despise silver, how should he despise gold? Therefore, whenever we accuse those in authority, let us reckon up our own doings, and we shall find that we ourselves are rather thieves and more covetous than they, if we judge these matters not by the deed, but by the purpose—as indeed it is just to judge.

For tell me: if one man were brought forward having taken the poor man's goods, and another having taken the rich man's, will they not both pay the same penalty? And what of this? Is not the murderer equally a murderer, whether he kill a maimed and poor man, or a rich and comely one? Whenever therefore we say that such a one has plundered such a one's estate, let us consider our own deeds, and thus we shall neither condemn others, and we shall marvel at God's long-suffering, and shall not be indignant that judgment does not come upon them, and we ourselves shall be the more slothful toward the working of evil.

For when we see that we ourselves also are liable to the same charges, we shall no longer be so vexed, but shall depart from our sins, and shall attain to the good things to come in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honour, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.