提摩太前書講道集 第 15 章

'But the younger widows refuse;'

'for when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have set aside their first faith.'

'And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house;'

'and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.'

'I will therefore that the younger widows marry, keep house, and give no occasion to the adversary for the sake of reviling.'

'For already some are turned aside after Satan.'

Paul, having made a long discourse concerning widows, and having defined their age by saying, 'Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years old,' and having taught the character of the widow by saying, 'If she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints'—

'But the younger widows refuse.'

But concerning virgins, although the matter is much more burdensome, he hints at nothing of this kind.

Why? Because they enrolled themselves for greater things, and there the work proceeded from a greater purpose of mind.

The words, then, 'if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints,' and all such things, he passed over concerning the virgin by means of the phrase 'attending upon the Lord,' and by saying, 'She that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord.'

But if for the virgin nothing is strictly defined with respect to age, do not wonder;

for from this very fact that also becomes clear.

For I have said otherwise, that those women chose virginity out of a greater purpose of mind.

Besides this, here there had already been falls, and these women themselves furnished

the occasion for such a legislation;

but there no such thing existed.

For that some had already fallen away is clear from this, from his saying, 'For when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry';

and again, 'For already some are turned aside after Satan.'

'But the younger widows refuse.'

Why? 'For when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.'

What is the meaning of, 'When they have waxed wanton'? When they play coy, when they grow luxurious and pampered;

just as when, concerning a reasonable husband, one may say,

'Let her go, for she has become another's.'

He shows, then, that they chose widowhood merely without deliberation, not having judged it aright.

So then the widow also is betrothed to Christ in her widowhood;

'for I,' He says, 'am the protector of widows, and the Father of the fatherless.'

He shows that they do not even choose widowhood rightly, but wax wanton;

'I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you a pure virgin to Christ.'

'When they have been named to Him,' he says, 'they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have set aside their first faith.'

By 'faith' he means the covenant, the pledge of truth.

They lied to Him, they transgressed the covenants.

'And withal they learn also to be idle.'

So then he enjoins working not upon men only, but upon women also;

for idleness has taught all wickedness.

'They are not,' he says, 'liable to this condemnation only, but to other sins as well.'

If, then, it is unseemly for a woman to go about from house to house, much more is it for a virgin.

'And not only,' he says, 'do they learn to be idle, but they are also tattlers and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.'

'I will therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, keep house.'

What then comes to pass when both the care for a husband is removed, and the care for God does not hold sway? With good reason they become idle, talkative, busybodies.

For he who does not care for his own affairs will assuredly care for another's;

just as he who attends to his own affairs will take no account of others', nor have any concern about them.

Nothing is so unbecoming to a woman as, above all, to meddle in the affairs of others—and not to a woman only, but to a man as well;

for this is the greatest proof of shamelessness and effrontery.

Since these women wish it, I too wish that the younger widows marry, bear children, keep house, guard the home;

for this is far better than to do those things.

One ought indeed to have cared for the things of God, one ought to have kept the faith;

but since those things do not come to pass, it is better that these should happen than those.

For thus neither is God set at nought, nor do these women learn such practices.

For from that widowhood no good will come;

but from this marriage come many good things.

Hence she will be able to turn back the gaping idleness and the sloth of her mind.

And for what reason, one asks, did he not say, 'Since the widows have fallen away, they need to enjoy much care, that they may not suffer the things I have spoken of,' but instead he enjoined marriage? Because it is not forbidden, because it establishes them in safety;

namely, to give no occasion to the adversary for reviling, nor any handle.

For already some have turned aside after Satan.

He therefore forbids such widows, not wishing that there should be no younger widows, but not wishing them to be adulteresses, not wishing them to be idle and busybodies, speaking things they ought not, not wishing to give the devil an occasion;

for if it were not so, he would not have forbidden it.

But if any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and let not the Church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are widows indeed.

Do you see how again he calls those 'widows indeed' who are left alone, who have consolation from no quarter? For thus it was better.

For two very great things came about: both those persons received an occasion of doing good, and these women were well maintained, and the Church was not burdened.

Well did he add, 'If any believer';

for the believing women ought not to be maintained by unbelievers, lest they should seem to have need of them.

And observe how consolingly he speaks;

he did not say, 'Let him furnish some lavish provision,' but, 'Let them relieve them.'

'That the Church,' he says, 'may relieve those who are widows indeed.'

So then, she also has her reward for this succour;

in helping this one, she helps not this one only, but those others also, leaving them to be maintained with ample provision.

I desire the younger women—to do what? To live delicately? To be wanton? Nothing of the sort, but: to marry, to bear children, to guide the house.

For that you might not think he was urging them to luxury, he added:

'to give no occasion to the adversary for reviling.'

For they ought indeed to have been above the concerns of this life;

but since they have become inferior to them, let them at least stand fast in these very things.

Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in word and teaching.

'You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain';

and, 'The labourer is worthy of his wages.'

By 'honour' here he means the ministering to them, the supply of necessary things.

For the fact that he adds, 'You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain,' and, 'The labourer is worthy of his wages,' makes this plain.

So then, when he says, 'Honour widows,' he means this concerning the supply of necessary food, 'that it may relieve those who are widows indeed,' he says;

and again, 'Honour those who are widows indeed';

for the more anyone is in poverty, so much the more is she a widow.

He sets down the testimony of the Law, he sets down that of Christ, both in agreement.

For the Law says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain.'

Do you see how he desires that the teacher should toil? For there is not, there is not, any other labour such as his.

But that saying is from the Law;

and how does he set down the saying of Christ also? 'For,' he says, 'the labourer is worthy of his wages.'

Let us therefore not attend to the wages alone, but also to how he gave the command;

for he says, 'The labourer is worthy of his food.'

So that if anyone lives delicately and is dissolute, he is not worthy;

unless one be like an ox treading out the grain, one that endures the yoke both in the stifling heat and among the thorns, and does not leave off before it has brought the fruits into the storehouses—he is not worthy.

Therefore the supply of necessary things ought to flow abundantly to the teachers, that they may neither grow weary nor be worn out, nor, by busying themselves about petty matters, deprive themselves of the great;

that they may work the things of the Spirit, taking no account of the concerns of this life.

Such were the Levites;

they had no care for the things of this life, because the laity cared for their provision, and by law the matters of their revenues were appointed—such as the tithes, the offerings from the gold, the firstfruits, the vows, and many other things.

But for those it was reasonable that he legislated these things, inasmuch as they sought the present things;

but I say nothing more than that those who preside ought to have food and covering, that they may not be dragged about after these things.

And what does 'double honour' mean? Double that given to the widows, or that given to the deacons, or simply, by 'double honour' he means 'much honour.'

Let us therefore not consider this only, that he counted them worthy of double honour, but also that he added, 'those who rule well.'

And what is 'ruling well'? Let us hear Christ saying:

'The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.'

So then this is to rule well: to spare nothing for the sake of their care.

'Especially,' he says, 'those who labour in word and teaching.'

Where now are those who say there is no need of the word, nor of teaching? seeing that he exhorts Timothy with so many words, saying, 'Meditate on these things, give yourself wholly to them';

and again, 'Give attention to reading, to exhortation';

'for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.'

And these especially, above all others, he desires to be honoured;

and he gives the reason, that they endure much toil, he says.

For when the one man neither keeps vigil nor takes thought, but simply sits in his seat in ease and freedom from care, while that other man wears himself out with anxious thought and study—and especially when he is unpractised even in outward speech—how ought he not above all others to enjoy honour, seeing that he gives himself up to such great toils? For he is answerable to ten thousand tongues;

one man found fault, another praised, another mocked, another slandered his memory and his composition;

and he needs much strength to bear these things.

This is a great thing towards the building up of the Church, and it contributes much that those who preside be apt to teach;

and if this be lacking, many of the things in the Churches are lost.

For this reason, along with the other qualities—along with hospitality and mildness, along with being blameless—he reckons this also, saying, 'apt to teach.'

Since why is he called a teacher? 'Yes,' one says, 'that by his life he may teach true wisdom.'

So that these things are superfluous, and there is no need of teaching by words for advancement.

And how does Paul say, 'Especially those who labour in word and teaching'? For when the discourse is concerning doctrines, what force has life there? But what 'word' does he mean? Not the boastful, nor that which has the outward elegance, but that which has acquired much strength of the Spirit, that which is full of understanding and prudence.

He has no need, then, of artifice and diction, but of thoughts; not of arrangement of words, but of understanding.

Against an elder receive not an accusation, except before two or three witnesses.

For ought one to receive an accusation against a younger man without witnesses? And ought not one always to conduct judgments with strictness against anyone whatsoever? What then is it that he means? Not even in the case of others, he says, but most of all against an elder.

For here he calls him elder, not in respect of dignity, but of age, since the young sin more easily than the old.

And it is clear from this that Timothy had by now been entrusted with a Church, or even with an entire nation, that of Asia;

wherefore also he discourses to him concerning elders.

Them that sin rebuke before all, that the rest also may have fear.

That is to say: Cut not off hastily, but examine everything with great exactness;

when, however, you have learned the matter clearly, then proceed vigorously, that the rest may be brought to soberness.

For just as to condemn without ground is harmful, so also not to proceed against manifest sins is to give the rest a way to do the same things and to be emboldened.

Rebuke, he says, showing that it is to be done not simply, but with severity;

for thus the rest also will have fear.

How then does Christ say, Go, tell him his fault between you and him alone, if he shall sin against you? Yet he too permits that man to be reproved in the Church.

What then? Does not being reproved before all rather cause offense? How so? For when men know the sin, but not the punishment, they are the more offended.

For as, when sinners remain unpunished, many are the transgressors,

so, when they are chastised, many are they who walk uprightly.

He brought Pharaoh into the midst and punished him, and Nebuchadnezzar, and many others; and we see them, both by cities and by individual men, paying the penalty.

So then he wishes all to have fear of the bishop, and he sets him over all.

For since many things are judged upon suspicion, there must be, he says, those who bear witness and convict him, according to the old law.

For at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

Against an elder, he says, receive not an accusation.

He did not say, Do not condemn, but, Do not even receive an accusation, nor at all admit it to judgment.

What then, if the two also should lie? This happens very rarely;

and it is possible for this too to become clear by being scrutinized in the trial.

For as to sins, it is well even to have two witnesses, because they are committed secretly and in concealment;

so that this is a sign of much careful testing.

What then, if the sins be acknowledged, yet he have no witnesses, but only an evil suspicion? I said above, he says: He must also have a good testimony from those without.

Let us therefore love God with fear;

for the law is not laid down for a righteous man;

but the many, who pursue virtue by necessity and not by choice, reap great benefit from fear, often cutting off their own lusts.

For this cause let us hear about hell, that we may reap much profit from this threatening and fear.

For if He who was about to cast

sinners into it had not foretold the threat of it, many would have fallen into it.

For if now, while the fear shakes our souls, there are some who so easily sin as though it did not even exist;

if none of these things had been said or threatened, what dreadful thing should we not have done? So that, as I always say, hell no less than the kingdom shows the providence of God.

For hell works together with the kingdom, driving men by fear toward it.

Let us not then think the matter to be one of harshness or cruelty, but of much mercy and lovingkindness and care and of the affection He bears toward us.

If the overthrow had not been threatened against Jonah, the overthrow would not have been prevented;

if he had not said, Nineveh shall be overthrown, Nineveh would not have stood;

if hell had not been threatened, we should all have fallen into hell;

if the fire had not been threatened, no one would have escaped the fire.

He speaks the contrary of what He wills, in order that He may bring to pass what He wills.

He does not will the death of the sinner, and He speaks of the death of the sinner, that He may not cast him into death;

He said it not by word only, but also shows it by deed, that we may flee.

And that no one might think the matter to be a mere threat, but that it truly exists, He made this clear from the things which have here come to pass.

Or does not the deluge seem to you a symbol of hell, that rain of fire bringing utter and complete destruction? For as, He says, in the days of Noah they were marrying and giving in marriage, so also now.

He foretold it then a long time before, and now He foretells it four hundred years, or even more, beforehand; but there is no one who gives heed;

all think the matter to be fables, all a matter for laughter; no one is held by fear, no one weeps, no one smites his breast.

The river of fire boils up, the flame is kindled, and yet we laugh and live luxuriously and sin without fear.

No one ever takes that day into his mind, no one considers that present things pass away, that these are but for a season, though the very affairs of life cry out day by day and utter their voice.

Untimely deaths, the changes of circumstances taking place even while we are living, do not instruct us; the sicknesses and the other diseases.

And one might see these changes not in our bodies only, but also in the very elements;

and in the seasons of life too we rehearse death day by day, and in all things instability is everywhere marked out through the course of events.

Winter never remained, nor summer, nor spring, nor autumn, but all things run and fly away and flow past.

But what would you have me speak of? The flowers, the dignities, the kings who are now and to-morrow are no more? Or the rich? Or the splendid buildings? Or night and day? Or the sun? Or the moon? Does not she too wane? And does not the sun itself often suffer eclipse, is it not darkened, does not a cloud hide it? Does anything of the things that are seen remain forever? Nothing, but the soul alone of the things within us; and even of this we take no care.

For the things which change we make much provision, as though they abode;

but for that which abides, we ever have no account, as though it were passing away.

So-and-so has great power? But it is only till to-morrow, and after that he shall perish;

and this is plain from those who had greater power, and now are nowhere to be seen.

Life is a kind of stage-play and a dream.

For just as upon the stage, when the scenery is taken away, the various shows are dissolved, and dreams all fly away when the ray of day appears;

so also now, when the consummation comes, both the common one and that of each single man, all things are dissolved and vanish.

And the tree which you have planted remains, and the house which you are building, this too remains;

but the craftsman and the husbandman are led away and perish.

And though these things come to pass, not even so are we brought to shame, but as though immortal we prepare all these things, living in luxury and wantonness.

Hear what Solomon says, who by experience made trial of the things present.

I built me houses, he says, I planted gardens and orchards, vineyards and pools of water; silver and gold I gathered to myself; I made me men singers and women singers, flocks and herds.

For no one ever became so luxurious, no one so glorious, no one so wise, no one so great a ruler, no one saw all things thus prospering according to his mind as he did.

What then? He had no profit of any of these things;

but what does he say after all these things? Vanity, he says, of vanities, all is vanity;

not simply vanity, but in the highest degree.

Let us be persuaded by Him, I beseech you, by Him who has come through experience;

let us be persuaded by Him, and lay hold of those realities where there is no longer vanity, where there is truth, where all things are fixed and firm, where all things are built upon the rock, where old age is not, nor passing away, where all things flourish, where all things are in their prime, where nothing grows old, nor ages, nor draws near to decay.

Let us truly long for God, I beseech you, not from fear of hell, but from desire for the kingdom.

For what, tell me, is equal to seeing Christ? Nothing at all.

And what is equal to enjoying those good things? There is nothing;

for 'eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God,' he says, 'has prepared for those who love Him.'

Let us be zealous to attain those things; let us despise these present things.

Do we not ten thousand times accuse them, saying that human life is nothing? Why then are you so eager about that which is nothing? Why do you undergo toils for that which is nothing? But you behold splendid buildings, and their appearance deceives you? Then look at once toward heaven; lift up your eyes from the stones and columns to that beauty, and you will see that these things are the works of ants and gnats.

Ascend to the things that are in heaven;

from thence consider these splendid buildings, and you will see that they are nothing, but the playthings of little children.

Have you seen how much finer, how much lighter, how much purer and more transparent the air is, the higher you ascend into the heights? There the workers of almsgiving have their dwellings, their tabernacles.

These earthly things are dissolved at the resurrection; nay rather, even before the resurrection, time coming upon them has corrupted, obliterated, and dissolved them;

and even before time, often in their very prime and bloom either an earthquake has thrown them down, or a conflagration has ruined the whole.

For indeed not only among the ages of men, but also among buildings, there are untimely deaths;

and often those that have become decayed by time, when the earth was shaken, have remained unmoved;

while those that were resplendent, and firmly set, and newly constructed, by a single thunderclap were shaken down and destroyed;

and this, I think, by God's arrangement, that we may not think highly of ourselves in our buildings.

Do you wish also in another way not to be despondent? Come to the public buildings, in which you too have an equal share.

For there is not, there is not any private house, however exceedingly splendid, more splendid than the public edifices.

Spend as long a time there as you wish;

those things are yours, they are yours together with the rest;

'But these things do not delight me,' someone says.

They do not delight you, first because of familiarity, and secondly because of covetousness.

So then it is covetousness that is the delightful thing, not the beauty;

so then the delight is covetousness, and the wish to appropriate to oneself the things that belong to all.

How long shall we be nailed to these things? How long shall we be fixed to the earth, and, like worms, wallow about in the mire? God gave us the body out of earth, that we might also lead it up to heaven, not that through it we might drag down the soul also to earth;

it is earthy, but, if I will, it becomes heavenly.

See with how great an honour He has honoured us, in committing to us such a work.

'I made,' He says, 'earth and heaven;

I give to you also a work of creation: make the earth heaven;'

'He who makes all things, and transforms them' — this is said concerning God.

But this power He has given to men also;

just as some affectionate father who paints not by himself alone, but wishes to guide his child also into the art.

'I made,' He says, 'a beautiful body;

I give to you the fashioning of the better part;'

'I said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass, and every fruitful tree;'

'say you too, Let this earth bring forth its own fruit, and there shall come forth whatever you wish to effect.'

'I make summer and mist, I establish the thunder, and create the wind, I formed the dragon to make sport of it' — that is, the devil.

'Neither have I grudged you this power;

make sport of it too, if you will;

for you are able to bind it like a sparrow.'

'I make the sun to rise upon the evil and the good;

imitate you too, impart of your goods both to good and evil.'

'When insulted I bear it, and I do good to those who insult me;

I do good, not for a recompense;

imitate you too, and do not do good for a recompense, nor for a return.'

'I kindled luminaries in heaven;

kindle you too luminaries brighter than these, for you are able;

that benefit is greater — for you to acknowledge Me than to see the sun.'

'A man you cannot make, but a righteous man you can make, and one well-pleasing to God.'

'I wrought the substance;

adorn you the will.'

'See how I love you, that in the greater things also I have given you the power.'

See, beloved, with how great honour we have been honoured;

and yet certain senseless and thankless persons say, 'Why are we masters of our own will?' All these things which we have gone through, in which we are able to imitate God, if there were no will, it would not be possible for us to imitate Him.

'I rule over angels,' He says, 'and you too through the first-fruits.'

'I sit upon a royal throne;

and you too sit together with Me through the first-fruits;'

'He raised us up together,' he says, 'and made us sit together at the right hand of the Father.'

'The Cherubim and the Seraphim worship you, all the angelic host — principalities, powers, thrones, dominions — through the first-fruits.'

Do not accuse the body, which enjoys so great an honour, at which even the bodiless powers tremble.

But what shall I say? I show My love not to these things only, but also by the things which I suffered.

'For your sake I was spat upon, I was buffeted, I emptied Myself of My glory, I left the Father, and I came to you who hated Me and turned away from Me, and were not even willing to hear My name;

I pursued and ran after you, that I might lay hold of you;

I united you and joined you to Myself;'

'And above I hold you, and below I embrace you.'

'Is it not enough for you that I have your first-fruits above? Does this not console your longing? And below again I have come down; not simply do I mingle with you, but I am intertwined, I am eaten, I am broken small little by little, that great may be the commingling and the mixture and the union.'

For things that are united remain within their own bounds;

'I no longer wish there to be anything in between;

I wish the two to be one.'

Knowing these things, therefore, and His great providence toward us, let us do everything that is able to prove us not unworthy of His great gifts;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honour, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.