Whether he justly wishes to be at the day of death such as he was at the day of Baptism. It is illustrated by an example. For those who think it suffices them if they have not done evil are also wont to say this: Would that at the day of death I might deserve to be found such as I came forth from the sacrament of Baptism. It is indeed good that everyone should be found on the day of judgment purged from all evils; but it is a grave evil if he has had no progress in good works. For to him alone does it suffice to be such as he came forth from the sacrament of Baptism, who immediately after receiving Baptism has departed from this light; he had no space in which to exercise himself in good works:
but he who had both a long time of living, and an age able to work well, for him it does not suffice to be idle from evils, if he has been willing to be idle also from good things. I would that he who wishes to be found in his passing such as he was at the time when he deserved to receive the sacraments of Baptism (though it is good that he be always purged from evils, but a grave evil if he does not advance in good things) — I would that he should tell me: if he has planted a young vine in his field, whether he wishes it after ten years to be such as it was on the day when it was planted. If he has grafted an olive grove, let us see whether it pleases him that after several years it should be such as it was when it was grafted.
If a son is born to a man, let him consider whether he would wish that, after five years, the child should remain in the same smallness of infancy and age in which he was born. Since, then, there is no one whom this would please regarding his own affairs, just as a man grieves over a vineyard or an olive-grove or a son if they have gained no increase, so let him grieve if he comes to know that he himself has made no progress from the time when he was reborn in Christ. For we ought to know most certainly that, just as we desire everything that belongs to us — whether in our flocks or in whatever fruits of the fields — to grow and prosper in every good thing, so beyond doubt does our God also both desire and expect this concerning us.
Let the Christian people, therefore, as His own peculiar new planting, bring forth grapes rather than thorns, lest that be said of it which you have often sung in the Canticle: 'I planted a vineyard,' He says, 'and I looked that it should bring forth grapes; but it brought forth wild grapes' (Isaiah 5:2). But since, as the Apostle says, when we were wild olives, we were grafted into the good olive-tree (Romans 11:24), so with God's help we ought to persist in good works, that we may be able to say with the prophet: 'But I, like a fruitful olive-tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of my God' (Psalm 51:10). 4. Recapitulation. And therefore, by those things which we have set forth above, I beg you, brethren, that none of you believe it enough for him if only he has done no evil works;
but rather let him, with all the strength he can, so turn away from evil that he may do good, and hear the Lord saying in the Gospel: 'What does it profit you that you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?' (Luke 6:46), and again: 'If you love me, keep my commandments' (John 14:15). And what those things are which Christ has commanded to be done in the Gospel, you know well, God being gracious. 'Love,' He says, 'your enemies, do good to those who hate you, that you may be sons of your Father' (Matthew 5:44-45); and again: 'Nevertheless, give alms, and behold, all things are clean unto you' (Luke 11:41).
Concerning this matter let us also hear blessed James crying out with a free voice: 'For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead' (James 2:26). Therefore with all our strength, most beloved brethren, let us work that which is good; and let it not suffice us to be such as we were at the time when we received the sacraments of Baptism. For through Baptism we were emptied of all evils; but by the grace of God we ought, in doing well, to be filled with all good things;
lest perchance, if without good works we trust in the sacrament of Baptism alone, the unclean spirit, who was cast out of us by the grace of Christ, should return, and if he find us empty of good works, should bring with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and our last state become worse than the first. If, therefore, most beloved brethren, according to your holy custom you gladly receive these things and consider them more attentively, then, trusting not in faith alone but also in good works, you will be able so to abstain from evil deeds that, with Christ's help, you may continually exercise yourselves in good works;
so that with exultation and joy you may be counted worthy happily to hear that blessed and longed-for voice: 'Come, you blessed, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (Matthew 25:34) — which may He deign to grant, who lives and reigns forever, etc. SERMON 264. An exposition of faith, and an interpretation of its name. 1. The praises of faith are celebrated by all. Faith is named from Fit (it is done). In all the divine readings, most beloved brethren, faith is extolled with many praises; and not only the divine Scriptures, but the whole human race also, does not cease to praise it. And would that, as it is praised with the tongue, so it were praised by the life; as it is proclaimed by the mouth, so it were held in the heart;
and as it is promised with the lips, so it were fulfilled by works. For so great is the power of faith that even those who neglect to keep it presume to praise it. And truly faith is deservedly praised, without which no good work is ever begun or brought to completion; according to what is written: 'Without faith it is impossible for anyone to please God' (Hebrews 11:6). For concerning faith itself it is said, in the person of Christ and the Church: 'Come, my neighbour, from the beginning of faith' (Canticle 4:8, according to the LXX). The blessed apostle Paul also, in that catalogue where he praised all the ancient saints, commended each one, saying: 'By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham pleased God' (Hebrews 11), etc.
Concerning this faith the Lord Himself also said in the Gospel: 'Your faith has made you whole' (Luke 17:19); and this: 'If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mulberry tree, Be rooted up and transplanted, and it shall be done for you' (Matthew 17:20). Since, therefore, the good of faith is proclaimed with such great praises, yet by many the meaning of its name is not known. For faith (fides) took its name from Fit, that is, from that which is done, because in it is contained the firmness of all things, not only divine but also human. Whence, whatever words a man may use, even if with many oaths he says that he has faith, if what he says he believes with words he is unwilling to fulfil in deeds, it is not faith; because, as I said, faith took its name from Fit.
That it may be whole, one must believe both what God promises and what He threatens. That it may be true, one must act in such a way that the one is avoided and the other obtained. Let us see what he ought to do who wishes to keep faith whole: this, without doubt, in which the foundation of the Christian religion is most firmly contained — namely, that with his whole heart he trust that both what God promises and what He threatens are true. For then will he be able both to understand the name of faith and more fully to recognize its power, if he sets these two things before his eyes, that is, the reward of eternal life and the punishment of perpetual pain. And because to believe the one and to doubt of the other profits nothing, let each one with great diligence question his own heart, whether he faithfully believes both:
and if he recognizes that he has true faith in these two matters, holding with a most firm heart both that the righteous, after good works, will receive glory, and that the unrighteous, after evil deeds, will suffer perpetual punishment; when he has faithfully believed these things, if with his whole soul he strives to do good works through which he may be able to attain the reward, and not to do evil that he may be able to escape the punishment, let him rejoice that he holds right faith, and let him give thanks to God, and with His help let him strive to persevere in the work itself. These things, therefore, brethren, if you are willing diligently to heed, you will be able more fully to recognize both the name of faith and its power.
And because faith took its name from Fit, as I said above, if you say that you have faith better than another, and what you promise with words you are unwilling to fulfil with works, it is utterly not faith. And if you assert that you believe the reward which God promises and the punishment which He threatens, and yet, as has often already been said, you are unwilling to act so as to be able to escape perpetual pain and to attain the eternal rewards, there is no faith in you at all: and not only does it not help you at all that you call yourself faithful in words, but it even greatly harms you; because it is better for anyone not to promise than to be unwilling to fulfil what he has promised. For the name of faith alone will not be able to set you free: but rather, as has already been said, you will thereby be doubly guilty;
because what you promised with words you were unwilling to fulfil; and the Holy Spirit cries out to you through James: 'Faith without works is dead' (James 2:26). 3. Therefore the things promised especially in Baptism are to be fulfilled. Let no one here be secure. Faith is imperilled even by an idle word. And although a man ought, if he can, to fulfil by works whatever he has promised, yet that first and most illustrious promise, which we make to God at the time when we are reborn in Baptism, we ought especially, with His help, to keep. For we are asked in Baptism whether we renounce the devil, his pomps and his works: and we answer with a free voice that we do renounce them.
And because infants can by no means profess this by themselves, their parents stand as sureties for them. If, therefore, we faithfully preserve this which is first, and in which the foundation of the Christian religion consists, it is certain that we shall be able, with His help, to fulfil the rest. But if we neglect to fulfil what we promise to God, I do not know whether we can keep even that faith which is transacted among men. For if we perilously promise something to any man who has power, and neglect to fulfil it, how much more perilous is it to promise to God and not to render it? But we fear man for this reason, because we dread either death or bodily harm;
we neglect to render to God what we promise, because we in no way fear the death of the soul. And where is that Gospel saying: 'Do not fear those who kill the body; but rather fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell' (Matthew 10:28)? Let there be done, then, first of all, what is promised to God, that what has been promised to men may be fulfilled. Let each one consider his own conscience, and if he sees that he has fulfilled what he promised — that he has renounced the devil and his pomps not only in words but also in works — let him acknowledge it; let him rejoice that he has kept his faith whole. Yet let him be so secure concerning the past as to be anxious concerning the future;
because not he who has begun, but he who has persevered to the end, this one shall be saved (Matthew 10:22). But lest perchance anyone believe that faith can be broken only by capital crimes — what does it matter whether a man kills himself by striking with a greater or a lesser sword? Let him who says this consider that faith can be imperilled even by an idle word, of which the Lord said that an account must be rendered on the day of judgment: and this: 'Whoever says to his brother, Raca, or, You fool, shall be guilty of the fire of hell' (Matthew 5:22). 4. The pomps of the devil. Let each one, therefore, consider, as has already been said, what he promised in the sacrament of Baptism. And because he made a covenant with the Lord, let him see whether he has in any part violated it.
For when he was asked, 'Do you renounce the devil, his pomps and his works?' then the priest offered him the covenant to be subscribed. And when he answered, 'I renounce,' then he subscribed it. If, therefore, as has already been said above, we do not fulfil what we promised to God, I do not know whether we can keep faith with men. For we promised that we would renounce the devil, his pomps and his works. Now what the pomps of the devil are almost no one is ignorant: yet it is necessary for us to speak of them in some part. All spectacles, whether frenzied or bloody or shameful, are pomps of the devil. To serve gluttony or drunkenness, to subject the unhappy soul to lust or luxury, certainly pertains to the pomp of the devil;
because in such deeds his pleasure is fulfilled. But as for adulteries, murders, robberies, or false testimonies, what need is there to say that they pertain to the pomp or to the works of the devil, since no man can be ignorant of this? For to observe auguries, and to employ enchanters, and to seek out soothsayers and diviners of lots — all this without doubt pertains to the pomp or to the works of the devil. And therefore, because few can be found who may rejoice that they are free from all these things, let each one, as I have already said, have recourse to his own conscience;
and while his soul is still contained in this little body, whatever of the aforesaid evils he knows to have been or to be in himself, let him hasten to redeem or amend by penance and almsgiving, and especially by pardon of his enemies; and so, with God's help, let him be zealous to heal his past wounds, so that he may never afterwards presume to admit that whereby he might again be wounded. 5. Faith without works. To the despairing or the presumptuous there is no faith. And let him not vainly deceive himself, saying: 'I believe concerning God's mercy that my faith or the Baptism which I received will never perish.' You believe well, if you have done what you promised.
If you have preserved the covenant which you entered into with the Lord, be secure, for neither your faith nor your Baptism will perish. But if what you promised with words you have neglected to fulfil with works, with what face or with what conscience do you know that your Baptism has not perished, since you have not kept the covenant? Hear the Lord saying: 'What does it profit you that you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?' (Luke 6:46); and again: 'He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me' (John 14:21); and again: 'Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven' (Matthew 7:21).
Attend diligently, that according to the sentences written above it profits a man nothing that he says he has faith, if what he promises with words he has neglected to fulfil with works; according to that saying of Scripture: 'If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay to render it; for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases Him. It is much better not to vow than after a vow not to render what was promised' (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). And that we may also be able clearly to recognize this in ourselves and in our servants, let someone tell me whether it suffices him that his servant should all day long call him lord, and cease not to proclaim him with many praises, and yet neglect to fulfil the works which he has commanded.
If, therefore, words without works do not please us, how much more will faith without works be unable to profit with God! Above all it is to be feared lest anyone so believe that he will receive God's mercy that he does not dread His justice: and if he does this, it is not faith. And again, if he so dreads justice that he despairs of mercy, it is not faith. And therefore, because God is not only merciful but also just, let us believe both: neither, fearing justice, let us despair of mercy; nor let us so love mercy that we neglect justice. Therefore neither is one to hope amiss, nor to despair amiss. He hopes amiss who thinks to earn mercy without penance and good works;
and he despairs amiss who, after good works, does not believe that he will receive mercy. Whence above all it is to be considered and feared, lest we believe that faith can suffice for us without good works. But let us fear that saying of the apostle James: 'As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead' (James 2:26); and this: 'You believe,' he says, 'that God is one? You do well. The demons also believe, and tremble' (James 2:19). See, brethren, that whoever believes and does not act, the Apostle said that he has the belief of demons. For if he who believes and does not act is likened to the demons, what hope he who does not believe has, is for you to judge.
Because the demons believe that God exists, and do not do the things which God commands; such a one is proved not to believe in this, that what he seems to promise with words he is unwilling to fulfil with works. 6. Recapitulation. And that you may more fully recognize the works of faith and its power, I wish briefly to suggest it to your Charity. For the whole power of faith seems to consist in two things. One has often already been said: that we should most certainly believe that what God promises is true; the other, that it be settled among us that what God threatens is not false. For if with your whole heart and whole soul you believe that after good works you will receive the reward which is promised;
likewise, if without any hesitation you believe that, if you do evil works, you will suffer punishment without end: recognize that you retain faith whole; yet on this condition, that what you believe with your heart you fulfil with works, and without any delay turn away from evil and do good. In that you turn away from evil, you believe there is punishment; in that you do good, you believe you will attain to the reward. Yet know that it profits you nothing if you are willing to believe one thing and to doubt of the other. For it profits him to turn away from evil who immediately does good; and it profits him to do good who wholly turns away from evil. This I have said for this reason, because there are many who seem to give alms out of robberies and frauds;
and yet from those very evils they are unwilling to cease. For then, most beloved brethren, as I have already said, it profits you that you do not do evil, if you fulfil what you know pleases God. And then you will be able faithfully to believe that a reward will be rendered to you for your good works, when with God's help you have begun wholly to abstain from evil deeds. For if you wish to do both good and evil works together, what does it profit to build on one side and to destroy on the other; and to strip one man and to clothe another? To such the Lord cries out in the Gospel: 'Either make the tree good, and its fruits good; or make the tree evil, and its fruits evil' (Matthew 12:33):
and Solomon: 'As a dog is detestable when it returns to its vomit, so also is the sinner when he returns to his sin' (Proverbs 26:11): and the prophet: 'Woe to the sinner who walks upon the earth by two ways' (Ecclesiasticus 2:14): and this: 'No one can serve two masters' (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, as we have already often suggested above, since faith took its name from Fit, that is, from that which is done, he too says that he believes with confidence, who is willing to fulfil by works what he has said he believes; and, as has already been said, this itself is the safe power of faith: that we believe both to be — what God promises and what He threatens;
and so, if we wish perfect faith to remain in us, let us both, fearing the punishment, not do evil works, and, desiring the reward, labour with all our strength to do the things that are good: that we may not be compelled to endure eternal punishment with the unbelieving and the impious, but with the faithful and those who persevere in good works may be able to attain to the perpetual kingdom. Which may He deign to grant, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON 265. On the Christian name together with works that are not Christian. 1. The Christian name does not suffice. The sign of Christ. Who signs himself unto his own ruin. To whom it profits.
I beg you, most beloved brethren, that we more attentively consider why we are Christians, and why we bear the cross of Christ on our forehead. For we ought to know that it does not suffice for us that we have received the Christian name, if we do not do Christian works: as the Lord Himself said in the Gospel: 'What does it profit you that you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?' If you call yourself a Christian soldier, and continually sign yourself with the cross of Christ, and yet do not give alms according to your means, and are unwilling to have charity and justice and chastity, the Christian name will be able to profit you nothing. A great thing is the sign of Christ and the cross of Christ: and therefore by so precious a seal a great and precious thing ought to be sealed.
For what does it profit if you make a seal of a golden ring, and hide rotten chaff within? What does it profit if we bear the sign of Christ on our forehead and in our mouth, and within, in the soul, hide crimes and sins? For whoever thinks evil, speaks evil, works evil, if he is unwilling to amend himself, when he signs himself, his sin is not diminished but increased. For many, when they go to theft or to adultery, if they stub their foot, sign themselves, and yet do not call themselves back from the evil deed: and the wretches do not know that they shut demons within themselves more than they shut them out. But he who, with God's help, drives away from himself vices and sins, and strives at once to think and to fulfil that which is good;
he justly applies the sign of the cross to his lips: because he strives to do such works as may be worthy to receive the sign of Christ. And because it is written, 'The kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power' (1 Corinthians 4:20); and again, 'Faith without works is dead' (James 2:26): that we may have the Christian name not for judgment but for remedy, let us turn ourselves to good works, while the remedies are in our power. 2. The duty of a Christian. Of the father of a household. Of a judge. And that you may be able, God helping, to fulfil these things, both be at peace yourselves, and call back to concord those who are at discord. Flee lying; do not commit perjury as you would shun perpetual death.
Above all, as has already been said above, according to your means show alms to the poor, offer the oblations which are consecrated at the altar. A man of means ought to be ashamed if he has communicated from another's oblation. Let those who are able provide either wax tapers or oil to be put into the lamps. Both hold fast yourselves the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and show them to your children. For I do not know with what face he calls himself a Christian, who neglects to prepare the few lines in the Creed or in the Lord's Prayer. Know that you have stood as sureties before God for the children whom you receive in Baptism.
And therefore both those who are born of you, and those whom you receive from the font, always chastise and correct, that they may live chastely and justly and soberly. And do you yourselves so act that, if your children should wish to imitate you, they may not burn in the fire with you, but together with you attain to the eternal rewards. Let those who hear cases judge justly: nor let them accept bribes against the innocent, because bribes blind the hearts of the wise, and pervert the words of the just; lest perchance, while they acquire money, they lose their own soul. For no one has unjust gain without just loss. Where there is gain, there also is loss: gain in the chest, loss in the conscience. Let no one make himself drunk; let no one at his own feast compel another to drink more than is fitting;
lest through drunkenness he destroy both his own soul and the other's. 3. What is to be done on the Lord's Day: in the churches: in sickness. The effect of extreme unction. Every Lord's Day come together to church. For if the unhappy Jews celebrate the Sabbath with such great devotion that on it they perform no earthly works, how much more ought Christians on the Lord's Day to be free for God alone, and to come together to church for the salvation of their soul? When you come together to church, pray for your sins. Do not stir up quarrels, do not provoke disputes and scandals: for whoever, coming to church, has done these things, there wounds himself by wrangling where he might have healed himself by praying. Standing in church, do not chatter, but patiently hear the divine readings.
For whoever is willing to chatter in church will render an account both for himself and for others, since he neither himself hears the word of God, nor permits others to hear it. And render tithes of your fruits to the churches. Let him who was proud be humble; let him who was an adulterer be chaste; let him who was wont to commit theft or to seize others' goods begin, even from his own substance, to bestow upon the poor. Let him who was envious be kindly disposed. Let him who has done an injury quickly ask pardon; let him to whom an injury has been done quickly forgive. As often as any infirmity comes upon you, let him who is sick receive the Body and Blood, and thence anoint his poor body;
that what is written may be fulfilled in him: 'Is any among you sick? Let him bring in the presbyters, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him' (James 5:14-15). See, brethren, that whoever in his infirmity runs to the church will merit both to recover bodily health and to obtain the pardon of his sins. Since, therefore, twofold goods can be found in the church, why do wretched men try to bring upon themselves manifold evils through enchanters, through springs and trees and diabolical amulets, through charms and soothsayers and diviners or casters of lots? 4. What is to be avoided in conversations.
Dances before the basilicas of the saints. As we have already said above, brethren, always admonish your children and all your households to live chastely and justly and wholesomely: and provoke them to good works not only by words but also by examples. Above all, wherever you may be — whether at home, or on a journey, or at a feast, or in an assembly — do not bring forth from your mouth base and lewd words: but rather continually admonish your neighbours and those near you, that they may always be zealous to speak that which is good and honourable;