172 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY XXIV. However, " this corruption " of the body "shall put on incorruption " (i Cor. xv. 53), but the other of the soul, never ; for where incor ruption is, there is no * corruption. Thus is it a corruption which is incorruptible, which hath no end, a deathless death ; which would have been, had the body remained deathless. Now if we shall depart into the next world having corruption, we have that corruption incorrupti ble and endless ; for to be ever burning, and not burnt up, ever wasted by the worm, is cor ruption incorruptible ; like as was the case with the blessed Job. He was corrupted, and died not, and that through a lengthened period, and " wasted continually, scraping the clods of dust from his sore." 2 Some such torment as this shall it undergo, when the worms surround and devour it, not for two years nor for three, nor for ten, nor for ten thousand, but for years without end ; for " their worm," saith He, " dieth not." MORAL. Let us take the alarm then, I entreat you, let us dread the words, that we meet not with the realities. Covetqusness is corruption, corruption more dangerous than any other, and leading on to idolatry. Let us shun us choose the incorrup- covetousness overreached one? The fruits of thy but the covetousness re mains ; a corruption which is the founda tion of incorruptible corruption. The enjoy ment indeed passes away, but the sin remains imperishable. A fearful evil is it for us not to strip ourselves of everything in this pres ent world ; a great calamity to depart into the next with loads of sins about us. " For in Sheol," it is said "who shall give Thee thanks? " (Ps. vi. 5.) There is the place of judgment; the corruption, let tion. Hast thou in and defrauded some covetousness perish, then is there no longer season for repentance. How many things did the rich man bewail then ? (Luke xvi. 23.) And yet it availed him noth ing. How many things did they say who had neglected to feed Christ? (Matt. xxv. 41.) Yet were they led away notwithstanding into the everlasting fire. How many things had they then to say : " that had wrought iniquity " ; " Lord, did we not prophesy by Thy Name, and by Thy Name cast out devils?" And yet not withstanding, they were not owned. All these things therefore will take place then ; but it will be of no avail, if they be not done now. Let us fear then, lest ever we should have to say then, " Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee not? " (Matt. xxv. 44.) Let us feed Him now, not one day, nor two, nor three days. " For let not mercy and truth," saith the Wise Man, "forsake thee." (Prov. iii. 3.) He saith not "do it once, nor twice." The Virgins, we know, had oil, but not enough to last out. (Matt. xxv. 3, 8.) And thus we need much oil, and thus should we be " like a green olive tree in the house of God." (Ps. Hi. 8.) Let us re flect then how many burdens of sins each of us has about him, and let us make our acts of mercy counterbalance them ; nay rather, far exceed them, that not only the sins may be quenched, but that the acts of righteousness may be also accounted unto us for righteous ness. For if the good deeds be not so many in number as to put aside the crimes laid against us, and out of the remainder to be counted unto us for righteousness, 3 then shall no one rescue us from that punishment, from which God grant that we may be all delivered, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, &c. 1 [Field s text has (vda. yap d<>0ap<ria, <f>0opd eerie, which seems a contradiction, whereas Savile s text, with four MSS., has OVK eoTcr. G. A.] 2 [Job vii. 5, Sept.: </>uper<u Be pov TO crania tv (rairpia ovcioA.?)- KUIV, TTJKUJ &f (ScuAaicas yijs dirb t^upcs fvcoc: " My flesh is mingled with the filth ofworms, and I pine away, scraping clods (or crusts) of earth from my sore " (discharge, matter, pus). The Rev. Ver. has: " My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust." So nearly Zockler in Lange: "My flesh is clothed with worms and crusts of earth." G. A.] 3 [Such passages as this in the Fathers are used by Romanistsand Iractanans for establishing their views, and it is no wonder the Tractarians were zealous in giving the Fathers to the English in English. But, as Jacob says (Eccl. Polity ofN. T., pp. 28 and 29), " Our appeal is from the Nicene Fathers to the Apostles of Christ; from patristic literature to the New Testament ; for it is not being near to the truth that makes men good and wise," but having the truth itself. G. A.]