HOMILY II.] HOMILIES ON TIMOTHY. 481 not then ashamed ! Thou seest how he illus trates his teaching by his works. "These things," he says, "I suffer": I am cast into prison, I am banished ; " For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him l against That Day." What is 2 " that which is committed"? 3 The faith, the preaching of the Gospel. He, who committed this to him, he says, will preserve it unimpaired. I suffer everything, that I may not" be despoiled of this treasure, and I am not ashamed at these things, so long as it is preserved uninjured. Or he calls the Faithful the charge which God committed to him, or which he committed to God. For he says, " Now I commit you to the Lord." (Acts xx. 32.) That is, these things will not be unprofitable to me. And in Timothy is seen the fruit of the charge thus " committed." You see that he is insensible to sufferings, from the hope that he entertains of his disciples. MORAL. Such ought a Teacher to be, so to regard his disciples, to think them everything. " Now we live," he says, " if ye stand fast in the Lord." And again, "What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ?" (i Thess. iii. 8, and ii. 19.) You see his anxiety in this matter, his regard for the good of his dis ciples, not less than for his own. 4 For teach ers ought to surpass natural parents, to be more zealous than they. And it becomes their chil dren to be kindly affectioned towards them. For he says, " Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves : for they watch for your souls as they that must give account." (Heb. xiii. 17.) For say, is he subject to so dangerous a responsibility, and art thou not will ing to obey him, and that too, for thy own bene fit? For though his own state should be good, yet as long as thou art in a bad condition his anxiety continues, he has a double account to render. And consider what it is to be respon sible and anxious for each of those who are under his rule. What honor wouldest thou have reckoned equal, what service, in requital of such dangers? Thou canst not offer an equivalent. For thou hast not yet devoted thy soul for him, but he lays down his life for thee, and if he lays it not down here, when the occasion requires it, he loses it There. But thou art not willing to submit even in words. This is the prime cause of all these evils, that the authority of rulers is neglected, that there is no reverence, no fear. He says, " Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves." But now all is 1 Lit. " my deposit." 2 Sav. has ri <? ! ir., Ben. ri eort, B. ri? 17, which last is 3 napa.Ka.ra.e^-n. * al. " no less than for his own kindred." best. turned upside down and confounded. And this I say not for the sake of the rulers ; (for what benefit will they have of the honor they receive from us, 5 except so far as we are rendered obedient ;) but I say it for your advantage. For with respect to the future, they will not be benefited by the honor done them, but receive the greater condemnation, neither will they be injured as to the future by ill treatment, but will have the more excuse. But all this I desire to be done for your own sakes. For when rulers are honored by their people, this too is reckoned against them ; as in the case of Eli it is said, " Did I not choose him out of his father s house?" (i Sam. ii. 27.) But when they are insulted, as in the instance of Samuel, God said, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me." (i Sam. viii. 7.) Therefore in sult is their gain, honor their burden. What I say, therefore, is for your sakes, not for theirs. He that honors the Priest, will honor God also ; and he who has learnt to despise the Priest, will in process of time insult God. " He that re- ceiveth you," He saith, "receiveth Me." (Matt, x. 40.) "Hold my priests in honor" (Ecclus. vii. 31 ?), He says. The Jews learned to despise God, because they despised Moses, and would have stoned him. For when a man is piously disposed towards the Priest, he is much more so towards God. And even if the Priest be wicked, God seeing that thou respectest him, though unworthy of honor, through reverence to Him, will Himself reward thee. For if " he that re ceiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet s reward " (Matt. x. 41) ; then he who honoreth and submitteth and giveth way to the Priest shall certainly be rewarded. For if in the case of hospitality, when thou knowest not the guest, thou receivest so high a recom pense, much more wilt thou be requited, if thou obeyest him whom He requires thee to obey. " The Scribes and Pharisees," He says, " sit in Moses seat ; all therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after their works." (Matt, xxiii. 2, 3.) Know est thou not what the Priest is? He is an Angel" of the Lord. Are they his own words that he speaks? If thou despisest him, thou despisest not him, but God that ordained him. But how does it appear, thou askest, that he is ordained of. God ? Nay, ifthou suppose it otherwise, thy hope is rendered vain. For if God worketh nothing through his means, thou neither hast any Laver, nor art partaker ofthe Mysteries, nor ofthe bene fit of Blessings ; thou art therefore not a Christian. What then, you say, does God ordain all, even the unworthy ? God indeed doth not ordain all, but He worketh through all, though they be them- 5 This expression shows that he was not yet Bishop. 6 Or, " a messenger."