486 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY III. actions, not to work once, or twice, or thrice, but through the whole of life. For as our body is not fed once for all, and so provided with sus tenance for awhole life, butneeds also daily food, so in this too, godliness requires to be supported every day bygood works. Forwe ourselves have need of great mercy. It is on account of our sins that God, the Friend of man, does all these things, not that He needs them Himself, but He does all for us. For therefore it is that He has revealed them all, and made them known to us, and not merely told us of them, but given us assurance ofthem bywhatHe has done. Though He was worthy of credit upon His word only, that no one may think it is said hyperbolically, or in the way of threatening merely, we have further assurance by His works. How? By the punishments which He has inflicted both publicly and privately. And that thou mayest learn by the very examples, at one time he pun ished Pharaoh, at another time He brought a flood of water upon the earth, and that utter destruction, and again at another time a flood of fire : and even now we see in many instances the wicked suffering vengeance, and punish ments, which things are figures of Hell. For lest we should slumber and be slothful, and forget His word, He awakens our minds by deeds ; showing us, even here, courts of justice, judgment seats, and trials. Is there then among men so great a regard for justice, and doth God, whose ordinance even these things are, make no account of it? Is this credible? In a house, in a market-place, there is a court of justice. The master daily sits in judgment upon his slaves, calls them to account for their of fenses, punishes some and pardons others. In the country, the husbandman and his wife are daily at law. In a ship, the master is judge, and in a camp the general over his soldiers, and everywhere one may see judicial proceedings. In trades, the master judges the learner. In short all, publicly and privately, are judges to one another. In nothing is the consideration of justice overlooked, and all in every place give account of their actions. And is the inquisi tion for justice here thus spread through cities, through houses, and among individuals ; and is there no regard for what is justice there, where " the right hand of God is full of righteousness " (Ps. xlviii. 10), and "His righteousness is as the mountains of God"? (Ps. xxxvi. 6.) How is it then that God, " the righteous Judge, strong and patient" (Ps. vii. n, Sept.), bears thus with men, and does not exact punishment ? Here thou hast the cause, He is longsuffering, and thereby would lead thee to repentance. But if thou continuest in sin, thou " after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath." (Rom. ii. 5.) If then He is just, He repays according to desert, and does not overlook those who suffer wrongfully, but avenges them. For this is the part of one who is just. If He is powerful, He requites after death, and at the Resurrection : for this belongs to him who is powerful. And if because He is longsuffering He bears with men, let us not be disturbed, nor ask, why He does not prosecute vengeance here? For if this were done, the whole human race before this would have been swept away, if every day He should call us to account for our transgressions, since there is not, there is not indeed, a single day pure from sin, but in something greater or less we offend ; so that we should not one of us have arrived at our twentieth year, but for His great long- suffering, and His goodness, that grants us a longer space for repentance, that we may put off our past transgressions. Let each therefore, with an upright con science, entering into a review of what he has done, and bringing his whole life before him, consider, whether he is not deserving of chas tisements and punishments without number ? And when he is indignant that some one, who has been guilty of many bad actions, escapes with impunity ; let him consider his own faults, and his indignation will cease. For those crimes appear great, because they are in great and notorious matters ; but if he will enquire into his own, he will perhaps find them more numerous. For to rob and to defraud is the same thing, whether it be done for gold or silver ; since both proceed from the same mind. He that will steal a little would not refuse to steal much, if it fell in his way ; and that it does not, is not his own choice, but an acci dental circumstance. A poor man, who robs a poorer, would not hesitate to rob the rich if he could. His forbearance arises from weak ness, and not from choice. Such an one, you say, is a ruler ; and takes away the property of those who are under his rule. And say, dost not thou steal ? For tell me not that he steals talents, and you as many 1 pence. In giving alms, some cast in gold, while the wido\v threw in two mites, yet she contributed not less than they. Wherefore? Because the in tention is considered, and not the amount of the gift. And then, in the case of alms, thou wilt have God judge thus, and wouldest, because of thy poverty, receive no less a reward for giving two mites than he who lays down many talents of gold ? and is not the same rule applicable to wrongful dealings? How is this consistent? As she who contributed two mites was considered equal to the greatest giv ers, because of her good intention, so thou, who