should be converted and live.” (Ez. xviii. 24; xxxiii. 11.) Whence then, whence is that Day
so full of agony and anguish? A stream of fire is rolling before His face. The books of our
deeds are opened. The day itself is burning as an oven, the angels are flying around, and
many furnaces are prepared. How then is He good and merciful, and full of lovingkindness
to man? Even herein is He merciful, and He shows in these things the greatness of His lov-
ingkindness. For He holds forth to us these terrors, that being constrained by them, we may
be awakened to the desire of the kingdom.
And observe how, besides commending Onesiphorus, he specifies his kindness, “he oft
refreshed me”; like a wearied wrestler overcome by heat, he refreshed and strengthened him
in his tribulations. And in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, thou knowest
very well. Not only at Ephesus, but here also he refreshed me. For such ought to be the
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conduct of one on the watch and awakened to good 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 sustenance for a whole life, but needs also daily food, so in this too, godliness requires
to be supported every day by good works. For we 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 of them
by what He 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 as-
surance 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 punished 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 punishments, 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
offenses, 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 inquis-
ition 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
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2 Timothy 1:13-18