2OO WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY IV. " that they may be one." (John xvii. n.) For a " kingdom divided against itself shall not stand." (Mark iii. 24.) For this cause he every where counsels his disciples much to be of one mind. And Christ says, " By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye love one another." (John xiii. 35.) That is, do not look with expectation toward me, and therefore slum ber, as waiting for my coming, and then, when ye see me not coming faint. For even from re port I can receive pleasure likewise. What means, " In one spirit " ? By the same gift of grace, viz. that of concord, and zeal; for the Spirit l is one, and he shows it ; for then are we able to stand in " one soul," also, when we all have " one Spirit." See how the word " one " is used for concord. See how their souls being many are called one. Thus was it of old. " For they were all," it is written, " of one heart and of one soul. Striving together for the faith of the Gospel." (Acts iv. 32.) Does he say, striving together for each other, 2 as though the faith did strive ? For did they wres tle against each other? But help each other, he says, in your striving for the faith of the Gospel. Ver. 28. "And in nothing affrighted by the adversaries ; which is for them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation." Well said he, " affrighted," this is what befalls us from our enemies, they only frighten. " In nothing " therefore, he says, whatever happens, whether dangers whether plots. For this is the part of those who stand upright ; the enemy can do nought but frighten only. Since it was likely that they should be greatly troubled, when Paul suffered such numberless ills, he says, I exhort you not only not to be shaken, but not to be affrighted, yea rather to despise them heartily ; for if ye are thus affected, ye will straightway, by this means, make evident at once their destruction, and your salvation. For when they see, that with their innumerable plots they are unable to frighten you, they will take it as a proof of their own destruction. For when the persecutors prevail not over the perse cuted, the plotters over the objects of their plots, the powerful over those subject to their power, will it not be self-evident, that their per dition is at hand, that their power is nought, that their part is false, that their 3 part is weak? " And this," he says, " comes from God." Ver. 29. " For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer in his behalf." 1 The punctuation is altered. He seems to be proving, not the unity of the Spirit, but the relation of that doctrine to practice. 1 [i.e. you and the faith. J. A. B.] 3 Chrys. seems to make a false opposition between exdvtav and avTou ; but if the reading is correct, this is really one of his rapid changes of the " point of view," though not amounting to a change of person. Dounaeus suggests on TO. fxeiviav a\ri9fi; (for a<T0fvfi;) That the others (principles) are true. Compare the letter of Antoninus [Hadrian] quoted by Justin Martyr. Apol. i. 70. Again does he teach them moderation of spirit by referring all to God, and saying that sufferings in behalf of Christ are of grace, the gift of grace, a free gift. Be not then ashamed of the gift of grace, for it is more wonderful than the power of raising the dead, or working miracles ; for there I am a debtor, but here I have Christ formy debtor. Wherefore ought we not only not to be ashamed, but even to rejoice, in that we have this gift. Virtues he calls gifts, yet not in like sort as other things, for those are entirely of God, but in these we have a share. But since even here the greatest part is of God, he ascribes it entirely to Him, not to overturn our free will, but to make us humble and rightly disposed. Ver. 30. " Having the same conflict which ye saw in me " ; i.e. ye have also an example. Here again he raises them up, by showing them that everywhere their conflicts were the same with his, their struggles were the same with his, both severally, and in that they united with him in bearing trials. He said not, ye have heard, but " ye saw," for he strove too at Philippi. Truly this is an exceeding virtue. Wherefore writing to the Galatians, also he said. " Did ye suffer so many things in vain, if it be indeed in vain." (Gal. iii. 4.) And again, writing to the Hebrews, he said, " But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great con flict of suffering ; partly, being made a gazing- stock both by reproaches and afflictions." (Heb. x - 3 2 > 33-) Ami writing again to Macedonians, that is, to the Thessalonians, he said, " For they themselves report concerning us, what manner of entering in we had unto you." ( i Thess. i. 9. ) And again, " For yourselves, brethren, know our entering in unto you, that it hath not been found vain." (i Thess. ii. i.) And in like sort does he witness the same things of them all, labors and strivings. But such things ye will not now find among us ; now it is much if one suffer a little in goods alone. And in respect of their goods also he witnesses great things of them. For to some he says, " For ye took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions " (Heb. x. 34) ; and to others, " For it hath been the good pleasure of Maqedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor" (Rom. xv. 26) ; and " your zeal hath stirred up very many of them." (2 Cor. ix. 2.) Seest thou the praises of the men of that time ? But we endure not so much as buffetings or blows, neither insult nor loss of our possessions : they were straightway zealous, and all of them strove as martyrs, whilst we have grown cold in love toward Christ. Again I am constrained to accuse things present ; and what shall I do ? It is againstmy will, yetam I constrained. Were