Homily XIV. Philippians iv. 4–7 “Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts through Christ Jesus.” “Blessed671 are they that mourn,” and “woe unto them that laugh” (Matt. v. 4; Luke vi. 25.), saith Christ. How then saith Paul, “Rejoice in the Lord alway”? “Woe to them that laugh,” said Christ, the laughter of this world which ariseth from the things which are present. He blessed also those that mourn, not simply for the loss of relatives, but those who are pricked at heart, who mourn their own faults, and take count of their own sins, or even those of others. This joy is not contrary to that grief, but from that grief it too is born. For he who grieveth for his own faults, and confesseth them, rejoiceth. Moreover, it is possible to grieve for our own sins, and yet to rejoice in Christ. Since then they were afflicted by their sufferings, “for to you it is given not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Philip. i. 29.), therefore he saith, “Rejoice in the Lord.” For this can but mean, If you exhibit such a life that you may rejoice. Or when your communion with God is not hindered, rejoice. Or else the word “in” may stand for “with”:672 as if he had said, with the Lord. “Alway; again I will say, Rejoice.” These are the words of one who brings comfort; as, for example, he who is in God rejoiceth alway. Yea though he be afflicted, yea whatever he may suffer, such a man alway rejoiceth. Hear what Luke saith, that “they returned from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be scourged for His name.” (Acts v. 41.) If scourging and bonds, which seem to be the most grievous of all things, bring forth joy, what else will be able to produce grief in us? “Again I will say, Rejoice.” Well hath he repeated. For since the nature of the things brought forth grief, he shows by repeating, that they should by all means rejoice. “Let your forbearance be known unto all men.” He said above, “Whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame,” and that they “mind earthly things.” (Philip. iii. 19.) It was probable that they would be at enmity with the wicked; he therefore exhorted them to have nothing in common with them, but to use them with all forbearance, and that not only 671 [“Happy” would be more exact, but “blessed” has a fixed association with the passage quoted from the Sermon on the Mount.—J.A.B.] 672 [Chrys. had little notion of scientific precision in the use or interpretation of language. The word ἐν, “in,” sometimes introduces the instrument, where we in English say “with”; but it would be hard to find any passage in which it is clearly equivalent to σύν, “with,” i.e. in company with, in connection with.—J.A.B.] Philippians 4:4-7 436 Philippians 4:4-7