HOMILY II.] HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 267 nor yet with this, but he added yet, the dignity of His nature. For what saith he? "Who is the Image of the invisible God." But he pro ceeded not to say this immediately, but mean while inserted the benefit which He bestowed upon us. For lest, when thou hearest that the whole is of the Father, thou shouldest suppose the Son excluded, he ascribes the whole to the Son, and the whole to the Father. For He in deed translated us, but the Son furnished the cause. For what saith he ? " Who delivered us out of the power of darkness." But the same is, " In whom we have the full redemption, even the forgiveness of sins." For had we not been forgiven our sins, we should not have been " translated." So here again the words, "In whom." And he said not "redemption," but " full redemption," so that we shall not fall any more, nor become liable to death. Ver. 15. "Who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation." We light here upon a question of heresy. So it were well we should put it off to-day and pro ceed with it to-morrow, addressing it to your ears when they are fresh. But if one ought to say anything more : the work of the Son is the greater. How ? Because it were a thing impossible to give the kingdom to men whilst continuing in their sins ; but thus it is an easier thing, so that He prepared the way for the gift. What sayest thou ? He Him self loosed thee from thy sins : surely then He Himself also hath brought thee nigh ; already he has laid by anticipation the foundation of his doctrine. But we must put a close to this discourse, when first we have made one remark. And what is this? Seeing we have come to enjoy so great a benefit, we ought to be ever mindful of it, and continually to turn in our minds the free gift of God, and to reflect upon what we have been delivered from, what we have obtained ; and so we shall be thankful ; so we shall heighten our love toward Him. What sayest thou, O man? Thou art called to a kingdom, to the kingdom of the Son of God and art thou full of yawning, and scratching, and dozing ? If need were that thou shouldest leap into ten thousand deaths every day, oughtest thou not to endure all? For the sake of office thou doest all manner of things ; when then thou art going to share the kingdom of the Only-Begotten, wilt thou not spring down upon ten thousand swords ? wouldest thou not leap into fire ? And this is not all that is strange, but that when about to depart even, thou bewailest, and wouldest gladly dwell amongst the things which are here, being a lover of the body. What fancy is this ? Dost thou regard even death as a thing of terror? The cause of this is luxury, ease : for he at least that should live an embit tered life would wish even for wings, and to be loosed from hence. But now it is the same with us as with the spoiled nestlings, which would willingly remain for ever in the nest. But the longer they remain, the feebler they become. For the present life is a nest cemented together with sticks and mire. Yea, shouldest thou show me even the great mansions, yea the royal palace itself glittering with all its gold and precious stones ; I shall think them no better than the nests of swallows, for when the winter is come they will all fall of themselves. By winter I mean That Day, not that it will be a winter to all. ForGod also calleth it both night and day ; the first in regard of sinners, the latter of the just. So do I also now call it winter. If in the summer we have not been well brought up, so as to be able to fly when winter is come, our mothers will not take us, but will leave us to die of hunger, or to perish when the nest falls ; for easily as it were a nest, or rather more easily, will God in that day remove all things, undoing and new molding all. But they which are unfledged, and not able to meet Him in the air, but have been so grossly brought up that they have no lightness of wing, will suffer those things which reason is such characters should suffer. Now the brood of swallows, when they are fallen, perish quickly ; but we shall not perish, but be punished for ever. That season will be winter ; or rather, more severe than winter. For, not winter torrents of water roll down, but rivers of fire ; not darkness that riseth from clouds is there, but darkness that cannot be dispelled, and without a ray of light, so that they cannot see either the heaven, or the air, but are more straitened than those who have been buried in the earth. Oftentimes do we say these things, but there are whom we cannot bring to believe. But it is nothing wonderful if we, men of small account, are thus treated, when we discourse of such things, since the same happened to the Prophets also ; when they spoke not of such matters only, but also of war and captivity. (Jer. xxi. 1 1 ; xxvii. 12, &c.) And Zedekiah was rebuked by Jeremiah, and was not ashamed. Therefore the Prophets said, "Woe unto them that say, Let God hasten with speed His work, that we may see it, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it." (Isa. v. 18, 19.) Let us not wonder at this. For neither did those believe who were in the days of the ark ; they believed, however, when their belief was of no gain to them ; neither did they of Sodom expect [their fate], howbeit they too believed, when they gained nothing by believing. And why do I speak of the future ? \Vho would have expected these things which are now hap-