brother. Arrest him as he is on his road to the pit of destruction. For to admit him to our table, to treat him with civil speeches, with salutations, and with entertainments, these are no signal proofs of friendship. No, those I have mentioned are the boons which we must bestow upon our friends, that we may rescue their souls from the wrath of God. When we see them lying prostrate in the furnace of wickedness, let us raise them up. “But,” they say, “it is of no use, he is incorrigible.” However, do thou thy duty, and then thou hast excused thyself to God. Hide not thy talent. It is for this that thou hast speech, it is for this thou hast a mouth and a tongue, that thou mayest correct thy neighbor.390 It is dumb and reasonless creatures only that have no care for their neighbor, and take no account of others. But dost thou while calling God, “Father,” and thy neighbor, “brother,” when thou seest him com- mitting unnumbered wickednesses, dost thou prefer his good-will to his welfare? No, do not so, I entreat you. There is no evidence of friendship so true as never to overlook the sins of our brethren. Didst thou see them at enmity? Reconcile them. Didst thou see them guilty of covetousness? Check them. Didst thou see them wronged? Stand up in their defense. It is not on them, it is on thyself thou art conferring the chief benefit. It is for this we are friends, that we may be of use one to another. A man will listen in a different spirit to a friend, and to any other chance person. A chance person he will regard perhaps with suspi- cion, and so in like manner will he a teacher, but not so a friend. “For,” he says, “the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of: but all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light.” What is it he means to say here? He means this. That some sins in this world are done in secret, and some also openly; but in the other it shall not be so. Now there is no one who is not conscious to himself of some sin. This is why he says, “But all the things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light.” What then? Is this again, it will be said, meant concerning idolatry? It is not; the argument is about our life and our sins. “For everything that is made manifest,” says he, “is light.” Wherefore, I entreat you, be ye never backward to reprove, nor displeased at being re- proved.391 For as long indeed as anything is carried on in the dark, it is carried on with greater security; but when it has many to witness what is done, it is brought to light. By all means then let us do all we can to chase away the deadness which is in our brethren, to scatter the darkness, and to attract to us the “Sun of righteousness.” For if there be many 390 [Compare John Wesley’s sermon on the “Duty of Reproving our Neighbor,” Works, Vol. II., p. 88 (New York ed.), for a thorough and fearless discussion of this difficult duty.—G.A.] 391 [“Better is open rebuke Than love that is hidden. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.”—Prov. xxvii. 5, 6. “He that rebuketh a man shall afterward find more favor Than he that flattereth with the tongue.”—Prov. xxviii. 23. Compare Chrysostom’s I. Homily on Eutropius, Vol. IX., p. 249, this series.—G.A.] 252 Ephesians 5:5,6