HOMILY X.] HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 305 claim upon their obedience. But that none might be pained, he added, " to your masters according to the flesh." Thy better part, the soul, is free, he saith ; thy service is for a sea son. It therefore do thou subject, that thy ser vice be no more of constraint. " Not with eye- service, as men-pleasers." Make, he saith, thy service which is by the law, to be from the fear of Christ. For if when thy master seeth thee not, thou doest thy duty and what is for his honor, it is manifest that thou doest it because of the sleepless Eye. " Not with eye-service," he saith, "as men-pleasers " ; thus implying, "it is you who will have to sustain the damage." For hear the prophet saying, " God hath scat tered the bones of the men-pleasers." (Ps. liii. 6, Sept.) See then how he spares them, and brings them to order. " But in singleness of heart," he saith, "fearing God." 1 For that is not singleness, but hypocrisy, to hold one thing, and act another ; to appear one when the mas ter is present, anotherwhen he is absent. There fore he said not simply, " in singleness of heart," but, " fearing God." For this is to fear God, when, though none be seeing, we do not aught that is evil ; but if we do, we fear not God, but men. Seest thou how he bringeth them to order? Ver. 23. "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men." He desires to have them freed not only from hypocrisy, but also from slothfulness. He hath made them instead of slaves free, when they need not the superintendence of their master ; for the expression "heartily" means this, "with good will," not with a slavish necessity, but with freedom, and of choice. And what is the re ward? Ver. 24. "Knowing," he saith, "that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of your 2 inheritance : for ye serve the Lord Christ." For from Him also it is evident that ye shall receive the reward. And that ye serve the Lord is plain from this. Ver. 25. "For he that doeth wrong," he saith, " shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done." Here he confirmeth his former statements. For that his words may not appear to be those of flattery, "he shall receive," he saith, "the wrong he hath done," that is, he shall suffer punishment also, " for there is no respect of persons." 3 For what if thou art a servant? it is no shame to thee. And truly he might have said this to the masters, as he did in the Epistle j. A. B.]J. A. B.J 2 [Some documents for N. T. also give " your," but the correct N. T. text has simply " the," and omits " for." J. A. B.] 8 [Some documents for Chrys., and some for N. T. ( add " with n^A " T A t> i J. A. B.] to the Ephesians. (Eph. vi. 9.) But here he seems to me to be alluding to the Grecian mas ters. For, what if he is a Greek and thou a Christian ? Not the persons but the actions are examined, so that even in this case thou oughtest to serve with good will, and heartily. Chap. iv. i. "Masters, render unto your ser vants that which is just and equal." What is "just"? What is "equal"? To place them in plenty of everything, and not allow them to stand in need of others, but to recompense them for their labors. For, because I have said that they have their reward from God, do not thou therefore deprive them of it. And in another place he saith, "forbearing threatening" (Eph. vi. 9), wishing to make them more gentle ; for those were perfect men ; that is, " with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you." (Matt. vii. 2.) And the words, " there is no respect of persons," are spoken with a view to these,4 but they are assigned to the others, in order that these may receive them. For when we have said to one person what is applicable to another, we have not corrected him so much, as the one who is in fault. "Ye also," along with them, he saith. He has here made the service common, for he saith, " knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." Ver. 2. " Continue in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving." For, since continuing in prayers frequently makes persons listless, therefore he saith, " watch ing," that is, sober, not wandering. For the devil knoweth, he knoweth, how great a good prayer is ; therefore he presseth heavily. And Paul also knoweth how careless 5 many are when they pray, wherefore he saith, "continue" 6 in prayer, as of somewhat laborious, " watching therein with thanksgiving." For let this, he saith, be yourwork, to give thanks in your prayers both for the seen and the unseen, and for His benefits to the willing and unwilling, and for the kingdom, and for hell, and for tribulation, and for refreshment. For thus is the custom of the Saints to pray, and to give thanks for the com mon benefits of all. I know a certain holy man who prayeth thus. He used to say nothing before these words, but thus, " We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits bestowed upon us the unworthy, from the first day until the present, for what we know, and what we know not, for the seen, for the unseen, for those in deed, those in word, those with our wills, those against our wills, for all that have been bestowed upon the unworthy, even us ; for 4 The masters. 8 oKijitoxri, generally used of giving up caring for anything in despair. But the name " acedia " amongst the seven deadly sins is of this origin. irpovKapTtpeirf, " persevere."