186 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY I. rejoice for your fellowship," clearly as if making it their act,) nor did he call their good deeds solely their own, but primarily of God. " For I am confident," saith he, " that He which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ." That is, God will. And it is not about yourselves, he implies, but about those descending from you that I feel thus. And in deed it is no small praise, that God should work in one. For if He is " no respecter of persons," as indeed He is none, but is looking to our pur pose 1 when He aids us in good deeds, it is evi dent that we are agents in drawing Him to us ; so that even in this view he did not rob them of their praise. Since if His inworking were indis criminate, there would have been nothing to hinder but that even Heathens and all men might have Him working in them, that is, if He moved us like logs and stones, and required not our part. So that in saying " God will perfect it," this also again is made their praise, who have drawn to them the grace of God, so that He aids them in going beyond human nature. And in another way also a praise, as that " such are your good deeds that they cannot be of man, but require the divine impulse." But if God will perfect, then neither shall there be much labor, but it is right to be ofgood courage, for that they shall easily accomplish all, as being assisted by Him. Ver. 7. " Even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace." Greatly still does he show here his longing desire, in that he had .them in his heart ; and in the very prison, and though bound, he remem bered the Philippians. And it is not a little to the praise ofthese men, since it is not of prejudice that this Saint conceived his love, but of judg ment, aad right reasons. So that to be loved of Paul so earnestly is a proof of one s being something great and admirable. "And in the defense,"- he says, "and confirmation of the Gospel." And what wonder if he had them when in prison, since not even at the moment of going before the tribunal to make my defense, he says, did ye slip from my memory. For so imperial a thing is spiritual love, that it gives way to no season, but ever keeps hold of the soul of him who loves, and allows no trouble or pain to overcome that soul. For as in the case of the Babylonian furnace, when so vast a flame was raised, it was a dew to those blessed Chil dren. So too does friendship occupying the 1 So he explains Rom. viii. 28, where " His" is not in the Greek, though rightly (as it seems) understood by St. Augustine and others. See on Rom. Horn. xv. Tr. p. 453. 2 aTroAoyta. soul of one who loves, and who pleases God, shake off every flame, and produce a marvelous dew. "And in the confirmation of the Gospel," he says. So then his bonds were a confirmation of the Gospel, and a defense. And most truly so. How? For if he had shunned bonds, he might have been thought a deceiver ; but he that en dures every thing, both bonds and affliction, shows that he suffers this for no human reason, but for God, who rewards. For no one would have been willing to die, or to incur such great risks, no one would have chosen to come into collision with such a king,3 I mean Nero, unless he looked to another far greater King. Truly a " confirmation of the Gospel " were his bonds. See how he more than succeeded in turning all things to their opposite. For what they sup posed to be a weakness and a detraction, that he calls a confirmation ; and had this not taken place, there had been aweakness. Then he shows that his love was not of prejudice, but of judg ment. Why? I have you (in my heart), he says, in my bonds, and in my defense, because of your being " partakers of my grace." What is this? Was this the "grace " of the Apostle, to be bound, to be driven about, to suffer ten thousand evils? Yes. For He says, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my power is made per fect in weakness." (2 Cor. xii. 9.) " Wherefore," saith he, " I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries." Since then I see you in your actions giving proof of your virtue, and being partakers of this grace, and that with readiness, I reasona bly suppose thus much. For I that have had trial of you, and more than any have known you, and your good deeds ; how that even when so distant from us, ye strive not to be wanting to us in our troubles, but to partake in our trials for the Gospel s sake, and to take no less share than myself, who am engaged in the combat, far off as ye are ; am doing but justice in witnessing to these things. And why did he not say " partakers," but " partakers with me " 4 ? I myself too, he means, share with another, that I may be a partaker of the Gospel ; that is, that I may share in the good things laid up for the Gospel. 5 And the wonder indeed is, that they were all so minded ; for he says that "ye all are fellow-partakers of grace." From these beginnings, then, I am confident that such ye will be even to the end. For it cannot be that so bright a commencement should be quenched, and fail, but it points to 6 great results. 3 [The Greek word for " king" was often applied to the Roman emperor (i Tim. ii. 2; i Pet. ii. 13). J. A. B.] * " Or fellow-partakers," trvyKoiviavov^, see marginal version [and Rev. Ver. J. A. B.J. 5 The word may be here used, as often, for the " preaching" of the Gospel. 6 al. and end without producing.