HOMILY XIV.] HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS. 247 be requests, but thanksgivings too for what we have. For how should he ask for future things, who is not thankful for the past? " But in every thing by prayer and supplication." Wherefore we ought to give thanks for all things, even for those which seem to be grievous, for this is the part of the truly thankful man. In the other case the nature of the things demands it ; but this springs from a grateful soul, and one earn estly affected toward God. God acknowledged these prayers, but others He knoweth not. Offer up such prayers as may be acknowledged ; for He disposeth all things for our profit, though we know it not. And this is a proof that it greatly profiteth, namely, that we know it not. " And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." What meaneth this? "The peace of God" which He hath wrought toward men, surpasseth all understanding. For who could have expected, who could have hoped, that such good things would have come ? They exceed all man s understanding, not his speech alone. For His enemies, for those who hated Him, for those who determined to turn themselves away, for these, he refused not to deliver up His Only Begotten Son, that He might.make peace with us. This peace then, i.e. the reconciliation, the love of God, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts. For this is the part of a teacher, not only to exhort, but also to pray, and to assist by suppli cation, that they may neither be overwhelmed by temptations, nor carried about by deceit. As if he had said, May He who hath delivered you in such sort as mind cannot comprehend, may He Himself guard you, and secure you, so that you suffer no ill. Either he means this, or that that peace of which Christ saith, " Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you " (John xiv. 27) : this shall guard you, for this peace exceedeth all man s understanding. How?When he tells us to be at peace with our ene mies, with those who treat us unjustly, with those who are at war and enmity toward us ; is it not beyond man s understanding? But rather let us look to the former. If the peace sur passeth all understanding, much more doth God Himself, who giveth peace, pass all understand ing, not ours only, but also that of Angels, and the Powers above. What meaneth " in Christ Jesus"? Shall guard us in Him, so that ye may remain firm, and not fall from His faith. Ver. 8. " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are true, what soever things are just." What is " Finally " ? It stands for, " I have said all." It is the word of one that is in haste, and has nothing to do with present things. " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are true, whatso ever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Ver. 9. " The things which ye both learned and received, and heard and saw in me." What meaneth, " whatsoever things are lovely"? Lovely to the faithful, lovely to God. " Whatsoever things are true." Virtue is really true, vice is falsehood. For the pleasure of it is a falsehood, and its glory is falsehood, and all things of the world are falsehood. " Whatsoever things are pure." This is opposed to the words " who mind earthly things." " Whatsoever things are honorable." This is opposed to the words " whose god is their belly." " Whatsoever things are just," i.e. saith he, 1 "whatsoever things are of good report." " If there be any virtue, if there be any praise." Here he willeth them to take thought of those things too which regard men. " Think on these things," saith he. Seest thou, that he desires to banish every evil thought from our souls ; for evil actions spring from thoughts. " The things which ye both learned and re ceived." This is teaching, in all his exhortations to propose himself for a model : as he saith in another place, " even as ye have us for an en- sample." (Phil. iii. 17.) And again here, " What things ye learned and received," i.e. have been taught by word of mouth, " and heard and saw in me " : both in respect of my words and actions and conduct. Seest thou, how about everything he lays these commands on us ? For since it was not possible to make an accurate enumeration of all things, of our coming in, and going out, and speech, and carriage, and inter course (for of all these things it is needful that a Christian should have thought), he said shortly, and as it were in a summary, " ye heard and saw in me." I have led you forward both by deeds and by words. 2 " These things do," not only in words, but do them also. "And the God of peace shall be with you," i.e. ye shall be in a calm, in great safety, ye shall suffer nothing painful, nor contrary to your will. For when we are at peace with Him, and we are so through virtue, much more will He be at peace with us. For He who so loved us, as to show favor to us even against our will, will He not, if He sees us 1 [These are hasty jottings by Chrys. or a reporter, and might easily be altered in copying He can hardly have meant to define "just" by "of good report," yet so the Greek stands; or else (as in some documents) he defines " of good report " by " if there be any virtue," etc. The abridgment in the Catena may have caught the real meaning. It omits " whatsoever things are just," and puts together the three remaining clauses as the occasion of the remark which follows. Or perhaps "i.e. saith he " is a corrupt addition, and all four clauses should be simply taken together; for the remark applies to them all. J. A. B.] = [All of Field s MSS. here insert " For nothing is such an enemy of our nature as vice," which, however, seems here out of place, and fits well below, where it is placed by the altered text. J. A. B.J