3.

And the "by whom"¹ is also applied to the Father, as when the Apostle saith, "By whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son" (1 Cor. i. 9 ): and,² "By the will of the Father." And again; "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee." (Matt. xvi. 17.) What He here intimateth is something of this kind,³ that "faith in Me is no ordinary thing, but needeth an impulse⁴ from above"; and this He establisheth throughout His discourse, showing that this faith requires a noble sort of soul, and one drawn on by God.

But perhaps some one will say, "If all that the Father giveth, and whomsoever He shall draw, cometh unto Thee, if none can come unto Thee except it be given him from above, then those to whom the Father giveth not are free from any blame or charges." These are mere words and pretenses. For we require our own deliberate choice also, because whether we will be taught is a matter of choice, and also whether we will believe. And in this place, by the "which the Father giveth Me," He declareth nothing else than that "the believing on Me is no ordinary thing, nor one that cometh of human reasonings, but needeth a revelation from above, and a well-ordered soul to receive that revelation." And the, "He that cometh to Me shall be saved," meaneth that he shall be greatly cared for. "For on account of these," He saith, "I came, and took upon Me the flesh, and entered into⁵ the form of a servant." Then He addeth;

Ver. 38. "I came down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."

What sayest Thou? Why, is Thy will one, and His another? That none may suspect this, He explaineth it by what follows, saying;

Ver. 40. "And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life."

Is not then this Thy will? And how sayest Thou, "I am come to send fire upon the earth, and what have I desired to see,⁶ if that be already kindled"? (Luke xii. 49.) For if Thou also desirest this, it is very clear that Thy will and the Father's is one. In another place also He saith, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." (c. v. 21.) But what is the will of the Father? Is it not, that not so much as one of them should perish? This Thou willest also. (Matt. xviii. 14.) So that the will of the One differeth not from the will of the Other. So⁷ in another place He is seen establishing yet more firmly His equality with the Father, saying, "I and My Father will come, and will make Our abode with him.'" (c. xiv. 23.) What He saith then is this; "I came not to do anything other than that which the Father willeth, I have no will of Mine own different from that of the Father, for all that is the Father's is Mine, and all that is Mine is the Father's." If now the things of the Father and the Son are in common, He saith with reason, "Not that I might do Mine own will." But here He speaketh not so, but reserveth this for the end. For, as I have said, He concealeth and veileth for a while high matters, and desireth to prove that had He even said, "This is My will," they would have despised Him. He therefore saith, that "I co-operate with that Will," desiring thus to startle them more; as though He had said, "What think ye? Do ye anger Me by your disbelief? Nay, ye provoke My Father." "For this is the will of Him that sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing." (Ver. 39.) Here He showeth that He needeth not their service, that He came not for His own advantage,⁸ but for their salvation; and not to get honor from them. Which indeed He declared in a former address, saying, "I receive not honor from men" (c. v. 41 ); and again, "These things I say that ye may be saved." (c. v. 34.) Since He everywhere laboreth to persuade⁹ them that He came for their salvation. And He saith, that He obtaineth honor to the Father, in order that He may not be suspected by them. And that it is for this reason He thus speaketh, He hath more clearly revealed by what follows. For He saith, "He that seeketh his own will¹⁰ seeketh his own glory; but He that seeketh His glory that sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." (c. vii. 18.) "And this is the will of the Father, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life." (Ver. 40.)

"And I will raise him up at the last day." Why doth He continually dwell upon the Resurrection? Is it that men may not judge of God's providence by present things alone; that if they enjoy not results¹¹ here, they become not on that account desponding, but wait for the things that are to come, and that they may not, because their sins are not punished for the present, despise Him, but look for another life.

Now those men gained nothing, but let us take pains to gain by having the Resurrection continually sounded in our ears; and if we desire to be grasping, or to steal, or to do any wrong thing, let us straightway take into our thoughts that Day, let us picture to ourselves the Judgment-seat, for such reflections will check the evil impulse more strongly than any bit. Let us continually say to others,¹² and to ourselves, "There is a resurrection, and a fearful tribunal awaiteth us." If we see any man insolent and puffed up with the good things of his world, let us make the same remark to him, and show him that all those things abide here: and if we observe another grieving and impatient, let us say the same to him, and point out to him that his sorrows shall have an end; if we see one careless and dissipated,¹³ let us say the same charm over him, and show that for his carelessness he must render account. This saying is able more than any other remedy to heal our souls. For there is a Resurrection, and that Resurrection is at our doors, not afar off, nor at a distance. "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) And again, "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ" (2 Cor. v. 10 ); that is, both bad and good, the one to be shamed in sight of all, the other in sight of all to be made more glorious. For as they who judge here punish the wicked and honor the good publicly, so too will it be there, that the one sort may have the greater shame, and the other more conspicuous glory. Let us picture these things to ourselves every day. If we are ever revolving them, no care for present things will be able to sting us.¹⁴ "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. iv. 18.) Continually let us say to ourselves and to others,¹⁵ "There is a Resurrection, and a Judgment, and a scrutiny of our actions"; and let as many as deem that there is such a thing as fate repeat this, and they shall straightway be delivered from the rottenness of their malady; for if there is a Resurrection, and a Judgment, there is no fate, though they bring ten thousand arguments, and choke themselves to prove it. But I am ashamed to be teaching Christians concerning the Resurrection: for he that needeth to learn that there is a Resurrection, and who hath not firmly persuaded himself that the affairs of this world go not on by fate, and without design, and as chance will have them, can be no Christian. Wherefore, I exhort and beseech you, that we cleanse ourselves from all wickedness, and do all in our power to obtain pardon and excuse in that Day.

Perhaps some one will say, "When will be the consummation? When will be the Resurrection? See how long a time hath gone by, and nothing of the kind hath come to pass?" Yet it shall be, be sure. For those before the flood spake after this manner, and mocked at Noah, but the flood came and swept away¹⁶ all those unbelievers, but preserved him¹⁷ who believed. And the men of Lot's time expected not that stroke from God, until those lightnings and thunderbolts came down and destroyed them all utterly. Neither in the case of these men, nor of those who lived in the time of Noah, was there any preamble¹⁸ to what was about to happen, but when they were all living daintily, and drinking, and mad with wine, then came these intolerable calamities upon them. So also shall the Resurrection be; not with any preamble, but while we are in the midst of good times.¹⁹ Wherefore Paul saith, "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thess. v. 3.) God hath so ordered this, that we may be always struggling, and be not confident even in time of safety. What sayest thou? Dost thou not expect that there will be a Resurrection and a Judgment? The devils confess these, and art thou shameless?²⁰ "Art Thou come," they say, "to torment us before the time?" (Matt. viii. 29 ); now they who say that there will be "torment;" are aware of the Judgment, and the reckoning, and the vengeance. Let us not then besides daring evil deeds, anger God by disbelieving the word of the Resurrection. For as in other things Christ hath been our beginning, so also hath He in this; wherefore He is called "the first-born from the dead." (Col. i. 18.) Now if there were no Resurrection, how could He be "the first-born," when no one of "the dead" was to follow Him? If there were no Resurrection, how would the justice of God be preserved, when so many evil men prosper, and so many good men are afflicted and die in their affliction? Where shall each of these obtain his deserts, if so be that there is no Resurrection? No one of those who have lived aright disbelieves the Resurrection, but every day they pray and repeat that holy sentence, "Thy Kingdom come." Who then are they that disbelieve the Resurrection? They who have unholy ways and an unclean life: as the Prophet saith, "His ways are always polluted. Thy judgments are far above out of his sight." (Ps. x. 5.) For a man cannot possibly live a pure life without believing in the Resurrection; since they who are conscious of no iniquity both speak of, and wish for, and believe in it, that they may receive their recompense. Let us not then anger Him, but hear Him when He saith, "Fear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matt. x. 28 ); that by that fear we may become better, and being delivered from that perdition, may be deemed worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Which may we all attain to, through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever and to the endless ages of eternity. Amen.