vol In' is held fast in the bond of cursing. Concerning Boob
\ \ i whom too ii is fitly added, He walketh not by the way of— the vineyards. For ' the way of the rineyarda,' is the right* ness of the Church* b. Wherein nothing hinders but that we understand either the heretic or every carnal man} because * the \\ a\ of the \ in< yards,' i. e. the rightness ofthe Churches, is paried with, when either the right faith or the right rule of just living is not held. For he ' walks by the way of the vines aids,' who taking to heart the preaching of the Holy Catholic Church, deviates neither from the right line of faith nor of good deeds. Since to ' walk in the way of the vineyards' is to behold the Fathers of Holy Church as banging clusters of the vine, whose words whilst he heeds in the toils of the journey, he is intoxicated with the love of Eternity.
Wr. l!>. Let him pass to excessive heat trout the snow
81. Iniquity is on this account likened to cold, because Ixvii.
the mind that sins it hinds up with insensibility. Hence it is written; As a fountain has made her waters cold, so she Jer. 6, has wmlc her wickedness cold. Contrariwise charity is w heat,' in this respect that it fires the soul it fills. Of which
' heat1 it is written. Because iniquity shnll abound, the lore Mat24, l 3 '//' many shall wax cold. And there are some who while they slum the cold of their wickednesses come to true faith or to the wearing of sanctity, hut because they presume on their own faculties for perceiving more than should be, oftentimes in the faith which they receive they are minded to pry curiously into the things that they do not take in, so as to be held fast in God rather by reason than by faith. Hut because the mind of man has not power to dive into the mysterii 18 "t God, all that they cannot get to the bottom of by reason, they care not to 1>. lieve, and by ov< rmuch investigation they fall into error. S.> dies,-, when they did not as yet believe. or were still busied for works of wiekedness, were * snow waters;' but when abandoning carnal deeds, in the faith to which they have been brought they aim to dive deeper than they have capacity for, they arc hot beyond what they ought to be. And so touching this wicked kind of person the sentence of one prophesying only and not wishing the thing is
Sin unrepealed heri in carried on to Hell.
right!) delivered. In him i rmuch heat from the
\- ii it were said in plain Bpeech; ' he that; restrained in hnroilit) under tin- fetters of self-disciplim. h < mm liis unbelief, or from the coldness of bad practice, through immoderate wisdom falls into error. Whence too tin ■!■ 1 1 Pi i getting <|tiit of tins excessive heal <»t loo refined wisdom from tin' hearts of his disciples saith well, A"/ /" ■'» wist qj himself above that he ought i<> be >• liui in be wise /////-< sobriety, Les1 perchance excessive heal might destroy those, of whom 'snow waters,* i.e. unbeli the fruits ol deadened action-,, held possession in the waj to • lie. And hoc. his it ig \, •, \ difficult for liim who accounts himself wise to bring down his mind to humility and believe those thai preach right things, and reject the view of Ins own wrong thought, il is rightly Baid; \ i r. l!». Ami his sin even in hell, Ixviii. B2. For Bin is 'brought even to hell,1 which before the iml oi' the present life is not by chastening reformed unto 1 join, repentance. Of which same sin it is said by John, Tltere 1 is '/ fin unto death i I do mil say thai he shall pray for it. I 'or * a sin unto death1 is a sin even until d< ath in this way/, thai the pardon of thai sin is Boughl in vain which is not corrected here. Concerning which Bame it is yel further Bubjoint d;
Almighty God's mercy is s;ii<l to ' forget him,1 who lias forgotten Mmightj God's justice, in thai whoever does not fear Him now as just, can never tind him merciful afterward. Which Bame sentence is not only held out against him, who abandons the preachings of true faith, but against him likewise, who being in the right faith lives a carnal life, in that tlii' vengeance of eternal condemnation is not got quit of, wh( tin r sin lie in Faith or practice. For though tin Kind of condemnation he unequal, \- i guilt which is not wiped away by r< i" mine-', there is no means supplied lor the absolving l/n 1 1!■/ m is his Htcet I m m. Ixix. 83. Whoever desires to make his way prosperous in this world, to surpass the n si of the world, to.swell high with substance ami honours, to this man no doubt worldh busi-
1*1 ss is a delight, and repose a labour. For he ia very much Book tin (1 if the business of the world be lacking wherewith to be tired. Now because it belongs to the nature of worms to be put in motion unceasingly every moment, restlessness of thoughts is not unjustly denoted 1>\ the name of ' worms.1 And M) ' the worm is the sweetness' of the wicked soul, in that he is fed to his satisfaction from the same Bource whence he is unceasingly agitated in restlessness. Moreover it may be that by the title of the ' worm' the flesh may be more plainly denoted. Hence it is said further on, //"'/ much less man that is a worm? <>>■ the s,m of man c.\7,u. which is <t worm ' And so of every one that is lull <>(,';" lust and devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, how great is the blindness is •-hewn, when it is said. The norm is his nca tness. For what is our flesh but ' rottenn< ss1 and ' the worm?' And whosoever pints with carnal desires, what else does he but love ' the worm?' For what the substance of the flesh is, our graves bear witness. What parent, what faithful friend can hear to touch the flesh of one however beloved fraught with worms? And so when the flesh is lusted after, let it be considered what it is when lifeless, and it is understood what it is that is loved. For nothing has so much efficacy to subdue the appetite of carnal desire, as for every one to consider, what that which he loves alive will be when dead. For when we consider the corruption of the flesh, we Bee in a moment, that when the il «h is unlawfully lusted after, corruption is desired. Therefore it is well said of the mind of the lustful man, the worm is lii* sweetness^ in that he who is on fire with the di sire of carnal corruption, pants alter the stink of rottenness.
All this, as 1 remember that 1 promised in the beginning B. xi. of this third part, I have run over in brief, that the things which follow after in this work', as they are involved in great obscurity, may with God's aid be more fully gone into.
I \s often as in the history <>l the holy man we betake
.\i uin-M-ho in a new book to unravel the mystery of the typical explanation, it must be i ither from that man's name or course of suffering that we mainly draw out 1 1 1 « • mystical interpretation, so that after the manner <>f dwelling houses, whilst u i set forth a superscription of the title <>n the rery front of the dooi 1'i'^t, whereas it is known whose house it is, on< may enter with greater security* Now I remember that I bare often said that blessi <1 Job, l>"ili by liis course «>f Miff ring and his name, marked out the suffering* of out Red od of His Body, i. e. Holj Church. For • Job' is by interpretation ' < rriet ing.' Ami who else is represent* <1 in this grieving one saring He, concerning Whom it is i.53, 4. writteu, Surely Il> Imih borne <>nr griefs, and carried "in torrows. Concerning Whom again it is written, And with His bruise we an healed But his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who, as we have often said already, while they i themselves to defend, only offend God. Thus let the holy man by words ami wounds sn till things of lii.s own as at the same tim«' to set forth ours also, and must often, b) tin spirit of prophecy, relate things to come, Burniount things I > i < sent, yet sometimes so mil of those prest nl -is t<> be Bilent touching those future. The k< eping then <>i thie i \ r< is* ol ernmenl being understood in accordance with the altering ol In- \ "H i. Ii i "in uudi retanding likewise turn about, that it mi.i\ agret the mor< trulj with lii1^ ideas in proportion as it also shifts itsell with In- accents. Thus l»\ the preceding words lh< li"i\ man, in sentences eloquent!) formed bj tin art of wisdom, set forth the offences of tin- bad man of Book whatever kind, ami represented how damnable his conduct, was, of r hose punishment he directly adds, saying, Won u
Li i hi in not he in remembrance; let him be crushed like
•J. For he is not brought back into the l remembrance' of ii. his Creator, whosoever to the very end of his life is in subjection to evil habits. Since if the recollection of tlic regard from Above did make itself felt on such an one, assuredlj ii would recall him from his wickedness. For his deserts require that he should be utterly blotted out from his Maker's remembrance. Hut it is lo be borne in mind that God can never strictly be said to ' remember;1 for One Who cannot forget, in what way is it possible for Him to remember! But whereas it is our way that those whom we remember we embrace, but those whom we forget we part far from, alter the usage of man (bid is both said to ' remember^' when He bestows gilts, and to forget, when lie forsakes one in guilt. But because He weighs all things, views all without any alternating of intermission, He both remembers the good, whom still He never forgets, and no wise remembers the bad, whom nevertheless in judgment lb does ever behold. For lie as it were returns to the recollection of the good, which same nevertheless lie never quitted, and as it were He never regards the bad, whose deeds howsoever He lias an eye on, but reserves tor the last scene the judgment of condemnation thereupon. For hence it is written, The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Prov.16, beholding the oil mid lite good. Hence it is said by the ' Psalmist, Tlieface of the Lord is upon them that d>> evil, l<> P«.34, cut off the remembrance of them from /If earth. Therefore the persons for Him to punish He does regard, but those very persons before He did not see, in that He ' knows them not.' lor He shall s.iy to some at the end, / know ij<>n not whence LnkelS ye arc; depart from me, ye that nark iniquity. Thus, in a2^ wonderful way, lie both beholds and forgets the life of bad men, in that those whom by severity <l sentence He judges, as regards the remembrance of mercy He is ignorant of.
3. And these same, because they do not come into His remembrance, like an unfruitful stump are broken to pi<
2&0 Fruitless tret broken. The Flesh barren,tht soul widowed.
JobS4, bj lli^ judgment. Pot the eartb supported them with a temporal outfitting, the Bhower of preaching poured down on them from above. Bui because their life never put forth the fruit of good works, the husbandman in anger cut ii clean away, that according to the sentence of Truth it might not cumber the space, which another may occupy for fruit Of 8, which same ' unfruitful Btump1 it is -;iicl by John, And now Lakes "^" the "ii is l<ti<l at the root of the trees; there/on < n rg in which hringelh not forth good fruit shall In- hewn down, and east into the Jire, Hut in this place, in order th.u the eternal punishments <>l the lost sinner may be denoted, the ii. e is n<>t Baid to be cut away, hut to he broken /<> piea 9, in ill, u the death indeed of the flesh cuts oil the reprobate, hut the punishment ensuing breaks them in pieces. For lienit is as it were cut down, when he is severed from the present Kfe. But in lull it is broken in pieces, when he is tortured with everlasting damnation. But the hory man, as be sit forth the strict punishment of the froward one, at once falls back to the Bin, that by the immensity <>l the unjustness lie may effectually teach that that excessive damnation ofbim was not unjust. It goes on;
mid ti> tin- widow hi diil lint do i/ond.
'"• J. Who is it in tins place that is denominated ' barren1 saving the flesh, which while it goes alter things present alone is not able to engender good thoughts? and who i> styled k a wiilou' but the soul, which same because the Maker was minded to unite to Himself, He came to the marriage chamber of the carnal womb, as the Psalmist P* l^A testifies, who Baith, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber? And she is rightly called ' a widow," in that In i Husband underu enl death in her behalf, and now in the retreats of heaven hidden from her eyes as in the tract of another region He lives. Thus the wicked man 'feeds the barren1 and Bcorns to 'do good to the widow,* because in obeying the desires of the ih ^h, he makes little of the can- of the BOUl and its life. For with the whole bent and with everj effort he considers how without necessities of any kind the flesh which is to die may lie made to hold on, and he is indifferent to concern himself foi the lit- ol the soul.
which either in death or in bliss most Burelj lives for BoOK evermore. Now it is rightly done that when it is said,- -
He fed f//<- barren, it is directly added, and her that beareth nut. For certain women we know from sacred history were found ' barren,1 hut yet in the end of their days brought forth. Hut the flesh is not only called barren, hut also she ///"/ beareth nut, in that of her own wit not even at the last is she capable of begetting good thoughts. For from her own vigour she is now already going off, and yet things transitory she still ceases not to long for, and being now spent of original force, is well nigh thrown oil' by that very world which she loves, yet by mischievous endeavour still strives to acquire what is temporal. She now no longer has the ability to do wicked things, yet does not a whit cease to mind in thought even the things which she does not in act. Kightly therefore is she called not only ' barren,' but also ' one that beareth not,' in that of her own wit, as we said, for the offspring of good thought, not even when she has become powerless does she conceive.
5. Which same may likewise be understood of heretical persons preaching. For every single preacher of error, while he teaches a people set without the pale of the Church's unity, is surely ' feeding the barren, and her that cannot bear,' seeing that he is bestowing the serviceableness of his labour upon her, who never makes any return o! spiritual fruits. ' Neither does he do good to the widow,' forasmuch asfor that Holy Church Universal, whose Husband suffered the adverse treatment of death, he scorns to live to and to serve. For to ' do good to the widow' is to take much pains in the consoling of her, who by the love of her dead Husband is crushed to the ground. And hence by the voice of the Psalmist this same widow, i.e. Holy Church, makes complaint, saying, / looked for comforters, hut I found nunc. Since Ps. 69, then only does she' ' find a comforter,' when from that death which her husband underwent, she bt holds many within herself arise to life. Now very often the pr« acher of error is allied with the rich of this world, who for this reason, that they strain over earthly employments, are too blind to detect the crafty tricks of the things delivered, and whereas they go about to be powerful without, they are taken without
.' / hi mighty taken in. Bad men beiieot not their own lif ■ labour by the noose ol froward preaching. Hence t> •. > ii ii iv. <;. Since in the might <>! bii wickedness the mighty be s. rerally takes away, whilst bj the craftiness "i his error lie ranirs,.ii the great ones oi this world. In opposition i" l, whom it is s.inl li\ Paul, God Imth chosen //"• weak thingsof tin a nil, I I,, confound (In- things that are mighty. Now the ' might1 "i' the corrupt preacher is the high-flown science <»i Ins speaking) puffed up with which he despises all the rest ol the world, ami in contempt »•! all men, as being preeminently proficient in himself) he Bwells big. Who whilst thinking what is great "I himself, and not knowing what is true "l God, is parted far from knowledge of the faith, and \.t endeavours to make himself appear a preacher thereof. Whence it is further added;.///'/ n Inn he s tan del h, he will nut belit ve his inc.
\. 7. Ever) evil preacher ' standeth1 in this world, so long a- be h\'s in.in earthly body, lint be refuses to ' believe his hi.-.' because In- is too proud to open his eyes t>' what is tni>' relating to God. For he would ' believe his life,* if he had right notion^ concerning th<' Substance <>i his Creator* These things, then, we were describing above as spoken <>i.\.i\ bad man, but we Buddenlj made the meaning turn to the pr< icbi r of error. Whence it is to he noted, that wo are bo drawn on to the special rase as not yet in anv wise to be quite taken off from the general. For everj l».i<l man, even it' he s,.in to maintain the faith in tin' DOSOU1 of the l. cause tin \ an- right things indeed which by faith he understands of his Creator, yet the works of faith he carts not to maintain; and he is convicted of unbeli< f, in that, even from that which he s, is forth as his creed, by his way "i
" living he is condemned. For hence it is said b? John, //.
tlmt taith he Limn i ih God, and keepeth not 1I<* command"
i ments, i^ <i Inn-. Hence Paul Bailh, They profess Unit they
Linn, i,:. i, hi in works they deny linn. Hence.'aims why Faith without works is dead. But amidst all this the
< htor b} a Wonderful economy Of counsel at once has an ey< i" offences, and bestows periods of living, that tin
Lengthened lii< given for repentance or condemnation. 288 lengthened portions "I temporal life may to the person either Boos being converted be turned into the furtherance of reward, or do! being converted to the heightening <>t' condemnation. Hence it is yet further subjoined]
\ er, 23. God hath given unto him room for repentance, and he ii/'it^i ih it in pride.
8. Whosoever commits Bin and lives, such a person vi. Divine Appointment for tins reason bears with in iniquity, that it may withhold him from iniquity. But he that is borne with for a longer time, and yel is not withholden from iniquity, is vouchsafed indeed the benefit of the patience
Above, yet with the chains of his guilt IS by that very benefit binding himself the tighter. Tor because the times ofrepentance vouchsafed he diverts to sin. the strict Judge in the end converts the instances of mercy bestowed into punishment. Hence it is said by Paul; Or hnowest thou not thai,;"m- -' ihe longsuffertng of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest u/> unto thyself wrath against ihe day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Hence Isaiah saith, For ///e ^- (;-» chUd shall die an hundred years old, hut the sinner being an hundred years old shall he accursed. As though he deterred us in plain words, saying, 'The life of a child ind ied is drawn to a great length, in order that he may be eoi reeled of childish doings, but if he be not even by length of time restrained from the commission of sin, this verj length of life, which he received in pitiluluess, is made to grow to him into an aggravation of cursing.1 Whence it is necessary that the longer time that we see ourselves to lie waited for, we fear the very Beasonsofpitirulness before -ranted ' ' preroas the grounds of condemnation, lest by the clemency88 of the Judge the punishment of the sinner should be heightened,:md by the same means whereby any one might have been rescued from death, he should tend to death in a manner the more disastrous. Which is lor this reason very often brought to pass, because the eye of the mind is not in the least degree weaned from things prest nt. For the sinner is carelos to regard the u.i_\> of the Redeemer, and so he -rows old in his own paths without stopping. Hence it is added;
II rldly nn ii mil nl mi l/n if mi n i. ayst m>/ tht
Job 94, /'"/ his eyes are upon his ways.
:». I or tin- Burner ' r paras his own \\.i\s,' because he seta himself to mind only) to nave an eye only for, things which ni.i\ stand him in Btead for temporal advantage. Jim- it is
Phil, a, hence Paul sailh,. /// seek theit mtn, /mi the thing* which 1. Christ's. For the way of the highininded m pride; the iraj of the robber, avarice; the waj ol the lecherous, carnal concupiscence. Tims every bad man bends his, \, ■«, down "ii his own ways, in that he is intent on vicious pursuiis alone, that by thi Be he may satisfy his mind. Win nee it is said li\ Solomon, The ey< i <y n fool are in the ends of the earth; Im cause that only tin j n jard with the whole bent of the heart, whereby they may attain to the end of i aithh desire. Now the sinuer would never ii\ the gaze of his looking on earth, if he lifted up the eyes of the mind to the holy paths,>i his Redeemer. Whence it is again said
1 •' h\ Solomon, The wise man's eyes are in his hind; in this way, viz. that with undivided intentness the wise man regards Him, of Whom he reflects by faith that he is a member. For these ways of nun's walk and conversation, he had
I'-.ii'.i. deemed it little worth to have in his eye, who said, / will meditate in Thy statutes^ and have respect unto Thy trays. As il he gave his word in plain terms, Baying, ' The things which are mine own 1 henceforth eschew the Beeing of, in thai by the path of Lhe imitating of Thee I burn to go on in the si! ps cif 1" haviour.' For he who henceforth withstands the present world, by the continual inciting of love presents the ways of his Redeemer to the ey< b ol the heart, that so the mind ni.i\ eschew what is prosperous, be in readiness for what is adverse, desire nought that Booth ea down, dread nought that is Bupposed to dismay, account Borrow joy, estimate the delights of the present life as the ills ol not feat the diminutions ol a Btal of scorn, but thereby room for enduring glory. For these w iya Truth shewed to the eyes of those thai were following Him, when He said,
;').y"1 v1' If inn/ in, in tern Me, let him follow Me. To these ways he recalled the Bwelling hearts of the Disciples, when they wen already Becking room for glory, but Knew not the path wa\ of that yingi '" //'" abb to drink of the cup that I shall drink oj ' Foi the) had be< n seeking ih
\ v I I left hand, l»ut how great tin narrowness ol the pathway tin n unto tli. \ did not bi e; and Inner the cup of the Passion is at once presented i" their eyes as;i thing for them to imitate, that, Burelj, if they were making for the joys of exaltedness, they should first find the way of humility. And therefore because the sinner is careless to have an eye to the ways ol God, but is bent on those only wherein he may be made to delight in a carnal manner, it is rightly said in tins place, For his eyes are upon his ways. It proc< eds;
Yer. 24. They are exalted for a little while, but they shall nut hold ■
10. The glory of bad nun. whilst it is for the most part viii extended into a multitude of years, is bj the minds of the weak reckoned to be long and as it were stable; but when an instantaneous end cuts it off", surely it proves to its lace thai it was short, because the end by putting a limit makes it known that that which was capable of passing away was little. And so ' they are exalted for a little while, and do not hold on,' because from the mere circumstance that they seek t<> appear high, they are by self-exalting made far removed from the true essence of God. For they are not able to hold on, because they are severed from the solid basis of the Eternal Essence, and they undergo this first ruining, that by glorying in self they fall in themselves. For hence it is said by the
Psalmist, T/i"n castedst them down, when they were li/'t<'i(r~- ''■'■ up. bi cause they are brought down within, in proportion as they arise wrongly without. Regarding this shortness of temporal glory, lie saith again; / have seen the wicked above P». 37 ', measure exalted, and lifted up like a ■ Libanus; I passed by, and lo, he was gone. Hence again he saith, For^ "•• yet a Huh' while, and the wicked shall not be. Hence Jam. s says, For what is your life? it is even a vapour Unit appeareth for a little tim<'. Hence the Prophet reflecting on the shortness of carnal glory, tells it forth, saying, All la. 40, flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of hay. For the power of Lhe wicked is likened to the - flower of hay,' because the glory of th i flesh, whilst it shim a bright, it falls, whilst it is exalted in itself, cut off" by a sudden end it is brought to a close. For in the same way by
Ba / >ii< n'i glory run'- to an end as other earthly things.
1 •• the I>1"\\ in;.,' of brei zes the stubble is caught ou high, but by.in instantaneous till it is brought back i»» earth below* llius the so oke is lifted up to the clouds, but suddenly whilst swelling out it is scattered to nought Thus the vapour (•..in beneath thickening lifts itself on high, but the ray of the sun when risen clears it away, as though it had not been. Thus on the Burface of the herbs the moisture of the den i I night i- Bprinkled, l>ut 1>\ the Budden heal o( the light of <la\ it is dried away. Tims tlic foamy 1 ml »l >1« b of wat< r, raised on showers beginning, * - « > 1 1 1 < - forth racing from within, lnit being lnn^t asunder they come to nought the more quickly in proportion as being inflated they are raised higher, and when they grow to a head, so as to appear, in wing the} make it that they should ' not hold on.1 Therefore concerning the wicked that air Bwoln with the exaltation <>l temporal glory, and yet not enduring with any stedfastness in' this glory, let it he rightly said, then air exalted for " Utile while, but they shall nut hold on. Of whom it is \ el further add< <1;
Ami they shall l><" brought low ax all things, ami shall be hi Li II ill! ill/.
ix. ii. Such Bhould \<r the advancement of contemplation, that it should he carried off from lew things to the taking a riew o( many, from ninny to taking a new of all things, so ih.it b( ing led forth Btep by Step it should advance, and whilst judging all things transitory should by comprehending itself grow forth well nigh incomprehensibly. Hence the holy man. whilst ho was sifting tin' glory and the failing of the wi( ked, Btretched to ' all things1 presently the eye of the mind, savin;,', they shall be brought lout as nil things, and shall he taken away} ' all things' earthly assuredly. As though In said in plain words; ' They cannot any way stan.!, bee use the very things lice away as well whereon they rest tor support, and while they air in love with things temporal, along with these bj the currency of time they ran to an end.1 Bui it may be asked, whereas it i-> -aid by 1 ■'• Solomon, One generation panseth away, ami another generation cometh; but the earth abideth I'm- everi win does blessed Job declare that 'all things are brought low, and taken awaj "> 1 1 this wc easilj sin out, it we keep distinct
'/'he essetia of things abide*, their forms pass away. '2V7 how earth and heaven either pass awa\ or remain. For Book both these in respect of thai figure which they now havepass away, \< t in respect of their essence they are held in being without end. Hence it is said by Paul, For the^par-7, fashion of this world passe I h away. Hence Truth saith by
[tself, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My irorrf***atJM shall not pass away. Hence it is told John by the voice ol the Angel, There shall be a new heaven and a new earth.,;,v—1
Which indeed are not to be created other things, but these very same arc renewed. And tints heaven and earth at once
• pass away" and ' shall be,' seeing that both by tire from that fashion which they now have they arc (dean wiped out, and yet in their own nature arc ever preserved. I Fence it is shall be changed. Which same final changing of themselves they do now announce to us 1>\ those very successions, whereby tor our services they unceasingly shift about. For the earth by the dryness of winter falls off from its fashion, by the moisture of spring it is made green. Heaven is every dav overlaid by the darkness of night, and renewed by the brightness of day. Hence, then, hence let every believer gather that these things both perish, and yet by renewal are restored, which it is plain are now perpetually a^ it were from decay being refitted. In the midst of all this then the holy man. whilst he beholds the course of the wicked, make 8 it known with what a visitation they are one day to come to nought, when he forthwith adds;
And as the lops of ears qf corn they shall he crashed.
1-2. For the tops of the ears of corn are the beards; now \ the beards come out joined in an ear of corn, but going on growing little by little they are separated from one another bristly and rough. Thus, verily, thus, as to this world's glory do the evil-minded rich ones rise up. For by a fellowship of nature they are joined to one another, but going on increasing they are in turn divided against one another. For one looks down upon another, and.1 second is inflamed against a third with the torches of envy; they then who by the swelling of the mind separate themselves from the: unity of charity, as it were after the way of beards stand bristling against one another. What then might I have called the evilminded
I men beaten out asbeards from th grain in Judgment.
• iM imt;i kind of 1' ards "l the human race, who while thev are lifted high againal one another, but with one consent press hard upon the life of the good, are indeed divided against themselves, yet with one a< bear don a the grains 1" neath.
13. At 1 1 1 i > |>r. sent time then the boards spring up on high, the grains lie hidden; because both the power oi lost ^iii 1 1 re high, and the glorj a\ the Elect does not appear. The one shew themselves "H' in the high estate of honours, the others lower themselves in humility. Hut the time of winnowing will arrii e, which is calculate d both to break the bristling of the beards, and not to bruise the solid grains. I then the pride of the wicked is broken in pieces, then the life «>i the Elect is Bhewn to « iew, with \\ bal faultli ssn< ss it shines bright; in thai while the unrighteous are undone, b) this verj crushing of the beard it is broughl to pass thai the grains should appear, which were holden out of sight; and when the beards arc broken, the whiteness of the grains i^ made to appear, b< cause upon the wicked falling into everlasting punishments, the righteousness ol the Saints is manifested, with what truth it is shining whin-. Whence Man. 3. ton it i^ rightly said by John, Whose/an is in His hand, and He will throughly purgt His floor, "ml gather His wheat into the garner: but He will burn up tin' chaff with unquenchable fire. So h t id >ssed Job mark with what awful visitation the pride of had men shall he broken, and com' paring them to beards that perish, let him say. Like the tops of ears of corn they shall be crushed. Surely because the bristling <>f the proud is broken 1»\ the Btress of the final winnowing, whereas now looking down upon the life of the i it is lifted up. It procet ds;
\ i r. 25. And if ii be not so //"//-, who will convict me of having lied, and set //>;/ words before Qodt m l i. It it be not so as he tells, then surely all people are able t" convict him of falsehood. \\ h\ then is it said..//"/ if it be nut $o now, who will convict me of having liedf \. e. whilst we know that, one who is false, it is allowed ani one to find fault with? Hut if we sift out the sense of the speaker with i x id questioning, how ri^ht the things are that he put forth, we speedily discover. For the righteous man, though be docs ever Bpeak any thing wrong, eel it is far from meet thai he should be judged by the unrighteousand ill living. Whence the boty man Lowering the pride of his friends, not cmu it it be bo, but even ' it it be not bo' as he set forth, is confident that he can never be found lank with, because assuredly those are able rightly to reprove things that arc false, who are not taught to do things that arc false. For the daring of reproof against deceit those persons lose, who still live on principles of deceit Therefore he Bays, And if it he not so now, who will convict me of having lied? As if he said in plain words; 'All things arc so as I have set forth, but if they were not bo, I could not a whit be charged home with them by yon; for whilst \e still give way to your own deceit, ye are not able to find fiiult with the deceit.it another.''
15. In winch place it is fitly added; And I" set >//>/ words before God. For whoever really finds fault with false sayings in the true way, in thinking on the things he has heard and estimating them by the rule of truth ' sets words before God,' because to himself in the eye of Truth he makes proof what he should outwardly decree against falsehood. Since ' to set words before God' is with the interior Judge kept in view to estimate the exterior sayings. Thus the holy man does not reckon it possible for his ' words to be set before God1 by friends behaving with pride. As if he said in plain terms, ' The things which I utter ye are for this reason unable to set before the Judge, because by committing sin ye hide His face from you?' Which same, however, nothing hinders from being understood in type of Holy Church as well, which whilst for her weak members she is found fault with by the scoffing of heretics, laughs to scorn that same craftiness of their scoffing, because with (rod it is more tolerable that a man should be prostrated in weakness and in ignorance, in conjunction with humility, than that he should compass high themes with self-exaltation. But forasmuch as the holy man had Ottered many words against those, who by transitory power are made proud, and with windy honours swell themselves out; by his rebuke Bildad the Shuhite gaining ground has his eyes opened to see with Whom true power is deposited; saying,
16. As thoi wd bimself in plain words; f Hi I truli terrifief the hearts of mortals, Wno bj the p
..i His Divine nature trulj possess - lh< se.' I or irhat terror ihe power "t' man infuse, winch knows not win d it maj
..i of that poweri Now il is rightly said, He maketh 1 His high places. Because there are many iliii, riance with themselves below, but thej run bh in the harmonious fulness of things above, and i.\ the causing of the interior ]>< ace it is brought i" pass, thai oftentimes th< things that are without are ordered with-
, in peace. Tims the good, Almighty God is advancing to merit, when He permits the bad to rage against their life; and things above are made to tit together in harmony, whilst those below are thrown into confusion; because in the heavenly world He i"in> I lis Elect t<> the choirs of the bj the same means, whereby in the earthly and lowest scene of things, He bears the practices of lost sinners opposing I lis behi sts.
17. But herein it is of interest to as to enquire, it' the highest peace is maintained * in the high places,* what thai is winch is s:ii,i f< Daniel by the Lngel, / <nn come for thy d ', but the prince of the kingdom of V< rsia withstood me one and twenty days: /"it, /«, Michael, one of the chid', ■■■.< nun to help me. And a little afterward; And now hill I return to fight with the prince of the Persians, For when I was going forth there appeared the princt of the i,r, eki coming. Whom else then Inn Angels does he call the ( princes' of the nations, thai could have had the power to resist him as be went forth j Accordingly what peace can tlnrc be ' iii the high places/ ii ev< d among the Angelical spirits ihemselvi b also thi i is a conflict of warring carried ways standing present to the view ol Truth? Bui tlnre are fixed chargi b of the Angels s< t to superintend the regulating of the several particular nations, when the practices of the Bubject peoples deserve the assistiding Bpirits against one another, the spirits i in charge ar said to come against
\, iii.i i Daniel is Known t<> have been appointed over tin- captives of the Israelitish I People established in Persia, bul Michael is ascertained t"
be tin' ruler of those who remained in til'' land of.ludaa from among the same people. And hence it is s.ii<l a little afterwards to Daniel bj this same Angel; And tliere is none v—L prince. Concerning whom he sa\s this too which we have before said, but, /", Michael, one of the chief princes, came in help tin. Who whereas he is never said ' to he with," hut to ■ come to help,1 is plainly seen to he set over thai people which was held captire in another part. What then is it for the Angel to say, / <n/i come for thy words, Imi lit,' prince oj the kingdom <>f Persia withstood me, hut to tell his doings to those under him? As it he said in plain terms; ( The claims1 of thy p ay< s indeed demand that the 1 i elitish9 merit* People should be loosed from the yoke of their captivity, hut there is still in that same people that which must he purged by the dominion of the Persians; so that touching the liberation of that people the prince of Persia should by rights withstand me, though to thy prayers the tears of those too who were left in Judaea come in aid.' Whence he subjoins that too which we said; But, to, Michael, your prince, came to /ic//> inc. And when he goes forth in order to light against the prince of the Persians, there appeareth to him the prince of the Greeks coming towards him. By which eircuuisiance it is implied that against the Greeks too Judaea had been guilty of somewhat, on account of whom without a doubt it was thai lie withstood the rescuing of her. So the Angel hears eflfi Ctually the prayers of the Prophet, but the prime' of Persia withstands, because though the lite of the righteous "ue making supplication already claims the rescue of the People, yet the life of that same People still withstands, that whereas those that had been brought into captivity were nol \> t completely purified, Persia should rightfully have the dominion over tin in Mill. Michael gives aid, hut the prince ofGreeci coi to battle, because that lengthened captivity of the People sufferppression might indeed have merited pardon, hut to the be nefit of their liberation that also stood opposed, which they had done wrong against the Greeks. Therefore it is rightly said that th.- Angels come ag ch other, becaus< the claim of the nations under them are reciprocall] at oddi rithoix another. For 1 1 i * ■ lofty Spirits that are princes to those niii'>ii> never fight in behalf of those thai act unjustly, but justly judge ami trj their deeds. And when either the guilt liltlessnesi of each separate nation is brought into the tie ol the Court Lbove, the ruling Spirit of that nation is
. to hare iron in the conflict or not t<> have iron; the one identical victorj of.til of whom, however, is the Supreme Will of their Maker above them, which Will whilst thej evei have before their eyes, what the} have nol the power they have ii"i the mind t" obtain. Therefore it is well said, \\ if> maketh peace in Hie high plact i. h foil
\:. ".. It i In re n/ii/ number of His soldi* rs \iii. 18. In ilif cognizance of human reason then is nol any number of the spirits above, in that it cannot tell how great i- thai concourse <>f the Invisible I lost, whereof it is said by 1, Daniel, Thousand thousands ministered unto Himtandten thousand tiinr< ten thousand Hood before linn. The number of the citizens above is represented as infinite and definite, in order that that which relatii elj i" < »od is capable of being numbered maj be shewn relatively i<< man to be incapable of being numbered. Though it is one thing * to stand before,1 and another thing to ' minister to.' For those Powers st.tml before Sim without a doubt, which never go forth for the communicating things to men. Hut those • minister to1 Him, who come for discharging the offices of bearers ol tidings; yel these same beings also, by the acl of contemplation, are not w ithdrawn from the interior world. Ami tuse the) are more in number thai ' minister1 than those tint preeminently ' stand before Him,1 the number <»i those so ' standing in pres< nfce1 is represented as being definite, but of those thai ' minister1 as indefinite.
l!». Now the Angelical spirits «■ rightlj call 'the soldiers1 of God, because we are not unaware thai those war against the powers of the air, which same conflicts however thei carry ■ Mi nol bj labour but by authority; for whatsoever thing, in actii osl impure spirits, thej desire tor, 1>\ the aid of
Him Who ruleth all things, th« \ arc equal to. So of this.mis when our King was born it is written. And tuddenlu ih,,, was with the <ni<i<l <t multitude of ihe heavenly host.
Man dark in himself, and unclean in his origin. -"•' I
, nto which same heavenlj hosl the number of ihe Elect of Boo« men too is joined, who by the loft) aspirations ol the mind alv gel free iron, the bondage of an earthly conversation. Concerning whom it La said by Paul, No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affair* of this life. W bich same though now they be shewn few m number, yet in the invisible country they reign innumerably many, in that though by comparison with the evil-minded they are few, yet in the concourse of then assemblage they cannot be any way measured. But because the goodness of those Boldiers is set ' arm not by their own powers, but by the inspiration ol -race from Above, it is rightly added,
20. For ' the light' of God is preventing grace, which il it nr. now of free gift in our heart, assuredly our mind would remain dim in the darkness oi its sins. And hence it