Timeless Faith

#103 The Wisdom of Sirach - Chapter 4

From The Wisdom of Sirach, the Apocrypha [/0095-background-on-the-books-of-the-apocrypha/] My son, defraud not the poor of his living, and make not the needy eyes to wait long. Make not an hungry soul sorrowful; neither provoke a man in his distress. Add not more trouble to an heart that is vexed; and defer not to give to him that is in need. Reject not the supplication of the afflicted; neither turn away thy face from a poor man. Turn not away thine eye from the needy, and give him none occasion to curse thee: For if he curse thee in the bitterness of his soul, his prayer shall be heard of him that made him. Get thyself the love of the congregation, and bow thy head to a great man. Let it not grieve thee to bow down thine ear to the poor, and give him a friendly answer with meekness. Deliver him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the oppressor; and be not fainthearted when thou sittest in judgment. Be as a father unto the fatherless, and instead of an husband unto their mother: so shalt thou be as the son of the most High, and he shall love thee more than thy mother doth. Wisdom exalteth her children, and layeth hold of them that seek her. He that loveth her loveth life; and they that seek to her early shall be filled with joy. He that holdeth her fast shall inherit glory; and wheresoever she entereth, the Lord will bless. They that serve her shall minister to the Holy One: and them that love her the Lord doth love. Whoso giveth ear unto her shall judge the nations: and he that attendeth unto her shall dwell securely. If a man commit himself unto her, he shall inherit her; and his generation shall hold her in possession. For at the first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her laws. Then will she return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and shew him her secrets. But if he go wrong, she will forsake him, and give him over to his own ruin. Observe the opportunity, and beware of evil; and be not ashamed when it concerneth thy soul. For there is a shame that bringeth sin; and there is a shame which is glory and grace. Accept no person against thy soul, and let not the reverence of any man cause thee to fall. And refrain not to speak, when there is occasion to do good, and hide not thy wisdom in her beauty. For by speech wisdom shall be known: and learning by the word of the tongue. In no wise speak against the truth; but be abashed of the error of thine ignorance. Be not ashamed to confess thy sins; and force not the course of the river. Make not thyself an underling to a foolish man; neither accept the person of the mighty. Strive for the truth unto death, and the Lord shall fight for thee. Be not hasty in thy tongue, and in thy deeds slack and remiss. Be not as a lion in thy house, nor frantick among thy servants. Let not thine hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when thou shouldest repay.

#102 What it means to be a son of God

From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich I John 3:2 ff. It would be hard for me to leave the word, "Now are we the sons of God," without it having become clear to all of us what it means to be a son of God, so that no one should be deceived about it, for if our sonship is a fact, the inheritance follows of itself, even though we now do not yet understand what it will be. As children of God we must be as Jesus was and since we did not see Him in the flesh, we must learn to know Him by the Word and in the Spirit, so as to pattern ourselves after Him, and we shall choose no other man for our model than He Who has come into the world and died on the cross for this, that He might separate us anew from the sin that has come upon us through Adam. For if he who has sinned has not seen or known Jesus, then only he who does not sin knows Him because it is not Christ but the devil who sins. But if Christ is in us, the devil no longer is, and we would not have to serve him. The apostles (Peter, Paul and others) by nature were not better and stronger than we are, but after they had put on Christ, they became strong in Him and so conformable to Him that they again, as visible images of Christ, could be an example in the imitation of Him for others, and if one could be an example then all can be, because it is not our strength and endeavor but the grace and gift of God in Christ (Ephesians 2).

#101 Epistle to Diognetus - Part 3

From The Ante-Nicene Fathers, The Epistle to Diognetus CHAPTER 9. — WHY THE SON WAS SENT SO LATE While that earlier age lasted, God let us be carried along by our own impulses, drawn by pleasure and various lusts. Not that He delighted in our sins — He merely endured them. Not that He approved that age of wickedness, but that He was forming in us a mind aware of its own unrighteousness, so that, having been convinced of our unworthiness, we might now receive life as a gift through His kindness. Having seen plainly that we could not enter the kingdom of God by ourselves, we might enter it by the power of God (Romans 3:21–26; Romans 5:20; Galatians 4:4; Acts 17:30). When our wickedness had reached its full height, and its wages — punishment and death — were clearly hanging over us, the time came that God had appointed to show His own kindness and power. Then His one great love did not look on us with hatred, did not push us away, did not hold our sins against us. He bore with us in great patience. He took our iniquities upon Himself. He gave His own Son as a ransom for us — the holy One for the lawless, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for the mortal. For what else could forgive our sins but His righteousness? In whom else could the wicked and ungodly be justified, but the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable working! O blessings beyond all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hidden in one Righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many sinners. Having shown us in the former time that our nature could not reach life by its own strength, and now having revealed the Savior who can save even what seemed unsaveable, by these two facts together He has led us to trust His kindness — to count Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, Wisdom, Light, Honor, Glory, Power, and Life — and not to be anxious about food and clothing (Matthew 6:25). CHAPTER 10. — THE BLESSINGS THAT WILL FLOW FROM FAITH If you also desire this faith, you will first receive the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved mankind. He made the world for our sake and subjected to us all that is in it. He gave us reason and understanding. He alone allowed us to look upward to Him. He formed us in His own image. He sent His only Son to us. He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who love Him. When you have come to this knowledge, what joy will fill you! How will you love the One who has so loved you first! And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. Do not be surprised that a man can imitate God. He can, if he is willing. Imitation of God is not in ruling neighbors, or seeking power over the weaker, or being rich, or pushing around the poor. None of that is what makes God great. Rather: he who takes up his neighbor's burden; who, being stronger, willingly helps the weaker; who freely shares with the needy what he himself has received from God — that man is an imitator of God, and to those who receive his help, he becomes a kind of god. Then, while still on earth, you will see that God truly rules the universe from the heavens. Then you will begin to speak the mysteries of God. Then you will love and admire those who suffer punishment rather than deny God. Then you will condemn the deceit and error of the world. You will know what it is to truly live in heaven. You will despise what is here called death, and fear what is truly death — the eternal fire reserved for those condemned to it. And you will admire those who endure the brief fire here for righteousness' sake, and count them blessed when you understand the nature of that other fire. CHAPTER 11. — THESE THINGS ARE WORTHY TO BE KNOWN AND BELIEVED I am not speaking of things foreign to me, nor pursuing anything contrary to right reason. Having been a disciple of the Apostles, I am become a teacher of the Gentiles. What was handed down to me, I hand on to those who prove themselves worthy disciples of the truth. For who, having been rightly taught and made a child of the loving Word, would not seek to know exactly the things the Word has openly shown to His disciples? The Word, manifested, revealed these things plainly — not understood by unbelievers, but spoken to disciples whom He counted faithful, and who came to know the mysteries of the Father. For this reason He sent the Word: to be made manifest to the world. Despised by the people of the Jews, when preached by the Apostles He was believed on by the Gentiles (1 Timothy 3:16). This is He who was from the beginning, who appeared as new and was found ancient, and who is ever born afresh in the hearts of the saints. This is He who, being from everlasting, is today called the Son. Through Him the Church is enriched, and grace, spreading wide, increases in the saints — giving understanding, opening mysteries, declaring times, rejoicing over the faithful, granting gifts to those who seek. Through Him the limits of faith are not broken, nor the boundaries set by the fathers passed over. Then the fear of the Law is sung, the grace of the Prophets is recognized, the faith of the Gospels is established, the tradition of the Apostles is preserved, and the grace of the Church rejoices. If you do not grieve this grace, you will come to know the things the Word teaches — through whom He wills, when He pleases. For whatever the Word, by His will, prompts us to say, we share with you out of love for the truths revealed to us. CHAPTER 12. — THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE TO TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE When you have read these things and listened carefully, you will know what God gives to those who rightly love Him: you yourselves become a paradise of delight, bearing within you a tree heavy with every kind of fruit, adorned and flourishing. For in this place — in paradise — were planted both the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. It is not the tree of knowledge that destroys; it was disobedience that destroyed. The Scripture has meaning when it tells how God planted the tree of life in the middle of paradise: He was revealing through knowledge the path to life. The first humans did not use this knowledge rightly, and through the deceit of the serpent were stripped naked. For neither can life exist without knowledge, nor is knowledge safe without life. That is why the two were planted close together. The Apostle saw this, and condemning the kind of knowledge that influences life apart from sound doctrine, said: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). The man who imagines he knows something without the true knowledge that life itself confirms knows nothing; he is deceived by the serpent, because he does not love life. But he who joins knowledge with reverence and seeks life, plants in hope and looks for fruit. Let your heart be your wisdom, and let your life be true knowledge inwardly received. Bearing this tree and showing its fruit, you will always reap what God desires — what the serpent cannot reach and deceit cannot approach. Eve1 is no longer corrupted, but is trusted as a virgin. Salvation is shown forth, the Apostles are filled with understanding, the Lord's Passover advances (Revelation 5:9; 19:7), the choirs are gathered and set in order (1 Peter 5:3), and the Word rejoices in teaching the saints — by whom the Father is glorified. To Him be glory forever. Amen. 1 Eve in the above context symbolizes humanity or the church.

#100 Epistle to Diognetus - Part 2

From The Ante-Nicene Fathers, The Epistle to Diognetus CHAPTER 5. — THE MANNERS OF THE CHRISTIANS Christians are not marked off from the rest of mankind by country, language, or customs. They do not live in cities of their own. They do not speak a peculiar dialect. They do not follow some strange way of life. Their teaching is not the product of clever speculation, nor are they champions of any merely human school of thought. They live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, wherever they happen to be born, following the local customs in dress, food, and the rest of life. And yet the way they actually live shows something striking and, frankly, paradoxical. They live in their own countries, but as resident aliens. They take part in everything as citizens, yet endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their homeland, and every homeland a foreign land. They marry and have children like everyone else, but they do not abandon their offspring (i.e., they do not expose unwanted infants). They share their table, but not their bed. They live in the flesh, but not according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 10:3). They walk on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). They obey the laws of the land, and by their lives they surpass those laws. They love everyone, and are persecuted by everyone. They are unknown, and yet condemned. They are killed, and yet brought to life (2 Corinthians 6:9). They are poor, yet make many rich; they have nothing, yet possess everything (2 Corinthians 6:10). They are dishonored, yet glorified in their dishonor. They are slandered, and yet vindicated. They are reviled, and they bless (2 Corinthians 4:12). They are insulted, and they return honor. They do good, and are punished as criminals. When punished, they rejoice as though brought to life. The Jews war against them as foreigners; the Greeks persecute them. And those who hate them cannot say why they hate them. CHAPTER 6. — THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE WORLD In a word: what the soul is in the body, that is what Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through every part of the body, and Christians are spread through all the cities of the world. The soul lives in the body, but is not of the body; Christians live in the world, but are not of the world (John 17:11, 14, 16). The body cannot see the soul, yet the body holds it; the world cannot see the godliness of Christians, yet they live within it. The flesh hates the soul and wars against it (1 Peter 2:11), though the soul does it no harm — only denies it some pleasures. So the world hates the Christians, though they do it no harm — only refuse its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and loves its members. So Christians love those who hate them. The soul is shut up in the body, and yet holds the body together. So Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are what holds the world together. The immortal soul lives in a mortal tent; Christians live as sojourners in perishable bodies, looking for an imperishable home in the heavens. The soul is improved by hunger and thirst; Christians, punished day after day, only multiply. This is the post God has assigned them, and they are not free to abandon it. CHAPTER 7. — THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST This way of life was not invented on earth, nor is it some human philosophy they cling to, nor a stewardship of merely human mysteries. God Himself — almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible — sent down from heaven into the midst of men the Truth Himself: the holy and incomprehensible Word. And He has firmly planted Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might expect, send some servant or angel or earthly ruler, nor any of the powers set over heavenly things. He sent the very Maker and Fashioner of all things — the One by whom He made the heavens, by whom He set the bounds of the sea, whose laws all the stars obey, from whom the sun received the measure of its daily course, whom the moon obeys when commanded to shine at night, whom even the stars follow as they trail the moon. By Him all things were arranged and given their limits — heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, sea and what is in it, fire, air, the abyss, the heights, the depths, and everything between. This is the One God sent. And not, as one might fear, to play the tyrant or to inspire terror — but in mildness and gentleness. As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so He sent Him. He sent Him as God; He sent Him as to men; He sent Him as a Savior; He sent Him to persuade, not to force — for force has no place in God's character. He sent Him calling us, not hunting us; loving us, not judging us. The judgment is yet to come — and who shall endure His appearing then? (Malachi 3:2). [A short gap exists in the manuscript here.] Do you not see Christians thrown to wild beasts to make them deny the Lord — and remaining unconquered? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the more their numbers grow? This is not the work of man. This is the power of God, and the proof of His coming. CHAPTER 8. — THE MISERABLE STATE OF MEN BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WORD Before His coming, who among men really understood what God is? Will you trust the empty doctrines of the so-called philosophers? Some said God was fire — calling that God which they themselves were heading toward. Others said water. Others picked some other element. But by that logic, every created thing could be called God. These are the startling errors of deceivers. No one has seen God or made Him known on his own; He has revealed Himself. And He has revealed Himself through faith — the only way God can be seen. For God, the Lord and Maker of all, who put each thing in its place, has shown Himself not only kind to mankind but patient. He always was such, and still is, and ever will be: kind, good, free from anger, truthful, the One who alone is good (Matthew 19:17). He formed in His mind a great and unspeakable plan, which He shared with His Son alone. While He kept this counsel hidden, He seemed to neglect us, to take no care of us. But when He revealed it through His beloved Son — laying open all that had been prepared from the beginning — He poured every blessing on us at once: that we should both share His benefits and be active in His service. Who of us would ever have expected this? He had known all things from the beginning, together with His Son, by the relation that exists between them.

#99 The Wisdom of Sirach - Chapter 3

From The Wisdom of Sirach, the Apocrypha [/0095-background-on-the-books-of-the-apocrypha/] Hear me your father, O children, and do thereafter, that ye may be safe. For the Lord hath given the father honour over the children, and hath confirmed the authority of the mother over the sons. Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins: And he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up treasure. Whoso honoureth his father shall have joy of his own children; and when he maketh his prayer, he shall be heard. He that honoureth his father shall have a long life; and he that is obedient unto the Lord shall be a comfort to his mother. He that feareth the Lord will honour his father, and will do service unto his parents, as to his masters. Honour thy father and mother both in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon thee from them. For the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of children; but the curse of the mother rooteth out foundations. Glory not in the dishonour of thy father; for thy father's dishonour is no glory unto thee. For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father; and a mother in dishonour is a reproach to the children. My son, help thy father in his age, and grieve him not as long as he liveth. And if his understanding fail, have patience with him; and despise him not when thou art in thy full strength. For the relieving of thy father shall not be forgotten: and instead of sins it shall be added to build thee up. In the day of thine affliction it shall be remembered; thy sins also shall melt away, as the ice in the fair warm weather. He that forsaketh his father is as a blasphemer; and he that angereth his mother is cursed: of God. My son, go on with thy business in meekness; so shalt thou be beloved of him that is approved. The greater thou art, the more humble thyself, and thou shalt find favour before the Lord. Many are in high place, and of renown: but mysteries are revealed unto the meek. For the power of the Lord is great, and he is honoured of the lowly. Seek not out things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength. But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence, for it is not needful for thee to see with thine eyes the things that are in secret. Be not curious in unnecessary matters: for more things are shewed unto thee than men understand. For many are deceived by their own vain opinion; and an evil suspicion hath overthrown their judgment. Without eyes thou shalt want light: profess not the knowledge therefore that thou hast not. A stubborn heart shall fare evil at the last; and he that loveth danger shall perish therein. An obstinate heart shall be laden with sorrows; and the wicked man shall heap sin upon sin. In the punishment of the proud there is no remedy; for the plant of wickedness hath taken root in him. The heart of the prudent will understand a parable; and an attentive ear is the desire of a wise man. Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins. And he that requiteth good turns is mindful of that which may come hereafter; and when he falleth, he shall find a stay.