レ LECT. INTROD. of unbelief feel the anvil, let the superfluous scales drop off as of iron, and what is pure remain: let the rust be rubbed off, and the true metal be left. May God at length shew you that night, that darkness which shews like day, concerning Ps. 139, which it is said, The darkness shall not be darkened from 12.Sept. thee, and the night shall be light as the day. At that time, to each man and woman among you may the gate of paradise be opened; may you then enjoy the fragrant waters, which contain Christ; may you then receive Christ's name, and the efficacious power of divine things! Even now, I beseech you, lift up the eye of your understanding; imagine the angelic choirs, and God the Lord of all sitting, and His Only-begotten Son sitting with Him on His right-hand, and the Spirit with them present, and thrones and dominions doing service, and each man and woman among you is receiving salvation. Even now let your ears ring with the sound long for that glorious sound, which after your sal47. vation, the angels shall chant over you, Blessed are they whose ed in our iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered; version, when, like stars of the Church, you shall enter in it, bright voy. vid. Acts 2, translat such as should be in the outward man and radiant in your souls. saved. (10.) 16. Great indeed is the Baptism which is offered you. It is a ransom to captives; the remission of offences; the death of sin; the regeneration of the soul; the garment of light; the holy seal indissoluble; the chariot to heaven; the luxury of paradise; a procuring of the kingdom; the gift of adoption. But a serpent by the wayside is watching the passengers; beware lest he bite thee with unbelief; he sees so many receiving salvation, and seeks to devour some of them. Thou art going to the Father of Spirits, but thou art going past that serpent; how then must thou pass him? Eph. 6, Have thy feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; that even if he bite, he may not hurt thee. Have faith indwelling, strong hope, a sandal of power, wherewith to pass the enemy, and enter the presence of thy Lord. Prepare thine own heart to receive doctrine, to have fellowship in holy mysteries. Pray more often, that God may make thee worthy of the heavenly and immortal mysteries. 15. d On Easter Eve lights were kept burn. ing in the Church all through the night. Vid. Nyssen. Orat. 4. in Resur. pp. 867.8. though in the eyes of the world an unprofitable element. 9 Let neither day be without its work, nor night, but when sleep fails thine eyes, at once abandon thy thoughts to prayer. And shouldest thou find any shameful, any base imagination rising, reflect upon God's judgment, to remind thee of salvation; give up thy mind to sacred studies, that it may forget wicked things. If thou find any one saying to thee, And art thou going to the water, to be baptized in it? what, hath not the city baths of late? Be sure that it is the dragon of the sea, who is plotting this against thee; give no heed to the lips of him who speaketh, but to God who worketh. Guard thine own soul, that thou mayest escape the snare, that abiding in hope, thou mayest become the heir of everlasting salvation. 12. 15. 17. We indeed, as men, charge and teach these things; (11.) for you, see you make not our building hay, and stubble, 1 Cor. 3, and chaff; that we may not suffer loss, our work being burnt; but make our work, gold and silver and precious stones. It is for me to speak, but thine to second me, and God's part to perfect. Let us nerve our minds; let us brace up our souls; let us prepare our hearts; the race is for our soul, our hope about eternal things. God is able, who knows your hearts, and perceives who is sincere, and who is a hypocrite, both to preserve the sincere, and to give faith to the hypocrite; nay even to the unbeliever, if he give Him but his heart. And may He blot out the hand-writing that Col. 2, is against you, and grant you forgiveness of your former trespasses; may He plant you in the Church, and enlist you for Himself, putting on you the armour of righteousness! And may He fill you with the heavenly things of the New Testament, and give you the indelible seal of the gayiHoly Spirit, throughout all ages, in Christ Jesus our Lord, εξάλει to whom be glory for ever and ever! Amen. To the Reader. These Catechetical Lectures thou mayest put into the hands of candidates for Baptism and of baptized believers, but by no means of Catechumens, nor of any others who are not Christians; as thou shalt answer to the Lord. And if thou takest a copy of them, write this in the beginning, as in the sight of the Lord. 14. da av TTOY. LECTURE I. ON THE PURPOSE OF MIND NECESSARY FOR BAPTISM. LECT. I. ISAIAH i. 16-19. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. 1. DISCIPLES of the New Testament, and communicants in the mysteries of Christ, as yet indeed by calling only, but ere Ezek. long by grace, make you a new heart, and a new spirit, that 18, 31. there may be gladness among the inhabitants of heaven; for Luke 15, if over one sinner that repenteth there is joy, according to the 7. 28. Gospel, how much more shall the salvation of so many souls move the inhabitants of heaven to gladness? Ye have betaken yourselves to a good, a most glorious path; run with awe the race of godliness. Here is present, all-prepared to redeem Mat. 11, you, the Only-begotten Son of God, and says, Come unto Me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. You that have on you the harsh clothing of offences, who are Prov. 5, holden with the cords of your own sins, listen to the Prophet's voice, saying, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; that the company of Ps. 32, Angels may chant over you, Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Ye who have just lighted the torches of faith, preserve them in your hands unquenched: that He, who once, on this most holy Calvary, opened Paradise to the robber on account of his faith, may grant to you to sing the bridal hymn. 22. 1. Regeneration in Baptism through faith. 11 22.24. 1, 22. 9. τὴν μυ στικὴν 2. Whoever here is a slave of sin, let him promptly prepare (2.) himself through faith, for the new birth into freedom and adoption: let him put off the miserable bondage of his sins, let him take on him the blessed bondage of the Lord, that so he may be counted worthy to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Put off the old man, which is corrupt according to Eph. 4, the deceitful lusts, by means of the Confession; that you Col. 3, may put on the new man, which is renewed after the know- 10. ledge of Him that created him. Get you the earnest of the 2 Cor. Holy Spirit, through faith, that you may be able to be received into the everlasting habitations. Come for the Luke 16, mystical Seal, that you may be well-known to the Master: be ye numbered with the holy and spiritual flock of Christ, so Y, shall ye be set apart on His right hand, and inherit the life which is prepared for you. For they, who are yet encompassed with the rough covering of their sins, have their lot on His left hand, because they come not to the grace of God, which is given through Christ at the new birth of the Holy Bath; a new birth not of bodies, but the spiritual new birth of the soul. For our bodies are born by means of parents who are seen, but our souls are born again by means of faith; for the Spirit bloweth where It listeth. And then it is John 3, given thee to hear, if thou be worthy, Well done, thou good Mat. 25, and faithful servant, when thy conscience is found clean from 21. hypocrisy. σφραγί 8. 3. For if there be any one here who thinks to tempt grace, (3.) he deceives himself, and knows not its power. Keep thy soul free from hypocrisy, O man, by reason of Him who searcheth hearts and reins: for as those who make a levy for war inquire into the ages and the make of their recruits, so also doth the Lord, enlisting souls, examine into their purpose of mind. If any has a secret hypocrisy, He rejects that man as unfit for the true service: but if He find a man worthy, to him He gives grace readily. He gives not holy things to dogs; but when He discerns the good conscience, there He gives that Seal of salvation, that wondrous Seal, which devils tremble at, and Angels recognize: that the one may be scared away and flee, and the others may attend on it, as kindred to themselves. From those then who receive this spiritual or saving Seal, is required a disposition of mind kindred to it: for as a 12 Baptism transplants into an invisible state. LECT. writing-reed or a dart has need of one to use it, so does grace require believing minds. I. (4.) Tov von τὸν πα ράδεισον. Ps. 52, 10. (5.) 4. Such thou art receiving, no perishable instrument, but a spiritual. Henceforth thou art planted in the paradise which the mind sees. Thou receivest a new name, which before thou hadst not: before thou wast a Catechumen, now thou wilt be a Believer. Henceforth thou art transplanted among the invisible olive trees, being grafted from the wild into the fruitful, from sins into righteousness, from pollution into purity. Thou hast communion in the Holy Vine: if then thou abide in the vine, thou shalt increase as a fruitful branch; if thou abide not, thou shalt be utterly consumed by the fire. Let us then bear fruit, as is worthy; God forbid that in us should be fulfilled what was done to the barren fig-tree, or that Jesus coming should even now curse us for our barrenness. Rather, may all be able to say, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; my trust is in the tender mercy of God, for ever and ever, an olive tree not meeting the senses, but the mind, and full of light; as then it is His part to plant and to water, so it is thine to bear fruit: it is God's to grant grace, thine to receive and preserve. Despise not the gift, because it is given freely, but when thou hast received it, devoutly treasure it. 5. The present is the season of Confession: confess therefore what thou hast done, whether in word, or in deed; 2 Cor. Whether in the day, or in the night; confess in a time ac6, 2. cepted, and in the day of salvation receive the heavenly treasure. Devote thy time to the Exorcisms; be constant at the Catechisings, and store up in memory the matter of them, for they are spoken, not to the ears only, but that faith may stamp them on the mind; wipe out from thee every care of earth; thou art running for thy soul. Thou art utterly abandoning the things of the world; what thou art abandoning is little, what the Lord is giving is great. Forsake things present, have faith in things to come. Hast thou run so many circles of the year, fruitlessly devoted to the world, and wilt thou not for forty days, devote thyself to prayer, for thy soul's sake? Be still, and know that I am God, saith the Scripture. Give over talking many idle words, neither backguged bite, nor lend a willing ear to backbiters, rather be prompt to gyo Cirs, be disen Ps. 46, 1. |