The Eighth Sunday after
Trinity
O GOD, whose Providence in ordering that which is his own, is not decieved; We implore thee as suppliants that thou wouldst remove out of our way everything hurtful, and grant to us all things which will do us good; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Historical Note: Source Gelasian [ca 494]. Both the 1549 and 1662 PB versions deviated from the Latin, this translation was offered by Edward Goulburn, 1883
Zechariah iv
1, Psalms 39, 41 | 37
, Romans viii. 12 & St. Matthew vii.
15
Homily
Zechariah iv 1
And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Romans viii. 12
BRETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.St. Matthew vii. 15
BEWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.Scripture from 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Augusine on Psalm XXXIX | XLI, XXXV
HOMILY
John Chrysostom
Rom. VIII. beginning at verse 12
John Chrysostom [ca. 400] - an excerpt
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
After showing how
great the reward of a spiritual life is, and that it maketh Christ
to dwell in us, and that it quickeneth our mortal bodies, and
wingeth them to heaven, and rendereth the way of virtue easier, he
next fitly introduces an exhortation to this purpose.
“Therefore” we ought “not to live after the
flesh.” But this is not what he says, for he words it in a
much more striking and powerful way, thus, “we are debtors to
the Spirit.” For saying, “we are debtors not to the
flesh,” indicates this. And this is a point he is everywhere
giving proof of, that what God hath done for us is not matter of
debt, but of mere grace. But after this, what we do is no longer
matter of free-will offering, but of debt. For when he saith,
“Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of
men” (1 Cor. vii. 23); and when he writes, “Ye are not
your own” (ib. vi. 19); and again in another passage he calls
these selfsame things to their mind, in these words, “If
(most mss. om. “if”) One died for all, then all died
that they should not henceforth live unto themselves.” (2
Cor. v. 15.) And it is to establish this that he says here also,
“We are debtors;” then since he said we are
“not” debtors “to the flesh,” lest you
should again take him to be speaking against the nature of the
flesh, he does not leave speaking, but proceeds, “to live
after the flesh.” For there are many things which we do owe
it, as giving it food, warmth, and rest, medicine when out of
health, clothing, and a thousand other attentions. To prevent your
supposing then that it is this ministration he is for abrogating
when he says, “We are not debtors to the flesh,” he
explains it by saying, “to live after the flesh.” For
the care that I am for abrogating is, he means, that which leadeth
to sin, as I should be for its having what is healing to it. And
this he shows further on. For when he says, “Make not
provision for the flesh,” he does not pause at this, but
adds, “to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Rom. xiii. 14.)
And this instruction he gives us here also, meaning, Let it have
attention shown it indeed, for we do owe it this, yet let us not
live according to the flesh, that is, let us not make it the
mistress of our life. For it must be the follower, not the leader,
and it is not it that must regulate our life, but the laws of the
Spirit must it receive. Having then defined this point, and having
proved that we are debtors to the Spirit, to show next for what
benefits it is that we are debtors, he does not speak of those past
(a thing which serves as a most striking proof of his judgment),
but those which were to come; although even the former were enough
for the purpose. Yet still he does not set them down in the present
case, or mention even those unspeakable blessings, but the things
to come. For a benefit once for all conferred does not, for the
most part, draw men on so much as one which is expected, and is to
come. After adding this then, he first uses the pains and ills that
come of living after the flesh, to put them in fear, in the
following words; “For if ye live after the flesh ye shall
die,” so intimating to us that deathless death, punishment,
and vengeance in hell. Or rather if one were to look accurately
into this, such an one is, even in this present life, dead. And
this we have made clear to you in the last discourse. “But if
ye through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live.” You see that it is not the essence of the body whereof
we are discoursing, but the deeds of the flesh. For he does not
say, “if ye through the Spirit do mortify” the essence
“of the body,” but “the deeds of” it, and
these not all deeds, but such as are evil. And this is plain in
what follows: for if ye do this, “ye shall live,” he
says. And how is it in the nature of things for this to be, if it
was all deeds that his language applied to? for seeing and hearing
and speaking and walking are deeds of the body; and if we mortify
these, we shall be so far from living, that we shall have to suffer
the punishment of a manslayer. What sort of deeds then does he mean
us to mortify? Those which tend toward wickedness, those which go
after vice, which there is no other way of mortifying save through
the Spirit. For by killing yourself you may put an end to the
others. And this you have no right to do. But to these (you can put
an end) by the Spirit only. For if This be present, all the billows
are laid low, and the passions cower under It, and nothing can
exalt itself against us. So you see how it is on things to come, as
I said before, that he grounds his exhortations to us, and shows
that we are debtors not owing to what has been already done only.
For the advantage of the Spirit is not this only, that He hath set
us free from our former sins, but that He rendereth us impregnable
against future ones, and counts us worthy of the immortal life.
Then, to state another reward also, he proceeds: “For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God.” .....
Readers may conitnue this sermon by going to
www.ccel.org NPNF1-12. Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles
of Paul to the Corinthians
HOME