VIII. [58. B.] 98 Creed to be said morning and evening, as clothing of the soul. SERM. in earth, are for eternity. But the four following relate to this life, Give us this day our daily bread. Shall we ask day by day for daily bread, when we shall have come to that fulness of blessing? Forgive us our debts. Shall we say this in that kingdom, when we shall have no debts? Lead us not into temptation. Shall we be able to say this then, when there will be no temptation? Deliver us from evil, Shall we say this, when there shall be nothing from which to be delivered? Therefore these four are necessary, because of our daily life, but the three first in reference to the life eternal. But all things let us ask, with a view of attaining to that life, and let us pray here, that we be not separated from it. Every day must this prayer be said by you, when you are baptized. For the Lord's Prayer is said daily in the Church before the Altar of God, and the faithful hear it. We have no fear therefore as to your not learning it carefully, because even if any of you should be unable to get it perfectly, he will learn it by hearing it day by day. xi. 13. Therefore on the Saturday when by the grace of God you will keep the Vigil, you will have to repeat not the Prayer, but the Creed. For if you do not know the Creed now, you will not hear that every day in the Church, and among the people. But when you have learnt it, that you may not forget it, say it every day when you rise; when you are preparing for sleep, rehearse your Creed, to the Lord rehearse it, remind yourselves of it, and be not weary of repeating it. For repetition is useful, lest forgetfulness steal over you. Do not say," I said it yesterday, I have said it to-day, I say it every day, I know it perfectly well." Call thy faith to mind, look into thyself, let thy Creed be as it were a mirror to thee. Therein see thyself, whether thou dost believe all which thou professest to believe, and so rejoice day by day in thy faith. Let it be thy wealth, let it be in a sort the daily clothing of thy soul. Dost thou not always dress thyself when thou risest? So by the daily repetition of thy Creed dress thy soul, lest haply forgetfulness make it bare, and thou remain naked, and that take place which the Apostle 2 Cor. saith, (may it be far from thee!) If so be that being un 5, 3. Easter Eve. See Bingham xxi. 1. 32. Our Father's gifts possessed with Himself in Heaven. 99 VIII. [58. B.] clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we shall be clothed SERM. by our faith: and this faith is at once a garment and a breastplate; a garment against shame, a breastplate against adversity. But when we shall have arrived at that place where we shall reign, no need will there be to say the Creed. We shall see God; God Himself will be our vision; the vision of God will be the reward of our present faith. SERMON IX. [LIX. BEN.] Again, on the Lord's Prayer, Matt. vi. To the Competentes. i. 1. You have rehearsed what you believe, hear now what you are to pray for. Forasmuch as you would not be able to call on Him, in Whom you should not first have believed; as saith the Apostle, How shall they call on Him, in Whom they have Rom. not believed? Therefore have you first learned the Creed, 10, 14. where is a brief and sublime rule of your faith; brief in the number of its words, sublime in the weight of its contents 1. 1 sentenBut the prayer which you receive to-day to be learned by heart, and to be repeated eight days hence, was dictated (as you heard when the Gospel was being read) by the Lord Himself to His disciples, and came from them unto us, since their sound went into all the earth. tiarum. (19, 4. Matt. 6, P8.18,5. 2. Ye then who have found a Father in heaven, be loth to Sept. cleave to the things of earth. For ye are about to say, Our E. V.) Father, Which art in heaven. You have begun to belong to a 9. great family. Under this Father the Lord and the slave are brethren; under this Father the general and the common soldier are brethren; under this Father the rich man and the poor are brethren. All Christian believers have divers fathers in earth, some noble, some obscure; but they all call upon one Father which is in heaven. If our Father be there, there is the inheritance prepared for us. But He is such a Father, that we can possess with Him what He giveth. For He giveth an inheritance; but He doth not leave it to us by dying. For He doth not depart Himself, but He abideth ever, that we The reading of D. F. G. some Mss. ap. Chrys, and Ambr. Ar. Pol. Vet. Lat. Tert. Paulin. Macar. ap. Mill. Auct. quæstt. V. T. S. Aug.'s present text has elsewhere "induti," (see Sabat.) 100 Praying for daily bread we pray for holiness, lest we lose It. SERM. may come to Him. Seeing then we have heard of Whom we IX. are to ask, let us know also what to ask for, lest haply we [59. B.] offend such a Father by asking amiss. 9. ii. 3. What then hath the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to ask Matt. 6, of the Father Which is in heaven? Hallowed be Thy Name. What kind of blessing is this that we ask of God, that His Name may be hallowed? The Name of God is always Holy; why then do we pray that it may be hallowed, except that we may be hallowed by it? We pray then that that which is The Name of God is Holy always, may be hallowed in us. hallowed in you when ye are baptized. Why will ye offer this prayer after ye have been baptized, but that that which ye shall then receive may abide ever in you? Matt. 6, 10. ver. 10. iii. ver. 11. 1exhibi God's 4. Another petition follows, Thy kingdom come. kingdom will come, whether we ask it or not. Why then do we ask it, but that that which will come to all saints may also come to us; that God may count us also in the number of His saints, to whom His kingdom is to come? For 5. We say in the third petition, Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth. What is this? That as the Angels serve Thee in heaven, so we may serve Thee in earth. His holy Angels obey Him; they do not offend Him; they do His commands through the love of Him. This we pray for then, that we too may do the commands of God in love. Again, these words are understood in another way, Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth. Heaven in us is the soul, earth in us is the body. What then is, Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth? As we hear Thy precepts, so may our flesh consent unto us; lest, whilst flesh and spirit strive together, we be not able to fulfil the commands of God. 6. Give us this day our daily bread, comes next in the Prayer. Whether we ask here of the Father support1 necestionem. sary for the body, by bread signifying whatever is needful for us; or whether we understand that daily Bread, which ye are soon to receive from the Altar; well it is that we pray that He would give it us. For what is it we pray for, but that we may commit no evil, for which we should be separated from that holy Bread. And the word of God which is preached daily is daily bread. For because it is not bread In Heaven, Christ, directly, our Bread, Light, Wisdom. 101 IX. [59. B.] for the body, it is not on that account not bread for the soul. Serm. But when this life shall have passed away, we shall neither seek that bread which hunger seeks; nor shall we have to receive the Sacrament of the Altar, because we shall be there with Christ, Whose Body we do now receive; nor will those words which we are now speaking, need to be said to you, nor the sacred volume to be read, when we shall see Him Who is Himself the Word of God, by Whom all things were made, by Whom the Angels are fed, by Whom the Angels are enlightened, by Whom the Angels become wise; not requiring words of circuitous discourse; but drinking in the Only Word, filled with Whom they burst forth' and never 1ructufail in praise. For, Blessed, saith the Psalm, are they who t dwell in Thy house; they will be always praising Thee. ant Ps.84,4. 12. 7. Therefore in this present life do we ask what comes iv. next, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. In Matt. 6, Baptism, all debts, that is, all sins are entirely forgiven us. But because no one can live without sin here below, and if without any great crime which entails separation from the Altar, yet altogether without sins can no one live on this earth, and we can only receive the one Baptism once for all; in this Prayer we hear how we may day by day be washed, that our sins may day by day be forgiven us; but only if we do what follows, As we also forgive our debtors. Accordingly, my Brethren, I advise you, who are in the grace of God my sons, yet my Brethren under that heavenly Father; I advise you, whenever any one offends and sins against you, and comes, and confesses, and asks your pardon, that ye do pardon him, and forthwith from the heart forgive him; lest ye keep off from your own selves that pardon, which comes from God. For if ye forgive not, neither will He forgive you. Therefore it is in this life that we make this petition, for that it is in this life that sins can be forgiven, where they can be done. But in the life to come they are not forgiven, because they are not done. V. 8. Next after this we pray, saying, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This also, that we be ver. 13, not led into temptation, it is necessary for us to ask in this life, because in this life there are temptations; and that we may be delivered from evil, because there is evil here, IX. [59. B.] 102 Temporal ills slight, since they leave us, or we them. SERM. And thus of all these seven petitions, three have respect to the life eternal, and four to the present life. Hallowed be Thy Name. This will be for ever. Thy kingdom come. This kingdom will be for ever. Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth. This will be for ever. Give us this This will not be for ever. i. Forgive us day our daily bread. SERMON X. [LX. BEN.] On the words of the Gospel, Matt. vi. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," &c. An exhortation to alms-deeds. 1. EVERY man who is in any trouble, and his own resources fail him, looks out for some prudent person from whom he may take counsel, and so know what to do. Let us suppose then the whole world to be as it were one single man. He seeks to escape evil, yet is slow in doing good; and as in this way tribulations thicken, and his own resources fail, whom can he find more prudent to receive counsel from than Christ? By all means, at least, let him find a better, and do what he will. But if he cannot find a better, let him come to Him Whom he may find every where: let him consult, and take advice from Him, keep the good commandment, escape the great evil. For present temporal ills of which men are so sore afraid, under which they murmur exceedingly, and by their murmuring offend Him who is 1 salva- correcting them, so that they find not His saving Help1; present ills I say without a doubt are but passing; either they pass through us, or we pass through them; either they pass away whilst we live, or they are left behind us when we die. Now that is not in the matter of tribulation great, which in duration is short. Whosoever thou art that art thinking of to-morrow, thou dost not recall the remembrance of yesterday. When the day after to-morrow comes, this tomorrow also will be yesterday. But now if men are so dis torem |