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| Commandment Fifth. Of Sadness of Heart, and of Patience.
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Chap. I.
“Be patient,” said he, “and of
good understanding, and you will rule over every wicked work, and you
will work all righteousness. For if you be patient, the Holy Spirit
that dwells in you will be pure. He will not be darkened by any evil
spirit, but, dwelling in a broad region,180
he will rejoice and be glad; and with the vessel in which he dwells
he will serve God in gladness, having great peace within himself.181
| 181 But … himself. But
rejoicing he will be expanded, and he will feast in the vessel in which
he dwells, and he will serve the Lord joyfully in the midst of great
peace.—Vat. He will serve the Lord in great gladness, having
abundance of all things within himself.—Pal. | But
if any outburst of anger take place, forthwith the Holy Spirit, who is
tender, is straitened, not having a pure place, and He seeks to depart.
For he is choked by the vile spirit, and cannot attend on the Lord as he
wishes, for anger pollutes him. For the Lord dwells in long-suffering,
but the devil in anger.182
The two spirits, then,
when dwelling in the same habitation, are at discord with each other, and
are troublesome to that man in whom they dwell.183
For if an exceedingly small
piece of wormwood be taken and put into a jar of honey, is not the
honey entirely destroyed, and does not the exceedingly small piece
of wormwood entirely take away the sweetness of the honey, so that
it no longer affords any gratification to its owner, but has become
bitter, and lost its use? But if the wormwood be not put into the
honey, then the honey remains sweet, and is of use to its owner. You
see, then, that patience is sweeter than honey, and useful to God,
and the Lord dwells in it. But anger is bitter and useless. Now,
if anger be mingled with patience, the patience is polluted,184
and its prayer is not then useful to God.” “I should like,
sir,” said I, “to know the power of anger, that I may guard
myself against it.” And he said, “If you do not guard yourself
against it, you and your house lose all hope of salvation. Guard yourself,
therefore, against it. For I am with you, and all will depart from it who
repent with their whole heart.185
For I will be
with them, and I will save them all. For all are justified by the most
holy angel.”186
| 186 Are
justified. Are received into the number of the just by the most holy
angel (or messenger).—Pal. [i.e., As the instrument
of justification; but the superlative here used seems to indentify this
angel with that of the covenant (Mal. iii. 1); i.e., the meritorious
cause, “the Lord.”] |
Chap. II.
“Hear now,” said he, “how wicked is
the action of anger, and in what way it overthrows the servants of God
by its action, and turns them from righteousness. But it does not turn
away those who are full of faith, nor does it act on them, for the power
of the Lord is with them. It is the thoughtless and doubting that it
turns away.187
| 187 Hear …
away. “Hear now,” said he, “how great is the
wickedness of anger, and how injurious, and in what way it overthrows
the servants of God. For they who are full of faith receive no harm
from it, for the power of God is with them; for it is the doubters and
those destitute [of faith] that it overturns.”—Vat.
[The philosophic difference between anger and indignation is here in
view.] | For as soon as it sees such men standing stedfast,
it throws itself into their hearts, and for nothing at all the man or
woman becomes embittered on account of occurrences in their daily life,
as for instance on account of their food, or some superfluous word that
has been uttered, or on account of some friend, or some gift or debt,
or some such senseless affair. For all these things are foolish and
empty and unprofitable to the servants of God. But patience is great,
and mighty, and strong, and calm in the midst of great enlargement,
joyful, rejoicing, free from care, glorifying God at all times, having
no bitterness in her, and abiding continually meek and quiet. Now this
patience dwells with those who have complete faith. But anger is foolish,
and fickle, and senseless. Now, of folly is begotten bitterness, and
of bitterness anger, and of anger frenzy. This frenzy, the product of
so many evils, ends in great and incurable sin. For when all these
spirits dwell in one vessel in which the Holy Spirit also dwells,
the vessel cannot contain them, but overflows. The tender Spirit,
then, not being accustomed to dwell with the wicked spirit, nor with
hardness, withdraws from such a man, and seeks to dwell with meekness
and peacefulness. Then, when he withdraws from the man in whom he dwelt,
the man is emptied of the righteous Spirit; and being henceforward
filled with evil spirits,188
he is in a state of anarchy in
every action, being dragged hither and thither by the evil spirits, and
there is a complete darkness in his mind as to everything good. This,
then, is what happens to all the angry. Wherefore do you depart from
that most wicked spirit anger, and put on patience, and resist anger
and bitterness, and you will be found in company with the purity which
is loved by the Lord.189
Take care, then, that you neglect
not by any chance this commandment: for if you obey this commandment,
you will be able to keep all the other commandments which I am to give
you. Be strong, then, in these commandments, and put on power, and
let all put on power, as many as wish
to walk in them.”190
| 190
And put … them. That you may live to God, and they who
keep these commandments will live to God.—Vat. [The
beauty of this chapter must be felt by all, especially in the eulogy
on patience. A pious and learned critic remarks on the emphasis
and frequent recurrence of scriptural exhortations to patience,
which he thinks have been to little enlarged upon in Christian
literature.] | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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