LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON,
OKLAHOMA
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HOMILY
29
1.
The wisdom of God, since it is infinite and incomprehensible, brings about in an
incomprehensible and unsearchable way the dispensations of grace toward the
human race in various ways for the testing of man’s free will, so that those
who love him with their whole heart and who patiently endured every kind of
danger and toil for the sake of God may appear. To
some the charisms and gifts of the Holy Spirit come in advance. They immediately
draw near in faith and petition without work, sweat, and toil, even while they
are still in the world. God so gives them grace, not idly nor out of season nor
by chance, but he gives it with ineffable and incomprehensible wisdom to test
the choice and free will of those who so quickly received divine grace. This
happens whether they were aware of the benefit and the goodness and sweetness of
God that was shown them in proportion to the grace bestowed without any efforts
on their part for what they were considered worthy to receive. In return for
which they should have to show zeal and to run the race and to show effort and
to bear fruit of will and determination and love, and to return for the gifts
received a reckoning by giving themselves up completely to the love of the Lord
and by accomplishing his will alone and by completely withdrawing from all
carnal affection. 2.
To those others, even though they may have left the world and renounced this
world according to the Gospel and spend their time in much continuous prayer and
fasting and vigilance and the other virtues, God does not give grace and rest
and the joy of the Spirit, but he shows a patient love toward them and holds
back his gift. And
this God does not idly or inopportunely nor in a haphazard way, but with
ineffable wisdom unto the testing of their free will to see whether they
regarded God as “faithful and true” (Hebrews 11:11), who promised to give to
them that ask and to open the door (Luke 11:9–13) of life to them who knock,
to see whether, after believing his word in truth, they patiently persevere up
to the end, in fullness of faith and zeal, asking and seeking, whether they not
become remiss and pull back and give up. In a lack of faith and hope, they
despise the goal by not persevering to the end because God delayed the time of
his gift and because of the testing of their will and determination. 3.
For he who does not immediately receive because of God’s delay and patient
longing is enkindled much more. He is more eager to desire the heavenly good
things. And daily he adds greater desire, zeal, running, and struggle, and every
attitude of virtue, and he shows a hunger and thirst for what is good. He does
not grow remiss in attacks from the evil of the thoughts inhabiting his soul,
nor does he show any tendency to contempt, impatience, and despair. Nor, on the
contrary, under pretext of patient endurance does he give himself over to
laziness, using such reasoning as, “When will I ever receive God’s
grace?”, and from this is led into carelessness by evil. Indeed, as long as
the Lord, by his delaying the gift, is patiently loving him by testing his faith
and the love of his will, the person himself should all the more keenly and with
greater diligence, without becoming remiss, seek the gift of God, having once
for all believed and assured himself that God is without deceit and is truthful,
he who has promised that he would give his grace to those who faithfully ask in
all patience until the end. 4.
For God is regarded as faithful and true to those who remain faithful. They
“have attested that he is truthful” (John 3:33) according to the true Word.
Therefore, in accord with this insight of faith, they judge themselves whether
they on their part are remiss in labor, in effort, in zeal, or in faith, or
love, or any of the array of virtues. And by examining themselves with all
delicate sensitivity, they push themselves and strive to the best of their
ability to please the Lord, having once and for all believed that God, being
truthful, will not deprive them of the gift of the Spirit if they persevere to
the end with all diligence to serve him and wait on him, but they will be deemed
worthy of the heavenly grace, even while they live on this earth, and they will
obtain eternal life. 5.
And thus they move their whole love toward the Lord, rejecting all other things
and stretching out for him with great desire and hunger and thirst. And they
always await the recreating and consoling power of grace. They do not willingly
seek comfort or recreation in anything of this world and are attached to
nothing. But always resisting gross temptations, they seek their only help and
strength in God since the Lord himself is already secretly present to such
persons that take upon themselves such diligence and determination and
perseverance. The Lord helps and protects them and lets shine forth in them
every fullness of virtue. And even though they find themselves still in struggle
and affliction and they are not adorned in the certainty of truth and in a
conscious experience with the grace of the Spirit and have not yet felt the
recreating power of the heavenly gift nor felt it in its fullness, this is on
account of the ineffable wisdom of God and his inexpressible judgments by which
he tests faithful persons in various ways in a view to bring them to a love that
is freely chosen. For there are limits and measures and stages of free choice
and desire to love and also of a bent of mind to obey all his holy commandments
as much as possible. And thus, as persons fill up the measure of their love and
obligation, they are deemed worthy of the kingdom and of eternal life. 6.
For God is just and so are his judgments. He is no respecter of persons, but he
will judge each person according to the different benefits which he has bestowed
on mankind, those of body or spirit, or those of knowledge or understanding or
discernment. And he will seek the fruits of virtue proportionately. He will give
to each according to his worth according to his accomplishments (Romans 2:6).
And “the mighty ones shall be powerfully tormented for mercy will soon pardon
the lowest” (Wisdom 6:6). The Lord says: “The servant, who knew the will of
his lord and did not prepare nor did he do according to his will, shall be
beaten with many stripes. But he, that did not know and did things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whom much is given, of him
much shall be required and, to whom men have committed much, of him they will
ask more” (Luke 12:47–48). Consider knowledge and understanding in various
ways, either according to grace and the heavenly gift of the Spirit, or
according to the natural grasp of the understanding or discretion and through
the instruction of sacred Scripture. For each person will be responsible for the
fruits of virtue in proportion to the benefits bestowed on him by God, whether
natural or given by divine grace. Therefore, each person is without excuse
before God in the day of judgment. For each person will be required to
correspond with his choice and will, according to what he knew, to produce the
fruits of faith and love and every virtue in relationship to God, whether he
heard or had never heard the word of God. 7.
The faithful person, who loves truth, looks to the eternal blessings reserved
for the just and to the ineffable help of the future divine grace. He regards
himself and his diligence and his pains and labor as unworthy compared to the
ineffable promises of the Spirit. Such a one is the poor in spirit whom the Lord
declared blessed. This is he who hungers and thirsts after justice (Matthew 5:3,
6). This is the one who is contrite of heart. Whoever take upon themselves this
determination and diligence and labor and desire for virtue and persevere to the
end in them, they will be able to obtain life and truly the eternal kingdom. Therefore,
let no one of the brothers be exalted over his brothers or proceed to entertain
an arrogant opinion of himself, seduced by evil to think, “I have obtained a
spiritual gift.” For it is not becoming for Christians to think such things.
For you cannot know what tomorrow may do for him. You do not know what is his
end or what will be your own. Let every one be attentive to himself, let him
examine his own conscience always, checking the movement of his heart as to his
diligence and with what striving his mind tends toward God. And keeping in mind
the perfect goal of liberty and freedom from passions and of the Spirit’s
peace, let him run without stopping and without sloth, never being complacent
with any charismatic gift or even justification. Glory and adoration to the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
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