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to be moderate, all but saying, that the whole is of the power of God. The giving of thanks, therefore, he attributes to their achievements; but the remembering them in his prayers, to his love towards them. Then showing that not only in his prayers does he remember them, but also apart from his prayers, which he often does; "Unceasingly," he says, "remembering your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father." What is it? "Unceasingly remembering"? Either remembering before God and the Father, or remembering the labor of love which is before our God and Father. But he did not say simply, 62.394 "Unceasingly remembering," but "Of you." Then again, lest you think that even the "Of you" was said simply, he added, "Before our God and Father." For since no one among men was praising what was being done, no one was giving a reward, he adds this also, as if to say, "Take courage, you labor before God." What is, "The work of faith"? That nothing turned aside your perseverance; for this is a work of faith. If you believe, suffer all things; but if you do not suffer, you do not believe. For are not the things promised such that the believer will endure to undergo even ten thousand deaths? The kingdom of heaven is set before us, and immortality, and eternal life. He therefore who believes, will suffer all things. So faith is shown through works. Reasonably therefore did he say so, declaring that "Not simply, but through works you have shown it, through perseverance, through zeal." "And the labor of love." For what labor is there in simply loving? None; but to love genuinely is a great labor. For when, tell me, ten thousand things are set in motion wanting to draw us away from love, but we resist them all, is it not a labor? For what did these men not suffer, so as not to fall away from love? Did not those who opposed the preaching come to Paul's host, and not finding him, drag Jason before the politarchs? Is this a small labor, tell me, when the seeds had not yet taken root, to bear so great a storm, so many trials? And they demanded security from him. And having given security, he says, he sent Paul away. Is this a small thing, tell me? Did he not subject himself to danger in his place? This he calls a labor of love, because they were so bound together. 2. And see: first he speaks of their achievements, and then of his own, so that he might not seem to be boasting, nor to love them with partiality. "And of patience," he says. For that persecution did not happen for a single moment, but continually; nor did they only make war on the teacher Paul, but also on his disciples. For if they were so disposed towards those who worked miracles, the venerable ones, what do you think they were like towards those who lived with them, and were fellow citizens, and had suddenly defected? This, therefore, he also testifies to them, saying, that "You became imitators of the Churches of God which are in Judea." "And of hope," he says, "in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father." He has well said this; for all these things come from faith and hope. So that what had happened showed not only their courage, but also that they believed with full assurance in the rewards laid up for them. For on this account God allowed persecutions to arise immediately, so that no one might say that the preaching was established simply and by flattery, and so that their ardor might be shown, and that it was not human persuasion, but the power of God that was persuading the souls of the believers, so that they were prepared even for ten thousand deaths; which would not have been the case, if the preaching had not immediately fixed itself deep down and stood unshaken. "Knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election, that our Gospel did not come to you in word only, 62.395 but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sakes." What is it that

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μετριάζειν, μονονουχὶ λέγων, ὅτι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεώς ἐστι τὸ πᾶν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν εὐχαριστεῖν τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἕνεκεν τίθησι· τὸ δὲ μεμνῆσθαι αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν, τῆς ἀγάπης τῆς πρὸς αὐτούς. Εἶτα δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν μέμνηται, ἀλλὰ καὶ χωρὶς τῶν εὐχῶν, ὅπερ πολλάκις ποιεῖ· Ἀδιαλείπτως, φησὶ, μνημονεύοντες ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως, καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης, καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν. Τί ἐστιν; Ἀδιαλείπτως μνημονεύοντες; Ἤτοι μνημονεύοντες ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, ἢ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης μνημονεύοντες τοῦ ὄντος ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ εἶπεν· 62.394 Ἀδιαλείπτως μνημονεύοντες, ἀλλ' Ὑμῶν. Εἶτα πάλιν, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς ἁπλῶς μηδὲ τὸ Ὑμῶν εἰρῆσθαι, ἐπήγαγεν· Ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐπῄνει τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ γινόμενα, οὐδεὶς μισθὸν ἀπεδίδου, καὶ τοῦτο προστίθησι, μονονουχὶ λέγων, Θαῤῥεῖτε, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ κάμνετε. Τί ἐστι, Τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως; Ὅτι οὐδὲν ὑμῶν παρέκλινε τὴν ἔνστασιν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἔργον πίστεως. Εἰ πιστεύεις, πάντα πάσχε· εἰ δὲ μὴ πάσχεις, οὐ πιστεύεις. Μὴ γὰρ οὐ τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα, ὡς καὶ μυρίους θανάτους πείσεσθαι τὸν πιστεύοντα ἀνελέσθαι; Οὐρανῶν βασιλεία πρόκειται καὶ ἀθανασία καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος. Ὁ τοίνυν πιστεύων, πάντα πείσεται. Ἄρα ἡ πίστις διὰ τῶν ἔργων δείκνυται. Εἰκότως οὖν οὕτως εἶπε, δηλῶν, ὅτι Οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτὴν ἐπεδείξασθε, διὰ τῆς ἐνστάσεως, διὰ τῆς προθυμίας. Καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης. Ποῖος γὰρ κόπος τὸ φιλεῖν ἁπλῶς; Οὐδείς· τὸ δὲ γνησίως φιλεῖν κόπος πολύς. Ὅταν γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, μυρία κινῆται τῆς ἀγάπης ἡμᾶς ἀφελκύσαι βουλόμενα, ἡμεῖς δὲ πρὸς πάντα ἀντιτείνωμεν, οὐχὶ κόπος ἐστί; Τί γὰρ οὐκ ἔπαθον οὗτοι, ὥστε μὴ ἀποστῆναι τῆς ἀγάπης; οὐχὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ὑποδοχέα Παύλου ἦλθον οἱ πολεμοῦντες τῷ κηρύγματι, καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν, ἔσυρον τὸν Ἰάσονα ἐπὶ τοὺς πολιτάρχας; Μικρὸς οὗτος κόπος, εἰπέ μοι, μηδέπω τῶν σπερμάτων παγέντων, τοσοῦτον χειμῶνα φέρειν, τοσούτους πειρασμούς; Καὶ ἱκανὰ αὐτὸν ἀπῄτησαν. Καὶ ἱκανὰ, φησὶ, δοὺς, ἐξέπεμψε τὸν Παῦλον. Μικρὸν τοῦτο, εἰπέ μοι; οὐχὶ καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀντ' ἐκείνου τῷ κινδύνῳ ὑπέθηκε; Τοῦτο κόπον φησὶν ἀγάπης, ὅτι οὕτω προσεδέθησαν. βʹ. Καὶ ὅρα· πρῶτον ἐκείνων λέγει τὰ κατορθώματα, καὶ τότε τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ μεγαληγορεῖν, μηδὲ προλήψει φιλεῖν αὐτούς. Καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς, φησίν. Οὐ γὰρ πρὸς ἕνα χρόνον ὁ διωγμὸς ἐκεῖνος γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ διαπαντός· οὐδὲ τῷ διδασκάλῳ μόνον Παύλῳ ἐπολέμουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς μαθητευομένοις. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸς ἐκείνους οὕτω διέκειντο τοὺς θαύματα ἐργαζομένους, τοὺς αἰδεσίμους, τί οἴει πρὸς τοὺς συνοικοῦντας αὐτοῖς, καὶ συμπολίτας, καὶ ἀθρόον ἀποστάντας; Ὅπερ οὖν αὐτοῖς καὶ μαρτυρεῖ, λέγων, ὅτι Μιμηταὶ ἐγένεσθε τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ. Καὶ τῆς ἐλπίδος, φησὶ, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν. Καλῶς οὕτως εἶπε· ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα ἀπὸ πίστεως γίνεται καὶ ἐλπίδος. Ὥστε οὐ τὴν ἀνδρείαν αὐτῶν μόνον ἐδήλου τὰ γενόμενα, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ μετὰ πληροφορίας ἐπίστευον τοῖς ἀποκειμένοις ἐπάθλοις. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο συνεχώρει ὁ Θεὸς εὐθέως γενέσθαι διωγμοὺς, ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ, ὅτι ἁπλῶς καὶ κολακείᾳ τὸ κήρυγμα συνίστατο, καὶ ἵνα τὸ θερμὸν αὐτῶν δειχθῇ, καὶ ὅτι οὐ πεισμονὴ ἀνθρωπίνη, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ δύναμις ἦν ἡ τὰς τῶν πιστευόντων ψυχὰς πείθουσα, ὥστε καὶ πρὸς θανάτους μυρίους παρασκευάζεσθαι· ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ἦν, εἰ μὴ εὐθέως κατὰ βάθους τὸ κήρυγμα ἐπεπήγει καὶ εἰστήκει ἀκλινές. Εἰδότες, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι, ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν, ὅτι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐγενήθη πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν λόγῳ μό 62.395 νον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν δυνάμει, καὶ ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, καὶ ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πολλῇ· καθὼς οἴδατε οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν ἐν ἡμῖν ὑμᾶς. Τί ἐστιν ὃ