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to have support. I cannot say, he says, that you suffered these things and were grieved, but rather that you greatly rejoiced. And this he showed when he said, And this, having become partakers with those who were so treated; for you had compassion on the prisoners; and he brings the apostles themselves into the midst. Not only, he says, were you not ashamed of your own [sufferings], but you also shared in those of others who suffered these things. This is also part of his exhortation to them. He did not say, Bear my afflictions, have fellowship with me, but simply, You had compassion on the prisoners. Do you see that he speaks of himself and of the others who were in bonds? Thus you did not consider bonds to be bonds, but like noble athletes, so you stood; because not only did you not need comfort in your own [trials], but you also became a comfort to others. And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions. Wow, what great assurance of faith! Then he also gives the reason, exhorting them not only to the contests themselves, but also not to be shaken from the faith. Seeing your wealth being plundered, he says, you endured it; for you already saw the unseen as if it were seen; which was a mark of sincere faith; and you showed it by your very works. Now, to have been plundered was perhaps due to the violence of the plunderers, and no one could have prevented it; so it is not yet clear that you endured the plundering because of your faith. And yet this too is clear; for it was possible, if you had wished, not to have been plundered by not believing; but you did what was much greater than this, to bear such things even with joy; which was entirely apostolic, and worthy of those noble souls, who rejoiced when they were scourged. For they returned, he says, from the presence of the council rejoicing, that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. He who bears it with joy, shows that he has some reward, and that the matter is not a loss, but a gain. And the word, Accepted, indicates their voluntary endurance. How then did you choose and accept it? Knowing, he says, that you have for your 63.150 selves a better and an enduring possession in heaven. What is, Enduring? steadfast, not perishing like this one. 2. Then, having praised them, he says, Do not, therefore, cast away your confidence, which has great reward. What are you saying? He did not say, You have cast away your confidence, and must recover it, so that they might not despair; but, You have it, do not cast it away; which was more encouraging to them, and made them stronger. Because you have it, he says; for to recover again what has been cast away requires more labor, but not to lose what is held, not so much. But to the Galatians he writes the opposite: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you; and reasonably so. For they were more prone to backsliding, whence they needed a more striking word; but these were more fainthearted, whence they needed a more healing one. Do not cast away, therefore, he says, your confidence. So they were in great confidence toward God. Which has, he says, great reward. What is this? Then we shall receive them, he says. Therefore, if it is laid up for the future, one must not seek it here. Then, lest anyone should say, Behold, all things on our part have been done, for this reason he anticipated them and their supposition; as if to say this: If you know that you have a better possession in heaven, seek nothing here; for you have need of patience, not of an addition of struggle, that you may remain in the same state, that you may not cast away what has been entrusted to you. You need nothing else, but to stand as you have stood, so that having come to the end, you may receive the promise. For you have need of patience, he says, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. Therefore you need one thing only, that you await the delay, not that you should strive again. You are at the very crown, he says, you have endured all the contests, the bonds, the afflictions, your possessions have been plundered; what then? You now stand ready to be crowned; bear this only, the delay of the crown. O, the greatness of the consolation! Thus he exhorts them, as one might say to an athlete who has thrown down all opponents, and

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ἔχειν ἀντίληψιν. Οὐκ ἔχω, φησὶν, εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐπάθετε μὲν, ἠλγεῖτε δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα ἐχαίρετε. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών· Τοῦτο δὲ, κοινωνοὶ τῶν οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων γενηθέντες· καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε· καὶ αὐτοὺς φέρει εἰς μέσον τοὺς ἀποστόλους. Οὐ μόνον, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις οὐκ ᾐσχύνεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐκοινωνεῖτε τοῖς ταῦτα παθοῦσι. Τοῦτο καὶ παρακαλοῦντος αὐτούς ἐστιν. Οὐκ εἶπε, Φέρετε τὰς θλίψεις τὰς ἐμὰς, κοινωνεῖτέ μοι, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς, Τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν δεδεμένων; Οὕτως οὐχ ἡγήσασθε δεσμὰ εἶναι τὰ δεσμὰ, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἀθληταὶ γενναῖοι, οὕτως ἔστητε· ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς ὑμετέροις οὐκ ἐδέεσθε παρακλήσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐγένεσθε παράκλησις. Καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε. Βαβαὶ, πόση πληροφορία πίστεως! Εἶτα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τίθησιν, οὐ μόνον πρὸς τοὺς ἄθλους αὐτοὺς παρακαλῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ διασαλευθῆναι τῆς πίστεως. Τὸν ὑμέτερον πλοῦτον, φησὶν, ἁρπαζόμενον ὁρῶντες, ἠνέγκατε· ἤδη γὰρ τὸν οὐ φαινόμενον ὡς φαινόμενον ἑωρᾶτε· ὅπερ εἰλικρινοῦς πίστεως ἦν· καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων αὐτὴν ἐπεδείξασθε. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἁρπαγῆναι, ἴσως τῆς βίας ἦν τῶν ἁρπαζόντων, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν ἠδύνατο κωλῦσαι· ὥστε οὐδέπω τοῦτο δῆλον, ὅτι διὰ τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἁρπαγὴν ὑπεμείνατε. Καίτοι γε καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον· ἐνῆν γὰρ, εἴπερ ἐβούλεσθε, μὴ ἁρπαγῆναι μὴ πιστεύσαντας· ἀλλ' ὃ πολλῷ τούτου μεῖζόν ἐστιν ἐποιήσατε, τὸ καὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς τὰ τοιαῦτα φέρειν· ὅπερ ἦν ὅλον ἀποστολικὸν, καὶ τῶν γενναίων ἐκείνων ἄξιον ψυχῶν, οἳ μαστιχθέντες ἔχαιρον. Ὑπέστρεψαν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ συνεδρίου χαίροντες, ὅτι κατηξιώθησαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἀτιμασθῆναι. Ὁ δὲ μετὰ χαρᾶς φέρων, δείκνυσιν ὅτι ἔχει μισθόν τινα, καὶ ὅτι οὐ ζημία, ἀλλὰ πρόσοδός ἐστι τὸ πρᾶγμα. Καὶ τὸ, Προσεδέξασθε, τὴν ἑκούσιον αὐτῶν ὑπομονὴν δηλοῖ. Πῶς οὖν εἵλεσθε καὶ κατεδέξασθε; Γινώσκοντες, φησὶν, ἔχειν ἑαυ 63.150 τοῖς κρείσσονα ὕπαρξιν ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ μένουσαν. Τί ἐστι, Μένουσαν; βεβαίαν, οὐχ οὕτως ἀπολλυμένην ὥσπερ ταύτην. βʹ. Εἶτα ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς, φησί· Μὴ οὖν ἀποβάλητε τὴν παῤῥησίαν ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἔχει μισθαποδοσίαν μεγάλην. Τί λέγεις; Οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι Ἀπεβάλετε τὴν παῤῥησίαν ὑμῶν, καὶ ἀνακτήσασθε, ἵνα μὴ ἀπαγορεύσωσιν· ἀλλ', ὅτι Ἔχετε αὐτὴν, μὴ ἀποβάλητε· ὃ μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς ἐψυχαγώγει, καὶ ἐποίει ῥωσθῆναι. Ὅτι ἔχετε αὐτὴν, φησί· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀποβληθὲν ἀνακτήσασθαι πάλιν, καμάτου δεῖται πλείονος, τὸ δὲ κατεχόμενον μὴ ἀπολέσαι, οὐχ οὕτω. Γαλάταις δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον γράφει· Τεκνία μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω, ἄχρις οὗ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν· καὶ εἰκότως. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ ὑπτιώτερον διέκειντο, ὅθεν αὐτοῖς ἔδει πληκτικωτέρου λόγου· οὗτοι δὲ μικροψυχότερον, ὅθεν θεραπευτικωτέρου μᾶλλον ἐδέοντο. Μὴ ἀποβάλητε οὖν, φησὶ, τὴν παῤῥησίαν ὑμῶν. Ὥστε ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ ἦσαν πολλῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Ἥτις ἔχει, φησὶ, μισθαποδοσίαν μεγάλην. Τί ἐστι τοῦτο; Τότε αὐτὰ ληψόμεθα, φησίν. Οὐκοῦν, εἰ κατὰ τὸ μέλλον ἀπόκειται, οὐ δεῖ ἐνταῦθα ζητεῖν. Εἶτα, ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ, Ἰδοὺ τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν πάντα ὑπῆρκται, διὰ τοῦτο προέλαβεν αὐτοὺς καὶ τῇ αὐτῶν ὑπολήψει· μονονουχὶ τοῦτο λέγων· Εἰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς γινώσκετε ἔχειν ὕπαρξιν κρείσσονα, μηδὲν ἐνταῦθα ζητεῖτε· ὑπομονῆς γὰρ ἔχετε χρείαν, οὐχὶ προσθήκης ἀγῶνος, ἵνα ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς μείνητε, ἵνα μὴ ῥίψητε τὸ ἐγχειρισθέν. Οὐδενὸς ὑμῖν ἑτέρου δεῖ, ἀλλ' ἢ ὥστε στῆναι, ὡς ἑστήκατε, ἵνα πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἐλθόντες, κομίσησθε τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν. Ὑπομονῆς γὰρ ἔχετε, φησὶ, χρείαν, ἵνα τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιήσαντες, κομίσησθε τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν. Ἄρα ἑνὸς ὑμῖν δεῖ μόνου, ἵνα ἀναμείνητε τὴν μέλλησιν, οὐχ ἵνα ἀθλήσητε πάλιν. Πρὸς τὸν στέφανον αὐτόν ἐστε, φησὶ, τοὺς ἀγῶνας πάντας ἠνέγκατε, τοὺς δεσμοὺς, τὰς θλίψεις, τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ὑμῶν ἡρπάγη· τί οὖν; Πρὸς τὸ στεφανωθῆναι ἑστήκατε λοιπόν· τοῦτο μόνον φέρετε, τὴν μέλλησιν τοῦ στεφάνου. Ὢ μέγεθος παρακλήσεως! Οὕτως αὐτοὺς παρακαλεῖ, ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι πρὸς ἀθλητὴν πάντας καταβαλόντα, καὶ