Chapter V.

Whilst there are thus many gods and lords, whereof some are such in reality, and others are such only in name, we strive to rise not only above those whom the nations of the earth worship as gods, but also beyond those spoken of as gods in Scripture, of whom they are wholly ignorant who are strangers to the covenants of God given by Moses and by our Saviour Jesus, and who have no part in the promises which He has made to us through them.  That man rises above all demon-worship who does nothing that is pleasing to demons; and he rises to a blessedness beyond that of those whom Paul calls “gods,” if he is enabled, like them, or in any way he may, “to look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen.”  And he who considers that “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope,” whilst he praises the creature, and sees how “it shall be freed altogether from the bondage of corruption, and restored to the glorious liberty of the children of God,”1777    [See Dr. Lee on “the immemorial doctrine of the Church of God” as to the Divine influence upon the intellectual faculties of the prophets:  Inspiration of Holy Scripture:  its Nature and Proof, pp. 78, 79.  S.]    Rom. viii. 19, 20.—such a one cannot be induced to combine with the service of God the service of any other, or to serve two masters.  There is therefore nothing seditious or factious in the language of those who hold these views, and who refuse to serve more masters than one.  To them Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Lord, who Himself instructs them, in order that when fully instructed He may form them into a kingdom worthy of God, and present them to God the Father.  But indeed they do in a sense separate themselves and stand aloof from those who are aliens from the commonwealth of God and strangers to His covenants, in order that they may live as citizens of heaven, “coming to the living God, and to the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven.”1778    Heb. xii. 22, 23.

Πολλῶν τοίνυν λεγομένων ἢ ὄντων θεῶν ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ κυρίων, ἡμεῖς πάντα πράττομεν, ἵν' οὐ μόνα τὰ προσκυνού μενα ὡς θεοὺς παρὰ τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἔθνεσιν ὑπεραναβῶμεν ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ οὕς φασιν αἱ γραφαὶ θεούς, περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν ἴσασιν οἱ "ξένοι τῶν" διὰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ ἡμῶν "διαθηκῶν" τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀλλότριοι τῶν διὰ τούτων δηλουμένων ἐπαγγελιῶν αὐτοῦ. Ὑπεραναβαίνει δὲ τὴν παρὰ πᾶσι δαιμονίοις δουλείαν ὁ μηδὲν ἔργον δαιμονίοις φίλον ποιῶν, καὶ ὑπεραναβαίνει τὴν μερίδα τῶν παρὰ Παύλῳ λεγομένων εἶναι θεῶν ὁ σκοπῶν, εἴτε ὡς ἐκεῖνοι εἴθ' ὅπως ποτὲ ἔχει τὰ πράγματα, οὐ "τὰ βλεπόμενα ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα"· καὶ ὁρῶν τις, τίνα τρόπον καὶ "Ἡ τῆς κτίσεως ἀποκαραδοκία τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται. [Τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη], οὐχ ἑκοῦσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα ἐπ' ἐλπίδι", εὐφημῶν τὴν κτίσιν καὶ βλέπων, τίνα τρόπον "ἐλευθερωθήσεται" πᾶσα "ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς" καὶ καταντήσεται "εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ", οὐ περισπᾶται πρὸς [τὸ] τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἄλλῳ τινὶ δουλεύειν μετ' αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸ "δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν". Οὐ στάσεως οὖν φωνὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς νοήσασι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μὴ θέλουσι "δουλεύειν" πλείοσι "κυρίοις", διὰ τοῦτο ἀρκουμένοις κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, παιδεύοντι ὑφ' ἑαυτῷ τοὺς δουλεύοντας αὐτῷ, ἵν' αὐτοὺς πεπαιδευμένους παραδῷ γενομένους "βασιλείαν" ἀξίαν θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποσχίζουσι καὶ ἀπορρηγνύουσιν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων "τῆς πολιτείας" τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ξένων "τῶν διαθηκῶν" αὐτοῦ, ἵνα "τὸ ἐν οὐρανοῖς πολίτευμα" πολιτεύσωνται, προσερχόμενοι θεῷ ζῶντι "καὶ πόλει θεοῦ, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων, ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανῷ".