Do you see how he commands us to hate the evil and not the man? It is the work of the devil to tear us apart from one another; He tries hard to destroy love in order to cut off the path to correction, and to keep him in error and you in enmity, and thus to block his path to salvation. If the physician hates and runs away from the patient, and the patient abhors the physician, can the patient recover when he does not call for the physician and the physician does not come to him? Why, tell me, do you turn away from him and run away from him? Is it because he is wicked? But that is why it is necessary to come and heal in order to restore the patient. Even if he suffers from an incurable disease, you are commanded to do your work. Judas was also afflicted with an incurable disease, but God did not cease to heal him; Wherefore thou shalt not faint. Though thou canst not free him from wickedness with all thy diligence, yet thou shalt receive the reward of freeing him, and thou shalt dispose him to marvel at thy meekness, and thus God shall be glorified in every way. Though thou doest miracles, though thou raisest the dead, though thou doest any other such thing, the heathen will never be astonished at thee so much as when they see thee meek, kind, and courteous; And this is no small matter, because in this way many can finally give up vice. Nothing can attract like love. Because of the other, that is, the signs and wonders, they may envy you, but because of it (love) they will be astonished and loved, but in love they will receive little by little the truth. However, if it is not soon that he becomes a believer, do not be astonished, do not be in a hurry, do not demand everything suddenly, but let him praise and love for the time being, and then little by little he will come to that. But that you may see clearly how important this is, listen to how Paul himself justified himself when he stood before an unfaithful judge: "I count myself happy," he said, "that I can defend myself before you this day" (Acts 26:2), not out of flattery, no, but desiring to gain profit by meekness; And in part he who was the defendant took the judge captive, and this victory was proclaimed by the captive himself, who said with a loud voice in the presence of all: "Thou hast not yet persuaded me to become a Christian" (Acts 26:28).

6. What about Paul? He stretches out the net still further, and says, "I pray that not only thou, but all that hear me this day, may be made like me, except these bonds" (v. 29). What sayest thou, Paul, save bonds? What boldness will you have, if you are ashamed of them, if you avoid them, and in the presence of such a multitude of people? Do you not boast of them everywhere in your epistles, calling yourself a prisoner, and everywhere pointing out to us these bonds as a diadem? Why, then, dost thou now shrink from bonds? I do not shrink, he says, nor am I ashamed, but condescend to the weakness of others, because they cannot yet accept what I boast of; but I have learned from my Lord not to put a new patch on an old garment (Matt. 9:16); That's why I said that. They still misunderstand our doctrine and are hostile to the cross; Wherefore, if I add more bonds, their hatred shall be still greater; Wherefore I have separated them, in order to make the doctrine acceptable. It seems shameful to them to be bound, because they have not yet tasted our glory; Therefore it is necessary to be lenient. When they learn to be inquisitive, then they will know the beauty of chains and the glory of bonds. In conversation with others, he calls suffering a gift of grace: "It is given to you for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him" (Phil. 1:29); but in the present case it was only to be desired that the hearers should not be ashamed of the cross; That is why it extends forward gradually. And when a man brings another into the palaces of the king, he does not show him the inner chambers before he has examined the antechambers and the outer ones, for otherwise he will not be astonished unless he prostrates himself inward and knows everything. In the same way we will deal with the Gentiles, with forbearance, with love; she is a great teacher; It can turn away from error, and correct morals, and lead to love of wisdom, and make people out of stones.

See, Jacob was a modest man, he sat at home, he knew no trouble or danger, he led a quiet and carefree life, and like a damsel in a tower, so for the most part he remained to keep his house, but he withdrew from the market-place, from all noise and everything that happened in the market-place, and constantly lived away from troubles and worries. What is it? When the fire of love kindled him, this humble man who did not leave his house, behold, how bold and industrious he became; Listen to this, not from me, but from the Patriarch himself. Reproaching his father-in-law, he says, "Behold, I have been with thee twenty years" (Gen. 31:38). And what was his position for twenty years? "I languished," he adds, "by day by heat, and by night by cold, and my sleep fled from my eyes" (v. 40). Such was the humble man, who did not leave his house, and who had formerly led a quiet life. And that he was timid is evident from the fact that he was mortally afraid of seeing Esau while waiting to see Esau. Then, see how the same fearful man became braver than a lion because of love: standing before them all, as if he were a bulwark, he was ready to be the first to meet a cruel man, who, as he thought, breathed by murder, and to defend his wives with his own body; Whom he feared and feared, the first one wanted to fight, because love for wives was stronger than fear. Do you see how the timid man suddenly became brave, not because he changed his disposition, but because he was strengthened by love? He was timid and afterward, as can be seen from that. that he moved from place to place. But let no one think that this is said in reproach to the righteous; timidity is not a vice; It comes from nature, and it is only reprehensible to do anything indecent out of timidity. It is possible for a timid person by nature to become courageous by piety. What was Moses like? Did he not fear an Egyptian, and flee and withdraw from the borders? Meanwhile, this fugitive, who could not bear the threat of one man, after having tasted the sweetness of love, was boldly and without any compulsion ready to perish with his beloved: "Forgive them," he said, "forsake their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Thy book, in which Thou hast written" (Exodus 32:32). On the other hand, that love makes the cruel meek, and the intemperate chaste, need not be given an example; Everyone knows that. Though he be more ferocious than any beast, he is made humbler than any lamb by love. Who, for example, was more ferocious and furious than Saul? But when his daughter had sent his enemy away, he did not speak a harsh word to her; He who slew almost all the priests for David's sake, when he heard how his daughter had let him out of the house, did not insult her with a word, while the ruse was used against himself. This is because he was held by the strongest bridle of love (for his daughter). By making men meek, love also makes men chaste; Whoever loves his wife as he ought to love, though he be extremely voluptuous, will not look upon another for love of her: "Love," says the Scripture, "is as strong as death" (Song of Songs 8:6). Therefore, debauchery comes from nothing else than a lack of love.

Amen.

[1] Greek. υε ο υοοου="son of maidens who have defected" the word "womanized" is missing; there is an allusion to the abduction of foreign wives by the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. 21). To the Synod. transl. "Unfit and disobedient son" by I.I.