A call this house of God a Church. For where there is such modesty that at the time of banquets the guests are anxious about divine laws, and one contends with another over this, it is certain that the devil and any evil power whatsoever have been eliminated, and that Christ is present, happy and cheerful over that beautiful emulation among his servants, and bestowing upon them every blessing. Therefore, having now omitted this precept (for I know that by the grace of God it will be propagated throughout the entire city, since you show yourselves so fervent in the beginnings, and so constant), I shall pass on to another precept, which is about the contempt of anger.
Just as on the cithara it is not enough to produce a melody with a single string, but all must be gone through with harmonious agreement, so also in the virtue of the soul, one law is not enough for us for salvation, as I said before, but all must be fulfilled exactly, if indeed we wish to produce melodies sweeter and more useful than any harmony. Has your mouth learned not to swear? Has your tongue been taught to sound "Yes" and "No" everywhere? Let it also learn to reject every reproach, and to apply greater care to this precept, since there is also a need for greater labor. For there, only habit had to be overcome; but in anger, more tense industry is required, for the affection is violent and tyrannical, and it suddenly snatches away even those who are watchful, and leads them down to the very pit of destruction.
Bear, therefore, with the length of the discourse. For it is surely absurd, since you are wounded daily in the forum, in the houses, by friends, by relatives, by enemies, by neighbors, by servants, by a wife, by a son, by your own thoughts, not to admit even once in an entire week any care for the remedy of those wounds, especially when we know that this manner of healing costs neither expense nor pain. For I do not now have iron in my hands, but a word instead of iron, yet sharper than any iron, and cutting away the rot of any sin whatever—yet without pain to him upon whom this incision is made. I do not have fire in my right hand, but a doctrine more vehement than fire, and it does not apply a cautery, yet it restrains the creeping erosion of malice, and, instead of torture, brings B to him who is freed from malice, very much pleasure. Will is enough; the authority of the one commanding should excite us. Non-existent is the need here for time, no need for labors, no need for money; only to will is enough, and immediately we shall have performed whatever of this virtue there is.
But if we reflect how great is the authority of God who commands, and of the founder of this law, we shall have been sufficiently and abundantly instructed and admonished from that; for we do not bring warnings to you from ourselves, but we lead you all to the legislator. Follow, therefore, and hear the divine laws. C But where has there been a discussion about anger and discord? In many ways indeed in many places, but most especially in that parable which, speaking to the disciples, he began in this fashion: *Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a man, a king, who desired to take account with his servants* (Matt. 18:23-35).
On the Parable
But why, pray, did he propose that parable with the addition of a cause? For he did not say simply, "The kingdom of heaven is likened," but, "Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened." Why, therefore, was the cause added? He was making a speech to the disciples about tolerance, teaching how anger was to be curbed and injuries inflicted upon us to be contemned, and that with these words: *If thy brother sin against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother* (Matt. 18:15). While Christ was saying these and other such things to his disciples, and teaching such philosophy, Peter, the prince of the choir of the apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the pillar of the Church, the firmament of faith, the foundation of confession, the fisherman of the world, who brought our race from the depths of errors into heaven, who everywhere fervent and full of freedom of speech, or rather of charity than of freedom, while all were silent, approaching the Master said: *How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?* (Ibid. v. 21). At once he both asks and promises, and before he learns, he shows forth great zeal in this matter.
For because he had the mind of the Master well known to him—how prone it D was to humanity, and that He especially favored him who was prompter in pardoning offenses, and did not show himself bitter and sharp in such matters—wishing to please the legislator, he asked if forgiveness should be repeated up to seven times. Then, so that you may learn what kind of man, what kind of God, and what kind of indulgence he has, and how human kindness, if compared to the opulence of His generosity, is found to be more contemptible than any poverty, and what a small drop is to an immense sea, thus evaluating our goodness in comparison to His ineffable humanity—to the saying of Peter...
A regarding how he ought to forgive, listen to what He says: "I do not say to you, until seven times, but until seventy times seven." Some suppose this to be seven and seventy, but it is not so; rather, it is nearly five hundred, for seven times seventy is four hundred and ninety. And do not think this command is difficult, beloved. For if you forgive someone who has sinned once, second, and third in a day, even if he were as stone, and even if the one being grieved were wilder than the demons themselves, he will not be so insensible as to fall into the same things again; but, being disciplined by the frequency of the forgiveness, he will be better and more reasonable. And you, if you were prepared to disregard the sins committed against you so many times, having been trained by the first, second, and third forgiveness, you will have no further labor in such a philosophy, having practiced once and for all, through the frequency of the forgiveness, not to be struck by the sins of your neighbor.
Hearing these things, Peter stood aghast, worrying not only for himself, but also for those who were to be entrusted to him. B Therefore, so that he might not do the same thing that he did regarding other commands, He anticipated him and blocked every question for him. What did he do regarding the other commands? If ever Christ commanded something of this kind, which seemed to have some difficulty, leaping ahead of the others, he would ask and inquire about the command. For when the rich man approached and asked Christ about eternal life, and having learned the things that produce perfection, he went away grieving because of his riches, Christ said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven: Peter, although he had stripped himself of all things, and possessed not even a fishing hook anymore, but had disregarded both his craft and his boat, approaching, he said to Christ: "Who then can be saved?" C And mark both the student's reasonableness and his fervor; for he did not say, "You command impossibilities, the command is difficult, the law is harsh," nor did he remain silent, but he both displayed his care for the rest and rendered to the teacher the honor owed by a disciple, saying thus: "Who then can be saved?" And not yet having become a shepherd, he had the heart of a shepherd; and not yet having been entrusted with the authority, he maintained the care becoming to a ruler, worrying for the entire inhabited world. For if he were rich, and wrapped in many possessions, perhaps someone might say that he was not caring for the rest, but for himself, and that he was bringing forward this inquiry worrying about his own affairs; but as it is, his poverty excuses him from that suspicion, and shows that he was concerned for the salvation of others, and was inquiring and wishing to learn from the teacher the way of salvation.
For this reason, Christ also, encouraging him, says: D "The things that are impossible with men are possible with God." For do not think, he says, that you are being left desolate; I am working together with you in this effort, and making the impossible things become easy and light. Again, when Christ was discussing marriage and a woman, and saying that "whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery," and advising to bear every malice of a wife except fornication alone, Peter, while the others were silent, approaching, said to Christ: "If the case of a man is so with his wife, it is not beneficial to marry." See how, even here, he both kept the honor befitting a teacher and cared for the salvation of the rest, not worrying even here about his own concerns. Therefore, so that he might not say something of the sort again here, having anticipated him, he took away his objection through the parable. For this reason, the evangelist also said: "For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who wished to settle an account with his servants," showing that for this reason he tells this parable, so that you may learn that even if you forgive your brother his sins seventy times seven, 466 you have not yet done anything great, but you leave behind God’s ineffable philanthropy, and you do not give as much as you receive.
4. Let us, therefore, hear the parable; for if it seems to be clear from the start, it nevertheless has a secret treasure of thoughts that is ineffable. "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who wished to settle an account with his servants." Do not pass over the saying simply, but unfold for me that judgment hall, and entering into your own conscience, recount the things done by you throughout all your life; and when you hear that "he settles an account with his servants," and kings, and generals, and prefects, and rich and poor, and slaves and free, and all, consider: "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10). Even if you are rich, consider that you will give an account: whether you spent the money on harlots or on the poor, whether on parasites and flatterers or on those in need, whether on licentiousness or on philanthropy, whether on luxury and dissipation and drunkenness, or on the help of those who are wrongly treated. And you will be called to account not only for the spending—whether from honest labors or from robbery alone—but also for the possession, and from what kind of greed you gathered it, whether inheriting a paternal estate, or by destroying the homes of orphans and plundering the property of widows. And just as we demand an accounting from our servants not only for the outflow of money, but also for the inflow, examining from where they received the money, and from whom, and how, and how much; so, too, does God demand of us the responsibilities not only of the spending but also of the possessing. Nor does the rich man alone, but the poor man also gives an account of his poverty: if he bore his poverty bravely and thankfully, if he did not become despondent, if he did not complain, if he did not accuse the providence of God, seeing another living in luxury and dissipation while he himself was in need. For just as the rich man is called to account for almsgiving, so also the poor man is for patience; or rather, for almsgiving: for there is no barrier against almsgiving—not only of patience, but even of the very act of charity itself, from the one who is living in luxury and not lacking the means, whereas the poor man is called to account for his own.
A And the witness is the widow who cast in two mites into the treasury, and she surpassed those who had given much, by a great margin, and that simply on account of that meager contribution. Nor are only the rich and the poor to be examined, but also rulers and judges, with great diligence, to see whether they have not corrupted justice, whether they have not passed judgments in trials for the sake of favor or hatred, whether they have not, swayed by adulation, given a sentence contrary to what was right, or whether, holding grudges, they have vexed those who had done no wrong.
B Are not also those who preside over the churches to give an account of their own stewardship? Indeed, these are the ones who shall undergo the bitterest and heaviest of assessments. For he to whom the administration of the Word has been entrusted shall be examined there diligently, to see whether he has neglected anything that ought to have been said out of sloth or envy, and whether he has shown it through works, or whether he has explained everything, and nothing has been hidden by him which was worth mentioning. Again, he who has attained the episcopacy, by how much he ascends to a higher summit, by so much the greater accounts shall he be liable, not only concerning doctrine and the patronage of the poor, but also concerning the examination of those to be ordained, and six hundred other things. And Paul, declaring this, wrote to Timothy: *Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins* (1 Tim. 5:22): and writing to the Hebrews concerning these same leaders, he terrifies them by another path: *Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account* (Heb. 13:17). C Then, indeed, we shall undergo accounts not only of our deeds but also of our words. For just as we, when we entrust money to our servants, require accounts of everything, so also does God require of us how we have spent the words entrusted to us. For we are required and examined with the utmost diligence, whether we have held them to be useless, whether we have spent them in vain: for a coin spent rashly does not hurt as much as words uttered rashly and to no purpose, when there was no need. A coin spent to no purpose brings a loss of money, but a word uttered imprudently overturns entire houses and destroys the soul: for while it is possible to repair a loss of money, it is not possible to call back a word once it has escaped.
D Furthermore, that you may learn that there will be a punishment for words, hear what Christ says: *But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned* (Matt. 12:36–37). And we shall give an account not only of what we have spoken, but also of what we have heard; for instance, if you have admitted a false accusation calumniously forged against a brother: *Thou shalt not receive a false report* (Exod. 23:1), says the Scripture. But if those who receive a false report have no excuse, those who slander and bring accusations, what excuse shall they have?
And do we undergo punishments for our thoughts? And Paul, declaring this very thing, said: *Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts* (1 Cor. 4:5). The psalmist also says, *The thought of man shall make confession unto thee* (Ps. 75:11). And what is that, *The thought of man shall make confession unto thee*? It is if, while you address a brother with guile and bad intent—if you praise him with mouth and tongue, but think evil in your mind, and envy him. For Christ, hinting at this very thing, said that we undergo punishment not only for deeds but also for thoughts: *Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart* (Matt. 5:28). And yet the sin has not erupted into the act itself, but so far consists only in the mind; yet, even so, he cannot remain blameless who therefore contemplates the forms of women, that he may kindle the concupiscence of fornication. When, therefore, you hear that He is settling accounts with His servants, do not, I pray, neglect the word or pass over it lightly, but understand this concerning every order, every age, both sexes, as well of men as of women; consider what that judgment is, and revolve your sins perpetually. For even if you yourself have forgotten your offenses, God will never forget, and He will set all things before your eyes, unless we have already extinguished them in time through repentance and confession, and through the forgetting of offenses. But for what reason does He repeat the account? Not indeed as one ignorant (for how would He be ignorant, to whom all things are known before they come to pass? (Dan. 13:42)), but so that He may persuade you, the servant, that you justly owe whatever you owe; or rather, not only that you may learn, but that you may wipe them away: since indeed for this cause He also commanded the prophet to recount the sins of the Jews. *Tell*, he says, *their iniquities to the house of Jacob, and their sins to the house of Israel* (Isa. 58:1): not that they may only hear, but that they may be corrected. And as He began to settle accounts, there was brought unto Him one debtor of ten thousand talents (Matt. 18:24). For whatever had been entrusted to him, he had consumed it all; a great mountain of debt, and there was danger not only in this matter, but also in the fact that he was the first one brought before the master. For if he had been brought after many who had been diligent in paying, it would not have been so wonderful if the Lord had been in no way exasperated against him; for the probity of those who came before would have made Him more placable toward all who followed. But that the one who was produced first should appear so wicked in paying, and that after he had appeared so wicked, he should find the Lord gentle, that is especially unexpected and admirable. For men, when they find debtors, exult no differently than if they had caught something by hunting or fowling, and do everything to exact the whole; and if they cannot do so due to the poverty of the debtors, they pour out the anger collected from the loss of money onto the wretched person of the poor, by harassing, beating, and inflicting six hundred other evils. God, on the contrary, moves everything, works in everything, that He may free him from debt. For with us, the exaction of debtors makes us rich; but God, in remitting sins, is most—
A abundant in His goodness. If there be nothing in these matters that remedies the condition, the fault lies not with the Master, but with him who does not receive the correction. Let us see, then, how He manages the wound for him. For he says, falling, he besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all (Matt. 18. 26). He did not say that he had nothing to pay; but this is the custom of debtors, even if they have nothing to pay, to make such promises, so that they may be delivered from present evils. B Let us hear, all we who are slothful in prayer, how great is the power of our entreaties. This man did not display fasting, nor poverty, nor anything else of that kind, but, being destitute and stripped of every virtue, since he only besought the Master, he was able to draw Him to mercy. Let us not, therefore, despair in our prayers. For who could be more sinful than this man, who was liable for so many crimes, and possessed no achievement, neither small nor great? But yet he did not say to himself: "I am devoid of confidence, I am full of shame, how can I approach? How can I beseech?"—which many who sin say, suffering from a diabolical reserve. Are you devoid of confidence? Approach for this very reason, so that you may acquire great confidence. For it is not a human being who is to be reconciled with you, so that you should be ashamed and blush; it is God, who is more desirous than you are to free you from your transgressions. You do not desire your own safety as much as He longs for your salvation; and He has taught us this by His very deeds. C You have no confidence? For this very reason you will be able to have confidence, because you are so disposed; for it is the greatest confidence not to consider that one has confidence; just as, therefore, it is the greatest shame to justify oneself before the Lord. That person is unclean, even if he be holier than all men; just as, therefore, he becomes righteous who has persuaded himself that he is the last of all. And witnesses of what is said are the Pharisee and the publican. Let us not, therefore, despair in our sins, nor give up, but let us approach God, let us fall down, let us beseech, which this man did, having used good judgment up to that point. Not to give up, and not to despair, and to confess what has been sinned, and to ask for some postponement and delay—all these are good and belong to a contrite mind and a humbled soul. But what follows is no longer equal to the former; for what he had gathered through his D entreaty, he suddenly poured out entirely through his anger against his neighbor. But for the time being, let us come to the manner of the remission; let us see how He released him, and whence the Master was moved to this action. Moved with compassion, his lord, he says, released him, and forgave him the debt (Matt. 18. 27). He asked for a delay, and this man granted remission; so that He gave him more than he asked. For that man asked for what was temporal, but he received what was eternal. For he was able to do everything more abundantly than we ask or think (Eph. 3. 20). For you cannot even conceive of as much as He has prepared to give to you. Do not, therefore, be ashamed, nor blush; rather, instead, be not ashamed nor embarrassed, neither...
and do not despair, nor should you abandon prayer. Instead, draw near—even if you are a sinner—so that you may reconcile the Master to yourself, and so that you may give Him an opportunity to display His own philanthropy in the forgiveness of your sins. For if, fearing to draw near, you hinder His goodness and delay the abundance of His kindness, that falls back upon you.
Therefore, do not be fainthearted, nor hesitate in your prayers. For even if we are dragged down to the very pit of malice, He will be able to lift us out of there quickly. No one has sinned as much as this man, for he had fallen into every kind of evil; that is what the ten thousand talents signify. No one is so destitute of virtue as he was, for this is understood by the fact that he had nothing to pay back. Nevertheless, although he was from every side abandoned and destitute, the power of prayer was able to save him. Is prayer, then, so powerful that it can deliver from punishment and penalty one who has offended the Master in countless matters and deeds? Indeed, it can. For it is not the only thing that accomplishes everything, but it has as its ally and greatest helper the philanthropy of the God who receives the prayer—He who, by His own power, makes all things complete and who has made prayer effective. Indicating this, He said, "The Master of that man was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave the debt"—so that you may learn that, both after the prayer and before the prayer, the Master's compassion accomplished all that business.
Going out, that man found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, "Pay me what you owe" (Matt. 18:28). What could be more wicked than this? For while he still felt the echo of the benefit in his ears, he forgot the Master's kindness. For if he had constantly kept the memory of these things, he would not have become so savage and inhumane. Therefore I say, and will not cease saying, that it is exceedingly useful and necessary to be constantly mindful of all one's faults; for nothing is able to make a mind so well-regulated, gentle, and meek as the perpetual record of one's faults. Therefore, even Paul was mindful not only of those sins committed before the washing, but also of those committed after baptism, although they had all been once erased and extinguished. But if he was mindful of things he had done before baptism, much more ought we to keep in memory things done after baptism; for we do not only extinguish those things by such a recollection, but we shall also be made gentler toward all men, and we shall serve God with greater benevolence, perceiving His ineffable philanthropy from such a memory. B This is what that man did not do; but, forgetting the magnitude of his debts, he did not remember even the benefit from the Master. Furthermore, it happened through the forgetting of the benefit that he acted wickedly against his fellow servant, and by acting wickedly he lost everything he had obtained from God's goodness. Seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, "Pay if you owe anything." He did not say, "Pay me the hundred denarii"—for he would have been ashamed to name such small trifles—but, "Pay if you owe anything." But that man, falling at his feet, begged him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything" (Matt. 18:29). He asks for his own salvation in the same words by which he had obtained forgiveness from the Master. But that man, because of his excessive cruelty, was not moved even by these words, nor did he reflect that he had found salvation through these words. Indeed, if he had forgiven the debt, that act would not even then have been credited to his philanthropy, but rather to an obligation. For if he had done this before the reckoning had been made and the benefit received, such a deed could have been ascribed to his own magnanimity. But now, having been treated so gently and granted the remission of so many sins, he was under an obligation to show equal clemency toward his fellow servant. Yet he did nothing of the sort, nor did he admit into his mind the thought of how great a difference there was between the pardon he had received from the Master and that which was to be shown toward his fellow servant; for one might see a great difference between the two, not only in the magnitude of the debts or the dignity of the persons, but in the very manner in which the matter was handled. For that debt was ten thousand talents, while this was a hundred denarii; and he indeed had sinned contumeliously against the Master, whereas this man was only indebted to his fellow servant. The former ought to have earned merit in return for the benefits he had received, whereas the Master, who saw that no good thing—neither great nor small—had been done by him, forgave him everything. Nevertheless, he thought of none of these things; but, blinded once by anger, he choked him and threw him into prison (Ibid. v. 30). His fellow servants, seeing this, were indignant (Ibid. v. 31), as the Scripture says, and they brought accusations against him before the Master, so that you might learn of the Master's gentleness. When the Master heard this, He again instituted a judgment against him, and not even then does He simply pronounce the condemnation, but He first argues with him as if according to law. But with what words does He do this? "You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt" (Ibid. v. 32).
C Facilitates forgiveness of debt: God forgives debts more easily to Himself than to others. What could be better than that Master, to whom, when ten thousand talents were owed, He was not even provoked to anger by a word, nor did He call him wicked? Rather, He merely ordered him to be sold, and that for the purpose that he might be freed from debts. But when he had acted wickedly against his fellow servant, He is provoked to anger: so that you may learn that He is accustomed to forgive more easily what is sinned against Himself than what is sinned against others. And He does not do this in this place alone, but elsewhere too. "For if," He says, "you offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, go first, so that you may be reconciled to your brother, and then coming, offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23-24). Do you see how He puts our affairs before His own everywhere, and places the peace and love of neighbors in the highest position? And again elsewhere: "Whoever repudiates his wife, except for the reason of adultery, makes her commit adultery" (Ibid. 32). Through Paul, however, He enacts this law: "If any man has an unbelieving wife, and it pleases her to dwell with him, let him not dismiss her" (1 Cor. 7:12). But if she be an adulteress,
A for she has committed such sins that He has granted forgiveness; but when she committed lesser sins against a fellow servant, much smaller and slighter than those against the Master, He did not forgive, but proceeded against her. And yet here He called her wicked, while there He did not distress him even with a word. For this reason, then, here it is also added that having become angry, "he delivered him to the torturers" (Matt. 18:34); but when He demanded from him an account of the ten thousand talents, He added no such thing; so that you may learn that the former judgment was not of anger, but of providence leading to forgiveness, whereas this sin especially provoked Him.
What could be worse than the holding of a grudge, when it recalls a philanthropy that has been poured out by God, and things that sins themselves could not prevail upon Him to do, these the anger against one’s neighbor prevails upon Him to perform? And yet it is written that "the gifts of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29). How, then, here, after the gift has been poured out, after the philanthropy has moved forward, was the judgment recalled again? On account of the grudge. Thus, one would not be wrong to proclaim this as more grievous than every other sin. For all other sins could obtain forgiveness, but this one has not only not been able to obtain pardon, but has even renewed again those that had vanished once for all. Thus, holding a grudge is a double evil, because it has no excuse before God, and because it recalls our remaining sins, even if they have been forgiven, and sets them against us; which is what it did here. B For there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that God so hates and turns away from as a person who holds a grudge and maintains anger. And this He demonstrated mostly from this place, and from the prayer itself He commanded us to say thus: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).
Knowing all these things, then, and having inscribed this parable in our hearts, whenever we consider what we have suffered from our fellow servants, let us calculate what we have done against the Master; and by the fear of our own sins, we will be able readily to cast off the anger against the faults of others. For if one must remember sins, one must remember only one's own; but if we remember our own, we will never calculate the transgressions of others; so, just as if we forget the former, the latter will easily dwell in our thoughts. For if this man had remembered the ten thousand talents, he would not have remembered the hundred denarii; but because he forgot the former, for this reason he choked his fellow servant because of the latter, and wishing to demand a little, he did not even gain that, but also drew the burden of the ten thousand talents upon his own head. C For this reason, I would confidently say that this is more grievous than every sin; or rather, not I proclaim this, but Christ proclaimed it through this parable. For if it were not more grievous than ten thousand talents—I mean, the unspeakable sins—it would not have recalled those for its sake. Let us therefore strive for nothing so much as to be pure from anger, and to reconcile those who are ill-disposed toward us, knowing that neither prayer, nor almsgiving, nor fasting, nor participation in the mysteries, nor anything else of such things, if we hold a grudge, will be able to stand by us on that day. Just as, if we overcome this sin, even if we have ten thousand faults, we shall be able to obtain some pardon. D And it is not my word, but that of God Himself who is about to judge us then. For just as He said here, "So shall also My Father do, unless you forgive each one from your hearts" (Matt. 18:35), so also elsewhere He says: "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matt. 6:14). That we may therefore here also live a mild and calm life, and there obtain forgiveness and remission, let us strive and exert ourselves, as many enemies as we have, to reconcile them to ourselves; for thus we shall also reconcile our Master to us, even if we have committed ten thousand sins, and we shall obtain the future blessings; which may we all be deemed worthy to receive, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.