'Forbid him not, for he that is not against you is for you.'
For to them the command had been given that their work should be sanctification by the Trinity, and that they should not baptise in their own name, but in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Therefore it is the Name which sanctifies, not the work.
Understand, though late in the day, that you are labourers not lords. And, if the Church is the Vineyard, and men are the vines, and those who are to attend to the vines have been duly appointed, why do you rush upon that which appertains to the dominion of the Father of the Family? Why do you claim for yourselves what belongs to God? Why do you wish that something of which you cannot have even a part, should be yours altogether? For on account of swelling pride----yours----with which you are swollen against us ----the most blessed Paul chides the |234 Corinthians. In himself and Apollo he gives a picture of that which happens in our time.
'Let not one,' he said, 'be puffed up against another.'
And, that he may show how all this Sacrament of Baptism belongs to God, so that there is nothing here that the 'Minister' may claim for himself, he speaks as follows:
'I indeed have planted '----
that is,
'of a pagan I have made a catechumen'----'Apollo has watered'----
that is, he has baptised the catechumen, but God has given that which had been planted, or watered, the power to grow. In like manner anyone to-day, who wishes to dig up and loosen the ground in his vineyard, hires a labourer for an agreed sum, to make holes in the ground, in which----with bent back, the sweat running down his sides----he may place the little vines that have been selected, and (after he has trodden the ridges under his feet) pour water upon them. He is able to dig at the trenches and plant the vines. He is able to bring them water, but he is not able to command the water to hold them ; it is in the power of God |235 alone from the pith of vine-branches to bring forth roots which assimilate themselves to the soil, and the budding eyelets, out of which leaves burst forth.
Even as the blessed Apostle Paul, to tame your presumption and pride, and that the workman may not think either that he has any dominion over Baptism, or claim any share for himself----however small----in so great a gift, writes as follows, showing that all belongs to God:
'Neither he that plants nor he that waters is anything, but God alone, who leads to the attainment of the increase .'
You are workmen amongst others. When the sun goes in, that is to say, when the world has come to an |236 end----on the Judgement Day ----you may argue with us about reward.
Do not wish to claim for yourself that which belongs to the supreme authority of God. For if this is your due, then the servants who wait at the Lord's table should claim to be thanked by His guests for the courtesies which their Lord has rendered. It is the Voice of Christ, who gives the invitation:
'Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'
The nations flock to receive His grace. He, who deigned to invite, is the giver thereof. A crowd of His servants exercise their ministry. Thanks must be rendered, not to those who serve, but to Him who provides the repast. Since you are the ministers, it is shameless in you to claim for yourselves the entire ownership of the banquet, though the most blessed Paul confesses with humility that he and the others are servants----in order that no one may imagine that he ought to place his hope in Apostles or Bishops alone. On this account says the Apostle:
'For what is Paul, or what Apollo? Surely the ministers of Him, in whom you have believed?'
Accordingly, in all those who serve there is not ownership but service. Now, therefore, my brother Parmenian, you see that of the three elements [in |237 Baptism] which I have mentioned above, the one which is threefold comes first, is immovable, is supreme and unchangeable, but that the person of any individual minister remains only for a time.
VIII. Concerning the faith of him who receives Baptism.
It remains now to say something of the merit of the believer, to whom belongs the faith, which the Son of God placed before both His Sanctity and Majesty. For you cannot be more holy than is Christ. When that woman, whose daughter was dead, came to Him, and besought that she should be restored to life, He promised nothing of His own Power, but asked about the faith of another, so that if the woman believed, her daughter should be raised up, in view of her mother's faith ; but that if she believed not, the Power of the Son of God would be idle, with nothing to do. The woman is questioned. She replies that she believed that what she had asked for could be accomplished. She is ordered to depart. She returns to her house, and finds the daughter alive whom she had left dead. She does not rush to kisses, she does not hasten to embraces, but returns to render thanks to the Saviour. And the Son of God, that He might show that He had stood by, and that her faith alone had worked, said to her:
'O woman, depart in peace. Thy faith hath made thee whole.' |238
What comes of your saying:
'It is of the giver, not of the receiver' ?
And what think you of the centurion's faith? He besought the Saviour to ward off death from his son, when he was ill. Christ then went to the dying boy. In such estimation did the centurion hold Him, that he acknowledged the unworthiness of his house, and begged that the Son of God would not enter it in person, but that He should send His Power, by which death might be put to flight, and the lad be restored to life. It was not the valour of the centurion, nor his wisdom that was praised, but his faith:
'And his son was cured at that hour.'
Of a truth it is 'of the giver,' not of him that receives! There are many things of this kind in the Gospel about perfect faith, but we must finish the story of at least three witnesses to Faith. |239