Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
You lift up the stone of help, and rightly so, for God alone is your strength. Yet consider how the faith you profess must be a faith not in words only, but in a life conformed to the divine commands. For as the Apostle says, the one who believes works more than the other, requiring greater power to thrust aside the suggestions of unbelief and to trust when nature holds out no hope. So stand firm, friend, and stagger not, though hindrances rise like mountains. Give glory to God by believing that He shall perfect all that concerneth you, but be sure that what concerns you is itself pleasing in His sight.
What do you mean, then, when you speak of your friend and the thing for which you wait? No one is perfected by a hope that runs contrary to the law of Christ. If this friendship or affection is ordered toward a union not yet sealed in holy matrimony, take great care. For the sprinkling of the conscience is God’s work, but the drawing near in full assurance is our own, and it must be with a heart cleansed from every forbidden thing. The faith that is by Him calls you to holiness, not to a quiet embrace of a path that scripture condemns. I do not accuse; I entreat, as a father. If your waiting involves a man and a woman living together without the covenant of marriage, or a desire that defies the order God established, then His perfect timing may first take the shape of a loving rebuke. Faint not when you are rebuked of Him, for whom the Lord loves He chastens. Let that perfecting begin in a clean offering of your whole circumstance, whatever it is, to the Lord of purity.
Yet I do not say this to darken your gratitude. Your Ebenezer stands, for God is faithful. Let his continued presence strengthen you to walk blameless, that the hope you cherish may be a hope that does not make ashamed. Love this friend as one for whom Christ died, but love with a love that seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Pray without ceasing, and trust that he who began a good work will carry it to completion, always along the narrow way.
What do you mean, then, when you speak of your friend and the thing for which you wait? No one is perfected by a hope that runs contrary to the law of Christ. If this friendship or affection is ordered toward a union not yet sealed in holy matrimony, take great care. For the sprinkling of the conscience is God’s work, but the drawing near in full assurance is our own, and it must be with a heart cleansed from every forbidden thing. The faith that is by Him calls you to holiness, not to a quiet embrace of a path that scripture condemns. I do not accuse; I entreat, as a father. If your waiting involves a man and a woman living together without the covenant of marriage, or a desire that defies the order God established, then His perfect timing may first take the shape of a loving rebuke. Faint not when you are rebuked of Him, for whom the Lord loves He chastens. Let that perfecting begin in a clean offering of your whole circumstance, whatever it is, to the Lord of purity.
Yet I do not say this to darken your gratitude. Your Ebenezer stands, for God is faithful. Let his continued presence strengthen you to walk blameless, that the hope you cherish may be a hope that does not make ashamed. Love this friend as one for whom Christ died, but love with a love that seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Pray without ceasing, and trust that he who began a good work will carry it to completion, always along the narrow way.
