Paul reasonably has said, "his eternal power and godhead," thereby signifying the Son. He said this while accusing the Greeks of contemplating the harmony and order of the creation without reflecting on the framing Word within it (for the creatures witness to their own Framer) so as through the creation to apprehend the true God and abandon their worship of it. And where the sacred writers say, "who exists before the ages," and, "by whom he made the ages," they thereby as clearly preach the eternal and everlasting being of the Son, even while they are designating God. Thus, if Isaiah says, "The everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth," and Susanna said, "O everlasting God," and Baruch wrote, "I will cry unto the Everlasting in my days," and shortly after, "My hope is in the Everlasting, that he will save you, and joy is come to me from the Holy One," yet as the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says, "who being the radiance of his glory and the expression of his person," and David too in the psalm, "And the brightness of the Lord be on us," and, "In your light shall we see light," who has so little sense as to doubt of the eternity of the Son?

"For the Lord hath hearkened to the poor." He hath hearkened to the poor, and He would not have hearkened to the poor, unless they were poor. Wilt thou be hearkened to? Poor be thou: let sorrow cry out from thee, and not fastidiousness. "And His fettered ones He hath not despised." Being offended at His servants, He hath put them in fetters: but them crying from the fetters He hath not despised. What are these fetters? Mortality, the corruptibleness of the flesh are the fetters wherewith we have been bound. And would ye know the weight of these fetters? Of them is said, "The body which is corrupted weigheth down the soul." Whenever men in the world will to be rich, for these fetters they are seeking rags. But let the rags of the fetters suffice: seek so much as is necessary for keeping off want, but when thou seekest superfluities, thou longest to load thy fetters. In such a prison then let the fetters abide even alone. "Sufficient for the day be the evil thereof."

Hear thou another thing also: "for God shall save Sion" [Psalm 69:35]. He restores His Church, the faithful Gentiles He does incorporate with His Only-Begotten; He beguiles not them that believe in Him of the reward of His promise. "For God shall save Sion; and there shall be built the cities of Juda." These same are the Churches. Let no one say, when shall it come to pass that there be built the cities of Juda? O that you would acknowledge the Edifice, and be a living stone, that you might enter into Her. Even now the cities of Juda are being built. For Juda is interpreted confession. By confession of humility there are being built the cities of Juda: in order that there may remain without the proud, who blush to confess.

(non occ.) He wishes to reveal as the Word, not without the exercise of reason; and as Justice, who knoweth rightly both the times for revealing, and the measures of revelation; but He reveals by removing the opposing veil from the heart, (2 Cor. 3:15) and the darkness which He has made His secret place. (Ps. 18:11.) But since upon this men who are of another opinion think to build up their impious doctrine, that in truth the Father of Jesus was sent down to the ancient saints, we must tell them that the words, To whomsoever the Son will reveal him, not only refer to the future time, after our Saviour uttered this, but also to the past time. But if they will not take this word reveal for what is past, they must be told, that it is not the same thing to know and to believe. To one is given by the Spirit the word of knowledge; to another faith by the same Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:8, 9.) There were then those who believed, but did not know.