Chap. xxxiv.—Great is the reward of good works with God. Joined together in harmony, let us implore that reward from Him.
The good servant[1] receives the bread of his labour with confidence; the lazy and slothful cannot look his employer in the face. It is requisite, therefore, that we be prompt in the practice of well-doing; for of Him are all things. And thus He forewarns us: "Behold, the Lord [cometh], and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work."[2] He exhorts us, therefore, with our whole heart to attend to this,[3] that we be not lazy or slothful in any good work. Let our boasting and our confidence be in Him. Let us submit ourselves to His will. Let us consider the whole multitude of His angels, how they stand ever ready to minister to His will. For the Scripture saith, "Ten thousand times ten thousand stood around Him, and thousands of thousands ministered unto Him,[4] and cried, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the Lord of Sabaoth; the whole creation is full of His glory."[5] And let us therefore, conscientiously gathering together in harmony, cry to Him earnestly, as with one mouth, that we may be made partakers of His great and glorious promises. For [the Scripture] saith, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which He hath prepared for them that wait for Him."[6]
Chap. xxxv.—Immense is this reward. How shall we obtain it?
How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God! Life in immortality, splendour in righteousness, truth in perfect confidence,[7] faith in assurance, self-control in holiness! And all these fall under the cognizance of our
