Lucas 14
Philoxenus of Mabbug
Lucas 14:26
"Unless a man deny his father, and his mother, and his brothers, and his sisters, and the whole world, and also himself, he cannot be My disciple;" hear this voice, O disciple, and go forth from the world, and this Gospel which promiseth spiritual blessings alone can lead thee away from the life and conduct and habits of this world. Thou hast heard this voice, believe it then, and of it be a disciple and of nothing else, and let nothing else be the cause of thy going forth from the world, otherwise thy going forth will not prosper. For as is the first cause, so also happeneth it with the rest of the matters which follow after it. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith
Lucas 14:26
And again in the case of the holy Apostles, He renewed that call of Abraham; and observe their faith also, that it was like unto the faith of Abraham; for as Abraham heard immediately he was called, so also immediately He called the Apostles, they heard and went forth after Him. "He saw them casting nets into the sea, and He called them, and straightway they forsook their nets and their father, and went after Him;" and before they had heard from Him the words, "If a man forsake not his father and mother, and everything that he hath, and cometh after me, he cannot be My disciple," they forsook everything and went after Jesus. For He did not propound for the disciples lengthy doctrine, but only the hearing of the word of faith; and because the faith which was in them was living, immediately it received the living word it became obedient unto life, and they ran thereafter straightway, and delayed not. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity
Lucas 14:26
Accept thou as a proof the life of this righteous man, and learn also therefrom that a man cannot become a perfect disciple of Christ unless he make himself a stranger to the whole world after the manner of this righteous man, even as the word of Christ also hath taught us openly, "Except a man renounce the whole world, and his brethren, and his kinsfolk, and his family, and his father, and his mother, and everything that he hath, and that which is greater than them all, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
Lucas 14:28
The disciple of God, then, should seek to have the remembrance of his Master Jesus Christ fixed in his soul and to meditate upon it day and night. And it is right for him to know where he should begin, and how and where he must raise the structure of his building, and how he should begin and finish it, that he be not laughed at by all those who pass along the road, even as our Lord spake concerning that man who began to build a tower and was not able to finish it, that he became a laughing-stock and a mockery to all who saw him. And who is this man who began the building of the tower of whom our Redeemer spake, if it be not the man who setteth out on the path of the Gospel of Christ? Now the beginning of the building of this disciple who hath agreed to go forth from the world and to keep the commandments is his promise and his covenant with God; and he should begin, and run his course, and finish it, collecting and bringing together from all places fine stones of a noble life and character for the building of the tower which reacheth up to heaven. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 -- Prologue
Lucas 14:28
And He hath exposed of old this deceitful thought in His word, and by the hand of that one hath rebuked all the disciples of falsehood, and prevented them from being His disciples. And those who were slack, and slothful, and feeble, either through the love of pleasure, or through the labour of the building, He kept back by saying, "If thou hast money sufficient for building the tower, build it, but if not, it is better that thou shouldst not begin, than that thou shouldst begin and not finish." And behold, by these things He Who called thee to be His disciple hath taught thee that thou shouldst not begin in this path unless thou art determined to finish in it, and that thou shouldst not lay the foundations to build a tower, if thou hast it not in thy mind to finish it, and that thou shouldst not go forth to war against Satan, unless the hosts of mighty thoughts be gathered together about thee, lest having gone forth to war the Enemy overcome thee, and thy discipleship be blasphemed. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
Lucas 14:29
And behold, by these things He Who called thee to be His disciple hath taught thee that thou shouldst not begin in this path unless thou art determined to finish in it, and that thou shouldst not lay the foundations to build a tower, if thou hast it not in thy mind to finish it, and that thou shouldst not go forth to war against Satan, unless the hosts of mighty thoughts be gathered together about thee, lest having gone forth to war the Enemy overcome thee, and thy discipleship be blasphemed. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
Lucas 14:29
The disciple of God, then, should seek to have the remembrance of his Master Jesus Christ fixed in his soul and to meditate upon it day and night. And it is right for him to know where he should begin, and how and where he must raise the structure of his building, and how he should begin and finish it, that he be not laughed at by all those who pass along the road, even as our Lord spake concerning that man who began to build a tower and was not able to finish it, that he became a laughing-stock and a mockery to all who saw him. And who is this man who began the building of the tower of whom our Redeemer spake, if it be not the man who setteth out on the path of the Gospel of Christ? Now the beginning of the building of this disciple who hath agreed to go forth from the world and to keep the commandments is his promise and his covenant with God; and he should begin, and run his course, and finish it, collecting and bringing together from all places fine stones of a noble life and character for the building of the tower which reacheth up to heaven. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 -- Prologue
Lucas 14:30
The disciple of God, then, should seek to have the remembrance of his Master Jesus Christ fixed in his soul and to meditate upon it day and night. And it is right for him to know where he should begin, and how and where he must raise the structure of his building, and how he should begin and finish it, that he be not laughed at by all those who pass along the road, even as our Lord spake concerning that man who began to build a tower and was not able to finish it, that he became a laughing-stock and a mockery to all who saw him. And who is this man who began the building of the tower of whom our Redeemer spake, if it be not the man who setteth out on the path of the Gospel of Christ? Now the beginning of the building of this disciple who hath agreed to go forth from the world and to keep the commandments is his promise and his covenant with God; and he should begin, and run his course, and finish it, collecting and bringing together from all places fine stones of a noble life and character for the building of the tower which reacheth up to heaven. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 -- Prologue
Lucas 14:30
And behold, by these things He Who called thee to be His disciple hath taught thee that thou shouldst not begin in this path unless thou art determined to finish in it, and that thou shouldst not lay the foundations to build a tower, if thou hast it not in thy mind to finish it, and that thou shouldst not go forth to war against Satan, unless the hosts of mighty thoughts be gathered together about thee, lest having gone forth to war the Enemy overcome thee, and thy discipleship be blasphemed. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
Lucas 14:33
Do thou then, O disciple, hearken unto the divine voices which exhort thee to go forth after Jesus, and to become absolutely destitute, and then thou wilt become a perfect disciple: "Whosoever denieth not everything that he hath cannot be My disciple." After this what hast thou to say or to answer? For behold with one word all thy doubts and all thy obscure ideas are destroyed; and the word of truth is a sublime path for thee in which to tread. And again in another place He said, "Whosoever doth not forsake everything that he hath, and doth not take up his cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple." And again, teaching us that we should not only forsake our possessions for the sake of His glory, and deny the world for the sake of confessing Him, but also our transitory life, He said, "Except a man deny himself he cannot be My disciple." — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty