Similitude 1
As in This World We Have No Abiding City, We Ought to Seek One to Come.
He says to me, You know that you who are the servants of God dwell in a strange land; for your city is far away from this one. If, then, he continues, you know your city in which you are to dwell, why do you here provide lands, and make expensive preparations, and accumulate dwellings and useless buildings? He who makes such preparations for this city cannot return again to his own. Oh foolish, and unstable, and miserable man! Do you not understand that all these things belong to another, and are under the power of another? For the lord of this city will say, ‘I do not wish you to dwell in my city; but depart from this city, because you obey not my laws.’ You, therefore, although having fields and houses, and many other things, when cast out by him, what will you do with your land, and house, and other possessions which you have gathered to yourself? For the lord of this country justly says to you, ‘Either obey my laws or depart from my dominion.’ What, then, do you intend to do, having a law in your own city, on account of your lands, and the rest of your possessions? You shall altogether deny your law, and walk according to the law of this city. See lest it be to your hurt to deny your law; for if you shall desire to return to your city, you will not be received, because you have denied the law of your city, but will be excluded from it. Have a care, therefore: as one living in a foreign land, make no further preparations for yourself than such merely as may be sufficient; and be ready, when the master of this city shall come to cast you out for disobeying his law, to leave his city, and to depart to your own, and to obey your own law without being exposed to annoyance, but in great joy. Have a care, then, you who serve the Lord, and have Him in your heart, that you work the works of God, remembering His commandments and promises which He promised, and believe that He will bring them to pass if His commandments be observed. Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not overlook them; and spend your wealth and all your preparations, which you received from the Lord, upon such lands and houses. For to this end did the Master make you rich, that you might perform these services unto Him; and it is much better to purchase such lands, and possessions, and houses, as you will find in your own city, when you come to reside in it. This is a noble and sacred expenditure, attended neither with sorrow nor fear, but with joy. Do not practice the expenditure of the heathen, for it is injurious to you who are the servants of God; but practice an expenditure of your own, in which you can rejoice; and do not corrupt nor touch what is another’s nor covet it, for it is an evil thing to covet the goods of other men; but work your own work, and you will be saved.
Similitude 2
As the Vine is Supported by the Elm, So is the Rich Man Helped by the Prayer of the Poor.
As I was walking in the field, and observing an elm and vine, and determining in my own mind respecting them and their fruits, the Shepherd appears to me, and says, What is it that you are thinking about the elm and vine? I am considering, I reply, that they become each other exceedingly well. These two trees, he continues, are intended as an example for the servants of God. I would like to know, said I, the example which these trees you say, are intended to teach. Do you see, he says, the elm and the vine? I see them sir, I replied. This vine, he continued, produces fruit, and the elm is an unfruitful tree; but unless the vine be trained upon the elm, it cannot bear much fruit when extended at length upon the ground; and the fruit which it does bear is rotten, because the plant is not suspended upon the elm. When, therefore, the vine is cast upon the elm, it yields fruit both from itself and from the elm. You see, moreover, that the elm also produces much fruit, not less than the vine, but even more; because, he continued, the vine, when suspended upon the elm, yields much fruit, and good; but when thrown upon the ground, what it produces is small and rotten. This similitude, therefore, is for the servants of God — for the poor man and for the rich. How so, sir? said I; explain the matter to me. Listen, he said: The rich man has much wealth, but is poor in matters relating to the Lord, because he is distracted about his riches; and he offers very few confessions and intercessions to the Lord, and those which he does offer are small and weak, and have no power above. But when the rich man refreshes the poor, and assists him in his necessities, believing that what he does to the poor man will be able to find its reward with God — because the poor man is rich in intercession and confession, and his intercession has great power with God — then the rich man helps the poor in all things without hesitation; and the poor man, being helped by the rich, intercedes for him, giving thanks to God for him who bestows gifts upon him. And he still continues to interest himself zealously for the poor man, that his wants may be constantly supplied. For he knows that the intercession of the poor man is acceptable and influential with God. Both, accordingly, accomplish their work. The poor man makes intercession; a work in which he is rich, which he received from the Lord, and with which he recompenses the master who helps him. And the rich man, in like manner, unhesitatingly bestows upon the poor man the riches which he received from the Lord. And this is a great work, and acceptable before God, because he understands the object of his wealth, and has given to the poor of the gifts of the Lord, and rightly discharged his service to Him. Among men, however, the elm appears not to produce fruit, and they do not know nor understand that if a drought come, the elm, which contains water, nourishes the vine; and the vine, having an unfailing supply of water, yields double fruit both for itself and for the elm. So also poor men interceding with the Lord on behalf of the rich, increase their riches; and the rich, again, aiding the poor in their necessities, satisfy their souls. Both, therefore, are partners in the righteous work. He who does these things shall not be deserted by God, but shall be enrolled in the books of the living. Blessed are they who have riches, and who understand that they are from the Lord. [For they who are of that mind will be able to do some good. ]