96. That we must labour not with words, but with deeds.
In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “Be not hasty in thy tongue, and in thy deeds useless and remiss.”4581 And Paul, in the first to the Corinthians: “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”4582 Also to the Romans: “Not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”4583 Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “He who shall do and teach so, shall be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”4584 Also in the same place: “Every one who heareth my words, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one who heareth my words, and doeth them not, I will liken him to the foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and its ruin became great.”4585
Footnotes
- 4581
Ecclus. iv. 29.
- 4582
1 Cor. iv. 20.
- 4583
Rom. ii. 13.
- 4584
Matt. v. 19.
- 4585
Matt. vii. 24–27.