Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/157

 lished them for ever and ever; He hath made a decree which shall not pass,” Psa. cxlviii. 6. (2) In punishing those that rebel against the Creator. (3) In shewing kindnesses to His friends. Of these two, Wisdom xvi. 24, “For the creature that serveth Thee, Who art the Maker, increaseth his strength against the unrighteous for their punishment, and abateth his strength for the benefit of such as put their trust in Thee.”

II. Secondly, we ought to serve God because He alone has in us the right of possession, as being the true Lord. “I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid,” Psa. cxvi. 16. But the Lord possesses in us a three-fold right. (1) The right of creation, "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture,” Psa. xlv. 9. (2) By the right of purchase, “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold .... but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish,” 1 S. Peter i. 18, 19; “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s,” 1 Cor. vi. 20. (3) By right of the support of life, “ Who giveth food to all flesh,” Psa. cxxxvi. 25.

III. Thirdly, we ought to serve God on account of the dignity of serving Him, for He confers a three-fold profit in serving Him. (1) A warlike triumph, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” 2 S. Tim. ii. 3; “Is there any number of His armies?” Job xxv. 3. (2) The priestly dignity. (3) Regal majesty. Of these two, “ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” Rev. v. 10; “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” 1 S. Peter ii. 9. For to serve God is to reign.

IV. Fourthly, we ought to serve Him on account of the necessity of so doing; and a three-fold necessity is laid upon us to serve God. (1) Because he who is unwilling to serve God subjects himself to the servitude of his enemies. (2) Because he suffers the loss of every good thing. (3) Because he is altogether weighed down under manifold miseries. Of these three, “ Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger,