Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that doth righteousness."1 Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works; by loving one another; in not committing adultery, not speaking evil against each other, not envying one another, but by being temperate, merciful, good. Let us also have a mutual sense of one another's sufferings, and not be covetous of money; but let us by our good works confess God, and not by those that are otherwise. Also, let us not fear men, but rather God. Wherefore if we should do such wicked things, the Lord hath said, Though ye should be joined unto Me, even in My very bosom, and not keep My commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, "Depart from Me; I know not whence you are, ye workers of iniquity." 2

V. Wherefore, brethren, leaving willingly for conscience' sake our sojourning in this world, let us do the will of Him who has called us, and not fear to depart out of this world. For the Lord saith, "Ye shall be as sheep in the midst of wolves. Peter answered and said, What if the wolves shall tear in pieces the sheep? Jesus said unto Peter, Let not the sheep fear the wolves after death. And ye also fear not those that kill you, and after that have no more that they can do unto you; but fear Him who, after you are dead, has power to cast both soul and body into hell-fire." 4 For consider, brethren, that the sojourning of this flesh in the present world is but little, and of a short continuance; but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom that is to come, and of eternal life. What then must we do that we may attain unto it? We must order our conversation holily and righteously, and look upon all the things of this world as none of ours, and not desire them. For, if we desire to possess them, we fall from the way of righteousness. VI. For thus saith the Lord, "No servant can serve two masters." 5 If, therefore, we shall desire to serve God and Mammon, it will be without profit to us. "For what will it profit if one gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" 6 Now this world, and that to come, are two enemies. This speaketh of adultery and corruption, of covetousness and deceit; but that renounceth these things. We cannot therefore be the friends of both; but we must resolve, by forsaking 3 Matt. x. 16. 6 Matt. xvi. 26.

1 Matt. vii. 21. Luke xii. 4, 5.

2 Matt. vii. 23; Luke xiii. 27.
5 Luke xvi. 13.

the one, to enjoy the other. And we think it is better to hate the present things, as little, short-lived, and corruptible; and to love those which are to come, which are truly good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ we shall find rest; but if not, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment if we shall disobey His commands. For even thus saith the Scripture in the prophet Ezekiel, "If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up,"1 they shall not deliver their children in captivity. Wherefore, if such righteous men are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how can we hope to enter into the kingdom of God, except we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we shall be found to have done what is holy and just?

VII. Let us therefore, my brethren, contend with all earnestness, knowing that our combat is at hand, and that many go long voyages to encounter for a corruptible reward; and yet all are not crowned, but they only that labour much, and strive gloriously. Let us therefore so contend that we may all be crowned. Let us run in the straight road the race that is incorruptible; and let us in great numbers pass unto it, and strive that we may receive the crown. But and if we cannot all be crowned, let us come as near to it as we are able. Moreover, we must consider that he who contends in a corruptible combat, if he be found doing any thing that is not fair, is taken away and scourged, and cast out of the lists. What think ye then that he shall suffer who does any thing that is not fitting in the combat of immortality? Thus speaks the prophet concerning those who keep not their seal: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh."2

VIII. Let us therefore repent whilst we are yet upon the earth; for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he make a vessel, and it be turned amiss in his hands, or broken, again forms it anew; but if he have gone so far as to throw it into the furnace of fire, he can no more bring any remedy to it, so we, whilst we are in this world, should repent, with our whole heart, for whatsoever evil we have done in the flesh, while we have yet the time of repentance, that we may be saved by the Lord. For after we shall have departed 1 Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. 2 Isaiah lxvi. 24.

out of this world, we shall no longer be able either to confess our sins, or repent in the other. Wherefore, brethren, let us, doing the will of the Father, and keeping our flesh pure, and observing the commandments of the Lord, lay hold on eternal life; for the Lord saith in the Gospel, "If ye have not kept that which was little, who will give you that which is great? For I say unto you, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."1 This therefore is what He saith: Keep your bodies pure, and your seal without spot, that ye may receive eternal life.

IX. And let not any one among you say that this very flesh is not judged, neither raised up. Consider in what were ye saved in what did ye look up, if not whilst ye were in this flesh? We must therefore keep our flesh as the temple of God. For in like manner as ye were called in the flesh, ye shall also come to judgment in the flesh. Our one Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us, being first a spirit, was made flesh, and so called us. Even so we also shall in this flesh receive the reward. Let us therefore love one another, that we may attain unto the kingdom of God. Whilst we have time to be healed, let us deliver up ourselves to God our physician, giving our reward unto Him. And what reward shall we give? Repentance out of a pure heart; for He knows all things beforehand, and searches out our very hearts. Let us therefore give praise unto Him, not only with our mouths, but with all our souls; that He 2 may receive us as children. For so the Lord hath said, "They are My brethren who do the will of My Father."

For if we

And

X. Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of the Father, who hath called us, that we may live. Let us pursue virtue, and forsake wickedness, which leadeth us into sins; and let us flee all ungodliness, that evils overtake us not. shall do our diligence to live well, peace shall follow us. yet how hard is it to find a man that does this! For almost all are led by human fears, choosing rather the present enjoyments than the future promise. For they know not how great a torment the present enjoyments bring with them, nor what delights the future promise. And if they themselves only did this, it might the more easily be endured; but now they go on to infect innocent souls with their evil doctrines, not knowing 1 Luke xvi. 20. 2 Matt. xii. 5.

that both themselves and those that hear them shall receive a double condemnation.

XI. Let us therefore serve God with a pure heart, and we shall be righteous: but if we shall not serve Him, because we do not believe the promise of God, we shall be miserable. For thus saith the prophet: "Miserable are the doubleminded, who doubt in their heart, and say, These things we have heard, even in the time of our fathers, but we have seen none of them, though we have expected them from day to day. O ye fools! compare yourselves to a tree; take the vine for an example; first it sheds its leaves, then it buds, then come the sour grapes, then the ripe fruit. Even so My people has borne its disorders and afflictions, but shall hereafter receive good things." Wherefore, my brethren, let us not doubt in our minds, but let us expect with hope, that we may receive our reward; for He is faithful, who has promised that He will render to every one a reward according to his works. If therefore we shall do what is just in the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the promises "which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man." 1

XII. Wherefore let us every hour expect the kingdom of God in love and righteousness; because we know not the day of God's appearing. [For the Lord Himself being asked by one, When His Kingdom should come, said, "When the two shall be one, and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female."

Now the two are one when we speak truth to one another, and there is, without hypocrisy, one soul in two bodies. And by the outward as the inward, He meaneth this;—namely, He calleth the soul the inward, and the body He calleth the outward. In like manner, therefore, as thy body appeareth, so let thy soul be manifest in its good works. And the male with the female, neither male nor female, this meaneth that a brother beholding a sister shall in nowise think of her as a female, nor shall she think of him as a male.2 As ye do these things, saith He, the Kingdom of My Father shall come.

Let

XIII. Therefore, even now, brethren, let us repent. us recover ourselves unto that which is good, for we are full of much madness and evil. Let us wipe away from us our 2 Evident ref. to Matt. xxii. 30; cf. Gal. iii. 28.

1 1 Cor. ii. 9.

former sins, and repent with all our hearts, and be saved. And let us not be menpleasers, nor desirous only to please one another, but those men also who are without, by our righteous dealing, that the name of the Lord be not through us blasphemed. For the Lord saith, "Through you My Name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles;" and again, "Woe unto him through whom My Name is blasphemed." Wherein is it blasphemed? In that ye do not the things which I will. For the Gentiles, hearing from our mouth the oracles of God, marvel at them for their beauty and greatness, and then, coming to the knowledge of our works that they are not worthy of the words which we speak, they are inwardly turned to blasphemy, saying that what we tell is a fable and a deceit. For when they hear from us that God saith, "What thanks have ye if ye love them that love you? But there is thanks to you if ye love your enemies and them which hate you," when they hear these things they marvel at the exceeding goodness of them, but when they see that we not only love not them that hate us, but not even them that love us, then they laugh us to scorn, and His Name is blasphemed.

XIV. So then, brethren, doing the will of God our Father, we shall be of the Church which was from the beginning, that spiritual Church which was begotten before the sun and moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of that which the Scripture describeth, "My house is become a den of robbers." 2 So then, let us make choice to be of the Church of Life, that we may be saved. But I do not think that ye are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ. For the Scripture saith, God made them male and female. The male is Christ, the female is the Church. And ye know that the Prophets and the Apostles teach that the Church is not of this present world, but from above. For she was spiritual, even as our Lord Jesus, but He was manifested in the last days that He might save us. And the Church being spiritual was manifested in the flesh of Christ, showing unto us that if any one of us shall guard her in his flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in the Holy Spirit; for the flesh itself is an antitype of the spirit; no man, therefore, who hath defiled the antitype shall partake of the reality. This, therefore, is what He meaneth, my brethren, guard the flesh that 1 Is. lii. 5. [LXX.] 'Jer. vii. 11. 3 Gen. i. 27.