Catechetical Lectures 11 part 7/12

Will anyone of those present boast that he has unfeigned friendship toward his neighbour? Do not the lips often kiss and the face smile and the eyes seem cheerful, while the heart devises deceit and contrives evil while speaking peaceably? You have this sign also:

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."

And, as we see, almost the whole world has been filled with the teaching concerning Christ.

Does this come to pass? He says next:

"When therefore you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),"

"then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'Behold, there,' do not believe it."

Hatred of the brethren henceforth gives place to the Antichrist.

For the devil prepares beforehand the schisms among the peoples, so that he who comes may be readily received.

But God forbid that any of the servants of Christ, whether here or elsewhere, should run over to the enemy.

Writing concerning this, the apostle Paul gave a clear sign, saying:

"that unless the falling away come first, and the man of lawlessness be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

"Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what restrains, so that he may be revealed in his own time."

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only there is one who restrains now, until he be taken out of the midst."

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming."

"whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who are perishing."

For men have departed from the right faith.

And some proclaim a Father-Son identity, while others dare to say that Christ was brought from non-existence into being.

And formerly the heretics were manifest, but now the Church is filled with hidden heretics.

For men have departed from the truth, and have itching ears.

A plausible discourse, and all listen gladly.

A discourse of conversion, and all turn away.

Most have departed from right doctrines, and rather choose the evil than prefer the good.

This, then, is the falling away, and the enemy is soon to be looked for.

And meanwhile he has begun in part to send forth his own forerunners, so that he may come prepared at last to the hunt.

Look therefore to yourself, O man, and make your soul secure.

The Church now solemnly testifies to you in the presence of the living God; she discourses to you beforehand concerning the Antichrist before he comes.

Whether it will happen in your time, we do not know, or whether it will happen after you, we do not know.

But it is good that you, knowing these things, should secure yourself beforehand.

The true Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, no longer comes from earth.

If anyone comes in the wilderness with phantom-displays, do not go out.

If they say, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' 'Behold, there,' do not believe it.

Look down to the earth no longer.

For from the heavens the Master descends, not alone as before, but in great company, escorted by myriads of angels; nor secretly, as rain upon a fleece, but shining forth openly as lightning.

"For as the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man."

"And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

"And He will send His angels with a great trumpet," and so forth.

But just as, when He was about first to become man and was looked for as God to be born of a virgin, the devil maliciously prejudiced the matter, fabricating beforehand in idolatry tales of false gods begetting and being begotten of women, so that, the falsehood having got ahead (as he thought), the truth too might be disbelieved—so, when Christ the True is about to come a second time, the adversary, taking as his provision the expectation of the simple, and especially of those of the circumcision, brings forward a certain man, a magician most skilled in the deceitful evil arts of sorceries and incantations, who seizes for himself the power of the Roman empire and falsely calls himself Christ, and by the title of Christ deceives the Jews who look for the Anointed One,

and leads astray those of the nations by his magical illusions.

This aforesaid Antichrist comes when the times of the Roman empire are fulfilled and the consummation of the world is at last drawing near.

Ten kings of the Romans rise together, perhaps in different places, but reigning at the same time.

And after these, the Antichrist as an eleventh, having seized the Roman power by his magical evil arts,

will humble three of those who reigned before him, and have the remaining seven under himself.

At first he feigns gentleness, as though some learned and prudent man, pretending temperance and benevolence; but having deceived the Jews by signs and wonders that are false, the products of magical deceit, as if he were the expected Christ, he will afterward be marked with every kind of cruelty and lawlessness, so as to surpass all the unjust and impious who lived before him, having a murderous, most ruthless, merciless and manifold disposition against all, but especially against us Christians.

Having dared such things for only three years and six months, he is destroyed by the glorious second coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our true Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who, having slain the Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, will deliver him to the fire of Gehenna.

These things we teach not by inventing arguments, but having learned them from the divine Scriptures read in the Church, and especially from the prophecy of Daniel just now read, even as Gabriel the archangel interpreted, saying thus:

"The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will excel all the kingdoms."

And the ecclesiastical interpreters have handed down that this is the kingdom of the Romans.

For the first famous kingdom having been that of the Assyrians, and the second that of the Medes together with the Persians, and after these the third that of the Macedonians, the fourth kingdom is now that of the Romans.

Then next Gabriel interpreting says:

"Its ten horns are ten kings who will arise, and after them will arise another king, who will surpass all those before him in evils."

He says, not only the ten, but also all who arose before them.

"And he will humble three kings"—and it is plain that it is from the ten former ones.

And humbling these three from among these ten, it is altogether plain that he himself will reign as an eighth.

"And he will speak words," it says, "against the Most High."

The man is a blasphemer and lawless, having received the kingdom not from his fathers, but having seized the rule by magic.

And who is this, and from what working? Interpret, O Paul.

"Whose coming," he says, "is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders"—hinting at this, that Satan uses him as an instrument, working in person through him.

For knowing that henceforth there will be no respite for him at the judgement, he no longer wars through his ministers as is his custom, but henceforth through himself more openly.

"And with all signs and lying wonders."

For the father of lies displays the works of falsehood as phantoms, so that the multitudes may think they behold a dead man being raised who is not raised, and the lame walking and the blind recovering sight, when no healing has taken place.

And again he says: "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped."

The Antichrist will, forsooth, hate the idols.

"so that he sits in the temple of God."

What temple, then? The ruined one of the Jews, he says.

For God forbid that it should be this one in which we are.

Why do we say this? Lest we be thought to be flattering ourselves.

For if he comes to the Jews as Christ and wishes to be worshipped by the Jews, in order the more to deceive them, he makes the temple an object of great zeal, giving the impression that he is of the line of David and is about to rebuild the temple constructed by Solomon.

The Antichrist comes then, when in the temple of the Jews not one stone is left upon another, according to the Saviour's declaration.

For when, whether through age,

there is a collapse, or a demolition under pretext of rebuilding, or some other cause supervenes that pulls down all the stones—I speak not of the outer enclosure, but of the inner temple, where the cherubim were—then he comes, in all signs and lying wonders, exalting himself above all idols, at first feigning benevolence, but afterward displaying his ruthlessness, especially against the saints of God.

"I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints."

"There will be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not been since there was a nation upon the earth until that time."

Terrible is the beast, a great dragon, unconquerable by men, ready to swallow up.

Concerning whom, though we have more to say from the divine Scriptures, we are for the present content with these things for the sake of due measure.

On this account the Lord, knowing the greatness of the adversary, granting indulgence to the devout, says:

"Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

But if anyone is conscious within himself of being most steadfast, so as to wrestle against Satan, let him stand (for I do not despair of the sinews of the Church) and let him say:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" and so forth.

But let us the timid secure ourselves, while let the courageous take their stand.

"For there will be then great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of creation until now, no, nor ever shall be."

But thanks be to God, who has limited the greatness of the tribulation to a few days.

"And for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."

And the Antichrist reigns only three years and a half.

We say it not from apocryphal writings, but from Daniel.

"And it will be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time."

The one "time" is one year, in which for a while his coming increases; the "times" are the remaining two years of lawlessness, making three years in all when reckoned together; and the "half a time" is the six months.

And again elsewhere Daniel says the same:

"And he swore by Him who lives for ever, that it would be for a time and times and half a time."

And perhaps some have understood what follows in this connection also:

"a thousand two hundred and ninety days"; and the "blessed is he who waits and attains to a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days."

Therefore one must hide oneself and flee.

"For perhaps you will not have finished the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes."

Who then is blessed, who shall reverently bear witness for Christ at that time? For I say that those who are martyrs then are above all martyrs.

For those before this contended only with men, but those under the Antichrist will war against Satan himself in person.

And the persecuting kings of former times only slew, but did not pretend to raise the dead, nor display the illusions of signs and wonders; but here there is an evil incitement both of fear and of deceit, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Let it never come into the heart of any of those then living:

"What more did Christ do? For from what power does this man work these things? Had God not willed it, He would not have permitted it."

The apostle secures you and foretells:

"And for this cause God sends them a working of error" (the word "sends" stands for "permits to happen"), "not that they may be defended, but that they may be condemned." Why? Those who did not believe the truth—that is, the true Christ—but took pleasure in unrighteousness—that is, in the Antichrist.

And God permits these things, both in the persecutions of each particular time and then, not because He is unable to prevent them, but because, as is His custom, He crowns His own athletes through patient endurance, like His prophets and apostles of old:

so that, having toiled for a little while, they may inherit the eternal kingdom of the heavens, even as Daniel says:

"And at that time your people will be saved, every one who is written in the book"—and it is plain, the book of life.

"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, these to everlasting life, and these to reproach and everlasting shame."

"And those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the firmament, and from among the many righteous, as the stars for ever and ever."

Secure yourself, therefore, O man.

You have the signs of the Antichrist.

Remember them not by yourself alone, but impart them ungrudgingly to all.

If you have a child after the flesh, admonish him now.

And if you have begotten anyone through catechesis, secure him also beforehand, lest he receive the false one as the true.

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work."

The wars of the nations frighten me, the schisms of the churches frighten me, the hatred of brethren among the brethren frightens me.

And let these things be spoken; but God forbid that they should be fulfilled in our day—yet let us make ourselves secure.

And concerning the Antichrist, so much.

But let us await and look for the Lord coming from the heavens upon the clouds.

Then angelic trumpets will sound.

The dead in Christ are raised first.

The living devout are caught up in the clouds, receiving as the reward of their labours the honour of being exalted above man's estate, since above man's estate also they strove.

Even as Paul the apostle writes, saying:

"that the Lord Himself, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

"Then we who are alive, who remain, will together with them be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

The Preacher knew this coming of the Lord and the consummation of the world, saying:

"Rejoice, O young man, from your youth," and what follows:

"and remove anger from your heart, and put away wickedness from your flesh, and remember your Creator, before the days of evil come, before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars be darkened, and they that look out of the windows be darkened" (hinting at the faculty of sight), "before the silver cord be snapped" (teaching the interweaving of the stars, for their appearance is silvery) "and the golden flower be crushed" (so hinting at the golden-coloured sun, for the chamomile is a well-known plant having round about it many ray-like outgrowths of foliage).

"And they will rise up at the voice of the sparrow, and indeed they will look up from on high, and there will be terrors in the way."

What will they see? Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, and the tribes will mourn, tribe by tribe.

And what happens when the Lord comes? "And the almond tree will blossom, and the locust will grow fat, and the caper will be scattered."

And as the interpreters say, the almond tree's blossoming signifies that the winter is past.

And our bodies after the winter are then to blossom with a heavenly flower.

"And the locust grows fat"—the winged soul that clothes itself with the body.

"And the caper will be scattered"—the thorny lawless ones are dispersed.

Do you see how all foretell the coming of the Lord?

Do you see how they know the voice of the sparrow?

"that the Lord Himself, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven."

The archangel proclaims and says to all:

"Rise up to meet the Lord."

And terrible is the descent of the Master.

"Our God will come manifestly, our God, and will not keep silence."

"Fire will burn before Him, and round about Him a mighty tempest," and so forth.

He comes to the Father, according to the Scripture just now read, the Son of Man upon the clouds of heaven, while a river of fire flows, testing men.

If anyone has works of gold, he becomes the brighter.

If anyone has a deed that is like reeds and without substance, it is burned up by the fire.

And the Father sits, having His garment white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool.

But this is said after the manner of men.

Why? Because He is King of those not defiled with sins.

"For I will make white," He says, "your sins as snow and as wool"—which is a sign of the remission of sins, or even of sinlessness.

And the Lord comes from the heavens upon clouds, He who ascended upon the clouds.

"And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

Is His the sign? Lest ever a hostile power presume to imitate it.

"And then," He says, "the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven."

And the true sign proper to Christ is the cross.

A sign of the light-bearing cross goes before the King, declaring Him who was formerly crucified, so that the Jews who formerly pierced Him and plotted against Him, on beholding it, may mourn tribe by tribe, saying:

"This is He who was buffeted; this is He into whose face those men spat; this is He whom they bound with chains; this is He whom, after first crucifying, they treated with contempt."

"Where shall we flee from before the face of Your wrath?" they will say.

With the angelic hosts encompassing them, they will be able to flee nowhere.

The sign of the cross is fear to the enemies, and joy to the friends who believed in it, or proclaimed it, or suffered for it.

Who then is blessed at that time, who shall be found a friend of Christ? Such a glorious King, escorted by the angels, sharing the throne of the Father, does not despise His own servants.

For lest the elect be mingled with the enemies, He sends His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds.

Lot alone He did not despise.

How then will He despise many righteous? "Come, you blessed of My Father," He will say to those who then ride upon cloudy chariots and are gathered by the angels.

But someone of those present will say:

"I am poor, or perhaps even then I shall be found sick upon a bed, or as a poor woman caught at the mill."

"Shall we then be despised?" Take courage, O man.

The Judge is no respecter of persons.

He will not judge according to outward esteem, nor convict according to fine speech.

He does not prefer the learned to the simple, nor the rich to the poor.

Even if you be in the field, the angels take you.

Do not think that He takes the landowners and leaves you the farmer.

Even if you be a slave, even if poor, be in no anguish.

He who took the form of a servant does not despise the servants.

Even if you be lying sick upon a bed, it is written:

"Then there will be two on one bed; one is taken and one is left."

Even if by necessity you be handed over to the mill, man or woman, even if you have children and sit at the mill, yet He who led forth the prisoners in might does not overlook you.

He who led Joseph forth from slavery and prison into a kingdom will also redeem you from your afflictions into the kingdom of the heavens.

Only take courage, only labour, only strive eagerly.

Every prayer of yours is recorded, and every psalmody; every almsgiving is recorded, every fast is recorded, every marriage well kept is recorded, every continence accomplished for God's sake is recorded.

And the first prize among the crowns in the records is held by virginity and purity, and you are to shine as an angel.

But just as you have heard the good things gladly, so again hear without flinching the contrary things also.

Every covetousness of yours is recorded, every fornication of yours is recorded, every perjury of yours is recorded, and blasphemy and sorcery and theft and murder.

All these things are henceforth recorded, if now after being baptized you do the same things.

"And when," He says, "the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,"

see, O man, before how many you enter into judgement.

Every race of men will then be present.

Reckon, then, how great is the Roman race.

Reckon how many are the barbarians now living, and how many died a hundred years ago.

Reckon how many were buried a thousand years ago.

Reckon those from Adam until today.

Great is the multitude, but yet it is small.

Those are the ninety-nine sheep, but mankind is the one alone.

For according to the magnitude of all the regions, so also must the multitude of inhabitants be reckoned.

The inhabited earth is, as it were, a centre in the midst of the one heaven; and the heaven that encompasses it has as great a multitude as it has breadth; and the heavens of heavens have a number beyond all comparison.

"Thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him."

Not that the multitude is only so great, but because the prophet could not say more than this.

There is present, then, at the judgement at that time, God the Father of all, Jesus Christ being seated together with Him, and the Holy Spirit being present together.

An angelic trumpet summons all of us, bearing the things we have done.

Ought we not from this present moment already to be in anguish? Do not think it a small condemnation, O man, and one without punishment, to be condemned before so many.

Do we not often choose rather to die than to be condemned by friends? Let us be anxious, brethren, lest our God condemn us, who has no need of examination or proofs in order to condemn.

Do not say, "I committed fornication by night, or practised magic, or did some other thing, and no man was present there."

From your conscience you will be judged, your thoughts in the meanwhile accusing or else excusing you, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men.

The fearful countenance of the Judge compels you to speak the truth; or rather, even if you do not speak, He convicts you.

For you will rise clothed with your own sins, or else your righteous deeds.

And this the Judge Himself made plain, saying—for it is Christ who judges.

"For neither does the Father judge anyone, but has given all judgement to the Son"—not estranging Himself from authority, but judging through the Son.

By the nod of the Father, then, the Son judges.

For the nods of Father and Son are not different, but one and the same. What, then, does the Judge say about your bearing your works or not? "And all the nations will be gathered before Him."

For before Christ every knee must bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth.

"And He will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."

How does the shepherd separate them? Does he examine from a book which is a sheep and which a goat? Or does he distinguish them by what is visible? Does not the wool show the sheep, and the hairy and rough hide show the goat? So, if having now been cleansed from your sins you keep your deeds henceforth like pure wool, and your robe remains unstained, and you always say, "I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on again?"—by your clothing you are recognized as a sheep.

But if you be found hairy like Esau, shaggy with hair and base in mind, who lost the birthright for food and sold his dignity, you will become one of those on the left.

But God forbid that any of those present should be cast out of grace, or through base deeds be found among the ranks of the sinners on the left.

Fearful indeed is the judgement, and there is trembling at the things announced.

The kingdom of heaven is set before us, and eternal fire is prepared.

How then, someone will say, shall we flee the fire? And how shall we enter into the kingdom? "I was hungry," He says, "and you gave Me to eat."

There is now no need of allegory, but of accomplishing the things spoken.

"I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me."

If you do these things, you will reign together with Him; but if you do them not, you will be condemned.

Begin now, therefore, to work these things, and continue in the faith, lest like the foolish virgins, while you go to buy the oil, you be shut out.

Do not be confident merely that you hold the lamp, but keep it burning.

Let the light of your good works shine before men, and let not Christ be blasphemed because of you.

Put on the garment of incorruption, distinguishing yourself in good works; and what you receive from God to manage prudently as a stewardship, manage usefully.

Were you entrusted with money? Manage it well.

Were you entrusted with the word of teaching? Administer it well.

Are you able to add to the souls of your hearers? Do this diligently.

Many are the doors of good stewardship.

May none of us be cast out, condemned, that with boldness we may meet the eternal King, Christ, who reigns for ever.

For He who judges reigns for ever,

the living and the dead, having died for the living and the dead.

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

And if ever you hear anyone saying that the kingdom of Christ has an end, hate the heresy.

It is another head of the dragon, lately sprung up about Galatia.

Someone has dared to say that after the end of the world Christ no longer reigns, and has dared to say that the Word who came forth from the Father, having been resolved back again into the Father, no longer exists—blaspheming such things against his own head.

For he has not heard the Lord saying:

"The Son abides for ever."

He has not heard Gabriel saying:

"And He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Men now, being heretics, teach against Christ, while Gabriel the archangel taught the truth concerning the eternal continuance of the Saviour.

Whom then do you rather believe? Surely Gabriel? Hear the present testimony of Daniel:

"I beheld in a vision of the night, and lo, one like a Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came even to the Ancient of Days."

"And to Him was given the honour and the dominion and the kingdom, and all the peoples, tribes, and tongues serve Him."

"His authority is an everlasting authority, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed."

Hold rather to these things, believe these, and reject the things of the heresy.

For you have heard most plainly concerning the endless kingdom of Christ.

You have the like also in the interpretation of the stone cut from the mountain without hands, which is Christ according to the flesh:

"and His kingdom will not be left to another people."

And David at one time says:

"Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever";

"In the beginning You, O Lord, founded the earth," and what follows:

"They will perish, but You will endure."

"But You are the same, and Your years will not fail."

which things Paul interpreted as referring to the Son.