Anthology of Metrical Discourses and Homilies

like the revelation of our Lord from heaven, with the angels of his power, in the midst of burning fire, while he exacts retribution from those who did not know God, and from those who did not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. For they shall be punished with eternal destruction from the face of our Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to show his wonder in those who believe in him. That our testimony which is concerning you might be believed in that day. Because of this, we always pray for you, that God may make you worthy of your calling, and fulfill in you all the good pleasure of his will, and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you also in him, according to the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We beseech you, however, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering to him, that you be not soon shaken in your minds, and that you be not troubled, neither by word, nor by spirit, nor by a letter as if it were from us, that the day of our Lord has arrived. Let no man deceive you by any means. For if the apostasy does not come first, and the man of sin, the son of perdition, be revealed, he who is an adversary and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he even sits in the temple of God as God, and shows himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already beginning to operate. Only if he who now restrains is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom our Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy by the manifestation of his coming. His coming, indeed, is by the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all the deception of unrighteousness, which exists in those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a working of deception, that they should believe the lie, and all those who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness, will be judged. But we are bound to thank God always for you, brothers beloved of our Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for life, in the holiness of the Spirit and in the belief of the truth. For he called you to this by our gospel, that you might be a glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, stand fast, and hold to the instructions which you learned, whether by word or by our letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort, and good hope in his grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work. From now on, brothers, pray for us, that the word of our Lord may run swiftly and be glorified in every place, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and perverse men. For not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, who will keep you and deliver you from the evil one. We trust in you, however, in the Lord, that what we commanded you, you have done and are doing. May our Lord direct your hearts to the love of God, and to the patience of Christ. We command you, however, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you should keep yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to the instructions which they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, for we did not walk disorderly among you, nor did we eat bread for free from anyone among you, but in labor and toil, night and day we were working, that we might not be a burden to any of you. Not because we do not have authority, but to give you an example in ourselves, that you might imitate us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: that if anyone does not wish to work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some among you who walk disorderly, and do not work at all, but are busybodies. Those who are such, however, we command and beseech them in our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they should be working and eating their own bread. But you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing what is good. And if any man does not obey these our words in the letter, note that man, and do not be associated with him, that he may be shamed. And do not consider him as an enemy, but be warning him as a brother. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. The salutation by the hand of me, Paul, which is a sign in all my letters, thus I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Again, the first letter to Timothy. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the command of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. I beseech you, as I went into Macedonia, that you would remain in Ephesus, and that you might command certain persons not to teach different doctrine, nor to give heed to fables and to genealogies of families which have no end. For these cause contentions more than the edification in the faith of God. The end of the commandment, however, is love from a pure heart, and from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. And from these some have missed the mark, and turned aside to empty words, desiring to be teachers of the law, while they do not understand what they are saying, nor that about which they contend. We know, however, that the law is good, if a man uses the law according to it, knowing that the law is not laid for the righteous, but for the lawless and the rebellious, and for the ungodly and the sinners, and for the perverse and those who are not pure, and for those who strike their fathers, and for those who strike their mothers, and for murderers, and for fornicators, and for those who lie with males, and for stealers of free men, and for liars, and for those who transgress against an oath, and for everything that is contrary to the sound doctrine of the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which I was entrusted with. And I thank him who strengthened me, our Lord Jesus Christ, that he counted me faithful and placed me in his service, I who formerly was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an oppressor. But I was shown mercy, because I did it in ignorance, without faith. But the grace of our Lord abounded in me, with faith and love which is in Jesus Christ. The saying is faithful and worthy of acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But for this reason I was shown mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all his longsuffering, for a pattern to those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, however, to him who is incorruptible and invisible, who is the one God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This commandment I entrust to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously given concerning you, that you might wage the good warfare in them, in faith and in a good conscience. For those who rejected this from themselves have made shipwreck of their faith, like Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to be blaspheming. I request, therefore, from you, that before all things you should be offering to God supplication, and prayer, and intercession, and thanksgiving, for all men, for kings and rulers, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all fear of God and purity. For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who wishes that all men should be saved, and should turn to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony that came in its time, of which I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I speak the truth and do not lie, that I became a teacher of the nations in the faith of the truth. I desire, therefore, that men should be praying in every place, while lifting up their pure hands without anger and without thoughts. Likewise also women, in a modest form of dress, with shamefastness and sobriety let them adorn themselves, not with braids and with gold or with pearls or with expensive clothing, but with good works, as is fitting for women who profess the fear of God. Let a woman be learning in quietness in all subjection. For I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but she shall be in quietness. For Adam was formed first and then Eve. And Adam did not deceive, but the woman deceived and transgressed the commandment. Yet she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they remain in faith and in love and in holiness and in sobriety. The saying is faithful: If a man aspires to the office of an elder, he aspires to a good work. It is necessary, however, that an elder be such that no blemish is found in him, and he be the husband of one wife, one who is awake in his mind, and sober and orderly, and a lover of hospitality, and a teacher, and one who does not transgress with wine, and does not strike with his hand, but he shall be humble and not contentious, and not a lover of money, and one who manages his house well, and holds his children in subjection in all purity. For if a man does not know how to manage his own house well, how can he manage the church of God? And he should not be a novice in his teaching, that he should not be exalted and fall into the judgment of Satan. And it is also necessary that he has a good testimony from those who are outside, that he should not fall into reproach and into the snare of Satan. Also the deacons in the same way should be pure, and should not speak double, and should not be praying to much wine, and should not love filthy lucre, but should hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And these should be tested first, and then let them serve when they are without blemish. Likewise also women should be sober, and their minds should be awake, and they should be faithful in everything, and should not be slanderers. Let the deacons be such as had one wife, and managed their children and their house well. For those who served well gain a good degree for themselves, and great boldness in the faith of Jesus Christ. These things I write to you, while I hope that I am coming to you soon, and if I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. And truly, great is the mystery of righteousness, which was revealed in the flesh, and was justified in the spirit, and was seen by angels, and was proclaimed among the nations, and was believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory. The Spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, and will go after deceiving spirits, and after the teachings of demons, who deceive in a feigned form, and speak lies, and are seared in their consciences, and forbid to marry, and withdraw from food, which God created for enjoyment and for thanksgiving, to those who believe and know the truth. For everything that God created is good, and there is nothing to be despised, if it is taken with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer. If you will teach these things to your brothers, you will be a good deacon of Jesus Christ, while you are nourished in the words of faith, and in the good doctrine which you have learned. But from empty fables and those of mothers, excuse yourself, and train yourself in the fear of God. For the training of the body is of little profit for a short time, but the fear of God is profitable in everything, and has the promise of the life of this time and of that which is to come. The saying is faithful and worthy of acceptance. For because of this we labor and suffer reproach, because we hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. And let no man despise your youth, but be an example to the believers, in word and in conduct, and in love and in faith and in purity. Until I come, be diligent in reading and in prayer and in teaching. Do not despise the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, and by the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things, and be in them, that it may be seen by everyone that you are going forward. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine, and hold fast in them. For when you do these things, you will save yourself and those who hear you. Do not rebuke an elder, but beseech him as a father, and those who are young as brothers, and the elder women as mothers, and the young women as sisters in all purity. Honor the widows, those who are widows indeed. If, however, there is a widow who has children or grandchildren, let them learn first in their own households to be righteous, and to repay debts to their fathers. For this is acceptable before God. She who is a widow indeed and is destitute, her hope is on God, and she is persistent in prayer and in supplication night and day. But she who lives in wantonness, while she lives, she is dead. These things command them, that they may be without reproach. If any man of those who are his own, and especially of the house of the faith, does not provide, he has denied the faith, and is worse than he who does not believe. From now on, choose the widow who is not less than sixty years old, who was the wife of one man, and has testimony for good works, if she raised children, if she received strangers, if she washed the feet of the saints, if she relieved the afflicted, and if she followed in every good work. But refuse the young widows, for they wax wanton against Christ, and they desire to marry, and their judgment is standing, that they abandoned their first faith. They also learn idleness, while they go about from house to house, and not only idleness, but also that they should be speaking empty things, and are busybodies in empty things, and are speaking that which is not fitting. I desire, therefore, that the young women should marry, and bear children, and manage their houses, and not give to the adversary even one pretext for slander. For already some have begun to turn aside after Satan. If any man who is a believer or a believer has widows, let them provide for them, and let them not be a burden to the church, that it may suffice for those who are widows indeed. Elders who conduct themselves well, let them be accounted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and in doctrine. For the scripture says: You shall not muzzle the ox in its threshing, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. Against an elder, do not receive an accusation, but on the mouth of two or three witnesses. Those who sin, rebuke before everyone, that the rest of the people also may fear. I testify to you before God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and his chosen angels, that you should keep these things, and your mind should not be ahead of anything, and you should not do anything in partiality. Do not lay hands quickly on any man, and do not partake of the sins of others. Keep yourself in purity. And from now on, do not drink water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and because of your frequent illnesses. There are men whose sins are known, and they go ahead to the judgment house, and there are those who follow after them. Likewise also good works are known, and those who are otherwise, they cannot be hidden. Those who are under the yoke of slavery, let them consider their masters in all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine should not be blasphemed. Those, however, who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are their brothers, but let them serve them more, because they are faithful and beloved, those who find rest in the service. Teach these things and beseech them. If, however, there is any man who teaches a different doctrine, and does not approach the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine of the fear of God, this one is puffed up while he knows nothing, but is sick in contentions and in the scrutiny of words, from which comes envy and contention and blasphemy and evil expectations, and the weariness of men whose minds are corrupt, and are stripped from the truth, and think that the fear of God is a business. You, however, depart from these. For the fear of God is a great business with the sufficiency that we have. For we brought nothing into the world, and it is known that neither can we take anything out of it. Because of this, let food and clothing suffice us. Those, however, who desire to become rich, fall into temptations and into snares, and into many lusts of the foolish and the harmful, which drown men in destruction and in perdition. For the root of all evils is the love of money, and there are men who desired it, and missed the mark from the faith, and brought themselves into much sorrow. You, however, O man of God, flee from these things, and run after righteousness, and after justice, and after faith, and after love, and after patience, and after humility, and fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life, to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession before many witnesses. I testify to you before God who gives life to all, and Jesus Christ who testified before Pontius Pilate the good testimony, that you should keep the commandment without spot and without blemish, until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his time shall show him, the blessed and powerful God alone, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who he alone is incorruptible, and dwells in the light that no man can approach, and no man of the sons of men has seen him, nor can he see him. To him be honor and power forever and ever. Amen. Command the rich of this world, that they should not be exalted in their minds, and that they should not trust in wealth which has no trust upon it, but in the living God, who gives us everything abundantly for our enjoyment, and that they should do good works, and should be rich in good labor, and should be ready to give and to partake, and should lay up for themselves a good foundation for what is to come, that they may lay hold on the true life. O Timothy, take heed to that which was entrusted to you, and flee from empty voices, and from the reversal of the knowledge of lies. For those who promised it, missed the mark from the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.