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It also contributes to the attainment of such a disposition that those being served are of such a character. Therefore, it is necessary for the superiors to care for them more diligently, so that they may not, as lovers of the body, be enslaved to the belly and pleasures; but as lovers of God and lovers of Christ, through perfect endurance, they may become the boast of the Lord, to the reproach of the devil, like the righteous Job. QUESTION 161. With what sort of humility ought one to receive service from a brother. RESPONSE. As a slave from a master, and of the sort that Peter the apostle showed, when the Lord was serving; from which we are also taught the danger for those who do not accept the service. QUESTION 162. What sort of love ought we to have for one another. RESPONSE. Of the sort that the Lord showed and taught, when he said: Love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. And if it is necessary to lay down one's life, how much more is it necessary to show eagerness in particular matters, not for the sake of human duties, but according to the aim of pleasing God, for that which is profitable to each? QUESTION 163. In what way can someone achieve love for his neighbor. RESPONSE. First, by fearing the judgment of those who transgress the commandment of their Lord, who said that, He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God will remain upon him; then by laying claim to eternal life; For His commandment is eternal life. And the first and great commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and 31.1189 with all your strength; and a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself; and by desiring to be made like the Lord who said: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you; and furthermore also from such thoughts as these: that if the brother is a benefactor, we owe him love even according to human standards, which even the Gentiles keep, as the Lord makes clear in the Gospel, saying: And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? for even sinners love those who love them; but if he is an evildoer; even so not only on account of the commandment, but also we ought to love him as a benefactor of greater things; if indeed we believe the Lord who said: Blessed are you, when they reproach you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you, falsely, on account of me. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven. QUESTION 164. What is the meaning of, "Judge not, and you will not be judged." RESPONSE. Since the Lord at one time says, Judge not, and you will not be judged, and at another time commands to judge righteous judgment; we are not forbidden from judging altogether, but we are taught a distinction in judgment. And concerning what matters we ought to judge, and what matters not, the Apostle has clearly handed down to us; concerning those things which lie in each one's own power, and are not distinguished by Scripture, he said: But you, why do you judge your brother? and again: Therefore let us no longer judge one another; but concerning things that are displeasing to God, condemning those who do not judge, and he himself pronouncing his own judgment, through the things which he says: For I, indeed, as absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already judged as though I were present him who has so done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So then, if something lies in our own power, or is often even unclear, one ought not to judge a brother on this matter, according to what was said by the Apostle concerning things that are unknown: Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both 31.1192 bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts; but to execute the judgments of God is an indispensable necessity, lest he who keeps silent should share in the wrath of God;

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Συμβάλλεται δὲ πρὸς κατόρθωσιν τῆς τοιαύτης δια θέσεως καὶ τὸ τοιούτους εἶναι τοὺς θεραπευομέ νους. ∆ιὸ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι αὐτῶν χρὴ τοὺς προεστῶτας σπουδαιότερον, ἵνα μὴ ὡς φιλοσώματοι γαστρὶ καὶ ἡδοναῖς δουλεύσωσιν· ἀλλ' ὡς φιλόθεοι καὶ φιλό χριστοι, δι' ὑπομονῆς τελείας, γένωνται καύχημα τοῦ Κυρίου, εἰς ὄνειδος τοῦ διαβόλου, ὡς ὁ δίκαιος Ἰώβ. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΞΑʹ. Μετὰ ποταπῆς ταπεινώσεως ὀφείλει τις δέχε σθαι τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὡς δοῦλος παρὰ δεσπότου, καὶ οἵαν ἔδειξε Πέτρος ὁ ἀπόστολος, τοῦ Κυρίου ὑπηρετοῦντος· ἐφ' οὗ καὶ τὸν κίνδυνον τῶν μὴ καταδεχομένων τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν παιδευόμεθα. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΞΒʹ. Ποταπὴν ἐν ἀλλήλοις ἔχειν δεῖ τὴν ἀγάπην. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Οἵαν ὁ Κύριος ἔδειξε, καὶ ἐδίδαξεν, εἰπών· Ἀγα πᾶτε ἀλλήλους, καθὼς ἐγὼ ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς. Μεί ζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει, ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὑτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν θεῖναι δεῖ, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὴν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ μέρος προθυμίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι ἀναγκαῖον οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα καθήκοντα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ σκοπὸν τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως, πρὸς τὸ ἑκάστῳ συμ φέρον; ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΞΓʹ. Ποίῳ τρόπῳ δυνηθῇ τις κατορθῶσαι τὴν πρὸς τὸν πλησίον ἀγάπην. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Πρῶτον μὲν φοβούμενος τὸ κρῖμα τῶν παραβαι νόντων τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Κυρίου αὐτοῦ, εἰπόντος, ὅτι Ὁ ἀπειθῶν τῷ Υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται τὴν ζωὴν, ἀλλ' ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μενεῖ ἐπ' αὐτόν· ἔπειτα δὲ ἀν τιποιούμενος ζωῆς αἰωνίου· Ἡ γὰρ ἐντολὴ αὐτοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιός ἐστι. Πρώτη δὲ καὶ μεγάλη ἐντολή· Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου, καὶ 31.1189 ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου· καὶ δευτέρα ὁμοία ταύτῃ· Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν· καὶ ἐπιθυμῶν ἐξομοιωθῆναι τῷ Κυρίῳ εἰπόντι· Ἐντο λὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους, καθὼς ἐγὼ ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς· ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ λογισμῶν τοιούτων, ὅτι, εἰ μὲν εὐεργέτης ἐστὶν ὁ ἀδελφὸς, χρεωστοῦμεν αὐτῷ καὶ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον τὴν ἀγά πην, ἣν καὶ Ἕλληνες φυλάσσουσι, καθὼς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγ γελίῳ ὁ Κύριος δηλοῖ λέγων· Καὶ εἰ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστί; καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτοὺς ἀγαπῶσιν· εἰ δὲ κακοποιός· καὶ οὕτως οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν ἐντο λὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς τῶν μειζόνων εὐεργέτην ἀγαπᾷν ὀφείλομεν· εἴ γε πιστεύομεν τῷ Κυρίῳ εἰπόντι· Μακάριοί ἐστε, ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς, καὶ διώ ξωσι, καὶ εἴπωσι πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα καθ' ὑμῶν, ψευδόμενοι, ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ. Χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλ λιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρα νοῖς. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΞ∆ʹ. Τί ἐστι τὸ, «Μὴ κρίνετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ κριθῆτε.» ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τοῦ Κυρίου ποτὲ μὲν λέγοντος, Μὴ κρίνετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ κριθῆτε, ποτὲ δὲ τὴν δικαίαν κρίσιν κρίνειν προστάσσοντος· οὐχὶ τὸ κρίνειν καθόλου κωλυόμεθα, ἀλλὰ διαφορὰν κρίσεως παιδευόμεθα. Ἐπὶ τίσι δὲ κρίνειν χρὴ, καὶ ἐπὶ τίσι μὴ, σαφῶς παρέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἑκάστου κειμένων, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς μὴ διεσταλμένων, εἰπών· Σὺ δὲ τί κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου; καὶ πάλιν· Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀπαρεσκόντων Θεῷ, καταγινώσκων τῶν μὴ κρινόντων, καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ κρίσιν ἐκφέ ρων, δι' ὧν φησιν· Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὡς ἀπὼν τῷ σώματι, παρὼν δὲ τῷ πνεύματι, ἤδη κέκρικα ὡς παρὼν τὸν οὕτω τοῦτο κατεργασάμενον, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, συν αχθέντων ὑμῶν, καὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πνεύματος, σὺν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, παραδοῦναι τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ Σατανᾷ εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκὸς, ἵνα τὸ πνεῦμα σωθῇ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ. Ὥστε εἰ μέν τι ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἡμετέρᾳ κεῖται, ἢ καὶ ἄδηλον πολλάκις ἐστὶν, οὐ χρὴ κρίνειν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τὸν ἀδελφὸν, κατὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου περὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων εἰρημένον· Ὥστε μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος, ὃς καὶ 31.1192 φωτίσει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους, καὶ φανερώσει τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν· τὰ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίματα ἐκδικεῖν, ἀπαραίτητος ἀνάγκη, ἵνα μὴ συμπαραπο λαύσῃ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ ἐφησυχάζων·