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of the unsealed, it meets them face to face. Elijah was not terrified when a chariot of fire and horses of fire came upon him, but in his desire for the journey above he made bold against the terrible things, and with great joy he mounted the fiery vehicles, while still living in the flesh; but you, who are not about to mount fiery chariots but to ascend to heaven through water and the Spirit, do you not run to the call? If you were a slave of men, and freedom were proclaimed for slaves, would you not have gone to the mistress, hiring advocates and pleading with judges, so that by every means you might be rescued for freedom? Or would you perhaps even have accepted a blow, the final stroke for slaves, for the sake of release from torments thereafter? But since the herald calls you, a slave not of men but of sin, to freedom, that he may release you from captivity, and make you a fellow citizen with the angels, and show you to be a son of God, adopted through grace, and an heir of the good things of Christ, do you not yet say that it is time for you to receive what is given? When will you become a Christian? When shall we know you as one of us? Last year you were waiting for the present time; now again you await the coming one. See that you are not found making promises longer than your life. You do not know what the next day will bring forth. Do not promise what is not yours. We call you to life, O man; why do you flee the call? to a participation in good things; why do you pass over the gift? The kingdom of heaven is open; the one who calls is true, the way is easy; there is no need of time, nor expense, nor effort; why do you shrink back? Why do you fear the yoke, like a heifer unused to the yoke? 95.1273 It is good, it is light, it does not chafe the neck, but glorifies it. For the yoke-strap is not bound around the neck. It seeks one who draws it of his own free will. Do you see that Ephraim is accused, like a heifer stung by a gadfly, because he wanders about disorderly, dishonoring the yoke of the law? Put your untamed neck under; become a beast of burden for Christ, so that not being let loose from the yoke, nor living freely, you may not be an easy prey to wild beasts. Taste and see that the Lord is good. How shall I announce the sweetness of honey to those who do not know it? Taste and see. Sensation is clearer than any word. Now consider your soul as standing on a scale, being pulled on one side by angels, and on the other by demons. The angels will receive you, or those who hold you will keep you. In battle array the generals distribute the password to those under them, so that friends may easily call upon one another, and, being mixed up with the enemy in the fighting, a clear separation may be possible. No one will recognize you, whether you are ours or of the enemy, unless you provide the affinity through the mystical symbols. If the light of the Lord's countenance is not marked upon you, how will the angel claim you? And how will he take you away from the enemy, if he does not recognize the seal? And how will you say, "I am of God," not bearing the tokens? Or are you ignorant that the destroyer, passing over the sealed houses, slew the firstborn in the unsealed ones? An unsealed treasure is an easy prey for thieves. An unmarked sheep is plotted against without risk. Are you young? Secure your youth with the bridle of baptism. Has the prime of your life passed? Do not be deprived of your provisions; do not lose your amulets; do not think of the eleventh hour as if it were the first. If some physician promised you by some devices and contrivances to make you young from old, would you not have longed to come to that day, on which you were to see yourself returning to the prime of life? But since baptism promises you that your soul will revive, which you have made old, and have shown it to be soiled by iniquities, and stained, do you despise the benefactor? Do you not run to the promise? Do you not desire to see the great wonder of the promise? how a man is born again without a mother? how he who is growing old and being corrupted according to the desires of deceit, flourishes again, and becomes young, and returns to the true flower of youth? Baptism is a ransom for captives, a remission of debts, a death

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τῶν ἀσφραγίστων, κατὰ στόμα προσαπαντᾷ. Ἠλίας ἅρμα πυρὸς καὶ ἵππους πυρίνους ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐλθόντας οὐ κατεπλάγη, ἀλλ' ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῆς ἄνω πορείας τῶν φοβερῶν κατετόλμησεν, καὶ μετὰ περιχαρείας ἐπέβη τῶν φλογίνων ὀχημάτων, ὁ ἐν σαρκὶ ζῶν ἔτι· σὺ δὲ οὐ πυρίνων ἁρμάτων ἐπιβήσεσθαι μέλλων, ἀλλὰ δι' ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος ἀναβαίνειν εἰς οὐρανὸν, οὐκ ἐπιτρέχεις τῇ κλήσει; Εἰ δοῦλος ἀνθρώπων ἦσθα, προεγράφη δὲ δούλοις ἐλευθερία, οὐκ ἂν ἐπὶ τὴν κυρίαν ἀπήντησας, συνηγόρους μισθούμενος, καὶ δικαστὰς παρακαλῶν, ὥστε πάσῃ μηχανῇ πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν ἐξαιρεθῆναι; ἤ που καὶ ῥάπισμα τὴν τελευταίαν τῶν δούλων πληγὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα τῶν αἰκισμῶν ἀπαλλαγῆς κατεδέχου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ δοῦλον ὄντα σε οὐχὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καλεῖ πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν ὁ κήρυξ, ἵνα λύσῃ μέν σε τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, ἰσοπολίτην δὲ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ποιήσῃ, καὶ υἱὸν μὲν ἀποδείξῃ Θεοῦ, εἰσποιηθέντα διὰ τῆς χάριτος, κληρονόμον δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὔπω λέγεις εἶναι καιρόν σοι δέξασθαι τὰ δεδομένα Πότε γενήσῃ Χριστιανός; πότε σε γνωρίσομεν ὡς ἡμέτερον; Πέρυσι τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν ἐξεδέχου· νῦν πάλιν ἀναμένεις τὸν ἐπιόντα. Ὅρα μὴ εὑρεθῇς μακροτέρας τῆς ζωῆς τὰς ὑποσχέσεις ποιούμενος. Οὐκ οἶδας τί τέξεται ἡ ἐπιοῦσα. Μὴ ἐπαγγέλλου τὰ μὴ σά. Ἐπὶ ζωήν σε καλοῦμεν, ἄνθρωπε· τί ἀποφεύγεις τὴν κλῆσιν; ἐπὶ ἀγαθῶν μετουσίαν· τί ὑπερβαίνεις τὴν δωρεάν; Βασιλεία οὐρανῶν ἤνοικται· ὁ καλῶν ἀψευδὴς, ἡ ὁδὸς ῥᾳδία· οὐ χρόνου, οὐ δαπάνης, οὐ πραγματείας χρεία· τί ἀναδύῃ; τί φοβῇ τὸν ζυγὸν, ὥσπερ δάμαλις ἀπειρόζυγος; 95.1273 χρηστός ἐστιν, ἐλαφρός ἐστιν, οὐ τρίβει τὸν αὐχένα, ἀλλὰ δοξάζει. Οὐ γὰρ δεσμεῖται ἡ ζεύγλη περὶ τὸν τράχηλον. Αὐτεξούσιον ἐπιζητεῖ τὸν ὑφέλκοντα. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι κατηγορεῖται Ἐφραῒμ, ὥσπερ οἰστρῶσα δάμαλις, ὅτι ἄτακτα περιπλανᾶται, τὸν τοῦ νόμου ζυγὸν ἀτιμάζων. Ὑπόθες σου τὸν ἀδάμαστον αὐχένα· γενοῦ ὑποζύγιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἀφέμενος τῆς ζεύγλης, μηδὲ ἐλευθεριάζων τῷ βίῳ, εὐεπιχείρητος ᾖς τοῖς θηρίοις. Γεύσασθε, καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ Κύριος. Γλυκύτητα μέλιτος πῶς ἀναγγελῶ τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι; Γεύσασθε καὶ ἴδετε. Αἴσθησις παντὸς λόγου ἐναργεστέρα. Νῦν ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τρυτάνης ἑστάναι νόμιζέ σου τὴν ψυχὴν, ἔνθεν ὑπ' ἀγγέλων, κἀκεῖθεν ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἑλκομένην. Ἄγγελοί σε παραλήψονται, ἢ καθέξουσιν οἱ κατέχοντες. Ἐπὶ παρατάξεως οἱ στρατηγοὶ τὸ σύνθεμα τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῖς διανέμουσιν, ἵνα καὶ οἱ φίλοι ῥᾳδίως ἀνακαλῶνται ἀλλήλους, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους ἐν ταῖς συμπλοκαῖς ἀναμιχθεῖσιν, εὐκρινὴς δύναται ὑπάρχειν ὁ χωρισμός. Οὐδεὶς ἐπιγνώσεταί σε, εἰ ἡμέτερος εἶ, ἢ τῶν ὑπεναντίων, ἐὰν μὴ τοῖς μυστικοῖς συμβόλοις παράσχῃ τὴν οἰκειότητα. Ἐὰν μὴ σημειωθῇ ἐπὶ σὲ τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου Κυρίου, πῶς ἀντιποιηθήσεταί σου ὁ ἄγγελος; πῶς δὲ ἀφελεῖται τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιγνῷ τὴν σφραγῖδα; Πῶς δὲ σὺ ἐρεῖς, Τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰμι, μὴ ἐπιφερόμενος τὰ γνωρίσματα; Ἢ ἀγνοεῖς, ὅτι τὰς ἐσφραγισμένας οἰκίας ὁ ὀλοθρευτὴς ὑπερβαίνων, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἀσφραγίστοις κατεφόνευε τὰ πρωτότοκα; Ἀσφράγιστος θησαυρὸς, εὐεπιχείρητος κλέπταις. Πρόβατον ἀσημείωτον, ἀκινδύνως ἐπιβουλεύεται. Νέος εἶ; ἀσφάλισαι τὴν νεότητα τῷ τοῦ βαπτίσματος χαλινῷ. Παρέδραμεν ἡ ἀκμή; μὴ ζημιωθῇς τὰ ἐφόδια· μὴ ἀπολέσῃς τὰ φυλακτήρια· μὴ περὶ τῆς ἑνδεκάτης, ὡς περὶ πρώτης διανοοῦ. Εἴ τις ἰατρῶν ἐπηγγείλατό σοι μηχαναῖς τισι καὶ ἐπινοίαις νέον ποιεῖν ἐκ γέροντος, οὐκ ἂν ἐπεθύμησας ἐλθεῖν ἐπ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ σεαυτὸν ὁρᾷν ἔμελλες πρὸς ἀκμὴν ὑποστρέφοντα; Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀναθαλήσειν ἐπαγγέλλεταί σοι τὸ βάπτισμα, ἣν σὺ ἐπαλαίωσας, καὶ ῥυπῶσαν αὐτὴν ἐκ τῶν ἀνομιῶν, καὶ ἐσπιλωμένην ἀπέδειξας, καταφρονεῖς τοῦ εὐεργέτου; Οὐ προστρέχεις τῷ ἐπαγγέλματι; Οὐκ ἐπιθυμεῖς ἰδεῖν τί τὸ μέγα θαῦμα τῆς ὑποσχέσεως; πῶς ἄνευ μητρὸς ἀναγεννᾶται ἄνθρωπος; πῶς ὁ παλαιούμενος καὶ φθειρόμενος κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης, σφριγᾷ πάλιν, καὶ ἀνηβᾷ, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἄνθος τῆς νεότητος ἐπανέρχεται; Βάπτισμα αἰχμαλώτοις λύτρον, ὀφλημάτων ἄφεσις, θάνατος