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struck in the eyes by the unapproachable light in him, he was not enlightened, but rather was darkened, not illumined, and he lost his natural sight as well; and this, when the great one was about to become the teacher of the Church of Christ. For such a one and so great, who said: "The God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts," (294) and a little later: "But we have this treasure" of illumination, that is, "in our hearts," at that time could not look upon even a small radiance of it.

Therefore, from this we are taught precisely that for those still held by unbelief and the passions, grace is entirely unapproachable and invisible, but for those who through faith in fear and trembling work out the commandments and show worthy repentance, it is seen when revealed, and it, through itself, irrefutably produces in them the judgment that is to come; or rather, it becomes a day of divine judgment, from which the pure one, always illumined in truth, sees himself as he is, and his works, both those done perceptibly and those enacted psychically, as they are, all in detail. Not only this, but he is also judged and examined by divine fire, and then, being enriched by the water of tears, his whole body becomes moist and he is baptized little by little, entirely by the divine fire and Spirit, and he becomes wholly pure, wholly undefiled, a son of light and of the day, and no longer a mortal man. For this very reason, such a person is not judged in the future judgment and trial, for he has been judged beforehand; nor is he convicted by that light, for he has been enlightened beforehand; nor is he tested or burned by entering this fire, for he has been tested beforehand; nor does he consider the day of the Lord as something that appears then, for he has wholly become a bright and shining day from the discourse and communion with God; nor is he then found in the world or with the world, but is entirely outside of it. "For I," He says, "have chosen you out of the world," and the Apostle: "For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, (295) so that we may not be condemned with the world," and again: "Walk as children of light," he says.

As many, therefore, as become children of that light and sons of the coming day and are able to walk becomingly as in the day, upon them the day of the Lord will never come; for they are always and forever in it. For the day of the Lord is not for those who are always illumined by the divine light, but for those who are in the darkness of the passions and live in the world and desire the things of the world, it is about to be revealed suddenly and will be considered terrible to them and like an unbearable fire. But this fire, God, will appear not entirely spiritually, but, as one might say, incorporeally in a body, just as Christ, having risen, was seen by the disciples of old, as the evangelist says; for as He was being taken up into the heavens, the angels say these things to them: "In the same way that you have seen him going into heaven, so he will come again." For if this will not be, how will the sinners, the unbelievers, the heretics, and the adversaries of the Spirit see him, being blind in soul and having its eyes blocked up with the mire of unbelief and sin, just as Paul the apostle also wrote to the Thessalonians. For after he spoke about those who have fallen asleep and of the future glory and how all the saints will be caught up through the clouds, he said: "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the (296) night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober." And a little later: "because

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ἀπροσίτου φωτός ἐν αὐτῷ πληγείς τάς ὄψεις, οὐ φωτισθείς, καί σκοτισθείς μᾶλλον, οὐχί αὐγασθείς, καί τήν κατά φύσιν προσαπώλεσεν ὅρασιν· καί ταῦτα, ὁ μέγας μέλλων τηνικαῦτα τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας γενέσθαι διδάσκαλος. Ὁ τοιοῦτος γάρ καί τηλικοῦτος, ὅς ἔφη· «Ὁ Θεός ὁ εἰπών ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, ὅς ἔλαμψειν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν», (294) καί μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· «Ἔχομεν δέ τόν θησαυρόν τοῦτον» τῆς ἐλλάμψεως δηλονότι «ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν», τότε οὐδέ μικράν ἀπαυγήν αὐτοῦ ἀντιβλέπειν ἠδύνατο.

Τοιγαροῦν ἐντεῦθεν ἀκριβῶς διδασκόμεθα ὅτι τοῖς μέν ἔτι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ καί τοῖς πάθεσι κατεχομένοις ἀπρόσιτος καί ἀόρατος ἡ χάρις εἰς ἅπαν ἐστί, τοῖς δέ διά πίστεως ἐν φόβῳ καί τρόμῳ τάς ἐντολάς κατεργαζομένοις καί μετάνοιαν ἀξίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένοις ἀποκαλυπτομένη ὁρᾶται, καί αὐτή δι᾿ ἑαυτῆς τήν μέλλούσαν γενέσθαι κρίσιν ἀνατιρρήτως ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐμποιεῖ· μᾶλλον δέ ἡμέρα θείας κρίσεως γίνεται, ἐξ ἧς ὁ καθαρός ἀεί ἐλλαμπόμενος ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ἑαυτόν οἷός ἐστι, καί τά ἔργα αὐτοῦ, τά τε αἰσθητῶς πραχθέντα, τά τε ψυχικῶς ἐνεργηθέντα, οἷά εἰσι, πάντα λεπτομερῶς καθορᾷ. Οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί πυρί θείῳ κρίνεται καί ἀνακρίνεται καί ὕδατι τότε δακρύων πιαινόμενος ὅλον τό σῶμα κάθυγρος γίνεται καί βαπτίζεται κατ᾿ ὀλίγον ὅλος ὑπό τοῦ θείου πυρός τε καί Πνεύματος καί γίνεται ὅλος καθαρός, ὅλος ἀμόλυντος, υἱός φωτός καί ἡμέρας καί οὐχί ἔκτοτε ἀνθρώπου θνητοῦ. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καί ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ κρίσει καί δίκῃ οὐ κρίνεται, προκέκριται γάρ· οὐδέ ὑπό τοῦ φωτός ἐκείνου ἐλέγχεται, προπεφώτισται γάρ· οὐδέ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πυρί εἰσερχόμενος δοκιμάζεται ἤ καίεται, προδεδοκίμασται γάρ· οὐδέ ὡς τότε φανεῖσαν τήν ἡμέραν Κυρίου λογίζεται, ὅλος γάρ ἐκ τῆς ὁμιλίας καί συνουσίας Θεοῦ ἡμέρα φαεινή καί λαμπρά γέγονεν· οὐδέ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τότε εὑρίσκεται ἤ σύν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀλλ᾿ ἔξω τούτου εἰς ἅπαν ἐστίν. «Ἐγώ γάρ, φησίν, ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου», καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Εἰ γάρ ἑαυτούς ἐκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἄν ἐκρινόμεθα· κρινόμενοι δέ ὑπό Κυρίου παιδευόμεθα, (295) ἵνα μή σύν τῷ κόσμῳ κατακριθῶμεν», καί πάλιν· «Ὡς τέκνα φωτός περιπατεῖτε», φησίν.

Ὅσοι οὖν τέκνα τοῦ φωτός ἐκείνου καί υἱοί τῆς μελλούσης ἡμέρας γένωνται καί ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατεῖν δύνανται, ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου οὐδέποτε ἐπελεύσεται· ἐν αὐτῇ γάρ εἰσιν ἀεί καί διά παντός. Ἡ γάρ ἡμέρα Κυρίου, οὐχί εἰς τούς ὑπό τοῦ θείου φωτός ἀεί καταλαμπομένους, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τούς ἐν τῷ σκότει τῶν παθῶν ὄντας καί ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διάγοντας καί τά τοῦ κόσμου ποθοῦντας, αἴφνης μέλλει ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι καί φοβερά αὐτοῖς καί ὡς πῦρ ἄστεκτον λογισθήσεται. Φανήσεται δέ τοῦτο τό πῦρ ὁ Θεός οὐχ ὅλον πνευματικῶς, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι ἀσωμάτως ἐν σώματι, ὥσπερ ἐξαναστάς ὡρᾶτο τοῖς μαθηταῖς πάλαι ὁ Χριστός, καθά φησιν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· ἀναλαμβανομένου γάρ αὐτοῦ εἰς οὐρανούς, ταῦτά φασιν οἱ ἄγγελοι πρός αὐτούς· «Ὅν τρόπον ἐθεάσασθε αὐτόν πορευόμενον εἰς τόν οὐρανόν, οὕτως πάλιν ἐλεύσεται». Εἰ γάρ μή τοῦτο ἔσται, πῶς αὐτόν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί, οἱ ἄπιστοι, οἱ αἱρετικοί καί πνευματομάχοι θεάσονται, τυφλοί ὄντες τῇ ψυχῇ καί τούς ὀφθαλμούς αὐτῆς ἐμπεφραγμένους τῷ βορβόρῳ τῆς ἀπιστίας καί ἁμαρτίας ἔχοντες, ὥσπερ πρός Θεσσαλονικεῖς καί Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔγραψεν. Ἐπειδή γάρ περί τῶν κεκοιμημένων και τῆς μελλούσης δόξης εἶπε καί ὅπως πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι διά νεφελῶν ἁρπαγήσονται, ἔφη· «Περί δέ τῶν χρόνων καί τῶν καιρῶν, ἀδελφοί, οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε τοῦ γράφεσθαι ὑμῖν· αὐτοί γάρ ἀκριβῶς οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί οὕτως ἔρχεται· ὅταν γάρ εἴπωσιν, εἰρήνη καί ἀσφάλεια, τότε αἰφνίδιος αὐτοῖς ἐφίσταται ὄλεθρος, ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδίν τῇ τικτούσῃ, καί οὐ μή ἐκφύγωσιν. Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐστέ ἐν σκότει, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμᾶς ὡς κλέπτης καταλάβῃ· πάντες ὑμεῖς υἱοί φωτός ἐστε καί υἱοί ἡμέρας. Οὐκ ἐσμέν (296) νυκτός οὐδέ σκότους· ἄρ᾿ οὖν μή καθεύδωμεν ὡς καί οἱ λοιποί, ἀλλά γρηγορῶμεν καί νήφωμεν». Καί μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· «ὅτι