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we shall acquire, we shall flee the evil days of irrational desire and of anger and of the flesh itself, which is truly the enemy of the Spirit; we shall flee the pollution that comes to the soul from such things, (354) the condemnation of the conscience, the impurity of the heart, the condemnation of men, the very turning away of God, and we shall gain great things in this spiritual enterprise, having wisely managed the time of the present life and having passed through the path of life in righteousness and temperance, that is, having bravely borne the burden and the heat of the day.

For by managing the present time in this way, yielding temporal things to those who wish for them and laying claim only to the incorruptible and eternal things, we will arrive at the fair haven of the kingdom of God with a rich cargo of the Spirit and we will not fear either that evil report that drives sinners into the outer fire, or those evil torments and the dreadful day and sentence of judgment, carrying with us the very pearl of great price of the Spirit, which we found and purchased, having given all our desires, thoughts, intentions, and powers in the enterprise of the time of the present life. May it be granted for us all to succeed, having managed well the present course of this life here, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever and unto the ages of ages; amen.

DISCOURSE XIII (355)

On the saying of the Apostle: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is the Lord from heaven." And how we put off the man of dust and put on Christ, having become His kinsmen and brothers.

Having feasted us well, the blessed Paul, at the previous table of his divine words

and having gladdened our hearts, again sets before us for a feast another table of his divinely inspired sayings, full of spiritual foods and of things by which our inner man knows how to be nourished, at once rejoicing and strengthening the heart with the life-giving bread of the word and with the gladdening wine of the wisdom and knowledge of God, and full also of the divine grace of the Spirit, from which the soul is filled with all joy and pleasure and, leaving the lower things of life, ascends to the heavens and to God on the light wing of the mind. Let us see, then, what this table of the Apostle is and what its foods are. But let us lift up our minds from earthly and perishable things and, as those about to hear the oracles of God, let us attend to what is being said with all diligence, so that we may be deemed worthy to feast together fittingly with the Spirit who is speaking through the Apostle the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. (356) For He says: “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is the Lord, from heaven.” Do not simply pass over the saying and suppose it to be easy to understand, beloved; for a great depth of meanings lies in the thought of the present saying, requiring much investigation and attention. But prepare your hearing, and you will know the hidden depth of the mysteries of God within it.”

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κτησώμεθα, φευξόμεθα τάς πονηράς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀλόγου ἐπιθυμίας καί τοῦ θυμοῦ καί αὐτῆς τῆς σαρκός τῆς ὄντως πολεμίας τοῦ Πνεύματος· φευξόμεθα τόν μολυσμόν τόν ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων γινόμενον τῇ ψυχῇ, (354) τήν τοῦ συνειδότος κατάκρισιν, τήν τῆς καρδίας ἀκαθαρσίαν, τήν τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατάγνωσιν, αὐτήν τήν ἀποστροφήν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί μεγάλα ἐν τῇ πνευματικῇ ταύτῃ πραγματείᾳ κερδανοῦμεν, τόν καιρόν φρονίμως πραγματευσάμενοι τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς καί τήν ὁδόν τοῦ βίου διελθόντες ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καί σωφροσύνῃ, τό βάρος δηλαδή καί τόν καύσωνα τῆς ἡμέρας ἀνδρείας βαστάσαντες.

Οὕτω γάρ τόν παρόντα καιρόν πραγματευόμενοι, παραχωροῦντες τοῖς βουλομένοις τά πρόσκαιρα καί μόνων τῶν ἀφθάρτων καί αἰωνίων ἀντιποιούμενοι, καταντήσομεν εἰς εὔδιον λιμένα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας ἐν ἀγωγίμοις πλουσίως τοῦ Πνεύματος καί οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα ἤ τήν πονηράν ἐκείνην ἀκοήν τήν τούς ἁμαρτωλούς ἐλαύνουσαν εἰς τό πῦρ τό ἐξώτερον, ἤ τάς πονηράς ἐκείνας βασάνους καί τήν φρικτήν ἡμέραν καί καταδίκην τῆς κρίσεως, αὐτόν ἐπιφερόμενοι τόν πολύτιμον μαργαρίτην τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὅν εὕρομεν καί ἐξωνησάμεθα, πάντα δεδωκότες ἡμῶν τά θελήματα, τά φρονήματα, τάς προθέσεις καί τάς δυνάμεις ἐν τῇ πραγματείᾳ τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς. Οὐ γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, καλῶς πραγματευσαμένους τόν παρόντα βίον τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς, χάριτι καί φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα σύν τῷ Πατρί καί τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καί ἀεί καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΙΓ΄ (355)

Εἰς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου· «Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός, ὁ δεύτερον ἄνθρωπος ὁ Κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ». Καί πῶς τόν χοϊκόν ἀποτιθέμεθα ἄνθρωπον καί τόν Χριστόν ἐνδυόμεθα, συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ καί ἀδελφοί χρηματίσαντες.

Καλῶς ἡμᾶς ἑστιάσας ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ τῶν θείων λόγων αὐτοῦ

τραπέζῃ καί κατευφράνας ἡμῶν τάς καρδίας, ἑτέραν αὖθις προτίθησιν ἡμῖν εἰς ἑστίασιν τράπεζαν τῶν θεοπνεύστων ῥημάτων αὐτοῦ, πλήρη μέν ἐδεσμάτων πνευματικῶν καί ἀφ᾿ ὧν ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν οἶδε τρέφεσθαι ἄνθρωπος, εὐφραινόμενος ὁμοῦ καί στηριζόμενος τήν καρδίαν τῷ ἄρτῳ τοῦ λόγου τῷ ζωτικῷ καί τῷ οἴνῳ τῷ εὐφραίνοντι τῆς σοφίας καί γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, πλήρη δέ καί χάριτος θείας τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀφ᾿ οὗ πληροῦται πάσης εὐφροσύνης καί ἡδονῆς ἡ ψυχή καί, τά κάτω λιποῦσα τοῦ βίου, πρός οὐρανούς καί Θεόν κούφῳ τῷ πτερῷ τῆς διανοίας ἀνέρχεται. Ἴδωμεν οὖν τίς ἡ τράπεζα αὕτη τοῦ Ἀποστόλου καί τί τά ταύτης ἐδέσματα. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπάρωμεν τάς διανοίας ἡμῶν ἀπό τῶν γηΐνων καί φθειρομένων καί, ὡς λογίων Θεοῦ μέλλοντες ἀκούειν, προσέχωμεν τοῖς λεγομένοις μετά ἀκριβείας ἁπάσης, ἵνα καί ἀξίως συνεστιαθῆναι ἀξιωθῶμεν τῷ λέγοντι Πνεύματι διά τοῦ Ἀποστόλου τά κεκρυμμένα μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. (356) Φησί δέ· «Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός, ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος ὁ Κύριος, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ». Μή ἁπλῶς παραδράμῃς τόν λόγον καί ὡς εὐεπίβολον τοῦτον ὑπολάβῃς, ἀγαπητέ· βάθος γάρ πολύ νοημάτων ἔγκειται εἰς τήν τοῦ παρόντος λόγου διάνοιαν, πολλῆς δεόμενον τῆς ἐρεύνης καί προσοχῆς. Ἀλλά τήν ἀκοήν ὑπόθες ἑτοίμην, καί εἴσῃ τό ἐγκεκρυμμένον ἐν αὐτῷ βάθος τῶν μυστηρίων Θεοῦ.»