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more than punishment, much more will good deeds, whether they be great or small, be taken into account.
Those who stumble much and are not punished ought to fear and be afraid. For (932) the punishment for them increases through the lack of punishment and the long-suffering of God.
For if those who do not see the light of the sun endure a life more bitter than any death, what are those who have been deprived of that light likely to suffer?
Greg. Nyss. The harvest is worthy of your sowing. Did you sow bitterness? Reap the sheaves. Did you honor mercilessness? Have what you loved. Did you flee mercy? Mercy will flee you. Did you abhor the poor man? He who became poor for our sakes will abhor you.
Of Philo. It is not from God, either for an evil man to lose the good reward for one good deed, even if it was not done with many good deeds; nor again for a good man to lose the punishment and not receive it, even among many good deeds, if something evil is done. For it is necessary for God to render all things by balance and scale.
To be punished here is not the evil, but to become worthy of the punishment there.
Of Zaleucus. Let it be proclaimed thus by us to all such male and female citizens and members of the household: to remember God as existing, and sending judgments upon the unjust; and to place before their eyes that time, in which the end of each one's departure from life occurs. For repentance befalls all who are about to die, as they remember the wrongs they have done, and an impulse to wish that they had done all things justly.
Of Apollonius. But if there is perception in Hades, and care for the departed from the divinity, as we suppose, may it be that those who helped the honors of the Gods when they were being destroyed receive the greatest care from the divinity.
Of Plutarch. Certain deep gates of Hades are opened, and rivers of fire and unbroken streams of lamentation are mingled together, and darkness is filled with phantoms of many shapes, bringing harsh sights and pitiful voices. And judges and punishers and chasms, and recesses full of a myriad evils.
DISCOURSE 66.
Concerning glory. Matt. 6. Seek the kingdom of God, and his glory, and all these things
all will be added to you.
(933)Rom. 8. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
Prov. 3. The wise shall inherit glory; but the ungodly shall exalt dishonor.
Prov. 21. The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.
Prov. 21. The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.
Prov. 22. To a wise generation, the fear of the Lord, and riches and glory and life.
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μᾶλλον τιμωρίας, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τά κατορθώματα, κἄν μεγάλα ᾖ, κἄν μικρά, λογισθήσεται.
Οἱ τά πολλά πταίοντες, καί μή κολαζόμενοι, φοβεῖσθαι καί δεδοικέναι ὀφείλουσιν. Αὔξεται γάρ (932) αὐτοῖς τά τῆς τιμωρίας διά τῆς ἀτιμωρησίας καί τῆς μακροθυμιάς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Εἰ γάρ οἱ τό φῶς τό ἡλιακόν μή θεώμενοι, παντός θανάτου πικροτέραν ὑπομένουσι ζωήν, τί παθεῖν εἰκός τούς τοῦ φωτός ἀποστερηθέντας ἐκείνου.
Γρηγ. Νύσσ. Ἅξιόν σοι τῆς σπορᾶς τό θέρος. Πικρίαν ἔσπειρας; δρέπου τά δράγματα; Τό ἀνηλεές ἐτίμησας; ἔχε ὅπερ ἠγάπησας. Ἔφυγες τόν ἔλεον; Φεύξεταί σε ὁ ἔλεος. Ἐβδελύξω πτωχόν; βδελύξεταί σε ὁ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς πτωχεύσας.
Φίλωνος. Οὐκ ἔστι παρά Θεοῦ, οὔτε πονηρόν ὄντα ἀπολέσαι τόν ἀγαθόν μισθόν περί ἑνός ἀγαθοῦ, μετ᾿ οὐ πλειόνων ἀγαθῶν πεπραγμένου· οὔτε πάλιν ἀγαθόν ὄντα ἀπολέσαι τήν κόλασιν καί μή λαβεῖν αὐτήν, καί κατά πλειόνων ἀγαθῶν, ἐάν τι γένηται πονηρόν. Ἀνάγκη γάρ ζυγῷ καί σταθμῷ πάντα ἀποδιδόναι τόν Θεόν.
Οὐ τό κολάζεσθαι ἐνταῦθα κακόν, ἀλλά τό ἄξιον τῆς ἐκεῖσε γενέσθαι κολάσεως.
Ζαλεύκου. Ὧδ᾿ ἡμῖν παρηγγέλθω πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις πολίταις καί πολίτισι καί συνοίκοις· μεμνῆσθαι Θεόν ὡς ὄντα, καί δίκας ἐπιπέμπτοντα τοῖς ἀδίκοις· καί τίθεσθαι πρό ὀμμάτων τόν καιρόν τοῦτον, ἐν ᾧ γίνεται τό τέλος ἑκάστου τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τοῦ ζῇν. Πᾶσι γάρ ἐμπίπτει μεταμέλεια τῖς μέλλουσι τελευτᾷν, μεμνημένοις ὧν ἠδικήσασι, καί ὁρμή τοῦ βούλεσθαι πάντα πεπράχθαι δικαίως αὐτοῖς.
Ἁπολλωνίου. Εἰ δ᾿ ἔστιν αἴσθησις ἐν ᾅδου, καί ἐπιμέλεια τῶν οἰχομένων παρά τοῦ δαιμονίου, ὥσπερ ὑπολαμβανόμεν, εἴη τούς ταῖς τιμαῖς τῶν Θεῶν καταλυομέναις βοηθήσαντας, πλείστης ἐπιμελείας ὑπό τοῦ δαιμονίου τυγχάνειν.
Πλουτάρχου. ᾍδου τινός ἀνοίγονται πύλαι βαθεῖαι, καί ποταμοί πυρός καί στηγός ἀπρῤῥῶγες ἀνακεράννυνται καί σκότος ἐμπίπλαται πολυφαντάστων εἰδώλων, χαλεπάς μέν ὄψεις, οἰκτράς δέ φωνάς ἐπιφερόντων. ∆ικασταί δέ καί κολασταί καί χάσματα, καί μυχοί μυρίων κακῶν γέμοντες.
ΛΟΓΟΣ Στ´.
Περί δόξης. Ματθ. ς´. Ζητεῖτε τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί τήν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, καί ταῦτα πάντα
πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.
(933)Ῥωμ. η´. Οὐκ ἄξια τά παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρός τήν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς.
Παροιμ. γ΄ . ∆όξαν σοφοί κληρονομήσουσι· οἱ δέ ἀσεβεῖς, ὑψώσουσιν ἀτιμίαν.
Παροιμ. κα´. Ὁδός δικαιοσύνης καί ἐλεημοσύνης εὑρήσει ζωήν καί δόξαν.
Παροιμ. κα΄ . Ὁδός δικαιοσύνης καί ἐλεημοσύνης εὑρήσει ζωήν καί δόξαν.
Παροιμ. κβ΄ . Γενεᾷ σοφῆ φόβος Κυρίου, καί πλοῦτος καί δόξα καί ζωή.