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Hippolytus
Then He shall gather together all nations, as the holy Gospel so strikingly declares. For what says Matthew the evangelist, or rather the Lord Himself, in the Gospel? “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[1996] Come, ye prophets, who were cast out for my name’s sake. Come, ye patriarchs, who before my advent were obedient to me, and longed for my kingdom. Come, ye apostles, who were my fellows in my sufferings in my incarnation, and suffered with me in the Gospel. Come, ye martyrs, who confessed me before despots, and endured many torments and pains. Come, ye hierarchs, who did me sacred service blamelessly day and night, and made the oblation of my honourable body and blood daily.[1997]
Come, ye saints, who disciplined yourselves in mountains and caves and dens of the earth, who honoured my name by continence and prayer and virginity. Come, ye maidens, who desired my bride-chamber, and loved no other bridegroom than me, who by your testimony and habit of life were wedded to me, the immortal and incorruptible Bridegroom. Come, ye friends of the poor and the stranger. Come, ye who kept my love, as I am love. Come, ye who possess peace, for I own that peace. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, ye who esteemed not riches, ye who had compassion on the poor, who aided the orphans, who helped the widows, who gave drink to the thirsty, who fed the hungry, who received strangers, who clothed the naked, who visited the sick, who comforted those in prison, who helped the blind, who kept the seal of the faith inviolate, who assembled yourselves together in the churches, who listened to my Scriptures, who longed for my words, who observed my law day and night, who endured hardness with me like good soldiers, seeking to please me, your heavenly King. Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Behold, my kingdom is made ready; behold, paradise is opened; behold, my immortality is shown in its beauty.[1998] Come all, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Then shall the righteous answer, astonished at the mighty and wondrous fact that He, whom the hosts of angels cannot look upon openly, addresses them as friends, and shall cry out to Him, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? Master,[1999] when saw we Thee thirsty, and gave Thee drink? Thou Terrible One,[2000] when saw we Thee naked, and clothed Thee? Immortal,[2001] when saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? Thou Friend of man,[2002] when saw we Thee sick or in prison, and came unto Thee?[2003] Thou art the ever-living One. Thou art without beginning, like the Father,[2004] and co-eternal with the Spirit. Thou art He who made all things out of nothing. Thou art the prince of the angels. Thou art He at whom the depths tremble.[2005] Thou art He who is covered with light as with a garment.[2006] Thou art He who made us, and fashioned us of earth. Thou art He who formed[2007] things invisible.[2008] From Thy presence the whole earth fleeth away,[2009] and how have we received hospitably Thy kingly power and lordship?
Then shall the King of kings make answer again, and say to them, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Inasmuch as ye have received those of whom I have already spoken to you, and clothed them, and fed them, and gave them to drink, I mean the poor who are my members, ye have done it unto me. But come ye into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; enjoy for ever and ever that which is given you by my Father in heaven, and the holy and quickening Spirit. And what mouth then will be able to tell out those blessings which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him?[2010]
Ye have heard of the ceaseless joy, ye have heard of the immoveable kingdom, ye have heard of the feast of blessings without end. Learn now, then, also the address of anguish with which the just Judge and the benignant God shall speak to those on the left hand in unmeasured anger and wrath, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Ye have prepared these things for yourselves; take to yourselves also the enjoyment of them. Depart from me, ye cursed, into the outer darkness, and into the unquenchable fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. I made you, and ye gave yourselves to another. I am He who brought you forth from your mother’s womb, and ye rejected me. I am He who fashioned you of earth by my word of command, and ye gave yourselves to another. I am He who nurtured you, and ye served another. I ordained the earth and the sea for your maintenance and the bound[2011] of your life, and ye listened not to my commandments. I made the light for you, that ye might enjoy the day, and the night also, that ye might have rest; and ye vexed me, and set me at nought with your wicked words, and opened the door to the passions. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I know you not, I recognise you not: ye made yourselves the workmen of another lord—namely, the devil. With him inherit ye the darkness, and the fire that is not quenched, and the worm that sleepeth not, and the gnashing of teeth.
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