18. Guard thyself then, O man; thou hast the signs of Antichrist; and remember them not only thyself, but impart them also freely to all. If thou hast a child according to the flesh, admonish him of this now; if thou hast begotten one through catechizing [1897] , put him also on his guard, lest he receive the false one as the True. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work [1898] . I fear these wars of the nations [1899] ; I fear the schisms of the Churches; I fear the mutual hatred of the brethren. But enough on this subject; only God forbid that it should be fulfilled in our days; nevertheless, let us be on our guard. And thus much concerning Antichrist.
19. But let us wait and look for the Lord's coming upon the clouds from heaven. Then shall Angelic trumpets sound; the dead in Christ shall rise first [1900] ,--the godly persons who are alive shall be caught up in the clouds, receiving as the reward of their labours more than human honour, inasmuch as theirs was a more than human strife; according as the Apostle Paul writes, saying, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord [1901] .
20. This coming of the Lord, and the end of the world, were known to the Preacher; who says, Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and the rest [1902] ; Therefore remove anger [1903] from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh;...and remember thy Creator...or ever the evil days come [1904] ,....or ever the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened [1905] ,....and they that look out of the windows be darkened [1906] ; (signifying the faculty of sight;) or ever the silver cord be loosed; (meaning the assemblage of the stars, for their appearance is like silver;) and the flower of gold be broken [1907] ; (thus veiling the mention of the golden sun; for the camomile is a well-known plant, having many ray-like leaves shooting out round it;) and they shall rise up at the voice of the sparrow, yea, they shall look away from the height, and terrors shall be in the way [1908] . What shall they see? Then shall they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven; and they shall mourn tribe by tribe [1909] . And what shall come to pass when the Lord is come? The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall grow heavy, and the caper-berry shall be scattered abroad [1910] . And as the interpreters say, the blossoming almond signifies the departure of winter; and our bodies shall then after the winter blossom with a heavenly flower [1911] . And the grasshopper shall grow in substance (that means the winged soul clothing itself with the body [1912] ,) and the caper-berry shall be scattered abroad (that is, the transgressors who are like thorns shall be scattered [1913] ).
21. Thou seest how they all foretell the coming of the Lord. Thou seest how they know the voice of the sparrow. Let us know what sort of voice this is. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God [1914] . The Archangel shall make proclamation and say to all, Arise to meet the Lord [1915] . And fearful will be that descent of our Master. David says, God shall manifestly come, even our God, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn before Him, and a fierce tempest round about Him, and the rest [1916] . The Son of Man shall come to the Father, according to the Scripture which was just now read, on the clouds of heaven, drawn by a stream of fire [1917] , which is to make trial of men. Then if any man's works are of gold, he shall be made brighter; if any man's course of life be like stubble, and unsubstantial, it shall be burnt up by the fire [1918] . And the Father shall sit, having His garment white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool [1919] . But this is spoken after the manner of men; wherefore? Because He is the King of those who have not been defiled with sins; for, He says, I will make your sins white as snow, and as wool [1920] , which is an emblem of forgiveness of sins, or of sinlessness itself. But the Lord who shall come from heaven on the clouds, is He who ascended on the clouds; for He Himself hath said, And they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory [1921] .
22. But what is the sign of His coming? lest a hostile power dare to counterfeit it. And then shall appear, He says, the sign of the Son of Man in heaven [1922] . Now Christ's own true sign is the Cross; a sign of a luminous Cross shall go before the King [1923] , plainly declaring Him who was formerly crucified: that the Jews who before pierced Him and plotted against Him, when they see it, may mourn tribe by tribe [1924] , saying, "This is He who was buffeted, this is He whose face they spat on, this is He whom they bound with chains, this is He whom of old they crucified, and set at nought [1925] . Whither, they will say, shall we flee from the face of Thy wrath?" But the Angel hosts shall encompass them, so that they shall not be able to flee anywhere. The sign of the Cross shall be a terror to His foes; but joy to His friends who have believed in Him, or preached Him, or suffered for His sake. Who then is the happy man, who shall then be found a friend of Christ? That King, so great and glorious, attended by the Angel-guards, the partner of the Father's throne, will not despise His own servants. For that His Elect may not be confused with His foes, He shall send forth His Angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds [1926] . He despised not Lot, who was but one; how then shall He despise many righteous? Come, ye blessed of My Father [1927] , will He say to them who shall then ride on chariots of clouds, and be assembled by Angels.
23. But some one present will say, "I am a poor man," or again, "I shall perhaps be found at that time sick in bed;" or, "I am but a woman, and I shall be taken at the mill: shall we then be despised?" Be of good courage, O man; the Judge is no respecter of persons; He will not judge according to a man's appearance, nor reprove according to his speech [1928] . He honours not the learned before the simple, nor the rich before the needy. Though thou be in the field, the Angels shall take thee; think not that He will take the landowners, and leave thee the husbandman. Though thou be a slave, though thou be poor, be not any whit distressed; He who took the form of a servant [1929] despises not servants. Though thou be lying sick in bed, yet it is written, Then shall two be in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other left [1930] . Though thou be of compulsion put to grind, whether thou be man or woman [1931] ; though thou be in fetters [1932] , and sit beside the mill, yet He who by His might bringeth out them that are bound [1933] , will not overlook thee. He who brought forth Joseph out of slavery and prison to a kingdom, shall redeem thee also from thy afflictions into the kingdom of heaven. Only be of good cheer, only work, only strive earnestly; for nothing shall be lost. Every prayer of thine, every Psalm thou singest is recorded; every alms-deed, every fast is recorded; every marriage duly observed is recorded; continence [1934] kept for God's sake is recorded; but the first crowns in the records are those of virginity and purity; and thou shalt shine as an Angel. But as thou hast gladly listened to the good things, so listen again without shrinking to the contrary. Every covetous deed of thine is recorded; thine every act of fornication is recorded, thine every false oath is recorded, every blasphemy, and sorcery, and theft, and murder. All these things are henceforth to be recorded, if thou do the same now after having been baptized; for thy former deeds are blotted out.
24. When the Son of Man, He says, shall come in His glory, and all the Angels with Him [1935] . Behold, O man, before what multitudes thou shalt come to judgment. Every race of mankind will then be present. Reckon, therefore, how many are the Roman nation; reckon how many the barbarian tribes now living, and how many have died within the last hundred years; reckon how many nations have been buried during the last thousand years; reckon all from Adam to this day. Great indeed is the multitude; but yet it is little, for the Angels are many more. They are the ninety and nine sheep, but mankind is the single one [1936] . For according to the extent of universal space, must we reckon the number of its inhabitants. The whole earth is but as a point in the midst of the one heaven, and yet contains so great a multitude; what a multitude must the heaven which encircles it contain? And must not the heaven of heavens contain unimaginable numbers [1937] ? And it is written, Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him [1938] ; not that the multitude is only so great, but because the Prophet could not express more than these. So there will be present at the judgment in that day, God, the Father of all, Jesus Christ being seated with Him, and the Holy Ghost present with Them; and an angel's trumpet shall summon us all to bring our deeds with us. Ought we not then from this time forth to be sore troubled? Think it not a slight doom, O man, even apart from punishment, to be condemned in the presence of so many. Shall we not choose rather to die many deaths, than be condemned by friends?
25. Let us dread then, brethren, lest God condemn us; who needs not examination or proofs, to condemn. Say not, In the night I committed fornication, or wrought sorcery, or did any other thing, and there was no man by. Out of thine own conscience shalt thou be judged, thy thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men [1939] . The terrible countenance of the Judge will force thee to speak the truth; or rather, even though thou speak not, it will convict thee. For thou shalt rise clothed with thine own sins, or else with thy righteous deeds. And this has the Judge Himself declared--for it is Christ who judges--for neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son [1940] , not divesting Himself of His power, but judging through the Son; the Son therefore judgeth by the will [1941] of the Father; for the wills of the Father and of the Son are not different, but one and the same. What then says the Judge, as to whether thou shalt bear thy works, or no? And before Him shall they gather all nations [1942] : (for in the presence of Christ every knee must bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth [1943] :) and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. How does the shepherd make the separation? Does he examine out of a book which is a sheep and which a goat? or does he distinguish by their evident marks? Does not the wool show the sheep, and the hairy and rough skin the goat? In like manner, if thou hast been just now cleansed from thy sins, thy deeds shall be henceforth as pure wool; and thy robe shall remain unstained, and thou shalt ever say, I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on [1944] ? By thy vesture shalt thou be known for a sheep. But if thou be found hairy, like Esau, who was rough with hair, and wicked in mind, who for food lost his birthright and sold his privilege, thou shalt be one of those on the left hand. But God forbid that any here present should be cast out from grace, or for evil deeds be found among the ranks of the sinners on the left hand!