 |
| To Home Page: |
| Following is a Messianic version of: An Ancient Homily. The author is unknown, but it is from an early date - usually given as having been written shortly after Revelation about 120 AD/Ce There are some indications (@ 7) that it was written or spoken in the first instance to the Corinthians. Lightfoot also says, that we may now definitely regard it as the earliest Believers' homily extant. [The style of it suggests to me someone who was: familiar with Judaic methods of approaching subjects (perhaps originally a proselyte), someone in a position of authority, - one who perhaps knew some of the Talmidim and Emissaries, and may have even been in the leadership of the late Congregation at Jerusalem. Of course, this is only what it suggest to me, and though possible, - can not be proved to be the case.] It is also known by the title: 2nd Epistle of S. Clement to the Corinthians. - However it has no claim to this designation, and its internal evidence both of style and doctrine, so far as it goes, is distinctly against this conclusion. - says Lightfoot. AN ANCIENT HOMILY By An Unknown Author I. BRETHREN, we ought so to think of Yeshua Messiah, as of Elohim, as of the Judge of quick/living and dead. And we ought not to think shallow of our Salvation: for when we think shallow things of Him, we expect also to receive shallow things. And they that listen as concerning shallow things do wrong; and we ourselves do wrong, not knowing from where and by whom and unto what place we were called, and how many things Yeshua Messiah endured to suffer for our sakes. What recompense then shall we give unto Him? or what fruit worthy of His own gift to us? And how many mercies do we owe to Him! For He bestowed the light upon us; He spoke to us, as a father to his sons; He saved us, when we were perishing. What praise then shall we give to Him? or what payment of recompense for those things which we received? we who were maimed in our understanding, and worshipped stocks and stones and gold silver and bronze, the works of men; and our whole life was nothing else but death. While then we were thus wrapped in darkness and oppressed with this thick mist in our vision, we recovered our sight, putting off by His will the cloud wherein we were wrapped. For He had mercy on us, and in His compassion saved us, having beheld in us much error and perdition, even when we had no hope of Salvation, except that which came from Him. For He called us, when we were not, and from not being - He willed us to be. II. 'Rejoice, thou barren that bear not. Break out and cry, thou that travail not; for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has the husband.' In that He said 'Rejoice, thou barren that bear not,' He spoke of us: for our Congregation was barren, before that children were given unto her. And in that He said, 'Cry aloud, thou that travail not,' He means this: Let us not, like women in travail, grow weary of offering up our prayers with simplicity to Elohim. Again, in that He said, 'For the children of the desolate are more than of her that has the husband,' He so spoke, because our people seemed desolate and forsaken of Elohim, whereas now, having believed, we have become more than those who seemed to have Elohim. Again another Scripture says, 'I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners.' He means this; that is is right to save them that are perishing. For this indeed is a great and marvellous work, to establish, not those things which stand, but those which are falling. So also Messiah willed to save the things which were perishing. And He saved many, coming and calling us when we were even now perishing. III. Seeing then that He bestowed so great mercy on us; first of all, that we, who are living, do not sacrifice to these dead gods, neither worship them, but though Him have known the Father of truth. What else is this knowledge to Himward, but not to deny Him through whom we have known Him? Yea, He Himself said, 'Whoso confesses Me, him will I confess before the Father.' This then is our reward, if truly we shall confess Him through whom we were saved. But wherein do we confess Him? When we do that which He says and are not disobedient unto His Mitzvot/ Commandments, and not only 'honor Him with our lips,' but 'with our whole heart and with out whole mind.' Now He says also in Yesha`yahu, 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.' IV. Let us therefore not only call Him Lord, for this will not save us; for He says, 'Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that does righteousness.' So then, brethren, let us confess Him in our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, nor speaking evil one against another, nor envying, - but being temperate, merciful, kindly. And we ought to have fellow-feeling one with another and not to be covetous. By these works let us confess Him, and not by the contrary. And we ought not rather to fear men but Elohim. For this cause, if you do these things, the Lord said, 'Though you be gathered together with Me in My bosom, and do not My Mitzvot/ Commandments, I will cast you away and will say unto you, Depart from Me, I know you not from where you are, you workers of violation-of-the Torah.'*[1] V. Wherefore, brethren, let us forsake our sojourn in this world and do the will of Him that called us, and let us not be afraid to depart out of this world. For the Lord says, 'You shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves.' But Kefa answered and said unto Him, 'What then, if the wolves should tear the lambs?' Yeshua said unto Kefa, 'Let not the lambs fear the wolves after they are dead; and you also, fear you not them that kill you and are not able to do anything to you; but fear Him that after you are dead has power over soul and body, to cast them into the Gey-Hinnom of fire.' And you know, brethren, that the sojourn of this flesh in this world is shallow and for a short time, but the promise of Messiah is great and marvellous, even the rest of the Kingdom that shall be and of life eternal. What then can we do to obtain them, but walk in holiness and righteousness, and consider these worldly things as alien to us, and not desire them? For when we desire to obtain these things we fall away from the righteous path. VI. But the Lord says, 'No servant can serve two masters.' If we desire to serve both Elohim and mammon/riches, it is unprofitable for us: 'For what advantage is it, if a man gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?' Now this age and the future are two enemies. The one speaks of adultery and defilement and greed-for-riches and deceit, but the other bids farewell to these. We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to the one and hold companionship with the other. Let us consider that it is better to hate the things which are here, because they are shallow and for a short time and perishable, and to love the things which are there, for they are good and imperishable. For, if we do the will of Messiah, we shall find rest; but if otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we should disobey His Mitzvot/Commandments. And the Tanakh also says in Yechezqel, 'Though Noach and Iyov and Dani'el should rise up, they shall not deliver their children' in the diaspora /captivity. But if even such righteous men as these cannot by their righteous deeds deliver their children, with what confidence shall we, if we keep not our mikveh/immersion pure and undefiled, enter into the Kingdom of Elohim? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found having holy and righteous works? VII. So then, my brethren, let us contend, knowing that the contest is nigh at hand, and that, while many resort to the corruptible contests, yet not all are crowned, but only they that have toiled hard and contended bravely. Let us then contend that we all may be crowned. Wherefore let us run in the straight course, the incorruptible contest. And let us resort to it in throngs and contend, that we may also be crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least come near to the crown. We ought to know that he which contends in the corruptible contest, if he be found dealing corruptly with it, is first flogged, and then removed and driven out of the race-course. What think you? What shall be done to him that has dealt corruptly with the contest of incorruption? For as concerning them that have not kept the seal, He says, 'Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh.' VIII. While we are on earth then, let us repent: for we are clay under the craftsman's hand. For in like manner as the potter, if he be making a vessel, and it get twisted or crushed in his hands, reshapes it again; but if he have once put it into the fiery oven, he shall no longer mend it: so also let us, while we are in this world, repent of our whole heart of the evil things which we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet time for t'shuvah/ turning-in-repentance. For after that we have departed out of the world, we can no more make a confession (of sins) there, or repent any more. Wherefore, brethren, if we shall have done the will of the Father and kept the pure and guarded the Mitzvot/Commandments of the Lord, we shall receive life eternal. For the Lord says in the Good- News, 'If you keep not that which is little, who shall give unto you that which is great? For I say unto you that he which is faithful in the least, is faithful also in much.' So then He means this, Keep the flesh pure and the seal unstained, to the end that we may receive life. IX. And let not any one of you say that this flesh is not judged neither rises again. Understand you. In what were you saved? In what did you recover your sight? if you were not in this flesh. We ought therefore to guard the flesh as a temple of Elohim: for in like manner as you were called in the flesh, you shall come also in the flesh. If Messiah the Lord who saved us, being first Ruach/Spirit, then (also) became flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh receive our reward. Let us therefore love one another, that we all may come unto the Kingdom of Elohim. While we have time to be healed, let us place ourselves in the hands of Elohim the physician, giving Him a recompense. What recompense? Repentance from a sincere heart. For He discerns all things beforehand and knows what is in our heart. Let us therefore give unto Him eternal praise, not from our lips only, but also from our heart, that He may receive us as sons. For the Lord also said, 'These are My brethren, which do the will of My Father.' X. Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of the Father which called us, that we may live; and let us the rather pursue virtue, but forsake vice as the forerunner of our sins, and let us flee from unGodliness, lest evils overtake us. For if we be diligent in doing good, shalom will pursue us. For for this cause is a man unable to |*> attain happiness <*|, seeing that they call in the fears of men, preferring rather the enjoyment which is here than the promise which is to come. For they know not how great torment the enjoyment which is here brings, and what delight the promise which is to come brings. And if truly they were doing these things by themselves alone, it had been tolerable: but now they continue teaching evil to innocent souls, not knowing that they shall have their condemnation doubled, both themselves and their hearers. XI. Let us therefore serve Elohim in a pure heart, and we shall be righteous; but if we serve Him not, because we believe not the promise of Elohim, we shall be wretched. For the Word of prophecy also says, 'Wretched are the double-minded, that doubt in their heart and say, These things we heard of old in the days of our fathers also, yet we have waited day after day and have seen none of them. You fools! compare yourselves unto a tree; take a vine. -- First it sheds its leaves, then a shoot comes, after this a sour berry, then a full ripe grape. So likewise My people had tumults and afflictions: but afterward they shall receive good things.' Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be double-minded but endure patiently in hope, that we may also obtain our reward. 'For faithful is He that promised' to pay to each man the recompense of his works. If therefore we shall have wrought righteousness in the sight of Elohim, we shall enter into His Kingdom and shall receive the promises which 'ear has not heard nor eye seen, neither has it entered into the heart of man.' XII. Let us therefore await the Kingdom of Elohim watching-early in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of Elohim's appearing. For the Lord Himself, being asked by a certain person when His Kingdom would come, said, 'When the two shall be one, and the outside as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male nor female.'*[2] Now 'the two' are 'one', when we speak truth among ourselves, and in two bodies there shall be (as) one soul without deception. And by 'the outside as the inside' He means this; that a brother seeing a sister should have no thought of her as of a female, and that a sister seeing a brother should not have any thought of him as of a male. These things if you do, says He, the Kingdom of My Father shall come. XIII. Therefore, brethren, let us repent without delay. Let us be sober unto that which is good: for we are full of much folly and wickedness. Let us wipe away from us our former sins, and let us repent with our whole soul and be saved. And let us not be found men-pleasers. Neither let us desire to please one another only, but also those men that are without, by our righteousness, that The-Name/HaShem be not blasphemed by reason of us. For Adonai says, 'Every way My Name is blasphemed among all the Goyim/Gentiles/Nations'; and again, 'Woe unto him by reason of whom My Name is blasphemed.' Wherein is It blasphemed? In that you do not the things which I desire. For the Goyim/Gentiles, when they hear from our mouth the oracles of Elohim, marvel at them for their beauty and greatness; then, when they discover that our works are not worthy of the words which we speak, immediately they move themselves to blasphemy, saying that it is an idle story and a delusion. For when they hear from us that Elohim says, 'It is not thanks unto you, if you love them that love you, but this is thanks unto you, if you love your enemies and them that hate you'; when they hear these things, I say, they marvel at their exceeding goodness; but when they see that we not only do not love them that hate us, but not even them that love us, they laugh us to scorn, and The-Name is blasphemed. XIV. Wherefore, brethren, if we do the will of Elohim our Father, we shall be of the first Congregation, which is <s>piritual, which was created before the sun and moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of the Scripture that says, 'My house was made a den of robbers'. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Congregation of life, that we may be saved. And I do not suppose you are ignorant that the living Congregation is 'the body of Messiah'; for the Scripture says, 'God made man, male and female'. The male is Messiah and the female is the Congregation. And the Scrolls and the Emissaries plainly declare that the Congregation exists not now for the first time, but has been from the beginning: for she was <s>piritual, as our Yeshua also was <S>piritual, but was manifested in the last days that He might save us. Now the Congregation, being <s>piritual, was manifested in the flesh of Messiah, thereby showing us that, if any of us guard her in the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in - Ruach HaKodesh/The Holy Spirit - : for this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man therefore, when he has defiled the copy, shall receive the original for his portion. This therefore is what He means, brethren; Guard you the flesh, that you may partake of the Ruach/<S>pirit. But if we say that the flesh is the Congregation and the Ruach/Spirit is Messiah, then he that has dealt immorally with the flesh has dealt immorally with the Congregation. Such a one therefore shall not partake of the Ruach/Spirit, which is Messiah. So excellent is the life and immortality which this flesh can receive as its portion, if - Ruach HaKodesh/The Holy Spirit - be joined to it. No man can declare or tell 'those things which the Lord has prepared' for His elect. XV. Now I do not think that I have given any shallow counsel respecting continence, and whosoever performs it shall not repent thereof, but shall save both himself and me his counsellor. For it is no shallow reward to convert a wandering and perishing soul, that it may be saved. For this is the recompense which we are able to pay to Elohim who created us, if he that speaks and hears both speak and hear with faith and love. Let us therefore abide in the things which we believed, in righteousness and holiness, that we may with boldness ask of Elohim who says, 'While you are speaking I will say, Behold, I am here'. For this word is the token of a great promise: for the Lord says of Himself that He is more ready to give than he that asks to ask. Seeing then that we are partakers of so great kindness, let us not grudge ourselves the obtaining of so many great things. For in proportion as the pleasure is great which these words bring to them that have performed them, so also is the condemnation great which they bring to them that have been disobedient. XVI. Therefore, brethren, since we have found no small opportunity for repentance, seeing that we have time, let us turn again unto Elohim that called us, while we have still One that receives us. For if we bid farewell to these enjoyments and conquer our soul in refusing to fulfil its evil lusts, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Yeshua. But you know that the Day of Judgement comes even now 'as a burning oven, and the powers of the heavens shall melt', and all the earth as lead melting on the fire, and then shall appear the secret and open works of men. Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, even as repentance from sin. Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving than both. And 'love covers a multitude of sins', but prayer out of a good conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every man that is found full of these. For almsgiving lifts off the burden of sin. XVII. Let us therefore repent with our whole heart, lest any of us perish by the way. For if we have received commands, that we should make this also our business, to tear men away from idols and to instruct them, how much more is it wrong that a soul which knows Elohim already should perish! Therefore let us assist one another, that we may also lead the weak upward as touching that which is good, to the end that we all may be saved: and let us return-again and admonish one another. And let us not think to give heed and believe now only, while we are admonished by the Elders; but likewise when we have departed home, let us remember the Mitzvot/Commandments of the Lord, and not allow ourselves to be dragged off the other way by our worldly lusts; but coming to this place more frequently, let us strive to go forward in the Mitzvot/Commandments of the Lord, that we all having the same mind may be gathered together unto life. For the Lord said, 'I come to gather together all the nations, tribes, and languages'. Herein He speaks of the Day of His appearing, when He shall come and redeem us, each man according to his works. 'And' the unbelievers 'shall see His glory' and His might: and they shall be amazed when they see the Kingdom of the world given to Yeshua, saying, Woe unto us, for You were, and we knew it not, and believed not; and we obeyed not the Elders when they told us of our Salvation. And 'Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh'. He speaks of that Day of Judgement, when men shall see those among us that lived unGodly lives and dealt falsely with the Mitzvot/Commandments of Yeshua Messiah. But the righteous, having done good and endured torments and hated the pleasures of the soul, when they shall behold them that have done amiss and denied Yeshua by their words and by their deeds, how that they are punished with grievous torments in unquenchable fire, shall give glory to Elohim, saying, There will be hope for him that has served Elohim with his whole heart. XVIII. Therefore let us also be found among those that give thanks, among those that have served Elohim, and not among the unGodly that are judged. For I myself too, being an utter sinner and not yet escaped from temptation, but being still amidst the devices of the Adversary, do my diligence to follow after righteousness, that I may prevail so far at least as to come near unto it, while I fear the judgement to come. XIX. Therefore, brothers and sisters, after the God of truth has been heard, I read to you an exhortation to the end that you may give heed to the things which are Written, so that you may save both yourselves and him that reads in the midst of you. For I ask of you as a reward that you repent with your whole heart, and give Salvation and life to yourselves. For doing this we shall set a goal for all the young who desire to toil in the study of piety and of the goodness of Elohim. And let us not be displeased and vexed, fools that we are, whensoever any one admonishes us and turns us aside from unrighteousness unto righteousness. For sometimes while we do evil things, we perceive it not by reason of the double-mindedness and unbelief which is in our breasts, and 'we are darkened in our understanding' by our vain lusts. Let us therefore practice righteousness that we may be saved unto the end. Blessed are they that obey these ordinances. Though they may endure affliction for a short time in the world, they will gather the immortal fruit of the resurrection. Therefore let not the Godly be grieved, if he be miserable in the times that now are: a blessed time awaits him. He shall live again in Heaven with the Fathers, and shall have rejoicing throughout a sorrowless eternity. XX. Neither allow you this again to trouble your mind, that we see the unrighteous possessing wealth, and the servants of Elohim financially distressed. Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters. We are contending in the ranks of a living God; and we are trained by the present life, that we may be crowned with the future. No righteous man has reaped fruit quickly, but waits for it. For if Elohim had paid the recompense of the righteous speedily, then immediately we should have been training ourselves in merchandise, and not in Godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, though we were pursuing not that which is Godly, but that which is gainful. And for this cause Divine judgement overtakes a spirit that is not just, and loads if with chains. To the only God invisible, the Father of truth, who sent forth unto us the Saviour and Prince of immortality, through whom also He made manifest unto us the truth and the Heavenly life, to Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amaine. *NOTES: [1]. This form of the quotation is also found in the ancient Hebrew version of Mattityahu - Good-News of the Hebrews/ Natzratim. [2]. One might speculate since this author quotes from the Good- News of the Natzratim earlier [1], - that this quotation [2] might appear there as well {?} It does remind me, by its form, of the following two quotations: Acts of Philip, 34: For the Lord said unto me: If you make not that which is below in you to be above, and the left hand things to be right, you shall not enter into My Kingdom. Linus, Martyrdom of Peter, 17: The Lord said in a mystery: If you make not the left hand as the right and the right as the left, and the things that are above as those that are below, and the things that are before as those that are behind, you shall not know the Kingdom of God. [Regardless, I'm glad the author gives his commentary on this quotation, - as with the commentary the verse appears somewhat more orthodox than it might if it were standing alone.] |
|
| To Home Page: |
|