Catechetical Lectures 14.24–15.15

The sequence of the teaching of the Creed urged me to speak also about the ascension; but the grace of God arranged that you should hear about it most fully, as far as our weakness allowed, yesterday, on the Lord's day, when by the dispensation of divine grace the sequence of the readings at the assembly contained the account of our Saviour's going up into heaven. And what was said was said chiefly for all, for the whole multitude of the faithful together, but especially for you; the question is whether you attended to what was said. For you know that the sequence of the Creed teaches you to believe in him “who rose on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and sat at the right hand of the Father.” I think you remember the exposition well; but I remind you of what was said, now also, in passing. Remember what is plainly written in the Psalms: “God went up with a shout.” Remember that the divine powers too said to one another, “Lift up your gates, O rulers,” and so on. Remember also the psalm that says, “He went up on high; he led captivity captive.” Remember the prophet who said, “He who builds his ascent into heaven,” and the rest that was said yesterday because of the objections of the Jews.

For when they object to the Saviour's ascension as impossible, remember what was said about the carrying away of Habakkuk. For if Habakkuk was carried away by an angel, borne by the hair of his head, much more was the Master of prophets and angels, going up on a cloud from the Mount of Olives, able to make his ascent into heaven by his own power. Remember the wonders that are similar, but keep the pre-eminence for the Master, the worker of wonders: for they were carried, but he carries all things. Remember that Enoch was taken away, but Jesus went up. Remember what was said yesterday about Elijah: that Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire, but Christ's chariot was “ten thousandfold, thousands of rejoicing ones”; and that Elijah was taken up to the east of the Jordan, but Christ went up to the east of the brook Kidron; and that Elijah went “as into heaven,” but Jesus into heaven; and that Elijah said that a double share in the Holy Spirit would be given to his disciple, but Christ granted his own disciples such enjoyment of the grace of the Holy Spirit that they not only had it in themselves, but also imparted the fellowship of it to believers by the laying on of their hands.

And when you have wrestled thus with the Jews, when you have conquered by the argument from likeness, then go on to the pre-eminence of the Saviour's glory: that they were servants, but he is the Son of God. And you will be reminded of his pre-eminence in this way too, by considering that a servant of Christ was caught up to the third heaven. For if Elijah reached the first heaven, but Paul the third, then he obtained the more honoured dignity. Do not be ashamed of your apostles. They are not inferior to Moses, nor second to the prophets; but noble among the noble, and nobler than the noble. Elijah indeed was taken up into heaven; but Peter has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, having heard, “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Elijah went up into heaven only; but Paul both into heaven and into paradise (for it was fitting that the disciples of Jesus should receive manifold grace), and “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” But Paul came down again from above, not because he was unworthy to remain in the third heaven, but so that, having enjoyed things beyond man and come down in honour, and having preached Christ and died for him, he might receive also the crown of martyrdom. I have passed over the rest of the argument, which was spoken yesterday at the assembly of the Lord's day; for with intelligent hearers a reminder alone is enough for learning.

Remember also what I have often said about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father, because of the sequence of the Creed, which says, “And ascended into the heavens, and sat at the right hand of the Father.” Let us not inquire curiously into what the throne properly is, for it is incomprehensible. But neither let us tolerate those who wrongly say that it was after the cross and the resurrection and the ascension into heaven that the Son began to sit at the right hand of the Father. For he did not obtain the throne by advancement; but from the time that he is (and he is eternally begotten), he also sits with the Father. And the prophet Isaiah, having seen this throne before the Saviour's coming in the flesh, says, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,” and so on. For no one has ever seen the Father, and the one who then appeared to the prophet was the Son. And the Psalmist says, “Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.” Though there are many testimonies about this, because of the lateness of the hour we are content with these.

But now I must remind you of a few things, out of many, that have been said about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father. The hundred and ninth psalm says plainly, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.” And the Saviour, confirming the saying in the Gospels, says that David spoke these things not of himself but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saying, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,” and so on? And in the Acts of the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, Peter, standing with the eleven and speaking to the Israelites, recalled this very testimony of the hundred and ninth psalm word for word.

We must remind you also of a few other testimonies, likewise about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father. In the Gospel according to Matthew it is written, “But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power,” and so on; in agreement with which the apostle Peter also writes, “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven.” And the apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, says, “Christ who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God”; and writing to the Ephesians he says, “according to the working of the might of his strength, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand,” and so on; and he taught those at Colossae thus: “If, then, you were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the Father”; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews he says, “Having made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”; and again, “But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”; and again, “But he, having offered one sacrifice for all for ever, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from then on until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet”; and again, “looking to the founder and perfecter …”

And though there are other testimonies about the Only-begotten's sitting at the right hand of God, these are enough for us for the present; and we repeat the same reminder, that he did not obtain this dignity of the seat after his coming in the flesh; but even before all ages the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, always holds the throne at the right hand of the Father. May the God of all himself, the Father of Christ, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down and went up and sits with the Father, guard your souls; may he keep your hope in him who rose unshaken and unchanging; may he raise you together with him from your dead sins to his heavenly gift; may he count you worthy to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, in due time; and until that time of his glorious second coming comes, may he write all your names in the book of the living, and having written them, never blot them out (for the names of many who fall away are blotted out); and may he grant to all of you to believe in him who rose, and to await him who ascended and is coming again (coming, not from the earth: guard yourself, O man, because of the deceivers who are to come); him who sits above and is present here with us, seeing the order of each and the firmness of his faith. For do not think that because he is now absent in the flesh, he is therefore absent in the Spirit too. He is present here in the midst, hearing what is said about him, seeing your inward thoughts, and searching the reins and hearts; and he is ready even now to present those who are coming to baptism, and all of you, in the Holy Spirit to the Father, and to say, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me”; to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

We proclaim the coming of Christ, not one only, but also a second, far more glorious than the first. For the first gave a display of his endurance, but the second brings the diadem of the divine kingdom. For as a rule all things are twofold with our Lord Jesus Christ: a twofold birth, one from God before the ages, and one from the Virgin at the end of the ages; twofold descents, one unseen, as upon a fleece, and a second, manifest, which is to come. In the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; in the second he “covers himself with light as with a garment.” In the first he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second he comes escorted and glorified by a host of angels. We do not rest, then, on the first coming only, but we look also for the second. And as at the first we said, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” so at the second we shall say the same again; so that, meeting the Master with angels, we may say in worship, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Saviour comes, not to be judged again, but to judge those who judged him. He who before kept silent when he was judged will remind the lawless, who did their outrages at the cross, and say, “These things you did, and I kept silent.” Then he came by dispensation, teaching men with persuasion; but then they will be subject to his rule by necessity, even if they do not wish it.

And concerning these two comings Malachi the prophet says, “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple”: behold one coming. And again, of the second coming, he says, “And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire. Behold, the Lord Almighty comes; and who shall endure the day of his coming? Or who shall stand when he appears? For he comes in like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; and he shall sit refining and purifying.” And immediately next the Saviour himself says, “And I will draw near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulteresses and against those who swear falsely by my name,” and so on. Therefore Paul, guarding us beforehand, says, “If anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest; for the day will disclose it, because it is revealed by fire.” Paul too signifies these two comings, writing to Titus and saying, “The grace of God the Saviour has appeared to all men, training us that, renouncing ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and godly and righteously in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” You see how he spoke of a first, for which he gives thanks, and a second, which we await. Therefore the words of the faith which … [3] Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, comes from heaven; and he comes with glory at the end of this world, on the last day. For there is to be an end of this world, and this created world is to be made new again. For since corruption and theft and adultery and every kind of sin have been poured out over the earth, and blood has been mixed with blood in the world, so that this wonderful dwelling-place may not remain filled with lawlessness, this world passes away, so that the better one may be shown forth. And would you receive the proof from the words of Scripture? Hear Isaiah saying, “And the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig tree.” And the Gospel says, “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” Let us not grieve as though we alone die; the stars too die, but perhaps rise again. And the Lord rolls up the heavens, not to destroy them, but to raise them up again more beautiful. Hear David the prophet saying, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain.” But someone will say, “See, he says plainly that they will perish.” Hear in what sense he says “they will perish”: it is clear from what follows: “And they will all grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed.” For as a man is said to perish, according to the saying, “See how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart,” and this although the resurrection is expected, so we expect a kind of resurrection of the heavens too. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” Let those who have turned from the Manichaeans be instructed, and no longer make gods of the luminaries, nor impiously think that this sun, which is to be darkened, is the Christ. And hear again the Lord saying, “Heaven and earth …” [4] The things that are seen, then, pass away, and the things that are expected come, better than these. But let no one pry into the time: “For it is not for you,” he says, “to know times or seasons, which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” And do not dare to declare when these things happen; nor again sleep carelessly; for “Watch,” he says, “for the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect.” But since it was necessary for us to know the signs of the end, and since we look for Christ, so that we might not die deceived and be led astray by the false Antichrist, the apostles, moved by the divine will, come by God's dispensation to the true Teacher and say, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” We look for you to come again, but Satan disguises himself as an angel of light; secure us, then, so that we may not worship another instead of you. And he, opening his divine and blessed mouth, says, “See that no one leads you astray.” And you, the hearers, seeing him now with the eyes of the mind, hear him saying the same to you too: “See that no one leads you astray.” And the word exhorts you all to attend to what is said; for it is not a history of things past, but a prophecy of things to come, which will surely come; not that we prophesy (for we are unworthy), but the things written are set before you, and the signs are told. See which have already happened, and which still remain, and …

“See that no one leads you astray; for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray.” This has happened in part; for Simon Magus has already said this, and Menander, and some others of the godless leaders of heresy; and others will say it in our day or after us.

A second sign: “And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars.” Is there now a war of the Persians against the Romans over Mesopotamia, or not? Does nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, or not? “And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places.” These things have already happened. And again, “And terrors from heaven, and great storms.” “Watch, then,” he says, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

But we seek our own sign of the coming; we who belong to the Church seek a sign of the Church. And the Saviour says, “And then many will fall away, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.” If you hear that bishops are going against bishops, and clergy against clergy, and laity against laity, even to bloodshed, do not be troubled; for it has been written beforehand. Do not attend to what is happening now, but to what is written. And even if I who teach you should perish, you need not perish with me; it is possible even for a hearer to become better than his teacher, and for one who came last to become first, since the Master receives even those of about the eleventh hour. If betrayal was found among the apostles, do you wonder if hatred of brothers is found among bishops too? But the sign concerns not only the rulers but also the peoples; for he says, “And because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.” Will anyone of those present boast that he has unfeigned friendship toward his neighbour? Do not the lips often kiss, and the face smile, and the eyes look cheerful, while the heart devises deceit, and plots evil while speaking peace?

You have this sign also: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.” And, as we see, almost the whole world has been filled with the teaching of Christ.

And what happens after this? He says next, “So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)”; and again, “Then if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it.” Hatred of brothers, then, makes room next for the Antichrist; for the devil prepares the divisions among the peoples beforehand, so that he who is to come may be readily received. God forbid that any of Christ's servants here or elsewhere should run over to the enemy! Writing about this, the apostle Paul gave a plain sign, saying, “For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what restrains him now, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the appearing of his coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness for those who are perishing.” So Paul. And now there is the apostasy. For men have fallen away from the right faith; and some proclaim a fusion of Son and Father, while others dare to say that Christ was brought from non-being into being. And formerly the heretics were open, but now the Church is full of hidden heretics. For men have fallen away from the truth and have itching ears. Is it a plausible word? All hear it gladly. Is it a word of correction? All turn away. Most have fallen away from right words, and choose evil rather than prefer good. This, then, is the apostasy, and the enemy is to be expected; and meanwhile he has begun to send his forerunners in part, so that he may then come ready for the prey. Look to yourself, then, O man, and make your soul secure. The Church now charges you solemnly before the living God, and tells you beforehand the things concerning the Antichrist before he comes. Whether it happens in your time we do not know, or whether it happens after you we do not know; but it is good that, knowing these things, you should make yourself secure beforehand.

The true Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, no longer comes from the earth. If anyone comes making false shows in the desert, do not go out. If they say, “Look, here is the Christ; look, there,” do not believe it. Look no longer downwards and to the earth; for the Master comes down from heaven; not alone, as before, but with many, escorted by tens of thousands of angels; nor secretly, as rain upon a fleece, but shining forth openly like lightning. For he himself has said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”; and again, “And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a great trumpet,” and so on.

But as, when he was formerly to become man and God was expected to be born of a virgin, the devil forestalled the event by wickedly inventing beforehand, among the idolaters, fables of false gods begetting and begotten of women, so that, the falsehood having come first, the truth (as he supposed) might be disbelieved; so now, since the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary takes the expectation of the simple, and especially of those of the circumcision, as his opportunity, and brings in a certain man, a sorcerer, most expert in the deceitful arts of sorceries and incantations, who will seize for himself the power of the Roman empire and falsely call himself Christ; by the name of Christ deceiving the Jews, who look for the Anointed, and leading those from the Gentiles astray by magical illusions.

This Antichrist spoken of comes when the times of the Roman empire have been fulfilled and the end of the world is drawing near. Ten kings of the Romans arise together, perhaps in different places, but reigning at the same time; and after them, as the eleventh, the Antichrist, who has seized the Roman power by his evil art of magic. Of the kings who reigned before him he will humble three, and the remaining seven he will keep under himself. At first he will feign mildness, as if he were a learned and understanding man, and self-control and love for mankind; and having deceived the Jews by the false signs and wonders of his magical deceit, as if he were the expected Christ, he will afterwards be marked by every kind of inhumanity and lawlessness, so as to surpass all the unrighteous and ungodly men who were before him, having a murderous, most harsh, merciless and crafty mind against all, but especially against us Christians. And having dared such things for three years and six months only, he will be destroyed by the glorious second coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ; who, having slain the Antichrist with the breath of his mouth, will deliver him to the fire of Gehenna.

These things we teach, not inventing them, but having learned them from the divine Scriptures read in the Church, and especially from the prophecy of Daniel just read, as Gabriel the archangel too interpreted it, saying thus: “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall surpass all the kingdoms.” And the Church's interpreters have handed down that this is the kingdom of the Romans. For the first famous kingdom was that of the Assyrians; the second, that of the Medes and Persians together; and after these, that of the Macedonians, the third; the fourth kingdom is now that of the Romans. Then next Gabriel, interpreting, says, “Its ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and after them another king shall arise, who shall surpass in evils all who were before him”: not only the ten, he says, but all who were before. “And he shall humble three kings”: plainly of the ten former ones; and by humbling three of these ten, he will certainly reign as the eighth. “And he shall speak words against the Most High”: a blasphemous and lawless man, not receiving the kingdom from his fathers, but seizing rule by magic.

And who is this, and from what working does he come? Interpret, O Paul. “His coming,” he says, “is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders”: hinting that Satan uses him as an instrument, working through him in person. For knowing that his judgment will no longer allow any respite, he no longer wars through his servants as usual, but henceforth more openly through himself. “With all signs and lying wonders”: for the father of lies makes a show of the works of falsehood, so that the multitudes may think they see a dead man raised who is not raised, and lame men walking and blind men seeing, when no healing has taken place.

And again he says, “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship”: above every god (for the Antichrist will supposedly hate the idols), “so that he takes his seat in the temple of God.” What temple, then? He means the ruined temple of the Jews; for God forbid that it should be this one in which we are. Why do we say this? So that we may not seem to favour ourselves. For if he comes to the Jews as Christ and wishes to be worshipped by the Jews, he will make the temple a matter of great concern, in order to deceive them the more, giving the impression that he is the one of David's line who is to build the temple that was built by Solomon. And the Antichrist comes at the time when not one stone will remain upon another in the temple of the Jews, according to the Saviour's sentence. For when either collapse through age, or demolition on the pretext of rebuilding, or something else that follows, has brought down all the stones (I mean not of the outer enclosure, but of the inner shrine, where the cherubim were), then he comes with all signs and lying wonders, exalting himself above all idols, at first feigning love for mankind, but afterwards showing his harshness, especially toward the saints of God. For it says, “I looked, and that horn made war with the saints”; and again elsewhere, “There shall be a time of affliction such as has not been since there was a nation on the earth until that time.” Terrible is the beast, a great dragon invincible to men, ready to devour; though we have more to say about him from the divine Scriptures, we are content with these for the present, for the sake of measure.