{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">It therefore behoves us, who inquire much concerning\r\nevents at hand,<a id=\"r481\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f481\"><sup>[481]</sup></a> to search diligently into those things which\r\nare able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the\r\nworks of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let\r\nus hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love\r\non the world to come: let us not give loose reins to our soul,\r\nthat it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked,\r\nlest we become like them. The final stumbling-block (or\r\nsource of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written,\r\nas Enoch<a id=\"r482\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f482\"><sup>[482]</sup></a> says, “For for this end the Lord has cut short the\r\ntimes and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He\r\nwill come to the inheritance.” And the prophet also speaks\r\nthus: “Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a\r\nlittle king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under\r\none three of the kings.”<a id=\"r483\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f483\"><sup>[483]</sup></a> In like manner Daniel says concerning\r\nthe same, “And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked\r\nand powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the\r\nearth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them\r\na little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of\r\nthe great horns.”<a id=\"r484\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f484\"><sup>[484]</sup></a> Ye ought therefore to understand. And\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_106\">106</span>this also I further beg of you, as being one of you, and loving\r\nyou both individually and collectively more than my own\r\nsoul, to take heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some,\r\nadding largely to your sins, and saying, “The covenant is\r\nboth theirs and ours.”<a id=\"r485\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f485\"><sup>[485]</sup></a> But they thus finally lost it, after\r\nMoses had already received it. For the Scripture saith,\r\n“And Moses was fasting in the mount forty days and forty\r\nnights, and received the covenant from the Lord, tables of\r\nstone written with the finger of the hand of the Lord;”<a id=\"r486\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f486\"><sup>[486]</sup></a> but\r\nturning away to idols, they lost it. For the Lord speaks thus\r\nto Moses: “Moses, go down quickly; for the people whom\r\nthou hast brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed.”<a id=\"r487\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f487\"><sup>[487]</sup></a>\r\nAnd Moses understood [the meaning of God],\r\nand cast the two tables out of his hands; and their covenant\r\nwas broken, in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus\r\nmight be sealed upon our heart, in the hope which flows from\r\nbelieving in Him.<a id=\"r488\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f488\"><sup>[488]</sup></a> Now, being desirous to write many things\r\nto you, not as your teacher, but as becometh one who loves\r\nyou, I have taken care not to fail to write to you from what\r\nI myself possess, with a view to your purification.<a id=\"r489\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f489\"><sup>[489]</sup></a> We take\r\nearnest<a id=\"r490\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f490\"><sup>[490]</sup></a> heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time\r\nof your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this\r\nwicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as\r\nbecometh the sons of God. That the Black One<a id=\"r491\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f491\"><sup>[491]</sup></a> may find\r\nno means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_107\">107</span>utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. Do not,\r\nby retiring apart, live a solitary life, as if you were already\r\n[fully] justified; but coming together in one place, make\r\ncommon inquiry concerning what tends to your general\r\nwelfare. For the Scripture saith, “Woe to them who are\r\nwise to themselves, and prudent in their own sight!”<a id=\"r492\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f492\"><sup>[492]</sup></a> Let\r\nus be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God.\r\nAs much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God,\r\nand let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in\r\nHis ordinances. The Lord will judge the world without\r\nrespect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he\r\nis righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is\r\nwicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed,\r\nlest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God],\r\nwe should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince,\r\nacquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the\r\nkingdom of the Lord. And all the more attend to this, my\r\nbrethren, when ye reflect and behold, that after so great signs\r\nand wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at\r\nlength] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling\r\nthat saying], as it is written, “Many are called, but\r\nfew are chosen.”<a id=\"r493\"></a><a class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f493\"><sup>[493]</sup></a></p>","headings":["The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers","THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS.","THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS.","Chap. iv.—Antichrist is at hand: let us therefore avoid Jewish errors."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg77576-paragraph-169"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"b34f9cd6556bcd36a9ab7af4c566154d86ffb2e1f7e4a1157f0da37e8f858fd0","edition_title":"The writings of the Apostolic Fathers","edition_translators":["Alexander Roberts","James Donaldson","Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1870,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"DAN","chapter":7,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Dan. vii. 24","verse":24,"verse_end":24}],"headings":[],"id":"pg77576-f483","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Historical 1870 English edition; electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f483","source_ebook":77576,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f483\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r483\">483</a>. </span><abbr title=\"Daniel\">Dan.</abbr> <abbr title=\"seven\">vii.</abbr> 24, very loosely quoted.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"5cef11d737d7f5d65aa99f44ca2d8e967d725f3bed872960330e88c0905597a9","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77576/pg77576-images.html#f483","text_sha256":"8773eaa44d234f1ff44b9d2db421415588bc1ca656a6d189f7732c34d0b9ac9a","verified":false,"work_id":null}