The Sin Of Double Mindedness
This teaching looks at the great sin of double mindedness. The phrase double minded is only in the bible twice, and both are in the book of James!
Jas_1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Jas_4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
This verse refers to the shifting of the mind and opinions. It is when our minds and hearts are not fixed on the way, causing us to swerve out of the way.
Meaning of Double Minded
double minded
G1374
δίψυχος
dipsuchos
dip’-soo-khos
From G1364 and G5590; two spirited, that is, vacillating (in opinion or purpose): – double minded.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
In this teaching featured in the video above, we explain in more detail what it means to be double minded. We also show the danger of it, and finally, how we can overcome double mindedness.
VIDEO NOTES
Here are the notes from the video so you can follow along and so you can use the scriptures to prove all things, hold fast that which is good (1 thess 5:21).
A DOUBLEMINDED PERSON CANNOT BE RIGHTEOUS
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
MEANING OF DOUBLEMINDED
G1374
δίψυχος
dipsuchos
dip’-soo-khos
From G1364 and G5590; two spirited, that is, vacillating (in opinion or purpose): – double minded.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
***FAITH & DOUBLEMINDEDNESS: DOUBLEMINDEDNESS CAUSED BY A LACK OF FAITH***
A RIGHTEOUS (BY FAITH) REMNANT WILL ENTER THE LAND
Zephaniah 3:12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of YAHUAH.
Zephaniah 3:13 The remnant of Yasharal shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of Aluah, ye might receive the promise.
Heb_6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
SO, TO INHERIT THE PROMISES, WE MUST BE HOLY
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
MEANING OF HOLY
For I am YAHUAH that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your Aluah: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
holy
H6918
Lemma: קדשׁ קדושׁ ⟺ קָדוֹשׁ
Transliteration: qâdôsh qâdôsh
Pronunciation: kaw-doshe’
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root Word (Etymology): From קָדַשׁ H6942
BDB Lexicon:
1. sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart
Strong’s Definitions:
From קָדַשׁ H6942; sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) Aluah (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary: – holy (One), saint.
Occurrences in Bible: 116
SET APART?
Psalms 4:3 But know that YAHUAH hath set apart him that is godly for himself: YAHUAH will hear when I call unto him.
MEANING OF SET APART
apart
H6395
Lemma: פּלה ⟺ פָּלָה
Transliteration: pâlâh
Pronunciation: paw-law’
Part of Speech: Verb
Root Word (Etymology): A primitive root
BDB Lexicon:
1. to be distinct, marked out, be separated, be distinguished
a. (Niphal)
1. to be distinct, be separated, be distinguished
2. to be wonderful
b. (Hiphil) to make separate, set apart
Strong’s Definitions:
A primitive root; to distinguish (literally or figuratively): – put a difference, show marvellous, separate, set apart, sever, make wonderfully.
Occurrences in Bible: 7
WE MUST BE SEVERED FROM OTHER PEOPLE
Leviticus 20:25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I YAHUAH am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
severed
H914
Lemma: בּדל ⟺ בָּדַל
Transliteration: bâdal
Pronunciation: baw-dal’
Part of Speech: Verb
Root Word (Etymology): A primitive root
BDB Lexicon:
1. to divide, separate
a. (Hiphil)
1. to divide, separate, sever
2. to separate, set apart
3. to make a distinction, difference
4. to divide into parts
b. (Niphal)
1. to separate oneself from (reflexive of 1a2)
2. to withdraw from
3. to separate oneself unto
4. to be separated
5. to be excluded
6. to be set apart
Strong’s Definitions:
A primitive root; to divide (in various senses literally or figuratively, separate, distinguish, differ, select, etc.): – (make, put) difference, divide (asunder), (make) separate (self, -ation), sever (out), X utterly.
Occurrences in Bible: 42
THE SET APART PEOPLE WILL BE GATHERED TOGETHER
Zep 2:1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
Zep 2:2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of YAHUAH come upon you, before the day of YAHUAH’S anger come upon you.
Zep 2:3 Seek ye YAHUAH, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of YAHUAH’S anger.
WHEN WE ARE SET APART AND COME TOGETHER, WE MUST BE OF THE SAME MIND
Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Acts 2:47 Praising Aluah, and having favour with all the people. And YAHUAH added to the church daily such as should be saved.
WE MUST HAVE ONE STANDARD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (SINGLEMINDED)
BOOKS OF THE NATSARIM Chapter 7:7-9
7 While eating, Yahusha said, “No man of himself can know right from wrong. For what is right in one man’s eyes may be wrong in another’s, therefore strife arises among them.
Only when men accept a single standard of judgment and abide by it can there be peace. When men live together without the light of the Torah, they are like a house built with unmortared bricks, or like men trying to tow a boat but all pulling in different directions.”
8 “There are two laws – the law of men and the Torah of the Father whois in Heaven. When I speak of the Torah, I do not mean the law of men. I am the Light illuminating Yahuah’s Torah so men see it more clearly, and though I fulfill the Torah, I do not change it. Never say ‘this is right’
or ‘that is wrong,’ but only ‘this is right or wrong according to the Torah, and in the Light of Yahusha.’”
9 “I bring new oil for the lamp of the Torah, for that within it is now impure, and the light produces too much obscuring smoke. For I am the Son of Man and bear the sufferings of men, coming to fulfill their hopes even as it has been foretold. Is it not said among the Jesseneth that the Son of Man is the perfected man who will set the standard for those who wish to be true sons of Elohim?”
WE MUST COME OUT OF HER (IN RIGHTEOUSNESS)
Ezra 6:21 And the children of Yasharal, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek YAHUAH Aluah of Yasharal, did eat,
Ezra 6:22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for YAHUAH had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of Aluah, the Aluah of Yasharal.
SINGLEMINDEDNESS (ONE HEART) AND “MY PEOPLE”
Jer_24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am YAHUAH: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Bar 2:30 For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves.
Bar 2:31 And shall know that I am YAHUAH their God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to hear:
Bar 2:32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name,
Bar 2:33 And return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before YAHUAH.
Bar 2:34 And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished.
Bar 2:35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.
WHAT KEEPS US FROM MOVING FORWARD? DOUBLEMINDEDNESS
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to Aluah. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to Aluah, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
THE BIG CHALLENGE: THE LURE OF THE WORLD: WHY WE MUST DENY SELF
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of Aluah abideth for ever.
THE DOUBLEMINDEDNESS OF LOT’S WIFE
Genesis 19:24 Then YAHUAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from YAHUAH out of heaven;
Genesis 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
1 Clem. 11:1 For his hospitality and godliness Lot was saved from Sodom, when all the country round about was judged by fire and brimstone; the Master having thusfore shown that He forsaketh not them which set their hope on Him, but appointeth unto punishment and torment them which swerve aside.
1 Clem. 11:2 For when his wife had gone forth with him, being otherwise minded and not in accord, she was appointed for a sign hereunto, so that she became a pillar of salt unto this day, that it might be known unto all men that they which are double-minded and they which doubt concerning the power of Aluah are set for a judgment and for a token unto all the generations.
DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE OF A DOUBLE HEART
Book of Enoch 91.3 And he spoke about righteousness to all his sons, and said:
“Hear, my children, all the words of your father, and listen properly to the voice of my mouth, for I will testify and speak to you – my beloved. Love uprightness and walk in it!
91.4 And do not draw near to uprightness with a double heart, and do not associate with those of a double heart, but walk in righteousness my children and it will lead you in good paths, and righteousness will be your companion.
DOUBLE MINDS KEEP US FROM HAVING OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED
Ecclesiasticus 1:28 Distrust not the fear of YAHUAH when thou art poor: and come not unto him with a double heart.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of YAHUAH.
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
A DEEPER LOOK INTO DOUBLEMINDEDNESS AND FAITH
Shepherd of Hermas chapter 39:1-12 ( page 42)
Commandment 9
Double-Mindedness
39 He said to me, “Rid yourself of double-mindedness, and do not be at all double-minded about asking Aluah for something, saying to yourself, for example, ‘How can I ask for something from Aluah and receive it, when I have sinned so often against him?’
2 Do not reason in this way, but turn to YAHUAH with all your heart and ask of him unhesitatingly, and you will know his extraordinary compassion, be-cause he will never abandon you but will fulfill your soul’s request.
3 For Aluah is not like humans, who bear grudges; no, he is without malice and has compassion on his creation.
4 You, therefore, cleanse your heart of all the vanities of this life, and of all the things mentioned to you above, and ask of YAHUAH, and you will receive everything, and will not fail to receive all of your requests, if you ask unhesitat- ingly.
5 But if you hesitate in your heart, you will certainly not receive any of your requests. For those who hesitate in their relation to Aluah are the double-minded, and they never obtain any of their requests.
6 But those who are perfect in faith make all their requests trusting in YAHUAH, and they receive them, because they ask unhesitatingly, without any double-mindedness. For any double-minded person
who does not repent will scarcely be saved.
7 So cleanse your heart of double-mindedness and put on faith, because it is strong, and trust Aluah that you will receive all the requests you make. And whenever
you ask for something from YAHUAH and you receive your request rather slowly, do not become double-minded just because you did not receive your soul’s request quickly, for assuredly it is because of some
temptation or some transgression, of which you are ignorant, that you are receiving your request rather slowly.
8 Do not stop, therefore, making your soul’s request, and you will receive it. But if you become weary and double-minded as you ask, blame yourself and not the one who gives to you.
9 Beware of this double-mindedness, for it is evil and senseless, and has uprooted many from the faith, even those who are very faithful and strong. For this double-mindedness is indeed a daughter of the devil, and does much evil to Aluah’s servants.
10 So despise double-mindedness and gain mastery over it in everything by clothing yourself with faith that is strong and powerful. For faith promises all things, perfects all things; but double-mindedness, not having any confidence in itself, fails in all the works it tries to do.
11 So you see,” he said, “that faith is from above, from YAHUAH, and has great power, but double-mindedness is an earthly spirit from the devil that has no power.
12 So serve faith, which has power, and have nothing to do with double-mindedness, which has no power, and you will live to Aluah; indeed, all who are so minded will live to Aluah.”
WE CANNOT BE TRUE “SOLDIERS” IF WE HAVE DOUBLE HEARTS
1 Chronicles 12:33 Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.
DOUBLE MINDED WILL BE THINKING AND SPEAKING VANITY
Psalms 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
DOUBLEMINDEDNESS AND AN ANGRY TEMPER
Hermas page 36, chapter 34
1 “Now hear,” he said, “how an angry temper works, how evil it is, and how it subverts Aluah’s servants by its working, and how it leads them astray from righteousness. But it does not lead astray those who are filled with faith, nor can it work on them, because YAHUAH’S
power is with them. But it can lead astray those who are empty-headed and double-minded.
2 For whenever it sees such people prospering, it insinuates itself into the person’s heart, and for no reason at all the man or the woman is embittered over worldly concerns, either about food or something trivial, or some friend, or about giving or receiving, or foolish matters such as these. For these things are all foolish and empty and senseless and inexpedient for Aluah’s servants.
3 But patience is great and strong, and possesses a mighty and vigor- ous power, and prospers in a spacious area; it is joyful, exultant, free from care, glorifying YAHUAH at all times, having no bitterness in itself, always remaining gentle and quiet. This patience, therefore, lives with those whose faith is perfect.
DOUBLEMINDEDNESS AND ITCHING EARS
Hermas page 18, chapter 15:1 “And the other stones that you saw thrown far from the tower, and falling onto the road and rolling off the road to wastelands, are those who have believed but because of their double-mindedness abandon their true road. Thinking that they can find a better way, they go astray and wander about in misery, trudging through the wastelands.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before Aluah, and the Master Yahusha HaMashiach, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
YOUR DOUBLEMINDEDNESS CAUSE YOU TO LACK UNDERSTANDING
Hermas, page 22, Chapt 18:9
9 I answered him and said, “Sir, I ask only this one thing about the three forms of the elderly woman: that a complete revelation may be given.” He answered me and said, “How long will you people lack understanding? Your double-mindedness causes you to lack understanding; indeed, you lack it because your heart is not set toward YAHUAH.”
Hermas Vision 4 (The Beast and the Bride) pg 24, Chapt 22:1 to 23:6
Vision 4 Chapter 22
A Beast and a Bride
1 What I saw, brothers and sisters, twenty days after the previous vision occurred, was a foreshadowing of the impending persecution.
2 I was going into the country by the Campanian Way. The place is a little over a mile from the public road, and is easily reached.
3 So, as I was walking by myself, I asked YAHUAH to complete the revelations and visions that he showed to me through his holy church, in order that he might strengthen me and grant repentance to his servants who had
stumbled, so that his great and glorious name might be glorified, because he considered me worthy to show his wonders to me.
4 And as I was glorifying him and giving him thanks, the sound, as it were, of a voice answered me: “Do not be double-minded, Hermas.” I began to discuss this with myself and to say, “How can I be double-minded when I have been so firmly established by YAHUAH and have seen glorious things?”
5 And I went on a little farther, brothers and sisters, and behold, I saw a cloud of dust rising up, as it were, to heaven, and I began to say to myself, “Maybe some cattle are coming and raising a cloud of dust?” And it was about two hundred yards away from me.
6 As the cloud of dust grew larger and larger, I began to suspect that it was something supernatural. Then the sun shone a little more brightly, and behold, I saw a huge beast, like some sea monster, and from its mouth flaming locusts were pouring out. And the beast was about one hundred feet long, and it had a head like a ceramic jar.
7 And I began to cry and to beg YAHUAH to rescue me from it. And I remembered the word that I had heard: “Do not be double-minded, Hermas.”
8 So, brothers and sisters, having put on the faith of the Master and remembering the great things he had taught me, I took courage and faced the beast. And the beast was coming on with such a rush that it could have destroyed a city.
9 I came near it, and huge though it was, the sea monster stretched itself out on the ground and merely thrust out its tongue, and did not even twitch until I had passed by it. 10 And the beast had four colors on its head: black, then the color of fire and blood, then gold, and then white.
Vision 4 Chapter 23
1 Now after I had passed the beast and gone on ahead about thirty feet, behold, a young lady met me dressed as if she were coming out of a bridal chamber, all in white and with white sandals, veiled down to her forehead, and her head covering was a turban, and her hair was white.
2 I knew from the previous visions that she was the church, and I became more cheerful. She greeted me, saying, “Good morning, my man,” and I greeted her in return: “Good morning, lady.”
3 She answered and said to me, “Did nothing meet you?” I said to her, “Lady, a beast so huge that it could destroy entire peoples, but by the power of YAHUAH and by his great mercy I escaped it.”
4 “You deserved to escape it,” she said, “because you cast your cares on Aluah and opened your heart to the Master, believing that you could not be saved by anything except the great and glorious Name. Therefore the
Lord sent his angel who has authority over the beasts, whose name is Thegri, and he shut its mouth so that it might not hurt you. You have escaped a great tribulation because of your faith, and because you were
not double-minded, even though you saw such a huge beast.
5 Go, therefore, and declare to YAHUAH’S elect his mighty works, and tell them that this beast is a foreshadowing of the great tribulation that is coming. So, if you prepare yourselves in advance and turn to YAHUAH with all your heart, you will be able to escape it, if your heart is clean and unblemished and you serve YAHUAH blamelessly for the rest of the days of your life. Cast your cares upon YAHUAH, and he will set them straight. 6 Trust in YAHUAH, you who are double-minded, because he can do all things; he both turns his wrath away from you and sends out plagues upon you who are double-minded. Woe to those who hear these words and disobey them; it would have been better for them not to have been born.”
WRETCHED ARE THE DOUBLEMINDED
1 Clem. 23:2 Therefore let us not be double-minded, neither let our soul indulge in idle humors respecting His exceeding and glorious gifts.
1 Clem. 23:3 Let this scripture be far from us where He saith Wretched are the double-minded, Which doubt in their soul and say, These things we did hear in the days of our fathers also, and behold we have grown old, and none of these things hath befallen us.
IN SINGLEMINDEDNESS, THERE IS EVERYTHING PLEASING BEFORE YAHUAH
Testament of Issachar page 43
3:5 I lived my life with singleness of vision. Accordingly, when I was thirty-five I took myself a wife because hard work consumed my energy, and pleasure with a woman never came to my mind; rather sleep overtook me because of my labor.
3:6 And my father was continually rejoicing in my integrity. Whatever it was that I labored over at every harvest and whenever there was a firstborn, I first made an offering to YAHUAH through the priest, then for my father, and then for myself.
3:7 And YAHUAH doubled the good things in my hands. Ya’acob knew that Alahiym collaborated with my integrity.
3:8 In the integrity of my heart, I supplied everything from the good things of the earth to all the poor and the oppressed.
4:1 Now, listen to me, children, and live in integrity of heart, for in it I have observed everything that is well-pleasing to YAHUAH.
4:2 The genuine man does not desire gold, he does not defraud his neighbor, he does not long for fancy foods, nor does he want fine clothes.
4:3 He does not make plans to live a long life, but awaits only the will of Alahiym.
4:4 And the ruachoth of error have no power over him, since he does not include feminine beauty in the scope of his vision, lest by allowing distraction he might corrupt his mind.
4:5 Envy will not penetrate his thinking; no malice dissipates his soul; no avarice in- upon his integrity.
4:6 For he lives by the integrity of his soul, and perceives all things by the rectitude of his heart, making no place for an outlook made evil by this world’s error, in order that he might envision no turning aside from any of YAHUAH’s commands upon his integrity.
4:6 For he lives by the integrity of his soul, and perceives all things by the rectitude of his heart, making no place for an outlook made evil by this world’s error, in order that he might envision no turning aside from any of YAHUAH’s commands
REPENT & DRIVE AWAY DOUBLEMINDEDNESS TO RECEIVE FORGIVENESS
Hermas page 9, Chapt 6
4 After you have made known to them all these words, which the Master ordered me to reveal to you, then all the sins that they have previously committed will be forgiven them. Indeed, all the saints who have sinned up to this day will be forgiven, if they repent with all their heart and drive away double-mindedness from their heart.
7 You, therefore, who work righteousness must be steadfast, and do not be double-minded, in order that you may gain entrance with the holy angels. Blessed are those of you who patiently endure the coming great tribulation and who will not deny their life.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
CONCLUSION
2 Clement 19. Therefore, brothers and sisters, following the Aluah of truth, I am reading you an exhortation to pay attention to that which is written, that you may both save yourselves and him who is the reader among you. For as a reward I beg of you that you repent with all your heart, and give to yourselves salvation and life. For if we do this we shall set a mark for all the younger, who wish to work in the cause of piety and the goodness of Aluah. And let us not be displeased or be vexed in our foolishness when any one admonishes us, and turns us from unrighteousness to righteousness. For sometimes when we do evil we do not know it because of the double-mindedness and unbelief which is in our breasts, and we are “darkened in our understanding” by vain desires. Let us then do righteousness, that we may be saved at the end. Blessed are they who obey these instructions: though they suffer for a short time in this world, they shall gather the immortal fruit of the resurrection. Let not, then, the pious grieve if he endure sorrow at this present time; a time of blessedness awaits him; he shall live again with the fathers above, and rejoice to an eternity wherein is no sorrow.
20. But neither let it grieve your mind that we see the unrighteous enjoying wealth, and the servants of Aluah oppressed. Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters: we are con- tending in the contest of the living Aluah, and we are being trained by the life which now is, that we may gain the crown in that which is to come. None of the righteous has attained a reward quickly, but waits for it; for if Aluah should pay the recompense of the righteous speedily, we should immediately be training ourselves in commerce and not in godliness; for we should seem to be righteous when we were pursuing not piety but gain. For this reason divine judgment punishes a spirit which is not righteous and loads it with chains. To the only invisible Aluah, the father of truth, who sent forth to us the Saviour and prince of immortality, through whom he also made manifest to us truth and the life of heaven, to him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
