16. Let us then arouse ourselves as much as we can, beloved brethren; and breaking away from the slumber of indolence and security, let us be watchful for the observance of the Lord’s precepts. Let us with all our hearts seek for what we have lost, that we may be able to find; because “to him that seeketh,” says the Scripture, “it shall be given, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”62    Luke xi. 10. Let us cleanse our house with spiritual cleanliness, that every secret and hidden place of our breast, truly enlightened by the light of the Gospel, may say, “Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this great evil in Thy sight.”63    Ps. li. 4.  Because the death of sinners is evil, and in hell there is no repentance. Let us have in contemplation especially the day of judgment and retribution, and what must be believed by all of us, and firmly maintained, that “there is no acceptance of persons with God;”64    Rom. ii. 11. since He commanded in Deuteronomy, that the person must not be accepted in judgment: “Thou shalt not accept,” says He, “the person, neither shalt thou judge according to the least nor according to the greatest.”65    Deut. i. 17. Like words to these He also said by Ezekiel: “All souls,” said He, “are mine; as the soul of the father, so is the soul of the son: the soul that hath sinned, it shall die.”66    Ezek. xviii. 4. It is then He who must be revered by us; He must be held fast; He must be propitiated by our full and worthy confession, “who has the power of sending soul and body to the Gehenna of fire,”67    Matt. x. 28.—as it is written, “Behold, He cometh with many thousands of His messengers, to execute judgment upon all, and to destroy all the wicked, and to condemn all flesh, for all the deeds of the wicked which they have wickedly done, and for all the impious words which sinners have spoken about God.”68    Jude 14, 15.

XVI. Excitemus itaque nos quantum possumus, fratres dilectissimi, et abrupto inertiae et securitatis somno, ad observanda Domini praecepta vigilemus. Quaeramus tota mente quod perdidimus, ut invenire possimus; quia Quaerenti, ait Scriptura, dabitur, et 1216C pulsanti aperietur (Luc. XI, 10). Mundemus domum nostram munditia spiritali, ut secreta quaeque et abdita pectoris nostri, vero Evangelii lumine radiata, dicant: Tibi soli deliqui, et nequissimum in conspectu tuo feci (Psal. L, 6); Quia mors peccatorum mala; (Psal. XXXIII, 22) et apud inferos poenitentia nulla (Eccli. XI, 17): habentes in contemplatione maxime diem judicii et retributionis: et quod ab omnibus nobis credendum, et firmiter est tenendum, quia acceptio personarum non est apud Deum (Rom. II, 11); cum praeceperit in Deuteronomio non accipiendam personam in judicio: Non accipies, ait, personam, nec secundum minimum, nec secundum maximum judicabis (Deut. I, 17; XVI, 19). His similia et per Ezechielem dixit: Omnes, inquit, animae meae sunt; 1216D sicut anima patris, et anima filii: anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur (Ezech. XVIII, 4). Hic erit igitur a nobis venerandus, hic tenendus, hic per plenam et dignam nostram confessionem propitiandus, qui habet potestatem animam et corpus mittendi in gehennam ignis (Matth. X, 28), sicut scriptum est: Ecce venit cum multis millibus nuntiorum suorum facere judicium de omnibus, et perdere omnes impios, et arguere omnem carnem de omnibus factis impiorum 1217A quae fecerunt impie, et de omnibus verbis impiis quae de Deo locuti sunt peccatores (Judae 14, 15).