Barnabas, Epistle of Barnabas 4

We must therefore examine the present situation very carefully, searching out what can save us. Let us flee completely from every work of lawlessness, or the works of lawlessness will overtake us; and let us hate the deception of this present age, so that we may be loved in the age to come. We must not give our souls any rest, or they will gain the power to run alongside sinners and the wicked, and we will become like them. The perfect stumbling block has drawn near, the one written about, as Enoch says. For the Master has cut short the times and the days so that his beloved may hurry and come into the inheritance, and the prophet puts it this way: "Ten kingdoms will reign on the earth, and a little king will rise up behind them; he will humble three of the kings into one" (Enoch). Daniel speaks of the same thing: "I saw a fourth beast, evil and strong and more savage than all the beasts of the sea; from it ten horns arose, and from them a little horn, an offshoot, and it humbled three of the great horns into one" (Daniel). You ought to understand this. And I also ask you this, as one of you, loving all of you even more than my own soul: pay attention to yourselves right now, and do not imitate those who pile up their sins while claiming, "Their covenant is ours as well." It is ours, indeed, but they lost it in the end, even though they had already received it through Moses. For Scripture says: "Moses was on the mountain fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord, stone tablets written with the finger of the Lord's hand" (Exod 34:28). But they turned back to idols and lost it. For the Lord says: "Moses, Moses, come down quickly, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted lawlessly" (Exod 32:7). And Moses understood and threw the two tablets from his hands, and their covenant was shattered, so that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed in our hearts in the hope of his faith. Although I wanted to write many things, I did so not as a teacher but as one who loves, so that we would not fall short of what we possess; I have labored to write to you for your sake. Therefore let us be watchful in these last days: the whole time of our faith will not help us if we do not now, in this lawless time and amid the coming scandals, resist as befits sons of God, so that the evil one may not gain a foothold. Let us flee from all emptiness; let us utterly hate the works of the evil way. Do not retreat into solitude as though you were already justified, but gather together and seek the common good. For Scripture says: "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and discerning in their own sight" (Isa 5:21). Let us become spiritual; let us become a perfect temple for God. As far as it lies within us, let us practice the fear of God and strive to keep his commandments, so that we may rejoice in his righteous judgments. The Lord will judge the world without partiality. Each person will receive according to what he has done: if he is good, his righteousness will go before him; if he is evil, the reward of evil will be before him. Let us not, while resting at ease as called ones, be overcome by our sins, and let the evil ruler not seize authority over us and cast us out of the kingdom of the Lord. And one more thing, my brothers: understand this: when you see so many signs and wonders that have taken place in Israel, and yet they have been abandoned, let us pay attention, lest, as it is written, we find that many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14).