Present contest, future crowns; the wicked's brief luxury and the resurrection hope

So let us not judge God's providence from present things alone, but also from the things to come. For the present things are a contest, wrestling-grounds, and a stadium; the things to come are prizes, crowns, and awards. Just as an athlete must fight in the wrestling-ground with sweat, dust, great heat, labors, and hardships, so also the righteous person here must endure many things and bear everything nobly, if he is going to receive back the shining crowns there. But if the prosperity of the wicked troubles some people, let them reason about those people in the same way again: just as robbers, grave-diggers, murderers, and pirates who sail the sea enjoy great luxury before they enter the courtroom, making other people's misfortunes their own wealth, acquiring unjust riches, and getting drunk every day—but when they come under the judge's votes, they pay the penalty for all those things—so also these people who buy prostitutes, set out Sybaritic tables, raise their eyebrows, swagger in the marketplace, and tear the poor to pieces, when the only-begotten Son of God arrives with His own angels and sits on that judgment seat and brings the whole world into the middle, will be brought in naked and stripped of all their show, with no advocate or protector, and without any pardon they will be carried away into the rivers of fire. So do not call these people blessed because of their luxury here, but weep for them because of the punishment to come. And do not call the righteous person wretched because of his poverty here, but call him blessed because of the coming wealth of good things. Root the teaching about the resurrection in your own mind, so that if you are good and are tested, you may become more approved, receiving greater eagerness from the hopes to come; and if you are wicked, you may turn away from evil, making yourself more self-controlled by the fear of the coming punishment.

2. For this reason Paul constantly stirs up the teaching about the resurrection for us, just as you heard him crying out today and saying: "For we know that if our earthly dwelling of the tent is destroyed, we have a dwelling from God, not made by hands, eternal, in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). But let us take the discussion further back and see from where he fell into the teaching about the resurrection. For he does not stir up this teaching constantly simply or by chance, but because he wants at the same time to teach about the things to come and to strengthen the athletes of godliness. For now, by God's grace, we enjoy great peace: kings live in godliness, rulers have come to know the truth, and peoples, cities, and nations have been freed from error and all worship Christ. But then, at the beginning of the preaching, when the seeds of godliness had just been sown, the war was great, varied, and of many kinds. For rulers, kings, household members, relatives, and everyone made war on the faithful, and the war was stirred up through nature itself. For a father often handed over his child, a mother her daughter, and a master his servant.