John Chrysostom

Let us not fear punishment. By this faith we shall escape punishment.… This is the correct attitude of the servants of God to be. For if those who were brought up under the old dispensation, when death was not yet slain, or his "brazen gates broken down" or his "iron bars cut into pieces" so nobly encountered their end, how destitute of all defense or excuse shall we be, if, after having had the benefit of such great grace, we attain not even to the same measure of virtue as they did, now when death is only a name, devoid of reality. For death is nothing more than a sleep, a journey, a migration, a rest, a tranquil haven, an escape from trouble and a freedom from the cares of this present life!