Беседа о Святом Духе. Св. Иоанна Златоустого, архиепископа Константинопольского

Christ-loving ones! Yesterday we glorified the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is necessary to dwell longer on the narrative of the adored Spirit and say something more clearly about His holy and glorious power. Let us speak about the Holy Spirit not on the basis of what we ourselves think, but on the basis of what Divine words teach us about Him; it would be better to say: on the basis of the fact that He Himself proclaims about Himself, speaks through the mouth of the prophets, through the apostles. By His nature, the Holy Spirit is indivisible, since it comes from an indivisible and indivisible nature. His name is: the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Christ. This is what Scripture calls Him; it would be better to say: He calls Himself both the Spirit of God and the Spirit Who is from God. The Spirit is called the Holy Spirit. This is His most important and first name, containing the most expressive meaning and showing the nature of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, Spirit of God. Who calls Him the Spirit of God? - Listen to the Savior: if I through the Spirit of God will cast out demons (Matthew 12:28). So that anyone, having heard about the Spirit of God, does not think that some kind of community is designated here, and not a community of nature, St. Paul says: we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God (1 Cor. 2:12). In turn, the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Father, as the Savior speaks about this to the holy apostles: do not worry about how or what you say: for you will not be the ones who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matthew 10:19, 20). What the Lord attributed to Himself: I breathed out from the Father (John 16:28,27), and also attributes this to the Holy Spirit, saying: who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26). So the Spirit is the Spirit of God and the Spirit is from God the Father, and He proceeds from the Father. What is the meaning of the word “emanates”? In order to avoid the name: “birth” and in order not to call the Spirit the Son, Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit: who proceeds from the Father; it calls the Spirit emanating just as water springs up from the earth. As it is said about paradise: a river comes out of Eden (Gen. 2:10), so the Spirit comes out and flows out. The Father is called a fountain of living waters, as the prophet Jeremiah speaks about this: the heavens were horrified at this, and the earth trembled greatly. My people have done two evils: They have left Me without the fountain of living water (Jer. 2:12,13). The Divine Word, defining the Father as a source of living water, speaks of living water emanating from the source of life: which comes from the Father. What's coming out? - Holy Spirit. How? -Like water from a spring. But why is the Holy Spirit called water? The Savior says: believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly. Offering an explanation regarding this water, the Evangelist adds: this is the speech about Dus, whom believers want to receive in His name (John 7:38-39). So, if the Evangelist John, giving an explanation regarding the Holy Spirit, called Him living water, and the Father says; If I left the source of water alive, then, therefore, the Father is the source of the Spirit; therefore the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Therefore, I repeat, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God and the Spirit who is from God, the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit who is from the Father. Isaiah, on behalf of Christ, testifies to the Spirit of the Lord: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the sake of anointing me (Isaiah 61:1); ap. Paul: But the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17). If the Spirit is present somewhere, and if therefore there is freedom there, then is He really a slave? How does He give what He does not have? How does He Himself, being a slave, free others? Let not the heretics deceive you with their tricks. The Apostle says: And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6). Elsewhere up. Paul calls Him the Spirit of Christ: but you are not in the flesh, but in spirit, because the Spirit of Christ dwells in you (Rom. 8:9). Pay attention to this holy plexus. Ap. Paul brings onto the stage, as it were, some holy and living rope from a threefold woven power, uniting the inseparable nature and pointing to a single power with various names. But you, says the Apostle, are in the flesh. but in spirit. Here is the Spirit. Because the Spirit of God lives in you. Here is the Spirit of God. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9)... And, of course, one should say: If anyone does not have the Spirit of God, but it is said: the Spirit of Christ. The Apostle said this in order to show that if there is a Spirit, then so is Christ, that it is one and the same thing: Christ is present and the Spirit is present, and that it is the same thing to say: the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, which is the Spirit of the Son, as Paul says: God sent the Spirit of His Son (Gal. 4:6). So, He is both the Spirit of the Son and the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ; Listen to Paul himself: if the spirit of the resurrected Christ lives in you (Rom. 8:11). These are the names of the holy and immaculate Power, the Holy and Worshipful Spirit. There are other names that correspond not to His nature, but to His activity. The Spirit is called the Spirit of life because the Savior says: I am the truth and the life (John 14:6); The Spirit is called the Spirit of life, just as Paul says: the law is for the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). These names indicate the same dignity, the same nature. There are other names that are attributed not to the Holy Spirit, but to His power and action, when, for example, we are talking about His gifts. When someone has the gracious gift of love, he is said to have the spirit of love. When someone receives the gracious gift of martyrdom, they say that he has the spirit of power, that is, the gracious gift. The gift is called by the same name as the One who gives it. Therefore, Paul says: do not accept the spirit of work or fear, but accept the spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15); He did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7). The gift of grace is here called the Spirit, as in the case when it is said: but you have been marked with the holy spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13). Ap. Paul says: having the same spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13) and promises, that is, the gracious gift of the Spirit. So here is the spirit of faith, the spirit of promise. If anyone is meek and lowly in heart, he has received the gift of meekness. It is said about this: if a person falls into some sin, you spiritually correct such a person with the spirit of meekness (Gal. 6:1), that is, with the grace-filled gift of meekness. Be careful, says Scripture, for yourself, lest you also be tempted (Gal. 6:1). This is the spirit of meekness. To another is given the sanctification of soul and body, and it is called the spirit of holiness, just as the Apostle says: Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, is called an apostle, chosen for the gospel of God, as His prophets first promised, according to the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:1, 2, 4). This passage says that Paul was made an apostle by the Spirit of holiness. When was it installed? - After the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since the other apostles were chosen before the suffering of Christ, and he was chosen after Christ’s resurrection, that is why it is said: according to the Spirit of holiness. Let's also say something else. When, during the holy sacraments, we all begin to say: Our Father, who art in heaven (Matthew 6:9), then it means that we have received a gift: the spirit of sonhood, that is, the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. The spirit is called the spirit of jealousy, as Paul says: because you also are zealous in the spirit (1 Cor. 14:12), that is, you have zeal for spiritual gifts. Isaiah speaks again: after all, one and the same Spirit speaks through the mouth of all. Therefore, as Paul spoke about the spirit of life, the spirit of love, the spirit of promise, the spirit of faith, the spirit of meekness, the spirit of sonhood, so blessed Isaiah: “a rod will come out,” he says, “from the root of Jesus, and a flower will arise from it: and the Spirit of God will rest on it (Is. 11: 1, 2). Here is the name of the nature of the Spirit Himself. Then follow His grace-filled gifts: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of vision and piety, the spirit of the fear of God (Isa. 11:2, 3). In the case where the depths must be comprehended, the gift of grace is called the spirit of revelation; where love should be, is called the spirit of love; where it is necessary for the teacher to speak clearly, it is called the spirit of wisdom; where the listener must clearly understand what is being said to him is called the spirit of understanding. The spirit of advice is given to the adviser, the spirit of power is given to the one who accepts the advice: the adviser receives the grace-filled gift to say something useful, and the one receiving the advice receives the grace to do what is useful. Each of these grace-filled gifts was given for a specific need. In another case, God promises to impart the grace of love for mankind and says: I will pour out on the house of David the spirit of grace and generosity (Zech. 1:10), that is, the gift of love for mankind. In turn, the gracious gift of humility is communicated. How is this clear? – The three youths in the cave, being righteous, trampled on the flame, but, like the humble, they called themselves sinners; and since they were righteous, they humbled themselves, they received the spirit of humility, the grace-filled gift of humility. When someone receives the grace-filled gift of performing judgment, he accepts the spirit of judgment as Isaiah says: and the Lord will cleanse them with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of heat (Is. 4:4), calling the punishing and cleansing power the spirit of judgment and the spirit of heat. David asks for a right spirit that would lead him to the right path. Since David’s heart was corrupted, and since he unjustly made a decision that destroyed his husband, he asks God, saying: renew a right spirit in my womb, and strengthen me with a ruling spirit (Ps. 50:12,13,14), that is, with a grace-filled gift that controls the passions and has dominion over pleasures. This is what we said about the Divine dignity of the Holy Spirit and the difference in His actions. The heretics, not knowing that Scripture, when speaking about the spirit of holiness or promise, means the gifts of the Spirit, attribute this to His nature. They distorted the truth, mixed everything up, got confused, went astray from the path of truth: their foolish heart was darkened: they say to be wise, foolish (Rom. 1:21-22). Therefore, they reason: “The Spirit does not say to receive from Himself, but will receive from Jesus Christ (- 16:13, 14)? Has not Scripture, they say, made it clear that He is subject to the authority of the Son, that the Son lends Him, and that then the Spirit delivers His gifts to others? Pay special attention to the matter. When something said seems to you to excite bewilderment, do not immediately attack this expression, but wait until the end of the thought. There is one nature of the Son and the Spirit, one power, one truth, one life, one wisdom. Since the Savior deigned to take on our nature, He has been filled with the Holy Spirit, not because He was lower than the Holy Spirit, but because the flesh had to receive the descent of the Spirit in human form. Does the Father really accept the Son because He, the Father, is powerless? Does the Son really receive the Spirit for the same reason? But because there is one nature, which acts all in all, one is accomplished by the Father, and is perceived in all nature; the other is the Son, and passes into all nature; and the third is Spirit, and is perceived in all nature. So, the Spirit descends not because the Divinity of the Son was not enough, but in order that in this way the perfect knowledge of the Trinity would be revealed. The flesh of the Lord was rewarded with the Holy Spirit, and then the Savior wanted to give into the ownership of the Holy Spirit the body that He, the Lord, had received - to give so that everything that Christ would do in the flesh would be attributed to the Holy Spirit, who lived in Him, as in a holy human church. Christ is a man for our sake, but in Himself God; He is God in Himself, and man is by virtue of His love for mankind. He cast out demons and wanted to attribute their casting out to the Holy Spirit, saying: if I, in the Holy Spirit, cast out demons (Matthew 12:28); He did not say: “By God the Word” (I cast out), but attributes this to the Holy Spirit, as if a holy man was honored with the Holy Spirit. It is known that when Christ entered the church, he took the book of the prophet Isaiah and read what was written about Himself: and unfolding, the Scripture reports, the book, he said: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (Luke 4:17, 18). Is this befitting God the Word? Does God really say: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me? Is it not unquestioning that a person’s face says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for the sake of My anointing (Isa. 61:1)? I am anointed with the Holy Spirit." Therefore ap. Peter says: Jesus was from Nazareth, and God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38). Let's stop our attention here. All of the above serves to clarify the words: he will receive from Mine (John 16:14). Jesus Christ was awarded the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Jordan; and John says: I saw the heavens parting and the Spirit of God descending like a dove and remaining on Him (John 1:32; Mark 1:10). No one is so wicked as to think that the Godhead has received the Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (61:1). The flesh was baptized, the one who was baptized came out of the water and was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1); was raised up, and the flesh had the Holy Spirit, as if it were a teacher. Why was He erected? - To give us an image: “just as My flesh is guided not by lusts, but by the Spirit, so should you do.” That's why ap. Paul says: if you are led by the Spirit, you are in the flesh; and: while the little ones are led by the Spirit of God, they are not under the law (Gal. 5:18; Rom. 8:14). The flesh of Christ is guided by the Spirit; We will also be guided by it: after all, for this reason the Lord takes everything upon Himself in order to leave us an image. Christ was raised up by the Spirit, was tempted, and the devil was defeated; It was not the Divinity who won, because it would be a dishonor for the Divine to say about Itself that It had won. If God were victorious, then it would generally be possible that He Himself was victorious. So that the image of Adam, which fell into error at the beginning, subsequently wins, for this a new Man comes, accompanied by the power of the Spirit. Therefore, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted; and when He returned as a conqueror, Scripture speaks of Him: And Jesus returned in spiritual strength from the wilderness (Luke 4:14). So, the flesh had the Holy Spirit, not a part of spiritual gifts, as we have, when wisdom is imparted to one, and knowledge to another; but she had all the talents. In relation to us, talents are divided; in the flesh of Christ all manifestations of grace, all gifts were on the face, according to the essence of the flesh. And pay attention: at first the Lord filled His church with all kinds of grace-filled powers. He had the gift of healing illnesses, casting out demons, raising the dead, predicting the future, performing works of truth; He could do everything and possessed the fullness of spiritual gifts, since the Lord’s flesh of the body was filled with all kinds of grace-filled gifts. It was necessary that then we also generally receive some from the Lord’s body, as if from a storehouse; given from him to both the apostles and prophets. John testified that in Him (i.e., the Lord) was all the fullness of the Divinity; and Paul: in him dwells all the fulfillment of the physical Godhead (Col. 2:9). He did not simply say: the Divinity lived in him, but: the fulfillment of the Divinity, that is, every gift of the Divine physical: in His flesh is all the fullness of wisdom, intelligence, strength, miracles, all activity. Then from His fullness we borrow everything for ourselves: from His fulfillment we all receive (John 1:16). He received completeness, and we - from it. How? From the time the Spirit filled the Lord’s flesh with Himself, the Lord drew from it, as from a source, and lent gifts to people. Pay attention to the exact meaning of the words. The Lord did not say: “He will receive from Me,” but: from Mine (John 16:14). From Mine, from whom? He will give you of Mine; however, He Himself will accept. He receives not as something lent, but since He filled the source, as if the foundation of grace-filled gifts, He draws from the container and offers it to everyone from His own property. God filled Moses with the Spirit, and Moses said: I alone cannot bear the burden of these people; choose another for yourself. God says to him: gather seventy elders, and I will take away from the spirit that is in you, and I will put it on you (Numbers 2:14, 16, 17); He did not say: “I will take your spirit,” but: from the spirit that is in you; I will take from Mine. God says: in those days I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and they will prophesy (Joel 2:28). If God, who took from Moses, was lent to them, then the Spirit, who took from the Son, was also lent to Him. Moses was the image of Christ, because, as the spirit who was in Moses, the elders are filled, just as the universe received the Holy Spirit from Christ. From what was given to Me alone, the Lord’s man, He who gave Himself takes Himself, Who descended on Me and remained in Me, Who anointed Me, sanctified Me, brought Me into the wilderness and brought Me back victorious. He will receive from Mine and will tell you. And to show that He remembered not the Holy Spirit, but His gifts, immediately after the words: he will receive from Mine, he adds: all that the Father has is Mine (John 16:15). I received it from the Holy Spirit; That’s why he said: He will receive from Mine. Since God sanctified the flesh with the Holy Spirit, and the Father sent down into the flesh of Christ the gift of the Spirit, and grace, having come, invested all the gifts in Christ, then He says: He will receive from Mine, and will tell you. What does the expression mean: “to speak not of oneself, but if he hears, he will tell you” (John 16:13, 14)? It was said earlier that one thing is the Holy Spirit and another is a gift of grace; the other is the king and the other is the gift of the king. You speak of the Spirit: to speak not from Himself. The Savior says about Himself: I do not speak from Myself, but I say what I heard from My Father. Behold, the Son does not speak from Himself. Two balanced expressions: “neither the Spirit from Himself”, “neither the Son from Himself” say anything. But the Son has need of the Father; the Spirit also needs the Father. Until now, equal honor belongs to both. Why did the Savior say: I speak not of Myself; and about the Spirit: do not say the verb to have from oneself? I ask your love, let us stop our attention here. While Christ is one, many false Christs appeared, as the Savior said about this: “hiding behind My name, many false Christs and false prophets will come” (Matthew 24:24). Although Christ is one, and His coming was announced by the prophets, even before His appearance some deceivers arose, saying: “We are Christs.” Fevda says: “It’s me.” Judas the Galilean: “It is I.” And they misled many. Since these, who were seducers earlier than others and took the name of Christ, tried to convince the people that they were Christs, appearing not at the same time, but each separately (one now, and the other at another time), then Christ says: all of them, since they came before Me, were also thieves. But the sheep did not listen to them. Those false Christs came and did not learn either from the law or from the prophets, but spoke from themselves and guided by their own opinions. The Savior, having come, did not retreat from the prophets, but spoke, for example, like this: Isaiah prophesied well, saying (Matthew 15:7); and another time: Is it not written in your law (John 8:17)? And when the devil came to Him, the Lord said to him: It is written: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and serve him only (Matthew 4:10). So, Christ, having come in the flesh, did not speak from Himself, but from the prophets. Since those who came before Christ did not speak in the name of Christ, neither from the law, nor through the mouth of the prophets, but, guided by their personal opinions, expressed erroneous views and thoughts, the Savior says: I do not speak from myself, as they do (John 14:10). Speaking from Himself means speaking outside the law. And how can it be seen that someone who speaks from himself is a false prophet, or that speech based on his personal opinion characterizes a false prophet? The prophet Ezekiel says: I, says the Lord to the prophets who misled His people, I did not send them. They spoke from themselves, and preach from their hearts (Jer. 14:14). Since the false prophets preached from themselves, the Savior, clearing Himself of such suspicion, says: I do not speak from Myself. After all, it is known that the Savior was suspected as a deceiver, that there was disagreement regarding Him: I said, “He is good,” and I said, “Nor, but he flatters the nations” (John 7:12); another time, after the holy death of the Savior, the bishops said to Pilate: Lord, let us remember that He is a flatterer and yet lives: in three days I will rise (Matthew 27:63). Since Christ was considered a deceiver, He says: I do not speak from myself, but from the law, from the prophets, what I heard from the Father (John 8:38; 15:15). Not according to My Divinity I heard from the Father, in the law, from the prophets. He speaks this on behalf of His flesh to dispel error. I do not speak from Myself, but from the prophets, from the law. So, just as the Savior, eliminating suspicion and removing bad assumptions regarding Him, says: I do not say from Myself, like deceivers, he should speak in exactly the same way about the Spirit. Please pay attention to the following here. According to the word of the Savior, there are many false Christs and false prophets; one said: “It is I,” and the other: “It is I,” as it is written: Many will come in My name, saying: I am Christ (Luke 21:8). Just as the name of Christ was taken by deceivers, in the same way many had to take on the appearance of people possessing the Holy Spirit, which they did not have, and he speaks about this. So, so that people would not be deceived by the name, since the gift of grace had to descend invisibly, the Lord says: “When the Comforter comes, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father; He will bring My words to your memory and guide you into all the truth: for it is not of Himself to speak (John 16:13, 7). If you notice someone repeating the words of the Gospel, then he truly has the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will come to bring to your remembrance what I have taught you. Therefore, if anyone who says about himself that he has the Spirit proclaims something from himself, and not on the basis of the Gospels, then do not believe him; follow My teaching." It is not from oneself to say the verb to have. But His appearance shows who has received the Holy Spirit and who has not. If anyone repeats the words of Christ, he has the Holy Spirit: no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). And pay attention to what is worthy of surprise: what is in the law, Christ completes; and what is in the teaching of Christ is complemented by the Spirit, not because the Father is imperfect, but just as Christ appeared, confirming what is from the Father, so the Holy Spirit appeared, confirming what is from the Son. How is this clear? The Savior says to the disciples: the imam has many words to say to you, but you cannot bear them now: when the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all the truth: for it is not of Himself to speak the words (John 16:12, 13); He complements Mine. The Son fulfills what is the Father, and does not speak from Himself; The Spirit fulfills that which is the Son, and does not speak from Himself. But if you hear anyone say; “I will send you the Holy Spirit,” then do not understand the words in relation to the Divine, because God is not sent. And so that you understand that a gift is sent and that the Spirit is not sent, the Savior says to the apostles: Sit ye ​​in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high (Lk. 24:49) and receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you. The other is the power that is given, and the other is the Spirit who gives. But all things act in one and the same Spirit, dividing each one individually as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). So, you are not able to prove that the Holy Spirit is sent by pure Divinity. If I prove to you that the Creator of heaven and earth is sent by the Holy Spirit, then what will you do? Either reject Christ and destroy the Scriptures, or, being a slave to the Scriptures, obey them. Listen to what God says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, the messenger of piety: “Listen,” he says, “to Me, Jacob and Israel, to whom I call: I am the first God (Is. 48:12). I am after this, and besides Me there is no God.” Pay attention: see how, under the image of unity of command, he secretly preaches the Trinity. And I am God first and I am still, and do I not have God? Who says this? Creator - because He adds: and My hand is the foundation of the earth (Is. 48:13). See how the Creator says: And My Spirit established the heavens; I have given My commands to all the stars; I have stirred up the king according to righteousness, and all My ways are right. Having called Himself the Creator and Maker of heaven and earth, He then says the following: when I was, there was, and now the Lord sent Me, and His Spirit (Isa. 48:16). You, who created heaven and earth, who said to the stars: The Lord sent Me, and God the Father gave birth to His Spirit according to Divinity and sent you carnally. The Creator of heaven says: The Lord sent Me, and His Spirit. The Father sent without moving away from Him and without removing Him from Himself and without separating Himself from Him. Therefore, Scripture says: God has poured out His Spirit (cf. Joel 2:28), that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Divinity is not poured out, but is a gift. Therefore, in order to prove that what is poured out is not the Holy Spirit, but the grace of the Divine Spirit, David says to Christ: grace is poured out on Your lips (Ps. 44:3). It is grace that is poured out, not the giver of grace. Almost the Holy Spirit, whom you received. Christ took your image from you, and He Himself gave you His Spirit. Amen 236. In short. See Full Collection. created St. Chrysostom in Russian translation, vol. III, pp. 876–896. In the Migne edition this conversation is classified as Spuria. You might be interested in: