Слово 44

(1) The devil fights against people with five wiles. – (2) Every good deed that a person does must be done either in order to appease God or in order to thank Him. – (3) He who seeks to be saved must strive. – (4) In which people the King of all things and God reigns and in which he does not reign. 1. The devil, as an immaterial spirit, since the time of Adam’s transgression of God’s commandment, has acquired a certain power and audacity to act on human nature and has become very experienced in war against people, for the people he fights, dying, pass generation after generation, but he still lives and lives the same for six thousand six hundred years or more, and has a habit. He is always a secret enemy of people, always malicious and incites abuses against them, and especially against those of them who are now born, because those of today not only have no experience in fighting the devil, but have absolutely no idea about the warfare of the devil and the skill of the devil in it. Why and when he clearly beats them, they do not see it, and when he shoots them secretly, they do not feel it; he appears as an angel of light, but covers them with darkness. So he became, as I said, very skillful in fighting a person. The end and the purpose for which he wages this battle with man is great and terrible. Having initially separated and distanced the human race from God, he is now straining and trying in every possible way to prevent it from returning to God again, but to always keep it at a distance from Him. And if it happens that someone is called to be Jesus Christ and return to God, he, skilled and experienced in doing evil, tries in every possible way to alienate him from God again. For this reason, the devil has become very skilled in fighting people and fights them with five snares: Hellenism, Judaism, heresies, an anti-Orthodox way of life and (unreasonable) exploits of good deeds. Hellenism seduces people who love so-called external wisdom; with Judaism he seduces the Jews, persuading them to think that they believe well, since they honor the one God, by which he also seduces the Hagarians; with heresies seduces the superstitious worshipers of God, removing them from Orthodoxy; He removes the Orthodox from God through evil deeds and a life that is contrary to Orthodoxy, namely: love of money, love of voluptuousness, love of glory; again, through exploits of good deeds and self-willed deprivations of self-mortification, he plunges ascetics into pride, which is the root of all evil, as well as into addiction to human glory and honor. With this charm of pride, which is the destroyer of all virtues, he transforms and casts into the abyss the souls of poor ascetics who live in honor and truth, and persuades some of them to show the zeal of God not according to reason and the severity of an unreasonable life. Through this, he makes them tyrants of themselves, and they torment themselves with all sorts of hardships and sufferings, so that they will be glorified by people - which is worthy of extreme tears, because for this they are deprived of both present and future benefits. The destruction that all the other people we have mentioned are subject to is nothing compared to the losses that these people suffer. - This is how great and incomparable our misery is! Why should we seek in every possible way how we can avoid the slander of the devil? But we cannot get rid of it in any way, except if we resort to the God-man Jesus Christ, with all humility of soul and extreme contrition of heart. Then Christ Himself will fight for us through us, and we will calm down, for confronting and overcoming this enemy of ours cannot be done in any other way except through Christ the Lord alone. 2. So, if someone becomes poor for Christ, fasts, keeps vigils, mortifies his flesh by abstinence, gives alms and is compassionate and loving of mankind, all this is good; however, let him take good care of himself, so as not to lose his labors and the due reward for them in vain. For although such deeds are good deeds, there is another good that brings about a person’s salvation through them, and without which those who strive to be saved through such good deeds cannot be saved. It is the reason by virtue of which those who labor in them are saved, that is, in fasting, vigil, and so on. These latter are the means for two great things - propitiation and thanksgiving, for they must be done with reason, in order and gracefully. So, if any sinner, having heeded what John the Theologian says: everyone who sins does not see God nor know Him (1 John 3:6), comes to his senses and, realizing what disaster he has fallen into because of his sins, accepts the light of repentance and begins to carry out penitential deeds, through the demonstrated deeds - fasting, prayer and other things, so that God, seeing the contrition of his heart, humility and zeal, He was kind to him and reconciled with him, then God, seeing his humility and labor, leaves all his sins, reconciles with him and shows in him the signs of this pardon and reconciliation. Such signs are - peace from the passions that overcame him, hatred of sin, fear of God, held in every place, since God is omnipresent, contrition and tenderness of heart, reverence, attention of the mind to divine songs, to reading and listening to the Divine Scriptures. For it is impossible for these spiritual goodness to appear in anyone before appeasing God and reconciling with Him. When Divine grace is reconciled with the soul, then it overshadows it, embraces it in some way invisibly and causes the mind of that person to settle and gather into itself, having previously been fickle and scattered. This is the first great and wondrous deed that we spoke about, that is, the propitiation of God, for which he who has been worthy of it, and let him give thanks to God, who had mercy on him and was reconciled with him. After a person has been worthy of such mercy from God, healed and strengthened, let him, if he fasts, does alms, etc., do these things in order to thank God for what he has been worthy of, that is, for the reconciliation of God with him. And let him do all this with reason, according to order and as it should be, in order to gain perfect freedom and be worthy to know in the best possible way the hidden blessings of God, whose kindness and beauty are hidden from the eyes of not only those who sin, but also those who repent. This is the second, great and wondrous, that is, thanksgiving to God. So, those who perform the demonstrated virtues, simply as good deeds, and not for these two purposes, that is, propitiation and thanksgiving, sin and die sinners, despite the fact that they have become beggars, fasters, alms-givers, and so on. This is what is most worthy of tears, that they were not reconciled with the beneficent God, since in that which serves for this reconciliation and friendship with God, they acted not with reason, not according to rank and not as it should. For if someone, after reconciliation with God, begins to do those things in order to be reconciled with Him, then God turns away from him and is burdened by him, just as he turns away from the one who does them to thank God before he is reconciled with Him. Man, as a rational being, must do all things in relation to God rationally, as he usually acts in relation to people. Whoever wants to appease the earthly king and forgive him for what he has done wrong to him, first expresses not the actions of thanksgiving, but the means by which propitiation and forgiveness are achieved, and after that, having regained the royal favor, he also expresses the actions of thanksgiving, that is, he first tries to reconcile with him and, having already reconciled, gives thanks. If someone does not act in the same way in relation to God, then the Son and Word of God and the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, will not want to save a person who acts so unreasonably, gifted with reason. As a righteous man, He wants and righteously demands that a rational creature, man, do at least in relation to God what he does in relation to people, and fear God, just as he fears people. For although we often violate our rational dignity and act without reason, the Lord does not tolerate it being violated, and demands that every creature remain in the order that He determined for it from the very beginning. 3. So, who will be saved? None of those who undertake adequate labor and achievement, although they all say that they want to be saved. All the same, as, let’s say for example, if someone wanted to be rich, to acquire a lot of gold, silver, precious stones and margaritas without any labor and sweat and without any worries, it would be impossible. So, those who say that they want to be saved, but at the same time do not want to labor soul and body for their salvation, how can they be saved? And those who are zealous to work for the cause of salvation, both in word and in deed, and desire this with all their hearts, cannot be saved if they expect everything from their labors alone. For just as those who think to be saved without labor will not be saved, since salvation does not happen without labor, so those who hope to arrange salvation with their own mind and their own strength cannot be saved, since salvation is not based on the mind and strength of the one who wants to be saved, but is the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. He is the one who receives salvation and the other who gives it. God Himself says: is it not Me who can save (Is. 43:11). And the Apostle Paul adds: If I want to, I do not find it if I do good (Rom. 7:18). Tell us, most blessed Paul, how can we be saved after this? The Apostle answers, saying: I thank my God Jesus Christ. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). Hence it is clear that our salvation is not based on our own strength, but on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. And thanks be to God that, out of His great love for man, He mixed man’s desire with weakness, so that man, even if he wanted to, could not do good, despite all his labor, in order to thus avoid the very trace of pride, which is the first sin, the source and root of all evil, and the cause of the fall of human nature. God strengthens our desire to want His own will, and thus removes every reason for pride and erases every trace of it. Perhaps someone will ask: what now remains for a person to do on his own in order to be saved? If desire itself needs divine help, what of it? - This is what remains for a person - to listen to the word about his salvation, to desire it and to know the One who can save him. For the rest, with all his soul and without any reflection, let him ask God, who is able to save him, preserve him whole to the end and bring him to perfection - He, I say, asks him to grant this to him, who has made a good beginning and wants to accept, and asks him to be worthy of hearing the word of God and everything related to salvation, and then let him not cease to beg God until he achieves what he wants, that is, his salvation. For that first gift is that God gives in order to be worthy to hear someone who would announce salvation. Preachers are sent to preach to those who do not know the truth. And it truly is a gift of the Holy God that He sends preachers. The second gift is that he who hears the preachers of salvation will obey them; such obedience is natural to people when they hear the truth. It was put into them by God in the beginning; why did Christ the Lord make a great threat to those who do not obey the Gospel, saying: for those who do not receive you and do not listen to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for them (Matthew 10:15; Mark 6:11). Obedience to truth is a distinctive property of the rational nature. The third gift of God is mental light, which is especially accepted by the newly enlightened. For as soon as someone, having heard a sermon about salvation, listens to it, then it is obvious that he has already desired to gain salvation, but has not yet seen its beauty and beauty; For this it is necessary that divine light mysteriously overshadow him from above. And this light mentally enlightens the eyes of the soul and clearly presents to it the following two things - the beauty of salvation and the shame of the sinner, since he is a sinner, although he has already sought salvation. After this, what happens? Since the soul, when it begins to desire its salvation, has a will that is still weak, lazy, powerless to fully desire its salvation, then, having felt such weakness and laziness of its will, it seeks strength from God, so that He will strengthen its will and give it to fully desire salvation. Then she will know in truth how poor and weak her prayer is and, like a reed, it is shaken by opposing spirits, that is, by demons. Why, after her will is strengthened by God, the first thing she has to do is work and strive to beg God to send her the gift of prayer, so that her prayer will always be moved by the Holy Spirit. When she is worthy of this gift, then this Holy Spirit, who has visited the soul, begins to intercede for her with unutterable sighs, crying: Abba Father, so, however, that this voice of the Holy Spirit is the own voice of those who have received the Holy Spirit. Through this grace-filled prayer, spiritual fruits grow in the soul, that is, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control. 4. This is the order of those being saved! And whoever does not follow this order will wander in the mountains and deserts, and in places that Christ does not visit, and will labor in vain and suffer miserably in everything that seeks salvation for his own sake. For our salvation is all accomplished through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, He is called King and Lord, because He reigns and dominates in everyone who believes in Him, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and as the King and Lord of His faithful, He does in them and through them what is pleasing to Him, being for those who devote themselves to His kingdom and dominion, a guide, ruler, teacher, mentor, intercessor, helper, and deliverer from all sin. If some people think that they are doing something good without Christ, then they are lies, and then they will only become truth when Christ reigns in them. When Pilate asked Christ the Lord: Are you a king? He answered him: For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I may bear witness to the truth. Pilate asked: what is truth? But the Lord did not answer him (John 18:37-38), knowing that Pilate could not accommodate His words and believe in His hidden mystery, that is, in the fact that Christ must reign in every person, since in any other way it is impossible again to shine in everyone the signs of the rational dignity that God bestowed on human nature in creation, and to destroy the foolishness that, due to sin, entered into the human race, contrary to nature, and so intensified in him that it seems as if it is by nature. It is impossible for us to free ourselves from foolishness unless the Son of God and the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, reign in us by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And this is the truth that the Lord came to testify. If Christ does not reign in us, then it is impossible for us, by our own means, to have anything pleasing to Him, but we will be possessed by the enemy of the human race, the devil, without feeling or understanding it. Where God reigns, there is no slavery to the devil, but all service to the one God. Who does not know that God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all visible and invisible creation, is the King of all creations, called by Him from non-existence into being? God and Father of His own Word and Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and God, in Whom He created all things in His Holy Spirit, This, I say, the Father through His Son in the Holy Spirit reigns over all His creatures. This one Deity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, trinitarian, co-eternal, co-originating and consubstantial, reigns and rules over the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, the earth and the sea and everything that is in them, over Angels and people, whether they want it or not, because the King and Lord of all is one God. But since the essential property of a king is to have providence for that over which he reigns, then God also has providence for everything we say. Only since all other creatures, except rational beings, that is, Angels and people, do not have reason, as unreasonable ones, then God simply creates providence for them, without them knowing about it, since they do not have reason. And about Angels and people, rational beings, He also always has providence; but since they are rational creatures and naturally have reason, He wants them to know their Creator and Provider - God. This is why they were created intelligent, with natural intelligence, so that, recognizing their Creator and Provider, they would always glorify Him and thank Him, not only for themselves, but also for all other creatures. Why does God, being the King of all creatures, want to reign over some people according to their will, just as He reigns over the Angels according to their will. And if people do not want God to reign over them, then He does not force them in this, so as not to take away their autocratic will, for how is it possible for a rational creature to be if it does not have its own will? For this reason, our Lord Jesus Christ and God, having become a man similar to us and a teacher, convinces His fellow natural brothers: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, in order to reign over them according to their will. As soon as the kingdom of God enters the rational nature, it immediately fills it with all righteousness and virtue. Why will we always pray to God: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. This is what God wants, this is why He became man, this is the first subject of the sermon and the beginning of the Gospel. This is what the words mean: the kingdom of heaven is at hand, with which the Gospel began. And if the soul does not perceive that the kingdom of God has come to it and reigned in it, there is no hope of salvation for it. The reigning soul must know the grace and influence of the Divinity reigning in it, for where the king is present, there must be obvious signs of his presence. The signs of God that a soul reigned by God must have are: meekness, righteousness, truth, humility, goodness, truth and all reverence, and also kindness, philanthropy, compassion, unfeigned love, long-suffering, constancy, complacency. And those in whom God does not reign must apparently have the opposite of this. By these virtues and by the non-virtues opposite to them, it is known in which people God reigns and in which he does not reign. Concerning these latter, the Lord commands His army, that is, the holy Angels, saying: they are My enemies, who did not desire Me, that there should be a king over them, bring these things, and cut them off before Me (Luke 19:27). For those who have heard and known with precision how, by what deeds and what commandments, by fulfilling what they can receive the kingdom of heaven from Christ, and have despised that, preferring earthly and perishable things, temporary and vain glory, such are certainly worthy of being tormented more bitterly than the infidels. They knew Christ and did not want to have Him as their King, because they did not keep His commandments. For whoever does not want to do the work for which Christ became man and came into the world clearly does not accept Christ Himself, although it seems that he does. Those who truly believed in Him and accepted Him, to them He gave the region to become children of God. As soon as they believed in Him, He also trusted them and allowed them to receive the divine from Himself; so that a person who believes in Him becomes a god, just as He - God became a man. If only God would grant us to believe in Him in truth, and become children of God and gods by grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever! Amen. You might be interested in: