Слово 89

(1) That it is dangerous for the soul to hide talent, or the grace given from God, but one should preach to everyone about the benefits of God for the benefit of those who listen, although this may be unpleasant for others. 1. My beloved listeners and brothers in Christ! What do you think about the fact that I tell you different words so often? What have you made up your mind about me speaking to you so boldly? Did you think that I told you something not according to the Divine Scriptures? Was I not secretly condemned for speaking to you proudly? Do you not also condemn the fact that I boast and am magnified in this? “If you really did and are doing this, then may our Lord be merciful to you, and I ask your love not to remain in such guilt any longer.” I didn't write anything to show off. God forbid, who showed his mercy to me and put me on this task. But, remembering the gifts that God gave to me, unworthy, I thank and glorify Him as the gracious Lord and Benefactor of our Lord, and in order not to hide the talent that He gave me, like a bad and unworthy servant, I preach His mercy, I confess grace, I show everyone the good He has done to me, in order to motivate you with the word of teaching - to strive to receive for yourself what I received. For a person, when he gives a coin to a poor person, and that poor person shows it to others so that they also ask you the same, becomes angry for this, becomes embittered and does not give any more. But God does not act like this, but quite the opposite, he gets angry when he gives someone some kind of spiritual gift, and he does not preach about it and does not show it to everyone, saying: flow to God, who gives generously to everyone and leaves no one to return from Him empty (empty - Ed.). If someone, having received a talent from God, completely hides it, then He is most angry with this one who took and hid it, for it is obvious that he is envious and does not want his brothers to receive it in the same way as he received. For this reason, I cannot stand to remain silent about the wondrous gifts of God, but I preach about them to everyone else and cry with a great voice: flow, all of you, before the door of repentance is closed for you by your death; flow and comprehend before you die; seek and ye shall find; press, may our Lord Christ open the doors of paradise to you and reveal Himself to you before your death comes; strive to consciously acquire within you the kingdom of heaven, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, so as not to depart from this life empty of it, especially those who think that they have it in themselves, without realizing it, while they know nothing because of their vanity. Tell me, how is it possible for someone who has not acquired the mind of Christ to see the Father of Christ? And to the one who does not see that Christ is speaking inside him, tell me how and in what way is it possible to say: Abba, Father? For those who have not consciously acquired the kingdom of heaven within themselves, is there a way to enter into it after death? For someone who has not seen that the Son abides in him with His Father in the Holy Spirit, how is it possible to be with Him in the future life? For Christ the Lord said this: Father, these you have given to me, I will, that where I am I, they also may be with me (John 17:24), and again: I pray not for these only, but also for those who believe their word in Me: that they may all be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in us... And I the glory that I have given Thou art unto me, that I may give unto them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I am in them and You are in Me, so that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may understand that You sent Me, and You loved them as You loved Me (John 17:20-23). This, brethren, is what I boast about, as some think! This is how God’s love moves me to reveal to you, my brothers, the ineffable goodness and love that God has for us and by which He richly glorifies with such great gifts those who trust in Him! Now answer me, I ask: the Father does not knowingly love the Son, and the Son is not knowingly and invisibly, that is, without knowing it and without seeing it, is with the Father? - Of course you won’t say that. For if we assume this and begin to dogma that the Father does not know the Son, and the Son does not know the Father, then our entire faith will bend and be destroyed. If the Father and the Son do not know each other, then it follows that we do not know them at all. If we do not know them, then we are atheists, since we have not known God. If (as Christ says) the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father, and, as God, is with God and the Father, and the Father is also with the Son, as He Himself says: as You are the Father in Me and I in You, so let these also be in Me and I in them; it is clear that just as the Son is united with the Father and the Father is with the Son, so we are united with the Son and the Son with us. Only the unity of the Son with the Father is natural and beginningless, and our unity with the Son is by a special state of our nature, or by grace, although we are truly united with God and inseparable with Him, as Christ Himself again says: I am in them and You are in Me, that they may be perfect in one. For what? Let the world understand that you sent me and loved them, as you loved me, and St. Paul: where there is neither Greek nor Jew... barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). Listen to this, you who consider yourselves to be spiritual, and believe the Holy Spirit, who says this, as our Lord testifies: You will not be the ones who speak, but the Spirit of your Father will speak in you (Matthew 10:20). And do not scold me, who speaks to you with a word of grace about the gifts that those who resort to Him with warm faith and fulfill His commandments receive from God. For I, who speak this, am a servant and speak to you the words of God, manifest the gift of teaching given to me, and reveal to you the hidden mysteries of God by the power of this gift, received by me through the laying on of hands of the bishop who ordained me as a priest, as our supreme Apostle Paul commands: everyone who has received the gift, serving among themselves, as a builder of good. various graces of God. If anyone speaks like the words of God; If anyone serves, as with strength, God gives (1 Pet. 4:10–11). So, my brethren, it is the Spirit who speaks these things, not I. If I tell a lie, then where can I flee from the Last Judgment of God, according to which those who speak lies are sent to destruction, as David says: Destroy all who speak lies (Ps. 5:7)? - For just as someone who does not believe in someone who speaks by the Spirit sins and manifests blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, who speaks through him, so again, someone who is deprived of the grace of the Spirit, if he dares to say: I speak by the grace of the Holy Spirit, is a fighter against God and an opponent of God, like, for example, Simon the Magus and those who are like-minded with him. Whoever resists the words of the Spirit is, of course, an adversary of God, since God is undivided, and the Holy Spirit is not separated from the ever-present and Kingdom of the Father and the Son. Do not, my brothers, be God-fighters and opponents of God, but come, worship and fall before God with me, and do not get up until you receive the grace of God. I am not telling you anything nasty, but I am showing you the great love that I have for all of you. If I told you that I received grace from the Father of lights, by whom every perfect gift is given, but did not want you to receive it, then, of course, I would be unfair towards you. But now, when I present to you the truth from the Divine Scripture and show you the royal way, how am I unjustifying you? If you do not want to be taught by me, considering me anonymous, unknown and insignificant, then remember and understand that God chose the world to put to shame the wise, and chose the weak and humble to put to shame the mighty and glorious (1 Cor. 1:27-28). “But perhaps others will say that what I say is excessively great and exceeds human strength.” And I say that this is truly great and above nature, because it is the essence of the words of God, as I said. - But how, another will add, none of the great fathers spoke so clearly about themselves and in such words as you speak? - You're wrong, man. Both the Apostles and the ancient fathers spoke similarly and similar to my words, and even higher. But since they are worthy of all faith, what they say is recognized as true and accepted, but my insignificance makes what is clearly confessed to everyone and by everyone seems false and is rejected. I will indicate, however, another reason why I announced this to you - and not even though. What is this reason? - A false, senseless and ignorant assumption of those who say that in modern times and among us, such Christians, there is no such person. And look, I ask, how many-sided malice is and what changeable methods it uses. If I do not openly speak the truth, but try in every possible way to hide the gift of the Holy Spirit, they assume that I am speaking the truth; on the contrary, when I declare such a truth, they immediately accuse me as proud, not knowing the words that the divine Apostles said. What words? The following: we are the mind of Christ, imams (1 Cor. 2:16). Is this what you think it is? – I would like to ask them. Excess of pride? And the following words: of this we understand that it abides in us, from the Spirit, which He gave us to eat (1 John 3:24), - how do you explain it - also as a reproach to the one who said them? – But what else do you think about this: because of temptation, seek Christ speaking in me (2 Cor. 13:3)? And about this: I imagine that I have the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 7:40)? More about this: we do not receive the Spirit of work in fear, but the Spirit of sonhood, for whom we cry: Abba Father (Rom. 8:15)? And here’s something else: does the river God bring light out of darkness, who is also bright in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6)? Do you read all these apostolic words as words of pride? - Oh nonsense! – If you still want to know the image of the shining of this light, as it happens in those who love the Lord, listen to what Paul says: Imams, this treasure is in scanty vessels (2 Cor. 4:7), that is, in bodies. - If you say that it was so then, but at present there is no such person who was so gifted, then tell me, please, why is there no such thing now? I believe, you say, that just as it has never been possible for someone who does not want it to be such a person, so in modern times it is impossible for someone who wants it to be such a person. But if you think so, that now it is impossible for even someone who wants it to be like this, then where do you put what the Evangelist John says in the Holy Gospel: When the little ones received Him, He gave them the realm to become children of God (John 1:12), and this: Be holy, for I am holy (1 Pet. 1:16)? But look at this: when you say that it is impossible for someone who doesn’t want to be like that, you are denouncing yourself that you don’t want and don’t will to be like that, for if you want to be like that, you can. Although you may not be like that, I wish to God that there are many others whom you do not know. If during the time of the Prophet Elijah God had seven thousand people who did not bow the knee to Baal, that is, who did not worship idols, then there will be many more who truly worship God in these (New Testament) times, when God richly poured out the Holy Spirit on us. However, if someone does not put off everything that hinders this and does not flow to God naked and does not seek to receive it, the one who does not want to is to blame for this, and not God. For just as fire, as soon as it finds wood, ignites it naturally, so the grace of the Holy and worshiped Spirit seeks to kindle in our souls in order to shine and enlighten those in the world, and so that through those whom it enlightens, guide the steps of many or to bring the life of the entire Christian people into proper order, so that all Christians may live pleasing to God, may they draw closer to the fire of the Divine and be kindled by Him, or each separately, or all together, if possible, and shine in the middle as gods, for the blessing and multiplication of the seed of the God of Jacob, so that the good man will never cease to shine on earth as light. I think that this is truly the case and that this is the will of God for us, who created us, and who honored and glorified us with the glory of His image, who created us, that is, in His image and likeness. “Now think about my words and judge whether they are true.” I boldly proclaim that if I do not philosophize and say what the Apostles and Holy Fathers say and philosophize, if I do not repeat only God’s words spoken in the Holy Gospel, if I do not clearly kindle in everyone the life-giving effect and grace that exists in these words of the Gospel, which is evilly extinguished by opponents with thoughtless and senseless reasoning, - if I do not show that the light of grace shines even in modern times, proving all this and confirming it from the Divine Scripture, - let me be anathema from the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, as on a person who teaches differently from what the divine Apostles taught, and you will not just stop your ears so as not to hear my words, but stone me and kill him as a wicked and godless man. If, however, I defend and restore the Lord’s and the Apostolic dogmas, which some evil-doers are trying to pervert and corrupt, and choosing from the Divine Scriptures such words that are powerful to correct and confirm in the truth the minds of those who believe them, instilling in them so that they do not think that only in one future life they can receive all the benefits of Christ, such as: resurrection, incorruption, life new, the kingdom of heaven and the most eternal blessings, but I teach them that from now on, from this life, these blessings are given as a guarantee to the elect and to those who are zealous to be saved, and that they are revealed, obvious and visible in them even here - and at the same time I prove to them and confirm them in the conviction that in the final fullness of these blessings are given to the elect after death and the general resurrection, then for that everyone in general has a duty to accept me and love me as a man showing them the work of perfect love. For just as the one who, having found a treasure, hides it for himself alone is worthy of condemnation and is condemned as a lover of money, - on the contrary, whoever does not hide it for himself alone, but announces it to everyone and gives permission to everyone to take as much as he wants, is worthy of all praise and is loved by God and people, so I have opened and will open the spiritual treasure to everyone by the grace of God. I speak foolishly (2 Cor. 11:21). When one spirit-bearing man informed me in writing that in one place there was a hidden treasure of the Divine Scriptures, I was not too lazy to get up and go to test and see what was there, asking this holy man to be my helper and helper. For better success, I abandoned every other occupation and business regarding this life, and went to the place where, as that good man showed me in writing, the treasure was located - and, having arrived, began to dig the earth, without ceasing day and night and not sparing any labor or sweat. So I dug and threw out the earth, going deeper and deeper, until finally the treasure began to appear and emit light along with the earth. Finally, after laboring for a long time, digging and throwing out the earth, I saw all the treasure stretched, as I believe, across the whole earth, unalloyed and clean from all contamination and staining. Since then, looking at this treasure, I constantly shout to those who, having not seen it, do not believe and therefore do not want to dig and work, and I say to them this: come, look, all of you who simply and directly do not believe the Divine Scripture. And I do this, imitating the wise Solomon, who says: having learned unflatteringly, I teach without envy (Wis. 7:13). Hearing this, I shout: go and learn that not only in the future life, but also now, in the present, lies before our eyes, and before our hands, and before our feet, an ineffable treasure, which is higher than any beginning and power; Go, be sure and be convinced that this treasure of which I speak to you is the light of the world. And I’m not saying this on my own, but this treasure itself, that is, Christ, said and says: “I am the resurrection and the life; I am the mustard seed hidden under the earth; I am the precious stone that the faithful buy; I am the kingdom of heaven hidden within you. Just as I am seen now, in this life, by those who sought and found me, so in the future life I will shine in them and above them all, as I shine now in them, being hidden above all heavens. I, being inconceivable by nature, can be contained in you in this life by grace. I, invisible, am visible, I appear not as I am, although I am entirely visible, but as much as the nature and strength of those who see Me can accommodate. I am leaven - and the soul that receives Me and puts Me into its three parts, that is, into the powers of reason, irritability and desire - is leavened and becomes all like Me, for what is leaven is what flour is made of, which is mixed with it along with water and salt; together with Me, the Son, there is also My one-hearted Father and His Comforter, the All-Holy Spirit - and They are to the soul what water and salt are to flour. I am for my servants a mental paradise, instead of a sensory one, and in this mental paradise I will install all those who believe in Me and are reborn by the grace of the Holy Spirit - who can no longer sin, and the prince of this world, the devil, has no power or strength over them, for I am in them, and they are in Me, and they conquer the world, since they are outside the world and have Me with them, the strongest of all. I am the light-like source of the immortal stream and river, in which source they wash themselves with the water flowing from Me, and are cleansed mentally and physically from all defilement, and begin to shine like lights and like the rays of the sun, all those who love Me with all their souls. I am the Sun, mentally visible, and I rise every hour, just as the sensual sun rises in the morning, showing myself worthy, as I previously showed myself to the Prophets, who, seeing me, always praised and called, as David says: in the morning hear my voice, in the morning I will appear to You and see me (Ps. 5:4), - and another: then your light will open early, and your healing will soon shine ( Is.58:8), “when you have fulfilled My commandments.” But why do I need myself to tell your love everything that God, who thirsts for our salvation, says to us? For nothing other than so that you know everything and are convinced that those sitting in darkness must see (if they only look) the great light shining everywhere - and so that some of you do not think that although the light has shone, it is impossible for people who are still in this life with a body to see it. For if it were impossible to see him, then why did he shine and shine if he is not seen by them? The Light has always been, has always shone and shines in those who have been purified; and in darkness it shines, and darkness does not embrace it, that is, it does not darken it! What is said is that he has now shone forth to the people sitting in darkness, means that he has now deigned to be revealed to those whom he is. Others who are in darkness do not understand the light. That it is said that the invisible one became visible shows that the invisible Son and God the Word was manifest through the body to all those who saw Him with bodily eyes, faithful and unbelieving; but the light of His Divinity allowed itself to be known and revealed itself only to those who were faithful in their deeds, and they said to Him: behold, we have left everything and are dead after You (Matthew 19:27) - in this one word: everything, including property, money, and our inclinations, and contempt for this temporary life, and even aversion to it, because we have tasted the sweets of the hypostatic and eternal life. That which is sweeter is, of course, preferable - and this is God Himself. But I ask all of you, my beloved brothers, strive to receive this eternal life, which is the light of God, the very Holy Spirit, I say, who sanctifies those who receive Him and makes them gods by grace - and do not forget the words I have spoken. First learn to do good yourself, and then undertake to teach others to do the same, so that the word of your teaching is connected with action, and through this becomes more acceptable to those who will listen to it. If you do not do this, I am clean from all of you, because I did not hide anything from you, but conveyed to you everything that was spoken in me, that was given to me to know and that was commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ through the worshiped and Holy Spirit about the high gifts of the co-original God and His Father, which our good and beneficent God Himself always gives even to this day to all who seek them diligently and with faith. To Him be due glory and worship forever. Amen. You might be interested in: