Статья 5: О должности христианской по отношению к самому себе

The duty of a Christian to himself is that he should not weaken in the feat of faith with the help of God, and so would receive eternal salvation, which Christ purchased for us by His death. Although freely, only by grace, the faithful receive eternal life, according to Scripture: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23), however, a constant feat is required against the devil, the world, the flesh, which hinder Christians and do not allow them to eternal bliss. Anyone who wants to be saved will need a lot of work against these enemies. As great and lofty as Christianity is, it is subject to many temptations and disasters. Therefore, one must keep it with a vigilant eye. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” says Christ (Rev. 2:10). § 359. Since faith is subject to many different temptations, one must protect and preserve it in the midst of such a calamity as one would one’s soul or one’s life, or even more. For we must neglect our life on occasion, so that faith may be preserved. If we lose our soul or life for the sake of faith, then we will find eternal life in the next century, as Christ says: “Whoever loses his life for Me and the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). All our bliss lies in faith. By faith in Christ we are delivered from our sins, anger, curses, the power of the devil, eternal condemnation, hell and eternal torment, and we are made worthy of God's mercy, grace, blessing, the kingdom of God and all eternal blessings, according to His unfaithful promise. If we keep faith, all these blessings will be ours, but if we destroy faith, we will lose all those blessings and again fall under all disaster, the wrath of God, curse, dark power, eternal condemnation and torment. We try to protect our perishable and temporary treasure from thieves. Moreover, one must preserve the spiritual, eternal treasure - the holy faith, so that Satan, like a cunning and crafty thief, does not steal it. We take care of physical health and life. Much better health and spiritual life must be taken care of so as not to die forever. We warn ourselves against enemies who want to destroy our corruptible body and take away our temporary life. Moreover, we must beware of spiritual enemies, who are trying to destroy our soul and take away eternal life from us. The Apostle Peter exhorts us to this caution and diligence: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). Faith is maintained by prayer, reading or listening to the word of God, and so on. § 360. There cannot be true and living faith without good deeds. “So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit,” says Christ (Matthew 7:17–18). So a faithful heart, faith, like a good seed that has within itself, creates the fruits of good deeds, for every seed gives birth to a fruit similar to itself. That is why we, Christians, must show our faith by good works, just as a good tree shows itself by good fruits, as the apostle says: “Show me your faith by your works” (James 2:18). The same is demanded from us by the other holy apostles in their epistles and by the interpreters of Scripture, the holy fathers, saints of Christ and teachers. Faith and love, which is the mother of good works ( 1 Cor. 13:1-8), as the soul is connected to the body, the sap is to the green tree, the body lives when the soul is in it. The tree stands and lives, and the fruit creates while the sap is there, where warmth is felt. “The sign of faith,” says Chrysostom, “is love” (4th Discourse on 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians). There is no faith where there is no love. Just as a dead human body has the appearance of a person, but in fact it is a soulless corpse, not a person, and a withered tree seems to be a living tree, but in fact it only has the appearance of a tree, for a tree cannot live without sap, and an unheated stove looks like one that warms a house, but does not heat, because it does not have fire in itself and therefore does not give warmth, so a person seems to be faithful in appearance, for he confesses God and Christ the Son of God with his lips, and goes to church and shows other signs of Christianity, but if he does not have love and good deeds, then he has the appearance of only a faithful person and a Christian, and in fact is not a truly faithful and Christian, but the same as a pagan who does not profess God. It is not confession alone that makes one a Christian, but confession coupled with heartfelt faith. Faith teaches the faithful to confess and call God their God, as is evidenced in many places in Scripture. If you believe that God is your God, then you must certainly honor Him, which cannot happen without true obedience. To honor God and not listen to Him is inconceivable to the mind. And from obedience will follow the observance of His holy commandments, and where the observance of God’s commandments, there are good deeds, for the commandments teach us good deeds. You believe that God is the refuge, strength, helper and protector of His faithful (Ps. 45:2), why do you place your hope in mortal man, in silver, gold, honor, your dignity, your strength and wisdom, and from them do you seek help and protection when adversity strikes you? You believe that Christ was tormented both for everyone and for your sins - “He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5), - why do you dare to sin fearlessly? Why did Christ drink such a bitter cup of suffering? Your sins have brought such grief and torment to Christ, but you do not forsake them, but are comforted by them. You are comforted because you do not abandon them, you do not abandon them because you enjoy them. You rejoice in the dishonor, reproach, blasphemy, illness, sorrow, spitting, strangling, wounding, wounds, crucifixion and death done to Christ. It is pleasant and sweet for you that Christ had sorrow. Do you see, a person who calls himself a Christian, what is your love for Christ, who suffered for your sins, that you love what caused the bitterest suffering to Christ! And what love is, so is your faith, for faith and love are inseparable. You believe that He is your Shepherd, why don’t you listen to His voice? “My sheep,” He says, “obey My voice” (John 10:27). You believe that He is your Teacher, why don’t you, as a disciple, learn from Him humility, patience, meekness and other virtues that He taught by word and example? The holy faith teaches you that Christians are your brethren, having one Father God, recognizing one Mother the Church, one baptism, who have been washed from the defilements of sin, who have received the same faith and received spiritual kinship, why do you not love them as your brethren, and do not show mercy to those who require mercy, and do not help them in their needs? You love your brothers according to the flesh and help them, how much more should you love your brothers according to the spirit. For greater is a spiritual, Christian kinship, as eternal, than a carnal kinship, as temporary and perishable by death. Such is your faith! You believe, but you act contrary to your faith. You confess God, but through disobedience you deny Him. You accept Christ the Son of God and say to Him: “Lord, Lord,” but you do not accept His teachings. You are considered among Christians, but you do not do Christian deeds, you even do things that are contrary to Christians. Christ says to the Jews: “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). The same is appropriate for a faulty Christian to say: if you were a Christian, you would do Christian deeds. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal.5:24). “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:9). A Christian differs from a pagan not only by his confession, name and rituals, but by his heartfelt faith and Christian life. You see, Christian, that just as a pious life is proof of the faith living in a person, so a faulty life is an undoubted sign of unbelief, even if a person confessed God, was baptized and was called a Christian. And from this you can test yourself, whether you keep the faith, as the apostle exhorts: “Test yourselves, whether you are in the faith; examine yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). § 361. The holy faith is not only rejected with the lips, when a person denies God and Christ the Son of God and turns to sensual idolatry, but also through evil deeds, unchristian and lawless living. The word of God testifies to this. “They say that they know God,” says the apostle, “but in deeds they deny it, being vile and disobedient and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1:16). And covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5), and the same apostle calls the covetous an idolater (Eph. 5:5). And again: “Some, having rejected a good conscience, suffered shipwreck in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:19). And below: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8). And the Apostle James says: “If anyone among you thinks that he is godly and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his religion is empty” (his faith is vain) (James 1:26). And again: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? can this faith save him” (James 2:14)? And lower in the same chapter: “Show me your faith by your works” (James 2:18). And again: “Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). And when faith is dead, then it doesn’t exist. The dead no longer lives, although it appears as something. For faith is a spiritual gift of God, and therefore when it is dead, it has already disappeared, like a lamp without oil goes out. Because just as oil is added to a lamp so that it does not go out, so the lamp of faith needs the oil of God’s mercy, without which it goes out. Faith comes from God and is therefore preserved by God's grace and power. Therefore David says: “You will enlighten my lamp, O Lord my God, you will enlighten my darkness” (Ps. 17:29). However, our efforts are also required. God helps those who work, not those who lie down, those who work, and not those who cease. Therefore he says: “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). You must first rise up and start doing, and then help will arrive. And those who abandon this blessed effort and labor are themselves guilty of allowing the lamp of their faith to go out. I am not telling you here, Christian, about the faith that consists in the knowledge and content of right dogmas: Christians who live lawlessly also have this faith. But I’m talking about faith of the heart, living and saving (which was mentioned above), this faith is not in someone who lives incorrectly and not as a Christian, even if he professed and preached the faith. Consider what Christ says: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Just as those who serve God no longer serve Mammon, so those who serve Mammon no longer serve God. It is impossible for God and mammon to work at the same time, according to the word of Christ. And from this we can conclude that those who are enslaved to every sin no longer serve God, and without serving God, they do not have faith, for without faith it is impossible to serve God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” the apostle teaches (Heb. 11:6). Serving and pleasing God are one thing. Heed this too, Christian: the doors of the kingdom of heaven are open to the faithful in Christ, as God’s holy word assures us and the Holy Church contains and confesses, but to faulty Christians, on the contrary, the apostle concludes the entrance to the kingdom of heaven. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” and so on (1 Cor. 6:9–10; Gal. 5:19–21 and other places). And Christ says: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! God! “He who does the will of My Father in heaven will enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Consequently, those who do such deeds, which constitute the entrance to the kingdom and eternal bliss, do not have faith. Listen, Christian, that the same God who said to me and to you: “I am the Lord your God,” and commanded us not to have other gods: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:2-3), - the same God gave all the other subsequent commandments. Consequently, if by destroying the first commandment we sin before God, by not keeping the others we sin equally. And just as when, leaving Him, we turn to other gods, we deny faith and God, so by destroying the other subsequent commandments, we deny faith and God, although not with our lips, but with deeds and disobedience. There is only one thing - to deny it in word or deed. For faith must be in the heart and show itself externally by deeds. Oral confession follows this heartfelt faith and declares it, like every word spoken in the heart, according to Scripture: “With the heart one believes for righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses for salvation” (Rom. 10:10). And therefore, rejection, whether in word or deed, is equally rejection. He who rejects his command is also rejected from the Commander himself. And although he does not dare to say with his tongue: “I don’t know and I don’t listen to you,” but with a rebellious and disobedient heart, he shows it by his very actions. Thus, by destroying the commandment of God through arbitrariness and prejudice, man denies God Himself, and thus departs from Him and falls into spiritual idolatry. For the passion that he commits like an idol subdues his heart and will. Everyone, consider whether this is not the same thing that happens to every Christian that was done to the martyrs during the persecution? Their tormentors and servants convinced them to idolatry. And those who did not deign to do that ungodly deed maintained their faith, and those who obeyed destroyed their faith. Likewise, every Christian is convinced by an evil thought, like a servant of the devil, to sin, from which both conscience and God Himself turn away through His Word. Whoever resists an evil thought as a tormentor and does not deign to do something contrary to God, maintains faith in his God and faithfully serves his Lord, but whoever deigns to do so, abandoning his conscience and despising God’s command, departs from the commanding God and thus destroys his faith. The martyrs who did not endure torment rejected Christ with their lips, and the one who obeys an ungodly thought and commits lawlessness is rejected in his heart. An idol in itself is nothing (cf. 1 Cor. 8:4). Silver, gold and other matter found in idols, for God’s creation can turn to both by human consent. But everyone has idols in their hearts - disorderly passions: unclean lust, pride, envy, malice, love of money, and so on. There are also tormentors inside who tempt you to these passions like idols—evil thoughts. A person has a church inside – his heart. We can easily preserve ourselves from external idols, but we have great difficulty in preserving and getting rid of these idols, which we carry within us, and not without God’s all-powerful help, for they are natural to us. If we want to preserve our faith, Christians, we must protect ourselves not only from external, but also from internal idols. Not only do not bend the knee to gold, silver and other works of human hands, but also do not submit to the internal ones, born with us from the old man, that is, mammon, unclean lust, anger, malice, envy, hatred, pride and other things. The one who serves them submits to them, and the one who commits (sin) according to their lust serves them. That is why such a person is called a slave of sin, as Christ says: “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Whoever commits the lust of uncleanness is a slave of uncleanness. He who obeys anger and malice serves anger and is a slave to anger. Think the same about other things. And so a person reveres as many idols within himself as he fulfills carnal lusts. God in His word does not speak to our body and bodily members. He does not say to the body: “You shall have no other gods before Me,” not to our hands he says: “Do not kill, do not steal,” but to our soul. The soul either has or has no gods other than the Lord. The soul kills or does not kill, steals or does not steal, commits adultery or does not commit adultery, and the body and bodily members are the instruments through which the soul carries out its undertakings and actions. And so, although you do not kneel to the pagan gods, you do not stretch out your hands to them, you do not offer censer, but when you fulfill the will of the demons, to which it convinces us through our passions, you honor as many other gods as you perform passions. For the pagans also idolized the disorderly passions of men, and worshiped them as gods, and fulfilled the will of demons living in idols, as we read in stories. Whoever fulfills this will slaves, serves and honors him. If a person obeys his passions, then he is enslaved to them, and if he is enslaved to them, then he has them as his masters, and even reveres them as idols. Not only from external, silver, gold, copper, wooden and other materials made idols, but also from the heart ones, we Christians must take care if we want to maintain our faith in our Lord. That is why our God does not command us to be angry and angry with our neighbor, does not command us to commit adultery and steal, and so on. If, without listening to God, we obey these passions, we thereby retreat from God, and approach these destructive gods with our hearts, and offer our will to them instead of sacrifice and incense. To make it easier for you to understand what I am talking about, simple-hearted Christian, I offer you the following example. If a slave was listed under the authority of one master, but pleased another master, an opponent of that master, and fulfilled his desires, you would admit that that wicked slave, in appearance only, is a slave and is called by the name of the master in whose department he is, but in fact, the one whom he pleases, is a true slave. “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other,” Christ teaches (Matthew 6:24). Whomever a man pleases, he serves, and whomever he serves, he is his slave. So there are Christians who are faulty. They are numbered among Christ’s faithful servants and call Christ their Lord: “Lord, Lord,” - they go to church, pray, sing and worship, but they do not want to fulfill His will, but fulfill the will and desire of His enemy, the devil, and please him in their passions and whims, and so in appearance they are Christians and servants of Christ only, but in reality they are slaves of their passions, sin and the devil, whom they please. “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin,” says Christ (John 8:34). Such Christians are false Christians, hypocrites and wicked slaves, and in essence are pagans, and for them Christ means nothing, although they confess His name. To such God speaks through the prophet: “This people draws near to Me with their lips, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13). And Christ answers them: “Why do you call Me: Lord! God! “And you do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). You see, Christian, that Christ and the holy faith are rejected not only by lips, but also by deeds. Therefore, everyone should test himself to see whether he has faith, according to the admonition of the apostle: “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; examine yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). § 362. The Word of God assures us that all the dead, godly and ungodly, will rise from the dead: “The time is coming, and has now come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live” (John 5:25). And everyone who has risen and remained alive “must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that everyone may receive what he did while in the body, according to what he did while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Then those who have kept the faith will hear from the righteous Judge: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Then the Omniscient and Heart-Knowing Judge will reveal the fruits of their living faith, like treasures that they hid not on earth, but in heaven by faith, and will show it to the whole world: “I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:35–36). Then damned sinners will hear from the angry Judge, Whom, living in the world, they did not want to listen to, they will hear a terrible and terrible voice: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). He will also reprimand them for their untruth, ingratitude and unbelief: “I was hungry, and you did not give me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Matthew 25:42–46). Everyone goes to their places. They go, but they don’t go the same way - some with inconsolable crying and sobbing, others with joy and unspeakable joy. Then “the redeemed of the Lord will go, and the redeemed of the Lord will return, they will come to Zion with a shout of joy; and everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will find joy and gladness, and sorrow and groaning will be removed” (Isa. 35:9-10). Then sinners will go to hell, “all the nations that forget God” (Ps. 9:18), having completed their deeds to receive retribution, and they will suffer sorrow, weeping, sighing and endless torment. Just as the righteous in the kingdom of heaven will reign endlessly, and be comforted by the sight of God, rejoice and have fun, and praise and glorify God with the holy angels, so the sinners in hell will endlessly torment and suffer with the devil and his evil angels. Then “they will seek death,” which is now avoided, “but death will flee from them” (Rev. 9:6). § 363. We know from Holy Scripture that our Lord Jesus Christ will come to judge the whole world and reward everyone according to their deeds, and His coming and His righteous judgment will be at the end of the world and on the last day, but in which year, month, day and hour, we do not know. God hid that day and hour from us, so that we would always expect it and be ready to meet our Lord. “But no one knows about that day and hour,” says Christ, “but as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man: for as in the days before the flood they ate and drank, married and were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and thought not until the flood came and destroyed them all, so will the coming of the Son of Man” ( Matthew 24:36–39 ). At that time there will be similar human deeds: another will do this, another will do that. Some will eat, drink, have fun, throw banquets, receive guests, celebrate noisily and engage in other vanity, while others will repent, cry about sins and pray to God. Some will rob, kidnap, offend, others will endure. Some will destroy old granaries and houses and build new ones, others will begin and accomplish other things. In such a diversity of human undertakings and deeds, a voice will suddenly be heard: “Arise, O dead, go, all of you, to judgment: Christ the Judge comes to judge the living and the dead!” “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he comes, finds watching” (Luke 12:37). Blessed are those who, in the likeness of householders, watch over and keep their spiritual home. Blessed are those who have “girt about their loins and burning lamps, like men waiting for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open it to him” (Luke 12:35–44). Blessed are those who, like wise virgins, who did not know when the Bridegroom would come, took oil in their vessels in order to decorate their lamps at the coming of the Bridegroom and so go out to meet Him, always carry in their hearts, as in vessels, burning faith and love and wait for Him with vigil, patience and desire. Blessed are they, for, being ready, they will go out to meet their immortal Bridegroom, and will enter with him to the wedding feast (Matt. 25:1-10), “and so they will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). On the contrary, the damned slaves are those who, in the likeness of the evil slave of the Gospel, say “in their hearts: Our master will not come soon, and they will begin to beat their comrades and eat and drink with drunkards.” The Lord of those servants will come on a day on which they do not expect, and at an hour on which they do not think, and will cut them up, and subject them to the same fate as the hypocrites; “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:48–51). The most damned are those who, with insolent scoffers, prophetically described by Saint Peter, “walking according to their own lusts, say: where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers began to die, from the beginning of creation, everything remains the same.” The apostle answers these, saying: “The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness; but he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, the elements, having flared up, will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.” And he further exhorts us: “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to appear before Him undefiled and blameless in peace; and consider the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation" ; and below: “Therefore, beloved, being forewarned of these things, take heed lest you be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall away from your own affirmation, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:3–4, 9–10, 14–15, 17–18). Our Lord Himself admonishes us to this vigil and to always be ready for His coming: “Watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come.” And again: “Therefore you also be ready, for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24:42, 44). His saving encouragement for this extends from the beginning of the 24th to the end of the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Therefore, we, Christians, will gird up our loins and light our lamps according to the admonition of Christ, and with the help of God we will not allow them to go out, so that we may be ready to meet our immortal and heavenly Bridegroom and so enter His palace with the wise virgins. Chapter 2: About listening and reading God's word “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). § 364. The Holy Scripture, transmitted to us by the prophets and apostles, is the true word of God, with which the Heavenly Father speaks graciously to us, unworthy. It is a message favorable to our Creator, which through His holy and faithful servants, as messengers, He sent to us from heaven and in it He revealed the good will of His will. If you hear, Christian, a servant of God reading the Gospel or other Scripture, or you yourself, having picked up a book of the Holy Scripture, reverently read, think and understand that the great and incomprehensible God speaks with you, His vile servant, through His word. Just as in our prayer we talk to God, when we pray to Him in a real way, so when we hear and read His word with zeal, we hear Him talking with us and answering our requests and needs. § 365. The Holy Scriptures, both to the entire human race and to every person, to me and to you, man, have been handed down from God. For God “wants all people,” and therefore you, “to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). Therefore, He gave His Holy Scripture to everyone, so that by reading or listening to it, He could receive eternal salvation. The Holy Scriptures were handed down to us for the sake of our salvation, so that we might know the true God and His Son Jesus Christ and thus receive eternal life. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3). “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). From this it follows that God speaks in His Scripture as to all people, so to me and to you, Christian. He speaks to me and you about the creation of this world, about the creation of our first parents, about their fall, about the kindly Abel and the hostile Cain, about the patriarchs and their lives, about the wicked and the pious, about their wickedness and piety, about the execution of the wicked and the preservation of the pious. He talks about the resettlement of the Israelites to Egypt and their miraculous liberation from slavery, about their wanderings through the desert and coming to the Promised Land, and so on. He also speaks of the Savior of the world who was to come and who was foretold by the prophets. He shows Him to me and to you, who has already come, born of the Virgin in the flesh, who lived on earth, who taught the way of truth, who worked miracles, who was rejected by evil people, humiliated, blasphemed, mocked, dishonored, spat upon, wounded, crucified on the tree of the cross, died, buried, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, glorified and again to judge the one who comes with glory, living and dead.” He declares to us in His Word that He came into the world for no other reason than for our sake and our salvation, and commands us to listen to Him in everything if we want to receive eternal life from Him. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). His holy Gospel teaches us how to listen to Him, in which both His holy and immaculate life and His saving teaching are written. They also teach the messages of His holy apostles, who, having become wise and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, carried His coming and teaching like an invaluable treasure to the whole earth, as it is written: “Their message went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5). Therefore, whoever does not listen to the Word of God does not listen to man, but to God Himself, and whoever does not listen to the word of God and does not live according to the word of God does not listen to God, Who speaks through His word. On the contrary, a faithful heart both confesses and believes God as its God, and appropriates His holy word for itself and applies it to itself. And whatever is revealed or promised, forbidden or commanded in the Holy Scripture, he believes everything and accepts everything that is said and declared there, and therefore he listens to everything that is revealed, promised, forbidden and commanded in it, and so the Holy Scripture takes itself as a rule and tries to correct its life according to it. § 366. When God speaks to me and you, Christian, through His word, he does not speak to our body, but to our soul and heart. He does not say to the body: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15), but to the soul. Consequently, although you do not do evil with your body and are outwardly good, if inside you do not have good, but on the contrary, you think and learn evil, then you are evil and do not listen to God. You have no gods other than the Lord, you do not raise your hands to them, you do not bow your knees to idols, but with your heart you serve passions and fulfill their lusts - there is no benefit to you from that external deed, for you are no different from the pagan who worships external and sensual idols. For God does not speak to the body, but to our soul and heart: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” You are looking for help in adversity from princes, the sons of men, from silver, gold, from your honor, cunning and other things - that means that God is yours, from which you are looking for help and protection, for you hope in this as in your god, which is why you seek help in him. Hope is inseparable from faith, and so, when you separated hope from God to creation, then by faith you turned away from God to that to which you attached your hope. Therefore, although you confess God with your lips and call him your Intercessor and Helper, but with your heart you retreated from Him and left Him, and you have that for yourself for God, to which you clung with your heart and hope. God does not speak to our lips, but to our hearts: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” There must be hope in the heart, as well as faith, and if you do not have hope in God in your heart, it is clear from there that you resort to creation for help and protection, for whoever seeks help and protection from whom trusts. Seeking help and protection from creation is proof of hope in creation. We do not come to ask someone whom we do not rely on. Thus, we do not come to the poor and the humble for protection, for we know that he cannot protect us, but we resort to a strong and glorious person for protection. And when we place our hope in creation, we already retreat from God with our hope. It is impossible to place hope in God and creation at the same time, but one must certainly leave one and cleave to the other. Man has one soul and one heart. When it cleaves to God, it lags behind the creation, and when it attaches to the creation, it departs from God. The same thing should be understood about our other affairs, Christian: what is not in the heart is not in the thing itself, and what is in the heart is actually there. There is wickedness or piety in our hearts. You pray, sing, praise and thank God with your lips, but when this is not in your heart, your prayer, song and thanksgiving are nothing. You worship God and bow your knees, but when you do not bow your heart, your worship is nothing. You humble yourself with your body, but when you don’t have humility in your heart, your humility is nothing. God says not to our body, but to our soul: “Pray, sing, give thanks, worship and humble yourself.” And what truly exists in the soul and heart also appears externally, on the body, just as whatever sap is inside a tree, its fruits are born. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). Also, although outwardly you do not do evil, but in your heart you hide evil - you are a villain. You do not kill your neighbor with your hands or anything else, but you hold anger and malice in your heart against him - you are a murderer before God. “Whoever hates his brother—every man—is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). God says not to the hands, but to the soul and heart: “Do not kill.” If you don’t steal with your hands, but want someone else’s goods, you are a thief. If you do not commit adultery with your body, but have unclean lust in your heart, you are an adulterer, according to the teachings of Christ: “Whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). For it is not said to the body, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” nor to the hands, “Thou shalt not steal,” but to our soul and heart. And the hand will not steal, abduct, if the soul does not want, and the body will not commit adultery, if there is no lust in the heart; The tongue does not slander if the heart does not want to. You see, Christian, that all God’s word reaches out to our soul. God wants our soul to be healthy. And when she corrects herself, then both external deeds and words will be correct. Just as when a vessel is cleansed of the foul stench and filled with fragrance, it emits a fragrance. So the human soul and heart, when it has cleansed itself from evil and is filled with good thoughts and morals, shows good deeds and words. From here it is correctly concluded that true repentance consists not only in leaving external lawless deeds, but also in a change of heart, which when it changes, then external deeds in accordance with this will follow. So Christ says to the Pharisees: “Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup and dish, so that their outside may also be clean” (Matthew 23:26), that is, first cleanse your heart from evil lusts, so that your outer deeds may also be clean. God says to our soul: “Repent.” And when there is true repentance in the soul, then fruits worthy of repentance will flow from there, like streams from a source. § 367. When God speaks to us, Christians, God’s words are not empty and vain, but real. What he commands us, he really wants us to do without fail, and he also diligently wants us to avoid doing everything that forbids us in every possible way. This is what His holy will wants, and His eternal truth demands of us. What is revealed to us is true and true, and certainly so, as it reveals: “The testimony of the Lord is true” (Ps. 18:8). Whatever promises or threatens us will certainly happen in due time. There will be a resurrection of the dead, there will be a world judgment of Christ, at which everyone will accept according to their deeds. There will be eternal bliss for the saints and eternal torment for the wicked. If we want to read or listen to God’s word for our benefit, then we must believe everything that it tells us. And when we believe, then according to the word of God we will try to correct our life. How can it be that you reluctantly listen to everything that is said in the Holy Scriptures, if you truly and sincerely believe that He Who speaks in Scripture is God, your Lord and Creator, and speaks precisely to you, His wretched creation? It is impossible for this to happen if His word is imagined in your heart. If we listen to the word of the earthly king, when he says something to us, to you or to me, and what he commands us, we willingly listen and fulfill, and what he promises, we believe, and what threatens us, we are afraid, although he is the same person as we are, except for his power - how much more worthy of attention is the King of Heaven, the great, holy, omnipotent and terrible God, when to us, His vile servants, me and you, in speaks His word. God does not look at faces and does not accept faces, and His holy word does not pass over anyone, but just as everyone wants to be saved, so His word reaches out to everyone and everyone equally. He says the same to me and to you: “Repent, believe, humble yourself, love, be patient, be meek, merciful, turn away from evil and do good, do not take revenge on your neighbor, forgive his sins,” and so on. He also promises me and you future benefits if we believe truly and unfeignedly. Equally to every believer, to me and to you, he says: “You will rise in strength, you will inherit eternal life, bliss, the kingdom of heaven and endless joy.” Equally, he threatens the unbelievers and the lawless with His terrible and righteous Judgment and eternal torment, which will certainly be fulfilled by the deed itself. God's word is faithful, true and sure, and will not pass away. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of God will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). From such reasoning, with the help of God, the word of God can dwell in our hearts, and be quickened, and have its fruit, and although we endure many temptations from the flesh and the devil, the grace of God will help us if we do not weaken in this feat. God helps and strengthens His servants, the same God will help us if we listen to His word addressed to us and ask for help from Him. For He does not pay attention to personalities, but He has mercy on everyone and strengthens those who pray and trust in Him. § 368. Holy Scripture is a spiritual pharmacy in which the blessed Heavenly Father has hidden various healings for our sake. We have many different infirmities, ailments and illnesses in our souls, and therefore we demand many different healings, which we find all in the Holy Scripture. There, with the help of the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the prophets and apostles, everyone will find a cure for their infirmities: the sad - consolation, the doubting - reason and confirmation, the ignorant - instruction and knowledge. There is hidden advice for those who are perplexed, those who do not know reason, and consolation for the sad. For God, in His mercy, shows and offers to everyone what they need. In the feat of faith by God's grace, the one who abides there will find encouragement and reinforcement: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10), - he will find precautions from the adversary of the devil: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8); - in troubles and sorrows, for “many are the sorrows of the righteous” (Ps. 33:20), will find consolation: “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), - and again: “You need patience so that, having fulfilled the will of God, you will receive what is promised, for in a little while, very little, and the One who comes will come and will not tarry” ( Hebrews 10:36–37 ). There the future glory, which will be for those suffering sorrow in this world, is depicted in various ways, and with that hope, like clean and cold water, it will cool the heated heart. There are many Christians who place their blessedness in the honor, glory, wealth and luxury of this world, but when they look attentively at the Holy Scriptures and diligently listen to God’s word, they will be in a different opinion. There God, the righteous Judge, places our bliss not in honor, glory, wealth and other pleasures of this world, but in another. He, firstly, calls blessed the one who “did not follow the advice of the wicked, and did not take the path of sinners, and did not associate with the company of blasphemers, but his will is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he learns day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2). And further: “Blessed are all those who trust in Him” (in the Lord) (Ps. 2:12). “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin” (Ps. 32:1-2). “Blessed is he who considers the poor and needy; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him” (Ps. 40:2). “Blessed are they who keep the truth and do righteousness at all times” (Ps. 106:3). “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord: he will greatly love His commandments,” and so on (Ps. 111 et seq.). “Blessed are those who are blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who study His revelations: they will seek Him with all their hearts,” and so on (Ps. 119: 1–2 et seq.). People also call those blessed “whose sons are like branches firmly rooted in their youth; their daughters are beautiful and adorned, like a church; their granaries are overflowing, (grain) is spilling over the edge; their sheep are fruitful and multiply in their pastures; their oxen are fat; there is no flaw in their fence, and no one can get over it, no screams can be heard in their squares: the people who have all this are called happy.” But God, the true Judge of all and the Source of all bliss, pleases those who have the Lord as their God and place all their blessedness in Him: “Blessed is the people who honor the Lord as their God” (Ps. 143:12-15). Also, showing us what true bliss is and wanting to lead us to it, God says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” that is, the humble in heart; “blessed are those who weep,” that is, about their sins and their spiritual repentance; “blessed are the meek” who forgive the sins of their neighbors, do not repay evil for evil and do not remember evil; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” who, not seeing any righteousness in themselves, desire the righteousness of Christ Jesus; “blessed are the merciful,” who provide and help their neighbors, as their brothers who require mercy, etc. (Matthew 5:3–7 et seq.). God also pleases not those who invite each other to dinner or supper, for they accept reward from each other, but those who invite the poor, the crippled and all the poor who do not have what to repay to those who called, “for they will be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14). You see, Christian, how a person’s erroneous opinion is corrected by God’s holy word, and spiritual weakness is healed. It is not that true bliss that people consider such, but that which is according to God's word. For the Word of God is a reliable rule of human opinions, thoughts and deeds, which we must adhere to unswervingly if we do not want to sin and get lost. The blind flesh and through it our ever-present enemy, the devil, often offers us doubt: how can our body, dead and scattered into dust, rise up? But such weakness will be driven away by faith, established on the holy Word of God, as on a true and unshakable foundation, and it firmly assures us that “as in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15 ff., the entire chapter). If we believe that God created everything out of nothing, much more will our scattered bodily dust in Christ Jesus be collected and brought to life. For Almighty God, everything is possible and convenient, and as the true and faithful One, it is impossible to lie in His words. Everything that He declared in His word will certainly happen. With this, confirm your faith, Christian soul, and do not weaken in the feat of piety. Often, for the pious, dangerous hesitation in faith comes from this reflection: how good and God-fearing people live in troubles and misfortunes, while the evil and godless live in prosperity, as the Psalmist admitted about himself: “My legs almost shook, my feet almost slipped: for I was jealous of the wicked, seeing a world of sinners” (Ps. 73:2-3). But when they diligently delve into the Holy Scriptures and consider what kind of judgment awaits them (the wicked), they will correct their hearts, wavered by the prosperity of the wicked and the misfortune of the good, and, having been confirmed in faith, they will exclaim with the same Psalmist: “How good is the God of Israel to the upright in heart!” (Ps. 72:1) They will see there the end that awaits both of them: the pious - good, although they are poor in this world, and the wicked - evil, although they are exalted for a little time. True well-being and ill-being are described and depend on the end. “For because of their wickedness You ordained disaster for them, You brought them down when they became proud. What ruin befell them! They suddenly disappeared, perished for their iniquity. Like a dream for one who has awakened, O Lord, so in Your city you will make their image of nothing,” the same Psalmist sings about those who are ungodly to God (Ps. 73:18–20). And also about the wicked: “They are like grass that will soon wither, and like green grass they will soon fall away.” And further about the righteous and the wicked he sings: “The wicked will be destroyed; those who trust in the Lord will inherit the earth. And a little more, and there will be no sinner; and you will look for its place, but you will not find it. The meek will inherit the earth and enjoy the abundance of peace. Sinners will perish. The enemies of the Lord, when they glorify and exalt them, will disappear like smoke, disappear. For the Lord loves justice and will not abandon His saints, they will be preserved forever; the wicked will be driven out, and the descendants of the wicked will be destroyed. But the righteous will inherit the earth and dwell on it forever.” And he further testifies: “I saw a wicked man who exalted himself and stood tall like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold, he was not there: and I looked for him, and did not even find the place where I had previously seen him.” And the psalm concludes: “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, and He is their Protector in time of trouble: and the Lord will help them, and deliver them, and separate them from sinners, and save them, for they trusted in Him” (Ps. 37:2, 9–11, 19–20, 28–29, 35–36, 39–40). Do you see, Christian, what end of the pious and the wicked the word of God shows us. Some ascend high, but are cast low into destruction, while others walk low, but are finally exalted high. Where is that rich man of the Gospel who “dressed himself in purple and fine linen and feasted brilliantly every day”? - “In hell, being in torment, he raises his eyes and asks,” after expensive wines, for a drop of water, and will forever ask, but will not receive. Where is poor Lazarus, who “lay at his gate covered with sores”? After labors and illnesses, he is consoled in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:19–26). As you read the sacred history from the beginning of the world, you will clearly see how blessed is the end of the pious and how unfortunate is the outcome of the wicked. For the truth of God measures its due to everyone, and therefore does not leave good without reward, and does not leave evil without execution, although it remains silent for the time being. Do you want to know who the true Christians are and the sons of eternal Zion? In Psalm 14, God declares to you, and in response to the Psalmist’s question: “Lord! who will dwell in Your habitation? or who will dwell on Your holy mountain?” - answers like this: “He who walks uprightly and does righteousness, speaks the truth from his heart, who does not flatter his tongue or do evil to his neighbor,” and so on (Ps. 14: 1-3 et seq.). Also throughout the first Epistle of John the signs of a true and faithful servant of God are described, and in other places. There, healthy healing is offered to those suffering from sins - repentance and the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, like a healing and life-giving plaster with which sinful sores are tied and smoothed out. In a word, everyone will find there what they need if they look diligently and appropriately. § 369. From the above you see, beloved Christian: 1) How great is the goodness of our God, who in His word speaks with me and you, His poor servants. What king of earth does this to his servants, as the King of Heaven, our God, does to us, His indecent servants? Read His holy word and you will see how mercifully, meekly and affectionately He reveals to us about Himself, His properties, His will and His good will towards us; how earnestly he wants us to be saved; how many different ways he calls us to repentance; how he depicts the bliss of eternal life and the sorrow of hellish torment, and with all this he wants to attract us to Himself, who have fallen from Him through sin. 2) What a great gift God has given to people, the Holy Scriptures. We feel and taste the goodness of God, that He feeds and clothes us, but we notice His greater mercy towards us, that He sent His Holy Scripture to us as a message. A person considers it great when he receives a letter from his monarch, just as incomparably a Christian should consider it great that he received Scripture from God, the Heavenly King and Creator, through the prophets and apostles. So much greater is this gift than how much greater is the King of Heaven than the king of earth, and God is man, although blind man does not know it. For, as it is said, God has sent His Scripture to everyone and speaks to everyone in it. 3) How we must love God’s Word, so that we Christians should not be comforted or delighted by anything except His holy word. The Word of God is the word of His mouth, as Saint David says about himself: “The law of Your mouth, O Lord, is better for me than much gold and silver” (Ps. 119:72). Therefore, what zeal, eagerness and insatiable desire to read and listen to him must be! For no matter how many times we either ourselves read, or hear a servant of God reading, so many times we hear our God talking with us. No matter how willingly we listen when our king talks to us, everyone considers this to be no small thing. How much more willingly should one listen to God, the King of heaven and earth, speaking. He honored us, the unworthy, with this mercy of His, and we should not neglect this great mercy of His, but, on the contrary, by most willingly listening or reading His Word, we should show gratitude to Him, and what He reveals and promises in it - to believe, what He commands - to fulfill, and what forbids - to evade. Thus we too will honor the one who honored us with the gift of our Lord. 4) With what great reverence and reverence one should begin to listen or read Holy Scripture, God’s true word and heavenly gift. The gift of God is heavenly, therefore it requires clean hands for acceptance, a clean mind and thoughts for reflection, clean lips for preaching. For even if a man preaches, he preaches the word of God and the law of His mouth, since the mouth of the Lord spoke what a man perceives with his mouth. If you want, man, to learn the law of the Lord and preach it, you must have a heart cleansed from evil lusts, a mind cleansed from vain thoughts, and your lips stopped from foul language, obscene language, idle talk, backbiting, slander and other deeds that are contrary to the word of God, beware, so that God does not say to you what “he said to a sinner: Why do you preach My statutes and do you keep my covenant in your mouth? After all, You hated instruction and completely rejected My words. If you saw a thief, you hurried along with him, and took part with the adulterer. Your mouth has multiplied slander, and your tongue has woven deceits; sitting (in the meeting) you slandered your brother, and caused your mother’s son to stumble” (Ps. 49:16-20). Just as in prayer, when approaching God and desiring to converse with Him, so when approaching the reading of God’s word and desiring to hear conversation from Him for our benefit, we must first cleanse ourselves of all that from which God, being Holy, turns away, and which is contrary to His Holy Word. Otherwise, both our prayer and the reading and preaching of His word will be of no use to us. It is terrible for one who is defiled by sins to approach God, and for an unclean person to converse with Him Who is the Holy One itself, and to accept His word, as the word of His mouth, into one’s mind and lips, defiled by sinful abominations. Take note of this, servants of God and preachers, who receive and preach the word of God in your mouth, and every Christian who professes the name of God! His name is holy and terrible, which you receive with your lips, and you open your lips to the holy and terrible God in prayer and praise of God. “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness,” says the apostle (2 Tim 2:19). 5) How Christians need to study in the word of God, in which God and Christ the Son of God are revealed and known, and this knowledge is necessary to receive eternal life, according to the word of the Son of God himself: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). From the true knowledge of God and Christ the Son of God begins true and living faith, which is necessary for eternal salvation. The proof of true knowledge of God is pious Christian life, without which there is only vain and empty praise, and not knowledge. The holy Apostle teaches us about this: “And we know that we have come to know Him by keeping His commandments. Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4). In vain do those Christians boast in the knowledge of God who “by their works deny Him, being vile and disobedient and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1:16). The knowledge of God includes the knowledge of His holy will, His good pleasure and His Divine properties, that everything is revealed in His holy Word. If anyone truly recognizes this, true change, repentance and pious living will certainly follow in him. 6) How sweet and beneficial it is for one who reads or listens with attention to the word of God by faith to see in that word God, the Creator, Redeemer and Provider of one’s own, and His Divine properties; with faith and love to kiss His incomprehensible goodness poured out on the human race; to be amazed at His incomprehensible wisdom, shown in the creation of the world and in the Providence about it; to praise His incomprehensible truth, with which He defended and defends His servants, and He executed and will execute His enemies; to praise the incomprehensible majesty of His glory, to see His Divine miracles that have been created since the beginning of the world; to hear His merciful and fatherly promises, some fulfilled, others certain to be; to look with faith at the future glory, variously depicted in the Holy Word, and to admire it with a desire! How joyful it is to imagine the image of our salvation described in it, by which we were delivered from sin, death, the devil and hell, and to be amazed at the goodness of God shown to us, and to give thanks in a joyful spirit! It is beneficial for us to read that report in which the feat of our army is described and the victory won over our enemies is depicted, but it is much more favorable to read and remember the feat with which our Savior, Jesus the Son of God, fought for us and gloriously defeated our enemies. This is all presented in God’s holy Word. Read for yourself, Christian, and you will see. 7) From here it is clear how senseless, or, more precisely, lawlessly, those Christians act who move away from the Word of God. Many, having left this living and holy source, amuse themselves with obscene books, which amuse their flesh, but corrupt their souls, and thus by reading they destroy themselves, rather than build them up. Others strive to know what is happening in America, Africa, Asia and other distant countries, but do not want to know what is near them and within themselves - what is happening to their soul, what state it is in, they do not try to know from the word of God. Others try to test the nature of herbs, potions, trees and other things, but they do not want to examine their own nature, corrupted by sin, from the word of God. Some people learn to count the stars and measure the earth, but the short lives of our days and the countless falls into sin, for which we are guilty every day before God - “who understands the fall?” (Ps. 18:13), - they don’t want to consider it from Scripture. Some people study day and night how to collect wealth, which they will be forced to leave with their bodies in this age, but they do not want to collect the benefits of souls from the Scriptures, and they do not neglect the wealth that will go with their souls to that age. Others try to heal the body, which soon turns to dust, and preserve it intact, but they do not care about the immortal soul and do not want to know its weaknesses from the word of God and do not want to heal it. Others plan and do other things, but they do not neglect the fact that “there is only one need,” according to the teaching of Christ (Luke 10:42). All such people and others like them act like someone who would keep half a coin in a chest, but would not worry about a thousand ducats, or someone who would not worry about a house that was burning or being burned, but would take out all the rubbish from it so that it would not burn, or someone who is drowning in water, but, not caring about himself, tries to preserve his things. If anyone saw these and similar cases, he would certainly laugh at the madness of such people, for one should take care of what is more necessary and better, and not what is insignificant. So those people who are worthy of laughter, or rather of regret, are those who care about temporary and soon perishing benefits, but do not care about the eternal salvation of the soul, which “is the only thing needed.” The poor condition of such people! They walk in darkness and error, even though they were considered wise men of this world. It is not forbidden to strive for temporary benefits, but far more for the salvation of the soul, for the sake of which Christ came into the world, suffered and died. He tells us: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). What good is there, where is the destruction of the soul? A wise man is foolish who is wise before the world, but foolish before God. The rich man is poor and wretched who “lays up treasures for himself, and does not become rich in God” (Luke 12:21). What is health when the soul is sick and dies? What is the use of that knowledge when the mind and heart are blind in the matter of salvation? The poor man is so blind by nature! He leaves the best and necessary, and seeks and chases the worst and unnecessary. And since Christians have such neglect of the word of God, it happens that their life is contrary to the word of God. The Word of God is the rule of Christian living. He who does not heed the rule should go astray. The Word of God is a lamp that gives light to us who walk along the path of this world, as David says: “Your law is a lamp to my feet, O Lord, and a light to my ways” (Ps. 119:105). Therefore, those who do not have this lamp before them and do not hold on to it will certainly walk in darkness. This is why it happens that many Christians do not see sin or consider it a small thing to offend, deceive, scold, slander, or hurt their neighbor with a cunning word. Others do not see sin in stealing, kidnapping, repaying evil for evil, being angry and taking revenge. Others see no sin in serving mammon instead of God. Others see no sin in spending time in idleness, having fun day and night playing cards and other pastimes. Others do not see the sin in remembering and abusing the great, holy and terrible name of God in vile and obscene words. Others do not see the sin in relying on silver, gold, nobles, princes and other sons of men as their gods, and so retreating from God, who created and redeemed them. Others do not see the sin in trampling the truth and planting untruth in its place, shedding the tears of widows, orphans and the wretched, condemning the innocent and freeing the guilty, and committing other terrible iniquities. These and similar fruits follow from neglect of God’s holy Word. And although many, apparently, try to be pious, but since they do not heed God’s Word as a true and perfect rule, they do not believe that piety lies in what it consists of, but in what their blind mind and flesh wants to see, and so they are mistaken. Many of them try to preserve inviolably what man has written, but they do not neglect what God has forbidden or commanded. They keep the word and commandment of man, but they abandon and neglect the word and commandment of God. Many such misconceptions are noticed everywhere. Many people abstain from certain foods on Wednesdays, Fridays and other days, while others have nothing at all on those days for piety, but they do not want to abstain from anger, envy, slander, slander and other plagues of Christianity for a single hour. Many people build high churches of God and decorate them, they make high bell towers and great bells, they sew rich clothes in the church, they cover the book of the Gospel and images of saints, and the image of the cross of Christ with silver and gold, and with this substance they want to please the immaterial God, but they abandon and despise the poor, the beggars, in prisons for debts. And so they do what God did not command, but they do not do what God commanded. I’m not here condemning the building of churches, but rather disdain for God’s word. Churches are also needed, but not the splendor of churches. In any church, as long as it is comfortable and clean, public worship can be held, but it is impossible for people animated by God’s church to remain without food, clothing and peace. To those who demand mercy from us, excess should be directed. They have the same flesh that wants to eat, drink, dress and rest, as the rich, and the book of the Gospel, holy images and the cross can be without silver. We should not do what is in our eyes, but what is pleasing to God and in accordance with His holy word. So people, having abandoned the word of God and following their blind mind, do not know what they are doing, and will accept their retribution for ingratitude. For God, for neglecting His word, withdraws His grace from such, and so they walk as in darkness and touch as blind. This is the punishment that will follow for neglecting God’s word! § 370. There is no benefit when the Word of God is read or heard, but not fulfilled. Therefore, Christ does not bless those who listen to the Word of God, but those who hear it and keep it: “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28). What good is a seed sown that bears no fruit? No. What good is food to the stomach if it is not converted into juice and blood! Absolutely none. Likewise, the Word of God, the Divine seed, does not bring any benefit when those who hear from it are not created. And just as the body becomes weak, and subsequently dies, when the stomach accepts food, but does not digest it, and does not turn it into juice and blood, so the soul, although it hears the Word of God, which is spiritual food, faints and dies if the heard Word is not converted into its spiritual juice and blood, that is, does not strengthen it spiritually. This also happens to a person when, from hearing God’s Word, he does not correct his life, does not turn to God, does not create true repentance, does not lag behind his sins and does not feel spiritual consolation in his heart. For the Word of God was given to us so that, hearing it, we would correct ourselves according to its rule, and when this is not in us, then it does not bring us any benefit. Just as a fair amount of healing does not bring any benefit to the weak if he does not want to use it for healing, so the Word of God, which was given to us by God to heal our spiritual infirmities, as said above, will not bring us any benefit if through it we do not correct our infirmities. Just as knowledge of his craft does not bring any benefit to a master if he does not use his skill in his work, but it will certainly come to poverty, so skillful teaching in Scripture and knowledge of the will of God will not bring us any benefit if we do not try to correct our lives according to the Word of God and according to His will. Those who know, but do not do, are subject to even greater condemnation, according to the word of Christ: “That servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will receive many stripes” (Luke 12:47). And the Apostle Peter says: “It would be better for them not to know the way of righteousness, than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:21). So, a Christian is known not by hearing God’s Word alone, but most of all by doing it. “If you know these things, blessed are you when you do them,” says Christ (John 13:17). Know firmly, Christian, that like a father who does not listen to his father’s will, does not consider his son to be his son and deprives him of his inheritance; and the master does not consider as a faithful slave the one who does not obey his orders and does not serve him faithfully; and the Monarch does not recognize as a loyal subject the one who does not carry out his decrees, although he knows them, so Christ does not recognize as His own the one who does not try to fulfill His holy will, although He listens to His Word. “Why do you call Me: “Lord! God!" - and you do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46). And further: “I don’t know you, where you are from; Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). This is a well-known sign: whoever does whose will is his servant, as Christ says to the Jews: “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. And now you seek to kill Me, the Man who told you the truth, which I heard from God: Abraham did not do this,” and below: “Your father is the devil; and you want to do the lusts of your father” (John 8:39–40, 44). He who does the will of God and follows Abraham, the father of the faithful, by faith, is a child of Abraham, therefore, a child of God and a servant of God, and whoever does the devil’s will in his evil deeds is a slave of the devil. So, do not let the Christian name without the Christian life deceive you, Christian. For Christianity without Christian deeds is false, and will not bring any benefit to such a Christian, but will even bring greater destruction, as stated above. §371. What must a Christian do in order for the seed of the Word of God to bear fruit in him? 1) Christ answers: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). For we ourselves, as weak people, cannot do any good without Christ, according to His testimony: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Therefore, through fervent prayer, one must seek everything from Him. The entire Psalm 118 teaches us about this, in which the Psalmist prays with great zeal that God Himself would teach him and guide him on the path of holy Christian life, confirm him and lead him along that path. In this psalm, by the way, his zeal, sighing and fervor of heart are worthy of note: “I cried with all my heart, hear me, Lord. I will keep Your statutes. I called to You, save me, and I will keep Your testimonies” (Ps. 119:145-146). Look how the holy prophet prayed! I prayed with all my heart: “I cried with all my heart.” And by his example he showed us this way of acquiring a holy Christian life. And we must pray about this, pray not with half our heart, but with our whole heart. One must not only ask and seek, but also knock, that is, ask with all zeal and relentlessly. For whoever diligently wants something, seeks it with diligence and diligence, just as we see in the sons of this age: with what diligence and diligence they seek wealth, honor and other things that they diligently desire. The Word of God and the law of God are spiritual, but we are carnal, sold under sin (Rom. 7:14). Therefore, we cannot understand it, much less preserve it, without the Spirit of God. Our deeply corrupted nature always resists the Word of God, so we cannot correct it on our own, for we must overcome and conquer ourselves, for which supernatural power is certainly required: the Spirit of God, Who spoke through the prophets and apostles, needs to act in us, enlighten, admonish, instruct and guide us when we want to live according to His rule. There are two kinds of learned and wise people. Some study in schools from books, and many of them are more unwise than the simple and illiterate, for they do not even know the Christian alphabet. They sharpen the mind, correct and decorate words, but they do not want to correct their hearts. Others study in prayer with humility and zeal, and are enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and they are wiser than the philosophers of this age, pious, holy and dear to God. Although they do not know the alphabet, they understand everything well, they speak simply, rudely, but they live beautifully and piously. Christians, imitate them, God’s Word - as God’s - listen, read and pray earnestly to God and the Creator of the Word, may He make you wise for salvation. 2) If we want to conduct our life according to the rule of God’s word, we must turn away our eyes from the vanity of the world, that is, love of glory, ambition, love of money and lust, and also pray to God about this, following the example of the psalmist: “Turn away my eyes, so as not to see vanity” (Ps. 119:37). For our senses strive for what they see, and our corrupt heart remains in lust. So, it is necessary to strive through prayer against this destructive inclination and turn away the eyes of the heart from worldly vanity and turn to heavenly things. For it is impossible to love the Word of God, much less to live according to the Word of God, and to love the world and what is in the world. For love for the world is contrary to God’s Word. For the Word of God turns us away from love for the world (see 1 John 2:15–17) and attracts us to love of God and love of neighbor. The Word of God commands us to set our minds on things above, and not on earthly things (Col 3:2), for which it has been given to us. Thus, the one who thinks about earthly things and not about heavenly things turns away from God’s Word, despises and neglects it. So, no matter how you direct your thoughts, man, you must choose one of two things: either to love the Word of God and leave the world, or to leave the Word of God and cleave to the world - and it is impossible to hold on to both at the same time, for they are opposite. The Word of God turns our heart away from the world, and the world turns it away from the Word of God. So, you need to obey one of them and stick to it relentlessly. If we want to hold on to the Word of God and correct ourselves, we must give up love for the world, otherwise there will be no success. 3) One must read or listen to the Word of God not in order to be witty, wise before this age, to be considered wise by people - this is contrary to the Word of God. For it was not given to us so that we might have glory from it in this world. The one who reads and preaches the Word of God in order to become glorified on earth wants to convert the gift of God, that is, the Word of God, not into God’s glory, but into his own vanity, and thus steal God’s honor for himself from the gift of God, like a thief - which is a great and detestable sin. But one must read or listen to the Word of God in order to be wise for salvation, to have an enlightened mind to know the truth, and to correct a heart inclined to evil towards goodness and the creation of God’s will. Likewise, it should be preached for the sake of building people, and not in order to show one’s wisdom, for for this purpose it was given to us from God. So, if someone reads, or listens, or preaches the Word of God not for this purpose, the Word of God will not only not bring benefit to him, but will also harm him. For just as the visible light harms sick eyes, so the light of the Word of God harms the evil eye, which assumes and undertakes not what the Word of God wants and assumes, but what its corrupted heart does. Hence it happens that many who are most skilled in the letter of Holy Scripture are much more evil than those who are not literate, for God takes away grace from such for contempt for Him and abuse of His Divine gift, and so without the grace of God they fall from sin to sin. For “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6), who seek not God’s glory, but their own glory. 4) Whoever wants to live according to the rule of the Word of God must obey and follow the internal guidance of conscience. For the Word of God and human conscience agree with each other. What the Word of God has laid down in Scripture, the conscience within a person bears witness, and just as the Word of God is external, so the conscience within a person leads away from sin, and just as a person is externalized by the Word of God, so within his conscience he is convicted of sin. All people have this testimony of conscience, learned and unlearned, and the rudest people, even the most immature. For they know what is honest and dishonest, what is good and what is bad, and why they are ashamed and afraid to do bad things in front of people, and for bad deeds, for example, for lying, theft and other offenses, they denounce each other and complain about each other. From which the internal control of conscience is learned in the very youths and young women, especially in adults who have perfect age and intelligence. And this control of conscience is a natural law, although it is darkened by sin. So, if we want to follow the rule of conscience, Christians, then we will follow the Word of God. The Word of God tells us to honor, fear and listen to God, and we will find the same in our conscience. The Word of God forbids one to do evil to one’s neighbor—and conscience does the same. The Word of God exhorts one to do good, and conscience also exhorts. Are you sinning against your conscience? You also sin against the Word of God. Are you acting according to your conscience? You also act according to the rule of the Word of God. Whatever your conscience condemns you for, the Word of God also condemns you for. You feel the consolation of your conscience for virtue, and the Word of God praises and consoles you. And this is the book in which lawful and lawless deeds are written, and it will be revealed to everyone on the day of the Judgment of Christ, and everyone will receive according to their deeds. § 372. Finally, Christian, listen patiently and accept the advice that is useful and necessary for your soul. Christ says: “only one thing is needed” (Luke 10:42). What is this? Salvation is eternal. Everything in the world is a blowjob, just like the world itself. At death, we leave the world and everything in the world: honor, wealth, glory, joy, friends, brothers, parents, children and the matter itself. With our souls alone we depart from here either to eternal life or to eternal torment. Most of all we will gain peace if we gain the salvation of our souls. So, the soul should be dearer to you than the whole world. On the contrary, what good will it do you to find all the treasure of the world if you lose your spiritual salvation? “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” - says the Savior of the world (Matthew 16:26). For the one who has acquired the whole world must leave it and depart to the next world without everything. So what if the soul, which had everything here, will have nothing but destruction there? ABOUT! what repentance, sadness, grief, melancholy, sighing, crying, sobbing and crying will overcome her then! Then he will truly recognize his charm, but it will be too late. Truly there is no gain where the soul is lost. This is true without a doubt. So, only the salvation of the soul is so necessary for us that there is nothing more necessary than it. For this reason, God sent His prophets, for this reason He declared His Word to us, for this reason the Son of God came into the world, suffered, died and was resurrected, for this reason He established the Holy Mysteries. We need this alone. If we find it, we will have everything, and if we lose it, we will have nothing. So, we must seek this one thing more than everyday food, clothing, health, bodily freedom, peace, and most of all that concerns our present life. For we will leave all this acquired at death, and we will take the salvation of the soul with us to the next world, and we will have it forever. Do you know, Christian, why I am telling you this? Here's the thing: take note and reason! Satan and the evil angels never sleep, but are always awake for our destruction, and the seed of God’s Word, sown in our hearts, through inflicted sorrow and persecution with words, or through the sadness of this age and the deception of wealth, strives to steal, suppress and make unfruitful (Luke 8:12-14). Our flesh always rises up against us with passions and lusts and wants to destroy the spirit of faith. The temptations of the world are multiplying and trying to extinguish the conceived spark of God's love. They learn evil from each other: the young against the old, the younger against the greater, the lower against the higher, the subordinate against the ruler, the servant against the master, the son against the father, the sheep looks at the shepherd and points. What? “Well, he does this and that, why shouldn’t I?” What is it, what does it do? Evil, which God has forbidden with His Word, and executes with unquenchable fire. And so evil expands and, like a pestilence, devours the souls of men, for whom Christ shed His Blood, and so hour by hour the sons of the kingdom are diminished. Therefore, Christ says about the last times: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8). Many will have faith on their lips, saying to Him: “Lord, Lord,” but not many will have in their hearts the faith that Christ speaks of here, that is, living faith, faith promoted by love. In these disastrous circumstances, what should we do? How can we protect ourselves from our enemies, who are not looking for our property and body, but for our soul and want to take away eternal salvation - which is terrible? What if not the Word of God and prayer? Read or listen to God’s Word, and heed it, and strengthen yourself through prayer. Do not look at what the ferocious world does with malice, but what the Word of God teaches, and carefully reasoning about the Word of God through fervent prayer turns and strengthens into the desired fruit. The Word of God teaches, reproaches, corrects, punishes, and comforts. Prayer enlightens, instructs, helps and supports in the Christian cause. So, just as a lamp requires oil so that it does not go out, so faith, the lamp of our souls, always requires listening to the Word of God, teaching, meditation on it and grace, so as not to go out. And just as a lamp goes out without oil, so faith without the Word of God and prayer disappears. For just as we strengthen the body with food every day, so we must always nourish and strengthen our soul with the food of the Word of God and prayer. For without this the soul faints and then dies, that is, it is deprived of a living and animating faith. For just as for the body life is the soul, so for the soul life is true faith. That's what I wanted to offer you here, Christian! Therefore it is said: “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). Chapter 3: About the Christian title and how it should be preserved “I, a prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” and so on (Eph. 4:1). § 373. With lofty and magnificent names he depicts, and for our instruction, consolation and joy, the Holy Spirit presents to us in Scripture the title Christian, Christian, although no one is despised in this world like true Christians. They are humbled before this world, but honored in Christ Jesus before God. We see in Holy Scripture that they are called from darkness into God’s wonderful light (1 Pet. 2:9), “from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13), called into fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3), to be sons of the Living God (see Gal. 3:26), called to betrothal to the Only Begotten Son of God ( 2 Cor.11:2), to be the church of the Holy and Life-giving Spirit (see 1 Cor. 6:19), to inherit eternal life and blessedness (see 1 Pet. 1:4; Col. 1:12), to be fellow citizens with disembodied powers (see Eph. 2:19; Heb. 12:22). So, they are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Pet. 2:9). A high and truly heavenly title, dear Christian! There is no greater, highest, most honorable, most glorious and noble name under heaven like Christian. Every crown of this world that is not adorned with the sign of the cross of Christ must yield to this most honorable title. The mercy and philanthropy of the Heavenly Father elevates corruptible man to such a high dignity! He builds up faith in Christ Jesus. Blessed be God, who hath so favored! § 374. Christians living in this world, as an adulterous, sinful race, must reason about this title and always remember. May this warn them, and turn them away from sin, and encourage them to all virtue. This is a heavenly title, and it requires heavenly residence and conversion. Paul, a prisoner in the Lord, prays for this to Christians, saying: “I, a prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1), and through Paul, His holy vessel, the Holy Spirit exhorts: “God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7). “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a special people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11–14), so that we may live “not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1, 4), for we are strangers and strangers in this world, moving away from carnal lusts that attack the soul, and pursuing a virtuous life (1 Pet. 2:11–12); so that they would act as children of light, testing what is pleasing to God, and not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but also reprove (Eph. 5:8, 10-11), but be “children of God without blame among a crooked and perverse generation, in which they would shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). May their heavenly calling move Christians to this, may their hearts and thoughts be attracted to this. So, Christians should not live in this world in the same way as peoples who do not know the True God live. They are separated from the pagans by title, as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken for an inheritance” (1 Pet. 2:9), and they must differ from them in their life and morals. All lawlessness and sin must be vile to them, for they offend their Heavenly Father, and separate the one who sins from Him and deprive him of high Christian nobility, and make him their basest slave, for “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). “Fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness should not even be named among them, as is fitting for saints” (Eph. 5:3). For their “bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit living in them” (1 Cor. 6:19). What great fury to make demonic churches out of the church of God! “If anyone destroys the church of God, God will punish him” (1 Cor. 3:17). Are their bodies members of Christ? So, shall I take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? It won't happen! Or do you not know that whoever has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her? For it is said: the two will become one flesh” (1 Cor. 6:15–16). Oh, what a terrible and pitiful thing it is to make the members of Christ into members of a harlot, to defile the soul and body, which has been washed and cleansed by the Blood of Christ, and has become a member of Christ and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit! This work is worthy of many hot tears, crying and sobbing! Christians open their mouths to prayer, glorification, praise and singing of the holy name of God, and converse with the Holy God in prayer. How dangerous it is to open the same mouth to blasphemy, slander, slander, blasphemy, condemnation, vile songs, foul language and other rotten words! With their lips they receive the most pure and life-giving Body and Blood of Christ. So, how terrible it is to desecrate the same lips with violent speeches and foul language! They stretch out their hands to God. How unlawful is it to extend the same hands to kidnapping, extortion, beatings and other lawless deeds! They must consider that they are “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:5). “There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Eph. 4:4-6). So, how lovingly, harmoniously and peacefully, as one body and members for each other, we must live! What fury to rush at members of the same body and cause harm to them! They must also heed the fact that they are called to eternal life, glory and wealth. Their inheritance is not on earth, but in heaven, where is their Father God and their Fatherland. How unreasonable it is for them to cling to the earthly, temporary and perishable! How crazy it is to seek a long life on earth for those who are destined for eternal life in heaven! How foolish it is to pursue earthly honor and glory and perishable glory for those who are promised imperishable glory in heaven! How vain is it for those who hope to receive eternal treasure in heaven to desire and lay up treasures on earth! Christians must remember this, reason about this and heed this, and cherish their heavenly nobility more than their lives. They are called out of darkness into God's wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9), and they turn again from light to darkness when they turn from God to sin. For sin is darkness, and he who remains in sin remains in darkness. “Their fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). It is a great honor and incomprehensible to have fellowship with the Holy and Eternal God, but they lose this lovely fellowship when they remain in darkness. For “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not act according to truth" (1 John 1:5-6). The apostle ascribes to them the magnificent title of sons of God: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). And the holy Apostle John points out to them with surprise: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). God, joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). But they are deprived (oh, pity and inconsolable crying is a worthy thing!), deprived of that heavenly name and most precious inheritance when they fall into sins and destroy their true faith. “For what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial?” (2 Cor. 6:14–15). O sin - a bitter and destructive seed, it deprives us of such bliss and plunges us into such disaster! “Man, being in honor, did not understand, and became equal to foolish beasts and became like them” (Ps. 49:13, 21). And “a foolish man does not know, and a foolish man does not understand this” (Ps. 91:7). Oh, if a poor man saw even a little of this high Christian honor and glory in himself and knew its futility, he would weep inconsolably day and night, and would want to endure everything that happened to him, just so as not to be deprived of that glory of the sons of God! Gehenna is terrible and terrible, but no less terrible is the deprivation of that glory. Oh Lord! Open the eyes of our hearts, so that we may see some of the glory that You promised to those who love You, and having recognized our disastrous vanity, with zeal and faith we will seek it from You, the Lord of glory. Therefore, listen to this, Christians, who have no fear of desecrating their soul and body with uncleanness, who have no shame in rioting and living idolatrously, for whom there is no sin or for something insignificant it is considered to offend one’s neighbor, kidnap, steal, slander, slander, lie, deceive, flatter, dissemble and deceive people like themselves, to their neighbor to quarrel, be angry and take revenge, and do other lawless deeds. Listen, I say, to the above-mentioned calling, and consider whether you belong to that blessed flock of which Christ is the Shepherd, to that holy Body, the most blessed Head of which is the Only Begotten Son of God, to those brothers and sons of whom God is the Father. The morals of the father are certainly manifested in the sons. And the sheep of Christ obey His voice (John 10:27), and “a tree is known by its fruit” (Luke 6:44). Call yourself a Christian? But a Christian name without a Christian life is hypocrisy. Do you call on God in prayer as Father? But do you strive to become like Him in morals, do you fear Him, do you love Him, do you listen to Him as befits sons? If not, then your prayer and invocation is vain, only one voice without power and action, or even an abomination. He is the Father, but of His sons, and for His enemies He is a terrible Judge and Avenger. You say: “I believe in One God,” “but show me your faith without your works,” the Apostle of Christ tells you (James 2:18). If you do not do deeds befitting your faith, then your faith is demonic, for “even demons believe and tremble,” as the same apostle teaches (James 2:19). You are numbered among the faithful, but do you love them as your brothers? If not, you are outside their number, like a pagan and an atheist. You long for the resurrection of the dead, but is not your life contrary to your hope? Don't you live like cattle, which, having died, do not rise? If this is in you, then your hope is vain. You long for resurrection, but you don’t want to rise from dead works. And although the wicked will be resurrected, it will not be to life, but to “everlasting reproach and shame” (John 5:29; Dan 12:2). So, you see, poor man, that the Christian name without Christian life is mere hypocrisy and in fact nothing. Oh, what fear, horror, sadness and shame will befall you on the Day of Judgment, because you had a Christian name, but did not have Christian deeds! But then you will no longer be able to get rid of what you plunged yourself into here, and find what you lost here. Therefore, now, before time runs out, we must look for it. § 375. They will ask: “How can I find this?” Answer: 1) Remember what you renounced at Holy Baptism and what you promised God to do. You then renounced Satan and all his works and promised to serve God with faith and truth. Remembering this, crush your heart, repent and regret that you abandoned God, Whom you promised to serve, and again turned to Satan, His enemy, and turned to his vile deeds, and thus lied to the Lord your God. 2) Leave your lawless life, and, starting a new, Christian life, resort to God with heartfelt regret and repentance that you have sinned before Him, and confess your error before Him, and pray with David: “I have gone astray, like a lost sheep: seek Your servant” (Ps. 119:176). 3) Having thus begun, stand and be established in your good beginning and pray to God Himself to strengthen you with His power. He helps those who labor, and He will help you too, for He wants you to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4). And although you will endure many temptations and slander from Satan, the world and the flesh, if you remain strong in the work you have begun and call upon God for help, God, as the Merciful and Lover of Mankind, will not leave you. 4) Having thus turned, you will also hear from God in your heart what David heard: “I will hear what the Lord God says in me, for He will speak peace on His people, and on His saints, and on those who turn their hearts to Him” (Ps. 84:9). Then Christian nobility will return to you, which I wish from my heart both for myself and for you. Amen. Chapter 4: On everyday Christian repentance “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, then He, being faithful and righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). When we talk here about everyday repentance, we do not mean such sins as those committed voluntarily and intentionally, such as fornication, theft, and other similar ones (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21 and other places). Such sinners, since they have lost the gift of Baptism and faith, are outside the number of true Christians. Therefore, they must leave their passions and evil customs and begin a new life in Christ Jesus, as stated above. (For the repentance of such sinners, see the first book, the first article of the second part). There is no repentance there, where sins are not forgiven, but only a useless softening of conscience and the charm of the devil, who seduces people with such false repentance so that he can drag them with him into eternal destruction. But in this reasoning we have in mind human infirmities, to which even the most pious and holy living are subject, as you will see from the following. This reasoning also applies to those sinners who have been converted by the grace of God and, having begun a new life, try to show obedience and please God. For they, too, must ache in their hearts every day until the end of their lives that they have angered God by their fearless lives; they must remember their sins and past iniquities, and so humble themselves, must reflect before God on how they were in a distressed state and were delivered from it by the grace of God, and for this God, who does not want the death of a sinner (see Eze. 33:11), diligently give thanks, and for the mercy of God without doubts hope. And since these, although they have fallen behind from sins and are among the pious, are nevertheless subject to the same weaknesses as other pious ones, then they also require daily repentance. § 376. According to the reasoning of church teachers, the sin is twofold. Some are those who own a person, about which the apostle speaks: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6:12), this sin is otherwise called spontaneous, for it is done with desire, advice, intent, knowledge and preliminary reasoning, and it happens against the conscience, which it hurts and worries, for example, to commit fornication, kidnap, steal someone else’s, deceive, deceive your neighbor, become embittered towards him, and so on. This sin is called mortal, because the sinner will suffer eternal death, if he does not repent, according to the apostolic teaching: “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23); and again: “sin committed gives birth to death” (James 1:15). Together with such sin, faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit cannot exist in a person, but is expelled through him, and the sinning person is thus deprived of all the benefits acquired through Christ, and Christ does not bring him any benefit until he stops sinning. True Christians guard against such sins and strive against them by faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit. (Such sins are mentioned in 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21 and in other places of Scripture). Another sin is a sin that lives in a person, but does not possess a person, and it is nothing more than natural weakness, the flesh with passions and lusts (see Gal. 5:24), rebelling against the spirit, corruption and anger, born with a person. The pious resist this sin with the power of faith and spirit and do not allow it to control them. For example, lust arises, prompting one to impurity, or to revenge, or to hatred, or to offend one’s neighbor, etc. - they tame that lust, pacify and conquer. And although the pious resist this sin, yet, convinced by weakness, they often do what they do not want and do not know (Rom. 7:19). § 377. From God’s holy Word we learn that even the most pious and holy people sin, and they sin a lot. “We all sin many times,” says the apostle (James 3:2). And Saint John confesses: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). And for the remission of sins, “every saint will pray at the time of need” (Ps. 32:6). And Christ commands the faithful, justified by His Blood and those who confess God the Father by His grace, to pray: “Father! Forgive us our debts” (sins) (Matthew 6:12), knowing that everyone sins. He tells his brother to leave his sins behind: “Watch yourself. If your brother sins against you, reprimand him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day turns back and says, “I repent,” forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4). And whoever sins against his brother sins against God, for he does not keep the commandment of God: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). That is why the holy prophet cries out to God and sighs: “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for no one living will be justified before You” (Ps. 142:2). For God not only sees and judges our external deeds and sins, but also our internal thoughts, inclinations, and endeavors of the heart, like one who searches hearts and bellies (Ps. 7:10), clearly sees and judges by them. A person does not see or recognize many of his sins in his conscience, but God’s eye, which is brighter than the sun, penetrates everything. Therefore the psalmist says: “Who understands the Fall?” (Ps. 18:13), - that is, no one can know and count them. That is why he prays to God for their cleansing: “Cleanse me from my secrets,” showing that they are not cleansed by anything other than confession, fervent prayer and faith in Christ Jesus, whose “Blood cleanses from all sin” those who believe in Him and confess their sins (see 1 John 1:7). And here we do not mean those secret sins that are secretly committed at will and hidden from people, for although they are committed secretly from a person, they cannot hide from conscience, which denounces them more than any external witness, and cries out against the sinner, but we mean such sins that man himself does not see in his conscience, but God sees clearly and purely. For the human heart is deeply hidden (Jer. 17:9; Ps. 63:7), and is so infected with the deadly poison of the serpent’s seed that everyone has a lot of work to look at it, mourn, and wash away its uncleanness with faith. For “who can boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will dare to say that he is clean from sins? - says Solomon (Proverbs 20:9). The apostle laments this damnation: “I am a damned man! Who will deliver me from this body of death? The reason for this is given above: “I see another law warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members,” and so on (Rom. 7:23–24). Therefore, everyone who lives piously should consider their hearts, and understand their weakness, and confess with the prophet to God: “With You, O Lord, is righteousness, but we have shame on our faces” (Dan 9:7-8), - and from the truth of God and His righteous judgment, resort to His mercy in the name of Christ: “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for no one living will be justified in Your sight” ( Ps.143:2), and pray: “Father! Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). § 378. The source from which the faithful draw the water of joy, that is, consolation and remission of sins, is Christ, the Son of God. They resort to this Source of living water, scorched by the heat of the wrath of God, which they feel in their conscience, and so they cool down and perceive the consoling reinforcement of faith, exclaiming with the God-wise Paul: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). If God did not spare His Son for our sake - oh the depth of the riches of God's goodness - then how, for the sake of the same Son, will He not forgive our sins and show mercy to us who believe in Him and confess our sins before Him and ask for forgiveness? If He gave great things when He deigned to send His Son into the world for us, will He not give us little? For this is why Christ came into the world, to save us from sins, from which we ourselves could not get rid, and to give us His truth, which we could not find from the law, as we were weak, and so to open to us the kingdom of heaven, which we had closed by our disobedience. This is the purpose of the Heavenly Father’s good will toward us and the coming of His Only Begotten Son into the world. The law of God was given to us, in which eternal truth is depicted. We had to either fulfill it completely, and thus be righteous before God, and receive eternal life, according to the Scripture: the person who does what is written in the law “will live by it” (Gal. 3:12), or, if we do not fulfill it, we will be under the curse of the law, according to what is said: “Cursed is everyone who does not do everything that is written in the book of the law” (Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10). But the sin living in man received great power from the law, and was, as it were, irritated by it, and against what the law commanded or forbade, it kindled great lust in him. Therefore, man, overcome by weakness and lust, could not fulfill what the law wanted from him, and so the law exposed him as weak and a criminal, and did not heal him. And although man could not do what the law commanded him, the truth of God demanded its own from him. She demanded what he owes to the Creator and his God, that is, perfect obedience and reverence, and so determined that a person either fulfill the entire law of God and receive God’s blessing, or, having not fulfilled it, lose God’s blessing and be struck by a curse. The truth of God cannot be violated, but it certainly demands that the lawbreaker be punished, for the property of truth is to give everyone their due. No man was found who fulfilled the law of God perfectly, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). No one did what the truth of God demanded, and everyone was convicted by the law as a criminal and rebellious. Consequently, everyone, according to the definition of God’s truth, remained under the curse, and fell under eternal condemnation and death. God's mercy and love for mankind did not tolerate man being left under a curse; it did not tolerate seeing him in eternal destruction. God's truth demanded its own, and God's mercy wanted its own. It was necessary for God’s truth to receive its satisfaction, and for His mercy not to remain unsatisfied. God, the Righteous and Merciful, in His wisdom, invented a means by which both His holy truth and His mercy were satisfied. He pleased His Son, Who is the Hypostatic Wisdom of God, to become incarnate. The Son of God appeared in the flesh, and for us, cursed by the law, he became a curse, the only one “blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5), and so “he redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13), and, in our place, who did not fulfill the law, he completely fulfilled the law, “so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4). So the law of God received its end, that is, its perfect fulfillment, in Christ, which it did not receive in us. Thus, the Hypostatic Wisdom of the Father – Christ, satisfied Him with God’s truth and mercy. Truth - since “He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5; Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3); mercy - since a person who is cursed and subject to eternal condemnation receives blessings through faith in Christ from God and is saved (1 Pet. 3:9; Gal. 3:9, 14; Rom. 5:9–10). And what he could not find in the law, as he was weak, he finds everything through faith in Christ. Thus “mercy and truth met, truth and peace kissed each other. Truth has shone from the earth, and righteousness has come from heaven” (Ps. 84:11-12). The faithful cool from this living Source; they look to Jesus, who was lifted up on the Cross and bore our sins in His Body on the tree, and are healed by His stripes (Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:24). For “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so it became that the Son of Man should be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). They dare to talk about this with the apostle: “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). He complements their imperfect obedience with His perfect obedience, and with His perfection covers their shortcomings and weaknesses, and so “of His fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). He “has become to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). So, to this refuge of the poor and wretched and the Physician of human infirmities, who destroyed sins, we, Christians, must also resort to Him and look to Him by faith, so that, just as the sons of Israel, bitten by serpents in the desert, looked at the serpent lifted up by Moses and were healed (see Num. 21:9), so we, looking by faith at the lifted up Son God, were healed from the poisonous remorse of the hellish serpent, the devil. Christ, the Son of God, is our consolation, praise and glory, Christians, who died for us, but also rose again, He sits at the right hand of God, “and makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34), - He who from the height of His glory graciously looks upon the meek, and the lowly, and those who tremble at His word (Is. 66:2), Who “will not break a bruised reed, nor smoky flax He will not quench” (Isa.42:3; Matt.12:20). Who Himself says: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13). “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). § 379. True Christians, when they confess their sins before God and ask Him for forgiveness, then they themselves forgive their sins to people, as Christ taught them to pray: “Father! Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Therefore, Christian, we must reason about what the Lord adds in that prayer: “If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15), that is, we must also forgive our neighbors their sins. That is why the wise Sirach says: “The vengeful will receive vengeance from the Lord, who will not forget his sins. Forgive your neighbor's offense, and then through your prayer your sins will be forgiven. A man harbors anger towards a man, but asks the Lord for forgiveness. He has no mercy for a person like himself, and prays for his sins; he himself, being flesh, harbors malice: who will cleanse his sins?” (Sir 28:1–5). Therefore, Christ addressed the Apostle Peter, who asked Him: “Lord! How many times should I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times? - answered: “I do not say to you: up to seven times, but up to seventy times seventy times” (Matthew 18:21-22). Therefore, the Lord added a parable about a debtor who owed his king ten thousand talents and who from the king received forgiveness of a great debt by his sole mercy, but did not want to forgive his friend a hundred fines and put him in prison until he paid off the debt, for which the angry king himself was handed over to the tormentors (Matthew 18:23-34). This parable means nothing more than that the one who harbors anger at his neighbor and does not forgive his sins will not only not have his sins forgiven by God, but also his previous forgiven sins will be returned and remembered. For that merciful king forgave the debtor, but because of his unmercifulness towards his brother, he again returned his debt and handed him over to the torturers to torture the debt. Therefore, the Lord concludes that parable like this: “So will My Heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from his heart” (Matthew 18:35). Therefore, when we receive forgiveness from God of our great debts, then for the sake of such God’s mercy towards us, we must also forgive small debts to our neighbors, so that what happened to that evil gospel servant does not happen to us. The sins of the whole world were destroyed on the tree of the cross, but only those who stop sinning, repent of their sins and believe in Christ, who died for our sins and rose again, are granted remission of sins by God. There is no true repentance, but there is feigned and false repentance where the heart is filled with malice and anger. The very anger that we bear against our neighbor is a grave sin, according to the testimony of the apostle: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). They will say: “Is he doing me harm and causing me offense?” True, but you also do evil when you hold a grudge against him; and you offend him when you take revenge on him in word or deed. He did evil to you before, but you do evil to him afterwards. For evil is evil, and offense is offense, whether created before or after. Think about this, beloved Christian, and do not look at what the Christians of this century are doing, who, for a small blasphemous or reproachful word, fill court cases with slander against their neighbor, or want to destroy him, without reasoning about the fact that every day and hour they dishonor and insult the majesty of God, and do not receive according to their deeds. But, having received great mercy from God, be merciful to your neighbor, so that you yourself do not lose God’s mercy and perish forever. Therefore, if you want God to be merciful to you, be merciful to your neighbor. Our neighbor was given to us by God for our testing and knowledge of God. If we love our neighbor, we love God Himself, and God loves us. If we are kind to our neighbor, God will be kind to us. If we have mercy on our neighbor, God will also have mercy on us. We forgive our neighbor’s sins—God also forgives us our sins. If we hate and are angry with our neighbor, we ourselves are under the wrath of God. We do not forgive our neighbor’s sins; God does not forgive us our sins. If we take revenge on our neighbor, God will also take revenge on us, as Sirach says: “He who is vengeful will receive vengeance from the Lord” (Sir 28:1). So, as we are towards our neighbor, such is God towards us. Chapter 5: That a Christian must beware of mortal sins that are against the conscience and hurt it “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts; And do not yield up your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness” (Rom 6:12–13). § 380. What God forbids externally in His Word, a person’s conscience forbids him internally. And so the Word of God, written on a piece of paper, and the human conscience come together, aim and lead a person to a single end, that is, a pure, holy and immaculate life. Therefore, whoever sins against his conscience also sins against God’s Word. And the wrath of God that a person feels inside himself, in his conscience, the same wrath of God is depicted in the Word of God against him. Also, what kind of mercy and peace of God a person feels within himself, the same mercy and peace of God is presented to man in His holy Word. “To those who walk according to this rule (have faith working through love), peace and mercy be upon them, and on the Israel of God” (Gal 5:6, 6:16). Also, the prophet Saint David felt what mercy and peace within himself, and wrote the same: “I will hear what the Lord God says in me, for He will speak peace on His people, and on His saints, and on those who turn their hearts to Him” (Ps. 84:9). Therefore, Christians, if they do not want to sin against the Word of God and God Himself, and thus lose God’s mercy and fall under His righteous wrath, must protect their pure conscience from such deeds that wound it, disturb it and deprive it of a favorable peace, that is, from everything for which the wrath of God is proclaimed in the Word of God and that worries and brings into fear the conscience, which feels in itself that sin for which the wrath of God is determined. Therefore, we, Christians, must listen to our conscience and the Word of God and move away from carnal passions that rebel against the soul (1 Pet. 2:11). “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, temptations, heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). And again: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). And again: “Fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Also, foul language and idle talk and ridicule are not becoming for you, but, on the contrary, thanksgiving; for know that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for for this reason the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience; Therefore, do not be their accomplices” (Eph. 5:3–7). Let us heed this teaching and prohibition, Christian! Also, Christians, as God’s people, must move away from the love of money: “for the love of money is the root of all evil, which, having given themselves over, some have wandered away from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:10), as the Lord says: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). We must avoid lies and flattery, for “the Lord will destroy all who speak lies; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and the flattering” (Ps. 5:7). They must drive out anger from their hearts, as Christ tells them: “If you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:15). And whoever does not have forgiveness of sins will receive vengeance from God and eternal execution. “So will My Heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from his heart,” says Christ (Matthew 18:35). Therefore, we must heed these and other terrible passages of Holy Scripture, which proclaim the wrath of God to sinners for their sins, and pay heed to our conscience, and we must be very careful from such deeds that hurt and disturb it, so that, having wounded our conscience, we do not lose its peace, and do not lose God’s mercy, and do not fall under His righteous wrath. § 381. Conscience is hurt and disturbed not only by external sins, which are externally produced by the deed itself, such as fornication, theft, flattery, revenge, and others, but also internal ones, which are committed through evil and ungodly thoughts. Therefore, Christians must beware not only from external, but also from internal sins. 1) Because God speaks to our soul in His Word. So, what good is it not to sin with the body, but to commit sin with the soul and heart; do not kill with your hands, but kill with your heart; not to mingle with a wife in the body, but to delight in unclean lust in the heart? 2) Just like the Word of God to our soul, so does our conscience say to our soul: “Don’t do this and that.” Consequently, internal sins, both against the Word of God and against the conscience in the soul, equally become physical members, just like external ones. 3) God sees both external and internal evil deeds equally, as Psalm 138, verses 1–16 testify to, and in other places of Scripture it is said. 4) And conscience for an internal bad deed and thought, wounded and irritated by this, denounces the person. 5) Just as the Word of God, despised by a sinful thought and not fulfilled, so the conscience, irritated by the same thing, proclaims God’s judgment and His wrath to man. And a person will be judged not only for deeds and words, but also for evil thoughts at the terrible Judgment of Christ. 6) Christ says: “It was said to the ancients: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). From this we can conclude that the adulterer who wants to commit adultery and harbors unclean thoughts in his heart, although he does not have sexual intercourse with a woman; and the murderer who hates his brother (1 John 3:15) is angry with his neighbor and wants to harm him or kill him, although he does not actually kill him; and he is a thief and predator who wants to steal someone else’s thing, although he does not steal it by deed; and that drunkard who wants to get drunk, although he does not get drunk; and that flatterer and deceiver who wants to seduce and deceive, although he does not do so in deed. The same should be understood about other evil thoughts. This sin is committed against the tenth commandment: “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17). And although such a person does not do evil to his neighbor, he wants to do it, and thus sins against God’s command. For God, as he speaks to our soul and heart, also looks at the heart and will of the soul, at what kind of heart and will someone has and what a person’s will and heart is inclined towards, and judges him by that. So, a Christian should not only not do evil, but also think and want, if he does not want to sin against the Word of God and his conscience, and thus wound it and fall under God’s judgment. 7) Since God speaks to our soul and commands us to either avoid evil or do good (see Ps. 33:15), then the soul does both good and evil. And the body is an instrument for the soul, with which it does either good or evil. The body will not do evil, the hand will not kidnap or kill, the tongue will not slander and slander, the ear will not listen to slander, the eye will not look with lust at the beauty of the face, if the soul does not want. The work of the hands is to do, but whether to do good or evil depends on the will of the soul. The business of the eye is to look, and to look evil or with good is related to our will. The job of language is to speak, but how and what to say depends on the will. Likewise, the other members of our body are instruments of truth or untruth, not in themselves, but from the will and discretion of the heart. So, the human soul and will sins or does good, and through the members of the body it performs desires and actions. Consequently, although a person does not sin with his bodily members, for example, he does not steal with his hands, does not kill, does not commit fornication with his body, etc., but in his soul and heart he has evil thoughts and deigns them, he also sins before God and falls under His righteous judgment. We, Christians, need to protect our soul not only from external gross sins, but also from internal evil thoughts, which are the root and beginning of external ones, if we want to live like a Christian. 8) A true Christian is like a good tree, which, just as outside, on its branches, good and sweet fruits appear, and not bitter ones, so inside there is good and sweet, and not bitter sap. For from the sap the fruits come from the tree, and whatever sap is in the tree, its fruits appear on the branches. For “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit,” says the Truth – Christ (Matthew 7:17–18). In this we must imitate the tree. And just as we do not do evil outside, so we must not do evil inside. But just as we are good outside, so we must be good inside, like a good tree. Do no evil outside, and do not think evil within. On the outside, do not kill your neighbor, and on the inside, do not be angry or be angry with him. Don’t steal with your hands – and don’t want it inside. Do not slander with your tongue - and do not think about it inside. Don’t be proud of your body, and don’t be proud of your mind and heart. Do not defile yourself with your body - and keep your heart pure from this - so that there will be true harmony between the soul and the body in piety, just as there is union and agreement in their natural composition, so that we may dedicate our soul and body to obedience and sacrifice to our God. So let us be a truly good tree, which is good both outside and inside. Therefore, the apostle says: “Glorify God both in your body and in your soul, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). From here you see, Christian, who is the true and who is the false Christian and hypocrite. A true Christian is one who neither does nor wants to do evil, but, on the contrary, wants and tries to do good for the sake of God. A false Christian and hypocrite is one who abstains from external sins and shows himself to be good on the outside, but is evil on the inside and is like “painted tombs, which on the outside seem beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27). Chapter 6: That a Christian must resist and mortify the desires of the flesh and through the grace of God “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like” (Gal. 5:16-17). § 382. Since in a Christian there is a twofold birth, old and new, or carnal and spiritual, then in the same Christian man is twofold - old and new: twofold not in essence (for in essence man is one, since there is one body and soul, of which the human being consists), but in internal structure, inclinations and action. The old man is otherwise called external, but the new is internal, as the apostle says: “even if our external man decays, yet our internal man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). The old is also called flesh, and the new is called spirit, as the same apostle teaches: “the flesh lusts against the spirit” (Gal. 5:17). § 383. These two people, found in one Christian, are both opposed to each other, so they have a constant war with each other, and oppose each other, as the apostle teaches: “the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other.” What the flesh wants, the spirit does not want, and what the spirit wants, the flesh does not want. What the flesh wants to do, the spirit does not want and resists, but what the spirit begins and does, the flesh resists and wants to ruin it. From this battle and warfare it follows that one thing wins, the other is defeated, for warfare does not happen without this. When the inner man wins, then the outer man is conquered, and when the outer man wins, then the inner man is conquered, which results in life for one and death for another. This happens in nature, for example, when light finds, then darkness disappears; and when the cold comes, then the warmth perishes; and when life departs from a person, then death occurs, for the corruption of one is the birth of another. The same is done in this spiritual warfare: when the inner man dies, then the outer man lives and prevails, and when the outer dies, then the inner man lives and is renewed, as they say: “even if our outer man decays, then the inner man is renewed from day to day.” § 384. This battle, or warfare, between the flesh and the spirit comes in two forms: 1) In the dogmas and secrets of the holy faith. What the weak flesh does not feel and does not comprehend with its mind does not accept. She does not accept that God is one in nature, but Trinity in Hypostases. He does not accept that the world was created from nothing, reasoning that nothing comes from nothing, but everything is born from something else. For a Virgin to give birth without a husband and remain a Virgin, for God to become incarnate and to be a Man, for a man who died and crumbled into dust to rise, and other holy mysteries, the flesh considers madness. Therefore, Nicodemus, still wise in a carnal way and not understanding the mysteries of God, does not believe, and says to Christ, who teaches about a new and spiritual birth from above: “How can a person be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother’s womb another time and be born? How can this be? (John 3:4, 9). And the Apostle Paul and the other apostles say: “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks” (1 Cor. 1:23). Because “the natural man, that is, the carnal man, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness” (1 Cor. 2:14). From here arose soul-destroying opinions about the creation of the world, about God, about Christ, the Son of God, about the resurrection of the dead and about other dogmas of the Christian faith in Christians, who reasoned about them according to the carnal mind, which, being blind in itself, cannot comprehend them without the help of faith, and so is mistaken, and did not captivate the mind into the obedience of faith. But the spirit and faith that lives in a true Christian leads him to the safest haven of the revelation of God, which is contained in the Word of God, and points to the truth and omnipotence of God, and with this spiritual sword overthrows “every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,” and takes captive “every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). The weak and blind flesh is greatly helped by Satan, the enemy of Christians, who also fights against the spirit, and tries to extinguish the incipient spark of faith, speaking to a person in his heart about the holy mysteries: “How can this be? How can God, One by nature, be in Three Persons? How can a world be created out of nothing? How could a Virgin give birth to the God Without Beginning? How can God, an invisible man, be visible, and the Beginningless One begin, and the Impassive One suffer, and the Immortal One die, and the dead rise again? How can a dead and rotten body rise again? How can a sinner, burdened with sins, be justified before the righteous judgment of God by faith alone?” The faithful soul must endure these and other fiery arrows of the enemy (Eph 6:16). But true faith firmly resists them, and, like “the victory that has overcome the world, overcomes” them (1 John 5:4-5), being established by the unfaithful and true testimony of the Word of God. For “the testimony of the Lord is true” (Ps. 18:8). 2) There is a battle between the flesh and the spirit in inclinations that relate to morals. The flesh wants to do what is characteristic and pleasant to it, such as: to be magnified, to be proud, to be exalted, to be in glory, honor and respect among people, to please one’s voluptuousness, to take revenge on one’s neighbor for an insult, to collect wealth, to rely on one’s own strength, cunning, wealth, on the princes and nobles of this age, and so on. But the spirit turns away from all this, as from vanity, and teaches God to fear, love, honor, and rely on Him alone, and call on Him and seek help from Him. And in this battle of our flesh against our spirit, Satan helps, who strives to turn away both our first parents in paradise and Christians today from the love of God, obedience and reverence. § 385. The entire Christian feat consists in first suppressing evil thoughts that rebel against the holy faith and God’s law and want to pervert the pious heart, and not allow them to grow and intensify. All the holy saints of God cared about this and labored. For this reason, those who now want to live godly in Christ Jesus strive. This is something that we, Christians, should care about and strive for. In this matter, so important, in which a Christian strives for the salvation of his soul, we must imitate those people who defend either their home from a robber, or a city from an enemy. They put all their efforts into not being defeated by their enemies, they resist them and repel them, they are hurt by them and hurt them. This is what we should do when our enemy, the devil, comes to the house of our soul and wants to destroy it: we must resist him, repel him and not allow him. Or, just as the owner, when his house catches fire, tries to extinguish the flame, so we, when the evil one throws evil thoughts into our souls like red-hot arrows, must extinguish them and not allow our house to catch fire. For just as a robber, entering a house, destroys it and kills the owner, or as an enemy, having taken a city, devastates it and the citizens, either captivates or kills, so the devil, the enemy of Christians, when through evil thoughts he takes a spiritual house, causes destruction similar to the soul. Then the soul becomes like a devastated city, about which the angels and saints of God lament. For just as they rejoice over a sinner who repents (Luke 15:10), so they regret and feel pain over a righteous man who has gone astray. Therefore, Christians, we must put all our efforts into not allowing this enemy into our house, closing the doors in front of him, resisting, strengthening ourselves and repelling him. He is not looking for any kind of gain from us, but he wants to captivate and destroy us ourselves. It is not some perishable wealth, but an incorruptible treasure, the eternal salvation of our souls that is trying to take away from us. Therefore, let us listen to the apostolic exhortation: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). § 386. Note, O Christian, the following: 1) This battle and feat lies before all Christians and people of every rank and title who have written down their name to Christ. For the holy apostles indiscriminately write about it to all Christians and encourage them to heroic deeds. Therefore, anyone who wants to be saved must strive. Consequently, some of those who love lust think and speak evilly that only monks and other celibates are affected by mortification of the flesh. For the holy apostles wrote about this to everyone, married and celibate, and by mortification of the flesh is meant not only the mortification of lust, which especially applies to the celibate, but also other passionate desires, such as: anger, malice, envy, love of money, pride, revenge, slander, and other things. For all this evil is the fruit of our flesh, as can be seen from the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, where the apostle lists the works of the flesh. 2) We must wage this battle unceasingly, at all times and in all places. For everywhere and always, in the city and in the desert, day and night, our passions are with us, like domestic enemies. The flesh always resists the spirit (Gal. 5:17), and Satan with his evil servants, like a “roaring lion,” walks everywhere and always, “seeking someone to devour.” 3) Our enemies do not leave us until our death, but then most of all they fight us and struggle against us, wanting to steal our crown from us. Then every Christian will have to either win and live and triumph forever, or be defeated and receive eternal shame and die forever. For from that hour everyone begins either a blessed or a bitter eternity. ABOUT! Save us, Lord, at that hour. Although always, but especially at that hour, all human art and reason becomes impoverished. True and living faith, strong hope in Jesus, the Conqueror of death and hell, then triumphs. ABOUT! Appear then to me, Thy humble and unworthy servant, O Good Jesus, my Redeemer, to me, whom He freely loved and gave Himself for me, and now do not leave me. "My God! Don't get away from me, my God! Help me, please. Let those who slander my soul be ashamed and disappear; let them clothe themselves with shame and disgrace who seek evil against me” (Ps. 70:12–13). Then most of all, dear Christian, we need fervent prayer, and sighing from the depths of the heart, and hope more than hope, and hope more than hope. Therefore, now, during our life, we must remember this hour and pray to Jesus not to leave us then, but we ourselves must not leave Him now and serve Him diligently. 4) Since we must wage such fierce and constant warfare, we must not slumber. We must not, I say, slumber when our enemies are always and everywhere awake to our destruction, but we must, having shaken off the sleep of laziness, always be vigilant and stand on guard against their attacks, according to the admonition of Christ: “Watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). And again: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). And again: “Behold, I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, lest anyone take your crown” (Rev. 3:11). His apostles tell us the same thing: “If anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). And again: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). 5) Human effort by itself can barely do anything. For a person needs to arm himself and stand against himself, that is, his natural evil. We can comfortably and willingly follow our evil spirit, but we ourselves cannot stand against it and defeat it. For just as a ship floats comfortably down the river by itself, but cannot sail against the current and the wind, and for this we need a strong oarsman and ruler, so our nature, as corrupted, can and does sin conveniently, but it cannot stand against sin and defeat it, and for this we must seek help and strength from the Conqueror of death and hell, Jesus the Lord, who “will give strength to His people” ( Ps.28:11). For this reason, we must ask for help in our feat from God Himself, Who commands us to ask and promises to give: “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7), and: “In an acceptable time, I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Now, that is, in this century, while we live here, while we are on the way, it is a favorable time to strive, ask, seek and knock, so that at the time when there will only be torture and judgment, we will not be put to shame. 6) Since all Christians must wage this battle, for the flesh and the enemy, the devil, do not stop fighting any Christian, then if any Christian does not feel it, he should look around to see if he is in captivity and under the power of the enemy. For this also happens in visible battle: whoever does not resist his enemy who rises up against him, but submits, he does not bother him, but leaves him in peace and quiet, as a subject. Likewise, the devil, the enemy of Christians, does not fight the one who submits to his evil will, but leaves him, as his captive, in peace, and this peace is more miserable than any anxiety, for it leads such a captive to eternal anxiety and destruction. Therefore, every Christian should look around in what state he is. Christians are not called for the luxury and merriment of the world, but for battle, labor and exploits. No small amount of work and feat is required in order to defeat oneself, one’s corrupted nature, and the enemy, the devil. Christians are promised peace, fun and all kinds of sweetness, but in the next century, although even now, the true servants of God will not be deprived of their consolation and joy (which you will see in the last article). Think about this, Christian, and don’t look at what the present world is doing, but look at what the Word of God suggests: be sober, stay awake, etc., and pay attention to yourself! Chapter 7: That Every Christian Should Show the Fruits of Faith and the New Birth “We were buried with Him (Christ) through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life,” and so on (Rom. 6ff.). § 387. In order for you, Christian, to better understand what a new birth is, I first of all offer you a discussion about the threefold death. Death is threefold: physical, spiritual and eternal. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. This death is common to all righteous and sinners, and no one can escape it, as we see. God's Word speaks about this death: “It is appointed for men to die once” (Heb. 9:27). The second death is eternal, the one by which sinners condemned will die forever, but will never be able to die, they will want to turn into nothing because of fierce and unbearable torment, but they cannot. Christ says about this death: “But the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). The third death is spiritual, by which all who do not believe in Christ, the true Life and Source of life, are dead. Likewise, Christians who confess God and Christ, the Son of God, but live lawlessly, are dead by this death. What the soul is to the human body, God's grace is to the soul. Therefore, just as the body is dead when there is no soul in it, so the soul is dead if it does not have God’s grace reviving it. For just as a dead person, although he has legs, ears, eyes, hands, tongue and other members, does not act with them, for he does not have a soul, which is the beginning of all natural actions, so someone who is spiritually dead, that is, living in sins and serving the lusts of the flesh, is indifferent to spiritual affairs, deaf to the Word of God; has ears, but does not hear; He does not fear God, does not honor, does not listen to His Word, does not love Him and his neighbor; with his heart he only plans evil or vain things, and is completely indifferent to the work of God; lies dead in sins, like a soulless corpse in a tomb. Hence it happens that in such a dead person the Word of God has no effect at all, and, as in a parched land, it does not bear any fruit, although heavenly seed is sown. He who is in darkness moves away from the light; he who is separated from life remains in death; the branch that is torn away from the vine dries up. Christ is the Light, the Life and the true Vine (John 8:12, 12:46, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1, 5). Consequently, those who are separated from Him, and those withered branches that are torn away from that living Vine, remain in darkness and death. “Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither,” says Christ (John 15:6). A withered branch is dead, because it does not have the juice by which it is revived and therefore does not bear any fruit. So a person is dead who is separated from Christ, true Life, and therefore cannot bear fruit pleasing to God, as Christ again says: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Every transgressor of law and who cleaves to the lusts of this world is separated from Christ. “For what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness” (2 Cor. 6:14)? For just as by faith a person cleaves to Christ - the true Vine - and from Him receives the sap of grace, spiritual vitality for fruitfulness, and so lives spiritually, so when he destroys living faith, he is cut off from that blessed Vine, and, like a withered branch, he is dead and cannot bear fruit. Such a dead man lives in body, but has died in soul, as the apostle says about a voluptuous widow: “she died alive” (1 Timothy 5:6). To such a dead man, God's grace strikes both through the external Word of God and inside, crying out to the conscience: “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). This death is so disastrous that it leads to an even more disastrous eternal death, absorbed in which a person will never see life. “He who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). But both death and life are threefold. The first is bodily, when the soul resides with the body. This life, just like physical death, is common to all righteous and sinners. The second life is spiritual, which is created by God’s grace living in man. Just as sin defiles a person and separates him from the Holy God (see Is. 59:2), and so kills, so faith and God’s grace cleanses a person, unites him with God and revives him. For just as things that approach the light, for example, the sun or a lamp, receive light and are illuminated, so the soul, drawn closer to God by faith, receives light and life from Him, and so is enlightened and enlivened by the ever-present Light and Life. The third life is eternal life, the threshold to which is the spiritual life described above. For no one will enter into eternal life unless he is raised now from dead works. For “outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices iniquity” (Rev. 22:15). So, a person must first arise here, be quickened by the faith of Christ, and thus the door to eternal life will be opened to him. “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:6). “He who has the Son of God has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). § 388. Just as in carnal birth we are all born spiritually dead, for we are conceived in iniquities and born in sins (Ps. 50:7), so in spiritual birth, or Baptism, which is by water and the Spirit, we are spiritually raised from the dead. For through Baptism we are conformed to the death and Resurrection of Christ. For just as Christ died for our sins and rose again in the flesh, so in Baptism we die to the sin by which we were spiritually put to death, and rise spiritually and begin to live to God. When Christ died, our sin also died. Christ is buried, and so is our sin. Christ rose from the dead - our death was also put to death, as the Church sings on the day of Holy Easter: “We celebrate the mortification of death” (Song 7); and now we have been given a spiritual uprising from the death of sin, which comes through faith in the risen Christ and Baptism; on the last day, a bodily and all-perfect renewal of our entire composition. Then the written word will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? (1 Cor 15:54–55; Hos 13:14). So, when we believe in Christ, who died and rose again, and are baptized, our sin is also put to death. When sin is put to death, our death is also put to death, for death comes from sin. Consequently, when sin is put to death, then death is put to death, and when death is put to death, then we rise from the dead, and when we rise from the dead, we begin to live again. So, our Baptism is our spiritual uprising and resurrection. For our Baptism killed us for sin and made us alive for God, and thus renewed, regenerated and made us a new creation, according to the teaching of the Apostle: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore, the apostle calls holy baptism the bath of regeneration: “God saved us by the washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5). It is called a bath because with this saving bath a person who is baptized is washed from the defilements of sin; regeneration - for he who has been killed by sin begins to live again, is quickened by the grace of the Holy Spirit and, dying to sin, begins to live for God. Therefore, holy Baptism is a new, spiritual, holy, second birth, or regeneration, for in it we are born again, spiritually born, renewed by the renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5); the second time we are born, or reborn, to a new, better, pious, holy and heavenly life. Therefore, at Baptism there is a denial of Satan and all his evil deeds, and we promise to serve God. For this, we, Christians, must heed this new birth and, having renounced the old, follow this. 1) The Apostle says: “We died to sin: how can we live in it?” (Rom 6:2). Dying to sin means not listening to it and not doing what it wants. “What does it mean to be dead to sin? So as not to listen to him in anything in the future,” says St. John Chrysostom to this apostolic word (Conversation 10 on the Epistle to the Romans). For just as a dead person does not listen and does not do anything that you neither tell him nor command, so Christians, as those who have died to sin, should not listen to him in anything, no matter what he tempts. And this means “not to turn cares for the flesh into lusts” (Rom. 13:14); not to commit carnal lusts, to crucify the flesh with passions and lusts (Gal. 5:16, 24), and so on. And from here we see that living for sin means nothing more than doing what he wants, and the command to listen and fulfill it. For example, sin inclines and convinces a person or fornication, or to anger and malice, or to theft, or some other atrocity. When a person does this, he listens to him, lives for him, and like a servant obeys and serves him, according to the teaching of Christ: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). It follows from this that the one who lives for sin cannot live for God. For to live for God or for sin means to listen to God or sin, as it is said. And since God and sin command the opposite, then the one who listens to sin does not listen to God, therefore, the one who lives to sin does not live to God. So every sinner who fulfills sinful desires is dead in the eyes of God, for he does not listen to the Word of God, just as a dead man who has died in his body does not listen to the voice of man. Although he lives in body, he is dead in spirit. For it is not in vain that it is said: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead” (Eph. 5:14). For it is not said to a dead man, a dead body, a soulless corpse, but to a sinner lying in a sinful tomb: “Rise from the dead.” Oh, how many living dead there are before God, this apostolic word teaches us. For the living dead are all those who do not bring true repentance, but live according to their own whims. Therefore, Christians who in Baptism died to sin and were buried and risen with Christ, buried and risen, must remember this, and no longer live for sin, but for God, so that, living for sin, for God and before God, they will not be dead and will not remain in death forever, but on the contrary, by dying to sin and living for God, they will be alive here before Him and be honored to live with him forever. “Baptism has killed us for sin,” says St. John Chrysostom, “in the future we must always strive in this with our zeal, so that even if countless things command us, we no longer listen to it, but remain motionless, like a dead man” (Conversation 10 on the Epistle to the Romans). So, a Christian, due to the power of Baptism, must be both dead and alive: dead to sin and the devil, the inventor of sin, but alive to God. Therefore, for Christians sleeping and lying in a sinful tomb, there is time to rise and rise from the dead, and even on the last day they will rise to eternal life. “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 2) The spiritual and new birth, in which a Christian is born by water and the Spirit, requires spiritual fruits from him. For both carnal and spiritual birth have fruits characteristic of them. A natural or external person, when he lives, is not idle, but shows signs of his life, for example, he feels, sees, hears, speaks, walks, does, eats, drinks, and so on. Likewise, the new inner man, if he lives in us, must show signs of his life that befit a new spiritual birth and a new spiritual life. The signs and actions of the inner, spiritually living, or new man are as follows: true piety and fear of God, love for God and neighbor, and hence the godly deeds that he does without any hypocrisy. For just as the signs of a dead, old, or spiritually deceased person are the following: an unrepentant life and dead deeds, sins and iniquities, deeds, words and thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God, since such a person does not live for God, but for sin, as said above, so the signs and actions of a new, reborn and spiritually living person who lives for God are true Christian virtues that show the inner and new person, like a good tree show good fruit. And just as the signs of a living person are his natural actions, words, deeds, etc., for a living person cannot be without actions, so the signs of a spiritually living person are his godly actions, deeds, words and thoughts. Otherwise, he would not be alive, but would be dead, and it would not be a true birth, but a dreamy one, without fruits suitable for him. Therefore, both in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and in Church History, we read and see that people who truly turned to God and were reborn by faith and Spirit showed everything different in themselves compared to what was before the conversion: they had different thoughts, undertakings, deeds and concerns, compared to when they were unregenerate. What zeal, desire and thirst for hearing the Word of God, for glorifying and praising God’s name! What was the fear of God, love for God and neighbor! What brotherly love, humility, meekness, patience, mercy for the suffering, generous giving to the poor, mercy for those in need and in need of mercy! What concern for saving each other! How they encouraged each other to strive for piety and so on! And they showed that they were true Christians, true children of light, true sons of the Heavenly Father, from Whom they were born by water and the Spirit, for they were conformed to Him with good morals, the true sheep of Christ, for they listened to the voice of their Shepherd. We, Christians, marvel at such a godly life of the ancient Christians, we marvel. But we must still hurt and cry, which is not visible now, but instead “because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many has grown cold” (Matthew 24:12). Therefore, we, Christians, must look around: are we in the new birth, which is known by our fruits; do we have spiritual life, which is noticeable by our spiritual actions; does a new, inner and spiritual man live in us, who through the fear of God, love and other Christian virtue manifests itself. For every living thing shows its vitality through its actions. So, the living new and inner man, if he lives in us, must manifest himself through his actions and fruits. 3) In this spiritual and new birth, Christians are born of God, as the Apostle says about them: “neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God were born” (John 1:13). Consequently, they are children of God, and therefore in morals and properties they must be like their Heavenly Father. For just as a son according to the flesh depicts in himself the properties of his father, so the sons of God should depict in themselves the properties and morals of their Heavenly Father, as Christ says: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). That is why the apostle teaches and exhorts Christians: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1). What to imitate? It is not to create the world and do other supernatural things, for this is the work of His one omnipotent power. But what? “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” says Christ (Luke 6:36); and again: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who use you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45). And God Himself says to Christians, His children: “Be holy, for I am Holy” (1 Pet.1:16, Lev.11:44, 19:2). And the holy apostle wrote: “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgive one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32), and imitate His other Divine properties. For in Christians, as children of God, there must be the beginning of the image of God, with which they must be likened to their Heavenly Father. (For more on this, see chapter three of the article in this book). § 389. From what has been described above, you see, Christian, what fruits his new birth, or holy Baptism, requires from a Christian. Therefore, every Christian needs to look around: whether he is in a new spiritual birth (this birth is known by its fruits, as said above); Isn’t he no longer in the old and carnal state, the fruits of which are the passions and lusts of the flesh and sins; “Does not sin reign over him, that we may obey him according to his lusts” (Rom. 6:12); does not care for the flesh turn into lusts (see Rom. 13:14), and thus remains spiritually dead to God. For it is not the Christian name and confession of faith that makes a Christian a true Christian, but living faith. Living faith is shown by its fruits - good works, as the apostle says: “Show me your faith by your works” (James 2:18). And: “every tree is known by its fruit” (Luke 6:44). “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). Likewise, a Christian, when he has living faith and thus remains in the new birth, cannot bear evil fruits, like a good tree. For “whoever is born of God commits no sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9) (this is understood about sin that is committed voluntarily and against conscience). But just as a good tree bears good fruit, so he does good deeds by the grace of God living in him. Therefore, everyone needs to test himself: whether he has faith, and whether he is in a saving new birth. It is necessary, I say, before time passes and he is found on the path of this world, where eternal salvation is either gained or destroyed. For to those who do not bear good fruit, the judgment of God, cutting like an ax, is proclaimed. “Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). Chapter 8: A Christian, justified by faith in Christ, must display the fruits of righteousness, just as a good tree bears good fruit. “He (Christ) Himself bore our sins in His Body on the tree, so that we, having been delivered from sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). “If you know that He (God) is righteous, know this also that everyone who does righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29). “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not from God, neither does he who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). § 390. A Christian in holy Baptism was justified by faith in Christ and became pure before God as if he had not committed any sin. Therefore, the servant of God with this saving grace of God greets the baptized: “Thou art justified, thou art enlightened, thou art sanctified, thou art washed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” The apostle of Christ says the same to Christians: “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Wonderful, dear Christian, and a change incomprehensible to our minds, blessed and all-joyful for us sinners! From the vile sinner to the righteous, and from the unclean to the saint, and from the son of perdition, man is made heir to the kingdom! The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has earned us this incomprehensible grace, it is given by the Merciful Father, and it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, that He has visited His people and brought deliverance to them” (Luke 1:68). But those who have been justified and sanctified by the gift must show the fruits of justification; they must bear witness to that truth, received by faith, by righteous deeds, in order to show that they have truly been born of God, Who is eternal Truth, according to what has been said: “If you know that He (God) is Righteous, know also this, that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29). That is, from the creation of truth, man born of God is known. § 391. To understand, Christian, what it means to do the truth, listen to the following reasoning. Truth is a virtue that teaches us to give everyone their due, and therefore it is a universal virtue that contains all virtues. She teaches that we must give to God and our neighbor, and every true virtue, whatever it is, lies in truth. It is depicted in all ten commandments of God, like any true virtue, and therefore it is the same to fulfill God’s commandments and to do the truth. And just as truth contains every virtue, so untruth contains every sin, and when a person destroys any commandment of God, he commits untruth and sins against the truth, and so every sin is against the truth. So, the truth demands from us that we know the one God by whom we were created, and recognize no gods besides Him, that we reverence Him alone, love Him, fear Him, listen to Him, call upon Him, rely on Him alone, trust in Him, and remember His holy name with reverence and reverence. The same truth wants us not to do to our neighbor, that is, to every person, what we do not want for ourselves, and to do what we want for ourselves. Christ portrayed this in His Gospel as follows: “In everything that you want people to do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). And since no one wants evil for himself, then, by the power of truth, he himself should not do or want evil for his neighbor, and everyone wants good for himself, then he should want and do good for his neighbor. It follows from this that just as the one who does evil to his neighbor sins against the truth, so does the one who does not do good when he can. For a person cannot do everything he wants. From this we can correctly conclude that we must not only not do or desire evil to our enemies, but we must also desire and do good. For just as we don’t want them to do evil to us, we want them to do good, therefore we ourselves must not do what we don’t want them to do, and what we want them to do, they should do. It follows from this that we sin when we repay our enemies insult for insult and evil for evil and take revenge. For just as they do evil in that they offend us, so we also do evil in that we reward insult with insult. For evil is evil, whether it is done before or after. And therefore, whoever repays evil for evil in deed or word, although not before, but after, nevertheless does evil. Therefore the apostle says: “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). And Christ commands Christians: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). It is indisputable that it is impossible for an unregenerate person to create this truth, like any other truth, for by nature everyone is evil, and his thoughts tend towards evil (see. Gen.6:5), but renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and born of God, who “commands His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), must overcome the corruption, anger and weakness of his nature by the power of the Holy Spirit and do not what the passionate flesh wants, but what Christ wants and the duty of righteousness demands, that he may show that he is truly justified, truly born of God, who never ceases to do good to all, good and evil, friends and enemies, that he has truly put on Christ, as the apostle teaches: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27), who loved us, His enemies, and gave Himself up for us, as it is written: “Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live.” They lived for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them” (2 Cor. 5:15). For those who love themselves are also loved by pagans, tax collectors and sinners who are not enlightened and regenerated by faith, as Christ says: “If you love those who love you, what gratitude is that to you? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what gratitude is that to you? For sinners also do the same” (Luke 6:32–33). Christians, as those born again, must rise above the pagans and show the fruits of a supernatural birth, so that they can testify about themselves that they are truly in deed, and not only in name, Christians, a truly new creation in Christ, true children of the Heavenly Father, truly clothed with the garment of Christ’s justification and keeping it. It is also true that the first love should be shown to friends and brothers in Christ. For God loves those who love Him more, as Christ says: “Whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him” (John 14:21). However, He does not take His love away from His enemies, when His sun shines on them and sends them rain, endures their sins, awaits their conversion, sends them the means for conversion, and so on. So it is fitting for Christians to imitate their Heavenly Father and not take away their love from their enemies. The apostle wanted to see such fruits of righteousness in Christians: “I pray that your love may increase even more and more in knowledge and in every feeling, so that, knowing better, you may be pure and without stumbling in the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11). So, you see, Christian, what it means to do the truth. Namely: to know the one True God, to fear Him most of all, to love, honor, listen, to place all hope in Him, to submit your heart to Him with humility and patience, and to ask and expect all good things from Him, and to have and show mutual and unfeigned love for each other. The Word of God and our conscience guide us towards this; for this we are reborn, renewed and justified in holy Baptism, in order to bear the fruits of righteousness. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a special people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11–14). So, listen to this, beloved Christian, and note what are the signs of true Christians who carry the justifying faith in their hearts, like an invaluable treasure. For although holy faith is a spiritual gift, not subject to any feelings, yet outwardly it manifests itself through its fruits, like a good tree, and like a spark found in the ashes with its warmth, or like a good and fragrant ointment found in a vessel with its fragrance. For where the faith is holy, true and living, there the grace of the Holy Spirit dwells, and where the grace of the Holy Spirit is, there is “the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Saint David, when he asked the Lord: “Lord! Who dwells in Your dwelling? Or who will dwell in Your holy mountain? - I received such an answer through the Holy Spirit in my heart: “He who acts blamelessly and does righteousness speaks the truth from his heart,” and so on (Ps. 14: 1-2 et seq.), which he also declared and wrote for our instruction. The dwelling place of God is the Holy Church, washed and sanctified by the Blood of Christ (see Tim. 3:15); the holy mountain is heaven; the heavenly Zion is the eternal and blessed dwelling place of God’s elect, as the apostle says: “That is why we groan, desiring to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling” (2 Cor. 5:2). None of the people were found to be completely without blemish, because according to the testimony of Scripture, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Christ alone “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He who truly and heartily believes in Christ and, having been justified by faith in Christ, bears the fruits of justification without any hypocrisy, acts blamelessly and dwells in the habitation of God, that is, in the holy Church, and when he is faithful to death (Rev. 2:10), he will dwell in the holy mountain of God. Such a one shows his faith by his works (James 2:18); such a one watches and keeps “his clothes, so that he does not walk naked and so that they do not see his shame” (Rev. 16:15); such people are good soil, receiving the blessed seed of God’s Word, and “some bear fruit in patience a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:23; Luke 8:15). These are those who are “planted in the house of the Lord, and will flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps. 91:14). These are signs and proofs of true Christians - that they do the truth, according to the teaching of the Apostle: “Know that everyone who does righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29), - just as the proof of false Christians is that they do not do the truth: “Whoever does not do righteousness is not from God” (1 John 3:10). Having considered these signs of true Christians, let us look around, Christian, to see if we are among them, and let us try to bear fruits worthy of repentance, lest we hear from the Lord on His day: “I don’t know you, where you come from; Depart from me, all workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). Chapter 9: About Christian duty, which follows the holy faith and follows from the above reasoning “Finally, my brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any excellence or if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). § 392. Christians should diligently seek the things above, that is, the heavenly and eternal, and not the temporal and worldly, according to the teaching of the Apostle: “If you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God; Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things” ( Col. 3:1–2 ). 1) Since Christians have risen spiritually, and have been reborn again, and from the carnal have become spiritual, then they should not seek the carnal and worldly, but the spiritual and heavenly. 2) This is what their faith requires of them, which cleanses the heart from worldly lusts and turns it to God and the desire for heavenly things. For faith is a spiritual gift of God, and teaches us to seek the spiritual if we have it, and since it comes to us from heaven, it delights and draws our heart to heaven. 3) Christians in this world are strangers and strangers (Ps. 39:13, 119:19; Heb. 11:13). Therefore, they should not be mixed with the sons of this age, whose “god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame; they set their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). 4) Christians are called into eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12), which alone is needed; and this is the “good part that will not be taken away” from us (Luke 10:42). So, she must be chosen and sought with all diligence. 5) “We brought nothing into the world; It’s obvious that we can’t take anything out of it. Having food and clothing, we will be content with that. But those who desire to get rich fall into temptation, and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts,” and so on (1 Tim. 6:7–9 et seq.). Therefore, we should not hide treasures on earth, but in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). 6) The home of Christians is in heaven, according to the teaching of the Apostle (Phil.3:20). Therefore, even if wealth flows to us, we should not put our hearts on it (Ps. 61:11), but send it through the hands of the poor to where our treasure is, “for where our treasure is, there will our heart be also” (cf. Matt. 6:21). (See also the chapter on contempt for the world in the first book). § 393. Christians must adorn not the corruptible body, but the imperishable soul. 1) Since Christians in Holy Baptism were reborn and renewed according to the inner man, which is spiritual, then that new and inner man should be adorned with it. 2) Christians should be turned away from vain bodily adornment by the beginning of clothing. We read in the Holy Bible that before the fall our first parents had no clothing, but “they were naked and not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25), and after the fall they were given clothing to cover their nakedness and shame (see Gen. 3:7–11, 21). So, the beginning of our attire is sin, therefore our attire exposes our sin and shows our poverty, and so it should humble us, and not exalt us and give us splendor. We must remember that we are sinners and destroyers of God’s law with our ancestors. Therefore, we should not seek vain glory from this decoration, but we should all the more humble ourselves and use it to cover our poor and naked body, and not for decoration, panache and pomp. 3) Shame and disgrace for a Christian is the body, which should be turned into the earth, adorned, but with an immortal soul and renewed to eternal life by the grace of God, neglect and leave it naked. 4) Christian adornment does not consist in gold, silver, expensive stones and valuable clothing, which are the treasures of this world and the adornment of the sons of this age, but in the true and living faith and in Christian virtues, in which, as in jewelry, Christians should put on and adorn themselves every day, so that they do not walk naked before the most holy eyes of the Heavenly Father, as the Apostle teaches: “Put on yourselves as the elect.” of God, saints and beloved, in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering” and so on (Col 3:12). Here is a true and rich Christian decoration! These jewels are pleasing to the eyes of God and His holy Angels and are soul-saving for Christians themselves. 5) Corporal adornment, like all the vanity of this world, serves for a short time until death, for then all the treasure of this world departs from us, so that we leave the body itself in the earth, but spiritual adornment, acquired by faith and its fruits, does not separate us from death itself, but it departs with us for the next century, and at the world meeting and the Judgment of Christ will appear with us and give testimony about us to the Righteous Judge and to the whole world that we did not make vanities, but followed the truth. 6) Christians are called to the heavenly Great Supper (Luke 14:16), and the glorious marriage of the Lamb of Christ (Rev. 19:7, 9). So, just as those who wish to enter the royal palace and sit at his meal adorn themselves in various ways, so as not to appear vile before the king of the earth and thus not be expelled, so especially for Christians who want to enter the palace of the Heavenly King and recline at that glorious and sweet supper, at which “the chosen ones of God will lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Matthew 8:11), and they will be filled with the fatness of the house of the Lord, and will be filled with the flow of His sweetness (see Ps. 35:9), - it is fitting to have a wedding garment worthy of that marriage, and to adorn oneself with it, so that no one will suffer as much as the one who came to the wedding of the Tsar’s son without a wedding garment suffered. The Tsar reprimanded him: “Friend! How did you come in here without wearing wedding clothes?” - said to the servants: “Binding his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:2-14). § 394. Christians must consume food and drink in moderation, according to the command of the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of this life” (Luke 21:34). 1) What requires this from them is a new birth, which, as a spiritual thing, is strengthened and grows by spiritual food, the Word of God, prayer and other things, but is mortified and disappeared by any kind of carnal excess. 2) The Apostle says: “The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). 3) Excessive rich meals and excessive consumption of expensive wines cannot be done both without offending one’s neighbor and without insulting God’s majesty. For although they pass through decently and without temptation, which is very rare, or prepare without unjust gain, which also rarely happens, this excess does not allow the poor and needy people to be supplied. And so the luxury-loving Christian sins against the truth, which teaches us to do to our neighbor what we want for ourselves (Luke 6:31; Matt. 7:12); sins against Christ, Who commands to provide for the poor (Mark 10:21; Luke 14:13); sins against Christian love, which commands us to “love our brother, not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18); He also sins against his nature, which is content with moderation and burdened with excess; He also sins against the commandment: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with overeating and drunkenness and the cares of this life,” and so on. You see, Christian, how many sins and iniquities luxury entails. But what if it is made up of unjust profits, theft, bribery, excess taxes from subordinates, fees and work, as is the case for the most part? It is nothing other than obvious wickedness that a person living in luxury eats and becomes fat. 4) Christians must remember that the rich man of the Gospel, who rejoiced brightly all the days and despised Lazarus covered with pus, was determined upon death by the judgment of God. After short-lived fun, he moved to eternal torment, exclaiming from hell, “being in torment: “Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:19–24). After precious wines and rich meals he asks for a drop of water, but does not receive, and will never receive (Luke 16:25–26). 5) Christians should also consider that they ask God for food and drink: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), not for sensuality and luxury, and food is given to them not to please the flesh in its lusts, but to strengthen its weakness, so that it can serve them to carry out the blessed labors of their calling, so that, having been strengthened with food, they can work in the glory of God and for your own and your neighbor's benefit. This is the Christian meaning of eating and drinking. To this end, the apostle exhorts us: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). 6) Christians must also be careful not to fall into the number of those about whom the apostle wrote with tears: “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3:18-19). This dishonest and soul-harmful title befits those people who consume food and drink either beyond measure, or for the sake of sweet carnal pleasure, and not for the sake of need and reinforcement of carnal weakness, as said above, who place pleasure, as the Apostle says, in daily satiety (2 Pet. 2:13). 7) About the Christians of the primal Church it is written in the Acts of the Apostles that they did not care about rich meals, but, “breaking bread in their homes, they ate their food with joy and simplicity of heart, praising God,” and so on (Acts 2:46–47). So today’s Christians should not worry about rich meals, but be content with what strengthens bodily weakness, and not to please the belly, but to please God, and not to fatten the body, but to nourish the immortal soul with the Word of God, to amuse with psalms and spiritual songs, and, while eating this food, to remember about the food of eternal life, the path to which is blocked by intemperate consumption of food and drink. § 395. Christians should receive food with prayer and thanksgiving. 1) Christians should know that everything: food, drink, clothing, etc. is a gift from God. Just as, wanting to touch someone else’s property, we ask the owner’s permission, otherwise it is considered theft and theft when we touch someone else’s property without the owner’s will, so all the more should we ask God’s blessing when we want to touch food and drink, for everything is God’s, not ours. Therefore, we are commanded, as the poor and wretched, to ask: “Give us this day our daily bread,” and without this we must be wary, lest God consider it robbery for us when we touch His goodness without His blessing. 2) The Apostle says: “Food is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5). 3) We must receive food with thanksgiving, for this gift from God, the Giver of all good things, is given to us, as the Psalmist sings: “The eyes of all trust in You, O Lord, and You give them food in due season; You open Your hand and satisfy all living things according to Your good pleasure” (Ps. 144:15-16). 4) Christians should not partake of food, drink and other blessings of God, as pagans do, who, not knowing God, all the blessings of the Giver, do not ask Him for these blessings and do not thank the Benefactor, although He feeds them as His people, but they must, by faith, ask God for everything, including their daily bread, and, receiving, give thanks from the heart to the Benefactor. 5) Christ, the Son of God, and with this word commanded us to pray: “Father! Give us our daily bread this day,” and by His example he showed how it is written: “Having sung (after the last Supper), they went to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30; see other places of Holy Scripture: John 6:11; Matthew 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16). It is also told about the first Christians that, “breaking from house to house bread, they ate their food with joy and simplicity of heart, praising God” (Acts 2:46-47). Those who live today should do the same if they do not want to be ungrateful and false Christians to God. Note here, Christian, that this is said about bread that is obtained without offending one’s neighbor, and not about bread that is obtained through theft, embezzlement, covetousness, usury or interest, flattery, deceit, etc. It is sought unrighteously, for it is shameless and lawless to ask for a blessing from God, who “hated iniquity” (Heb. 1:9). And such a false Christian is, because he clearly opposes the commandment of God: “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15), and does not obey God’s commandment. Also, if we want to receive food and drink with prayer and thanksgiving, as if given by the hand of God, then we must be careful in consuming them to sin in excess, as stated above. There is also no blessing from God on food and drink consumed for the sake of gluttony, drunkenness and disorderly luxury. But moderation alone, when it bears fruit from blessed labors and to the glory of God, sends God's blessing. § 396. Christians should not live in idleness, but should exercise themselves in blessed labors. 1) Because idleness itself is a sin, for it is contrary to the commandment of God: “In the sweat of your face you will eat your bread,” God said to Adam (Gen. 3:19), and this commandment also applies to us, the sons of Adam. 2) Idleness is the cause of all sin, as the pagans themselves admitted. 3) The Apostle Paul, the teacher of the universe, presents himself as an example to Christians, saying that it is proper to work and eat bread in this way: “You yourselves know that these hands have served my needs and the needs of those who were with me” (Acts 20:34). And again: “They did not eat anyone’s bread for nothing, but labored and labored night and day, so as not to burden any of you” (2 Thessalonians 3:8). Excluded from this vice are the infirm, the elderly, and those in prison, whom Christians must nourish together. (See also the chapter on idleness in the first book). § 397. Christians must guard their tongues, for no one sins more than with an unbridled tongue. The Holy Apostle James, describing the unbridledness and therefore the harm of the human tongue, says: “The tongue is a small member, but it does a lot. Look, a small fire ignites a lot of substance! And the tongue is fire, the embellishment of untruth; the tongue is in such a position between our members that it defiles the whole body and inflames the circle of life, being itself inflamed by Gehenna. For every nature of beasts and birds, reptiles and sea animals is tamed and tamed by human nature, but none of the people can tame the tongue: this is an uncontrollable evil; it is filled with deadly poison. With it we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, created in the likeness of God” (James 3:5–9). Such a terrible thing is evil - the tongue, when it is not diligently preserved! Sirach also presents to us the terrible and many evil consequences of an unbridled tongue: “I shook the three-jawed tongue of many, and separated me from tongue to tongue, and destroyed strong cities, and turned the houses of nobles; The clawed tongue of the wife drove away the treasure, and deprived me of their labors. Listen to him, he cannot find peace, he will dwell below with silence. A scourge creates scabs; a tongue ulcer crushes bones. Many fell with the edge of a sword, but not like a fallen tongue. Blessed is the one who hides from him, who does not pass away in his rage, who is not drawn by his yoke, and who is not bound by his chains: for his yoke is an iron yoke; and his bonds are copper bonds. Death is cruel, his death, and hell is better than him” (Sir. 28:16–24). An unbridled tongue does so many evils! For this reason, Christians should try very hard to keep it within their own boundaries and not allow it to go freely, as the apostle says: “If anyone among you thinks that he is pious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his piety is empty” (James 1:26). And Christ threatens the unbridled tongue with judgment: “for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). If for an idle word, much more for a foul, shameful, blasphemous, reproachful, reproachful word, they will be given an answer. For this reason, the word of God so strongly exhorts us to guard our tongue: “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). “Whoever loves life and wants to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech” (Ps. 34:13-14; 1 Peter 3 and other places). Christians must remember that they call upon, sing and praise the holy and terrible name of God. How can the name of God, great and holy, be invoked with that tongue, which is desecrated with obscenity, foul language, bad language, blasphemy, swearing, blasphemy, slander and other stench? And then they must remember that they are partaking of the most pure Body and Blood of Christ. How will they accept that holy thing into their mouths—into their mouths, I say, who defile with rotten and stinking words? Heed this diligently, unbridled tongue, so that you may call upon the name of God without condemnation and receive communion of the Holy Mysteries. (See also the chapter on language in book one). § 398. Christians must prepare themselves for patience, and always remain in that (patience), even though the flesh suffers. For Christians experience many disasters and misfortunes in this world. “Many shall be the tribulation of the righteous” (Ps. 33:20), and: “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12); “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33), and other Holy Scriptures testify to this. For Satan and his servants, both from the beginning of the world, have been embittering, and are now embittering, and will not stop embittering until the end of the world, and the closer the end of the world comes, the more they will embitter the servants of God and send misfortunes to them. “Woe to those who live on earth and on the sea! for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has but little time left” (Rev. 12:12). Against this fierce enemy and his evil servants, their temptations and bitterness, Christians cannot arm ourselves with anything other than patience and prayer. That is why His temptations were predicted by the Holy Spirit, and written by His holy servants, so that we would always expect them, like arrows kindled, and try to generously endure and quench the arrows thrown (at us) by the power of patience and prayer, looking to Christ Himself, the Son of God, Who defeated our enemy with the patience of the Cross, and to His saints, who followed Him with patience. May the hope “of the things prepared for us in heaven” encourage us to endure generously and continue to the end (Col. 1:5). In sorrows and adversities, let us remember the apostolic word, “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Nothing encourages and consoles the human heart in troubles and adversity like good hope. A warrior who faces obvious death and the most dangerous disaster (to decide) is encouraged by the hope of victory and glory; for a merchant to wander through foreign countries and dangerous roads - hope (to gain) wealth; a villager to sweat and work all summer - hope (to receive) fruit; the hope of (obtaining) freedom brings joy to one sitting in prison; the hope of returning consoles those who have been away from home and fatherland; the hope of recovery revives the sick. How incredibly happy everyone is when they receive the fulfillment of their hopes! They forget their former sorrow and distress and are consoled by what they hoped and expected. If (the hope of receiving) temporary blessings, which are like smoke, which appears for a short time and soon disappears - (if such) hope so strongly encourages a person to endure labors and disasters - how will the hope (of receiving) eternal blessings not encourage us, O Christians, which “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what God has not prepared for those who love Him has not entered into the heart of man!” (1 Cor. 2:9). When we look at them by faith, when we think about the glory of the children of God, with which they will be enlightened “like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43), then let us imagine to our minds that glorious, great and sweet supper, to which “many will come from the east and the west and will lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” ( Matthew 8:11), and those who work for the Lord will eat, they will drink, they will be merry and they will sing for the joy of their hearts (Isa.65:13–14). Let us see our Heavenly Father “face to face, whom we now see as through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12), and in the sight of whom the holy angels are filled without satiety, of him we will then be filled with unceasing desire, and of Christ crucified, died and risen, in whom we now believe, then He will already be in Divine glory We will see him reigning, and “we will reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). To Him we will then be conformed in glory, to whom we are now conformed in patience, for “we will be like Him” (1 John 3:2). Let us then be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17), with whom we now suffer. With those then we will have a blessed and sweet friendship, about whom we now read and hear in the Holy Scriptures: the holy Angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles and other saints. Then we will forget all our disasters, misfortunes, sorrows, illnesses, sighs and tears, but instead, “our heart will rejoice, and no one will take our joy away from us” (John 16:22). “And the redeemed of the Lord will return, they will come to Zion with shouts of joy; and everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will find joy and gladness, and sorrow and groaning will be removed” (Is. 35:10). Oh, that all-desired and joyful day on which, according to God’s promise, we will receive all these blessings from the all-generous hand of the Heavenly Father! With this hope God strengthens His servants in their deeds, and comforts them in their sorrow, and cheers them in their sorrows. For the same purpose, eternal bliss is depicted and described in various ways in the Holy Scriptures, so that by looking at it with faith, we will be strengthened and strengthened in our feat, and in sorrows we will feel living consolation. “But whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through patience and encouragement from the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). With this sweet hope the saints of God strengthened and consoled themselves in the feat of piety; with this (hope) we should also strengthen ourselves and not become weak in the suffering inflicted by Satan and his servants. There will be an end to everything temporary, and temporary prosperity and misfortune will soon pass, and a worthy lot awaits those who persecute and are persecuted, and those who are embittered and embittered will receive theirs from the truth of God. “It is right before God to reward those who insult you with sorrow, and you who are insulted with joy along with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” says the Apostle of Christ (2 Thess. 1:6-8). (See also the chapter on patience in the first book). § 399. What should Christians rejoice about? Answer: 1) What a person loves is what he rejoices about. And since love can be twofold, worldly or carnal, and spiritual or Divine, so joy can be twofold, worldly or carnal, and spiritual or Christian. Love and joy are learned from subsequent sadness over the lost thing that one loves and rejoices over. So a father grieves for his son, a husband for his wife, for each other, a brother for his dead brother, but they grieve for no other reason than because they were separated from their loved ones, and therefore with their sadness they show that they love those from whom they were separated, and in the presence of those they were comforted, in whose absence they are no longer comforted, which is why they grieve about it. A person does not do this when he is deprived of something he does not love. So one does not grieve over someone else’s death, because he did not love him; he didn’t love him because he didn’t console him when he was alive; he was not consoled because he did not love and did not rejoice over him, who lived; and since he was not comforted about the living, he does not grieve about the dead or absent. The sign of love for a thing is joy about it, and the sign of joy is subsequent sadness about its destruction. 2) The sons of this age rejoice in the honor, glory, gold, silver, wealth, luxury and pleasures of this world. This is their treasure, joy and amusement, and therefore they rejoice over their treasure, for they love it. Christians must drive such joy out of their hearts and not give it a place in their hearts. The Holy Spirit leads them away from this joy: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world” (1 John 2:15). For whatever a person loves, he rejoices in. And therefore Christians should not both love the world and rejoice in it. 3) True Christian joy lies in God. This is their treasure, consolation, joy and amusement. They should rejoice in this, that they believe and serve God not as the pagan gods were and are, soulless, deaf, dumb, blind, “silver and gold, the works of human hands” (Ps. 113:12-15), but serve the living, immortal, ever-present, wise, omnipotent God, who holds all things in His hand, who provides for everyone, to his good and merciful Creator and Provider. The Holy Spirit commands them to rejoice in this: “Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord” (Ps. 32:1), and through the Apostle: “Rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 3:1), and always commands to rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always; And again I say: Rejoice” (Phil.4:4). 4) This joy to them must stem especially from the fact that they call and have that great and living God as their Father, to whom they pray like this: “Our Father who is in heaven” and so on (Matthew 6:9). It is a great (dignity) to call an earthly king and have him as a father, but an incomparably greater dignity is to have and call the King of Heaven, God Almighty, Father. 5) They should also draw spiritual joy from there, that they are called by the grace of God “out of darkness into the wonderful light of God” (1 Peter 2:9), and “from the power of Satan” into the kingdom of Christ (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13), that over them is not the prince of this world, as over the pagans who do not know God, and other lawless people, but the King of the world, the King The heavenly, righteous King, the Son of God, the Hypostatic Father's Word, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, reigns, rules, protects and preserves them. They should rejoice in this, as the prophet speaks about this, singing: “And the sons of Zion, that is, the sons of the Church, will rejoice in their King” (Ps. 149:2). 6) Finally, this joy is greatly increased for them by the hope of a future life and bliss, that by the grace of God a treasure of ineffable and eternal blessings will be opened, which they hope to receive by the grace of Christ if they are faithful until death (Rev. 2:10). With this, the Source of joy Himself, Jesus Christ, consoles them: “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). 7) Christians should have this spiritual joy in prosperity and adversity, for this joy stems from the love of God, which they should always have. God, as unchangeable Grace and Love, is always worthy of love. Even then He is good and merciful to us and (then) benefits us when He takes away temporary well-being from us; then he has mercy on us when he beats us; then he spares us when he punishes us; then he loves us when he saddens us; Then he does good to us when He takes His blessings from us. “For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; and he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19). Therefore, both love for God and the spiritual joy that follows it, not only in prosperity, but also in misfortune, should be present in Christians. For just as true love for God comes from joy in God, so the same love is recognized in adversity. For whoever rejoices in God only in prosperity gives evidence of himself that he is not God Himself, but loves prosperity, God’s temporary blessings. One thing is to love God, another thing is to love His blessings, as anyone can admit. So, whoever loves a person only as long as he does him good, loves not so much the person himself as the good deed. A true lover of humanity not only loves his benefactor and friend, but also loves every person and has mercy on him. Likewise, a true lover of God not only loves God when He amuses him with temporary blessings, but also when He saddens him by taking away temporary blessings. For from the good God, the Source of good things, nothing other than good things flows and pours out upon us. 8) In prosperity, both hypocrites and evil people rejoice, love God and thank God, but when prosperity is taken away from them, then they murmur, are indignant, sad, and often blaspheme, and thus show that they love God with their lips and not with their hearts, as it is written about the Israelites: “They loved Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue. But their heart was not right before Him” (Ps. 77:36-37) - and thereby testify to themselves that they love the blessings of God, and not God Himself. The right and God-loving heart, which submits and follows God in everything, does not act like this: it thanks and sings in the prosperity of God as its Benefactor, and in misfortune, as its Benefactor, it recognizes and praises, and confesses with David: “It is good for me, for you have humbled me” (Ps. 119:71); - and at every time, happy and sad, with the same Psalmist he blesses Him: “I will bless the Lord at all times; I will make His praise in my mouth” (Ps. 33:2). And although the flesh, blind and weak, begins to worry and be indignant in misfortune, the true lover of God pacifies it and tames it, and thus overcomes all opposition with God’s love, thinking that everything is sent from the good God, no matter what happens to us, and that it is better and more useful for us to be in misfortune than in prosperity. In prosperity a person can ascend and perish, but in adversity he humbles himself, to which God mercifully looks upon and gives His grace (James 4:6; 1 Pet.5:5). Note, Christian, that Christian joy can also be about temporary blessings, for example, about a victory won over the enemies of the Church, about the goodness of the air, about the abundance of earthly fruits, about the health of oneself and one’s neighbor, and so on. But this joy, since it originates from God, the Giver of all good things, should be treated that way and rest on Him alone. God's blessings are evidence of God's goodness. They are like streams flowing from a source, like rays from the sun descending to the earth. Streams lead us to the source and show us the source, and the rays of the sun that illuminate us raise our eyes to the sun. Thus, temporary benefits flow from God as the Source, and, like rays from the ever-present sun, they descend on us and warm us, and raise our mind and heart to Himself, and exhort Him to love and rejoice in Him, as the One who loves us and as our Benefactor. § 400. Christians should guard themselves from ingratitude towards God. 1) A person shows ingratitude to God when he forgets His benefits, just as the ingratitude of the Israelites is exposed by the fact that they “forgot His benefits and His wonders that He showed them” (Ps. 77:11). This happens when a person is filled with the blessings of God and does not feel it; illuminated by light, preserved by air, warmed by fire, filled with bread, drunk with water, covered with clothes, protected from invisible enemies, demons, protected by God's power, not immediately executed for sins, and receives other blessings from the hand of God - and does not know them and does not understand, as it is written: “A foolish man does not know, and a foolish man does not understand these things” (Ps. 91:7 ). What would happen to us, O Christian, if God, in His truth, for our ingratitude, took away at least one element - air? Everyone should certainly die immediately with our cattle. Or he would have taken the water away from us, or, as before in Egypt, he would have turned it into blood (Exodus 7:20), or instead of the light of day he would have sent darkness, as he did in Egypt (Exodus 10:22) - who would not want to get it for that great treasure? In darkness we recognize, since great good is light, in thirst for water we recognize the value, in winter and the cold of fire we see need and benefit, in hunger we recognize the value of bread; if clothing is needed, we notice nakedness; what a great blessing we feel in health; If freedom is favorable and kind to us, prison and bondage teach us. What else would we have if God, in His righteousness, dealt with us and immediately executed us for our sins, “for we all sin many times” (James 3:2), and “who understands the Fall” (Ps. 19:13)? Or, for a short time, would I allow our enemy the devil, who walks “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), whom he holds with his strength and authority, like a dog on a leash, so that he does not harm us - what, I say, would follow us if he were given freedom to us? Who could be safe? Who would be left alive? Truly, that we live and move and exist is God’s great blessing. If a person does not feel and recognize these and other blessings of God, then, according to the Psalmist, he is a foolish and unreasonable man, and ungrateful to his Benefactor and Creator, God. 2) A person especially shows ingratitude to God when he forgets the great work of redemption of the human race, that for his sake God Himself came to earth, became incarnate, lived on earth with people, suffered and died, and so the salvation that he lost arranged for him. But man forgets this great grace of God, and, as if imputing it to nothing, abandons and does not seek through faith his salvation, purchased at the priceless price of the Blood of Christ, he neglects the treasure of eternal life, which is “only needed” (Luke 10:42), and turns to this world and everything in it, and clings to vain honor, glory, wealth and luxury, and thus makes himself unworthy of eternal life. God wants to have mercy on him, save him, give him eternal life, but he despises this favor of God and turns away from Him, and so willfully goes into destruction, like a blind man into a ditch. If someone came to someone drowning in water or mired in mud and, stretching out his hand, wanted to pull him out, or someone came to a prisoner and wanted to free him from captivity, but he himself does not want to get rid of his misfortune, would he not be insane and ungrateful to his benefactor? Everyone would certainly recognize him as senseless and ungrateful. This is what an unrepentant sinner does, who does not want to lag behind the love of the world, and turn to God, and receive eternal life from Him. Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and stretches out His holy hand to every sinner, mired in the mire of sin and captured by the enemy the devil, but the sinner, like a “mad man,” does not want to get rid of his misfortune, does not deign to the holy will of his great Benefactor and Savior, remains in his disastrous previous state, wallows and drowns in sins, as in mud, and remains as he was, in bitter captivity and the power of the devil, and so to nothing other than eternal destruction, closing his eyes, he goes. So to God, his Benefactor, who wants to save him, he shows himself ungrateful, and he himself perishes without permission. 3) Human ingratitude towards God is recognized because he experiences God’s goodness not only every day, but every hour, but does not love Him as his Benefactor. He does not love because he does not honor, he does not honor because he does not listen, he does not listen because he does not fulfill His commandments. From this all sin and lawlessness follows. If we love a benefactor, then we honor him, and if we honor him, then we listen to him, and if we listen, then we fulfill his will. It follows from this that every sin committed voluntarily and against conscience is a sign of ingratitude to God, for, although with every sin, He is especially angry with such sin, which He cannot accommodate with love and gratitude. For he who truly loves his benefactor, and has a grateful heart towards him, does not want to anger and offend him, since it is hard for true love to see his beloved angry and offended. 4) Human ingratitude towards God shows that he is comforted by the blessings of God, but does not want to praise, sing and glorify the name of his Benefactor. He who is grateful to his benefactor not only loves and honors him, but also boasts of him before others, glorifies and extols him and his good deed. So, whoever has gratitude to God does not hide His good deeds in his heart, but confesses it with his lips and sings to Him, praises and magnifies Him. From here so many grateful and praiseworthy songs came from and were written in the books of the prophets, in the psalms, in the New Testament and in church books, which the saints of God sang with a joyful spirit to God, their Benefactor, and left for us to do the same. Hence, in many places of Holy Scripture, and especially in the psalms, we are commanded to praise and sing to the Lord: “praise the name of the Lord, praise the servants of the Lord” (Ps. 134:1). And this is the Christian sacrifice, which they must offer to God all the days, as the apostle says: “Let us therefore continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that glorify His name” (Heb. 13:15). He who does not do this has a heart that is ungrateful to God and is in vain called a creation of God, for he does not praise His Creator, Whom all creation praises and should praise (Ps. 149:1-13); in vain he receives the blessings of God, for he does not glorify his Benefactor; It is in vain that he takes the Christian name, for he does not thank Christ, his Redeemer and Savior, and does not glorify Him. Therefore, Christ denounced the ingratitude of the lepers, who were healed of leprosy, but did not come except for one thing, to give thanks to Him and to confess His goodness before Him: “Were not ten cleansed? where is nine? How did they not return to give glory to God” (Luke 17:17–18)? The same can be said about Christians who, in holy baptism, were cleansed from sinful leprosy and are satisfied with other good deeds of God, but do not return to God to give glory: have they not learned all this great work of God’s goodness for themselves and will always know other blessings? Why doesn’t everyone return with a grateful heart to God and give glory to God? “How did they not return to give glory to God?” On the contrary, it is written there about the grateful Samaritan that he, “seeing that he was healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell prostrate at His (Christ’s) feet, giving thanks to Him” and giving Him praise (Luke 17:15–16). So now, a grateful heart does not remain silent about God’s good deeds, but returns to God, from Whom it receives it, glorifies Him with a loud voice and falls prostrate before Him, giving Him praise. 5) From here we see how sin blinds a person. A person loves, honors and glorifies his benefactor, although everything that he receives from him is God’s, but he does not repay God, by whose blessings he lives, moves and exists (Acts 17:28). Every creature of God praises and glorifies God, its Creator. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God” (Ps. 18:2). The sun, moon and stars glorify God with their light. Birds fly in the air, sing and glorify the Lord. The earth with its fruits, and the sea with its inhabitants and those who move in it, praise the Lord. In a word, all creation does the word and commandment of God, and thus praises its Lord (Ps. 149:1-13). Man, on whom God's goodness was poured out far beyond all creation, for whose sake heaven and earth were created, for whose sake God Himself appeared and lived on earth - man, I say, a rational creature, enclosed in God's good deeds, does not want to praise and thank God, the Lord, Creator and Benefactor. How miserably sin blinds man! 6) From here we also see how great the goodness of God is, that He endures so much human ingratitude, and not only endures, but also does not cease to do good to His enemies, “for He commands His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). 7) Our ingratitude, Christian, does not harm God, but harms us. Just as the sun, whether it is blasphemed or praised, is the same sun, it shines equally and emits its rays, and therefore its light is not diminished by blasphemy, nor is its light increased by praise, so we do not add glory to God if we love Him, honor, praise and thank Him, but (in this way) we ourselves benefit. Also, when we do not love, do not honor, do not praise or blaspheme, we do not take away His glory, but we harm ourselves. For God's glory can neither increase nor decrease. For God, both in His properties and in His glory, is all-perfect and infinite, and therefore we cannot give glory to Him through our gratitude and praise, nor can we diminish His glory through ingratitude and blasphemy, but through gratitude we benefit ourselves, but through ingratitude we damage and destroy ourselves. The sun shines on everyone, whoever wants to use its light opens his eyes and uses its light, but this does not add anything to the sun, and whoever closes his eyes and does not use its light harms himself, not him. This is how God’s goodness is poured out on everyone: whoever feels it and thanks God, with his gratitude brings benefit to himself, and not to God, and whoever does not feel and does not thank the Benefactor, does harm to himself, and not to Him. For such a person who does not show gratitude to God is deprived by His righteous judgment of His grace, and so a person, left without the help of God’s grace, becomes as if blind, and walks as if in darkness, sins and does not feel, and from sin falls into greater sin and, like a blind ditch, so he does not see the destruction into which he will fall. Hence it happens that ungrateful Christians are more evil than pagans, for pagans, out of human fear, run away from such sins as fearless Christians dare to commit, such as robbery, theft, covetousness, untruth in courts, deceit, flattery, fornication, and so on. This is the fruit of ingratitude, the fruit of insensibility and destruction! The one who despises Him himself is worthily and righteously despised and abandoned from God. For this reason, Christians should be extremely careful of ingratitude, for they, more than all creatures and more than other people, have been and are being honored with the mercy of God. § 401. For what should Christians especially thank God? Answer: Although for all blessings, we should especially thank God from the bottom of our hearts for the following: 1) That He sent His only begotten Son into the world for the redemption and salvation of the human race, and handed Him over to death. 2) That he called them “out of darkness into His wonderful light; once not a people, but now the people of God; who once received no mercy, but have now obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9–10). Therefore the apostle says: “Giving thanks to God the Father, who has called us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:12-14). 3) Who kindles in them the lamp of faith with the oil of His mercy, gives them His grace and remission of sins. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” the apostle of Christ thanks and praises God (Eph. 1:3). 4) What gives hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus, for which the Apostle Peter thanks and sings to God, and teaches Christians: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy hath begotten us again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to a living hope, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4). 5) What keeps from the enemy the devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). 6) What warns against sin, into which we would continually fall as weak ones, if His mercy did not precede and preserve, and so on. If anyone wants to be grateful to God, his Creator and Redeemer, and not have a Christian name in vain, and at the end of his temporary life receive eternal life, let him think about this and let him sing with a grateful heart about the goodness of God. The Christian faith requires this from every Christian. § 402. What great things should Christians offer in this world? Answer: 1) The sons of this age, or people living according to the flesh, have great wealth, glory and luxury of this world, and this, like the triple god, they honor, seek and cleave to. “For where their treasure is, there will their heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Christians should regard all this as small or even nothing, for they are called to truly great things, as has been said and will be said below, for everything great (of this age) passes away: “and the world is passing away, and the lust thereof” (1 John 2:17), as the Apostle directs them from this: “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15). When death occurs, all this recedes from a person, and so nothing remains for him, and he becomes like one of the small, simple, poor and wretched. And then he himself recognizes that the great things (of this age) are very small, or like nothing, and then he suffers, like the one who found a treasure in a dream, but having awakened has nothing; or like one who in a dream is revered by everyone as a nobleman, but, upon awakening, sees himself in his former simple state and contempt; or like someone who drinks a sweet drink in a dream, but, waking up, feels thirsty instead of the sweetness. So everything great (of this century) is truly nothing! 2) Christians should consider it great to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3). This is truly great and incomprehensible to the human mind. People consider it great to have communion with princes, kings, monarchs and earthly emperors, but incomparably greater and highest is to have communion with God, Who is the King of kings and Lord of lords (to have communion). Why should Christians heed what the apostle further wrote: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:5-6). If Christians consider it great to have fellowship with God, Who is light, as it is truly great, and desire this, then they must flee darkness, which is nothing other than sin and the devil. “For what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14). 3) To call God Father and to have and be His children is truly a great Christian advantage and incomprehensible to the mind. Who would not want to impute all the glory of this world and all the treasures for nothing in order to receive this advantage, if he judges it sensibly? The apostle presents this advantage to the faithful and tells them with amazement: “See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). If, as a Christian, we value this as great and desire it, then we must have living faith in the Lord Jesus, who “has given power to those who believe in His name to become children of God” (John 1:12), and show that faith by deeds, as the apostle demands: “Show me your faith by your works” (James 2:18), and testify with God-like morals, as the apostle teaches: “Imitate God, as beloved children” ( Eph.5:1) He is so good that He “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unjust” - and we must love not only our friends, but also our enemies (Matthew 5:44-45). He is merciful, and let us be merciful, as Christ says: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). He forgives us our sins, and we will forgive each other, as it is written: “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32), and so on. When such faith and such its fruits are in us, then God our Father will be, and we will be His sons and daughters, as the Lord says: “And I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters” (2 Cor. 6:18). “Therefore, beloved, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” the Apostle of Christ exhorts us (2 Cor. 7:1). 4) To be not strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God (Eph. 2:19), to be a living member of the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27), to be a true son of the Holy Church - this is something Christians should consider great. People consider it a great thing to be in the family of a king or an earthly prince, or to live in a royal palace and be considered close to the king, but it is incomparably greater and higher dignity to be in the family of the Heavenly King, and to live in His holy house, “which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). If we, Christians, consider this great, and desire it, then let us show ourselves worthy of the coexistence of saints and relatives of God. For we have “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and to thousands of angels, to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn who are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant” (Heb. 12:22-24). This city does not include the uncircumcised in heart and the unclean (Isa. 52:1), but “a people who keep righteousness and keep the truth, who receive the truth and keep peace” (Is. 26:2–3), “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,” people of renewal (1 Peter 2:9), who “they themselves, like living stones, are building themselves into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5), and constitute the most royal and magnificent church of the living God. “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the church of God, God will punish him: for the church of God is holy; and this church is you,” says the apostle (1 Cor. 3:16–17). 5) The sacramental communion of the Body and Blood of Christ should be revered as great and sublime among Christians. But as great as it is for the worthy and those who know the truth, it is so dangerous and terrible for the unworthy and faulty. “Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, not considering the Body of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27-29). 6) True prayer. For true prayer is a conversation with God. In true prayer, a person comes to God and draws closer, and stands before God and talks with Him. How big this matter is, who doesn’t recognize it? People consider it a great thing to converse with an earthly king or prince, or some other high person, and consider it an honor for themselves. How can Christians, for the great and highest honor, not have a conversation with God, the King of Heaven, the King of kings and the Lord of lords? This matter is as great and more honest as the King of Heaven is separated from earthly things - he is infinitely distant, like the Creator from His creation. If we consider this great, man, and we want it, then let us depart from unrighteousness, according to the teaching of the wise Paul: “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Timothy 2:19). Let us retreat from untruth, sin and lawlessness if we want to approach God uncondemned and for our benefit. For the prophet says: “For You are God, Who does not like iniquity; the evil one will not dwell in You, and the wicked will not abide in Your sight: You have hated all those who commit iniquity” (Ps. 5:5-6). Every wicked person is abominable in the sight of God, but a wicked person who offers his prayer, which is a Christian sacrifice, is like one who kills a dog (Is. 66:3). But He looks mercifully only on the meek and silent and trembling at His word (Is. 66:2). Think about this, Christian, who both does not want to leave sin and wants to pray to God. 7) Praise of God. For praising God is the work of angels. The angels of God continually praise and glorify God and cry out: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa.6:3). The person who praises and sings from the heart of God is likened to angels, and while still on earth tastes the sweetness of eternal joy. For in the next century, nothing else will God’s chosen ones do but constantly praise and glorify God, as we see in the Apocalypse. The highest Christian glory, honor and joy is to praise God, Whom the holy angels praise. How great Saint David considered this, the Psalter testifies to him, he constantly wanted to praise God: “I will bless the Lord at all times; I will make His praise in my mouth” (Ps. 33:2), and he called on others to do the same: “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 33:4). But when we, Christians, want to open our lips to the praise of God, we must have a heart that agrees with them. For verbal praise, like prayer, is nothing without the heart, but only the voice and noise of words. God looks not so much at our lips as at our hearts and listens only to prayer and praise that comes from the heart. Therefore the apostle says: “Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). Also, when we want to imitate the holy angels in the praise of God, we must imitate them in our life, avoid sin and do the will of God, as they do, as much as a person can in weak flesh. Otherwise it will tell us: “This people draws near to Me with their lips, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). 8) Work or service to God should be considered great by Christians. People consider it an honor to serve a king, or a prince, or some high lord, rather than a low and simple man; and a good, righteous and merciful master, rather than an evil, unrighteous and unmerciful master. This truth is known and unquestioned. Who is the highest, greater than God, and who is the best, most righteous and most merciful, greater than the Lord? It is better (to say) that He alone is the Most High, “for the Lord is the great God and the great King of all the earth, in His hand are all the ends of the earth, and the tops of the mountains are His, for His is the sea, and He created it, and His hands made the dry land” (Ps. 95:3-5). He alone is good, for “no one is good except God alone” (Matthew 19:17). He alone is righteous and merciful, and He alone is our Lord, whom every tribe must worship. The prophet also exhorts to serve this: “Serve the Lord with joy, come before His face with joy. Know that the Lord is our God, He created us, not we; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture,” and so on (Ps. 99:2-3). It is great glory, honor and Christian praise to serve the living and immortal God alone. But if we, Christians, want to serve God, then we must not serve sin. For it is impossible to serve God and sin, according to the teaching of Christ: “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). And whoever commits sin serves sin, since “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin,” as Christ teaches (John 8:34). Consequently, he cannot serve God either. What it is to serve God has been said above and will be reflected below. 9) Finally, the great thing is to defeat yourself. Many defeated many thousands of people, many conquered cities and states, but they could not defeat themselves, because they did not have a battle with themselves, without which there is no victory. Every victory is without battle, and there is no battle without enemies. Fighting between people happens when some rebel and others resist. So inside a person has a fight with himself, when lust and passion arise, but he resists it. He resists pride and arrogance with humility, anger with patience, anger with meekness, envy with love, impurity with chastity, and so on. In a battle between people, the side that persecutes wins, and the side that yields is defeated. But in a battle, this is not the case with a person with himself: he then wins when he yields to his enemy; we offend, do not take revenge; hate, don't hate; deprived, does not complain; loves, according to the word of Christ, his enemies, blesses those who curse him, does good to those who hate him and prays for those who offend him and persecute him (Matt. 5:44), is not overcome by evil, but overcomes evil with good (Rom. 12:21). This is a glorious victory, this is the nobility, dignity and advantage of a Christian - oneself, that is, the corruption of one’s nature, evil nature and the lust of one’s evil to overcome. This is their courage, strength and bravery. “He who is long-suffering is better than the brave, and he who controls himself is better than the conqueror of a city” (Prov. 16:32). This is what we honor, Christian, for the great things in this world, and not honor, glory, wealth, luxury, and other things that belong to this world. Let us wish for this victory, we will seek it, and with the help of God we will strive. With the help, I say, of God, for without that (victory) there is no such thing. For in order to overcome oneself, one needs not one’s own and natural strength, but a higher one, higher than one’s own strength, that is, God’s, which makes new out of old, good out of evil, and everything out of nothing. For this victory a crown is given, not perishable, but incorruptible, not in the kingdom of earth, but in heaven. (For these points and similar ones, see the last article below on the comforting fruits of faith). From these points you see, Christian, that the Christian who commits sin cannot have communion with God, nor call Him the Father, much less have it, nor be inside the Holy Church and be a true son of it, nor partake of the mysteries of Christ for the benefit of his soul, nor pray and praise God, nor serve Him and do other Christian duties, but moreover, he remains in the wrath of God. Anyone who wants to be a true, and not a hypocritical, Christian and receive eternal salvation must forsake sin. § 403. What should Christians grieve about? Answer: 1) Christian joy and sorrow must be different from that of the sons of this age. They should not grieve that they do not have prosperity in this world, that they do not have wealth, fame, or honor, that the world hates, persecutes and embitters them; They must resist this sadness, drive it out of their hearts and not give it a place in their hearts. Moreover, (we should) rejoice in the fact that by all this they are known not as children of this world, but as God’s, as Christ says: “If you were of the world, then the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). For whoever grieves because he does not have love and reverence from this world shows by this that he loves the world, that he philosophizes about earthly things, that he cleaves to earthly things, which is contrary to the Christian faith. 2) True Christian sadness is to grieve that Christians have a high and heavenly title, but cannot walk worthy of that title, hindered by the weakness of the flesh; that God is called Father, but they cannot love and please Him as perfectly as duty requires; They receive unspeakable benefits from Him and hope to receive even more in the next century, but they cannot adequately thank Him. What shall we render to the Lord for all that He has given us (cf. Ps. 116:3)? This sadness is useful to them and favorable to God, since “a sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). Every Christian needs such sadness, for with such sadness the corrupted nature is corrected and renewed. 3) Such sadness, that is, sadness for the sake of God, should have all those who have sinned before the Lord, but, having turned, repent. I say we should be sad that God, Who is eternal love and goodness, was insulted by evil deeds; and whom they should have honoured, they dishonored by their lawless conduct; Who should have been loved most of all, was not loved; Who should have been listened to, was not listened to. This is true sorrow for God’s sake, which a faithful soul has not because of the torment that follows sins, but because it has offended God. And this sorrow is “sorrow for God’s sake, which produces unchangeable repentance leading to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). The Apostle praises the Corinthians for this sadness and rejoices over it: “Now I rejoice, not because you were sad, but because you were saddened to repentance; for they were sad for God’s sake” (2 Cor. 7:9). This is how the Apostle Peter was saddened when he rejected Christ, “and went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). “Peter,” says St. Chrysostom, when he rejected Christ, did not cry because of torment, but because he rejected his beloved, which was worse for him than any torment” (Discourse 5 on the Epistle to the Romans). 4) Christians should also feel sadness when they hear or see their neighbor sinning; they should grieve, and not condemn, since they themselves are subject to the same fall, for such a one (who sins) angers the good God, their Heavenly Father, that they, as children of God, should be sad, and that this is how their brother perishes. Saint David had such sadness: “Sadness,” he says, “came over me at the sight of sinners forsaking Your law” (Ps. 119:53). Paul, the teacher of the universe, had such sadness, as can be seen from his epistles. Although all Christians, but especially pastors, bishops and priests, should have such sorrow and pain for their spiritual children, “until Christ is represented in them” (Gal. 4:19). How, someone will say, can I not be sad that I do not have wealth, glory and honor on earth, but others do? 1) This confuses and seduces many weak people, and, like the fire of a close neighbor, their souls at home are set on fire and exhorted to be jealous of what they see in others. Usually people try to care about what they see in others. They see others either rich, or respectable in glory and honor, and they themselves want to be like that. And this is the weakness of our flesh, which wants and seeks in this world to be glorified and have fun, and not to lag behind others in the well-being of this world. 2) Many are in wealth, honor and glory, but many live in poverty, simplicity and contempt. Turn your eyes to them, and be content with what you have. 3) When you have such sadness, then judge whether you are among Christians who are not sad about what you are sad about. Whoever is sad about something, then there is a sign that he loves what, not having, he is sad. Christians should not love anything except God and for God’s sake, man. 4) This sadness is useless for you. You will not find wealth, fame, honor and other well-being through sorrow unless God grants it. 5) When you grieve because you are in weakness, then the weakness does not diminish, but multiplies, as you yourself can feel, for sadness itself is weakness. And so sorrow in weakness makes weakness greater, for weakness couples with weakness. 6) When you have lost wealth, honor, glory, you cannot return it with sadness. When you are separated from your wife or father, or mother, or brother, or friend, and you are sad about that, you cannot return that with sadness. This will be discussed in more detail below. You see that the sadness of this world is useless, but only sadness for the sake of God is useful, as soul-saving, for it cleanses the soul from sins. § 404. How should Christians celebrate their holidays? Answer: 1) The pagans, who do not know the true God, celebrate (pleasing) their vain gods, or demons, in drunkenness, impurity, lust, disorderly feasts, godless and prodigal songs, in fist fights, disgraces, horse racing and other disorderly fun, as we read in the stories about them. Christians should look around: do they not, in the likeness of the pagans, celebrate holidays dedicated to the living and terrible God, Who in those glorious days performed miracles and poured out great blessings on our race? If they celebrate this way, then without a doubt they celebrate not the living God, but the demons, His enemies, although they name the name of the true God; and so they offer sacrifice to them, although those who at baptism promised to serve God and offer Him a sacrifice of truth and praise do not notice this. Since this matter is lawless and terrible, I leave it to them to judge. Between the pagan holidays, there was a notable holiday dedicated to the idol Bacchus, called “Bacchanalia”, and in Russian it can be called “Maslenitsa”. On this frantic holiday, all drunkenness and all uncleanness spilled out from them. Following this madness and fury of the pagans, many Christians, by their name being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken as their own (1 Pet. 2:9), established the celebration of Maslenitsa, on which all passions and whims are poured out, as everyone knows about it. I do not describe this fury, as it is known to everyone, but I only remind such Christians that they have forgotten their calling, that they, along with idolaters, sacrifice their souls to the demon, which Christ the Son of God redeemed not with silver or gold, but with the precious Blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Christians must avoid such celebrations as pagan abominations, in which the demonic will is carried out and the name of God is blasphemed, as the Apostle exhorts: “Let us cast aside the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light. As during the day, let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor in sensuality and debauchery,” and so on (Rom. 13:12-13). And those who celebrate like this must feel and repent and leave them behind, so that instead of fun and sweets, instead of fun and sweets, they do not cry forever and uselessly and hear the answer: “Child! remember that you have already received your good things in your life” (Luke 16:25). Thus, moving away from pagan fury, Christians should celebrate holy holidays worthy of their calling, namely: 2) The saints gather in church for common prayer, glorification, praise of God, listening to the word of God, and gather in the evening, morning and at noon, that is, for Vespers, Matins and Liturgy, but do not leave it in their homes. 3) Remember the wonderful and saving deeds of God, mercifully created in those days for our salvation, reflect on them, and for that with a joyful spirit thank God; those deeds are fairly described and explained in church poems and songs sung on those holidays. 4) From these holidays, raise your mind and heart by faith to the eternal holiday, in which God’s chosen ones, having rested from the labors and illnesses suffered in this world, will unceasingly celebrate and silently sing and praise the goodness of God, and, raising their minds, pray to God, the lover of mankind, so that we ourselves will be worthy of that part of the chosen ones. “Remember us, O Lord, with good will toward Thy people; visit us with Thy salvation, that we may see the prosperity of Thy chosen ones, that we may rejoice in the joy of Thy people, that we may rejoice in Thy inheritance” (Ps. 106:4–5). 5) Although always, but especially in those days, bring the poor into their homes and feed and give alms, “for such sacrifices are acceptable to God” (Heb. 13:16). 6) Oh! How bright and favorable the holiday would be if Christians, putting aside all malice, and all flattery, and hypocrisy, and envy, and denying all slander and other whims, visited each other, and kissing the saints with the kiss, told each other God's miracles, boasted about His holy name, talked about eternal life and its joy, and fed their souls with such sweet food. Then you would feel a piece of the eternal sweetness here too. Memory and correct reasoning about eternal life without consolation does not exist for a soul that has renounced this world. 7) A wonderful holiday and one that the Christian heart always desires, to be abolished from sin. Such a holiday should be celebrated by Christians not only on bright holidays, but also always, for without this no Christian holiday can be celebrated in a Christian way. (See also the chapter on honoring the passion of Christ, in the same book). § 405. How should Christians prepare for the exodus from here into eternity? Answer: 1) From this point everyone begins either a blessed or sorrowful and lamentable eternity, for he passes either into eternal life or into eternal death (see Luke 16:19-31). 2) The day and hour and manner of the outcome is unknown to anyone. All this was hidden from us by God's Providence. 3) Therefore, Christians should imitate the faithful and wise servants who always wait to be called to their masters. Likewise, Christians must always be ready when the Lord calls them to Himself. The Lord calls everyone through death. Therefore, what we want to be at the exodus is the same before the exodus and must always be, so as not to appear unprepared at the time of the exodus. When dying, no one will want to sin, seek honor, collect wealth, and do other earthly philosophies, but more than everyone thinks about sins, regrets having sinned, and is afraid not to perish. This must be done even now before death, for it is not known whether in the morning you will wait for the evening, or in the evening for the morning, because you do not know when your Lord will call you to Himself. Therefore, Christians must be in constant repentance and readiness, so as not to perish forever. The great thing is eternal salvation, and more valuable than the whole world, therefore, more than all treasures and the whole world, and one must seek it all one’s life. What good does it benefit you if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul (Matthew 16:26)? Just as you brought nothing into the world, you will not take anything out of the world except destruction, having lost salvation, which is either gained or destroyed here. Oh, how you will regret, sigh, cry and sob, poor sinner, having lost your salvation, but it is useless! Then you will want to return to the world, and walk naked, and be despised by everyone, so that you can return the salvation that you have lost, but it will not be given to you. You were given time for this, God’s word was preached to you, shepherds and teachers admonished you, your own conscience convicted you, but you did not want to correct yourself. I happened to hear about one not the last person that, being in a serious illness and near death, he literally said: “Oh, if only I could rise from this bed and show every correction!” - but, without rebelling, he died. You too, poor man, will wish to return from the gates of death and reform, but you will not receive it. You will leave, although you don’t want to, leaving everything worldly to the world. Just as you entered the world, so you will come out of the world naked, and never burdened with sins! Come on, now look for what then it will be useless to look for. Now you are still healthy, you have not yet died, you can still be saved. Show me the correction that you will desire at death, and so you will leave here with the hope of salvation. Leave the world until the world leaves you, cast off your sins by the grace of God, and so serve your Lord freely, and wait for your Lord to call you to Himself, and appear to Him dressed in the robe of salvation. What I earnestly wish for you, as well as for myself. § 406. How should Christians approach the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ? Answer: 1) The Apostle says: “Let a man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, not considering the Body of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:28-29). 2) Many people read a lot of prayers, psalms and akathists, but this preparation is not enough. For prayer from a faulty and unrepentant heart is not accepted by God, as has been repeatedly said above. 3) It is terrible for one who has not been cleansed by true repentance to begin, and it is also terrible for one who has begun and partaken of worldly lusts to become defiled. Both are terrible, as can be seen from the apostolic word and from the discussion about the Holy Sacrament. 4) Therefore, the one who wants to begin must reason about who is starting what, and the one who has received communion, what he has taken communion of. Why is it that before communion there is a need for reasoning about oneself and that great gift, and after communion there is a need for reasoning and memory about that heavenly gift. Before communion, you need heartfelt repentance, humility, putting aside malice, anger, carnal desires, reconciliation with your neighbor, a firm proposal and the will of a new and pious life in Christ Jesus. Upon communion, one must show correction, testify to love for God and neighbor, thanksgiving, and diligent care for a new, holy and immaculate life. In a word, before communion, true repentance and heartfelt contrition are needed; after communion, the fruits of repentance and good deeds are needed, without which there can be no true repentance. And from there it follows that Christians need to correct their lives and begin a new one, pleasing to God, so that they will not receive communion into judgment and condemnation. A Christian cannot exist without faith, but faith without love, and love without good works (1 Cor. 13:1-8,13). And so the Christian remains nothing more than a pagan, although he confesses the name of God and Christ. How scary it is for such a person to approach the Holy Sacrament, everyone can see. Hence it happens that many Christians who partake of the Holy Mysteries succeed not in the best, but in the worst, are blinded more than enlightened, become hardened rather than corrected, and so fall into sin from sin, but do not recognize their sin, and do not assign sin for sin, and do what law-abiding pagans do not do. The reason for this is that they despise God’s grace, and thus themselves are deprived of God’s grace, and give in to “a depraved mind—to do lewd things” (Rom. 1:28). 5) Therefore, sinners must correct themselves, so that they do not receive communion in court. Fornicators, adulterers and defilers change their hearts and love purity, for they come to the Most Pure Lamb Christ. The proud and highly intelligent must put aside demonic pride and love humility, for they approach the Humble Christ. Those who are evil and breathe the fire of vengeance must leave their anger and love meekness and gentleness, for they are approaching the Meek and Gentle Lamb of God. Those who hate and are envious should leave hatred and envy and love brotherly love, for they are drawing closer to the Son of God, the Lover of Mankind. Flatterers, crafty and deceivers - to hate the devil's cunning and love simplicity and truth, for they come to the eternal and unflattering Truth. Slanderers, slanderers, blasphemers - correct their tongues, for with their lips they receive the Most Pure Body of Christ. For lovers of money, leave mammon and love God, for they come to the Son of God, Who is love. Those who are hard-hearted and unmerciful should change their cruel disposition and try to be merciful, for they come to the Gracious and Merciful Lord. Thieves, robbers, bribe-takers and greedy people - leave this untruth, and return or waste what was stolen, and learn from the truth, for they are approaching the Righteous King. The stingy rich should abandon their stinginess and be generous, for they come to the Generous Lord. Drunkards should give up drunkenness and begin a sober life, for they commune with the Crucified and Dead Christ. In a word, everyone must correct, cleanse and renew himself in order to begin without condemnation. “It must,” says St. Basil the Great, - to cleanse oneself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit to the one who approaches the Body and Blood of the Lord, so that he does not eat and drink in court, and clearly show the memory of Him who died and rose again for us in the fact that he (the one approaching) died to sin, and to the world, and to himself; lives to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Book 1 on Baptism, Chapter 3). What is it for sin to die and for God to live, see paragraph 388. It is dangerous and scary to approach someone who has not forsaken sin and who has a conscience stained and irritated by sins, so that he does not eat and drink as a condemnation for himself. Reason, Christian, and beware of starting something wrong and, having started, being defiled again by worldly lusts. For “Our God is a fire that consumes the unworthy” (Heb. 12:29). Chapter 10: What can and should motivate a Christian to flee from sin, true repentance, contempt for vanities and asceticism in piety? “Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness and truth. Test what is pleasing to God” (Eph. 5:8–10). § 407. The omnipresence of God and a clear vision of not only deeds, but also our secret thoughts and intentions, can turn us away from sin. It is especially presented to us in Psalm 138 and in other places in Scripture. We do not see God with our eyes, because we cannot see, for “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), not subject to any feelings, but faith from the Holy Scripture teaches us that He is everywhere, and is inseparably with us; and whatever we do, he sees; and whatever we think penetrates clearly; and what we intend, plan, begin, want to do - he already knows, and knew before our undertaking; and what we say He hears, and before Him both day and night are equally present; and there is no place where He would not be; therefore, every work done day and night, and done in every place, cannot be hidden from Him. Whether a person does an evil deed, for example, commits fornication, kills, abducts, steals, etc., or plots evil, His eyes see. He slanderes, slanderes, condemns, curses, lies, deceives his brother, or a man blasphemes His holy name—his holy ears hear. And no matter how many people there are on earth, he observes everyone, and sees everyone’s work, undertaking, thought and intention, and hears the word, and writes it down in His book, as if he were only observing him, leaving the others. Augustine says a lot about this to God: “So you consider my walks and paths, and day and night you watch over me with vigilance, noticing all my paths, an ever-present Spectator, as if you had forgotten all creation, heavenly and earthly, you look at only me alone, and completely neglect the rest.” And below: “I acknowledge, Lord, that whatever I do, I do it before You, and what I do, You see better than what I do. Whatever I do, You are always equally present with me, as the ever-present Spectator of all my thoughts, intentions, consolations and deeds.” And below: “Whatever I intend to do, whatever I think, and whatever I delight in, You see, Your ears hear, Your eyes see and observe. You mean, listen, note and write in Your book whether good or evil will happen, so that you will reward everyone for good - reward, for evil - punishment, when the books are opened” (Conversations with yourself, Chapter 14). From there you can see: 1) That every sin, whether committed in deed, or word, or thought, brings dishonor and annoyance to God. Just as dishonor and annoyance to the royal majesty happens when a disorderly person behaves outrageously before him and does not show reverence for him, so before the face of God and His most holy eyes the one who sins is outrageous, and therefore commits dishonor and annoyance to His majesty. Anyone can see how difficult and scary it is to do this. 2) Christians should beware of such outrages, and in words, deeds and thoughts show reverence to God - so that they do not offend God and their Creator. Before the king of the earth, or before our lord, or the ruler, or the father according to the flesh, we are ashamed to show outrage; much more should this be done before the Father and King of Heaven, Who “is the Lord of lords and the King of kings” (Rev. 17:14). 3) Every disorderly deed, word and thought is written down in the book of God, and is rewarded to the disorderly person according to his deeds on the day of judgment: “I will reprove you and bring your sins before you,” God says to the sinner (Ps. 49:21), unless the sinner stops and repents. 4) And in the very act of lawlessness and disorder, a person can be struck by the righteous judgment of God, for in this way he does not give glory to God. 5) Those who commit lawlessness must cease from evil deeds, so as not to experience the righteous judgment of God both here and on the day of judgment. 6) Diligently thank God that for their sake he suffered their sins and did not destroy them, and henceforth act carefully. § 408. The suffering of Christ, which presents a double spectacle to our spiritual eyes, must and strongly turn us away from sin, that is, the unchangeable truth and mercy of God. 1) We see that the truth of God cannot be violated, but certainly requires its satisfaction; we see that sin does not exist without punishment. The truth of God demanded that we be executed forever, because the eternal and infinite God was angered. Who could satisfy her? Who could give her a price and reward worthy? Who could become a mediator, intercessor and reconciliator between the infinite angry God and the angry man? Nobody! Neither an angel nor any other creature. There stood Jesus, our Redeemer, who said: “I looked, and there was no helper; he was surprised that there was no supporter; but My arm helped Me” (Is.63:5). And he became a mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5), and the righteous judgment of God turned against Him: only the Blessed One became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). The Innocent One endured judgment for our guilty ones, and with His execution satisfied the righteousness of God for our sins: “He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5). Discussion about the truth of God, and about His righteous anger against sin, and the cruelest torment of Christ, which He endured for our sins, may it frighten us (to lag behind) from sin. If Christ, the innocent and only righteous one, was so terribly tormented for the sins of others, how will sinners in Gehenna be tormented for their sins! If people are not touched by this terrible sight and do not repent, what kind of wrath of God will kindle against them! Christ suffered and died for every person, but if a person does not want to use the suffering of Christ for his salvation, to give up sin, to repent and thus be saved, then the suffering itself will be an accusation to him that he rejected such God’s grace, and thus will experience the power and action of God’s truth in himself. Then the poor sinner will feel what sin is and what its sorrow is, which he did not want to feel now. There is no doubt that terrible and terrible evil is sin and the subsequent eternal torment, from which we could not get rid of anything other than the priceless Blood of the Son of God. From here the holy Apostle draws encouragement to repentance and offers us: “If you call Him Father who impartially judges everyone according to their works, then spend the time of your pilgrimage with fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from the vain life handed down to you from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a spotless and spotless Lamb” ( 1 Peter 1:17–19). Consider, Christian, what sin is: Christ’s suffering teaches us how great its severity is. A person can sin easily, but he cannot free himself from it easily, and without Christ he cannot, but with the weight of it he must plunge into the depths of hell and pay to the truth of God with endless punishment. Beware of sin, which irritates the righteous God. 2) In the suffering of Christ we see the inexpressible mercy of the Heavenly Father towards us, Who, seeing us in destruction and not wanting us to be there forever, “for the sake of our salvation He did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us all” (Rom 8:32); about which the Son of God Himself tells us for our consolation: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “He, being the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Oh, the wondrous benevolence of the Heavenly Father, Who, for the sake of His poor and lost creation, did not spare His Son! Oh, the wonderful obedience of the Son of God, Who for the sake of us, His enemies, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to death, death on the cross! His obedient and sweet voice for us is heard in the psalm: “Here I come, (as) in the scroll of the book it is written about Me; I have desired to do Your will, O My God” (Ps. 39:8-9); – is heard in the Gospel: “I came down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 6:38). Which work, like sweet food, the Son of God imputed to Himself: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” that is, the work of our salvation (John 4:34). Look, Christian, how do you want to offend such a merciful Father with your sins and, with your unrepentant life, neglect both His favor and the obedience of His Son, done for your sake? How will you love sin, for which the Father betrayed His Son and the Son of God endured such bitter and grievous torment? You love sin, because you do not abhor sin; You do not disdain, for you create it. For whoever loves something does not leave it and holds on; how, on the contrary, what we do not love, we hate and abhor, we turn away from it and move away. Think about the suffering of Christ, in which you see both the truth of God, which punishes sins, and the mercy of God shown to us, and beware of sinning - so that you do not fall under the judgment of righteousness; and, having sinned, repent - so that by deed you will experience God’s mercy; and from this source draw consolation, remembering the apostolic word of consolation: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32) Let reasoning about the truth of God turn you away from sin, and let reasoning about God’s mercy not allow you to despair for the sin you have committed, but on the contrary, having risen from sin, repent. Remember the truth of God during the temptation to sin, but do not forget the mercy of God during the temptation for the sin you have committed. Thus, reasoning about the suffering of Christ teaches us to fear sin, to hate it and move away from it, and not to despair for the sins we have committed, but to return to the Heavenly Father, in the likeness of the prodigal son, and ask Him for forgiveness, and having received mercy from Him, not to be separated from Him in the future. § 409. The promise given at baptism should turn us, Christians, away from sin and move us to piety. Then a covenant was made between God and us: we, having renounced Satan and all his works, promised God “to serve Him in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives” (Luke 1:75). God accepted us into His highest mercy and promised to support us in that mercy. God remains faithful: He keeps those who serve Him in mercy; we must also remember and keep our promise, and be faithful to the Lord our God, and serve Him with a pure heart. If we do not do this, then we will appear as debtors before Him, and therefore we will lose His mercy, and we will be in His righteous anger, just as we were before baptisms. Not only the one who renounces Him with his lips and turns to idols does not keep his promise and faith to God, but also the one who denies His commandments and commandments and does not serve Him, who serves sin, as stated above. Therefore, we must beware of not only verbal denial, but also heartfelt denial, which occurs through sin and iniquity. Those who did not keep the promise and were separated from God should not hesitate in that harmful excommunication, but, in the likeness of the prodigal son, return to the Heavenly Father and humbly ask for forgiveness from Him, and henceforth from His holy house, that is, His Holy Church, should not separate themselves by lawless living, so as not to fall under His righteous judgment and eternal wrath. § 410. The high and magnificent designation of the Holy Church, in which Christians are found, encourages them to shun sin and be diligent in piety. The Holy Church is called by the apostle the house of God, the Church of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15). This holy and magnificent house has Christ Himself as its foundation, according to the teaching of the apostle: “No one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). This house was created across the face of the whole earth, in the service of the Lord, by spiritual architects and holy apostles; he was cleansed and sanctified by the Blood of the Only Begotten Son of God (Eph.5:25–26); those who live in it enter into it by faith and baptism. Many peoples have gathered and are gathering in this house, saying: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths” (Is. 2:3). The city of God is also called, about which the prophet sang: “Its foundations are on the holy mountains” (Ps. 87:2-3 and so on to the end). “God founded it forever” (Ps. 47:9); “God is in his midst, and will not be moved: God will help him early in the morning” (Ps. 45:6). The citizens of this city and those of the household are Christians, “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). In this city there is no place for the uncircumcised in heart and the unclean (Isa. 52:1), but there walk in it “people who keep righteousness and keep the truth, accept the truth and keep peace” (Is. 26:2–3). § 411. Christians can and should be encouraged to live a pious life in Christ Jesus and maintain themselves in that high and heavenly calling. For they are called “from the power of Satan into the kingdom of God,” which is “not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 26:18; Rom. 14:17), called into “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people, to proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into the wonderful light of God” (1 Pet. 2:9). “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7); so that we would walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16); so that, like strangers and strangers, we would flee “from the lusts of the flesh, which attack the soul” (1 Peter 2:11); blameless among a crooked and perverse generation" (Phil. 2:15); so that they act “as children of light”, experience “what is pleasing to God, and do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but also reprove” (Eph. 5:8, 10-11). In a word, we are called to communion with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3). “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:5-6). Therefore, Christian, if we want to have this blessed fellowship and be among true Christians, and not be counted among hypocrites, “let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, practicing holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Where Saint Paul, presenting this title to us, says: “I urge you to walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1). § 412. Communion of the most pure and life-giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ should move us, Christians, to distance ourselves from sin and true repentance. How do you dare to take the Most Pure Body of Christ into your hands (speech here to those who receive the hands), which you defile with theft, robbery, bribery, extortion, beating, unclean touch and other sinful feces? How will you receive His Holy Body and Blood into your mouth, into those lips that you never cease to fill with slander, foul language, blasphemy, slander, slander, condemnation, flattery, deceit, lies, stinging reproach, abuse, slander and other stench? How will you accept Christ into your heart, which is filled with malice, deceit, hatred, unclean lust, love of money and covetousness and other evils? Such a one must be wary lest the word of Christ spoken to one scribe, who wanted to follow Christ and not leave the world, would not befit him: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:19-20). Flattery, wickedness, hypocrisy, love of money, covetousness and all evil lusts are like foxes that have their holes in the human heart, and birds (in it) nesting, but the Son of Man (in such a heart) does not have where to lay his head, but He enters the hearts of the meek, humble, contrite with sorrow for sins, and brings His grace with Him. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). This holy Guest stands, Who favored us to wander on earth, stands and knocks on the doors of our hearts, and wants to enter us, for whom He shed His holy Blood. But who opens the doors of his house to Him? who hears His voice?.. Who hears His voice? Without fail, the one who obeys His word ceases from sins, repents, and sincerely regrets the sins he has committed, and maintains himself in true repentance, as Christ says above about this: “Be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19). To such a one He enters and sups with him, that is, He comforts him with true and living consolation. He says the same thing in another place: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). And where the Father and the Son are, there is the Holy Spirit; where God lives, there is the kingdom of God, there is consolation and joy, living and true. For God’s gracious presence does not exist without consolation and joy (Rom. 14:17). It is necessary, Christian, to cease from sins, repent and begin a new life in Christ, if we want to partake of the Mysteries of Christ for our benefit. § 413. May prayer encourage us, Christians, to deviate from sin and create true repentance. Because: 1) in prayer, true Christians approach God and talk with Him; 2) raise their mind and heart to Him; 3) raise their hands and eyes to Him; 4) open their mouths and bring Him thanksgiving, singing and praise, as has already been said a little about this and will be discussed below. From this it follows that we must certainly cease from sin, correct ourselves and truly repent if we want to pray with our benefit. How can you approach God and ask Him: “Forgive me my sins, Lord,” but you yourself do not forgive them? How will you call Him, “My Lord,” while you yourself work for mammon and are a slave of sin? For “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). How can you say: “My King and my God,” but you yourself allow sin to reign over you? How can you say: “Hear me, Lord, and have mercy,” but you yourself do not want to listen to Him and do not cease to anger Him? How can you call to Him: “In You, Lord, I trust,” but you yourself trust in princes, your defenders, in strength, cunning, your rank, in silver, gold and other creatures, because in need you resort to them for help and protection? How can you sing: “My soul cleaves to You” (Ps. 62:9), or: “It is good for me to cleave to God” (Ps. 72:28), but you yourself cleave to the world? How can you raise your heart to Him, which is filled with malice and other evil lusts? How can you raise your hands to Him, which you defile with theft, robbery, extortion, beating, unclean touch, etc.? How can you open your mouth to glorify and praise His holy name - lips that you defile with slander, foul language, flattery, lies, slander, condemnation and other dung of sin? In a word, the entire Psalter and all the prayers written in church books are not befitting of that sinner who forsakes his sins and does not want to do true repentance. Read it yourself, Christian, with attention - and you will understand the truth. “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Timothy 2:19). And through the prophet God says: “And when you stretch out your hands, I will close My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15). In order not to be separated from God and His chosen flock forever, we must leave sin, repent and beware of sin, which separates us from God, and makes us vile and vile before God, and makes our prayer useless. § 414. May the infinite and ineffable goodness of God, about which St. Paul speaks thus: “Or do you despise the riches of the goodness, meekness and long-suffering of God, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4). The goodness of God is that we have not yet perished, that we still live in the world and can be saved by His grace, for thus His goodness leads us to repentance. From this goodness of Him it comes that He so kindly and favorably calls us to repentance and so wants to pour out His goodness on us and create eternal bliss as participants in us: “Return, O apostate daughter of Israel, says the Lord. I will not pour out My wrath on you; For I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not be angry forever” (Jer. 3:12); and again: “Turn, O Israel, to the Lord your God; for you have fallen because of your wickedness” (Hos. 14:2); and again: “Turn to Me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you” (Zechariah 1:3). And through the apostles, His messengers, He prays to us, so that we may be reconciled with Him, so that we may not forever feel His righteous wrath: “In the name of Christ, and as if God Himself exhorts through us; In the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). And Christ Himself, with His sweet words, draws us to Himself: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And the Holy Spirit exhorts and says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:7–8, 15; Ps. 95:7–8). Not only by the voice of the prophetic and apostolic words, but also by His very long-suffering, in that “he is longsuffering to us, not wanting anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9), the all-good God calls us to repentance, as the apostle says: “The goodness of God leads you to repentance.” How many idolaters, blasphemers, robbers, robbers, rapists, predators, flatterers, evil ones, fornicators, adulterers, defilers and other lawless people exist, but God does not destroy them, although they are God’s enemies. What is this if not the goodness of God that leads them to repentance? And not only does he endure and not destroy them, but he also protects them from the slander of the enemy, although they do not feel it. “Our adversary the devil, who walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), would not allow them to live even a minute, but he would immediately snatch their souls and cast them into hell, but the goodness of God does not give him that, for God does not want the death of a sinner, but awaits conversion (Ezek. 33:11, 18:23, 32). Oh, The goodness of God is incomprehensible to sinners! The sinner leaves God, but God does not abandon him. The sinner, having retreated from God, his Creator and Provider, adhered to the enemy of God, the devil, but God does not command him to destroy the sinner, His enemy. Who will not be surprised at such goodness of God, who can depict it in words? God leads us to repentance through long-suffering, but also through the very blessings that He pours out daily on all flesh. Just as a child-loving father, wanting his son to be a participant in creating an inheritance, not only teaches him with words an orderly and constant life, but also with love and affection attracts him to make him good in every way and thus create him as his heir, so our humane and merciful Heavenly Father, wanting for us to create eternal bliss and the heavenly kingdom as participants, not only with His words, but also with sensory benefits, attracts us to true repentance and piety. The blessings of God, for example, the sun, moon, stars, air, various fruits of the earth, fish, birds, livestock, etc., are like streams flowing from a source. Just as streams lead and show us a source so that we can draw water from it and drink, so God’s created goods lead us to God, the Source of goods, and point us to Him so that we can love Him and taste how good the Lord is who created it. The sun, moon and stars point and silently preach to us: “See how good the Lord is, who created us to be your light.” The fruits of the earth, birds, fish and livestock point and say: “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9), who created us to be food for you,” and so on. But just as a father, seeing a faulty son, is forced to threaten him with punishment and excommunication from the inheritance and in fact inflicts wounds on him in order to correct him, so the gracious Heavenly Father acts with the sons of men, threatening them with temporary and eternal punishment: “I condemn you to the sword, and you all will bow down to the slaughter: because I called, and you did not answer; He spoke, and you did not listen, but did what was evil in My sight and chose what was displeasing to Me. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, but you will hunger; My servants will drink, and you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed; My servants will sing with joy of heart, but you will shout with sorrow of heart and weep with contrition of spirit” (Isaiah 65:12-14). And Christ says: “Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:3). The merciful God threatens us with punishment, may punishment not befall us; threatens Gehenna, let us not fall into Gehenna; punishes us, let us correct ourselves. And this is the meaning of the misfortunes and troubles sent to us, which, like messengers, silently cry out and silently exhort, let us create fruits worthy of repentance. Thus, the goodness of God, not only through prophetic and apostolic words, but also through long-suffering, the outpouring of temporary blessings and the sending of temporary evil, that is, troubles and misfortunes, leads us to repentance, calls us and expects us. And no matter how kindly he calls and long-sufferingly waits for a sinner to repent, so kindly and favorably he receives him who has converted, as Christ depicted in the parable of the prodigal son: “While he (the prodigal son) was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and he ran, fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). This is how the Heavenly Father looks at a sinner who has returned from a distant country to which he has withdrawn from Him; He sees one coming to Him, from whom He was separated by lawless living; He looks kindly, and he who turns and comes is dear to Him, and embraces him with the embrace of His goodness, and kisses him with the kiss of His Divine love. Oh, the most merciful eyes of the Heavenly Father, mercifully looking at the conversion of a sinner! Oh, the beneficent paternal embrace that embraces the sinner! Oh, the holiest and sweetest kiss that a sinner is granted! The endless Shrine does not disdain and does not turn away from the sinner, dressed in sins like vile rags. He does not drive away the one who came from Himself, whom He did not leave even when He left. He accepts with love the one whom he earnestly desired to be converted, and does not reprimand him for the fact that he absented himself from Him without permission, that he squandered the wealth given to him. There is nothing like that! But the one who is converted dresses himself in “the best robe,” and takes “a ring on his hand” and “shoes on his feet,” and so is numbered among His holy family (Luke 15:22). A fatherly voice of joy is heard: “My son was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). His heavenly Angels rejoice over this, for “there is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Who would not marvel at such goodness of God, which a sinner is honored with in aversion, excommunication, and conversion? The heart of man is truly stony, which is not softened by such goodness! Reasoning about this goodness of God and seeing human negligence about it, Saint Chrysostom wept and sobbed: “This is what I cry and sob about most of all. What did God not create to be loved? What didn't you see? What did you leave? We annoyed Him, who did not offend us in any way, but did countless and ineffable benefits. We turned away from the One who Calls and the One who Attracts from everywhere. He did not betray us to torment, but He Himself came and held back those fleeing, but we shook ourselves off and jumped back to the devil. However, even then he did not retreat, but sent many prophets, angels, patriarchs to pray to us. We did not accept the prayer, but we also annoyed those who came, but He did not despise us for this either.” And a little lower: “After all this,” says the Holy Father, “we killed the prophets, stoned them, and did many other evil and cruel things. What then? Instead of them, no longer prophets, no longer angels, no longer patriarchs, but He Himself sent His Son. The Son who came was also killed. But even so he did not extinguish His love, but kindled it more, and does not cease to exhort after the murder of His Son, and prays, and does everything so that they turn to Him. And Paul cries out, saying “in the name of Christ: As if God Himself exhorts through us; In the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). But none of this reconciled us. But He has not abandoned us anyway, but waits, and threatens us with Gehenna, and promises the kingdom, in order at least to attract us to Himself” (Conversation 5 on the Epistle to the Romans). So the good God and the gracious Father, goodness itself, is angered by sin, and even more so by man’s unrepentant life! God wants and thirsts for his salvation, for which he did not spare His Son, but sent him into the world and gave him up to death for him, but the unrepentant sinner resists such a great desire and favor of God. And this is the cunning and malice of the devil, who himself has turned away from his Creator, and remains in bitterness, and constantly angers Him, and teaches the same to a person who, being blinded, does not see that he is listening to the devil, and with him resists God, and perishes forever, which greatly offends God, as a lover of mankind. Let us, Christians, hate sin, the devilish work by which our good and gracious God is offended, and let us show our gratitude to Him, Who so earnestly desires our salvation. We do not want to offend a benefactor who does some good to us, much less should we offend God, whose countless benefits we experience in ourselves. If we neglect this, then we will learn for ourselves the work of His righteousness, which “will render to everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). § 415. Let the truth of God move us, Christians, to true repentance and struggle against sin. Now is the time of repentance, when the Lord commands to repent, calls for repentance and accepts those who repent, but on the day of reward there will not be, although we will seek it with tears. Now the Lord has mercy on those who seek mercy from Him, and there He will judge. Now he leaves sins to those who repent - there will be judgment for every sin. If “for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment,” as Christ teaches (Matthew 12:36), how much more for the sins and iniquities committed. Nowadays, for the most part, the goodness and mercy of God is at work; then the truth of God will enter into His work and reward everyone according to his deeds. Now is the time of mercy and pardon, and then there will be a time of judgment. Now (we must) ask, seek and knock on the doors of God’s mercy, “for now everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8), for “now is an acceptable time, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Then all this will be stopped, there will be no place for petition and searching, the doors of mercy will be closed, but there will be only one strict test. Now God says: “Turn to Me”; - then he will say: “Answer Me.” Now Christ says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), and then He will say to those who did not want to come now: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Here again, Christian, turn your mind and meditation to the suffering and Cross of Christ. The suffering of Christ now gives consolation to those who repent, and then it will give boldness, for they accepted Christ crucified as their Savior and Redeemer with true faith, revered and were grateful to Him. And then they will see Him in His Divine glory, and will rejoice in Him, for their faith in Him was not in vain, and from Him for the feat of faith they will receive the kingdom of heaven promised to them. For those who do not repent even now (Christ’s suffering) will not benefit them, and then it will create fear and horror and unbearable shame. The same Christ, Who was spat upon, mocked, wounded, tortured, crucified and killed for us, will appear in His terrible glory and will judge the whole world. He will judge the world for its sins, who died for the sins of the world. It was terrible to see the Son of God, the Lord of glory, spat upon, mocked, ridiculed, wounded, naked, carrying the Cross, nailed to the Cross, hanging on the Cross and imputed to the lawless. And we remember this now, not without fear, for it is truly a terrible thing that God in His holy flesh was so violated and suffered by lawless people. But a far greater fear and horror will seize sinners when they see the same King of glory, who came in his Divine Glory, surrounded by a countless multitude of holy angels, who came no longer to save, but to judge unrepentant sinners, and to reveal His righteous anger at them as ungrateful, whom, although saved, He was incarnated and suffered crucifixion and death, but was despised and rejected by them. “And those who pierced Him will see Him,” it is written about those who crucified Him (Rev. 1:7). All others will also see that they did not want to listen to Him, who died for them, to honor Him, but followed their own lusts and did the will not of Him, but of His adversary - the devil, and so they resisted Him, who wanted to save them. Christ is opposed not only by those who teach contrary to Him, but also by those who live contrary to His word. “Then He will speak against them with His anger, and will crush them with His wrath” (Ps. 2:5). “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). “My blessings which you received: the sun, the moon and the stars that shone for you, the clouds that sprinkled you and your fields, rain, lakes, rivers and springs, who fed you and your cattle, the land with fruits that nourished you, the fire that warmed you, and My other blessings testified to Me, the Benefactor. But you, being content with My blessings, did not want to know and honor the Benefactor. spoke, and you did not listen” (Is.65:12). I myself have come to you, who have departed from me, to save you; He came in flesh subservient to you, and tasted death for you, so that he might revive you who were dead. I commanded you to preach this grace to My apostles; raised up shepherds and teachers who preached and taught you about the same things; My Gospel, preached to every creature (Mark 16:15), testified of Me; The miracles performed and described in it showed that I am the Messiah, preached by the prophets and awaited by the whole world (Matthew 11:4–5). The teaching I preached testified to My truth and My great desire for your salvation. My mercy, shown to repentant sinners, attracted you to Me. My righteous judgment, announced to you, frightened you and aroused you to repentance. My suffering, My death and all My care, accepted for your sake, as I preached with my lips, how I loved you and wanted to save you, create you blessed and left nothing to lead you to eternal bliss. But you counted My love, My high grace and mercy as nothing, followed the will of your flesh and did not want to listen to Me. You left Me in the world, and I also leave you now. You did not know Me then, and I now “do not know you where you are from; Depart from me, all workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). You denied My words then, and I deny you now. You didn’t want to come to Me then, and I don’t want to accept you to Me now. “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Oh, what unbearable fear and trembling - to feel that anger! Poor sinners will want to hide at that hour, but they will not be able to. “Then they will begin to say to the mountains: fall on us! and the hills: hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand” (Luke 23:30; Rev. 6:16–17)? Because of the terrible anger and righteous reprimand they heard, sinners are drowned in the most terrible flood of God’s righteous judgment, and throughout all eternity they will pay to the infinite truth of God, which they now grieve and irritate with their sins. But even in this century we see the terrible truth of God’s judgments. We read that in the beginning the whole world perished from the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah with the surrounding cities were burned. Pharaoh and his entire army were drowned in the sea, the Israelites in the desert were variously slain for their iniquities, and so on. We hear and see now how many people are being devoured by pestilence and earthquakes; how many cities are consumed by fire, devastated by foreign swords, and so on. How many wicked people admire righteous judgment and, in the very act of lawlessness, descend into hell to receive according to their deeds! How many fornicators and harlots perish, connected in a nasty deed, how many robbers in robbery itself, how many blasphemers in blasphemy itself, predators and thieves in theft and theft, drunkards in extra-sensual drunkenness! But what happened to those lawless people, or is happening, others should also expect. Where did Christ tell the story of the death of the Galileans: “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinners than all the Galileans, that they suffered so much? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:2-3). This terrible word was spoken both to the sinners of that time and to those now, and in the following generations it is said: “If you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way.” And although not all lawless people, due to the unknown fate of God, are executed here, they will not escape God’s Last Judgment in the next century, as stated above. Let us fear, man, God’s righteous judgment and repent; Let us turn before God's vengeance overtakes us. § 416. The following is written to strongly encourage Christians to repentance and caution: “At midnight there was a cry: behold, the Bridegroom is coming, come out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6). When this cry will come, we do not know, when the Bridegroom of our souls will come, we do not know: “For we know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:13). “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man: for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and thought not until the flood came and destroyed them all, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39). For “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, and the elements will be destroyed with burning fire, and the earth and all the works in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). “When they say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then destruction will suddenly come upon them, just as the pain of childbirth comes upon one who is pregnant, and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3). Therefore, we, Christians, must always be ready for the meeting of our Bridegroom and Lord, and decorate our lamps, so that the foolish virgins do not remain outside the palace and pray to the Bridegroom without benefit: “Lord! God! open to us!” (Matthew 25:11). But on the contrary, having met Him with the wise (virgins), we will go with Him to the wedding feast, “and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). § 417. The hope of what is prepared for Christians in heaven (Col. 1:5) is powerful to motivate and strengthen Christians, with the help of God, in piety and patience, and to turn them away from sin, which destroys it. There is the house of the Heavenly Father, and “in His house are many mansions” (John 14:2). There is a holy city, the new Jerusalem, which Saint John saw (Rev. 21:2). “And there will be no night there, and they will not need a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives light to them” (Rev. 22:5). There are good things prepared for those who love God: “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no ear has come.” this is in the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9). There, His elect see God "face to face" (1 Cor. 13:12). There the Sun of righteousness, Christ, the Son of God, shines in His glory, and never sets, nor is covered with clouds, but always shines, enlightens, warms and cheers His elect, and they themselves shine "like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" ( Matthew 13:43 There is prepared a great supper (Luke 14:16), at which those who came from the east and west recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 8:11). There is “the voice of joy and confession, the noise of the celebration” (Ps. 41:5), “the voice of joy and salvation in the villages of the righteous” (Ps. 117:15). There “a great multitude of people, which no one could number, from all nations and tribes and peoples and languages, stand before the throne and before the Lamb in white robes and with palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9), and sing a sweet song: “Hallelujah! for the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory; For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; and the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Rev. 19:6–8). There are countless numbers of holy angels who surround the throne of glory and sing praises to the Trinitarian God: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts” (Is. 6:3)! There the face of patriarchs, forefathers, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs dwells and praises the Most Holy Trinity. There, finally, “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), life-giving, preserving, resting, pleasing, comforting, amusing, creating joy, enlightening and glorifying everyone. Looking at this bliss by faith, Moses “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and rather wanted to suffer with the people of God than to have temporary sinful pleasure, and considered the reproach of Christ to be greater wealth for himself than the Egyptian treasures; for he looked to the reward” (Heb. 11:24–26). If we, Christians, look at this more often by faith, we will undoubtedly want to suffer and endure better with Christ, who suffered for us, than to be insanely comforted with the evil world. § 418. Righteous and true reasoning about worldly things can turn the heart away from vanity and turn it to true piety. 1) Gold, silver, expensive stones, the decoration of clothes, the beauty of the face and everything that appears to human eyes in this world as dear and pleasant - what is it if not the charm and lust of our eyes? In darkness or blindness, we recognize that all this is no different from other things, in human opinion, vile: in the night we do not recognize gold and silver from iron, copper and other metals, expensive stones from simple ones, for both seem equal to the touch of our hands. For a blind man, like a robe of gold, and a robe with patches and rags; both the valuable mantle and the monastic mantle seem the same; both a young man’s beautiful face and an old man’s wrinkled face, and everything that the eyes see and with which they are comforted, and from which they turn away, equally imputes and does not value one more than the other. So we, Christians, when we turn our eyes away from vanity and fix them on eternal bliss, then we will not value gold, silver, expensive stones and other worldly decoration more than other things, in human opinion, ugly. Then, I tell you the truth, everything will be the same for us, like gold and silver, like iron and tin, like expensive stones stored in chests, like those thrown down on the road and trampled under foot; both the robe, silk and multi-colored, and the rags covering the nakedness; both the chambers are decorated and the hut is simple; both the beauty of the young and the wrinkles of the old. Then, with Saint Chrysostom, we also recognize “gold is like dirt and silver is like chaff” (Discourse 24 on the Gospel of Matthew). Then let us honor the alms created once in the name of Christ, the offense generously endured and left to our neighbor from the heart, more than all the treasures of this world. Then we will regret and lament more for the one and small sin we have committed, rather than for all our lost treasure that is perishable. Gold and silver, like iron, copper, tin, etc., are nothing other than earth, for they are made from earth. The beauty of the face is blood that turns red and flows to the top of the body. The robe is multi-colored, different colors and variegations are made. Then you will know what gold and silver are when they rust; that there is a red robe when the moth eats it; what is the beauty of a face when you look at her lying in a coffin. Then you will admit without a doubt that all this is nothing more than earth, taken from the earth and turned into earth. And so you will see that our true and valuable good is Christian virtue, which is neither subject to decay nor separated from us, lives with us in the world, and departs for the next century, and leads us to God, our highest good. What then? Do I condemn gold and silver and other temporary goods? No way! I do not condemn gold and silver and other wealth, for all this is God’s creation and God’s is a gift given to people. But I condemn the love of gold and the love of money, to which the heart is given over to love and reverence for the living God. I do not blaspheme gold and silver, but I do not praise the lover of money, who, having abandoned God, cleaves his heart to silver and gold and, instead of God, works for mammon. It is not sinful to have gold and silver, but it is sinful to put your heart into it. It should serve us, not we it. Just like other creatures, gold and silver serve us, so that we serve God. But when we love something and attach our heart to it, then it is no longer us, but we serve it, and so, serving mammon, we no longer serve God. “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Moreover, all this treasure, whatever it is, as worldly, will remain in the world. “For we have brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). Christ commanded Christians, not on earth, but in heaven, to lay up treasures for themselves, for “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). For there is their fatherland and their home, but in this world they are strangers and strangers (Ps. 39:13, 119:19; Heb. 11:13; 1 Chron. 29:15). The true Christian treasure is virtues, this treasure is collected here, but is preserved in heaven, and on the last day, when Christ appears to the whole world, it will be appreciated by the Judge (Matthew 25:35-36). Also, the love of money, or the love of wealth, as the root of all evil, is condemned by the apostle (1 Timothy 6:10). It teaches to kidnap, steal, covet, to judge courts incorrectly, to accuse the right and to justify the guilty, it teaches to lie, to swear in vain, to call the name of God in vain and to break an oath, to deceive, to be disingenuous; in a word, it teaches all evil that must be kept away from Christians. And although where wealth is righteously collected, which very rarely happens, but when it is either hidden in chests, or is squandered on unnecessary expenses and obscene decorations of houses, gardens, horses, carriages, clothes, meals and other worldly vanities, then this is done against the will of God, which wants us to use the wealth given to us from Him not for such vanity, but to use it for our household needs and thank Him, so for our needs the poor and the poor were separated. For the rich man is not the owner of the wealth given to him by God, but a clerk and spender who must repay the one who gave the Lord an answer in due time. For no one brought anything with him into the world except his naked body, and therefore has nothing of his own, but everything he has is God’s good. With the silver and gold that is lying in vain in your chests, you should have redeemed the prisoners in prison for debts and arrears. With the excess that you put into creating unnecessary buildings, you should have created huts for the poor, where they could lay their heads and rest. What you use to decorate clothes, you should have clothed the half-naked and poor. What you lavish on rich tables should feed the hungry, the poor and the weak. This is what God's will wants from us. This is what natural law requires: “Whatever you want for yourself, do for your neighbor” (see Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12; Acts 15:29). And thus, you would not have lost the wealth given by God, but you would have sent this treasure for the age to come and acquired it with great interest on the day of the Lord. But evil pride, love of money and love of peace do not allow a person to achieve this bliss, but instead brings him useless sadness, an evil conscience, useless and late repentance, worldwide shame on the day of judgment and eternal destruction. Then you yourself admit that you were truly poor and wretched, although you were rich. Then you will see that only spiritual goodness is true goodness, and not what appears to human eyes. Then you will truly understand that wealth is like thorns, which choke the seed of God’s word (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:18–19; Luke 8:14). 2) How great the honor and nobility of this world is revered by the sons of this age, it is impossible to say. But both true wealth and true nobility are not that which is judged as such and called so by their lovers (often people extol what they love, although in itself it is not praiseworthy), but that which is called and is essentially, according to sound reason and the word of God, which is the true rule of our thoughts. Look, man, when you boast about the nobility of your ancestors, as the Jews boasted about the patriarch Abraham: “Our Father is Abraham,” whom Christ denounced: “If you were the children of Abraham, you would have done the works of Abraham” (John 8:39), then are you doing such praiseworthy deeds as your ancestors did? If you command people, then don’t passions command you? If you are called a master, does not sin rule over you? If you judge people, does not your conscience judge and condemn you? It is vain praise to have good ancestors, but not to imitate their deeds. It is bad and senseless to command people, but to be possessed by passions. Slavery and meanness are not dominion, service is not freedom, (if) to be called a master, but to be a slave of sin (John 8:34), to dominate in body over people like oneself, but to serve with a noble soul and submit to sin. Poor is the judge who judges people with his tongue and pen, but is himself constantly convicted and judged by his conscience. But this flower is red from the outside, but rotted inside, either because of misfortune and misfortune, during a storm, or when death occurs, which bypasses no one - it falls and does not appear, and it happens as if it had never existed. Then the high-born and noble from the simple and the master from the slave are no different, for attack, and especially death, makes everyone equal. Then everyone will know that the honor, nobility and high birth of this world is an empty name and title, like a flask that is inflated, but idle. And what happens to the soul, which lived in a noble body, dominated people, commanded people, but itself served passions and sin, denounced and judged people, but was itself convicted and judged by conscience and the law of God? We know that “God does not regard the appearance of man” (Gal.2:6). He does not look at the king and his subject, nor at the master and his slave, neither at the noble nor at the common, but at faith and good deeds. From Him everyone will receive “according to what he did while living in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). And again we read in His holy word: “Severe judgment is given to those in authority, for the lesser deserves mercy, but the stronger will be severely tortured,” or, according to another translation, “tormented.” “The Lord of all will not be afraid of the face and will not be afraid of greatness, for He created both small and great and equally provides for everyone; but those in authority will face a severe test” (Wis. 6:5–8). The honor and nobility of this world without Christian true nobility is subject to greater judgment and condemnation. For a noble person who is in honor, but does not live like a Christian, should, not only for himself, but also for his subordinates, whom he not only did not correct, but also tempted, to give an answer to the righteous Judge, whose judgment no one can escape. But people, without reasoning about truth and delusion, the present and the future, abandoning the truth, take up delusion, just as small and foolish children, leaving gold, grab hot coals with their hands, having been burned by them, then bitterly complain and cry. Here again, I am not condemning noble persons - let that not be the case - but ambition and love of glory, which cannot be combined with true Christian nobility and faith, according to what was said: “How can you believe when you receive glory from one another, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God” (John 5:44)? And I admit that the pagan business is to chase after vain glory, for the pagans only seek what is subject to their feelings, and what they do not know, they do not seek. Christians are ashamed to imitate the pagans in this, for faith should raise their hearts to a different and incomparably better nobility. Such Christians are as mistaken in this as those who, leaving a bag filled with gold, grab another, beautiful on the outside, but empty on the inside and only inflated with air; or even like those who, having overthrown the royal scarlet, want to cover themselves with vile and stinking sackcloth, and, leaving the high title of royal sonship, want to be and be called a simple peasant and a slave - at which everyone would laugh with dignity. They are grievously ungrateful, in this they sin against God, Who called them to high and great things, to true and lofty nobility, but they, having left that, are chasing after the vile and imaginary. What is true Christian nobility? Answer: To be a true Christian, a son of the Holy Church, a living member of the body of Christ, to have communion with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, the son and heir of God, to serve the living and immortal God with faith and truth, and so on, which has been said and will be discussed below. This nobility incomparably surpasses all the glory of this world. All the glory of the kings and princes of this world is nothing before that. This glory is not visible now, but will be revealed on the last day. “We are now,” says the apostle, “children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). But the love of vain glory does not allow the poor man to reach that true glory. The love of glory, I say, and not the glory of this world, does not allow. For to have another glory and honor in this world, to have another glory and desire and seek honor. Many true Christians and saints can and do have glory in this world, but they do not seek it, even more, they run away from it. The love of glory is a sign of addiction to the world, which must be removed from the Christian heart. “What should I do if rank and honor are given to me?” - someone will ask. Answer: If you do not seek, but it is given to you, accept it not as an honor, but as a yoke that you must bear for the glory of God and the benefit of your neighbor; be in honor of her, like a father who provides for his children; serve the glory of God, and not your own, and the benefit of your brethren, and not your own; be a slave and a servant to the servants of God, as Christ says: “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). Then this honor will grant you greater glory in heaven, when our merciful Lord says to you: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21). 3) The third pleasure of the sons of this age is voluptuousness and luxury. Oh, how many people it turns away from Christ and true worship of God! Many despise honor and vain glory, do not seek wealth, squander what they have, but few do not want to please their belly. Consider, Christian, how much we are mistaken in this too. What is sweet food, if only the shortest pleasure of the taste and larynx, which delights until the taste and larynx passes? Sweet and various seasonings dissolved food, placed in the stomach, can be as simple as that. For the stomach does not understand what kind of food it will be - sweet or simple, as long as it is healthy, it requires healthy food, not sweet. People are equally satisfied with simple foods as with sweets. The village peasant equally strengthens himself with bread, salt and water, just as his landowner strengthens himself with sweets and various foods. Equally, both of them walk around after dinner, do their business, and, getting hungry, each again takes his own food. And whoever ate what kind of food yesterday does not know today, but everyone who was satisfied with many sweet foods yesterday, and who was content with the simplest, is hungry again today and wants to fill his belly. Consider the consequences of sweet and simple foods and their accessories, and you will see that all kinds of evil will follow from sweet and varied foods. Where does more impure lust, a deadly ulcer for the Christian soul, nest, if not in a luxurious and voluptuous heart? Who is the laziest in prayer and other Christian duties, if not one who eats luxuriously? Who lives more in idleness, guilty of all evil, if not a sensualist? This truth is clear. Just as all kinds of vermin breed in a rotten swamp, so in a voluptuous heart all kinds of sinful uncleanness will be born. The one who lives on simple food is not so moderate: although he feels the kindling of lust, he quenches it with prayer and the help of God. In matters of rank and other blessed labors, he is always alert, not lazy in prayer, and always ready for any good deed. Sweet and various foods require a lot of accessories, require different compositions, seasonings, skilled cooks and assistants, but simple food does not require this. Various foodstuffs require no small sums and dependency, and so, what should be turned to the poor and wretched brethren, the sweet food alone devours, which is soul-harmful pride; simple food is free from this and does not prevent our hand from being generous in giving. I am silent about the fact that sweet eating often comes from untruths and insults of one’s neighbor, from which simple food, prepared with little dependence, is free. You can’t have a variety of food everywhere, such as: on the road, in battle, and in other cases, but simple food is ready everywhere. What various foods do to the stomach, how many diseases they give rise to - doctors know about this. To whom else do they come with medicines, if not to sensualists? There is no such danger from simple and moderate food, and although the disease comes to abstinent people, but, having found little in them that could slow it down, it soon goes away, driven away by abstinence, like the strongest medicine. But so that you, Christian, can be convinced that sweet eating is the cause of ill health and disease, while simple and moderate food is the mother of health. Look at noble children, who eat sweet food, and peasant children, who mostly eat bread with cabbage soup or water, and you will see how one differs from the other in strength and complexion. How strong and red-faced some are, while others are decrepit, pale and seemingly bloodless! This difference does not come from anywhere, but from the difference in upbringing, that some are simply brought up, while others are brought up tenderly and in sweets. But someone will say: “The flesh requires consolation.” It is not the flesh, but the lust of the flesh that seeks sweet food, and the nature of the flesh alone requires reinforcement, which is not supplied by various, but healthy and moderate food. Christian consolation does not consist in food and drink, but in spiritual joy. “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). The flesh also requires its consolation, such as: in hunger for food, in thirst for water, in the heat for cooling, in the cold for warmth, through the labors of repose, and so on; and so one must please the flesh, but not in lust. Whence the apostle not only commands not to please the flesh, but to please the flesh: “Do not turn care for the flesh into lust” (Rom. 13:14). Someone will say: “I can’t just eat food.” True, but you can’t, not from nature, but from satiety and the use of various foods. You can’t, because you’re always full and don’t have the proper work. The belly is full and does not accept sweet food. And if you fast and work all day, then bread and water, like sweet food, will be pleasant. Someone will say: “I’m used to living like this.” That's true; Habit can do a lot. But just as you got used to a sweet diet through intemperance, so you can get used to simple food through abstinence. If you start eating food once a day and in moderation after work, then you will get comfortable with simple food, which will be both pleasant and healthier for you than sweet and various foods. 4) In conclusion of this reasoning of mine, I propose the word of Christ, which can move anyone to contempt not only the wealth, honor and luxury of this world, but also temporary life for the sake of saving his soul: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? or what ransom will a man give for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:26-27). What good will it do you, even though you will have all the wealth, all the glory and all the pleasures of this world, but will lose eternal salvation? There is no benefit where souls are destroyed. Not only eternal, but also temporary life is dearer to man than the whole world. Who would not call someone crazy who would want to lose this temporary and short life in order to gain the whole world? What use is the world to him then if he himself dies? Glory does not follow the glorious, wealth does not follow the rich, and luxury does not follow the luxurious, but everything lags behind everyone and is separated at his death. If no one wants to destroy temporary life for the sake of gaining the whole world, much less should we, Christians, destroy eternal life, which is incomparably better, more blessed and more desirable than temporary life, and is the only one we need (Luke 10:42). For her sake, not only peace, but also temporary life, on occasion, we must renounce. For her sake we are born into this world in order to move on to eternal life. For our Creator God created us not for temporary, but for eternal life. Temporary life is nothing other than what is and should be for us, as the path to eternal life, but we must follow this path with considerable danger, for many enemies surround it. For this reason, the Son of God came into this world to open the doors to eternal life that we had closed with our sins, and to show us the path from which we have strayed. For this reason, He gave His holy Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths (Ps. 119:105), so that it would give light to us walking along this path. For this reason, He established His Sacraments, etc. Is it such a treasure, eternal and priceless, for which God Himself appeared in the flesh, that we would be willing to lose for the love of this world? The one who despises the temporary life, which everyone must leave, for the sake of wealth or honor, is insane, but the one who despises the eternal, for the love of this world, is much more insane. Everyone neglects it, who is attached to this world with heart and love, as has been repeatedly said above. “The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His Angels, and then He will reward everyone according to his deeds.” Then he will not ask us whether in this world we had honor, or glory, or wealth, or anything else like that. But what? He will require from us what He taught both in His word and in His way of life. “You were called Christians and professed My name. Fine. But where is your Christian life and the fruit of your confession? You called Me Lord: “Lord, Lord!” Fine. But where is your obedience, which you should have shown to your Lord? Where is your humility, patience, meekness and love, what did My word and life teach you? You promised to serve Me at baptism with faith and truth, but where is your faithful service to Me? I promised to give eternal life to those who believe in My name: behold, I give it to those who believed in Me. Where is your faith, which I demanded from you in My word? Where are its fruits and good deeds? You were ashamed of Me and My words then, and I am ashamed of you now. You did not want to follow My humility, patience, meekness and love, and I do not want to accept you now into My glory. “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38; see also Matt. 7:13–14, 21, 23; Luke 13:24–27). Oh, how scary and pitiful it will be to hear this answer to Christians who pretended that they were better than the infidels, but some of them are put with the infidels (Matthew 24:51), who heard in the word of God about eternal life, blessedness, the kingdom, glory, joy and other eternal blessings, but will be deprived of them, because they did not seek them with true faith, but, being fussy in their thoughts, wanted to become rich and famous in this world, to be comforted, and, if it were possible, to reign in it forever! Let us be afraid, beloved Christian, of that terrible answer and the deplorable deprivation of eternal life. Let us listen to the Holy Spirit, who exhorts us through the Apostle: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world: whoever loves the world does not have the love of the Father. For everything that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but from this world. And the world passes away, and its lusts, but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). § 419. Reasoning about sin can, with the help of God, lead a person away from sin. 1) Consider, Christian, where sin began from, and you will see that its leader and inventor is the devil. He is the first apostate, who withdrew from God and his Creator with his evil angels (Jude 1:6) and turned away our first parents in paradise with his wickedness and drew them away with him (Gen. 3:1-6). Is it proper for a Christian, reborn by water and the Spirit, who has entered into a covenant with the holy God and has been called into communion with Him and friendship with the holy Angels, to commit sin and thus follow the devil, the leader of sin and the enemy of God? Oh, save us, Lord, from such madness! This is done by a person who sins against his conscience and willfully. Just as true Christians imitate God, like beloved children, when they conform to Him through righteousness, truth, love, patience, meekness, mercy, and other things, so unrepentant sinners imitate the devil and conform to him through their evil behavior, hatred, malice, wickedness and other ungodly deeds. The leader of sin is vile before God, and his followers, poor and damned people, are vile. 2) Consider also, Christian, that there is a sin that seems sweet to a person. He is a departure from the living and life-giving God; it is treason by which a person breaks the oath to God given in baptism. Just as someone betrays his Sovereign who does not keep the oath given to him and serves him faithfully, so a person betrays God when, according to his promise, he does not serve Him faithfully, but resists Him with sin and follows Satan, as the apostle wrote about certain widows: “Some have already turned aside after Satan” (1 Tim. 5:15). Sin is also a violation of the holy, righteous and eternal law of God, which was given to us by God, so that we might keep it whole and with all care, as the psalmist tells God: “You commanded to keep Your commandments strictly” (Ps. 119:4). But the sinner fearlessly dares to violate what should be indestructible forever. Sin is also resistance to the holy and good will of God. God wants us to deviate from evil and do good, but the damned sinner does the opposite of this: he deviates from good and does evil, and thus opposes God’s will. Sin is also grief and irritation of God's eternal truth, which, irritated by sin, judges the sinner (to be) guilty of temporary and eternal punishment, for every sin occurs against the truth of God. Another sin is disobedience and humiliation of the great, infinite, indescribable, terrible, holy and eternal God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, before whom the holy angels stand in fear and revere (Is. 6: 2-3), but man - earth and ashes - does not fear Him. And this is great human blindness, that he does not fear, does not honor, but despises and humiliates the One who holds both the whole world and himself in his hand. Therefore, He himself is despised, abandoned, and humiliated, as the Lord says: “Those who dishonor Me will be put to shame” (1 Samuel 2:30). Sin is a great human ingratitude towards God. For in this way a person, especially a Christian, does not love God the Creator, Provider and Redeemer, Whom he should love, Whom he should honor, does not honor, Whom he should glorify, and humiliates. For it is a sin to love and to love God; it is impossible to sin and to honor God. This truth is indisputable. Sin, finally, is a mental leprosy that emits a stench and infects others, and cannot be cleansed by anyone except Jesus Christ, the Healer of souls, and, according to the testimony of St. Chrysostom, sin is more evil than the demon itself (Discourse 41 on Acts). For sin also made the demon a demon, who was created by the Creator as a good angel. It’s scary, man, to sin, it’s scary to change God and deviate from Him, it’s scary to break the inviolable law of God, it’s scary to resist the will of God, it’s scary to irritate God’s truth, it’s scary not to listen to the infinite God and humiliate, it’s scary to be ungrateful to God the Benefactor. “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10:31)! “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). 3) You see, Christian, what sin is. Look again at what it means to serve sin, for “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Saint Chrysostom, depicting the vileness of sin and its vile slavery, likens it to a woman brutish, barbaric, breathing fire, ugly, black (Discourse 9 on 1 Corinthians). To this vile monster the intelligent God and His Divine image, the venerable creation - man - serves, obeys, cleaves and does as the one who, being the king's son and dressed in the royal scarlet, despises the high royal honor and cast off his valuable attire, dresses in vile rags, and, leaving his beautiful wife dressed with valuable ornaments, cleaves to the vile and ugly harlot, loves her and pleases her. This is what a foolish Christian does, who in holy baptism was made the son of the Heavenly King and dressed in the purest scarlet of the truth of Christ, but, not considering the high of this honor, and casting off that beautiful purple, he again dresses in stinking sinful rags, and abandoning virtue, like a beautiful and chaste maiden, clings to sinful lust, like vile and with all sorts of vices to a soiled woman, or even, leaving Christ the Son of God, the most beautiful of the sons of men, to whom he was betrothed by faith, cleaves to the vile tormentor, the devil, and from the son of God becomes the son of Belial. A deplorable sight and terrible blindness! Man was created in such high dignity, created by God's special council, honored in His image, redeemed by the blood of Christ, washed and renewed in baptism, called to eternal bliss - the noblest creation man, for whose sake this whole beautiful world was created, a fellow citizen of the angels, the son of God, the heir of the heavenly kingdom, a member of the body of Christ, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, descends into such baseness of his own free will and all his bliss destroys. ABOUT! If the eyes of the poor sinner were to be opened, and he would see his captivity in which he is, and his heavy and vile slavery, which is not to man, the creation of God, but to sin, the perpetrator of all evil, evil, and furiously serving the devil as sin, he would weep and sob inconsolably, and would consider those most blessed, more than himself, those who are in captivity, in prisons, in bonds, in captivity, The barbarians are filled with ridicule and all kinds of bitterness. For this misfortune is physical and temporary, but that misfortune is spiritual and eternal, unless one gets rid of it by the grace of Christ, the Redeemer of the world. For mental and eternal misfortune is incomparably greater than physical and temporary, for this will end in death, while this does not end with death, but becomes even greater and will remain forever without end. 4) Sin greatly hurts and torments the human conscience until it is cleansed by true repentance. While a person sins, it is as if his conscience is asleep, although even then it does not cease to strike him, but when he becomes conscious and his conscience awakens, then he will know how severe its torment is. Then he will feel its strong and terrible blow: “There is no salvation for you in your God” (Ps. 3:3). And this misfortune strikes the poor sinner most when he notices his approaching death. If a great feat occurs at the time of death for those who live piously and holyly, as we read in church history and now note, what will happen to those who sinned before their death? Fear of God's judgment, Gehenna, melancholy and despair! Here Satan, who deceived the sinner with God’s sole mercy, and taught him to sin, and kept him in sin, and led him in it until his death, already offers him God’s justice in his conscience, and so the evil spirit plunges the sinner into despair. Woe will be in that hour for the poor person who has a wounded conscience and has not been cleansed by true repentance in advance. Therefore, I advise everyone who calls on the name of Christ, for the sake of their salvation, to remember this terrible hour and to give up sin in advance, and to clear their conscience with contrition of the heart, and to always remember that hour, so that not only then, it is already useless to repent, lament, be horrified, embarrassed, yearn and look for time for repentance. We must leave whims until they leave us, we must leave vanity until they leave us. 5) God’s holy word calls vile and terrible names those people who fearlessly dare to sin and are in unrepentance. Calls sons of the devil: “Your father is the devil; and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father,” says Christ to the lawless Jews (John 8:44). “Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil sinned first,” says Saint John, and below he says: “The children of God and the children of the devil are known in this way,” - where he contrasts the children of God who do not commit sin with the children of the devil who commit sin (1 John 3:8-10). And one more thing: he calls them enemies of God. “Adulterers and adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? So whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). You see and read the same thing in the Psalms and in other places in Scripture. It is disgusting to be, a Christian, the son of the devil. It is shameless and scary to be an enemy of God. Shamelessly - for the lawless man is at enmity against his Creator and Benefactor, to Whom he should be grateful, destroying His holy law. It’s scary - for the righteous God is the Judge, and will take vengeance on His enemies. “We know Him who said: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Heb. 10:30). 6) What a person does is shameless when he commits lawlessness. For he does not have God before him (Ps. 53:5, 85:14), whom he must have before his eyes, honor and worship. He turns his back, and not his face, towards Him, as the Lord says about the lawless Jews: “They turned their backs to Me, and not their faces” (Jer. 32:33, 2:27). He rejects the words of God back, as God Himself says to the sinner: “You have turned back My words: if you saw a thief, you hastened with him, and had part with the adulterer. Your mouth has multiplied slander, and your tongue has woven deceits; sitting in the congregation, I slandered your brother, and caused your mother’s son to stumble.” And below the Psalmist adds: “Understand this, you who forget God, lest He snatches you away, and (then) no one delivers” (Ps. 49:17-20, 22). Such shamelessness is committed by a person when he sins against God, and more so by a Christian who pretends to know God, but does not honor Him; has the law of God, but does not want to fulfill it, and rejects it, leaving it behind, which he must have in front of him and, looking at it, create it. Therefore, every wicked person should reason about this and heed what the prophet adds: “Understand this, you who forget God, lest He snatch you away, and (then) no one will deliver.” God’s righteous judgment snatches away the wicked, “and (then) no one will deliver.” “Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). 7) Sin brings shame and shame before people. Therefore, fornicators, thieves and other sinners seek hidden places to commit their lawless deeds. Also, lovers of money, evil, flatterers, crafty and cunning try in every way to hide their passions. For no one clearly wants to sin. Therefore, Christ says: “Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil” (John 3:20). The reason for this is that everyone abhors an obvious sinner. And those who clearly dare to sin have lost not only the fear of God, but also their human shame. 8) Because of sin, all sorts of executions, punishments, troubles and misfortunes happen in the world, such as illnesses, pestilences, wars, battles, crop failures, animal deaths, etc. If there were no sin, there would be no misfortunes. Read, Christian, with attention the books of the Old Testament and you will see this truth. 9) For sin, eternal torment and eternal fire are prepared, into which Christ, the righteous Judge, will send unrepentant sinners: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). 10) The more a person sins, the greater and more severe eternal torment awaits him. O man! “Or do you neglect the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But, due to your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to his deeds,” and so on (Rom. 2:4-6 et seq.). Let us fear, Christian, the judgment of God, let us turn to God before time runs out, for God accepts those who turn, and let us create fruits worthy of repentance. Let us hate sin now, so that we may not then taste its sorrowful fruit. (See also article 2 of the first book). Chapter 11: How can a Christian console himself in the sorrows that occur? “My son! do not despise the Lord’s punishment, and do not lose heart when He reproaches you. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives. If you suffer punishment, then God treats you as sons. For is there any son whom his father does not punish?” and so on (Heb. 12:5–7ff.). § 420. In order, Christian, to be able to receive consolation for your sad heart in the sorrow that has occurred, listen to the following reasoning: 1) It is known without any doubt that it is impossible for true Christians to be in this world without sorrow. This is how God’s word testifies: “Many are the sorrows of the righteous” (Ps. 33:20); “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33); “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). For the path that leads them into life is narrow (Matthew 7:14). What then? Do you alone want to remain without sorrow, and leave the narrow path for the wide one, which leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13), and thus exclude yourself from the number of true Christians? Read the story, sacred from the beginning of the world, and you will see that all the saints drank the cup of the sorrow of the cross, and now those who wander in the world drink, and will drink until the end of the world. It is enough for your consolation that you also share in their sorrow (Rev. 1:9), that you participate in Christ’s sufferings (1 Pet. 4:13), that you are no longer a stranger or an alien, but a fellow citizen with the saints and one of God’s own (Eph. 2:19). Is it not enough for you to be a son of the Holy Church, to be a living member of Christ, here to be conformed to Him in suffering and in the next century in glory? This can sweeten any sorrow if you take it into consideration. Just look at whether you are trying to walk worthy of such a title, whether you are a true Christian. We should be sad about this, but not despair, but truly correct ourselves, repent and be comforted by faith in Christ. But sorrow will not harm you, will not take away your true bliss, but will even increase it, as you will see below. 2) In the sorrow that has occurred, remember how much Christ our Lord endured for our salvation. He endured innocently and for our sake. Shall we, His servants, unworthy servants and worthy of all sorrow, not endure what we deserve? Listen to what the Lord says: “Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too” (John 15:20). If you carefully consider who Christ is, what, and for what, and for whose sake he endured such terrible torment and dishonor, you will receive great consolation in every sorrow and you will accept every sorrow with thanksgiving and joy. 3) Remember that through sorrow true Christians are conformed to the image of Christ’s suffering, so that in glory they may also be conformed to Him: “We suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). “Who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21). “Beloved! we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be alike” (1 John 3:2). Christ, who suffered and died, has risen, and Christians, His members and those who suffer with Him, will also rise. Christ ascended into heaven, and His servants will also ascend. Christ was glorified, and His servants will be glorified. Christ has reigned, and His suffering servants will reign with Him. “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him” (2 Tim 2:11–13). Oh, what great consolation comes from this, that suffering true Christians will not only be conformed to Christ, their Lord and King, in suffering, but will also be conformed to Him in glory! Who in sorrow will not be encouraged and consoled by the hope of that glory? Reason in this way, beloved Christian, about the dignity and glory of the children of God, and meet the sorrow that comes with joy, and endure the sorrow that comes with thanksgiving, for it brings you spiritual consolation with it, and although it will offend your flesh, it will gladden your spirit. Follow Christ now, so that you can be with Him there too. Do not be ashamed now to bear His reproach (Heb. 13:13), so that you may be glorified with Him. Drink now vinegar mixed with gall with Christ (Matthew 27:34), so that you may be worthy to drink the wine of eternal joy at His table in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 22:30; Isaiah 65:13). The holy martyrs drew consolation from this source, and hurried to every torment as to a sweet feast; They renounced nothing, but endured every terrible torment. They reasoned about how great an honor it is to suffer for Christ, who suffered for the whole world, and thus be conformed to Him who suffered, and reflected on the apostolic word of consolation: “Rejoice as you share in Christ’s sufferings, so that when His glory is revealed you will rejoice and triumph” (1 Peter 4:13), and, remembering eternal glory, they consoled themselves in their suffering with the fact that this present temporary suffering is not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18), “for our momentary light suffering produces eternal glory in an exceeding abundance” (2 Cor. 4:17). After a small tribulation, great and endless joy, after a temporary dishonor, eternal glory, and after a short-term evil, eternal and incomprehensible blessings will follow (see 1 Cor. 2:9). Someone will say: “The martyrs suffered for Christ, and therefore they were consoled both by that suffering and by the hope of future glory.” True, but you, if you are a Christian, then whatever sorrow you endure, and if you endure it not as a murderer, or as a thief, or as a villain, etc., but as a Christian, then you participate in the passions of Christ, and therefore be consoled by the hope of eternal glory. For not only the martyrs, but also all the saints entered heaven in a sorrowful way. There is no other way to the heavenly fatherland except the path of the cross, for “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), and “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). We also need to follow the same path if we want to have participation with them. Do not grieve, dear Christian, but also rejoice and give thanks in your sorrows, that in this way you are numbered with the most blessed holy council of God’s elect, who served Christ the King here under the sign of the cross, and those who now live on earth serve, you are numbered and you follow and are conformed to Christ the King Himself. This is a sign of God’s chosen ones, that the world hates them, and hates them not for any evil deeds, but because, moving away from its evil deeds, they work diligently for their Lord. “If you were of the world,” Christ tells them, “then the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). 4) All sorrow does not happen by chance, but sorrow is sent to us from God and is His fatherly punishment, with which he punishes us not out of anger, but out of love, as the apostle teaches: “The Lord punishes whomever he loves; and he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). Just as the righteous one pours out His wrath on the wicked, and they will drink the cup of His wrath and wrath forever; So he does not reprove the pious with rage, and does not punish with anger, but beats him in a fatherly way, remembers mercy in anger, punishes, but does not put him to death, as the prophet sings: “The Lord taught me, but did not put me to death” (Ps. 117:18), and the apostle says: “Being judged, we are punished by the Lord, so as not to be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). ). From the beginning of the world to Christ, and from Christ until now, not a single godly person was without the punishment of the Lord from the fathers, but they received everything from the hand of the Lord, and received it with thanksgiving, that they had “participation in His holiness” (Heb. 12:10). You know that even a carnal father punishes his son not out of anger, but out of love, much more so does God, by His good nature, punish His children out of love and mercy alone. Someone will say: “I accept such or such misfortune from people.” It is also true that people taught by the devil bring us troubles and sorrows, but with God’s permission. For people and the devil cannot do anything to us unless God allows them to. He allows them to be our punishment, and as much as God allows them, they annoy and embitter us. This truth is known from the story of Job and Saint David and others. Remember, Christian, in your sorrow the comforting word: “The Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives. If you suffer chastisement, God treats you as sons” (Heb. 12:6-7). And remembering, thank Him, for He does not take away His fatherly love and mercy from you. Always keep in mind that it is far better to endure any punishment here from the hand of the Lord and be comforted forever in the future life, than to be here without punishment and after death to endure God’s eternal wrath, which unpunished and faulty sinners cannot escape. Note also what the apostle wrote: “If you remain without the discipline that is common to all, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:8). When a father leaves his son without punishment and allows him to live according to his will, it is clear that he has rejected him from himself. So, when God leaves a person without punishment, this is a sign of his rejection from God’s mercy, and nothing else should be done than to endure God’s eternal wrath. For all God's chosen ones and His children were, and are now, partakers of His fatherly punishment. A Christian should desire God's fatherly punishment, and not run away from it, and rejoice in what follows and thank the Heavenly Father for it. 5) Although God sends sorrows to His servants, He does not leave them in sorrows, but with them in their sorrows, as He says: “I am with him in sorrows” (Ps. 90:15). Thus we read about Saint Joseph, the son of the patriarch James, that “God was with him” (Acts 7:9). Although Joseph was sold into slavery, “his feet were shackled, his soul was entangled in iron” (Ps. 105:18), but God was with him. He was also with the holy patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, although many troubles surrounded them. Therefore it is written that “he did not allow anyone to offend them, and he punished kings for them (saying): Touch not My anointed and do not harm My prophets” (Ps. 104:14-15). He was with their descendants, the people of Israel, in Egypt, although they suffered great enslavement and bitterness from a lawless people. Therefore, God Himself said to Moses: “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt” (Ex. 3:7). He was with them during their exodus from Egypt. “The sea saw and ran; Jordan turned back; the mountains jumped like sheep, and the hills like lambs among sheep,” and so on. “The earth moved from the presence of the Lord, from the presence of the God of Jacob” (Ps. 113:3-4, 7). He was with them in the desert, as Moses sings in his song: “He found him in the desert, in the sad and wild steppe, protected him, looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye; like an eagle covers its nest, flies over its chicks, spreads its wings, takes them and carries them on its feathers,” and so on. (Deuteronomy 32:10–11ff.) He was with them in the land that he gave them as an inheritance. And although he sent them many misfortunes, he did not leave them in their misfortunes, as we read in the books of the Old Testament. He was with three youths in a kindled furnace (Dan 3:49, 92), as the Church sings to Him: “He who came down into the fiery furnace of the Jewish youth, and the flame who turned God into dew, sing the works,” and so on (Song of the 8th tone of the 2nd). I was with the martyrs in the midst of the furnace of sorrows, torment and suffering, and I was with other saints. He is also now persistently with His servants who honor Him, and until the end of the age it will be: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). But when you hear, beloved Christian, that God is with His faithful servants in sorrows, do not just understand this as God’s presence with them, but He also preserves them, helps them, comforts them, dissolves the sorrow of the cross with the sweetness of His love, giving His goodness to taste, just as a mother comforts her little child who is grieving and crying in different ways; and in this way either eases the burden of sorrows, or, when necessary, completely removes them from the furnace of sorrows. Therefore, this goodness and love of God is amazingly depicted in the Holy Scriptures. It is likened to an eagle covering its nest and warming its chicks, as seen above in the song of Moses; is likened to the shelter of wings, shelter (Ps. 16:8, 35:8, 60:5, 62:8, 90:1) and protecting shoulders, as he says: “He will protect you with His shoulders” (Ps. 90, etc.). Do you see what a presence God is with His servants in their sorrows! Remember that in your sorrows, when you endure them without grumbling, you partake of this goodness of God and love for mankind, which His servants experience in themselves, and be pleased that God is with you in your sorrow in the same way, “for there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11), but everyone “who trusts in the Lord will be surrounded by mercy” (Ps. 31:10). Know also that there is no God there, where the joy and merriment of this world is, when people rejoice about wealth, about honor, about glory, about luxury, when they rejoice, feast, cause laughter, dance, get drunk, sing unworthy of Christians, shout and perform other indecent gaiety. God departs from such people, for he is offended by their outrages, but the evil spirit of this world comes there, for deeds pleasing to him are being done there. God comes to sorrowful and contrite hearts, and, like into idle vessels, pours living water of cooling and consolation. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 33:19). The Lord is near, “healing the brokenhearted and binding up their wounds” (Ps. 147:3). For “the sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). 6) How useful and necessary this fatherly punishment of God is for us, it is impossible to say. Consider how many spiritual infirmities are hidden in our hearts, which were born with us in carnal birth. What pride, anger, malice, envy, love of money, impurity, etc.! The all-seeing eye of God sees all these infirmities and by inflicting sorrows and misfortunes, like cruel medicine, wants to heal them if we surrender ourselves to His will. For every sorrow and adversity teaches us humility, patience, meekness and other good things. Who, when sick, would want to be angry and take revenge? Who in poverty, in prison, in exile will be proud? Trouble teaches you to humble yourself and endure everything. Trouble is like a bridle with which fierce horses are restrained and tamed. Our nature becomes fierce and, as it were, goes berserk, but through troubles and misfortunes, like a bridle, it is restrained and tamed. Although the trouble and sorrow that has come upon our flesh is sad, it is healing for our soul. We are comforted and rejoice when a physician heals our weak body, although that healing is bitter and cruel, and we thank him and give him a bribe; all the more we should rejoice and thank God from the heart when He heals our spiritual infirmities through sorrows and adversities. To the extent that the soul is more honest than the body, its weakness is more dangerous, and its healing should be more dear to us. Saint David knew this benefit and thanked God for humbling him: “It is good for me that You humbled me, so that I might learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71). This holy prophet knew by the Holy Spirit how great a benefit comes from God’s paternal punishment, and therefore he thanked Him for this, and gives us an example of this, and to this king of Israel, who, in such great glory, was not offended, and did not faint from the punishment of the Lord, and we should imitate and thank our God who humbles us, and learn His statutes, learn to crucify the flesh with passions and lusts (Gal.5:24), “let not sin reign in our mortal body, lest we obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6:12). Therefore, James, the holy apostle, consoles the faithful: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3). Therefore, Saint Paul and the faithful boast in tribulations and say: “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that from tribulation comes patience, and from endurance comes experience, from experience does hope, and hope does not put you to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5). Look and note, Christian, what grief leads to: patience, experience, hope that will not put you to shame. Thus, holy faith, obedient to God’s will and following the Author of faith and Perfecter Jesus, leads the faithful heart through many sorrows, as in degrees, to its end - eternal salvation, and the word of Scripture comes true: “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6). We must sincerely acknowledge that the merciful God does us a great favor when he punishes us with sorrows and misfortunes, like a fatherly rod. Judge for yourself, Christian, how many of these there are who, living in prosperity and gaiety, became corrupted and, like horses, ran wild at their own will, became furious, and died, which is happening daily before our eyes. Very little piety is noticed in the rich and glorious of this world: pride, stinginess, selfishness, luxury and almost carnal knowledge alone are seen - which leads to nothing other than destruction, “for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in by it” (Matthew 7:13). God’s mercy does not allow you to do that and wants to lead you through this sorrowful path into eternal joy. Note what prosperity and misfortune do: Adam, our forefather, in the prosperity of paradise sinned gravely, and fell away from God and perished, therefore he was expelled from paradise and given over to labor, sorrow, troubles and misfortunes, in order to seek the Lord again by repentance (Gen. 3). And the Israelites, when they suffered bitterness in Egypt, sought the Lord and groaned to Him, and the Lord heard them, as God said to Moses: “I see the oppression of My people in Egypt, and I hear their groaning” (Acts 7:34). But when they were free in the desert, they became corrupt and forgot God: “And Jacob ate, and Israel became fat, and became stubborn; became fat, plump and fat; and he forsook God who created him, and despised the rock of his salvation" (Deut. 32:15). But when they fell into troubles and misfortunes again, living in the promised land, they again turned to God and sought Him, as we read in the book of Judges and in other books. This is how well-being leads us away from God, while misfortune, like a bridle, leads and attracts us to God. “Great goodness is sorrow,” says St. Chrysostom (Discourse 16 on Acts). Great good, because it humbles us, because it stops the path to carnality and destruction, because it corrects us, leads us to repentance and turns us to God, and thus leads us away from destruction, and puts us on the path to eternal life. The Heavenly Father does great and merciful things to us when he sends sorrows and misfortunes upon us. Oh, sorrow is the rod of God’s punishment, our bitter but healing medicine, the school of humility, patience and meekness, the banner of Christ’s soldiers, the path to eternal life! “Punish us, O Lord, but in righteousness, not in Your anger” (Jer. 10:24). Someone will say: “It is hard and fierce to endure grief.” True, but it is much harder to endure eternal sorrow if you leave here unpunished and uncorrected. Nowadays, sorrow for our flesh is painful, but its fruit is sweet and favorable. “Every punishment at the present time seems not to be joy, but sadness; but afterwards he brings to those who are taught the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). And you yourself, if you are reasonable and love your children, do not allow them to live according to their will, but you teach, punish and beat them so that they are good, although you know that punishment is unpleasant and sad for them. Or maybe you were punished by your father and endured it, and now you gratefully remember that punishment. Why don’t you gratefully endure God’s fatherly punishment? You know that there are benefits from punishment, and you punish your children. Why don’t you want to accept punishment from the hand of the Lord, useful and soul-saving, with thanksgiving, or at least with silence and without indignation? For the Lord chastens us “for our benefit, that we may share in His holiness,” so that we may live (Heb. 12:9–10). And His punishment is short and light: short, because it is temporary, and, although it will continue to the end, it will end with death; easy, for He punishes and has mercy, grieves and comforts, insults and amuses, wounds and heals, and beats, but does not kill. What then? Do you want to be punished for a short time, and live here like a Christian, and after death live forever, reign, be comforted, rejoice and be eternally blessed? Or, without the short-term and easy punishment, which is common to everyone, and the defective depart from time to time, and there perish forever, endure and suffer? For the faulty will certainly follow. Choose one of these two, which is more pleasing to you - this or that. Choose what you want, man! But I choose and want to follow the weak, who surrender themselves to the will of a skilled healer, wanting to be healed of their illness. So I too must surrender, as if I am weak, to the will of the all-wise Physician of our souls - the Lord, may he do with me as he pleases. I know absolutely that whatever medicine He gives me, it will be useful to me. I want to confess to Him with the prophet: “It is good for me that You have humbled me, so that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71). “I believe that I will see the blessings of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust in the Lord, be of good courage, and let your heart be strong, and trust in the Lord” (Ps. 26:13-14). For Christ also says about Himself: “Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer and enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26), - this is what His apostle says about all the faithful: “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). They enter there not by a wide and spacious path, but by a narrow and cramped one. (See also the chapter on patience, thanksgiving and the narrow path in the first book about this). § 421. Consolation against spiritual temptation, which occurs through thoughts that lead to despair. Although this temptation can happen to any Christian, for Satan, who brings such temptation, leaves no one, it especially happens to those who have lived in sins for quite some time, and having been corrected by God’s grace, began to repent. What and how serious a calamity this happens is known only to those who suffer it. They constantly feel the waves striking their souls: “There is no salvation for him in his God” (Ps. 3:3). What could be more difficult for a person when Satan wants to take away his eternal salvation? Therefore, fear, horror, sadness, melancholy, embarrassment and all kinds of anxiety arise in the heart of someone in such distress, so that he can never be cheerful. Any external consolation, no matter how people are consoled, is of no benefit to him. He seeks consolation, like one who is hungry for bread and thirsty for drink, but does not find it. Why does it happen that in such mental suffering the body becomes weak, turns pale, dries up and melts away? For fear and sadness, like internal fire, consumes food and drink. However, as much as a person can help a person, I offer such a suffering soul from the Holy Scriptures comforting reasoning that can somewhat cool, with the help of God, a sad heart. 1) When you think about your sins, think about God’s mercy. No matter how many of your sins you have, and no matter how great they are, God has more mercy. Do you hear what the Apostle says to us sinners by the Holy Spirit: “God is rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4). He not only said: God is merciful, but also “rich in mercy.” This wealth of mercy is preached to us by Moses the Seer of God: “The Lord, the Lord God is generous and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy and truth” (Ex. 34:6). Saint David preaches, having learned for himself the wealth of mercy: “Your mercy is magnified to the heavens, O Lord” (Ps. 56:11). And again: “The Lord is generous and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy” (Ps. 103:8), and in other places. In a word, His mercy is such as His majesty. “As is His greatness, such is His mercy,” says the wise Sirach (Sir 2:18). His Majesty is infinite, therefore His mercy is infinite. From this source it follows that He does not deal with us according to our iniquities, and does not repay us according to our sins (Ps. 103:10), but according to His infinite mercy “will blot out our iniquities, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19). This source is not exhausted, does not dry up, but always remains full, and all those who are thirsty are called to it through the prophet: “You who thirst, come all of you to the waters” (Is. 55:1). One thing is required - “let the wicked forsake his way and the wicked his thoughts, and let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him” (Is. 55:7). The Only Begotten Son of God reveals it to us: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). The Angels praise, sing and glorify: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Luke 2:14) - and “desire to penetrate” (1 Peter 1:12). The apostles glorify and extol in all their writings, pastors and teachers draw and offer to everyone, the whole Holy Church eats and cools down, the poor, the poor and thirsty sinners come running and receive refreshment. We should resort to this source of God’s goodness and mercy in times of heat, and thirsty souls should draw the water of joy. This is why God’s holy word presents it to us, so that during the heat of temptation we might run to it and from there draw living water of cooling. “But whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through patience and encouragement from the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Someone will say: “My sins are many and grave.” Answer: but the goodness and mercy of God is infinite, and before him all your sins, whatever they may be, are like a drop of water before the whole sea, and “when sin abounded, grace abounded all the more through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20–21), and this grace’s breadth and length, and depth and height are immeasurable and incomprehensible (Eph. 3:18). Someone will ask: “How can I share with the saints, who have lived in such great virtues?” Answer: You pray to the Lord to share with the thief, who at the very exodus was a thief and, with regret and faith, let out a voice to Christ: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into Your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42), - before the apostles he ascended to paradise and is now with Christ in paradise, as Christ said to him: “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Pray with the publican, the prodigal son, the harlot, Manasseh and other sinners who repented of being put to death, who are now all with Christ in paradise, and when you are established in the faith, you will be with them and with Christ Himself, therefore, with all the saints. For where Christ is, there are all His saints. Remember that the apostles and all the saints were saved by the grace of Christ. And many of the apostles were great sinners: Matthew was a tax collector, Peter denied Christ three times, Paul persecuted Christ and His Church. But God, rich in mercy, made these sinners preachers of His Gospel, so that both in word and deed they themselves could preach His inexhaustible grace to the whole world, and what mercy they themselves received from God, they offered to all sinners for inspiration. That is why they were not ashamed to confess their sins in their writings, and they were not ashamed to admit themselves as sinners before the whole world. Saint Paul calls himself a former blasphemer and persecutor and offender, but he said he received mercy, and was the first of sinners: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first” (1 Tim. 1:13, 15). Saint Matthew, listing the names of the apostles, says about himself: “Matthew the publican” (Matthew 10:3). All the holy evangelists described the rejection of Peter, but all were pardoned and carried out by the apostles, and with that pardon, as with a living voice, they preach to the whole world that there is hope for sinners who repent, the doors of God’s mercy are open to those who convert, the Heavenly Father accepts prodigal sons who convert, Christ now says to the sinner who repents of his sins: “Your sins are forgiven” ( Luke 7:48), - and opens the doors of paradise to the thieves who repent and confess His Lord, “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). God has no partiality, but he has mercy on everyone, accepts and saves those who repent; will you be the only one who will reject you? With such goodness of God, open to all sinners, sad soul, be comforted and confirmed in faith. 2) When you lived in sins and angered God with your sins, God did not want to destroy you for the sake of His goodness, but endured you, because in this way His goodness led you to repentance. Will he want to destroy you now that you have ceased from your sins? When you resisted the will of God, God had mercy on you; now will He not have mercy on you when you want and try to do His will? When you turned away from God, God, out of His mercy, did not turn away from you; will He now turn away from you when you turn to Him? When you left Him and moved away, He did not leave you, but called you to repentance and waited - will He now leave you and remove His bounties from you when you approach Him with repentance? Didn’t he despise you, who are grieved by sins; will he despise you who propitiates you with sighs and tears? He had mercy on you, who does not fear Him, preserving your life from the snares of the enemy the devil, who seeks your destruction and who wants to bring your soul to hell - will he not now have mercy on the one who fears? Remember that the prophet sings: “As a father shows mercy to his sons, so the Lord has mercy on those who fear Him. For He knows His creation, He remembers that we are dust of the earth” (Ps. 102:13-14). Remember that God is our Father: “You are our Father; for Abraham does not recognize us, and Israel does not recognize us as his own; “You, Lord, are our Father,” the prophet says to him (Is. 63:16), “and you are more loving and merciful towards us than our mother.” “Will a woman forget her suckling child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? but even if she forgot, I will not forget you,” says the Lord (Is. 49:15). And He is not only just a Father, but “the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). Remember what the holy David sings: “The God of our salvation, our God, God for salvation” (Ps. 67:20-21). It is disgusting for Him to destroy, Whose nature is to save. It is a foreign thing for Him to do evil, whose nature it is to do good. “No one is good except God alone” (Matthew 19:17), that is, naturally and properly. Listen to what God says about His favor towards us: “Do I want the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezek.18:23). And the fact that many perish is not because of His good pleasure, but because of their own will, for they do not want to repent. One thing is required on your part, that you be confirmed in the fact that God is merciful to you, the repentant one, that He is your Father, and the Father of generosity, the God of salvation, God for salvation. 3) Remember that Christ, to console us sinners, says: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). And his apostle: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). If Christ came to seek the lost, He will also seek you, since you are one of the lost. If He came to save sinners, then He came to save you, since you are one of the sinners for whose sake He came into the world. For the sake of sinners he came into the world, for the sake of sinners he lived on earth, suffered, died, was resurrected, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for sinners, as St. John says to console us sinners: “My children! if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). This all-merciful Intercessor has earned us all mercy from His Heavenly Father and has given us boldness to approach Him. He delivered us from our enemies, from whom we could not get rid of with our own strength. Our enemies: sin, the devil, death and hell. They defeated us and triumphed over us as vanquished, and no one could deliver us from them, no one stood up for us, we had no helper against them, but the Son of God stood up for us, as He Himself says through the prophet: “I looked, and there was no helper; he was surprised that there was no supporter; But My arm helped Me, and My wrath supported Me: and I trampled them in My wrath, and crushed them in My wrath, and poured out their blood on the ground” (Is. 63:5-6). He defeated and bound the devil, a terrible giant, and destroyed his works (1 John 3:8); He atoned for the sins of those who believed in Him with His Blood; He trampled and put to death death by His death and resurrection; hell destroyed, and thus returned the captivity of our souls; and ascended into heaven, and is now “at the right hand of God, making intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34). And we sing to Him as the Conqueror of our enemies and our Deliverer: “You have ascended on high, you have taken captivity captive” (Ps. 67:19). And one day, when “this corruptible has put on incorruptibility and this mortal has put on immortality,” we will triumph over these enemies of ours: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? hell, where is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:54–55). “Our soul trusts in the Lord, for He is our helper and protector. In Him our hearts will rejoice, and in His holy name we have trusted. May Your mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we have trusted in You” (Ps. 32:20-22). Think about who Christ died for? For sinners. For whom did sin, the devil, death and hell win? For sinners. He grieved to death for sinners, was horrified and grieved, in order to save them from eternal sorrow, horror and sadness. He was judged for sinners in a lawless court in order to free them from eternal judgment. He was bound for sinners in order to tear their bonds to pieces. For sinners he was spat upon, dishonored, mocked, and ridiculed in order to snatch them away from the devil’s reproach. He was wounded for sinners, struck and tormented in order to save them from eternal torment. He died for sinners on the tree of the cross, in order to revive them through His death. He rose from the dead for sinners in order to justify them. He was “delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification” (Rom 4:25). If Christ did all this for sinners, then it also did for you, since you are one of the sinners. Why do you want to deprive yourself of such and such high His benefits, which are given freely to all sinners who repent and believe in Him? Christ suffered, died and rose again for us. What is required on our part is to forsake sins, repent and believe in Him, and so Christ will be our righteousness, deliverance, sanctification, victory, triumph, eternal life, glory and blessedness. He “has become to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). 4) We read in the books of Moses (Num. 21:6-9) that when the sons of Israel were bitten by snakes in the wilderness, Moses, at the command of God, created a copper snake and lifted it up on high, so that the bitten people would look at it, and so they would be healed from their remorse, which is what was done. “And when,” says Scripture, “the serpent bit the man, he, looking at the copper serpent, remained alive.” The ascension of that serpent was a sign of Christ’s ascension to the Cross, as Christ Himself comfortingly interpreted it for us: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” ( John 3:14-15). Just as then people, bitten by snakes, looked at the ascended snake and were healed, so now those who were bitten by the sting of the sinful serpent of hell, when with the eyes of faith they look at Christ ascended on the tree of the cross, from that remorse they are healed and revived. Look by faith at the crucified Christ, and you will be healed from the wounds of sin, and you will come to life. Healing and eternal salvation are granted to all who look to Him by faith. Will the impartial and merciful God deny this to you alone? “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), in which (the world) you and I are contained. How could your sin be so great, grave and terrible that this Lamb of God would not take it from you, who came to Him with faith? What is your ulcer so great that He would not heal it! What grief is yours so strong that the One who prayed for His crucifiers and scolders would not have left it to you, asking with humility and faith: “Father! forgive them” (Luke 23:34)? Read the Gospel book: to whom did He refuse His mercy and love for mankind, Who came for this purpose in order to show His mercy to everyone? Whom did He drive away from Himself, who was rejected by He Who came to call everyone to Himself? “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Harlots, robbers, tax collectors and other sinners came to Him and received mercy, for He “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). The blind received sight from Him, the lame walked, the lepers cleansed, the paralytic strengthened, the demon-possessed delivered, the deaf heard. Wouldn't it give healing to your soul? He healed the body of mortals, but will not the immortal soul be healed by the One who came for this purpose, so that our souls, dead in sin, could be revived? For the better the soul is than the body, the more necessary its healing is than that of the body. Therefore, Christ cares more about the soul than about the body, and as our Creator and Redeemer cares more about us than we do about ourselves. “Let us cast all our cares on Him, for He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7). 5) Remember in the oppression of your conscience that the Apostle wrote for our consolation: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). He was “delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification” (Rom 4:25). Think about this incomprehensible grace of God. If God did not spare His Son for the sake of us sinners, then will He not spare us who repent for His sake? If for our sake he betrayed Him, will he not accept us, for His sake, who come to Him in repentance? If He betrayed Him for our sins, how will He not forgive us, who repent and believe in Him, our sins for His sake? If for this reason He sent Him into the world in order to save us from sins, then will He not deliver us for His sake, those who believe in Him? If God gave Him up to dishonor, wounds, crucifixion and death for the sake of us, sinners (oh, the incomprehensible goodness of God!), then how will He not open for us the doors of His mercy for His sake, the doors to eternal life, glory and bliss for those who believe in Him? God has given us great things, will He not give us small things? It is a great and incomprehensible deed of God’s goodness that He deigned to incarnate His Son for our sake and to die; the lesser thing is to save us for His sake. From the incarnation and death of Christ, as from a living and ever-flowing source, all our bliss, remission of sins, justification, grace, deliverance from death and hell, eternal life and everything flows. If He did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us, then how can He not give us all His blessings with Him? This is why He sent Him into the world, so that we, who repent and believe in Him, could be saved—how could He not save us? For the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world is our salvation, “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). If He had mercy on us then, when we were His enemies, then much more will He have mercy on us now, when we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10); “For God in Christ reconciled the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against men” (2 Cor. 5:19). We sinned, but He not only did not take revenge on us, but also had mercy on us. We annoyed Him, but He not only did not hate, but also preceded us with His love. We were His enemies, but He not only was not at enmity with us (for God, as good, or even goodness itself, is never at enmity), but also sent His Son to reconcile us with Himself, to reconcile us, His enemies, with Himself. The Son came and reconciled us to His Father, “becoming obedient even to death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8). “The Son ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mk. 16:19). He sent the apostles as His messengers to us and through them he exhorts us to be reconciled with Him, and all of them in their writings exhort us: “In the name of Christ, and as if God Himself exhorts through us; in the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Look and know God’s goodness and love for us. Although we are at enmity against Him, destroying His holy and eternal law, as He says: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30), yet He remains unchanged in His goodness and love for us, and not only remains unchanged, but also wants us, who are at enmity, to be reconciled with Him, and awaits us. For which He sent His only begotten Son, and after Him sent out the apostles throughout the whole world, and now raises up shepherds and teachers who exhort us with His holy Word to turn, repent and be reconciled with Him. How can this One, who wants, expects, and, as it were, longs for our conversion, not accept those who convert? He will certainly do to us as his gracious father did to the prodigal son; He will also stretch out His fatherly arms to us, and with His hands, with which He created and created us, He will embrace us, and will open the house of His Church to us, and will count us among the saints, His household, and will clothe us in the best clothing (Luke 15:20–24), and will command His angels to rejoice over us, for “there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner.” repentant” (Luke 15:10). 6) God teaches us how we should repent, as we see in the prophetic and apostolic writings, and he commanded us to write examples of those who repented; how to pray to Him and ask for His forgiveness, as the Psalter, the Lord’s Prayer and other prophetic prayers testify to. How can He who gave the image not hear those who repent, ask and pray, how to repent, ask and pray? And by His Holy Spirit he arouses sighs and holy desires in our hearts. How can he not hear those desires and sighs of ours that He Himself arouses in us? Have faith, Christian, that every desire, sigh and tear of those who repent is counted and written down with Him. He forgets the sins of those who repent (see Ezek. 18:22), but He does not forget their sighs and desires: “Thou hast heard the desire of the poor, O Lord; Thy ear has heard the devotion of their hearts” (Ps. 9:38). Truly wretched are those who do not find any truth in themselves except sins, but desire that from God, which the Lord promised to hear: “I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them” (Is. 41:17). 7) “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). The purpose of the coming and suffering of Christ is our eternal salvation. How favorable it is for the Heavenly Father to forgive the sins of a repentant sinner, for then the fruit of Christ’s suffering is obtained! For the fruit of Christ’s suffering is remission of sins, justification and our eternal bliss. For this is why God sent His Son into the world, to save sinners who accept Him as their Savior. How can the Heavenly Father not joyfully forgive the sins of all sinners who repent, and also of you, when he sees that from there the fruit of the suffering of His Son comes? For from the remission of sins comes justification, and from justification eternal salvation follows. The Heavenly Father receives deep joy from the fact that a sinner repents, receives remission of sins and is saved, for then His holy will is fulfilled, which “wants all people to be saved and to attain the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), and the Blood of His Only Begotten Son, shed for the salvation of sinners, receives its fruit and purpose. How can He not forgive us our sins, Who Himself desires to forgive us, if we truly repent and pray to Him about it? 8) Those who do not repent are not at all benefited by the suffering and death of Christ, although they confess the name of Christ, but the judgment of God and eternal damnation in hell follows them, as those who rejected and despised the great grace of God. Grace, although there is grace, saves those who want, and not those who do not want. Those who repent and believe in Christ should be comforted by this grace and certainly expect the mercy of God and eternal bliss, opened by the death of Christ. 9) Although it is known that these soul-destructive thoughts, which produce fear, sadness, oppression of conscience and despair, come from the devil, they are nevertheless allowed by God. The devil cannot do anything to us without God's permission. God allows such temptation to befall us, like any other, not for destruction, but for our great benefit, as stated above. Therefore, let us know the power and grief of sin, which so strongly offends our conscience. For just as a serpent wounds the body, and, wounded, it suffers, suffers and dies, so the sin committed hurts the soul, from which the soul suffers and suffers, consumed by conscience. That is why sin is called in Holy Scripture the sting of death (1 Cor. 15:56). We also know the wrath of God against sin, the legal curse by which lawbreakers are struck (Gal.3:10; Rom.4:15; Eph.5:6). Let us recognize the great torment of the devil, who, by God’s permission, so confuses and torments the soul. And from this we learn and are convinced to guard ourselves more diligently from sin, according to the admonition of the wise Sirach: “Flee from sin, as from the face of a serpent; for if you approach him, he will bite you. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, which kill the souls of people. All iniquity is like a two-edged sword" (Sir 21:2-4). We carefully guard against the thing from which we have learned harm to ourselves. How powerful is such a temptation for the healing of evil of the heart! For just as moisture, phlegm and stinking pus are dried up by fire, so by the fire of such temptation the moisture of uncleanness, anger, pride, arrogance, self-love, love of glory, love of money and other lusts are dried up, which are only present before God as festerous stench and all filthiness are before us. And just as silver and gold are tempted in the furnace and become purer, so in this temptation of the furnace a person is cleansed of evil. And although this is true in every temptation, it is more so in the spiritual. For then a person recognizes what he carries within himself, how weak, poor, and wretched he is, and so, having learned, he humbles himself. He also learns how vanity is every joy of this world, and so he turns away from all the vanity of this world. Finally, having recognized his poverty and wretchedness and not receiving help from anywhere, he resorts to the only source of bliss and consolation - God, and seeks all his bliss from Him. 10) When such a temptation passes, then the sad soul will be greatly consoled. Just as after a great storm and dark days the sun shines brighter for us and brings us more joy, so after this stormy temptation the mercy of God will be felt sweeter. Then such a heart will actually know that there is a law that exposes sin, frightens and strikes the sinner with a curse, and that there is a Gospel that heals and comforts a heart wounded by fear and sadness. And just as after a bath a small youth, or a person, weary after labors, rests sweetly and rests in peace, or, like a ship, having crossed the sea, stands quietly in the harbor, so there is a soul that has endured and ended such stormy weather. Expect such peace and quiet. It will certainly be for you if you are patient. “For yet a little while, a very little time, and the One who comes will come and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). § 422. Consolation against temptation, which comes from the devil through evil and blasphemous thoughts. How many dirty tricks our enemy does to us with such thoughts, how many of them, like flaming arrows, he launches at us at any time, day and hour, it is impossible to say! Why is the poor soul so wounded by sadness that it prefers to endure any external reproach and beating, rather than the arrows of the enemy. Therefore, the apostle exhorts us, both in every temptation and in this one, to be careful against that enemy: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith" (1 Peter 5:8-9). And Saint Paul: “Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil,” and so on (Eph. 6:10–11 et seq.). Against this secret temptation, listen, sad soul, to the following reasoning: 1) Such temptation is permitted by God for our benefit. Just as, seeing an enemy approaching a city, we close the gates and guard the city with all fear, so that when he enters he does not destroy the city and destroy us, or take us into captivity, so, when we sense the coming of a spiritual enemy to us through such evil thoughts, we must close the houses of our souls, strengthen them and carefully guard them, so that he does not break in and destroy our spiritual house - which happens through the fear of God and fervent prayer. And therefore we see that he is always ready to attack us and destroy us, but he attacks as much as the power of God allows him. And so, reluctantly, he encourages us to always be sober and vigilant against it. For just as frequent attack by enemies makes citizens more cautious, so frequent temptation from the devil makes a Christian more cautious and skillful. For in dispassion, peace and security, it is the custom of people to be lazy and weak, but in fear and trouble they are cautious. And such a devilish temptation makes a person cautious, so that he always expects his attack, and prepares himself to repel it, and repels the attack itself with the help of God. And so, although his intention is evil, when we are sober and awake, God’s help turns us into good. He thinks for our evil and destruction, but God works for our good (Rom. 8:28), - it is a shame and reproach for him, but for our praise, because the evil and strong spirit is reflected and put to shame by a weak person. 2) Such thoughts occur not by will, but against our will; therefore, they are not considered a sin to us. For that is only what we deign to be considered a sin. Therefore, no matter what it is, inflicted by our enemy, cannot harm our soul, as long as we do not deign to it, but resist it. Just as the enemy, although he throws his arrows at the city, does not harm the city until the city surrenders to him, so the enemy of our souls, the devil, although he throws his kindled arrows at our spiritual city, does not succeed in anything until we deign to his evil will, but we reflect from ourselves his malicious slander. 3) As in any temptation, so in this case he is especially put to shame and moves away from the tempted one with shame if he stands firmly against him and spits on him with his evil slander. And the greater the temptation from him, the greater the shame and disgrace that will follow, and the tempted one will receive greater praise and glory if he fights and struggles against the tempter. For in this way a proud and highly intelligent spirit is conquered and put to shame by a humble and weak person. Just as there is greater shame, disgrace and reproach for a giant when he is defeated by a small youth, and not by his equal, so the devil, any abuse he inflicts on a person brings him to shame, if not due to his evil desire. For every person, by himself, is before him like a little boy before a giant, but strengthened by the power of God, he overcomes him, like a little boy of a great giant, to his shame. And when the devil experiences shame and disgrace that he cannot defeat a weak person, then praise and honor will certainly follow the person. But man must give all praise and glory to God, for it is not through his own strength, but through God’s that he is strengthened and puts the enemy to shame. 4) In the life of St. Niphon we read: “A certain brother came to this saint, troubled by evil and blasphemous thoughts, and in this sorrow he asked for advice and consolation. His father answered him: “Take, brother, the consolation according to my mind: when the sea foams, it raises great waves and hits the stone, and the waves return to the sea again. Likewise, evil thoughts that come from the devil come closer to human meaning. When a person, having listened to his advice and deigned to follow it, perishes, like many who obeyed him and perished. If someone who is being fought does not deign to have blasphemous thoughts and, moreover, takes courage and resists them, spitting on the demon, then his anger returns to his head, and the person accepts the crown. And you, child, be patient, resist the demon with prayer and fasting - and he will soon run away from you,” and so on (See December 23 days). § 423. Consolation against human slander and slander. Among other sorrows and misfortunes that Christians endure, there is no small reproach and slander from the unbridled tongue of lawless people, who with their slanderous and poisonous tongue, like a sharp sword and arrows, wound the one they attack, according to what was said: “Sons of men! Their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword” (Ps. 56:5). And when they have had enough of cursing one, they attack the other, and so on this, then on the other, then on the third, they sharpen their tongues, like weapons and swords, with abuse. Against such poisonous shots and ulcers, with which not the body, but our soul is wounded, accept, O suffering soul, the following consolation: 1) Although people revile you with slandering and poisonous tongues, and torment your name with blasphemous teeth, yet these are the devil’s machinations by God’s permission. The devil, when he sees that a person opposes him and does not deign to his evil advice, becomes furious with him, and what he himself cannot do to a person, he does through evil people, as his servants and his instrument. Notice for yourself, does a true Christian slander anyone? No way, you can’t see it or hear it. A Christian ceases to be a Christian when he opens his mouth to blaspheme, slander and slander his neighbor, for every true Christian has the fear of God and love for his neighbor, by which he restrains himself from slander and slander. Slander is a property and sign of fearless and lawless people who are under the power of the devil, who teaches them to attack a Christian who fears God and sharpens their tongue to reproach and blaspheme him. This is known from both sacred and church history. And even now we see that a person, as long as he is friends with the evil world, does not tolerate such caustic remorse, but as soon as by the grace of God he begins to run away from the world and love and seek Christ, then both other troubles and blasphemous lips and slandering tongues attack him like flies on honey. And it’s quite impossible to be surprised at where things will come from. Just as the wind, now from one side or the other, rises and storms and shakes a tree, so this stormy wind of an evil and evil spirit, now from one or another slanderous mouth, rises, blows and shakes the Christian soul. They say that the sea throws up everything dead. The same is done to a Christian who dies to the world. And the world, like the sea, casts out the dead to the world, that is, to lusts, love of glory, love of money, pride, lust, revenge, and so on. And, what is more surprising than that, his very friends will become his enemies, as the prophet says: “My friends and my neighbors approached me with enmity and stood up, and my loved ones stood far from me; and those who sought my life pressed in, and those who sought my harm spoke vain things, and all the day long they thought of deceit” (Ps. 37:12-13). “Whoever seeks friendship with Jesus,” says Jerome, “let him know that he will suffer enmity from many. For a soul that cleaves to God’s word will, without a doubt, immediately have enemies, so that even those whom it previously had as friends will turn into enemies” (Conversation 1 on Joshua). The reason for this is the following: since such a person is alienated, and renounces, and comes from the world in heart, and “sets his mind on things above, and not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2), and with his thoughts he has his residence in heaven, “from where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20), and sighs for this, “desiring to be clothed with his heavenly habitation” (2 Cor. 5:2), and therefore in this world, as a stranger and a stranger, “he has no permanent city here, but seeks the future” (Heb. 13:14). Therefore, the world, as not its own, is alienated, hates and persecutes, as Christ, signifying, says to the apostles: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but since you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). Take comfort in this, O Christian soul, that you are among Christ’s servants, although you endure slanderous tongues of slander and slander, and not among the children of the world, who, as lovers of peace, are dear to the world as their true children. 2) Remember that Christ Himself walked before us along this path of reproach and humiliation, without committing any sin. How much and how severely the lips of the Pharisees blasphemed Him, and the reproaches they threw at Him like poisonous arrows, the Holy Gospel testifies. It was not enough for them to call Him, Who in every way sought the lost, a man who loves to eat and drink wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, a Samaritan, and possessing a demon, and violent, but they also called Him a deceiver, a libertine: “We have found that He corrupts our people and forbids us to give taxes to Caesar” (Matt. 11:19; John 8:48; Matt. 27:63; Luke 23:2 ), - although He taught them: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). And they said: “He casts out demons by the power of the prince of demons” (Matthew 9:34), - about the One who, by the power of His Divinity, forbade and cast out demons. His saints also walked this path. None of them escaped slander and slander. The children of the world have found something to blaspheme in their immaculate lives. He invented a lying tongue with which to defame the blameless. Moses the prophet, lawgiver, leader of Israel, friend and interlocutor of God, suffered reproach from the host of Korah and Abiron (Num. 16:1-3), and from the rest of his people. How many times did his enemies throw poisonous arrows at the holy David, the king of Israel and the prophet of God, from their lying tongue, the psalms show him - in which he says: “All the day my enemies reviled me, and those who (hypocritically) praise me curse me” (Ps. 101 et seq.). Daniel the prophet was cast into a den of lions by his lying tongue, as into a tomb (Dan 6:13–16). How the apostles suffered from the whole world, to whom they preached the mercy of God! Those who turned from delusion to truth, and from darkness to light, and from the kingdom of the devil to the kingdom of God were imputed and reproached as deceivers, debauchees and troublemakers of the universe. Their successors, saints, martyrs and other saints experienced the same thing. Read church history and you will see how none of them escaped the slander. The same thing happens to saints who live in the world today because of the evil world. For the world is constant in its malice. He does not love the truth, which the saints show both in word and in life, and always adheres to the lies and untruths that they expose. You are not the first to suffer reproach and dishonor. You see that the saints endured and are still enduring. But God Himself is blasphemed every day by His godless and lawless people, over whom He commands His sun to rise and on whom He sends rain, when others take His everlasting existence, others His Providence from His creatures, others dare to call Him unrighteous, others merciless, others murmur and are indignant at Him, others do not accept His holy word. they believe, and so they present Him as false (1 John 5:10), and others spew blasphemies against His holy and terrible name! Who are we who do not want to tolerate blasphemy? Worthless slaves, worthy of all reproach and dishonor! 3) Everything will end. Slander and patience will end; those who blaspheme and suffer blasphemies will receive everything from the truth of God; to those who blaspheme, blasphemy will turn into eternal reproach and shame, and reproach to those who endure it will turn into eternal glory, when people will give an answer not only for blasphemy, but also for every idle word. “It is right before God to reward those who insult you with sorrow, and you who are insulted with joy along with us, when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven,” and so on, says the apostle (2 Thess. 1:6-7 et seq.). Slayers and slanderers harm themselves more than the one they blaspheme, for they temporarily darken his name and glory, and destroy their own souls - for which they are worthy of regret. What should they do as a Christian? According to Christ's word, we must bless those who curse us and pray for those who offend us (Matthew 5:44). 4) When many slander, reproaches and reproaches fall on you, and you are exhausted from slandering tongues, like a deer driven by dogs, then run for coolness to the living source of Holy Scripture and seek coolness from it. There God does not please those whom everyone praises, but even says to them: “Woe to you when all people speak well of you” (Luke 6:26). But he pleases those who suffer reproach from the wicked: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). Who is not cool, persecuted by unbridled tongues, when he considers such a great reward that will be for those who suffer in heaven? Who will not be comforted by hearing such a rich promise, and will willingly renounce all temporary dishonor and reproach? For good hope softens all sorrow, and most of all, the hope of eternal life, glory and joy. The end of all present sorrow and dishonor, although it will continue throughout life, will be death, but there will be no end to future joy and glory. Then a person will forget all troubles and misfortunes, and will have only consolation, joy and unceasing joy without end. “As his mother comforts someone, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. And you will see this, and your heart will rejoice” (Is. 66:13–14). Someone will say: “Such a reward is promised for Christ’s sake to those who endure.” True, but whoever among us suffers, not as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, etc., but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God for such a fate (1 Pet. 4:15-16). For he also shares this consolation as “partner in the tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9). 5) “All things work together for good to those who love God,” says the apostle (Rom. 8:28). Slander and slander are turned to their benefit by the grace of God. Women's slander threw the chaste Joseph into prison, but he was elevated to high honor, and saved that entire country from hunger (Gen. 39 and 41). Moses fled from Egypt from slanderous lips and was a stranger in the land of Midian (Ex. 2:15, 22). But there he was honored to see a bush miraculously burning in the desert, and to hear God speaking to him from the bush (Ex. 3:2–7 et seq.). The slanderous tongue made many slander to Saint David, but he was so aroused to prayer and composed many God-inspired psalms in favor of the Holy Church. Daniel's slander threw him into a den to be devoured by lions, but innocence stopped the mouths of the beasts and made him glorified more than before (Dan 6:16-28). Haman's tongue intended to kill Mordecai the Israelite, but by God's Providence the opposite was done. Mordecai became famous, but Haman was hanged on the tree that he had prepared for Mordecai’s destruction, and so he himself fell into the ditch that he prepared for the innocent (Esther 7). The same judgments of God are still being shown today. The same God, with His mercy, even now looks down on those who endure and humbles blasphemous tongues, and now exalts publicans who humble themselves and seek mercy from Him, and humbles the Pharisees who boast about their goodness, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). Therefore, your soul, wounded by the slander and slander of lawless people, be patient (for the sake of) the Lord, “be of good courage, and let your heart be strong, and trust in the Lord” (Ps. 26:14). “Trust in Him, and He will do it; and he will bring out your righteousness like the light, and your destiny like the noonday” (Ps. 37:5-6). Be silent, like a dumb man, as David did: “But I, like a deaf man, did not hear, and like a dumb man, I did not open my mouth; and I was like a man who did not hear and had no reproof in his mouth, for I trusted in You, O Lord; You will hear, O Lord my God” (Ps. 37:14–16). Do the same, and God will speak for you. Just as a carnal father, when he sees children in front of him, scolded by some disorderly person, and suffering an insult, and looking at their father in silence, then, instead of them, their father answers, speaks and protects them, so God, the Heavenly Father, deals with us and those who offend us. Every insult and reproach inflicted on us is done before God, who is omnipresent and observes everything. And when He sees that we, offended and reviled, endure, remain silent, and look to Him alone, and hand over the matter to His righteous court, speaking with the prophet: “You will hear, O Lord my God,” then He will speak for us, intercede, and protect us, and humble those who rise up against us. This is what Saint David did, who in all kinds of misfortunes resorted to the one God, and looked to Him, and sought help and protection from Him, as you can see from the psalms. Follow this prophet and, shutting your mouth, remain silent, so that God Himself speaks for you. When you constantly remain in such silence, then the reproach and humiliation of people is nothing other than praise and glory from God. The whole world is like nothing before God, and the humiliation of the whole world, not just some slanderers, is like nothing before the glory that God bestows upon His faithful servant. Blessed is not the one whom people, unrighteous judges, praise, but the one whom God, the holy and righteous, praises. Likewise, the damned is not the one whom people humiliate, but the one whom God humiliates. § 424. Consolation to one expelled from his fatherland and his home. Satan tries in every way to embitter the pious souls who struggle against him and despise his vile and ungodly advice, and now one or the other brings misfortunes upon them through his servants, evil people. And so, through his cunning and cunning, it happens that a pious soul is expelled from his home and fatherland and is deprived of his beloved friends and acquaintances. For he, as an evil and proud spirit, joyfully somehow embitters the soul that opposes him. In this case, the exiled soul can console itself with the following reasoning: 1) Without God’s will and Providence, nothing happens, as said above, and this is your exile. Human malice drives you out, but with God’s permission. For if God had not allowed this to happen, Satan and his servants could not have done anything to you. “Are not two small birds sold for an assar? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father; “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered,” says Christ (Matthew 10:29–30). If God has His Providence for small things, how much more for man, His fair creation and much better than others. What can happen to a person, especially a faithful one, without the Providence and will of God? God sees everything, who, and for what, and who is being expelled. Entrust the work of your exile to the Providence of God, and He will take care of you. 2) Christians are strangers and strangers in this world (Heb. 11:13), and do not have “a permanent city here,” but are looking for the future” (Heb. 13:14), and are looking forward to “a city that has foundations, the builder and builder of which is God” (Heb. 11:10). Therefore, in this world their life is like captivity and wandering. Consequently, it is the same for them both in the fatherland and home where they were born and raised, and in a foreign place. the land into which they were expelled or captured, to carry out their wanderings until God deigns them to wander in this world. Therefore, you too can now live in every place, in a house, or anywhere on a foreign side. in a foreign country, but looks more favorably and looks upon you in exile, as one driven out by people and embittered, and, like a merciful Father, he sympathizes with you and prepares for you a crown of eternal glory. 3) Every place, country and city is God’s: “The earth is the Lord’s and what fills it, the world and all who live on it” (Ps. 23:1). And our God is in every place, and He is “the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are far off at sea” (Ps. 64:6). In every place is His kingdom and dominion (Ps. 102:22), and in every place you are found in the kingdom of God, and God is with you everywhere. And although the wicked rest in their homes, cool off and have fun, they find themselves in the kingdom of the devil and in its dark power, and God with His grace is far from them; The pious, wherever they are, are in the kingdom of God, and God constantly abides with them, is with them in their sorrows (Ps. 90:15). To be with God is to have a fatherland and home in every place, just as without God a home and fatherland is exile and captivity. There is goodness with God in troubles and suffering and in hell itself; Without God, both heaven and paradise are nothing. For where God is, there is the kingdom of God, paradise, heaven and all bliss. For God is the Treasure and Source of consolation, joy, gladness and all true bliss, and without Him there can be no true consolation, true joy and gladness, true life and bliss. When you think about this carefully, you will not miss the fact that you have moved away from your fatherland and home, but you will have consolation everywhere. 4) Remember that the saints of God were banished. St. Joseph was expelled by the envy of his brothers: “Joseph was sold as a slave, his feet were shackled, his soul was encased in iron” (Ps. 104:17–18). David was expelled by Saul (1 Sam. 19:1-2 et seq.) and his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15), and wandered through foreign countries, and was in all kinds of disaster and suffering. Daniel and three youths with others in Babylon were captured from Jerusalem (Dan. 1). In the new grace, the apostles, martyrs, saints and other saints suffered various exiles. The same thing happens now. The world, like the waves of the sea, with its ferocity drives out and rejects the saints from itself, as dead to it (the world), but alive to God. And you, the exiled one, are an accomplice in sorrow with them, and it is better for you to endure sorrow with them than to have fun with the ungrateful and evil world, for with them you will receive consolation in the kingdom of heaven. Soon deliverance will come, “and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes” (Rev. 7:17). Remember also that the Son of God Himself and our Lord Himself came to us, expelled from paradise and strange and captive, by His will and was pleased to go into poverty with us, the poor, and to wander with the strange, and with those sold for sin He was sold, betrayed, bound, led to judgment and death, and He was pleased to die (for our sake). Think about it and you will receive consolation. 5) Someone will say: “I am moving away from my father and mother, from my brothers, relatives and dear friends!” True, it is regrettable to move away from your loved ones. But you cannot move away from God anywhere, and He is the faithful one instead of father and mother, or even more than father and mother, He who says to you: “If a woman forgets her suckling child, even if she forgets, I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15). “Whether you pass through waters, I will be with you; whether you cross rivers, they will not drown you; If you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not scorch you” (Is. 43:2). Saint David learned this for himself: “If I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You, O God, are with me” (Ps. 23:4). And further: “My father and my mother forsook me, but the Lord received me” (Ps. 26:10). Your faithful and dear friends are the Angels of God, who invisibly encamp around those who fear the Lord (Ps. 33:8). Your brothers are saints, who previously also suffered exile, and now they look at your feat and rejoice over your patience. That's how many loved ones you have in your exile! God your Helper, Defender and Comforter is with you. Angels are your guardians, your brothers are saints, with whom you are a companion in their past sorrow. Moreover, your conscience is your amusement, your inner and ever-present witness and comforter. 6) Christ pleases those who were persecuted for the sake of righteousness: “Blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Such is the hope for you - more than father and mother, brothers and friends, fatherland and home. Take comfort in this, that yours is the kingdom of heaven; now by faith and hope, then by inheritance and without end, where will your God be, whom “now we see through a dark glass, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). All the saints will be your friends, and all eternal bliss will be yours if you keep your faith to the end. For nothing consoles a person in any misfortune more than the hope of eternal life. Pay attention only to yourself, endure with gratitude and allow the will of God to be fulfilled on you, without which nothing can happen to us. § 425. Consolation to those suffering in illness. Many pious people suffer from various diseases: some rot in wounds, others lie in relaxation, others dry up and their flesh melts away day by day, others are tormented by another disease. To everyone, no matter what their illness, I offer the following, in my poor mind, consolation, which, suffering soul, apply to the wounds of your sad heart. 1) Doctors suggest different causes for various illnesses or ailments, but I leave it to them to reason, repeating what was said above, that is, that illness does not happen without the Providence of God and is God’s paternal punishment with which He humbles us. Take comfort in this, that your illness is God’s fatherly punishment for you, with which your body is struck, so that your soul may recover and be saved. Your illness is for you, and not against you, although it is painful for your flesh, for every punishment is painful for the flesh, but beneficial for the soul. If you endure your illness with gratitude, it will turn out for your good. 2) Many saints were sick and sick. Job was struck with a plague from head to foot and suffered (Job 2:7–8). Timothy, the holy apostle, had frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23). Lazarus lay covered in scabs and after his death “was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:20, 22). We also read in church history that many pious people suffered from various illnesses. And you endure illness with thanksgiving, so that you may share with them in the next century. 3) Although illness weakens the body, it strengthens the soul; kills the body, but gives life to the soul; It corrupts the outer man, but renews the inner man. “Even if our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). How is it updated? He learns humility, patience, memory of death, and from that zealous repentance, prayer, contempt for the world and worldly vanity. Who would want to be proud in illness? Who, seeing death approaching through illness, would wish for honor, glory, wealth? Who fearlessly dares to sin, seeing the coming fear of God's judgment? When does a person pray more earnestly than when he is sick? Oh, illness, bitter but healing medicine! Just as salt repels rottenness from meat and fish and does not allow worms to arise in them, so any disease preserves our spirit from the rottenness and corruption of sin and does not allow passions, like spiritual worms, to arise in us. Everyone knows this truth both in himself and in others. You see that although illness torments your flesh, it saves your spirit. 4) Remember how many, living in good health, became corrupted and perished. God, who is merciful, does not allow you to do this through illness, and wants to save you if you endure it gratefully. Be patient and thank God, who seeks your salvation. 5) Death will conclude your suffering. Although the disease will continue throughout life, it will end in death. The end of all our misfortune is death. With this, console yourself in your illness, that it will end, and from there you will move to eternal coolness, where you will forget all suffering. You will endure little, but you will be comforted forever if you endure with thanksgiving. What is any present long-term suffering if not one small point in comparison with the eternal? And all the time from the creation of the world to the end is nothing other than a small point against eternity, especially one person’s life and age. Eternal suffering is terrible, since it is cruel and endless, but temporary is not terrible, because it happens briefly and with coolness, for there is no suffering here for which God would not give some consolation. For He knows our weakness, and therefore does not allow us “to be tempted beyond our ability” (1 Cor. 10:13). Take into consideration time and eternity, temporary and eternal suffering, temporary consolation and eternal suffering, temporary suffering and eternal consolation, and your illness will be alleviated. Nothing eases grief more than the hope of relief from grief and eternal consolation. Soon there will be an end to everything: there will be an end to both temporary consolation and temporary suffering, and either coolness or eternal suffering will come. Death for everyone is the door to eternity, either blissful or unhappy, and it is already closer to you today than it was yesterday and the day before. And when he comes, he will put an end to your suffering, and you will pass from temporary suffering to eternal coldness. 6) Listen, finally, to what Saint Chrysostom says about grateful patience in illness: “There is nothing more holy than that language which, while enduring evil, thanks God: truly (such a person) is no different from the martyrs; so this one, like them, gets married. For even this one faces a tormentor, forcing him with blasphemy to renounce God, the devil stands before him, depressing him with tormenting thoughts and darkening him with sorrows. But if anyone suffers illness and gives thanks, he receives the crown of martyrdom” (Discourse 8 on the Epistle to the Colossians). Having understood the golden teaching of the saint of Christ, be patient in order to cool down with the saints of God in the kingdom of heaven. Be patient (for the sake of) the Lord, “be of good courage, and let your heart be strong, and trust in the Lord” (Ps. 26:14). § 426. Consolation against poverty. There are few, very few rich people who are true Christians. It is not wealth that is to blame, but the evil heart of man, which either gathers wealth through unrighteousness, or unjustly squanders what it has collected through righteousness, or keeps it as a watchman. Moreover, there is hardly a rich man who would not be proud and exalted in his wealth, although it is not his, but God’s. For whatever we have is God’s, except sins. Untruth, luxury, stinginess and pride introduce a lot of lawlessness and deprive a Christian of true Christianity. True Christianity cannot exist without Christian life, which must come from the inside. And so wealth, God's good, is like a sword to the insane rich man, with which he stabs himself and destroys himself, which should be understood about every gift of God. For every gift, when a person uses it not for good, but for evil, turns into evil and destruction for him, for example, teaching, reason, eloquence, art, knowledge of languages ​​and the gift of miracles itself, and so on (1 Cor. 13: 1-3; Matt. 7: 22-23). A person can also abuse God’s gifts. This then happens when a person, through gifts, does not seek the glory of God and the benefit of his neighbor, for which they are given, but seeks his own glory and praise. Likewise, a rich man, when he does not seek the glory of God and the benefit of his neighbor through wealth, but either keeps it as a watchman or like a dog does the hay on which he lies, and does not eat or give it to livestock, or squanders it on indecent expenses in order to either please his flesh, or gain glory and praise for himself from people, and so on, he uses God’s gifts for evil, and so God’s gift, which is used for evil, turns into evil for him. And when there is no Christian use of wealth, then there is no true Christianity in such a rich person. There are very few rich people who spend their wealth in a Christian manner, as can be seen from their deeds; therefore, few true Christians can be found among the rich. For the most part, true Christians live in poverty and squalor. The reason for this is this: true Christians care more about spiritual and eternal wealth than physical and temporary wealth, or they are deprived of the good that is sent to them by God through the evil rich, according to Scripture: “Do not the rich oppress you, and do they not drag you into court? Do they not dishonor the good name by which you are called” (James 2:6-7)? Or they themselves squander their wealth, as it is written: “I squandered it and gave it to the poor” (Ps. 111:9) - there are other reasons known to God alone. Those Christians who suffer poverty and become discouraged by it can console themselves with the following reasoning. 1) Like other disasters, as stated above, so poverty is allowed to us by the Lord. “Good and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth are from the Lord” (Sir.11:14) and are sent to us for a good purpose, as you will see below. 2) Through poverty, a person can conveniently free himself from all the evils that surround wealth. Pride, stinginess, luxury and other similar evils have almost no place in poverty. Poverty humbles everyone, and there is no reason for a beggar to be wasteful and luxurious. These Christian plagues are found among the rich, and their hearts are afflicted. The beggar is free from the care of storing wealth, which constantly follows the rich man and supports his heart; a beggar is not afraid of thieves and predators to whom wealth is subject; rust does not destroy poverty, moth does not corrupt; from envy, which looks at wealth unpleasantly, poverty has been removed; the beggar does not prepare an answer for wasting wealth, for which the rich will be tortured. Poverty does not allow one to live in idleness and laziness, as is customary for the rich to eat, but forces one to work. “Poverty,” says St. Chrysostom, “it is not idleness that produces industriousness” (Discourse 2 on the Epistle to the Ephesians). You see how many evils and troubles poverty frees you from! May your poverty be a consolation to you, and not an insult and indignation, for it takes you away from pride, stinginess, luxury, pomp, vanity, sadness, fear, human envy, idleness, laziness, tenderness and other spiritual evils, and leads you to the narrow Christian path and guides you to heaven. “There is some kind of leadership,” says St. Chrysostom, - on the path leading to heaven - poverty, anointing of suffering, a certain great and wonderful teaching, a sweet haven” (Discourse 18 on the Epistle to the Hebrews). As Christ signifies, he says: “It is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23). If it is inconvenient for the rich, it is convenient for the poor to enter the kingdom of heaven by the grace of Christ. 3) The poor and the rich spend and live the same days: neither the rich nor the poor, poverty takes away or gives days of life; weak flesh is equally nourished with rich and wretched food, covered with equally rich clothes and rags, and rests equally in a hut and in bright palaces; equally, both of them end their lives, but with the only difference that the rich man, as he lives, will end with sadness and fear, - the beggar without sadness and fear; the equal, finally, concludes the coffin of both the rich and the beggar, and in death and after death the rich is equal with the beggar. And when would they be equally judged at the world court! But no, it won't happen. “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). The rich man should give an answer to the Judge about his wealth, how and for what he kept and spent the wealth given to him from God, just as everyone will give an answer to the Lord about his talent (Matthew 25:19-30). The beggar does not care about this: he has no wealth, and does not prepare an answer about the expenditure of wealth. You see that neither wealth gives nor poverty takes away true bliss from us, but makes us more blessed than the rich. For true bliss does not consist in outward appearance, but in peace of mind, from which wealth leads away, but poverty leads to it, as said above. What good does it do for a person to show off outwardly, show off and shine, but inside be consumed by care, sadness and fear, like a red apple being eaten by a worm? This is rich bliss! On the contrary, it does no harm to be outwardly humble, belittled, despised and humiliated, but inside to have the treasure of security, peace and peace. This is a beggar's condition! The one who has a lot is not calm, and therefore blessed, but the one who cares about nothing; poverty leads us to this. Take this into consideration, Christian, and do not be afraid of poverty, for it is for you, and not against you, helps you, and does not fight you. 4) In your poverty, remember the free poverty of Christ the Son of God. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although He was rich, He became poor for your sake, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9), - He was born from the poor Virgin Mother and was laid “in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7); He “came to his own, and his own did not receive him” (John 1:11); He did not have “where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20), and had poor disciples and apostles, and commanded them to love poverty: “Do not take with you gold, silver, or copper for your belts,” and so on (Matthew 10 et seq.). Therefore, Saint Paul says about himself and the other apostles: “We are poor, but we enrich many; We have nothing, but we possess everything” (2 Cor. 6:10). And Saint Peter said to the lame beggar: “I have no silver or gold” (Acts 3:6). May your sorrow from poverty be softened and your heart comforted by the free poverty of Christ and the holy apostles. 5) Remember that you are a stranger and a stranger in this world, a traveler on the path of this world, and you are going to the heavenly fatherland. Who gets rich while traveling! Doesn't he collect wealth and send it to his fatherland? The Christian fatherland is heaven. There Christ commanded us to lay up treasures for ourselves: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20-21). There we must send our treasures, treasures not of this world, but of the heavenly fatherland worthy: love, patience, meekness, mercy, and so on; There we will, without a doubt, find them. Are you a traveler, who is burdened while walking along the path? Moreover, isn’t he throwing off a burden in order to create the path more easily? A burden for a person walking along the path of this world, wealth that interferes with his path, holds him back, and does not allow him to strive for his fatherland. How many have this burden kept from heaven and plunged into the depths of hell! “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life,” says Christ (Matthew 7:14). Those sitting on high chariots of pride, arrogance and pomp and expanding with the breadth of luxury and worldly cares do not pass through these gates and paths, for they are not contained, but the humble, meek and those who have put aside worldly cares go to them. The Lord delivered you from that burden, heaviness and space and made you easy, so that you could go to your heavenly homeland without delay. God gives food to all flesh, not only to man, but also to “cattle and the raven’s chicks that call upon Him” (Ps. 146:9). “Having food and clothing, we will be content with this” (1 Timothy 6:8). 6) Soon the contentment and joy of the rich will end, and the poverty and sorrow of the poor will end, everything will end soon. Soon there will be a change: instead of the temporary poverty that you endure, the eternal treasures of God’s goodness will be opened to you, and you will forget your poverty and sorrow. You are already closer to the end now than you were yesterday and the day before. And as soon as he comes, your poverty will end, just as wealth will leave the rich. “For we have brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). And then the rich will be compared with the poor. Death makes everyone equal, the rich with the poor, the famous with the simple, and the masters with slaves. Open the coffin of the dead, and you will not know where the rich man is and where the beggar is, where the nobleman and his servant are, where the master is and where his servant lies: everyone shows the same appearance - decay, earth and ashes. Only inequality in souls is believed, for the pious soul is carried into Abraham’s bosom by the Angels, while the wicked is cast into hell, the place prepared for its deeds is cast down (Luke 16:22-23). Think about the reasons described above and do not be discouraged by poverty, which does you more good than wealth does for the rich (See also the chapter on patience and the narrow path in the first book). This consolation does not befit those beggars who live without the fear of God, drink heavily, do not want to work, but spend their days in idleness. Such poor people are poor in body and soul, and will be poor both here and in the next century if they do not repent. § 427. Someone will ask: “What should we think about those Christians who suffer for evil deeds, such as robbers, murderers, thieves, predators, covetous people, fornicators and other evildoers?” Answer. 1) About those listed above, you can see that although they “know God, but in their deeds they deny” Him (Titus 1:16). Therefore, there are no Saints inside the Church, and only Christians by name. 2) Such people should repent and thank God greatly for bringing them into such misery. For this is how their all-good God, invincible by human malice, leads them to repentance and wants them to be saved and achieve the knowledge of the truth, so that through troubles and suffering, as if awakened from a deep sleep of sin by a strong voice, they would be corrected and saved. This is how Manasseh, the king of Judah, felt and repented, as we read about him: “And the Lord brought against them the commanders of the king of Assyria, and they shackled Manasseh and bound him with chains, and took him to Babylon. And in his distress he began to plead with the Lord his God and deeply humbled himself before the God of his fathers. And he prayed to Him, and God bowed to him and heard his prayer, and returned him to Jerusalem for his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that the Lord is God” (2 Chronicles 33:11–13). 3) When evildoers who suffer admit their sins from the heart, and humble themselves before God, and repent sincerely that they have sinned, and do not want to return to their sins in the future, even though they have received freedom, which true repentance requires, then their suffering turns to their benefit. For a person, when he sincerely turns from sins to God, then God with His grace turns to him and accepts him into His mercy. Chapter 12: About Christian success “I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in every feeling, so that, knowing better, you may be pure and without stumbling in the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11). § 428. Just as in natural birth it happens that a born child does not remain a baby, but grows in body and progresses in mind and reasoning, so it must be in spiritual birth, in which we are born from above, from God. We should not always be babes in Christ and feed on milk, but we should grow up in the likeness of a natural baby, trying to reach “a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This is done: 1) By careful listening or reading, reasoning, meditation and attention to the Holy Scriptures. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). If we want to learn what we want, we will learn from it. If we strive to expose lies and untruths, it provides a way. If we want to correct ourselves or others, it shows us the rule. If we want to be instructed in truth and true piety, it guides us. Therefore, blessed is the one who studies in the law of the Lord day and night. For “he will be like a tree planted by springs of water, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall away, and whatever he does will prosper” (Ps. 1:1-3). And Christ “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be shepherds and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13). If you want to progress in true piety, read or listen to the Holy Scriptures with all diligence. 2) Success in the Christian cause is guided by various crosses and temptations. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance; But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be complete and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). The cross and various temptations are a spiritual school in which Christians study. Just as in schools children and young men are taught rules, eloquence and worldly wisdom, so in the school of the cross and temptations Christians, infants and youths in Christ are taught a right, beautiful and godly life and spiritual wisdom. And the more they attend this theological school, the more skillful they become in Christian matters. And like the warriors of this world, the more they turn into battle and struggle against the enemies of their fatherland, the more skillful and brave they become; Thus, Christians, soldiers of Christ, the more they struggle under the cross, the Christian banner, against their enemies, the flesh, the world and the devil, the better they succeed in the work of Christian piety. And just as in the crucible silver and gold are tempted and become purest, so in the crucible of temptations, troubles, misfortunes and the cross, Christians are cleansed of evil and become purest. The cross and temptation are a fair and glorious school of Christian wisdom. 3) The image of the holy and immaculate life of Christ is a perfect and true rule, which, by looking more often, Christians can succeed in their work. We all have a corrupted nature, which we cannot correct without rules. Therefore, we must look to the most perfect rule of Christ’s life if we want to correct ourselves and succeed in living a virtuous life. Therefore, Christ Himself commanded us to learn this art from Himself: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). “I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you” (John 13:15). If we study the arts, eloquence, foreign languages ​​and other things appropriate to this temporary life, then how much and useful it is to learn from Christ Christian art, beautiful life, holy and divine morals and heavenly wisdom. Worldly training creates the body, and benefits us for a short time, and at death departs from us. Christ's training creates the soul, and takes it to the next century, and shows at the judgment of Christ what the soul, living in the world, learned and practiced. Let us learn, beloved Christian, from Christ our Lord, as He says: “Learn from Me.” Children from their mothers and educators learn to speak, walk, address people and behave politely, but we from our Christ will learn to speak like a Christian, live like a Christian, handle like a Christian; let us learn how to love each other, honor God, how to humble ourselves, endure, be meek, merciful and generous, and then we will be His true disciples. Every Christian is a disciple of Christ, and must be a disciple of Christ, so that he is not only a Christian in name. 4) This requires constant and fervent prayer. Because without God’s help we cannot not only succeed, but also support ourselves in the work of Christian piety, according to the word of Christ: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The help and grace of God is obtained through prayer, as it is said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Therefore, anyone who wants to grow and succeed in piety must pray earnestly and ask God for help. 5) Finally, someone who wants to maintain piety and succeed in it must avoid friendship and worldly conversation. For in the assembly of the sons of this age nothing else happens but words and deeds that are contrary to the will and holy law of God. In one meeting about this, in another about something else they talk and discuss. There they revile and curse one, here they complain about another, and with their teeth, like a weapon and a sharp sword, they wound his name, and when they have had enough of the slander, they attack the other. In one meeting, feasting, drunkenness, disorderly cries, and so on, followed by drunkenness, in another, quarrels, quarrels and mutual abuse are committed, and so the law of God is ruined, either by word or by deed, and temptation is given. All this strikes and almost hurts our conscience, and deprives it of its peace and quiet. And, Christian, you will return to your home no longer the same as you left home. Just as those who enter a pharmacy filled with fragrant ointments and hesitate for a while, take away with them the fragrance of those ointments, so a pious soul, having entered into a meeting of people who live according to the flesh and the world, and hesitates, endures a little evil, like the stench that has clung to them. For our senses, especially hearing and vision, are like doors through which all evil enters our heart, and whether we want it or not, it strikes and attracts us to what either the ear heard or the eye saw. But since the human heart is inclined toward evil, it conveniently turns to evil and is seduced, and thus conceives and gives birth to lawlessness. So the holy David, leaving his house and walking on the roof of the king’s house, saw the wife of Uriah and was deceived and fell (2 Samuel 11:2-4). That is why we read in church history that the saints withdrew from cohabitation with the wicked. Many preferred to live in deserts rather than in cities and villages, so as not to be harmed by the temptation of lawless deeds and words. Therefore, the whole world is surprised at the righteous Lot that, living among the lawless Sodomites, he remained intact (Gen. 19). But it was no small torment for the holy man to see and hear such iniquities of wicked people, “for this righteous man, living among them, was daily tormented in his righteous soul, seeing and hearing wicked deeds” (2 Peter 2:8). This world is Sodom, lawless and unclean, and those who love peace are like the Sodomites. If you do not want to damage your soul and perish with these Sodomites, Christian, avoid their communication and friendship like fire or like a pestilence. And if you need to leave your house and be in a meeting, do not hesitate there, guard your eyes and ears, so that evil does not enter your heart and, in the likeness of the thief, destroy your spiritual home, and in that case pray to God: “Turn away my eyes, so as not to see vanity” (Ps. 119:37). “Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come,” says Christ (Matthew 18:7). Satan lays snares for the pious everywhere and tries to catch them with them: as soon as you leave the house, then you are met by the temptation of lawless words or deeds, which will either hurt or disturb your conscience. But you cannot know the ulcer until you are alone in the house. On the contrary, in the home and in solitude, one who stays is free from those incidents that lead those in meetings and conversations to sin. The house and walls cannot give temptation, the ear does not hear and the eye does not see evil, and so a person does not accept temptation from others and does not give temptation to anyone, but all this can be contrary. There may be an examination of conscience, which, like a notebook, will present to you the sins of your past life, will present God’s judgment for sins and Gehenna prepared for sinners, from which true repentance and heartfelt contrition will follow. There is righteous and true reasoning about worldly and perishable things, wealth, honor, glory and sweetness, which will show you all that joy, like a sleepy vision, briefly appearing and disappearing, and imagine death approaching, and unknown to everyone coming, which puts an end to everything. From death, two paths will appear to you - one leading to a prosperous eternity, the other leading to an unfavorable eternity. This reflection will take you away from vanity and arouse (the desire) to prepare for a blissful outcome - to avoid an unfavorable eternity by the grace of God, and to desire and seek a prosperous one. Solitude teaches true prayer. Where there is reasoning about eternity, there cannot but be true prayer, which occurs not in words alone, but in heartfelt, ardent sighing that comes from the depths. For it is impossible for one who thinks about eternity not to sigh and be contrite in heart. A blissful eternity delights the heart of the meditator, but an unhappy eternity frightens and terrifies. The first attracts us to itself, and the second repulses us by its very remembrance. From here arises sighing to God, Who has our death and life in His hand, and a true desire for deliverance from bitterness, and for receiving a joyful eternity. The solitude of idle talk does not know what to answer for on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36), but it is the mother of silence, which is the root of sinlessness and good deeds. In solitude, a book is opened in which the faithful soul will see its Creator and recognize the omnipotence of Him who created everything out of nothing and by His power contains and preserves all creation; His goodness and wisdom, shown in creation and government. He will see His paternal love for the human race, which He showed through His Only Begotten Son in restoring the fallen and renewing the decayed. In this silence, the saint, His merciful and fatherly Providence for all, will appear to the faithful soul, and will gratefully sing with the prophet to the Providence: “The eyes of all trust in You, O God, and You give them food in due time; You open Your hand and satisfy all living things according to Your good pleasure” (Ps. 145:15-16), and so on. In this silence, beloved Christian, you will hear the voice of God inside you saying: “I am the Lord your God, who created you, and honored you with His image, and cares about you, Whom you, as your Creator and God, should diligently honor, love, listen to, call on,” and so on. In this silence you can see the Son of God, appearing on earth in the flesh and moving from place to place, preaching the word of God, revealing the mystery of His Gospel, showing the path of truth, calling sinners to repentance, preaching the kingdom of heaven, performing signs and wonders - like a meek Lamb, enduring blasphemy, reproach and dishonor, suffering and dying for the sake of our salvation, rising from the dead and the one who brings good news of peace, who ascends into heaven in glory, who sits at the right hand of the Father, and who will again come to judge the living and the dead. You will see the Judge sitting on the throne of His glory and administering righteous judgment. You will see on His right side His faithful, like sheep who listened to His voice, and like children of God, clothed with imperishable clothing, and like luminaries, shining, pleased and kindly called by Him to inherit the eternal and heavenly kingdom - on the left side sinners, like goats separated from the flock of His blessed sheep, trembling with the fear of His glory, covered with inexpressible shame, sighing and inconsolably sick for the sake of deprivation and rejection from eternal bliss, and for the sake of the undoubted expectation of eternal hellish torment, into which they will immediately be plunged. Here it will immediately appear to your inner thoughts that the house of the Heavenly Father is opening, in which there are many mansions (John 14:2), and His chosen sons are going into it, going with joy and joy and inexpressible triumph. “The redeemed of the Lord go to Zion with joyful shouting; and everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will find joy and gladness, and sorrow and groaning will be removed” (Is. 35:10). Hell also opens its mouth and devours condemned and desperate sinners: “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). And “these go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Matthew 25:46). In this God-pleasing sabbath and sweet peace, you can turn your mind to the beginning of times and ages and ancient generations, and with your intelligent eye to see the wondrous works of God, and with faith to see with amazement how God, out of nothing, the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them, created such wonderful things, and did them with a word, “for He spoke, and they appeared; commanded, and they were created” (Ps. 149:5); how after man he created from the earth with special advice, and honored Him with His Divine image and likeness, introduced him into paradise of sweets, gave him a commandment, he was seduced by the advice of the serpent and disobeyed his Lord from paradise, but did not leave him without consolation, according to His goodness and mercy; as in the small ark of righteous Noah with his house, with all kinds of cattle, animals, birds and other animals, in the midst of the terrible waters of the global flood; how the proud boldness of the pandemonium of the wicked destroyed; how he called Abraham out of the land, clan and fatherland, and revealed him as His faithful obedient, His faithful father, and blessed him with his heirs, Isaac and Jacob; how he moved from place to place, like strangers and strangers in a foreign land; He brought them into Egypt, and there he visited those who had multiplied and were embittered by His mercy and executed those who were embittered; He brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, opened a way for them in the middle of the sea, and imprisoned their enemies in the depths, as in a tomb; how he led them through the impassable desert, gave them manna from heaven and fed them with angelic bread; He brought water out of stone for them, and water springs out of unspecified water, and performed other glorious miracles; how he struck down their enemies in the face of them, and brought them into a land boiling with honey and milk, and, having destroyed the tongue of the wicked, he settled there with his chosen people, and so on. From this promised land, in which the people of God have temporarily rested, you can ascend with your mind and faith to the land of the living, where the meek live forever, please the Lord and rest sweetly - to the highest Jerusalem and the house of the Heavenly Father, where not Joshua, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, leads those who believe in Him and those who follow Him by grace. There you will see by faith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their righteous seed, moved and resting in the city, “whose maker and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). You will see countless prophets, apostles, saints, shepherds, teachers, martyrs, confessors, saints and other saints, who, after their wanderings and many troubled labors and exploits, rest and celebrate the eternal Sabbath (Is. 66:23). There you will see the righteous Sun, which always shines, but never sets and is not covered with clouds, enlightens and warms, but does not scorch - Christ, the Son of God, shining in His glory, to whom countless holy Angels stand and praise Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and so on. All this solitude and in solitude, faithful thought of God will be presented to you, Christian, if you want. And the more you separate yourself from people, the more often you will draw closer to God. The more you move away from people's rumors, the quieter you will be. The less you talk with people, the more you will talk with God, and you will hear God talking with you inside your soul, and this way you will get to know Him more conveniently. Just as the sun is more conveniently seen in clean and quiet water than in disturbed and agitated water, so the eternal and spiritual Sun - God, is more conveniently known in silence and peace by faith and the intelligent eye, than in anxiety and human rumor. From this source, like living streams, flow Christian virtues with the help of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual treasure is suppressed by the rumors of everyday conversations, and if it is not kept in the cage of the heart, it is stolen. Someone will say: “Should all Christians really go into the desert and move away from people?” No, that's not what we're talking about here. May your house, which God gave you for your rest, be desolate. I don’t forbid you to go into the desert if you want. For it is better to live in the desert with wild animals than in cities and villages with corrupt people. And if you want to be with people, then look for those whose words, deeds, and actions show Christian hearts; and not only do not move away from them, but often deal with them. So, not only in your house, but also in their conversation, day by day you will acquire spiritual benefit. And whatever food you are satisfied with in the conversation of the pious, try to turn it into juice and blood in the house with meditation, and so everything will work for your good: solitude and gathering, silence and conversation will build you up. And from such meetings at which feasts, drunkenness, shouting, dancing, laughter, ugly disguises, operas and masquerades, which have now become customary, games and songs of indecent, negotiations about other people's vices, unscrupulous agreements, also conversations about estates, lands, courts, silver, gold, vain decoration and so on - beware, so that no one else goes into the house return. Remember and consider what the apostle wrote: “Bad associations corrupt good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33). § 429. The signs of a Christian progressing in piety are as follows: 1) The more someone knows God and Christ the Son of God, the more he advances in piety. The knowledge here is meant to be real, which was briefly discussed above, and not the kind about which the apostle wrote: “They say that they know God, but in works they deny, being vile and disobedient and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1:16). For he does not know God who does not honor God with fear, love and obedience. For to know God and not to honor Him, that is, not to fear, not to love and not to listen, is an impossible task. 2) The sign of a successful person is that he becomes more and more aware of his heart’s infirmity, weakness, corruption and damnation. For from such knowledge will follow heartfelt humility, self-humiliation, but the Lord mercifully looks upon this humility and pours out His grace on it, for “to the humble God gives grace” (1 Peter 5:5) - and the best and most thorough correction of himself. Just as a person, having recognized bodily weakness, tries to heal it, so a Christian, having recognized the weakness of his soul and the corruption of his nature, will look for a means by which that weakness is healed and the corrupted heart is corrected. Various crosses, temptations and prayers lead us to the testing and knowledge of our hearts. The more a person is tempted, the more he knows himself; the more he knows, the more he becomes enlightened; the more enlightened he is, the more he corrects himself. Just as the more we are enlightened by natural, that is, sunlight or candle light, the more we see and recognize one thing from another, for example, white from black, and so on, so the more we are enlightened by supernatural light, that is, by the grace of God, the better we know the state of our hearts and recognize good from evil, virtue from vice, truth from falsehood, right from false teaching, and true faith from superstition, and other. The knowledge of our weakness and wretchedness leads us to this. 3) From here it follows that the more you recognize your sins and vices, which you did not know before, the better progress you will make. For you will cleanse known sins through repentance and faith, and so, hour by hour, you will become better by the grace of God. 4) Success is shown to be good by the one who overcomes and kills his natural ill-will, that is, pride, arrogance, hatred, envy, anger, rage, malice, vengeance, uncleanness and all evil hidden in his heart with the power of God’s help. 5) “Love is the fulfillment of the law,” according to the testimony of the Apostle (Rom. 13:10), “the goal of exhortation is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). If anyone succeeds in Christian love, he also succeeds in piety. Love here, of course, is the kind that the apostle wrote about above, that is, from a pure heart; and Saint John: “My children! let us love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18). (See also in the first book the chapters on love for God and neighbor, and in the second chapter on love for Christ). 6) Finally, the more diligently we follow Christ our Savior with love, patience, meekness, humility and other virtues, the better we will succeed in the matter of Christian piety. Chapter 13: About the nobility, dignity and beauty of the human soul § 430. In order to more conveniently understand the nobility and beauty of the human soul, Christian, let us consider certain circumstances from which its dignity and kindness are shown. 1) “The human soul,” according to the description of Saint Macarius of Egypt, “is a certain creation of God, reasonable, beautiful, great, wonderful and exceedingly similar and image of God” (Conversation 1, Chapter 7). 2) God created everything for man, heaven and earth with their fulfillment and decoration, for the entire visible world was created for man. For before man, all things were created by God so that there would be a place for man to live and something to be content with, and there would be someone to serve man, who was created as a master, and after all, man was created so that, like a master, he would possess and be content with the things created, and thus thank, honor and praise God as his Creator and Benefactor. Therefore, man is the goal of all God's visible creation. From this we can conclude that man is the fairest, most beautiful, noblest and most perfect creation of God. All creation and decoration was created by God for his sake. For natural reason shows that that is the best and most perfect thing for the sake of which other things exist. For example, a master is better and more worthy than a slave who serves him, since he is a slave for the sake of the master; a person is better than food, clothing, a house, gold, silver and other things, since all this happens for the sake of a person. Signifying this, Christ says to the Pharisees: “The Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), that is, man is better than the Sabbath, since the Sabbath is for man. If everything was created for the sake of man, then man is better and nobler than all, better than the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and their execution and decoration. All this is attributed to man for the sake of his rational, noble and beautiful soul. 3) The beauty of the soul is also shown from the human body, in which the soul, as in its own home, dwells. Everyone look at the young man who is gifted with the beauty of his face and other natural gifts: how handsome! What animal can compare with him? If the body is so beautiful - the house and dwelling of the soul - how beautiful is the soul that dwells in it! 4) Human beauty and dignity are recognized from the beautiful place in which man was originally settled. That place was a paradise of sweetness, consolation and joy, filled like a beautiful royal palace, with all sorts of fruitful, fragrant and beautiful trees and other decorations, so that from that place (man) would recognize nobility and beauty in his soul. If external beauty strikes the senses, then the rational soul reflects on that beauty, praises it, is surprised and is comforted by it. 5) Man was created by a special Divine council. All creation was created by the word of one God: rivers, and it appeared (Ps. 149:5). But when the matter came to man, it was not so that the good God and our Creator deigned to create him, but with some special advice. Which one? Thus, having the power to create man, the Trinitarian God says: “Let us make man” (Gen. 1:26). Like some wondrous, most glorious, noble, most worthy, most magnificent thing to bring His creation to work, the Creator said: “Let us create man.” This advantage was given to man for the sake of his soul. 6) Especially the beauty and dignity of the human soul is recognized from the fact that God and our Creator printed His Divine image in it. “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (Gen. 1:27). Oh, how wondrous and magnificent is the beauty and dignity of the soul! The human soul is honored and adorned with the image of God! All created things are marvelous, and are evidence of the omnipotence and wisdom of God, but man has the image and likeness of his Creator in his soul! In the creation of all other things, the omnipotence and wisdom of God appeared, but in the human soul, in addition, the likeness and image of God appeared. What greater adornment and advantage could there be for a creature than to have the image of its Creator in itself? Who can understand this beauty and advantage and depict it in words? The image must be similar to the prototype, just as the image of someone looking into a mirror is similar to someone looking into a mirror; Such is the image that appears in the mirror, as is the face that looks in the mirror. Consider what beauty and splendor the uncreated Nature - God - has, then you will somewhat recognize the beauty and goodness of the nature created from Him, in the image of Him created. God is infinite Beauty, which the holy angels from the beginning cannot get enough of and praise. And for God’s elect, this is especially the eternal bliss that they will see and enjoy this infinite goodness face to face endlessly and insatiably (1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2). “Lord, my God! You are wonderfully great, You have clothed yourself with glory and splendor. You are clothed with light as with a robe,” the holy David sings to Him (Ps. 104:1-2). “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). When you consider the beauty and splendor of the infinite majesty of God, then you will know how great the wondrous beauty and splendor of the human soul, in which the image and likeness of God exists. 7) When a person, deceived by the cunning of the serpent, fell, and the soul destroyed the image of God and thus perished, for which we cannot mourn with dignity, then the image of the soul and it itself were deigned to be recovered not through an intercessor and an angel, but by the Lord Himself (oh, incomprehensible love for mankind!). God and the Creator Himself, the Son of God and the Father's Word, entered this great embassy. The Heavenly King himself appeared on earth for the sake of the human soul and lived with people. He first sent the prophets to announce His coming, who all announced and variously depicted the coming of the Heavenly King. Just as the king of the earth, desiring to enter a city, sends messengers to that city so that the citizens prepare to receive him, so the Lord, the King of glory, heaven and earth, Creator and Possessor, having come into this world as into a great city created by Him, sent ahead messengers, His servants the prophets, in order to announce to the human soul that the Lord and Creator Himself for its sake is coming into the world, going to seek and save her. “Hear, O Daughter, and see, and incline Your ear, and forget Your people and Your father’s house. And the King will desire Your kindness, for He is Your Lord, and You will worship Him” (Ps. 44:11-12). And then the Lord Himself, according to His promise, “came to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). You see, soul, how great is your nobility, dignity and advantage! Your Lord Himself came into the world for your sake, to seek and save you, who were lost. And how great is His love for you, you see. 8) When the Lord deigned to come into the world and live on earth, He united not the angelic nature, but the human nature, “for He does not truly receive angels, but He receives the seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16). Truly a great miracle and a thing worthy of wonder! The Son of God became the son of man, and God the Creator and Almighty became flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones; He became our brother, the Lord of the angels and of all creation, and was not ashamed to call us His brethren, saying: “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren” (Ps. 21:23; Heb. 2:11–12); - and again: “Go to My brothers and say to them: I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17). Know, man, the nobility and advantage of your soul! The Son of God became the son of man for the sake of your soul; He united animate flesh, similar to our flesh, except for sin, in an eternal union, and thus honored our nature. But we will see more, both the dignity and importance of the human soul, and God’s love for us when we further enter into the discussion of God’s love for man. 9) The Son of God, dressed in flesh similar to ours, lived on earth for thirty-three years or more, as one of the people, and as a slave and alone from the poor and poor, he worked, suffered, cried, hungered, thirsted, endured dishonor and blasphemy for the sake of our soul, and finally endured terrible torment, and among the villains, as one from the villains, the only Righteous and Holy One was hanged with indescribable dishonor on the tree of the cross and died. All this was done by the Lover of Mankind, Christ, in order to snatch our souls from the power of the devil. So dear is the human soul to God and Christ the Son of God! The priceless price of God's Blood was given for it (Acts 20:28). So, you see that the value, importance and dignity of one human soul surpasses the whole world. Oh, how greatly a person sins when, for a small and short-lived sweetness, or for sensual silver and gold, or for the imaginary honor and glory of this world, or for something else similar to this, he sells such a dear and noble soul and gives it over to the power of the devil! The holy prophet mourns this: “Man, being in honor, did not understand (this), he became equal to senseless cattle, and became like him” (Ps. 49:13, 21). A faithful soul has indescribable beauty, splendor and nobility. For such a soul is the bride of the Son of God, betrothed to the King of heaven and earth, according to the Scripture: “He has betrothed you to one husband, that he may present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2), the daughter of the Heavenly Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, she receives great beauty and dignity. Just as an ignoble and simple wife, coupled with a noble husband, receives glory, nobility and adornment from him, so a soul defiled by sin, when it is cleansed by the Blood of Christ and coupled with faith in Him, becomes noble, glorious and beautiful. And just as a pure, crystal vessel, when it has fire inside it, emits a wondrous radiance and brilliance, so the soul, which has been purified by the Blood of the Son of God, and betrothed to Him by faith, and has become the temple of the Holy Spirit - the immaterial and purifying Fire - is marvelously enlightened and emits a radiance of light. We read that when holy Moses on Mount Sinai talked with God, his face became so illuminated that the children of Israel could not look at him (2 Cor. 3:7; Ex. 34 et seq.). The radiance of Moses’ face meant nothing more than the beauty, kindness and glory of his holy soul, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The same should be understood about the other souls of the saints, who by faith and love cleave to their immortal Bridegroom - Christ. Such a soul is called a queen and a queen’s daughter, all whose glory is within; her robe is decorated with golden fringes (Ps. 44:10, 14). This beauty of the soul is not visible now, when the righteous and sinners have the same external appearance, but it will appear in the resurrection of the dead, when its beauty and kindness will appear on the resurrected body in which the beautiful soul dwelt. However, from certain signs one can recognize fire as from heat, and honey from taste, and from the word intelligence. § 431. Signs of kindness and beauty found and preserved in the soul are noted from Holy Scripture: 1) Faith of the heart, unfeigned, true and living in Jesus Christ the Son of God, without which the soul cannot both find and preserve its beauty. Just as by faith the soul is betrothed to the most beautiful Son of God (Hosea 2:19-20) and receives beauty from Him, so by the same faith it preserves it. If anyone has true and living faith, he has kindness and spiritual beauty. 2) Purity of conscience, when a person keeps himself, his soul and body undefiled from the sins and defilements of this world, without which there cannot be true faith in the heart. A true and faithful servant of Christ does not want to sin against his conscience and defile it. For faith fights against sin and the world and does not allow a soul to be possessed by them. 3) The sign of spiritual beauty is evidence of good deeds that come unfeignedly from the heart, such as: purity, love, humility, patience, meekness, truth, mercy, prayer - all good intercessors, and others. By good deeds, which come from a pure heart and unfeigned faith, he shows in himself his own likeness, with which he is conformed to God, as an original image. God is holy, full of love, true, generous, merciful, good, meek, long-suffering, etc., and a Christian, when he conforms to Him with virtues, gives evidence of the image of God in him, in which goodness and spiritual beauty consists. There is similarity and likeness between the image and the prototype. True Christian virtues testify to a kind and beautiful soul in no other way than good fruits on a good tree (Matthew 7:17). Since the human soul receives all kindness and beauty from Christ, as said above, to Whom it is betrothed by faith, then there is an undoubted sign that it has and preserves that kindness when it does not separate from Him for worldly love, but, like the Bridegroom’s bride, cleaves to Him by faith and love, follows His footsteps, imitates His humility, patience, meekness and love, and so preserves its fidelity to Him, so that, as in in His humility and suffering she was not separated from Him, and in His glory she was inseparable from Him. For this is what faith demands from a soul betrothed to Christ. Just as a wife remains faithful to her husband when she does not separate from him either in dishonor or exile, so a soul is recognized as faithful to Christ if it does not separate from Him in humility and suffering. And just as a wife is considered unfaithful to her husband when she loves someone more than her husband, or equally to her husband, or in his misfortune is separated from him, so that soul does not keep faith in Christ, the Son of God, which cleaves to the world and does not want to be with Christ in death, patience and suffering. And Christ considers such a soul to be unfaithful to Himself. “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). This means a promise and oath to Christ, given by a Christian at baptism, that is, that as he wrote down and gave his name to Christ, so by faith and love he will serve and follow Him all his life, as Christ Himself demands from this Christian: “Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:26). When the soul keeps this promise, it also preserves faith in Christ - its Bridegroom - and with faith the beauty and kindness given to it from Christ. § 432. When a Christian turns away in heart and love from Christ and turns to sin and the world, then he does not retain faith in Christ; consequently, he destroys the kindness and beauty of his soul and accepts vile ugliness onto his soul. Therefore, anyone who wants to find the goodness of his soul again must do the following: 1) Just as by turning away from Christ he lost the kindness of his soul, so by turning to Him again he must seek that kindness. Otherwise, it is impossible to find this treasure. 2) One must first turn away from sin and the love of the world and regret that he turned the love that he should give to Christ, his Lover and Redeemer, to the world and sin, and thus showed himself ungrateful to his Lover and Benefactor and thereby insanely insulted Him. 3) Thus, having turned from the world and sin to Christ, look to Him with faith and zeal, so that He Himself may take away ugliness from the soul and give it beauty. Just as someone who wants to have the image of his face painted must turn away from other things and turn his face to the painter and look at him, so whoever wants to have the beauty of the image of God in his soul must certainly turn away from the love of the world and sin, and turn his soul to Christ, the heavenly Painter, and look at Him with faith, zeal and sighing, and pray to Him with humility. Without Him this thing cannot be done. For He alone takes away the vile disgrace from the souls who turn to Him and sigh; He makes amends for it with His Blood, shed for every sinner, and with His Holy Spirit writes the living beauty and splendor of the image of God. 4) A soul that wants to accept this living kindness for itself should not interfere with Christ in this important and saving matter, should not turn away from Him, but always look to Him and sigh about it, and endure for His sake whatever it pleases it to do. Such a soul must adhere to His will and surrender to His will, so that He can do with it what He wants. Just as a painter cannot paint an image when the person from whom he wants to paint the image turns away from him, so Christ cannot paint the image of God in the soul when someone turns away from Him and turns to sin and the vanity of the world and self-love. For all this disgrace inflicts on the soul, and darkens and destroys the kindness and beauty of the soul, and thus creates an obstacle to the saving work of Christ the Son of God. Everything that God’s Word prohibits hinders the written image of God. For Adam, our forefather, lost God’s image through disobedience. The kindness of God’s image cannot be depicted in that soul, which does not strive to evade everything that God’s word forbids and deviates from. We must turn away from everything that is contrary to the will of God and His holy word, and force ourselves to everything that it commands us. For just as what the word of God commands is a property of the image of God, such as truth, holiness, love, humility, patience, meekness, and so on, so everything that prohibits is contrary to the image of God and is characteristic of the vile image of the old man. Just as the soul should strive to avoid all evil, so it should be diligent to all goodness for the soul that wants to receive goodness and beauty from Christ, according to the admonition of the Psalmist: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15), although it is disgusting to the heart. We must now, with difficulty, diligence and feat, seek that which we have lost freely and without our labor, given to us by God. Then Christ, seeing such soul diligence, care and labor, by His mercy takes away the ugliness from it and gives the kindness and beauty of His image. For this he came into the world, as the Church sings: “Christ is born before he who fell and raised up the image” (Troparion for the pre-celebration of the Nativity of Christ). And this is - “putting off our former way of life, the old man, which is being corrupted by its deceitful lusts, and being renewed in the spirit of our mind and putting on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24), which requires no little diligence, labor and struggle. And we cannot do this on our own, because we carry it within ourselves. To put off the old man means to put oneself off, which is inconvenient or even impossible for anyone to do on his own. Our work and deed certainly require the action of Jesus, the Son of God, Whom we must bow to that great work through fervent prayer. 5) The more a person puts off the old man with his deeds, the more he will put on the new (Col 3:9-10); the more he puts on new things, the purer his soul will be; the purer the soul is, the greater the goodness and beauty of the image of God will appear in it; how the purer the water, the more clearly the appearance of the sun is depicted in it; or the cleaner the mirror, the more vividly it depicts the likeness of the face looking into it. § 433. Let us seek, O Christians, for our goodness and beauty in Christ, which we lost in Adam. Let us look for it while it is found, so that we may have it here in our souls, and at the coming of Christ appear with it before Him and the whole world, which then will not only be in our souls, but also appear on our bodies; and Christ, the righteous Judge, seeing in us the image of God and us conforming to Himself, recognizes us as His own and glorifies us with Himself. He does not recognize others in whom he does not see this goodness, but rather those darkened by the ugliness of sin, as His own, as incongruous to Him, but on the contrary, contrary, and will say to them: “I don’t know you, where you come from” (Luke 13:25, 27). Just as a coin that does not have a royal image and signature is not suitable for the sovereign’s treasury, and just as those who do not have the wedding attire are not allowed to marry, and they do not enter the king’s supper unless they are dressed in beautiful clothes, so a soul that does not have the beautiful image of the Heavenly King is not suitable and not accepted into the communication of the saints, marked and adorned with that kindness, and is not accepted with the robe of Christ’s justification. clothed, is not allowed into the palace of the heavenly kingdom, and will be cast out from the marriage of the Lamb. Therefore, such a soul, left outside the door, will be forced to uselessly complain, cry and sob. Let us seek, O Christian, so that that useless weeping and weeping does not overtake us. Why, O Christians, do we seek beauty from the corruptible world outside of us? Within us we can find such beauty that surpasses all the beauty of this world. The image of God is our adornment. What could be more beautiful, more glorious, more worthy, more magnificent, more amazing and more amiable than this? To this beauty all the beauty of the sun, moon, stars, beautiful birds, herbs, flowers, trees and the entire created world, and all the beauty and splendor of kings, princes, nobles and other glorious people of the earth, and all the beauty of the human face, and other beauty that can be, must yield; there is even nothing before that, for Divine beauty and kindness are like uncreated and infinite Beauty. Why do we desire and seek external nobility, high birth, honor, glory, dignity, advantage? Within us we have the noblest soul, created in the image of God, for whose sake the King of Heaven came to earth, lived, worked, endured, suffered and died, and promised and wants to make us sons of God, to give us an eternal and heavenly kingdom, and to create His glory as participants. What glory and nobility can compare with this glory and nobility? All the glory of the kings and princes of the earth, collected together, is nothing against this glory. If people do the righteous thing who, leaving behind the lesser and worse, seek greater and better things, then why don’t Christians do this righteousness? Why do they neglect true, better and greater glory and chase after lesser and worse or even false? What is the title and glory of this world? an empty name, carried on the tongues of men and ringing in the ears. Take away the name - and he will be as glorious as a simple one. For all people are equal by nature, every person is earth and ashes and food for worms. But who doesn’t want Christians to become famous on earth? Who doesn’t want to be called noble and high-born? Who doesn’t want to be a prince, nobleman or other famous person? Who does not accept with great joy the honor and worldly rank bestowed upon him? Moreover, who does not diligently seek this, that he may be in the honor and glory of this world? How much work and dependency Christians put into this! I don’t want to talk much about what everyone knows. But to honor and glorify one’s noblest soul, to return to it the nobility and dignity that it had at the beginning and lost, in Christ, and hardly anyone tries to find for it that honor and glory that Christ came to give it. There are very few of them. O name - Christian! How great and glorious you are, so despised and trampled upon by Christians, and especially in this age! Therefore, all those Christians are mistaken who seek honor and glory on earth, but abandon the honor and glory of heaven, to which they are called; They are seduced and admired by the beauty of worldly things, like Eve offered an apple from the ancient serpent, but they do not talk about spiritual beauty and do not seek Christ. All such Christians must be wary lest that terrible word be spoken to them about those who were called to the Great Supper but denied: “None of those who are called will taste my supper” (Luke 14:24). Chapter 14: About True Sorrow or Regret “Godly sorrow produces repentance that results in salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). § 434. We can learn from the following example what grief for God’s sake and true regret are. Two people have annoyed and insulted one of their benefactors, and both regret and grieve about it, and ask him for forgiveness for that. And although their outward deeds seem equal, their inner sorrow and sadness are unequal. One grieves and asks for forgiveness from the offended, fearing what evil will come from him, or so as not to be deprived of his mercy in the future; the other, leaving everything else behind, regrets and asks for forgiveness for having senselessly saddened his benefactor, whom he should love and honor. You see, Christian, that the external affairs of these two people are equal, but the internal affairs are unequal, for they come from an unequal heart. One heart is filled with love for the benefactor, while the other suffers from pride. One has a right heart and the other has a wrong heart. For one, sadness and humble petition come from love, for another - from pride. One grieves for his insulted benefactor, the other grieves for himself and his self-interest. One, even if the insulted person did not want to take revenge on him, or wanted to and took revenge, would nevertheless regret the insult, and would be ashamed, and would not stop regretting, and this sadness is accomplished in him by the love that lives in his heart. Another would not be sad and would not grieve if he did not think that he might suffer from some kind of evil. This example teaches us that there is true regret and sorrow for God's sake. Many Christians, who have come to their senses, regret their sins, with which they angered the Majesty of God, but they lament for no other reason than the fact that they are subject to the torment prepared for sinners. This sadness comes from self-love, as anyone can see, for they regret their next destruction, and not about God, who is angry and offended by their sins. Such people, if they did not expect subsequent execution for their sins, and if it were possible to live forever in the world and always sin, they would never stop sinning. For they cease from sins not for the sake of God, but for the fear of their destruction. And so the wrongness of the heart, selfishness and deceit of the heart are recognized. For we all must create for God’s sake, avoid evil and do good. Just as God does everything for our benefit, so we must do everything for His glory. This is rightness of heart. It is untrue and wrong regret to regret and lament for the fear of Gehenna, but the best and most perfect is required from a Christian. This sadness may also be the beginning of true sadness for the sake of God, for with such fear a person can be aroused and recognize his error, and so come to sadness for the sake of God, and we find quite a few such examples in church history, but it is impossible to call it true sadness for the sake of God. One is to grieve for oneself and one’s own destruction, another is for the sake of God, dishonored and angry by sins, as everyone can see, and the example given shows. True regret and sadness for the sake of God consists in the fact that a Christian should lament and regret not for the sake of deprivation of eternal life and subsequent execution in hell, but for the sake of the fact that he did not honor, love and listen to God, the Creator, Redeemer and Provider more than all, but, on the contrary, loved himself, the world and sin more than Him. This is true sorrow for God's sake. A Christian should be sad about this, that he did not give God his due. He who has such sadness, even if there is no eternal life and no Gehenna, will grieve, cry and be ashamed, and scold himself. With such sadness, a contrite soul will gladly forgive any offense inflicted by a neighbor; He will diligently endure everything that is nasty and bitter that happens in this world; and he recognizes himself as worthy of all punishment, both temporary and eternal, knowing that just as there is nothing greater and better above God, so there is no execution that would be unworthy for insulting and dishonoring the Majesty of God. Such sadness comes from love, and is true, Christian, God-righteous sadness. Such sadness, without a doubt, receives remission of sins, no matter how many of them a person has, but receives it for the sake of God’s ineffable love for mankind and the shed most holy Blood of Christ. Anyone who repents of this sorrow is counted by the grace of Christ among the sons of God, for whom the inheritance of eternal life is prepared. It is common for sons to grieve for the insult of their father, and not for fear of punishment. Reason, Christian, what kind of sadness do you have in your heart - this or that? And as you are in your heart, so you are before God, who, as he tests and sees everyone’s heart, judges everyone according to his heart; and what anyone now has in his heart will appear outwardly on the day of judgment, according to the words of the apostle: “The Lord will illuminate the things hidden in darkness and will reveal the intentions of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5). Sorrow is also useful for the fear of Gehenna, so as not to fall into Gehenna. That’s why in the Holy Scriptures both eternal life and Gehenna were declared to us by the man-loving God, so that we might escape this one and receive that one. Both true Christians and saints have the fear of God’s judgment and Gehenna, but they overcome this fear by faith and prayer, for Christ “by death deprived the power of him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered those who, from the fear of death, were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb. 2:14–15). But they grieve and regret more because, for the sake of the weakness of the flesh, they cannot please the will. God as the word of God demands. Therefore, they sigh and pray to the Heavenly Father: “Forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). There is no perfection in this age. We, Christians, must have this sadness and seek it in our hearts by lighting the candle of our mind and reflection (which will be discussed below). § 435. To seek true sorrow for God’s sake, it will be useful to think and contain the following: 1) Just as God created us for the sake of His sole goodness, and not for the sake of His need, or any self-interest, so now He does us good out of His sole love for mankind, therefore, He does us good for nothing, without any of our merits. 2) God does not require any service from us for His own sake. For, as before the world, so now he remains in the most perfect bliss. But we, as our Creator, God and Lord, according to the strength of our faith, must serve and work. 3) When we serve and work for Him, then our service benefits us, and not Him, and when we do not serve, then harm comes to us, and not to Him. 4) Obedience and reverence for God is our due. For a creature must show obedience and reverence to its Creator, and a servant must show obedience and reverence to its Lord. Therefore, when we show obedience and reverence to Him, we give Him what is due, and thus we do not deserve anything from Him. “When you have done everything commanded you, say: we are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do,” says Christ (Luke 17:10). 5) We must show obedience and reverence to our fathers, masters and authorities for the sake of the Lord our God. If we must show obedience and reverence to people, how much more to Him Himself, for whose sake we obey people. If we obey those sent by the king, much more do we obey the King himself who sent them. And if we obey the King, established by God, much more do we obey God Himself, who established him and commanded us to obey him. Natural reason itself teaches this. 6) Whatever good a person does to a person, he gives not his own, but God’s. For we have nothing of our own except corruption and sins. Everything and every good is God’s, not ours. We owe both soul and body to God, our Creator, and even more so for other good things. Therefore, when someone does good to a person, he gives the good given to him from God. God alone gives us His own good, for all good, either mental or physical, is His good, and comes from Him alone, as the Source of good. 7) God has no partiality, but He precedes every person, me and you and others, with love; and he wants to make everyone, me and you, and others alike, blessed. 8) Whoever is deprived of blessedness and perishes must attribute it to his own will, and not to God’s, which “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). 9) How God wants and thirsts for our salvation, although His whole word is holy and in it His admonition, invocation, threats, and eternal blessings are written out, but especially the incarnation, suffering and death of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shows who, by the will of the Father and His willing obedience for everyone, that is, for me, you and everyone, suffered and died, as the Holy Scripture testifies. And God has no respect for persons, and therefore, both for the sake of you and me, and for the sake of every person, He sent His Son into the world, whoever wants to accept Him with heartfelt faith and be saved through Him. 10) God, as holy and righteous, whatever he does, he does holy and righteous. Therefore, nothing will offend anyone. 11) When he does not give us good or takes away good from us, then it is our fault, not His. 12) God is essentially present in every place, and is not confined to any place, and sees every deed and thought of ours, and hears every word. Therefore, everything that is done or thought or said, good or evil, in accordance with or contrary to the law of God, everything is done holy before His face. 13) Until then, the sinner is not in true repentance, but remains in an unrepentant life, until he fears, does not honor God, has gratitude to Him, love, faith, hope, etc. § 436. Sorrow for God's sake and true regret can, with God's help, be born from reasoning and reflection, when a person returns to himself and talks about his insignificance and God's majesty, which he offended with his sins. 1) From reasoning about the highest power of God, to which the sinner does not submit. God is the most supreme Ruler and Owner over all creatures, visible and invisible, including every sinner, and to His power “every knee of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth” bows (Isa. 45:23; Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10). The holy angels fulfill His will with all zeal and obedience; holy people obey His command with zeal, fear and love; the terrible demons of His power tremble, and all animate creation, such as livestock, animals, birds, fish, and everything moving and soulless, such as the sun, moon, stars, fire, and so on, creates His word (Ps. 149:8), and everything serves Him (Ps. 119:91). But only the sinner does not want to submit to His highest power, for he does not want to listen to Him and His holy commandments. God says to everyone: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15), but the insensitive sinner does not heed this, but does the opposite of it, turns away from good and does evil, and so shamelessly and lawlessly despises His terrible power. 2) From the reasoning of God's Majesty, before which the senseless sinner does not want to humble himself. Our God is an eternal God, beginningless, endless, living, immortal, and His majesty is infinite and indescribable, so that before Him the whole world is like nothing, as we see in the Holy Scriptures. If the whole world, heaven and earth and all nations, are like nothing before God, then how much more are you alone, or I, who is against the whole world, like just one drop against the ocean. But the sinner does not humble himself before His infinite Majesty, and thus does not pay His Majesty veneration, but, on the contrary, despises Him - which is terrible, devilish pride. He does not humble himself, because he does not listen to Him; He does not listen, because he does not fulfill His holy commandments. All disobedience, and therefore sin, comes from pride. Just as humility is submissive and obedient, so pride is the root of disobedience. 3) From the reasoning of the omnipresence of God, to whom the sinner does not give worthy honor. God fills heaven and earth and is in every place. And every person, whatever he does, does everything before Him. He looks at our every deed, undertaking and thought and hears every word. But when a sinner commits lawlessness, for example, commits fornication, kidnaps, steals, blasphemes, uses foul language, blasphemes, flatters, lies, deceives, quarrels, is angry, rages and commits other iniquities, then he commits outrages before His most holy face, and thus does not render Him worthy veneration. Just as we do not pay respect to an earthly king or some other ruler, or a high person, or a father, when we act outrageously before them, that is, we do something indecent to their face, so we especially do not pay respect to God, the Creator, the Heavenly King and the Father of bounties, when we commit lawlessness before Him; all lawlessness occurs before Him and His all-seeing eye, just like any other matter; and thus the lawless one annoys Him, just as the lawless one does the present royal or some other respectable and high person. 4) The cause of sadness for the sake of God is a person’s shameless aversion from God to sin. When a person turns away from God to sin, then he turns his face to sin and his back to God, just as someone who turns from east to west turns his face to the west and his back to the east. Sin and God are opposite things, and when we turn to one, we turn away from the other, and turn our backs to that one. So a shameless sinner, turning away from God to sin, turns his back to God, as God says about the lawless Israelites through the prophet: “They turned their backs to Me, and not their faces” (Jer. 32:33). Just as the lawless Israelites, turning from the Living God to idols, turned their backs, according to the word of God, to God, so now foolish Christians, when they turn to sin, fall into idolatry, not sensual, but spiritual, and thus turn their backs to God, and not their faces, which is great shamelessness. For sin is revered like an idol, and as often as it is committed willingly, so many times one stretches out one’s hands to it and bows one’s knee to it. Before sinning, a person stands between two opposite things - God and Satan; and has free will to turn to one or another. God calls him to good and calls him away from evil, but Satan deceives him, calls him away from good, and inclines him to evil and sin - his work. And so, when someone listens to God and does good, he turns his face to God, and when he listens to Satan and does evil, he turns his face to Satan, and turns his back to God, and so, turning away from God, he follows Satan. From this you can see, Christian, how gravely a person sins before God when he turns to sin, the devil’s work. 5) The reasoning of the omnipotence of God, in which we are all contained, gives the reason and basis for the sinner to sorrow for the sake of God. God contains everything in His hand, as the prophet sings: “In His hand are all the ends of the earth” (Ps. 94:4). Therefore he is called Almighty; in Whose almighty hand the sinner is contained, preserved, lives, moves and has his being, for “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But when a person sins and is lawless, he dishonors and insults God, his Sustainer, and acts like that foolish child who, being in the arms of his mother and father, blasphemes, beats and spits on him. The shameless sinner does the same thing to God, his Lord and Father, in whose arms he remains, although he does not notice it, blinded. 6) From the consideration of the goodness of God, which preserves us from the wiles of the devil, we can have pity. When a person sins, Satan sits down on him and wants to capture his soul and cast him into the bottom of hell, but the merciful God does not allow him. And while (a person) remains in unrepentance and corruption, the same spiritual enemy watches all his paths and wants to destroy him, for this envious and evil spirit hungers and thirsts for our destruction, like a dog of blood, but God forbids him and holds him by His power. Do you see, man, what kindness and love of God is towards the sinner! A sinner angers and grieves God, but God does not abandon him and does not deliver him into the hands of his enemy. The sinner retreats from God and gives himself over to his enemy the devil, but God forbids him to destroy him. Oh, the goodness of God, invincible by our sins! Oh, the foolishness and insensibility of sinners!.. Who can comprehend this goodness of God towards us sinners? The sinful and lost soul does not understand this and does not impute it to anything! 7) Reasoning about the countless blessings of God, shown and shown to us, but despised by every sinner, can lead him to true contrition and regret. What has God, our Creator, not done for us? what good of His has He not shown us and is not showing us? We are enclosed in His love and good deeds that come from His love for mankind. He created us with special and wondrous advice; He created us in His image and likeness; He gave us all the light for our service: the sun, the moon and His stars shine for us; His clouds, like bottles, carry water over us and sprinkle it on us and our fields; the earth with its fruits, livestock and beasts serves us; seas, lakes and rivers with fish serve us, and so on. He Himself, our Lord, came to earth for our sake, to seek and save us who perished. But the accursed sinner counts all this as nothing, and, like “a foolish man, he does not know, and a foolish man does not understand this” (Ps. 92:7). Our Lord wants to make us blessed, righteous and holy; wants to be loved by us, just as He Himself loves us, and thus have friendship with us; wants to come to us and create an abode with us; He wants to be our Father and create us as His sons; wants to give us the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom and eternal blessings. What could be greater and more worthy than this? But the sinner neglects God's favor. (Oh, ingratitude and fury!) And so God wants to wash, cleanse, sanctify, save and glorify forever (oh, incomprehensible love for mankind!), but the sinner turns away, runs away from such a great Lover of his and Benefactor and arbitrarily strives for the eternal destruction prepared for the devil and his angels! God sends after him His servants, ministers and preachers of His word, and through them he calls him to Himself, converts and attracts him, but the sinner does not want to hear His voice, turn and come to his Lord! Thus, the evil of the devil hardens the human heart to the chagrin and anger of God, Who is the only love, goodness, holiness and meekness, which we cannot properly mourn, Christians! 8) The sinner once turns to himself the reverence, honor, glory and love that he owes to God, as his Creator, Redeemer and Provider, then he honors himself more than God, Whom he must honor most of all, more than himself and his will, more than all creation, more than father and mother, and everything that exists besides God; and so in the place where he should have and honor God, he places himself as an idol and worships him. Then this happens when he submits and prefers his will to the will of God. What God wants, he does not do, and what God commands, he does not fulfill, and so, having despised the will of God, follows his own will, and so arbitrarily becomes as if the supreme master and not subject to God - which is a godless apostasy from God and self-deification. For he who is subject to his power submits and obeys, just as: a subject to the king, a slave to the master, a son to his father and mother submits. A faulty sinner, when he does not show humility and obedience to God, thereby shows himself to be insubordinate and insubordinate to God, as anyone can see and admit. Some are sins of weakness and ignorance, to which even God-fearing people are subject, while others are sins of willfulness, insolence and against conscience, which cannot be otherwise than from a disobedient and fearless heart. § 437. It is noted in many sinners and lawless people that they are zealous for the authorities, masters, parents and benefactors according to the natural law, but do not want to show this to God. 1) Many kings, masters and parents listen to their commands and orders, as they should, but God’s commandments, which are preached all the time in the churches of the saints and written in the books of the saints for the sake of knowledge and fulfillment, none of them wants to fulfill. They submit and obey man - the king, the lord and the father, but they do not want to obey God, to whose power kings, lords and fathers are subject and must obey - God, who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the Father of all. They hear His word but do not heed it, which is the great injustice of a lawless heart. To listen to a person and not listen to God, for whose sake every ruler should listen - who does not recognize this as a great wrong? But every lawless person does this, because he does not want to fulfill God’s commandments. And this is what the Lord says through His prophet: “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, who commanded his sons not to drink wine, are being fulfilled, and they do not drink to this day, because they obey the commandment of their father; But I spoke to you continually, I spoke from early in the morning, and you did not listen to Me. I sent all My servants, the prophets, to you early in the morning, and said: “Turn every one of you from your evil way and correct your behavior, and do not follow other gods to serve them; and you will live in this land that I gave to you and to your fathers”; but you did not incline your ear and obey Me” (Jer. 35:14-15). This word of God and His complaint concerns every faulty sinner, who listens to the commandments of his ruler, master and father, but does not listen to God, the Lord Almighty. Whatever the ruler, or master, or father commands, he carries out and does, but what God commands, the damned sinner does not heed. He listens to man, but he does not listen to God, the Creator and Almighty. What could be crazier and worse than this? 2) Who dares to commit outrages and violate his laws before the king of the earth? Or again: before a lower ruler, or master, or his father, who acts outrageously? The most lawless people are either afraid or ashamed to do this. But before God, who is omnipresent and looks at everything, the sinner is not ashamed, not afraid, not horrified to commit outrages, to violate His holy and eternal law and often to do things that are shameful to write and talk about. And certainly such or, according to the word of the Psalmist, say in their hearts: “there is no God” (Ps. 13:1); or they think that God is not everywhere, and does not see their iniquities, or is unjust; or they harbor other thoughts contrary to the majesty of God in their hearts; or are in deep oblivion about God. Otherwise, they would not dare to fearlessly commit lawlessness. However, it seems that conscience, although darkened, does not cease to convict every lawless person and frighten him with God’s judgment. But the accursed sinner, having despised it, and like a fierce horse, having broken the bridle, strives for all kinds of lawlessness, and what he is ashamed of before an honest man, he is not ashamed of before the Majesty of God, he is not afraid to do. 3) Many sinners love those who love them and for the good that they have received or are receiving from them, thank them, honor them, serve them, and remember their name everywhere with praise, and boast of them as their benefactors, although a person is not his own to a person, but gives God’s good (for all God’s good that we have), however, for this they show themselves grateful to their benefactors. But these same sinners of God, from Whom they are honored every day with countless blessings that come from the love of mankind alone, and Who bestows His own blessings on everyone, nevertheless do not give thanks. They do not thank Him that they were created by Him, that they are fed and clothed by Him, that they are preserved by Him, that for their sake He sent His Son into the world and for the sake of all He gave Him up to death, so that all might be saved. Faulty sinners do not understand this and for this great and wonderful deed they do not thank their Lover and Benefactor, God, for they do not love Him, do not honor and do not listen to Him, without which there can be no gratitude. For not to listen and thereby anger and irritate the benefactor, and to be grateful to him, is an impossible task. Gratitude requires love, and love requires reverence. Love does not want to offend and irritate the beloved, which the wicked do not do, and therefore are ungrateful to God. 4) With what zeal, love, respect and gratitude the sinner reads the letter that the king writes to him: he often picks it up, reads it, admires it and boasts about it in front of others, and how he protects and preserves it, like some kind of treasure, is impossible to say. God, the Heavenly King and the Lord Almighty, wrote a letter - His holy word and sent it to us all indiscriminately, that is, the noble and the simple, the rich and the poor, me, you and others. He sent His servants through the prophets and apostles, in whom He revealed to us His will and good pleasure towards us. But the sinner neglects that Divine letter, as if not sent to him. He is amused and consoled by books, filled with the spirit of this world, and spends his time in them, but he does not want to read or listen to God’s words, and he does not want to keep those treasures, and although he keeps them, it either lies on the table, or fills a place in the closet, but has no place in his heart. And although he takes it into his head when he takes it in his hands, he approaches it like one obsessed with food with a fever. And from this it is clear what kind of reverence he has for the Creator - God Himself! 5) We see what kind of labors and deeds sinners perform when the king promises them rank and honor, or some other temporary reward. Not only do they serve him within the fatherland with all the will and zeal, do their work with all care and diligence, but also outside the fatherland they go to war, plunging themselves into the danger of death. They do all this in order to receive the promised honor from the king and temporary glory from the people. This hope encourages and motivates them to do so. But the same diligent servants for the sake of God, Who promises not a temporary, but an eternal crown, not temporary honor and glory, but eternal glory to His servants, do not want to raise such a service that they raise for the sake of man and temporary self-interest. What is this, Christian, if not that they believe in the earthly king, who promises rank and honor, and strive for that, but do not believe in the Heavenly King, who promises eternal honor and glory, and therefore do not want to serve Him and stand in the feat of Christian piety? Who would not want to have friendship with the king of the earth, to go to his meal and have fun with him? Who doesn’t want to be the son of a king and have the inheritance of an earthly kingdom? Almost everyone who is marked by the name of Christ will not renounce. But look and note whether the unfaithful and true God desires and seeks. God promises to have friendship with us: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him” (John 14:21). To love God and to be loved by God, what is it if not friendship? Friendship is mutual love. God promises us to be our God and Father and to have us as His sons. “And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:18). God calls us to the great supper in the kingdom of heaven and promises us the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. But who heeds this great and heavenly calling? Who seeks what the unfaithful God promises in His mercy? All damned sinners are denied. We loved the honor, glory, riches and sweetness of this world more than the honor, glory, riches and heavenly and eternal comfort (John 12:43). They seek friendship with the king of the earth, but they do not seek friendship with the immortal God and the King of Heaven; they rush to the table of the earthly king with diligence, but do not want to go to the table of the Heavenly King; They want to reign temporarily on earth, but they do not want to reign in heaven forever. Oh, the deception of the human mind and heart! “Everyone began to apologize” (Luke 14:18). Everyone started to give up - what? - go to the prepared heavenly supper and listen to the calling of God. Why? because they chose to console themselves with temporary and earthly pleasures, but not with heavenly and eternal ones. And so the calling of God, with which He calls them through His servants, and He who calls God Himself is despised. Someone will say: “Is anyone in denial and does not want to receive the promised eternal benefits? Doesn’t everyone want them?” Answer. Truly there are few who truly desire in their hearts! For whoever sincerely desires something, having left everything else, seeks that one thing with all diligence and diligence. What labors does not a lover of wealth undertake for the sake of wealth, a lover of fame and ambition for the sake of glory and honor, a sensualist for the sake of his desired pleasure! How much a farmer works and sweats for the sake of the fruit, a student for the sake of reason and external wisdom! Who doesn’t see what is always turning before our eyes? Think the same way about the benefits promised by God. Since those ineffable blessings are great, therefore they require great labors and deeds from us to receive them. Read the Holy Gospel and you will know this truth. You must renounce not only worldly lusts, but also yourself, and take up your cross and follow Christ (Matthew 16:24), follow Him not with your feet, but with your heart, faith, love, patience, meekness, humility, and suffering. And so, where He is now Himself, there He will lead His follower, according to the false promise: “Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:26). The greater the good, the more work it requires to obtain. And since there is no greater good than eternal good, and it alone is true good, it requires great work and deeds from us in order to comprehend it. “Run therefore to receive” that eternal good, says St. Paul (1 Cor. 9:24). Who will receive it? Not the one who lies, but the one who runs. Who's running? The one who, leaving everything else behind, strives, hurries and struggles towards that one thing as his center. And whoever does not have labor and achievement for that, does not have a true desire for that. True desire motivates the person who wants to work and teaches a way to search in order to get what he wants. Whoever wants to come to Moscow, or to St. Petersburg, or to Kyiv, follows the road that leads to those cities, and not another. So to God and His eternal kingdom, which is about to come, one must go through the narrow gates and the narrow path, and not through the wide gates and the long path that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). “Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And the Lord says: “Through your patience save your souls” (Luke 21:19). And again: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). For every evil and disaster meets those who strive for God and His kingdom. We must endure all this and struggle against our enemies - the flesh, the world and the devil, so that through labor and struggle, with the help of God, we will receive what we had and lost without labor in the beginning. 6) Who is not afraid to anger and insult the king of the earth, or even the lower ruler, or what high person? But God - the great Lord and great King "over all the earth, in whose hand are all the ends of the earth, and the tops of the mountains, and the sea, he created it, and his hands made the dry land" (Ps. 94: 3-5), - such a great Lord and King, who possesses heaven and earth, a foolish and accursed sinner is not afraid to anger and offend, moreover, to anger and offend every day and hour. he is not ashamed and not afraid to insult. O Thy long-suffering, O Lord! Oh, human blindness! So the sin of Christians intensified and it became a custom that they present it as a joke. Truly such Christians walk in great darkness, although they seem wise to themselves; and although they count the stars and teach others, they do not know the Christian alphabet; and not only insensitive, but also dead, living only in sin. 7) In many sinners it is noted that they offend their father, or ruler, or friend or benefactor, or some other respectable person, repent, regret, and humble themselves, and ask for forgiveness from him, admitting their guilt, which is commendable. But God, the Creator and His highest Benefactor, Who created, nourishes, clothes and preserves everyone, is always insulted; They always insult God, I say, Who is one love and kindness, and do not repent, and do not grieve, and do not regret, and do not humble themselves before Him. And although many, having sinned, repent and confess to their spiritual father, when they return, they turn to the same sins again, and so they only perform the ceremony, and do not perform true repentance. For there is no true repentance and regret where sins are repeated. How can anyone repent and regret having done this and that, but does not want to leave it, has angered God with this and that sin, but does not cease to anger Him? Repentance is false and untrue when the penitent does not forsake his sins. One must regret sin, but also abandon sin; We must also regret when we have offended and insulted our neighbor, but most of all when we have angered God. For whoever sins against his neighbor will also sin against God, who commanded him to love his neighbor and not to offend him in any way. And man, no matter how high, or no matter how great our benefactor, is nothing against God; therefore, any sin against a person is nothing compared to the sin that occurs against God. Therefore, King David, although he sinned gravely against Uriah, nevertheless, repentant, says to God: “I have sinned against You alone, and I have created evil before You” (Ps. 50:6), reasoning that that sin and offense created by Uriah concerns God Himself, Who is the Supreme Lawgiver, Judge, Lord, King, Creator and Benefactor of all, and His Majesty infinitely, so that the whole world is like nothing against Him, especially one person, no matter who he is. Therefore, he who sinned against his neighbor must not only regret that he offended him, but first of all, that he angered and offended God Himself and the Lawgiver, Who ordered not to offend anyone, by that sin, and, humbling himself before his neighbor and asking him for forgiveness, humble himself first of all before God, and asking Him for forgiveness, that he violated His holy commandment. 8) How much many Christians are jealous of the glory and honor of their father, or lord, or benefactor and defend their name when it is blasphemed! But the same zealots are silent, ashamed or afraid to defend the glory of the name of God when it is blasphemed before them by the godless. Oh Christians! So we are faithful to the Lord God, our Creator, Redeemer and Provider, Who created us and our fathers, lords and benefactors, nourishes, clothes and preserves, that His holy name is terrible and such reverence is not awarded from us, which we give to people, His creation, fathers, lords and our benefactors! Many people do the same thing when someone annoys them and blasphemes their name. We are talking about the authorities here, who especially have a duty to defend the glory and honor of the name of God. How jealous, furious, angry and defending their honor and glory! But the same defenders quietly and meekly deal with their subordinates, who constantly belittle the honor of the name of God by breaking His law or openly spew blasphemies against His name. What does it mean to honor your name and honor, which is nothing, more than the name and infinite honor of God? You will see what your name and honor are, when you die equally with the simple ones and go to the ground; and you will know that there is the name and honor of God, which you now despise, when you stand before His Last Judgment, where “the kings of the earth, and the great, and the rich, and the captains of thousands, and the mighty, and every slave, and every free man, wish to hide in caves and in the gorges of the mountains” (Rev. 6:15). 9) We see that many Christians, who call God their helper and protector, Who is truly the Helper and Protector of Christians, when they fall into trouble, resort to princes, nobles and other high-ranking persons in the world for protection, and hearing from them the promised intercession for themselves, they rely on them, although they themselves, as people, are subject to any trouble. Almighty and all-good and wise God, who alone protects and delivers, promises help to everyone who calls on Him and says: “Call Me in the day of your trouble, and I will deliver you” (Ps. 49:15). But they, having left God, resort to people on the day of their sorrow, and so until then they have God as their helper until they have sorrow, and on the day of sorrow they look for other helpers and protectors. There are also those who seek their help and protection in silver and gold, or cunning, or strength, or their rank; and so all such hope in man and other creatures, and not in God and their Creator, and without hope they have no faith in Him. For hope is inseparable from faith, just as faith is not separated from hope, but one abides together with the other. From this it follows that they only call God a helper with their tongues, but have other helpers in their hearts, and so they only honor God with their lips, and not with their hearts. For without faith and hope it is impossible to honor God. Just as a person considers it disrespectful to himself when we do not believe His promise, so much less do sinners pay veneration to the unfalse and true God, who do not believe His merciful promises, but, leaving Him, resort to His weak creation for help and protection. And they act like that foolish servant who turns away from his king, who promises to show him mercy and who holds in his hand life and death and all his well-being and misfortune, and turns to his low and weak servant, and seeks mercy from him, thereby annoying the royal honor, and doing more harm to himself than bringing benefit. Thus, poor sinners and God’s Majesty are annoyed by the fact that they do not believe His merciful promises, for “he who does not believe God presents Him as a liar” (1 John 5:10) - and thereby they harm themselves when they turn away from their Creator, in Whose hand is our life and death, our well-being and misfortune, and turn to His creation, which itself falls without the help, reinforcement and maintenance of God’s almighty hand. 10) We also see that many Christians try to please their fathers according to the flesh, even if they are evil, so that they do not lose the inheritance after their fathers. But those same people-pleasers do not try to please God, the Heavenly Father, who gives His children who please Him an eternal and ineffable inheritance, lest they lose it. Doesn't this mean, Christian, to honor the temporal and dream-like bliss of something more true and eternal? Doesn't this mean not to honor and despise God, who prepared and promised that bliss? Oh, how bitterly these heirs will weep when they see nothing in their hands except deprivation and destruction! When God's saints inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the creation of the world, they will be thrown “into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30, 34). 11) We also see that many Christians, when their fathers, or authorities, or masters do not punish them for a crime, rejoice, are comforted and thank them, but God, Whom they sin every day and hour and are honored with His infinite mercy, so that mercy, compared with this Divine mercy, is nothing, but they do not thank Him. Judgment, wrath and punishment concern the human body alone, but cannot harm or destroy the soul, but God’s judgment and wrath can cast both soul and body into fiery Gehenna (Matthew 10:28). But the blind sinner does not notice this, and he thanks the person who shows him small mercy, but he does not thank God, who shows him endless mercy every day and hour. Oh, if every sinner’s inner eye would be opened and he would know how much he sins, annoys and offends before the Majesty of God every day, either in word, now in deed, now in thought, and what kind of mercy he receives from Him in this, then he would incessantly fall before Him with a humble and grateful heart!.. It is impossible not only to depict in words, but also to understand with the mind, how much His mercy the Lord shows us in this! What kind of King is so merciful and meek that, seeing his law being destroyed before him, he can tolerate the destroyer? Soon human meekness turns into anger and rage. God sees His holy law at all times, unchangeable and eternal, when a sinner is destroyed before Him, He sees and endures, and not only endures, but also protects the sinner from his enemy the devil, who sits down on the sinner and wants to snatch his soul and cast him into hell. Oh, Thy love for us, sinners, our God! Who can research this or understand it with their mind? But the sinful soul does not understand this and does not thank God, the lover of mankind. God’s longsuffering desires and seeks the salvation of the sinner, as the apostle teaches: “Count the longsuffering of our Lord as salvation” (2 Pet. 3:15). For “the goodness of God leads him to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). And if an unrepentant sinner despises this kindness and forbearance of God in his heart, then all his bad deeds, sins and iniquities will be exposed and presented to him on the day of judgment, as God says to the sinner: “I will reprove you, and bring your sins before you” (Ps. 49:21). And then he will feel the judgment and wrath of God on himself; and the more you have sinned and experienced God’s forbearance, the more you will experience the wrath of God, as the apostle teaches: “Because of your stubbornness, O sinner, and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of righteous judgment from God” (Rom. 2:5). “Understand this, you who forget God, lest He take you away, and (then) no one will deliver,” says the prophet to sinners (Ps. 49:22). 12) It is also noted among Christians that many gladly wish to talk with the king, or some high person, because they consider it an honor for themselves. What is more honest than to talk with the immortal and living God through prayer? This is what God Himself, in His love for mankind, calls us to, as has been repeatedly said above. But the sinful soul does not understand and neglects this. The king of the earth calls for a conversation - and how much we are in a hurry, it is impossible to say, but the King of Heaven always calls - and we don’t want to. However, anyone who wants to talk with God in prayer must first cleanse himself by repentance. The king of earth does not tolerate stinking rags, so the King of Heaven turns away from the soul, which is stained with the stinking rags of sins. One must reject these rags of the soul from oneself and so approach the Heavenly King. 13) We also note that Christians honor the name of the king, and when remembering it, they remove the veil from their heads, or bow their heads, as they should, but the holy and terrible name of God is not honored by many Christians. Others remember His name in untruth and lies. Others take His name in a false oath, and, having taken the oath and confirmed it with the great name of God, they immediately rush to deeds contrary to the oath. Others constantly bring His name into obscene and vile deeds and words, repeating, as usual for themselves, the words: “By God, for that is God, God is the Witness!” – and so on. There are also those who, in jokes and blasphemy (Oh, Thy long-suffering, O God!), dare to accept His name, sweet to the holy angels and sweet to souls, terrible to demons and honest to all creation. Thus such Christians, depriving the name of God of worthy veneration, do not render it to God Himself, who is revered in His holy name. O foolish Christian! Do you so reverence the name of your Creator and Redeemer that you do not honor Him with the same reverence that you show to a mortal man?.. 14) Many, speaking about the honesty and nobility of their fathers, are careful not to discredit their name with bad deeds; They move away from such deeds by which they are dishonored, but they constantly dishonor the name of the Heavenly Father, to Whom they think of praying: “Our Father who art in heaven,” by doing such deeds that are contrary to the Christian title. Such are fornicators, adulterers, drunkards, kidnappers, robbers, perjurers, ruiners, and the like. Just as the name of God is glorified by good Christians, according to the testimony of the Lord: “So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16), so it is dishonored by evil deeds. And from this it is clear that such honest people love and honor their father - man, more than God, the Heavenly Father, or even have no love and respect for Him. An evil and defective Christian cannot love and honor God while he remains defective. 15) Many dysfunctional fathers against their sons, masters against their slaves, and authorities against their subordinates are indignant and angry because they do not see their due obedience. And this is the right reason for their anger and indignation. For every son to his father, a slave to his master and subject to his own authority must show obedience. Also, those who have done good deeds for people do not tolerate it when they do not see gratitude from them. But these indignant zealots themselves do not show obedience to God, the Supreme Lord, and do not give thanks. And why aren’t they angry with themselves? Is it great that people do not listen to them, people, and little that they themselves do not listen to God, to whom they themselves and their subordinates are subordinate? Or is good, created by man to man, worthy of gratitude, but what is created by God is not worthy? What soul, even if it has a small spark of intelligence, will endure this? Who better to show us obedience than God, for whose sake Christians must obey our fathers, lords and authorities? And who should we thank more than God, from Whom only good comes, and Whose good is given to us by those who do good, and not their own? Everything that a person has, except weakness, corruption and his sins, is God’s, and not his own: body and soul are God’s. However, a person is indignant when he does good to someone and does not feel gratitude from him, but every day and hour he himself receives good from God and remains ungrateful towards Him, but does not notice it. Also, evil fathers are angry with their sons, masters are angry with slaves, and authorities are angry with faulty subordinates, but they themselves always remain faulty before God, and think that it is as if there is nothing. If it is right for faulty authorities, masters and fathers to be angry with their subordinates for their disobedience, then they should first be angry with themselves, because they themselves are faulty before God, as His subordinates. And if charitable sinners are indignant at the ingratitude of people like themselves, then first of all they should be indignant at themselves, because they have no gratitude towards God, their Creator and their highest Benefactor. Every sinner does not show God both obedience and gratitude while he remains faulty in his Christian title and position. For both obedience and gratitude to God without keeping His commandments, but keeping the commandments without love for Him does not happen, according to the word of the Lord: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me.” And further: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:21, 24). You see, Christian, what a faulty sinner is before God: he does not have such obedience, reverence, love and gratitude to God, his Creator, what obedience, reverence, love and gratitude he shows to a person! § 438. What ingratitude to God, the same to Christ the Son of God, is shown by the accursed sinner. And both to God and to the Son of God the sinful soul has no reverence, except verbal and hypocritical. 1) We see how the citizens rejoice when the Tsar comes to the city, and with what desire, reverence and exclamation everyone greets him, it is impossible to say. The King of Heaven, Christ, came into this world to us, as into our city, created by His hand, and “the East from above visited us” (Luke 1:78). The heavenly army sings of His coming (Luke 2:13); the star shows (Matthew 2:9); Preachers preach the glory of God (1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Cor. 4:5; Col. 1:28). But the sinful soul stands motionless, and does not meet Him with due honor, does not worship Him with faith and love; and although he does not speak with his lips to His opponents: “We do not want him to reign over us” (Luke 19:14), he does not want to submit to Him and take His yoke upon ourselves, which must be taken and worn by all who accept Him as their King, according to His command: “Take My yoke upon you” (Matthew 11:29). And without accepting His yoke, He does not accept Him. Those who accept Him as their King must bow their heads to His good yoke. For it is impossible to be a subject of the king and not accept his law and not obey him. For a subject of the king is called a subject because he is subject to and submits to his authority and law. So to the King of Heaven - Christ - those only yield and accept Him as their King, who accept His yoke and faithfully serve Him. Others, although they call Him their King, do not accept His yoke, and do not submit to Him, do not accept Him as their King. Such Christians must fear the Last Judgment of God, which Christ the King threatens to the Jews who did not accept Him: “But my enemies who did not want me to reign over them, bring here and kill them before me” (Luke 19:27). All who do not accept His good yoke and do not want to serve Him, the true King, will be brought to His righteous judgment. They will be cut with the ax of His righteous judgment and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10, 25:41). Then they will recognize His power, which they did not want to willingly and diligently obey and listen to Him now. Christ is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15), and heaven and earth and the underworld are subject to His power, however, He does not force anyone to accept His yoke and His work, but He calls only through His preachers and promises eternal rest to those who work for Him, although all His powers are subject to Him. But to those who accept Him as their King and serve Him with faith and love, He will give eternal peace in His heavenly kingdom, which will have no end. Those who reject His good yoke and do not want to obey and serve Him as their true King will be subjected to eternal punishment by His power and righteous judgment, for they did not obey and did not serve Him, their King, Whom they must obey and serve. 2) How still does a person rejoice when a king comes and visits his house, or even a tall and respectable gentleman: with what eagerness, zeal and desire he meets, receives and treats him; With what gratitude he sees him off, everyone knows. The Heavenly King, the Son of God, wants, as the Lover of Souls, to visit the homes of our souls, and stands at everyone’s door (oh, incomprehensible love for mankind!), and knocks: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). But the sinful soul, having shamelessly closed the doors, does not want to let in and receive this high, great and desired Guest. Woe to us, sinners! What are we doing? Where is our faith, meaning and reason? The Heavenly King stands at our houses, and pushes at the doors, and wants to live in our houses with His kingdom of grace, and to create an abode with us with His Heavenly Father, as He says: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). But we do not open our doors to Him and do not want to receive Him with due honor. O mighty and strong Lord! Lord of strength! Strike hard, and crush with Your strength the doors that are closed, and take Your house, which was unjustly taken possession of by a stranger, Your enemy! We, Christians, must now certainly accept Him into our homes if we want to live with Him forever. Now He stands and knocks on the doors of sinners, but there will be a time when sinners who did not listen and did not accept Him will begin to “knock on doors and say: Lord! God! open to us; but He will answer them: I don’t know you, where you come from; Depart from me, all workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:25, 27). 3) How still does a person rejoice when someone comes to him or someone in captivity to free him; or give a helping hand to someone drowning in the depths; or give health to someone possessed by a severe illness, and what kind of thanksgiving does he bring to that benefactor who does not know this? Who doesn’t want and enjoy freedom, life and health? Who does not honor this treasure more than all other treasures? Christ came to us captive by the devil, naked and wounded by the same enemy, and lying in the path of this world, half dead (Luke 10:30), and drowning in the depths of destruction; and wants to give everyone freedom, health and life. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). But how many who pretend to be Christians do not want to understand this great Benefactor and Savior and take advantage of His great mercy. They prefer to serve sin and the devil rather than free themselves from his yoke, and remain in perdition rather than enter life. And they act like that foolish captive who, when he came to free him from captivity, does not want to follow and free himself from that misfortune. So the Son of God, our Lord, came to us and calls us out of captivity, and calls us to follow Him, so that we could be freed from that and receive the eternal freedom of the heavenly kingdom, but many foolish, and also ungrateful, and even those who wrote down their name to Him (at baptism), neglect this high His good deed, do not want to follow Him in order to be free, and so they remain in their former misfortune and misfortune. The captive must certainly follow the one who came to free him if he wants to be free, and the weak must listen to his healer, and the one drowning in water must fulfill the desire of the one who stretches out his hand, otherwise none of them can be freed from their misfortune. So, everyone who wants to be freed from the devil, sin and eternal death must certainly fulfill the desire of Christ the Redeemer and surrender to His will, so that he can work with him as a doctor with the sick, and as a mentor with the lost, and as a liberator with the captive, and as a savior with the lost. Otherwise, it is impossible to free yourself and be saved. Christ, although a Lover of mankind, saves those who want, and not those who do not want. Question: “Who doesn’t want to be saved? Who doesn’t want this great good for themselves?” Answer. Christ says: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! how often have I wanted to gather your children together, as a bird gathers its chicks under its wings, and you did not want to” (Matthew 23:37)! You see what Christ wants, but people don’t want. True desire will be followed by permission, deed and labor. What kind of work do merchants not do for the sake of the desired wealth, farmers for the sake of fruits, warriors for the sake of victory and glory, and others who desire temporary things? Since they all want to get what they want, that’s why they work for it; and the greater the good, the more work is put into obtaining that good. You see that work and work will follow your desire. And since there is no greater good than the eternal, and that only good is true good, and “the only thing that is needed,” according to the word of the Lord (Luke 10:42), then we must put in more work to obtain it than we work for the sake of the temporary. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” according to the teaching of the apostle (Acts 14:22). You see that they enter the kingdom of God not only through sorrows, but also through many sorrows. And where there are many sorrows, there is a lot of work required to overcome them. Although Christ opened the door to eternal life with His death, and gives it to believers in His name, there is no other way to it except the narrow path, as the Lord Himself says: “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it; for strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The flesh, or corruption of the flesh, the world and the devil are Christian enemies. These obstacles are created for us who are moving towards eternal life. They braid the feet of those running to receive an incorruptible crown. The soul that wants to be saved and thus enter into life must struggle against these enemies. This feat is accomplished with an ever-watchful eye, and then with the omnipotent help of God, which is sent to those who ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7-8). 4) We also see how a man loves his benefactor, who begs the king who is angry with him and brings him into the royal favor, thanks him and keeps the deed unforgettable in his memory, and even more so when he delivers him through his intercession from death, which he was subject to according to the laws and the royal court. Everyone knows how great this work is considered by everyone. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, God, the eternal and Heavenly King, angry with us for our sins, for we have all sinned against Him, begged and begged not only with His fervent prayer and tears, but also with the deepest humility, suffering and death, the death of the cross. He was pleased for us, the outcasts and outcasts, to wander, for the poor to be in poverty, for those sold under sin to be sold and betrayed, for those mocked and ridiculed by Satan to be mocked, ridiculed and spat upon, for those cursed by the law to be cursed (Gal. 3:13), for those condemned to be condemned, for those who died to die. O Thy love for mankind, Jesus! Do you see, Christian, how expensive it became for the Son of God to seek mercy for us from God, irritated by our transgression? Our Intercessor and Intercessor did this, and thus brought us into the mercy of His Heavenly Father; destroyed death on the cross by death, and opened the way to eternal life, and those who accept Him as their Intercessor and Savior enter into it with a grateful heart. But the sinner, blind and unrepentant, does not feel this high of His good deeds and does not thank Him. What is temporary life, which everyone must leave due to the duty of nature, in comparison with eternal life? Nothing!.. However, the sinner honors her for great things and thanks her intercessor, but does not thank Christ, who deserved eternal life. Alas for us, poor sinners! What great darkness surrounds our hearts! Question: “How can Christians not thank Christ?” Answer. Without love there can be no gratitude, unless it is verbal and hypocritical, as everyone well knows. A grateful heart feels, remembers and always keeps in mind a good deed, and loves its benefactor from a pure heart. The Lord Himself shows signs to those who love Him and those who do not love Him: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me. He who loves Me will keep My word. He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:21,23–24). What does a person not do to please his loved one and how not to offend him? Not only wealth, but often honor, and, what’s more, he does not spare his health. And whatever the beloved wants, the lover does for him. In a word, love captivates the heart of the lover, and draws the beloved after him, and binds him to the beloved, and does one thing with him, which is noticeable in carnal and nasty love. For the sake of Christ, to whom you give thanks and for whom you have love, do you boast that you are doing such a thing? Look at your heart, what is it captivated by? Is it not the love of this world that turns a person away from the love of Christ? If you seek glory, honor, reverence, wealth and carnality, then know that you love the world, and not Christ, and thereby your heart is captivated; he draws you after him, and with him, bound by love, you remain. A rich inheritance for your son and an abundant dowry for your daughter, whom you love and prepare; you expand the houses of the rich, decorate carriages and horses for the sake of pride and vanity; you dress in expensive clothes for the sake of ostentation and pomp; You treat your friends and guests with abundant meals and wines for the sake of carnivore and man-pleasing; and for your other favorite pleasures you do not spare your property, but for the sake of Christ, for whose sake we should not spare even our souls, why are you doing such a thing? With what, with what kind of mercy do the poor orphans and widows leave you, whom Christ ordered to provide, and who offer you the name of Christ and ask for mercy from you? Idle and with the same tears with which they come!.. So you love Christ, that even among the people you love and honor, you do not honor Him!.. Such is your gratitude to Him!.. He did not spare His soul for your sake, in order to save you from death, eternal death, but for His sake you do not want to give even a copper! Where is your cross, which those who love Christ should wear and follow Him? He lies trampled on the ground, and you have jumped far from him, you are ashamed and horrified of him, and with him of Christ, who bore the Cross and was crucified on the Cross. What if there is a need to either renounce Christ or sacrifice one’s life to death, as was the case under the persecutors of the Church? Do you want to give yourself and your life for the sake of Christ, which is what faith in Him and love for Him requires of us, if for His sake you don’t want to give money, copper, silver and gold, endure blasphemous words and sorrow? If you don’t want to do little, will you do great? You don’t want to despise money, fame and honor for His sake. Do you want to despise the soul that is most dear to a person? Who will believe this? 5) How else a person loves and thanks a person, through whose intercession he receives temporary honor and nobility, is known to the whole world. Christ granted us eternal, high, heavenly and ineffable nobility, that is, He gave us the power to become children of God, and gives this to those who receive Him by faith: “To those who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). But the same soul, a lover of honor and nobility, does not love Christ and does not thank Him for that highest good deed. What is the honor and nobility of all this world against that honor? Every royal honor, higher than which there is nothing in this world, is like dirt against gold and darkness against light, or even nothing. You will recognize this as true, Christian, if you judge correctly about the glory of God’s children. However, he thanks his intercessor for small things, but does not thank Christ, Who through His Cross revealed eternal glory to us. And so he is deprived of all the good things that He deserves, like an ungrateful person. § 439. From these and similar reflections, sadness for the sake of God may be born in the heart of a repentant Christian, that is, that he did not show such obedience, reverence, love and gratitude to his God and Creator as he does to a person similar or even equal to himself. For everyone, superiors and subordinates, are equal by nature, since all people are of the same nature. If it is worthy to honor a ruler - a man - how much more - God, the highest and eternal Ruler, Who rules and reigns over our authorities. And if it is righteous to thank a benefactor - a person - how much more so - God, Who is our benefactor and our Benefactor is the highest and foremost. And if we should regret the insult of a person who is evil by nature: “no one is good except God alone” (Matthew 19:17), and who himself sins and offends, then how much more should we lament and regret that we sin and offend God, Who alone is good by His nature, is eternal love and goodness, and will not offend or offend anyone, but, on the contrary, will respect everyone. He does good to His love for mankind and does not cease to do good. And if we believe a man who is a lie: “every man is a liar” (Ps. 115:2), then how much more appropriate is it to believe God, Who is true and is Truth itself. And if we love and honor sincerely and unfeignedly our father according to the flesh, then how much more than God, who created us and our father, nourishes us and supplies us with other blessings, we must love and honor, which cannot be without obedience. And if we are afraid or ashamed of being outrageous before the king and the lower ruler or before an honest person, then how much more should we fear that outrage to show before the majesty of God, for He is everywhere and looks at all our deeds. And if we defend the honor of our monarch, our father and master, how much more must the honor and glory of God Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords, be defended and preserved. Every person, no matter how great, is almost nothing before God, and his glory and honor are nothing before the honor and glory of God. In a word, conscience itself teaches and convinces us to love, honor, listen to and thank God more than all creation and ourselves, and every name that can be named. And if a person has not rendered his due to God, and recognizes this sin and his insignificance before Him, then he cannot help but be heartbroken, sick and sad for the sake of God, which sadness is true and soul-saving, which sadness God Himself demands from us in our repentance: “Rend your hearts, not your garments” (Joel 2:13). This is how Peter the Apostle was saddened when he denied Christ, “and he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). This is how the thief on the cross was offended for Christ: “We are condemned justly,” he answered the blasphemous thief, “because what is worthy is acceptable according to our deeds.” Here is his confession of his sin and guilt! “But He (Christ) did nothing wrong, but he suffers innocently, and what we suffer is.” This is his regret for Christ, who innocently suffered! “And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom!” Here confession and through confession faith in Christ is depicted! His faith received consolation from Christ: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:41–43). So we, Christians, should grieve in our repentance that we did not give due honor to God and the Creator, did not listen to Him and did not love Him most of all. And such sadness will certainly be followed by consolation from God Himself, Who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Ps. 146:3). Chapter 15: A true Christian must do all his deeds for the glory of God “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory, according to Thy mercy and Thy truth” (Ps. 113:9). § 440. When Satan, the Christian enemy, notices that a person is trying to please God and do good deeds that are pleasing to Him, then he tries in every way to discredit those deeds, so that what is done outwardly is commendable, inside, in his heart, is not commendable. For not every good deed is truly good, but only that which is lawful and done for a good purpose (see 2 Tim. 2:5). For a deed may outwardly seem good, but when it happens for an evil purpose, it is internally vicious in itself. Thus, almsgiving, patience, and so on are discredited when they happen for the sake of vanity, and therefore God does not like such a thing. How can it be that God pleases that it does not happen for God’s sake? Therefore, the devil, noticing this, tries to turn a good deed into a vice, so that what appears to be good outwardly is not good inside and in itself, and so the evil and evil spirit strives to receive self-interest and rent from our good deeds. Moreover, our glory-loving flesh wants to turn everything into glory and praise. If we want to please God, we must not please ourselves, that is, the flesh, with good deeds, but discern the machinations of the enemy, who seeks to discredit our work and make what is apparently spiritual and God-pleasing inside carnal and unpleasing. § 441. True Christians, who do good deeds without hypocrisy, are likened in Holy Scripture to trees bearing good fruit. “Every good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:17). The good tree here means a faithful and God-fearing heart. Similarly, in the psalm it is sung: “And he will be like a tree planted by the springs of water, which yields its fruit in its season,” and so on (Ps. 1:3), and in another place: “The righteous will flourish like a date palm, and will be exalted like a cedar tree in Lebanon” (Ps. 91:13). Therefore, their good deeds are called fruits, fruits of righteousness (Phil.1:11), fruits of righteousness (James 3:18), fruits of the Spirit (Eph.5:9; Gal.5:22), fruits worthy of repentance (Matt.3:8). Just as on a tree fruits are born from within, from the sap in it, and a good tree shows good fruits, so Christian virtues must come from within, from the heart, and so Christian piety must be shown by the heart. Faith, humility, love, mercy and so on - there is hypocrisy when they have no place in the heart and do not come from the heart. And God speaks to the soul, and not to the body. Therefore, the soul must believe, hope, love, be merciful, humble, and have other piety. § 442. Truly good deeds come from God, or, as it is simpler to say, Christians are encouraged by God to do good deeds, and they receive strength and strength from God to do this, and in this work they work with the assistance of His grace. This is how God’s word testifies: “God is at work in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). And without Him we cannot do anything, and we cannot bear any fruit, unless we are on the true Vine - Jesus Christ (John 15:1, 4-5). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in” (Eph. 2:10). He (Christ) “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). § 443. For this reason, the good deeds of Christians must be attributed and attributed to that Beginning, from Whom they come. And since they come from God, as it is said, then just as they are created for the glory and praise of God, so they should be attributed to His grace. Then it will be when we create them not for the sake of our glory and praise, so that they will be visible to people, and revered as saints, and so glorified by them, but we will strive for this, so that the name of the Heavenly Father will be glorified and sanctified, as Christ teaches: “So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16), - and we will not boast about those who have been created and to be exalted, but, thinking about our weakness, we will admit that on our own we cannot even think or want, not only create, anything pleasing to God. It is necessary for God Himself to produce good thoughts, desires, and good undertakings in us, as was said above. For this be glory to Him, amen! Conclusion of this article: On encouraging a sinner to repentance “Or do you despise the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4). This admonishing word of the Apostle of Christ concerns every faulty Christian: it strikes the conscience of the fornicator, the predator, the thief, the slanderer, the slanderer, the malicious, the drunkard and everyone who is careless about the goodness of God and their salvation; and it represents to every sinner that he lives for this reason in the world, and still does not accept it according to his deeds, for God awaits his conversion: the goodness of God leads him to repentance. Glory to the riches of Your goodness, and meekness, and long-suffering, our humane God, that You deal so mercifully with us sinners! But it is not fitting for us, O sinners, to care about the riches of His goodness and meekness and long-suffering, lest we fall into the judgment of His righteousness. For whoever does not care about the goodness of God will learn the truth of God in himself. We are afraid of human judgment, which only concerns our bodies. Why are we not afraid of God’s judgment, which destroys both body and soul? We are afraid of temporary death. Why are we not afraid of eternal death? We run away from temporary misfortune, dishonor, reproach, disgrace, poverty, captivity, suffering, sadness, illness and other nasty things. Why don’t we try to avoid eternal disaster, in which illness, sorrow, captivity, dishonor, reproaches, poverty and all kinds of torment and suffering consist? We wash the mortal body with water. Why don’t we wash our immortal souls with repentance? We regret the lost wealth, honor, glory, which we will all be forced to leave with this life. Why don’t we regret the loss of wealth, honor and glory of God’s chosen ones, from whom this treasure will never be separated? We seek temporary bliss and avoid disaster, which, like a dream, as soon as it comes, so quickly leaves us. But why don’t we seek eternal bliss, which is unshakable, and why don’t we try to evade eternal disaster? O beauty, O vanity in which the blinded sinner is entangled! O man! “Or do you despise the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” Let us listen further, Christian, to the holy apostle, what he proclaims to the careless sinner. “Because of your stubbornness,” he says, “and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5-6). If the sinner remains in negligence and unrepentance and neglects the goodness and long-suffering of God, and adds sins to sins, not noticing that the goodness of God leads him to repentance through long-suffering, then God’s judgment befalls him. And the more he sins and experiences the kindness and long-suffering of God, the more he experiences the wrath of God. How much did God endure with the Israelites, “to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the worship, and the promises; theirs are the fathers, and from them Christ is according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:4–5); how much they sinned, turned away from Him, grieved, angered and irritated Him, and were variously punished and admonished through the prophets and were converted and corrected - the Scriptures of the Old Testament testify. But when they despised all that long-suffering of God and came to such boldness that the Lord of glory, Who came to save them, was crucified and killed (1 Cor. 2:8), they fell to the final wrath and vengeance of God, so that just as their place and church were destroyed to the ground (Matthew 24:2), so they themselves were scattered among all nations and rejected by God, and “the kingdom of God was taken away from them, and it was given.” to the people who bear its fruit” (Matthew 21:43). Likewise, the vengeful hand of God was felt by the Sodomites, who knew the goodness of God and long-suffering, and did not want to turn and repent of their iniquities, fulfilled the measure of iniquities, even crossed over, therefore they were burned by fire from heaven and descended into hell to drink the cup of God’s eternal wrath (Gen. 19:24-25). The same judgment befell the Egyptians, who embittered the people of God, and at the command of God did not want to let them go, and although they were punished for this by God, they became even more embittered by the punishments; why, when they chased after the exiled Israelites, and wanted to enslave them again for themselves, whom they saw covered, protected and delivered by the miraculous hand of God, they all sank into the Red Sea, and were covered with water, like earth in a tomb, and so they perished (Ex. 4:27-28). We also read that all the inhabitants of the whole earth who were with Noah were destroyed by God’s righteous wrath, for they did not want to turn from their wickedness and repent, which God’s long-suffering awaited “in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved from the water” (1 Peter 3:20), which long-suffering when they despised, they already experienced the terrible wrath of God, and the worldwide They were covered with the flood along with the cattle and wild beasts, and the wicked perished (Gen. 7:17–24). These examples, cited from Holy Scripture, show us that the goodness of God and His long-suffering, despised by sinners, turns into great destruction for them. We still see the same destinies of God today. The same God even now punishes wickedness, which He hates, and puts to death the wicked who despise the riches of His goodness, and meekness, and long-suffering. We see how many thousands are consumed by the pestilence, struck by the sword of war; How many lawless people are struck down in the most lawless deed and go down to hell to receive according to their deeds! The Word of God is preached, in which everyone hears that God is calling him, calls him away from sin and the delusions of the world, and turns and calls him to Himself, and awaits his conversion and repentance, and so the goodness of God leads everyone to repentance; but when the lawless despise the long-suffering of God, living in unrepentance and their former wickedness, then God’s truth enters into His work and with the sword of justice cuts them off, like trees that do not bear good fruit, and throws them into the fire (Matthew 3:10). Let us fear, sinners, the judgment of God and turn away from our iniquities, so that His righteous wrath does not overtake us. It is dangerous, very dangerous, not to care about the goodness and meekness and long-suffering of God, as was said above. Instead of His goodness and meekness, His anger will kindle against the careless. “We know Him who said: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And one more thing: The Lord will judge His people. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10:30–31)! For “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). Let us turn to Him while He is patient and waits for us, so as not to fall into His hands. Now He is waiting for us and wants to accept us, but He does not promise us tomorrow. Now let us turn to Him, and He will have mercy on us. For he is good and merciful to those who turn: he does not remember their past sins, does not reprimand them for abandoning Him and serving His enemy, but only accepts everyone who comes, and rejoices over him, and forgives him all his sins. Having such a gentle, merciful, generous, meek, gracious Lord, O sinners, let us not hesitate to come to Him with repentance and tears, and we will be saved from His wrath, which will fall on the unrepentant and eat them up like fire hay. O Christians, let us remember our name, title and promise. Christ is our King, and we are His subjects, servants, for from Him we have our name, Christian. He created us, He redeemed us with His Blood, He provides for us. At baptism we promised to serve him with faith and truth; They wrote down their names to him, and we are called Christians. Where is our promise? Where is the faith? Where is the truth? Where is the work that is faithful to Him? Why doesn't the name agree? Why are we called Christians and do not serve Christ, but the world and sin? What use is a name to us without the thing that the name signifies? Why is a slave called the slave of a master who does not obey and does not work? Why is a Christian called a Christian when he does not serve Christ, his King and Lord? “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:9). “But those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal.5:24). The most magnificent name is “Christian.” Christians are sons of God (Gal.3:26, 4:7), and their fellowship is “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). This title is attributed to them by God's word. “The word is faithful and worthy of all acceptance” (1 Tim. 1:15)! How is it possible to be defiled by sins and have fellowship with the most holy God? “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:5-6). How is it possible to be both a child of this world and a child of God? There is no way this can be. One must certainly be one or the other: one must either be a child of God and walk in the light, “as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), and imitate the Father’s property in morals, and imitate Him, or be a child of the world, and walking in darkness, doing dark deeds. “Let us cleanse ourselves, O Christians, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1), so that we may be Christ’s and sons of the Most High and have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. What is the use to us of worldly sweetness, which is felt as long as it is being accomplished, and, having been accomplished, instead of bringing false consolation, it brings true sorrow into the soul? What benefit do we have from the riches of this world, honor, glory and praise? Honor and wealth are nothing but greater anxiety for us. Who cares more than one who is rich and in honor? What is glory and praise but the voice of people, coming from one to another and hitting the ears, who often praise and glorify what is in itself vicious, and often whomever they praise, then curse? Why should we, we Christians, look for that which is forbidden to us and takes away our peace; and to be consoled by the fact that it does not contain any bliss, but is only seen as something, as a shadow? All the bliss of this world is like a fur inflated with air, which from the outside is seen as something, but has nothing in itself, and so only seduces us, and is like a bubble on the water, which, appearing as something, disappears. So the whole world's treasure only shows itself as something and seduces people like unintelligent children, like coals heated by fire, which they grab with their hands, get burned, and get sick, and cry. The world does the same to its lovers. It shows itself to them as something beautiful, but this beauty later turns into illness and inconsolable crying, when at the end of their life, nothing more, as soon as the wounded conscience and destruction of the soul are taken away from here. Take note and understand this, lovers and children of the world! You will receive nothing from the love of the world except destruction. For “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). For “no one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other” (Matthew 6:24). A Christian cannot serve Christ and the world; You must stick to one thing and not worry about the other. Let us care, O Christians, about the world, and serve Christ, Who redeemed us and called us to Himself, so that we might truly, and not hypocritically, be Christ’s. “Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them” (2 Cor. 5:15). Let us leave peace to a world that does not know the true God and His Son Jesus Christ. Let the pagans and idolaters, who have no hope, be comforted by its feigned beauty and sweetness, but we are called to great and inscrutable blessings, to eternal life and the kingdom of heaven and reborn by the Spirit. Let them wallow in the swamp and its mud, as if unwashed. We, however, have been washed in the bath of Baptism, and clothed in the pure righteousness of Christ, and “have come,” according to the apostolic word, “to Mount Zion and to the city of the Living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and the hosts of Angels, to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous who have reached perfection, and to the Mediator of the new covenant to Jesus, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaketh better than Abel” (Heb. 12:22–24). Oh, how expensive and beautiful is the robe of Christians - a robe purchased by the Blood of Christ and speckled, incomparably more precious than the royal purple! How glorious is the citizenship that they have in heaven! “But our citizenship is in heaven, from where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Let us try, O Christians, to preserve this holy robe, moving away from worldly impurities, and, as the Apostle teaches, moving away “from the lusts of the flesh that rise against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11), and having lost it, find it through repentance and tears, so that we may also be residents of the glorious eternal city, and receive the eternal blessings that “God has prepared for those who love Him” ( 1 Cor. 2:9). Amen. You might be interested in: