128. Свидетели

We see that there are many witnesses in the world who testify to the things happening in the world. People testify in court about right and wrong; a house and a building testify to its architect and creator; the book testifies about the author and his mind; boiled food testifies to the cook; the letter testifies to the writer; Human traces testify to a person who passed in this place, bestial traces testify to cattle, bird traces testify to a bird, and so on. Thus the whole world testifies to God, its Creator, and silently speaks of Him to us, rational creatures: “He created me.” A great and wonderful building shows a great and wonderful creator. The great and incomprehensible vastness of the sky testifies: “He created me.” The heavens proclaim the glory of God (Ps. 18:2). The sky is great and vast, but the Creator is incomparably greater, for Him the sky is a throne, and the earth is a footstool (Is. 66:1). 1) The sun, moon and stars testify: “He created us; We have light, given to us by Him, and we serve you, O people, with this. But our Creator, the One who gave us such light, is an incomparably better, more beautiful, most excellent and most wonderful Light (See 1 John 1:5). He is clothed with light, as with a robe (Ps. 103:2). We enlighten your bodily eyes, but He enlightens your spiritual eyes. We show you the way, good and evil, bodily benefit and harm, but He, with His holy word, shows you the path to eternal life, good and evil, spiritual benefit and harm.” The air testifies: “He created me. I give life to your bodies, but He gives life to your souls. I am the life of your bodies, but He is the life of your souls. Animals cannot live without me, and your souls cannot live without Him. I give life to your mortal bodies, but seek life from Him for your souls. God, quicken us, and we will call on Your name (Ps. 79:19)." The change of days and nights testifies, and silently cries out to us about God: “He arranged it this way. Day imparts word to day, and night to night proclaims knowledge. There are no dialects or languages ​​in which their voices are not heard (Ps. 18:3-4).” In the east and west, in the north and south, they testify silently. The night serves for our rest, the day for doing. A man will go out to his work and to his work until the evening (Ps. 103:23). Springs, rivers, lakes and seas, and those living in them, testify: “He created us. We serve your needs; but He commanded us to serve you - so that you may know your Creator and serve Him. We serve you, you, a rational creature, serve your Creator and thank Him.” The earth testifies: “He created me, He gave me to you for your habitation. The highest heaven is to the Lord, and He gave the earth to the sons of men (Ps. 113:24). You had your beginning from me, but you will return again into my bosom, from where you were taken (See Gen. 3:19). Know that you are strangers and strangers in this world. So, look for the Fatherland and your home, in which you will live motionless and calm down.” We look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). The fruits of the earth testify: “He created us.” We, O people, have nourishing and healing powers; He gave us such strength for your sake. We nourish and heal your bodies; But seek from Him food and healing for your souls: He is food and healing for your souls. When you eat us, taste and see how good the Lord is (Ps. 33:9), who has given you such good things for food, comfort and healing. We are His good creation, but our Creator is incomparably better. We are good to your bodies, and He is good to your souls. Love Him, thank Him, seek Him, draw closer to Him. Taste and see how good the Lord is. Various trees testify: “He created us. We serve you, O people, with our fruits, and by giving you shade during the heat; We serve to build your houses, and to warm your chambers, and to prepare your food, and for other various needs. We serve you - you serve our Creator and thank Him.” Various animals, livestock and birds testify: “He created us, He commanded us to serve you, O people! We serve you, sometimes by giving you food, sometimes by giving you skins for clothing, sometimes by working for you; We serve you and your needs: He commanded us so. You serve the Lord, our Creator, and give thanks and praise to Him, for the Lord is good, who created us to serve you.” They testify to the clouds moving here and there, and water like bottles carrying it, and with it the air, the earth and the fruits of the earth, and cooling us: “He created us.” The creation is wonderful, and its structure is wonderful: it has its place in the subtle element of air; contains such a great burden of water, but does not fall, and not suddenly, but little by little it pours it onto the earth, and having watered one country, it passes to another, and there it pours out its treasure and waters the thirsty land. This is how the All-Powerful and Wise Creator arranged it, Who raises clouds from the ends of the earth (Ps. 134:7). Look at us, O people,” they silently cry out to us, “look at us and know the power and wisdom of our Creator. He arranged and commanded us to be like this. We fulfill His all-powerful word, we move from place to place and distribute water, like His servants, and irrigate the air, and cool you, water your fields and return your fruits. We serve you - you serve your Creator, Who commanded us to serve you, and thank and praise Him, for the Lord is good. He did not cease to testify about Himself with good deeds, giving us rain and fruitful times from heaven and filling our hearts with food and joy (Acts 14:17). Lightning and thunder testify: “He created us.” Creates lightning in the rain (Ps. 134:7). We, O people, they cry out to us, are frightening you; but fear ye more the One who created us. We are terrible for you, but He is very terrible (Sir. 1:7). So, fear Him, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in fiery hell (Matthew 10:28); Fear Him truly, and repent, so that you may not perish. The winds testify: He created us. He brings out the winds from His treasures (Ps. 134:7). We, O people, they cry, bring rain clouds to you, purify the air and make it well-dissolved, drive away darkness, take away all rottenness and harm from it, and make it useful for you and healthy, help your earthly fruits to grow, grow, ripen and ripen, and thus we serve you. We serve you - you serve the Lord, our Creator, and give thanks to Him, for the Lord is good. Winter and summer, spring and autumn testify: “He created us.” All creation also testifies: “He created us.” What was created out of nothing testifies to the almighty power of its Creator. What is created with wisdom testifies to the wisdom of its Creator. You have created everything with wisdom (Ps. 103:24). The creation is good, and very good, and testifies to the incomprehensible kindness and goodness of its Creator. The human conscience bears witness to God our Creator. This faithful witness is never silent, but always cries out to man: “There is God, and there is His righteous judgment. There is a God who rewards virtue and punishes sin,” therefore he convicts a person for sin, worries and torments him, and for virtue he consoles and amuses. The word of God contained in the Holy Bible testifies about God. The law of the Lord is blameless: it converts souls; The revelation of the Lord is true: He makes children wise. The Lord's justifications are right: they gladden the heart; The commandment of the Lord is bright: it enlightens the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure: it endures forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, they are all righteous, more desirable than gold and precious stones and sweeter than honey and coma (Ps. 19:8-11). Your revelations are very true (Ps. 92:5). The glorious and wonderful works of God testify to God, which the whole world sees and looks at with amazement. Who brought the global flood, and in the midst of the waters preserved righteous Noah with his house and some animals in the ark? God. Who tamed the various wild animals that were in the ark? God. Who burned Sodom and Gomorrah with the surrounding cities with fire from heaven and brought righteous Lot out of there? God. Who struck Egypt with plagues? God. Who brought Israel out of Egyptian slavery? God. Who parted the Red Sea and led Israel through it? God. Who drowned the tormenting pharaoh with all his army in that sea? God. Who led Israel through the terrible desert? God. Who fed such a multitude in the desert for forty years? God. God gives food to all flesh (Ps. 136:25). Who defeated the great kings in the face of them: Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan? God. Who brought Israel to the promised land? God. Who drove out and destroyed the nations from this land, and settled Israel in it? God. Who saved Israel from the surrounding nations living in that land? God. What was Israel against all the nations surrounding it? Like one man against a thousand people, or like two men against twenty thousand, or like a handful of water against the sea. But Israel remained intact; the thousands of peoples surrounding him could not destroy him. Who preserved him if not the Almighty God, Whom he called and worshiped? This is what the psalmist sings about: If the Lord had not been with us, let Israel say, if the Lord had not been with us when people rebelled against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath became angry against us, then the water would have drowned us (Ps. 124:1-4). And although sometimes Israel was in slavery to foreigners, this was sent to them by God as punishment for their sins and iniquities; for God, even in His people who know and honor Him, hates sins and iniquities and sends them execution for them. In the new grace, the known and firm testimony of God is revealed by the works created by Christ, the Son of God, and described in the Holy Gospel, and, as we point to the sun with our finger, God is shown and brought to our knowledge. The Gospel is filled with such glorious and supernatural deeds. It is impossible for any power located in heaven to transform water into wine, to make a paralytic healthy with a word, to give sight to a man blind from birth, to cleanse a leper, to drive out a demon from a person, to raise the dead and other similar things. There must be and be present here an omnipotent force that can do everything, and can make something out of nothing, from evil - good, from weak - healthy, from darkness - light, from dead - living, from non-existent - existing, and from non-existence brings into being - such, I say, a power to whose desire everything obeys and which, whatever it wants, creates, for which nothing is impossible. Such power is our God, who alone does everything he wants. And so that no one doubts these glorious and wonderful deeds of God, the circumstances themselves are described: where, in what country, in what city, or village, on the way, or in the desert; when, morning or evening; on whom, and who was there, and what followed, what was said, what was done, and so on. All these circumstances take away any doubt from a person and convince him to see the truth in what the Holy Gospel tells about. Christ the Lord turned water into wine. Where was this miracle? In Cana of Galilee. Under what circumstances? During marriage. Who was there? Blessed Mother of Jesus and His disciples. Why is water turned into wine? Because there wasn't enough wine. Who reported this to Christ the Lord, who knows everything? His Most Holy Mother said: They have no wine. What did Christ the Lord answer to Her? What is it for me and for you, wife? What did the Mother of Jesus then say to the servants? Whatever He (Jesus) says to you, do it. How is water turned into wine? In waterpots filled to the top. How did the wine transformed from water appear to the master of the feast? Good. Therefore, having invited the groom, he said to him: Every person first serves good wine, and when they get drunk, then the worst; and you have saved good wine until now (See John 2:1–11). Likewise, with other miraculous works of God, circumstances are described that show the truth of the Gospel clearer than the sun, so that everyone with sound reasoning is convinced to believe in it. Therefore, those who do not believe the most holy gospel truth will be unrequited, and even more so those who were born of Christians and entered Christianity through Baptism: their own conscience will expose them. The conversion of peoples to the Christian faith strongly testifies and thunders throughout the world. This matter is truly great and wonderful, and incessantly in all the ends of the earth, in the east and west, in the north and south, it silently cries out to everyone: “There is a God who can do everything. There is a God who creates light out of darkness. There is a God who provides for all creation, and even more so for rational creatures, that is, for man. There is a God who wants all people to be saved and come to the understanding of truth. There is a God who sent His Christ into the world to convert the lost, to seek and save the lost (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10) and to bring to Himself those who have wandered away, created in His image.” This great and wonderful deed, like a finger, points to God, the Almighty, Most Good, Humane, Merciful, Long-suffering and Wise; This is an unceasing, silent sermon in all corners of the earth about Christ, the Savior of the world. Wonderful thing! The pagans, seduced by cunning, dreams and ghosts of the devil, and confirmed in idolatrous wickedness, and holding this from their ancestors, and in this, hardened and aged, and knowing what is similar to carnal wisdom and pleasing to it, abandoned it and considered it delusion and a lie. There must be a supernatural Light here, which enlightened the eyes of their souls and showed them darkness and beauty. To whom did the pagans turn from their delusion? To Christ, about whom they had never heard, whom the Jews expected, but rejected, and who suffered from them, was crucified on the Cross, and hanged between two thieves, and died, and on the third day was resurrected, and ascended into heaven. And they recognized Him as their True God, and placed and confirmed all the hope of eternal bliss in Him alone; They did not recognize any other mediator besides Him for eternal bliss, and He, as their True God, was worshiped and glorified. The power of the crucified Christ drew them to Him, who died for all. Those who became rigid and old in polytheism recognized the One True God. They recognized God as One in nature, but Trinity in Persons; believed in heavenly and supernatural mysteries, in the resurrection of the dead, in heavenly and invisible blessings, and so on; They left the lawless life, carried out in pleasing the flesh, the vanity and pomp of this world and loved the humble and virtuous life of Christ, and, each taking up his cross, followed Christ, his Savior. A supernatural light flashed in their hearts and drew them after Christ. Through whom were countless peoples, like wild animals, converted to the Christian faith? Through the twelve apostles. What are they converted by? Not with weapons, but with words. Who were they? Ignorant and simple. The human mind cannot understand this matter! And it was nothing other than the power of the crucified Christ that did all this. No matter how many obstacles the devil placed in the growing Christian faith and no matter how many tortures he invented through his servants for the preachers of the Word and the rest of the faithful, he succeeded in nothing: his entire council crumbled by the evil power of the crucified Christ, our God. The more Christians were tortured and killed, the more their number increased. Many of them hurried to suffer for Christ, as if to a sweet feast, and through fire and water entered into eternal rest (See Ps. 65:12). Worthy of surprise! People saw the gravest torments that awaited Christians then, but they boldly went and converted to the Christian faith, and dared to endure all the torments. They did not see eternal blessings, but they strove for them as if they were visible, and they encouraged each other to achieve that feat and those eternal blessings. This was not human, but God’s work. The power of God was at work. God, whom they knew and glorified, gave them His light, His strength and strength, according to what is written: The Lord will give Strength to His people (Ps. 28:11). And so they overcame and won all the slander of the enemy and the most severe torment. And this is what Christ, our Savior, said before His suffering: And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me (John 12:32). And again: I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and these I must bring: and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd (John 10:16). He drew to Himself all His lost sheep, and all the ends of the earth worship Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, that He has visited His people and created deliverance for them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (Luke 1:68–69). You see, Christian, how many witnesses there are about God, and they constantly exhort us to believe, honor and glorify our Creator. We too will honor Him with faith, fear, love, humility and obedience. We recognize Him as the Creator, God, Lord, Provider and our Highest Benefactor and our only Bliss and the highest Good, and He also recognizes and recognizes us as His people. This is what eternal life consists of. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the One True God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent, says the Lord (John 17:3). You might be interested in: