136. Сторож

We see that in the world different watchmen are appointed: some guard the city, others guard the house, others are sent to guard others; and they guard what they are assigned to. Thus, bishops and presbyters are elected and appointed to guard the Christian souls entrusted to their supervision. The word of God befits them, which is said to the holy prophet Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel (Ezek. 33:7). The watchmen who are assigned to guard houses and cities, etc., protect them from evil people. From whom should bishops and elders guard Christian souls? Answer. The holy apostle points out, saying: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Oh, how fierce is the enemy from whom Christians must be guarded! Oh, how skillful and vigilant must be the watchmen who preserve Christians from this enemy! He desires and seeks not to take our houses or our cities, but to take our souls captive; It is not to take away our property, gold, silver and other substances from us, but to steal eternal salvation, acquired through the Blood and death of Christ. And he is as cunning and cunning as he is evil. He has been learning his evil art since the beginning of the world; knows how to approach, how to deceive, how to seduce a person, how to sneak up on him, and so on. He steals and kidnaps our salvation through unbelief, heresies, schisms and every sin. From such a fierce and cunning enemy, bishops and presbyters are appointed to guard Christian souls. Do not slumber, O beloved, but be sober and awake, and guard the souls entrusted to you; warn and proclaim to people his evil and destructive coming. You will stand vigorously on guard when you constantly speak God’s word to people, exhort and beg them to live according to his rule and correct their lives; instill faith in their hearts, instill the fear of God, warn against sin and encourage them to virtue; to remind them about God, about what He wants and demands from us - about Christ, the Savior of the world, about His life on earth, His suffering, death and Resurrection, and why such a great and wonderful thing was done, and what we owe to Him for this such great love of His for us, revealed to us; also show what faith and unbelief are, what virtue and sin are, lies and truth, and so on. This is the office of bishop and presbyter, the souls of Christian watchmen. Guard and preserve the house of Israel - the Church entrusted to you, which is the house of God. Guard the Church, but first guard and guard yourself, and guard yourself with all fear. For our enemy no longer seeks to overthrow anyone other than the shepherd. In a visible war, the enemy is more concerned about how to steal the guard that the army is guarding; So the Christian enemy, the devil, cares about nothing more than to kidnap and captivate the shepherds, the souls of the Christian guards. Beware, beloved; take care of people, and take care of yourself. He walks around us invisibly and is looking for how to devour us. He sees us, but we don’t see him. However, an evil spirit is recognized by an evil smell and stench. So, when you protect and warn others, then first protect and warn yourself. How will you warn and protect others when you won’t protect yourself? How will you turn others away from sin when you yourself do not turn away from sin? How will you encourage others to virtue when you yourself are not committed to virtue? You will hear an accusatory word in your conscience: Doctor! Heal yourself (Luke 4:23). Read the first and second epistles of the Apostle Paul to Timothy and Titus, and reason diligently, and you will see how you and yourself and the Christian souls entrusted to you should guard. Be, beloved, a faithful, cheerful and vigilant guardian of yourself and Christian souls, not with silver and gold, but with the Blood of Christ. You have to answer for all of them before the Righteous Judge, Who shed His most pure Blood for them. Think about this, remember, pay attention to yourself and all your flock, beware and take care. A powerful weapon against the invisible enemy is prayer. Therefore, pray yourself and teach your people to pray. Mutual prayer is like a strong wall against the enemy, that is, when the shepherd earnestly and lovingly prays for the people and the people cry out from their hearts to God for the shepherd. Need and misfortune convince you to pray for yourself, but love convinces you to pray for your neighbor. In a visible war, all the warriors of the commander protect and protect from the enemy, for their integrity lies in his integrity; so in an invisible war, all Christians must defend their boss - the shepherd - with prayer against the enemy; for their integrity depends on his integrity. When the shepherd is good and wise, the sheep are in good condition. When such mutual love is manifested, then God Himself protects both the shepherd and the flock, and without Him all efforts are powerless, according to what is written: If the Lord does not build a house, those who build it labor in vain; If the Lord does not guard the city, the watchman watches in vain (Ps. 127:1). The Holy Prophet, by his example, shows where help and protection come to us, and says: I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come. My help comes from the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth, and so on, until the end of Psalm 120. We see that when the guards of a house let them know about evil coming to the house, that is, either about evil people who have found it, or about a fire that has started, then the inhabitants of the house get up and with all diligence try to protect and preserve the house. So, when the shepherd announces to people the coming wrath of God for their sins and the subsequent temporary and eternal punishment, and turns them to true repentance, people should not neglect this, but should feel it, turn and repent for their sins, and thus appease God, and save their souls by His grace. This is what the apostle demands: Obey your leaders and be submissive, for they are vigilantly watching over your souls, as those who are obliged to give an account; so that they do this with joy and not groaning, for this is not profitable for you (Heb. 13:17). O Christian! The watchman warns you of temporary evil, and you take care. All the more should you beware when eternal evil is proclaimed to you. You protect perishable property from a thief and an evil person, all the more should you protect the imperishable treasure of eternal salvation from an evil spirit. If you protect your house from fire, how much more should you protect your soul and body so that it does not burn in the fire. All this the shepherd - your watchman - announces to you and lets you know. Recognize your approaching misfortune, and protect yourself, so that you do not fall into trouble from which you cannot get out. The fire there does not go out, and the worm does not die. Each and every temporary disaster is nothing compared to the eternal. When the watchman of a house announces to his family about the evil that is in the house, and the inhabitants are careless about it and do not try to protect and preserve the house, and so the house is plundered and ruined, then they themselves are guilty of their disaster, but the watchman remains guiltless. So, when a shepherd tries in every possible way to convert people to repentance, exhorts and prays them about this, but they neglect this, and do not turn, and do not repent, then they themselves are guilty of their own destruction, but this will no longer be demanded from the shepherd. And this is what God says to the prophet Ezekiel: If you tell the wicked his way so that he turns from it, but he does not turn from his way, then he will die in his wickedness, but you have delivered your soul (Ezek. 33:9). How much Christ the Lord Himself exhorted and turned hardened Jerusalem to repentance; but finally he said with regret and pain in his heart: 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! Behold, your house is left to you empty (Matthew 23 and 38). This terrible word also befits unrepentant Christians, who often and always hear God’s word and the preaching of repentance, but do not convert, and remain in their wickedness, and not only do not repent for sins, but also sins upon sins, and add iniquities to iniquities, and so they succeed in their wickedness, and go into the depths of evil; and just as a blind man approaches a pit into which he must fall, so they, darkened by the charm of sin and the vanity of this world, strive for eternal destruction, and must fall into it if they do not turn to God with a true heart and with contrition of heart and warm tears do not wash away their wickedness. Christian! This word of Christ is terrible: Behold, your house is left to you empty. Beware, it doesn't suit you either. However, the shepherd must never cease, but must always thunder with his words, and with his heart regret and sympathize with perishing sinners, and not despair for anyone while he lives in the world. It happens that the watchman of the house, having dozed off, falls asleep, or wanders away from his place where he is posted, and at that time evil people will find the house, or a fire will start, and so there will be no one to inform the family about the evil that has been found. Then the master of the house becomes angry with that watchman, interrogates him, and cruelly executes him, since his negligence brought evil upon the house. This will happen to a shepherd who slumbers and does not guard the souls of Christians, who does not announce to them the coming evil. The Church of God is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). The Lord of this house is Christ the Lord; His household are Christians; the bishop and presbyter are the keeper of that house. If he slumbers or sleeps and neglects that house, and the adversary the devil, who never sleeps, but is awake for human destruction and is looking for someone to devour, comes upon that house and, seeing the slumbering watchman, captures the souls of the household, then Christ the Master of the House will be righteously angry with the shepherd, the guardian of His house, and will judge him as careless and unfaithful. And he will cut him open and subject him to the same fate as the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 24:51; see Ezek. 33:8). The shepherd, the watchman of the house of the Lord, slumbers when he is silent and does not preach the word of God, does not lead people to repentance, does not convict them of their sins, does not teach them holy Christian life, does not protect them from the snares of the devil, does not show the way to eternal life, does not frighten them with the coming wrath of God for their sins; in a word, he slumbers when he does not care about saving the people entrusted to him for eternal life, for this is the strength of his title and position. The shepherd, the watchman of the house of the Lord, sleeps and sleeps deeply, when he himself does not care about his salvation, but commits lawlessness. Then he not only does not guard the house of the Lord, but also destroys it, and with his temptations draws Christian souls with him to destruction. The word of Christ befits such a shepherd: He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters (Matthew 12:30). There is no greater joy for the devil, the enemy of Christian souls, than when the shepherd, the watchman of the house of the Lord, is in such a state; then he does whatever he wants with Christians. Woe to the people who have such a shepherd! But greater woe to the shepherd who only shepherds himself, and not the people entrusted to him! If the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is the darkness? (Matthew 6:23). If the lamp goes out, how will the household be enlightened? If the shepherd is kidnapped by a wolf, who will keep the sheep? If the shepherd, the salt of the earth, becomes overwhelmed (loses his strength) (Matthew 5:13), what a riot there will be among people! If the leader goes astray and gets lost, how deluded will the travelers be! O beloved shepherd! You have been appointed as a watchman to guard a house that is not material, but immaterial, not walls of stone and wood and other substance, according to Christian souls. Watch out for them, and watch out for yourself. They are the beloved acquisition of Christ, the Son of God, the Lover of Souls. He acquired them for Himself not with silver and gold, but with His honest Blood. And I have entrusted you with guarding and shepherding them: Feed My sheep (John 21:15–17). And you, when you assumed this position and title, took them for your safekeeping. Keep them, take care and feed them. He will seek His gain from your hands. It is terrible to destroy one Christian soul; It is much worse for many to destroy souls. Reason about this, beloved, and save, and save yourself. Shepherd and Leader, Jesus Christ the Lord, may he help you, may he make you wise, may he make you wise, may he keep you with your people. Hear the apostolic word spoken to you and the other shepherds: Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of the Lord and God, which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). You might be interested in: