28. Обед или вечеря

As we see, it happens in this world that some noble and rich person gathers a rich and noble supper or dinner and invites many people to that dinner. So God, the Heavenly King, created a great supper of eternal bliss, filled with all indescribable consolation, pleasure, joy and joy, and called and calls everyone according to His love for mankind. All, I say: glorious and inglorious, noble and honorable, rich and poor, wise and foolish, and people of every gender, rank and rank. He called through the prophets, He called through His only begotten Son, He called through the holy apostles. Even now He calls through the preachers of His word, shepherds and teachers: “Go, for everything is already ready” (Luke 14:17). Beloved Christian! Thanks be to God, and we, the unworthy, are called by the Lover of Mankind to that great evening. Let us gratefully accept this mercy of the Heavenly King towards us and hasten with joy to this holy and sweet supper. There we will see the King of Heaven “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). We will see His fiery servants, Angels and Archangels. We will see the face of the patriarchs, the face of the prophets, the face of the apostles, saints, the face of the martyrs, the face of the reverend fathers, and all those who pleased God, and with all of them we will have a friendly friendship. We see that many, as before, refused, and now refuse to go to this glorious supper. And instead of eternal and heavenly blessings, they choose temporary and earthly ones, and thereby prefer the shadow to the truth. And so they make themselves unworthy of eternal bliss and ungrateful to the Heavenly King, their Great Benefactor, and therefore evoke His righteous anger. “For I tell you,” says the Lord, “that none of those who are called will taste My supper, for many are called, but few are chosen” (Luke 14:24). Christians! Let us put this word of God into our ears and confirm in our memory: “None of those who are called will taste My supper.” We see here how angry the Lord is with those ungrateful people who were called to eternal bliss, to a glorious and sweet supper by His word, but, despising this great grace of Him, turned to gaining temporary honor, glory, wealth, pleasure and other treasures of this world. “None of those who are called will taste My supper.” We read in the Mosaic books of Numbers that when the children of Israel, coming out of Egypt, grumbled: “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for free, cucumbers and melons, and onions, and onions, and garlic,” the Lord heard their murmuring, and was angry with anger, and a fire kindled in them from the Lord (Num. 11: 4, 5, 10). Christians! The grumbling Israelis signify those Christians who prefer temporal blessings to eternal and heavenly ones, since the Israelis prefer Egyptian meat and other food to heavenly manna, and therefore they raise the wrath of God upon themselves, and fire, not temporary, but eternal, will kindle on them. “I tell you, none of those who are invited will taste my supper.” This word is scary, Christians, but true. It will be so with those who despise the call of God. Let us fear, Christians, and, having listened to the Lord who calls us, “let us set our minds on things above and not on earthly things” (Col 3:2). When the earthly king calls, as you know, it is shameless and scary not to go to his supper. Moreover, do not go to the supper, which God, the Heavenly King, has prepared and constantly calls through His servants. Let us listen to His saving voice and go with thanksgiving and haste to this sweet feast. The supper is prepared, a glorious supper, eternal and sweet. The servants of God, sent from God to us, call us: “Go, for everything is ready.” The doors are open, the Heavenly King, Humane-loving and Most Good, is calling everyone and waiting. Those who obey His voice enter with thanksgiving and partake of that heavenly sweetness. Christians! Let us also join this holy squad and follow them, and the King will lead us into His palace. Amen! In this world it happens that the famous and rich invite, for the most part, the famous and rich, like themselves, to their suppers. This is not the case with the Heavenly King, the Humane-loving God. He, in His love for mankind, does not disdain anyone, but calls everyone to His heavenly supper, regardless of their faces: rich and poor, glorious and low - in a word, every person, male and female, and opens the doors to everyone. However, for the most part, the wretched, the poor, the poor and the low ones listen to that saving call and go to His glorious supper, while the rich and glorious for the most part refuse, because they do not want to leave their pride, pomp and luxury. They want to have fun and reign here in this world, and therefore they despise that great supper; they see the blessings of this world, but do not see the eternal blessings. It is written about the Israelites: “They despised the desired land, they did not believe His word” 3 (Ps. 106:24). So the rich and glorious, having joined the blessings of this world, humiliate that great supper and do not believe the Lord who calls them there. That is why it is written by the apostle: “Look, brethren, who you are who are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many of you are strong, not many of you are noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong things; God chose the base things of the world and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should boast in the sight of God” (1 Cor. 1:26-29). The poor and needy, the lowly and the despised of this world, are more willing to listen to the calling voice of the Lord and go to that supper, for they have little of the blessings of this world. The love of honor, glory, wealth, sweets and luxury of this world blinds the eyes of the soul and does not allow us to see eternal blessings. But what a person does not see, he does not want. Oh, when a person saw future blessings, he would strive for them no differently than “a deer to the springs of water” (Ps. 42:2)! But for all lovers of this world, darkness, like some kind of veil, lies over the eyes of their souls, and therefore they do not see those blessings. And the one who “turns to the Lord with a pure heart, then this veil is removed” (2 Cor. 3:16), and with the eye of faith he sees those blessings and diligently seeks them. Christian, rich and poor, glorious and wretched! Let us turn from the world to the Lord, and our eyes will be opened, and let us hasten to that supper, let us believe the word of God with which He calls us. We are called by God to great, heavenly, eternal and ineffable blessings, why do we attach our hearts to those that are nothing in themselves, and will soon leave them? It is not in vain that the Apostle exhorts us: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world” (1 John 2:15) and so on. And again: “If you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are 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), because the love of this world kicks our feet and does not allow us to go to that glorious supper. Christian! Leave the blessings of this world, and there we will receive all and incomparably better blessings, “which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). Be firmly confident in those blessings, and without fail, I tell you the truth, having despised the world, you will seek them with all diligence. It happens in this world that when all those invited to supper have gathered, then the host who invited them leads them into a decorated chamber prepared for the supper, and so everyone sits down in their places. So it will be for those who are called to the heavenly supper and those who come to it. Then the Heavenly King, to those who listened to His call and came to Him for supper, will say: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). And they will go with triumph and joy to His glorious, heavenly, not made by hands, eternal and royal chamber, “and will lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8:11). Then the prophetic word will be fulfilled: “And the Lord will bring them back, and they will come to Zion with joy; and everlasting joy is upon their heads; for praise and joy are above their heads, and joy will take them; sickness, sorrow and sighing will be removed” (Is. 35:10). Christians! Let us now listen to the voice of the Lord and turn to the Lord with all our hearts and repent, so that we may then hear His sweet voice: “Blessings come,” and so on. Those sitting and feasting at the noble evening of this world are dressed in light and beautiful clothes. So it will be at that glorious and magnificent heavenly supper. There those reclining will be clothed in the robe of salvation and the garments of joy, clothed in “garments of gold” (Ps. 44:10, 14), clothed in fine linen, clean and bright. “And it was given to her, that is, to the Church, to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; “The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,” says Saint John in his Revelation (Rev. 19:8). This was also demonstrated by Christ, our Savior, by glorifying His holy Body on Mount Tabor, where “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white like light” (Matthew 17:2). There, the bodies of the saints of God will be conformed to the glorified Body of Christ, of which the holy Apostle assures us: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body so that it will be conformed to His glorious Body, according to the power by which He works and subdues all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21). And Christ Himself says: “then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). Christian! Let us also pray to Christ, the Giver of Light, and may he give us a bright robe of justification, and let us recline with His chosen ones at this supper. “I see Your palace, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes, but I will go into it: enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me.” At the noble supper of this world, every good thing happens to the consolation and delight of those who sit and feast. It will be the same at the heavenly supper. There is all sorts of good there, but it will be incomparably better than earthly things. There the holy people of God will be satisfied with all the heavenly blessings that the Good and Humane-loving Lord has prepared for them. “They shall neither hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun beat down on them nor any heat: for the Lamb who is in the midst of the Throne will feed them and lead them to living springs of water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:16–17). “The servants of the Lord will eat, they will drink, they will rejoice, they will be glad with gladness of heart” (Isa. 65:13-14). “They will be satisfied from the fatness of Your house, and from the stream of Your sweetness You will give them drink, for with You is the source of life; in Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:9-10). “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I bring upon them peace like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; their children will be taken into their arms and comforted on their knees. As a mother comforts someone, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. And you will see this, and your heart will rejoice” (Is. 66:12-14). “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9), and so on. For there will be such bliss: 1) We will see God face to face, from which indescribable consolation, joy, joy and heartfelt exclamation will occur. We will see the Face of God and shout for joy. 2) We will see our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ in His Divine glory, we will see Him who suffered so terribly for us and died a shameful death, and thus delivered us from death. 3) Let us then enjoy all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as the Life-giving Source. 4) Let us have a kind friendship with the holy Angels and all the saints who have pleased God since the creation of the world. 5) We will triumph over all our enemies. "Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:55). “Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57)! Christian! God the Merciful still calls everyone. It’s enough to chase after the temporal and earthly, hurry quickly to this heavenly supper, where God is seen face to face, and from Him, as from the Life-giving and ever-flowing Source, flows all consolation, and pleasure, and all-joyful exclamation. Hurry, hurry, while the doors are not yet closed, so that, when you arrive late, you do not find yourself standing outside and uselessly knocking on the doors, saying: “Lord! God! Open to us” (Luke 13:25). It happens at the supper of this world that the host says to the guests who have come: “Here are the blessings offered to you at my meal! Eat, drink and be merry!” So the Human-loving Lord will say to those who listened to His call and came to His heavenly supper: “Here are the good things that I have prepared for you, which I promised you, which with faith and hope you expected from Me, which “eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not entered the heart of man!” (1 Cor. 2:9). Here are my blessings promised to you! I promised you the resurrection of your dead bodies - see this! You have risen from the dead. I promised you a spiritual body, incorruptible and immortal - now you have it! I promised you a glorified body, pure, bright and shining - behold, you shine like the sun and like the stars of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:42-46)! I promised you eternal life - now you have eternal life! Live forever! I promised you the kingdom of heaven: behold, I give it to you! Inherit and reign forever! I promised to show you My Face - here is My Face to you! Watch and have fun! I promised you a crown of life, an unfading crown - here is this crown for you! I promised you honor and glory - here is glory to you, as to My children! I promised to console you - so I console you, as a mother consoles her children! I promised to give you unceasing peace in your hearts - I say: “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). I promised to take away sorrow, illness and sighing from you - now illness, sadness and sighing have been removed from your hearts! I promised you food and drink, sweets and eternal joys - here is this consolation and pleasure for you: “Eat, friends, drink, and be satisfied” (Song. 5:1). “You have walked on a narrow and sorrowful path, but in your life you have taken the cross like a yoke and followed Me by faith! Come, enjoy the honors and heavenly crowns that are in store for you,” says the Lord. Then what is written will be fulfilled: “As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord Almighty, in the city of our God: God founded it forever. We have received, O God, Thy mercy among Thy people” (Ps. 47:9-10). A Christian drunk with the love of this world! Be sober before time has passed, and look for the heavenly blessings that God promised to those who love Him, so that you do not desire later, but do not receive. At the noble supper of this world there is music and singing for the amusement of the feasting guests. There will be singing at that heavenly evening, but it will be incomparably better. There you will hear the sweet singing of the holy Angels, praising and singing to the Lord, their Creator: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3)! And the holiest people of God, living in the house of God, will praise the Lord forever and ever and, together with the heavenly Powers, will sing the Holy Trinity. O wonderful music! O sweet songs! O wondrous harmony of Angels and people like Angels, singing to the Lord, their Creator! “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that he hath visited his people, and wrought deliverance for them, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:68–69). “Bless the Lord, my soul” (Ps. 103:1–2)! “Blessed are you, O Lord God, our father, praised and exalted forever, and blessed is the name of your holy glory, praised and exalted forever” (Dan 3:52). Let us hasten, beloved Christian, let us hasten to that magnificent and wondrous supper, and let us hear sweet heavenly music there, and we ourselves, no longer by faith, as now, but face to face, will praise the Lord, our Creator and Redeemer. “Lord, God of hosts! Hear my prayer, inspire, O God of Jacob! Our protector! See, O God, and look upon the face of Thy Christ. For better is one day in Thy courts than a thousand. I want to sneak into the house of my God rather than live in the villages of sinners” (Ps. 83:9-11). In this world, guests who come to dinner, having had their fill, no longer want to eat and do not eat. It will be different at that heavenly supper. They will eat and drink, but without satiety; they will dine, but always with desire. There will be a certain incessant, but sweet thirst in them. They will be satisfied with heavenly food, but they will always want it. They will see God face to face and be satisfied with that sweetest sight, but they will never be satisfied, but will always desire this all-joyful and sweet satiation. And the more they are saturated with this sight of God, the more and more they will desire it. To see the Face of God is a joy greater than any joy, a consolation greater than any consolation, a sweetness greater than any sweetness. This is the food and drink of the holy Angels and God's chosen ones! Therefore, just as from an ever-flowing and life-giving source there will be a river - an unceasing desire to behold the Face of God, and from this - unceasing joy, fun, consolation, pleasure, exclamation and some kind of heartfelt play. And just as a river flows continuously and unceasingly, so the bliss of the heavenly supper will flow unceasingly and unceasingly. This, Christian, is the great heavenly supper to which we are called by God! This is God's paradise, full of joys and sweets, having in the middle the tree of life, from which those who eat will never die, but will live forever! This is eternal life and blissful eternity! Christians! Let us now seek this consolation through repentance and faith. Let's look while we are looking for and finding. Only here is it sought and found. At a rich supper in this world, lamps and burning candles are placed. At that heavenly evening there will be no need for such light, nor light from the sun and from the moon, for there will be no night there. The glory of the Lord will illuminate everything. “And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to give its light, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and the Lamb is its Lamp” (Rev. 21:23). “And there will be no night there, and they will have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives light to them” (Rev. 22:5). “The sun will no longer serve you, O heavenly Jerusalem, as the light of day, and the rising of the moon will not enlighten your night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. The sun will no longer set on you, and the moon will not fail, for the Lord will be an everlasting light to you” (Is. 60:19–20). “Lord, in Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:10)! Show Your mercy to those who lead You. “Be, O Lord, Thy mercy upon us, as we trust in Thee” (Ps. 32:22). In this world, the supper is temporary, for the guests who came to the supper, having received enough of everything from the host, go home. And both the supper and its consolation cease. All temporary consolation and pleasure, like smoke, soon disappears. This will not be the case at that great supper. Once it has begun, it will never end, and therefore will continue unceasingly and without end. At this supper, those reclining will endlessly see the Face of God, and be satisfied with His sweet contemplation without satiety forever and ever. They will eat this heavenly food and drink this sweet drink endlessly and without satiety. And just as there will be no end to the kingdom of Christ, so God’s holy people will reign with Him, like members with a head, forever and ever. “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house: forever and ever will they praise You, ... my King and my God!” ( Ps. 84:4-5 ). “Remember us, O Lord, with favor towards Your people; visit us with Your salvation, so that... we may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of Your people, rejoice in Your inheritance” (Ps. 106:4-5). “Return, my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has done good to you, for He has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling. I will be pleasing to the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps. 114:6–8). Lord Jesus! “Say to my soul: “I am your salvation!” (Ps.34:3). “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Wake up, wake up! Amen. Translation by P. Yungerov – Editorial office of “The ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: