30. Глухой

The body has hearing, and the soul has its hearing. Not every body has open hearing. Not everyone is a soul. God says to the soul: do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, turn away from evil and do good, etc. And the soul, whose ear is open, hears and listens to God speaking and does what God commands. It is impossible for a soul, truly impossible, not to listen to God and not to do what He commands if its ears are open. Man listens to the king of the earth and the lower authorities and does what she commands. Will not the soul listen to God who speaks when its ears are open? To her! With all zeal and sweetness he listens and says to Him: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready” (Ps. 107:2). The holy patriarch Abraham had an open ear for his soul, to whom God said: “Get out of your land, from your kindred and from your father’s house [and go] to the land that I will show you, and so on. And Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:1, 4). All those to whom Christ said: “Follow Me, and...followed Him” had open ears (Matthew 4:19–22). Everyone who diligently tries to fulfill God’s commandments has an open ear of the soul. It is not in vain that Christ the Lord says in the Gospel: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8, 15). Everyone has ears, but not everyone has ears to hear. To hear through the ears means to have open ears of the soul. Our physical ears do not bring us any benefit when our spiritual ears are closed. The body has its own deafness when its ears are closed. So the soul has its own deafness when its hearing is closed. A physically deaf person does not hear what a person tells him, orders and promises, since he cannot hear. Likewise, the spiritually deaf, that is, the one who has the hearing of his soul closed, does not hear what God says, commands and promises to him. How can you hear without an open ear? Every fornicator and adulterer, every predator, robber, bribe-taker, greedy person, every money-lover, sensualist - in a word, every lawless person has his spiritual ears closed, and therefore his soul is deaf. How many of these hear the word of God, but do not listen to God and do not correct themselves. They listen and do not hear. They hear with their bodily ears, but do not hear with their spiritual ears. And how can they hear with them when they are closed? How many people hear Christ’s word: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), but they do not want to come to Christ and have peace. They hold on to the world as if it were their beloved treasure, although it worries and destroys them. This is mental deafness! “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,” says Christ the Lord (Rev. 3:20). This word is true and not false! The Merciful Jesus shed His Blood for everyone, wants to save everyone, visits everyone, stands at everyone’s heart’s house and knocks on the door, wants to enter and serve the sweetest supper. But the deaf soul does not hear this sweet voice. What soul would not open the doors of its home and would not accept such a great, such a dear, such a longed-for Guest with eagerness and joy if it heard His voice? This Guest does not require our food and drink. He provides us with His own meal, He delights us with His heavenly food and His sweet drink. But the trouble is that the poor soul does not hear the voice of Jesus, and therefore does not open the doors to Him, and is deprived of His visitation and sweet pleasure. Bodily deafness is a disaster, as you yourself know, man. But spiritual deafness is even more disastrous, for no word of God, without which everything is ill-fated, will not be allowed to reach the soul. O Merciful Jesus! Open the ears of our souls. Let us hear Your holy word! Look down from heaven on Your holy one and say to us: “Ephphatha,” that is, “Open” (Mark 7:34). A person who is physically deaf has his hearing closed to every word, good and bad. But this is not the case for the mentally deaf. He has an open ear for everything bad: slander, worthless fables, nasty and seductive songs, whispers of the devil, stories about the desires of the flesh and the world. On the contrary, one has a closed ear to hear God’s word, His wonderful works and His praise. How can someone tell him: “So-and-so a person has made quite a fortune for himself in this and such a way, such-and-such a governor or such-and-such a secretary has collected so many thousands of money and bought so many souls of peasants,” he immediately begins to think within himself how he can get it too. When they say that such and such materials, such and such carriages, such and such wines, and other things that serve human whims are sold, one immediately thinks about how to see them and have them in one’s home. And when God’s word is preached and it is said to him: “Repent, correct yourself, start a new Christian life, fear God and His righteous judgment, beware of sin, love virtue and try to do it,” and so on, then he listens to this, like a dull song. Truly great spiritual deafness! What's worse than eternal death? And what is more desirable than eternal life? God speaks in His Scripture and through His preachers, His servants, thunders: “Poor soul! You will perish, you will perish forever, if you do not repent.” “He will rain down snares on sinners: fire, and brimstone, and a stormy spirit - their portion from the cup; for the Lord is Righteous and loved righteousness; His face sees righteousness” (Ps. 10:6-7). “But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). But the poor soul does not hear that strong voice of God and remains without repentance, as it was. God calls: “Turn to Me, O soul, and you will be saved, and you will live forever.” But the soul does not hear God’s call, it goes and strives for destruction, as it strived, it does not hear, since it does not have open hearing. The voice is terrible: “You will perish forever unless you repent.” A kind and longed-for voice: “You will be saved forever if you repent.” Oh, if the soul heard this voice, it would be greatly horrified, and would tremble, and would choose true repentance in order to avoid destruction and receive eternal salvation! Therefore, every Christian should try and pray so that the inner ear of the soul is open. From here comes the beginning of both conversion and true repentance, and salvation. O poor Christian, deaf Christian! Awake, please, awaken, and force yourself, fall before Jesus, sigh and pray to Him with zeal, that He may open the ears of your soul with His Divine power, and then you will willingly and joyfully listen to the voice of the Lord. O Jesus, the Power and Hope of our salvation, who opens the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf! Open the ears of our souls, so that we may hear Your Divine word. Say to our sinful soul: “Ephphatha,” that is, “open” - and its hearing will be opened. Signs of spiritual deafness: 1) When Christians hear the word of God and are not corrected. 2) Love for this world, that is, for honor, glory, wealth, luxury and sweets. Satan arranges this deafness with his whispering, so that people cannot hear the word of God and thus perish. When there are various sounds in the house, noise, shouting and bustle, then whatever is said to a person, he does not hear, since this noise interferes with him and impedes his hearing. This is what happens in the soul. When the various noises and rebellion of worldly lusts disturb her, then she cannot hear the word of God, since the worldly lusts, which “rise up against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11), surround her, do not allow the word of God to reach her, reflect and drive it away from her. What time will the voice of the word of God succeed in such noise? Like music to a deaf person, so is the word of God a noise to a soul overwhelmed by noise. Often such a person hears the preaching of the word of God and praises it, but does not receive any benefit from it. He leaves the sermon the same as he came to the sermon, if not worse, for the heard word of God turns to greater harm to those who hear it, but are not corrected by it. Thus, the scribes and Pharisees often heard the word of God from Christ and were not corrected, therefore they succeeded in the worst. Therefore, Satan, the enemy of human souls, tries with all his might to entangle the human soul in worldly lust, like a fish in a net, so that it does not allow the word of God to reach itself and thus perish. Christian! I advise you and pray to you, for the sake of your salvation, calm down at least for a short time from this harmful noise. And then you will recognize the truth and see that the word of God drives away the rebellion of worldly lusts from the soul. Then you will feel a certain movement towards eternity, like the subtlest voice. Then little by little the thought will come to you about who you are and to what end you are going, what awaits you after death, and so on. This is the sign of the word of God coming to the soul, for the word of God is like a seed and gives birth to fruit similar to itself. He who has an open bodily hearing and does not have any obstacles, hears everything that is said. He hears something terrible and is horrified. He hears something pleasant and is comforted. He hears something funny and laughs. He hears something he needs - and wants it, and looks for it. This is what the Christian who has the open ear of his soul does. He hears every word of God and admits it to the inside of his soul, and by its power, like a horse with spurs, he moves and is excited. God's word has a certain Divine power that moves the human soul, just as strong vodka or alcohol affects the sense of smell. And since the word of God is spiritual, it prompts her to spiritual work. Such a Christian hears the word about the righteous judgment of God and fears it. He hears the word about eternal torment, and is horrified, and tries to get rid of it. He hears about eternal life and its bliss, and his heart admires and worries about how not to lose it. He hears what a great and destructive evil sin is, and with all his might he protects himself from it. He hears how beautiful and favorable virtue is, and tries to acquire it. He hears the word about repentance, and immediately feels within himself a desire and some urge to repent, and imagines how to actually fulfill this. He hears an accusatory word for sin, and seeing it in his conscience, he is overcome with sorrow about this sin, with sorrow for God, and, like an arrow, he is pierced, indignant and angry with himself, and often sheds tears from a contrite heart. He hears how wonderful the goodness of God towards the human race is revealed in the incarnation of the Son of God, and is very surprised at this saving and humane Providence of God. He hears that he is one of those for whose sake the Son of God and the Great God appeared in the flesh and “came to seek and save the lost” (Matthew 18:11), and thanks from the heart, and with humility worships the man-loving God for this. He hears the comforting word of the Gospel and feels some kind of spiritual living consolation inside. For the Gospel, as God’s joyful news sent from heaven to people, cannot be without consolation for the soul that hears it. This is the action of God’s word, reaching to the inside of the soul! Thus, the word of God, having entered into the Christian soul, renews the Christian and makes him God-wise, God-fearing, pious, holy - in a word, “a new creation ... in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17). Just as a balm brought into a house fills the house with a fragrance, so the word of God, as a spiritual and beneficial balm, entering the human soul, makes it fragrant. The fragrance of this balm is the fear of God, the love of God and neighbor, repentance, sorrow for God, a contrite spirit, sighing, tenderness, tears, consolation, spiritual joy. The Holy Spirit creates this heavenly fragrance in the soul through His holy word. Christian! You too will feel in your soul this good fragrance of heavenly balm when, having separated your soul from the noise and rebellion of worldly whims, you open the ear of your soul to God’s word. How can one feel the power and effect of God’s word who thinks not about salvation, but about the whims of this world? Reject this harmful and destructive noise from your soul, and your soul will feel that heavenly balm within itself. Stop thinking about how to gain honor, fame, wealth in this world, how to gather a rich table, how to receive guests and go on visits, how to build and decorate a rich house, how to dress in the best dress, how to appear wiser and more glorious than others, how to ride on good horses and rich carriages, how to acquire more land and peasants, how to build the most magnificent gardens, how to make beautiful and profitable galleries in them dig ponds, etc. But think about how to obtain eternal salvation. Let this be your first priority in all your plans, undertakings and deeds. Then, I tell you the truth, your soul will hear the word of God and create fruit similar to that. Otherwise, even if you know the entire Holy Bible and other Christian books by heart, you will not receive any benefit to your soul from them, if you do not abandon the whims that so deafen the soul and prevent the words of God from reaching it. Leave them alone. Let the word of God enter your soul. 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