Поучение 18. О страшном дне судном.

My brothers, fathers and children! What benefit you receive from my humble word, I cannot say; and that I, the accursed one, through reminding you of what is due, come to senses, sobriety, and to the fear of God’s destinies, and the unworthy authority that lies on me, I realize this. So, although I bring no benefit to anyone else, yet for the admonition of myself I teach and will teach you the word of doctrine. What is the teaching? We must heed that real life is a time of exploits, a time of sorrows and sweat; and not only short-lived and temporary exploits, sorrows and sweats, but everlasting, long-term and throughout the entire life of this century. And again, whoever fails in such feats is deprived not of something small, insignificant and human, but of the most Divine and Heavenly things. For those who achieve what they seek through much patience, constant long-suffering and keeping the commandments will inherit the kingdom of heaven and immortality, eternal life and ineffable and inscrutable peace with eternal blessings; and those who sin through negligence, laziness, addiction and love for this world and for deadly and pernicious pleasures will inherit eternal torment, endless shame and standing on the edge, having heard the terrible voice of the Judge of all and the Lord of God: “depart from me, cursed into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25, 41). But may we never hear this, my children and brothers, and may we not be separated from the Saints and the Righteous by a pitiful and inexpressible excommunication. When they are received into unspeakable and incomprehensible joy, and insatiable pleasure, as the Divine Scripture says about this, they will “lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Matthew 8:11). We will have to go with the demons to where the unquenchable fire, the unquenchable worm, the gnashing of teeth, the great abyss, the unbearable tartarus, the insoluble bonds, the darkest underworld, and not for a few times or for a year, and not for a hundred or a thousand years: for the torment will have no end, as Origen thinks, but forever and forever, as the Lord said (Matthew 25:46). Where then, brothers, according to the Saints, is the father or mother for deliverance? “Brother,” it is said, “will not deliver, will a man deliver? He will not give God treason for his sake, nor the price of the deliverance of his soul” (Ps. 49:8, 9). But I will ask differently: where then, my brethren, (I’ll start with the least in order to reach the greater), the laziness of the lazy, the negligence of the careless, the contradiction of the disobedient, the disobedience of the disobedient, the pride of the proud, the insolence of the daring, the self-will of the self-willed, and the gluttony of the gluttons? Where is the boldness of the daring, the much self-justification of liars, and finally the perjury of those who rejected their vows, pronounced by them before God, who “trampled on the Son of God... and the blood of the covenant” as ordinary blood (Heb. 10:29), and think that there is no death and resurrection, no judgment and retribution; who have separated from the brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, and have lost the Holy Spirit itself, as Basil the Great says about this (See Ascetic Rules, Chapter 21), and wander here and there like lost sheep, walking along the rapids and abysses of their pleasures, and do not even hear the voice of my humility, nor the intimidation with which I frighten others and show them the best. Have mercy, Lord, and deliver us from such insensitivity, evil and darkness. But we, children, “come, let us worship... before the Lord who created us” (Ps. 94:6): and for them let us pray out of brotherly love, as we should; Let us pray for them, seeking their conversion and correction; and let us bring to God what is required about ourselves, and we will ascend to the better, asking for forgiveness for what we were negligent in. Although we have not yet accomplished anything, we are still in the field, kept in the fence and instructed by the same shepherd; Satan did not take possession of us, and the enemy did not captivate us, and the wild beast did not tear us to pieces: for he did not snatch us from the courtyard, and does not drag us by the neck with his lips, crushing the bones of our souls with his mistake, since we are inside and fenced in, like the sheep of Christ. Sometimes we limp, are exposed to illnesses, are covered with worms, or suffer from something else, but still he is evil from without and lies in wait for us, “seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). How can he absorb anyone? Either he will jump up from outside, or he will attract someone else to himself through some window, or through some hole in our spiritual home. Let us reflect on this, and then we will understand the machinations of the enemy, and let each, according to his strength, be thorough in his service, let him force himself to excel in humility, obedience, confession, tenderness, prayer, in tears, kneeling, in singing psalms, handicrafts, in love, purity and in general in good living, being a chosen vessel of Christ, and being a son light. Hey, hey, my children! I ask and implore you, I remind you and encourage you: a little more, and the hour will come, the time will come for our joy, deliverance, joy, freedom, crowns and rewards. Perhaps the most Holy Ones, and especially our companions, that is, the obedient ones, are already rejoicing and having fun, looking from heaven at your prosperity: for each face of the righteous loves its own more, who strives to increase and multiply the part inherited by them, so that their number increases, and so that they can all rejoice together, singing the blessed and Holy Trinity, to which belongs all glory, honor and worship, now, and forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: