Поучение 87 100 . В первую неделю по Воздвижении Креста. Об исходе из сей жизни, и о упокоении в царстве небесном.

Brothers and Fathers! So we move and are transported from one summer to another, from time to time and from holiday to holiday, and there is no stop in this temporary life. Of necessity, we will also need to repay the common debt of this life and enter into our peace; “He who entered into His rest, also rested from his works” (Heb. 4:10). What kind of peace is this? The kingdom of heaven, to which the Apostle compels us, saying: “Let us strive to enter into this rest, lest anyone fall into the same parable of disobedience” (Heb. 4:11). What do I mean by this? The fact that, as God promised the Jews to lead them into the promised land, but they were disobedient, disobedient and upset Him, and therefore were not worthy to enter the promised land; so we too will undergo the same thing, being disobedient and not fulfilling the commandments of God, and we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And it is also said: “Forty years were the indignants of that generation, and they said: they always err in heart, but they did not know My ways: for they swore in My wrath, if they entered into My rest” (Ps. 94: 10-11). Therefore, if we do not try to fulfill all the commandments of God, then it will be said about us: “If they enter into My kingdom.” But since they did not enter the promised land, their bones will fall in the desert, and if we do not enter the kingdom of heaven, then our bodies and souls will be cast into fiery hell; which punishment far exceeds these. For the Scripture says: “Whoever rejected the law of Moses, without mercy, in the presence of two or three witnesses, dies: how much do you think that the worst one will be worthy of torment, who trampled upon the Son of God, and who took the blood of the covenant filth, by which he was sanctified, and rebuked the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10, 28, 29). What were the obstacles that blocked their entry into the promised land? Unbelief, murmuring, condemnation, bickering, hardness of heart, pride, fornication. That's what destroyed them. These same evil passions will destroy us humble ones too. Therefore, let us run away from evil passions like fire; Let us not disbelieve God in His promises, but let us believe that He is able to do what He has promised; Let us not murmur, condemn, contradict, or become bitter; but let us “be kind to one another, show mercy, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave us” (Eph. 4:32), “always bearing the death of the Lord Jesus in the body” (2 Cor. 4:10), always renewed by prayer, supplication and tears, flying with the mind to the contemplation of heavenly powers. Having lived in this way, we will enter, not like them, into a land boiling with honey and milk, but into the land of the meek, where is the source of life and immortality, where is the beauty of the highest Jerusalem, where is the joy and rejoicing and radiance of the blessed and life-giving Trinity, about Christ our Lord Himself, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. See Patrolology, vol. 99, p. 554. You might be interested in: