Суббота

(2 Tim. 3:1–9; Luke 20:45–21:4) Who are “those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5)? And who are the others, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”? The first are those who maintain all external orders in which a pious life is expressed; but they do not have such a strong will to maintain their internal dispositions as true piety requires. They go to church willingly and stand there willingly. But they do not make any effort to stand with their mind before God without retreating and reverently fall to Him, but after praying a little, they release the reins of the mind, and it soars, flowing around the whole world. And it turns out that while in their external position they are in the church, in their internal state they are not there: they have only one image of piety left, but there is no power in it. Think about everything else the same way. The second are those who, having entered the realm of faith, do nothing but invent questions: what is this, why is this, why is that. People suffering from empty inquisitiveness. They are not chasing the truth, but just to torture and torture. And having found a solution to the problem, they do not dwell on it for long, but soon feel the need to look for another solution. And so they circle day and night, torturing and torturing, and never being completely satisfied with what they have tried. Some people pursue pleasures, while others pursue the satisfaction of their inquisitiveness. You might be interested in: