Часть нравоучительная (Еф. 4–6:18)

The Apostle explained comprehensively in the previous chapters how everything is headed in the Lord Jesus Christ, trying in every possible way to raise the Ephesians to the contemplation of this truth and praying to God for this. Now from this main thought, as a beginning, he deduces how Christians, so united and so renewed in Christ, should live and act. First he depicts A. - the general order of life in Christ Jesus - Eph. 4:1–16; then B. offers - rules of life: 1. - general, - Eph. 4:17–32, 5:1–21, and 2. – particular according to condition, – Eph. 5:22–33, 6:1–9; finally, on the basis that life of this kind is a struggle, V. puts on the Christian in all spiritual armor: here is an outline of asceticism, - Eph. 6:10–18. A. General structure of life for Christians Eph. 4:1–16. The outline of this system is very simple: preserving 1) the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace - Eph. 4:1–10; 2) under the leadership of God-ordained shepherds - Eph. 4:11, 12; 3) turn everything into Christ - Eph. 4:13–16. 1. Unity of the spirit in the union of peace. This is the main thing for Christians - everyone to be like everyone else, not to be special in anything. Previously, the Apostle had already mentioned in passing that the understanding of Christians is in harmony “with all the saints” (Eph. 3:18), and their prayer to God ascends on behalf of the entire Church (Eph. 3:21); now he teaches that their whole life flows together - in a cordial union with each other and selfless interaction. The foundations of such heartfelt communication are anti-egoistic dispositions: humility, meekness, patience with each other, like-mindedness and unanimity (Eph. 4:1-3). Without these virtues, it is impossible for lasting communication and the union of peace to take place. Eph. 4:1–3. I pray to you, as a prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthy of your calling, in the speed of your calling, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, enduring one another with love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The first verse - about walking worthy of the title - can be taken as the title and general beginning for the entire moral teaching, in the sense: to walk worthy of the Christian title. Whatever moral rule you take, it will fit under this principle and proceed from it. But, judging by the course of his speech, the Apostle had in his mind a certain image of walking worthy of the title, namely: loving mutual communication with all. For he had just found out how everyone was united in the Lord and became one - in Him and about Him. Now he says: you are called to this; walk worthy of this, that is, remain in loving communication. Saint Chrysostom, beginning to interpret this verse, cries out: “And again we have Christ as our head,” that is, again the Apostle leads us to the same thought about the leadership and unification of everyone in Christ, in order to thereby dispose everyone to the mutual unity of everyone with each other. The terms with which the Apostle framed this lesson about walking worthy of the title - “I pray, O soldier, in the Lord, in the same manner of calling” - are all aimed at reviving, setting into motion and tension this disposition. "I pray." He could have commanded, he could have imposed obligations with the Apostolic authority, but he prays, by humility causing obedience to the commandments of humility and considering their worthy walk to be a favor to himself. And everyone knows how such speech, with soft, but nevertheless strong ties, binds one to the worthy (Theophylact). "Yuznik". As Saint Paul appropriately mentioned here about his prisonerhood, when he began to expound the commandment about loving communication. For the bonds of Saint Paul were the fruit of bonds of love - love for the Lord, for His teaching and for all believers. And loving intercourse imposes bonds and requires self-sacrifice. By reminding him of his own, he strongly attracted these (Ecumenius). Could the word about the bonds of love from the lips of those in bonds, for the sake of love, remain without action? Blessed Theodoret writes: “The mention of bonds is enough to arouse even those suffering from extreme insensitivity to virtue.” Seeing this thought of the Apostle, Saint Chrysostom draws from here a lesson for everyone about the moral bonds of love, saying: “But we don’t want to tie ourselves?! I advise you to accept not Pavlovo’s bondage, since now is not such a time, but there are other bonds (of love): bind your mind. There are also bonds (executions); and whoever does not impose moral bondage on himself will experience the latter, for listen to what Christ says: “bind his hand and nose” (Matthew 22:13). In order not to be subjected to this captivity, let us put those bonds on ourselves.” “A prisoner in the Lord,” that is, for the Lord, for His work and teaching. What I said and will say again is not such that one could retreat from it at the sight of danger; but even if thousands of deaths were to arise, it was impossible to retreat from it. My bonds in the Lord tell you this. Therefore, my word is an urgent law for you. Do you want to be with the Lord too?! - Be sure to do what I write to you. “Be ashamed of my bonds” (Theophylact). “It is good to be a prisoner, but not just, but for the sake of Christ, that’s why he said: “a prisoner in the Lord,” that is, for the sake of Christ only such bonds have such great significance!” (Saint Chrysostom). How Saint Paul loved the Lord Jesus Christ! His sweetest name is constantly on his tongue. Unfold his messages and just look through the pages with your eyes - you will see that they are covered with the name of the Lord. And this is especially true in Ephesians. – Is it not by imitating him that lovers of the Lord become so skilled at calling on the name of the Lord that it is constantly repeated in their tongue and heart, like a brook babbling. It is impossible to do otherwise, for everything we have is from the Lord. But in the present case, the Apostle has the peculiarity that he is in bonds with the Lord, and for the sake of the Lord he displays his bonds as a victorious banner, as a royal distinction. Theodoret writes: “What is worthy of surprise in blessed Paul is that he is more honored by the bonds for Christ than by the diadem of the king.” Saint Chrysostom presents the picture of Pavlov’s captivity as the most pleasant subject for contemplation: “Pavlov’s bonds, distracting us from the real subject of speech, attract us to themselves, and I am unable to resist this attraction. Saint Paul rejoiced in his bonds, surrendered himself to the chains, and was taken into custody with the prisoners. Great is the power of Paul's bonds! Instead of all the spectacles, this alone is enough - to see Paul bound and led out of prison. What could be greater than the pleasure of seeing him in chains and sitting in prison? How can I appreciate this pleasure? Do you not see kings and consuls carried on chariots decked in gold, and their bodyguards also wearing everything of gold: golden spears, golden shields, gold-decorated clothes, golden horse blankets? But how much more pleasant is the first sight than the last! I would rather have looked once at Paul leaving prison with the prisoners than to see these men accompanied by their spearmen a thousand times. How many Angels do you think preceded him when they brought him out in this way? – If Elisha was surrounded by an army of angels (2 Kings 6:17), then what can we say about Paul? The Prophet David says: “The Angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear Him” (Ps. 33:8), and again: “They will lift you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Ps. 90:12). But what am I talking about Angels? The Lord Himself was with him when he came out (from prison). – He Himself made a promise: “I am with you” (Matthew 28:20); and, appearing to Paul, said to him: “Do not be afraid... I am with you already” (Acts 18:9, 10). - So wonderful saints of God are always filled with great grace, and especially when they are exposed to danger for Christ, when they become prisoners for Him! Just as it is pleasant to look at a warrior faithful to his duty at any time, and especially when he stands and fights next to the king himself, so imagine Paul, whom one could see teaching and in prison.” “It is worthy to walk with a title, but not with a title.” “What am I praying for? - Not about your own, but about yours - about walking worthy of the title, for you are called to great things, to be neighbors with Christ, to co-reign with Him. You should not disgrace your dignity by deeds unworthy of Christ” (Theophylact). “He resurrected us and made us sit in heaven, who were so hostile to Him and did so much evil. This title is great and it calls for great things! It is great not because He called us from such a state, but because He called us to such things and in this way” (St. Chrysostom). “He called to have Christ as His head, and to be sons of God” (Ecumenius). “Love the way of life corresponding to your rank, do not disgrace good deeds with a lawless life” (Theodoret). This way of life, worthy of the title, is here, as already noted, loving mutual communication and cooperation of all. This can be seen from the fact that, having begun to explain how to walk worthy of the title, he reduced everything to trying to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And the same thing comes from the title itself. Everything, both earthly and heavenly, is headed in Christ; by faith you were brought into this common union of all; live in loving fellowship. Having made this beginning, the Apostle further explains how one can achieve the goal of walking in this way. Our nature is inquisitive, by creation. But sin came and cooled him down. Its chilling force is egoism, the source of division and specialness. Killing egoism is a return to the warmth of love. Why did the Lord define the first step in following Him as self-denial: “Let him who wants to walk after Me deny himself,” He says (Matthew 16:24). The apostle does not highlight this main thing, but lists good dispositions that are opposite to selfish aspirations, and places them as the basis of loving interaction. Puts humility first. And the Lord, in the Beatitudes, put him in first place, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). Just as pride predominantly expresses selfishness, which divides and isolates, so, on the contrary, humility most of all expresses self-sacrifice, which conditions mutual communication. For if self-sacrifice requires self-forgetfulness, then where is it more obvious than in humility. The humble person places himself at nothing, considering all others to be his masters and giving himself to them as a servant. That’s why he only has things to do for others, just as someone who is unhumble has only things to do for himself. So I will work for him or spend money, his usual saying. The humble will not dare to say this and think about it. He considers everyone’s business to be his business and is ready to make every effort and sacrifice for his sake. He is the same as a member in the body. Not a single member in the body lives for itself, but all for others. This is how a Christian has himself, under the head of Christ united with everyone else into one body. Another member in the body could rise above the others, but there is no time, he is constantly busy serving others. So it is in the body of the Church. Others receive great gifts, but are not exalted by them, realizing that they are not given to him and not for him, but on the contrary, fearing in every possible way lest they sin against them and destroy their value, directing them to oneself, limiting them to oneself, confining them in this small space, a similar point. Saint Chrysostom therefore said: “How can one walk worthy of the title? - “With all humility of mind.” Whoever is such deserves this title: humility is the foundation of all virtue. If you have humility and remember how you were saved and from what condition, then the memory of this serves as an incentive for you to virtue. You will not be proud of anything, but, knowing that everything you have is a gift of grace, you will be humble. A humble person is the same as a servant who remembers good deeds and is grateful for them. “Why did you,” said the same Apostle, “bring it to you” (1 Cor. 4:7)? He also said about himself: “I have labored more than all... not I, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). He didn’t just say: “with humility,” but “with everyone,” that is, not only in words and deeds, but in all external techniques and in the tone of speech. Do not treat one humbly and another impudently; maintain humility with everyone, whether your friend or enemy, noble or insignificant person: this is humility. Also in other matters, observe humility; for Christ says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and he places this blessedness before all. That is why the Apostle said: “with all humility of mind.” Blessed Jerome writes: “Whoever recognizes himself as earth and ashes and remembers that after a little he must turn to dust, he will never ascend with pride. And whoever, contemplating the eternity of God, sees that the time of human life is short, similar to one point, will always have his own outcome before his eyes, and will be humble and self-abasing. “The corruptible body burdens the soul, and the earthly dwelling burdens the mind with much care” (Wis. 9:15). Why should we say with all humility: “Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are lifted up lower” (Ps. 130:1). Humility is not in words, but in the mood of the soul. Be humble in conscience, so that God can see that you do not give yourself any value either in thought or in feeling.” The Apostle puts meekness in second place. The first fiend of pride is anger, irritability, offensiveness; The first fruit of humility is meekness. The proud one thinks, feels and says to another with contempt: how dare you treat me like that? Whether he doesn’t like an action, or a word, or even a face, he gets angry. A humble person does not notice that in the attitudes of others towards him there is anything below his dignity, and he cannot even notice this, because he considers himself nothing and every attitude of others towards him is above himself. Therefore, he greets everything not only without displeasure, but with gratitude, as a favor and honor, although others may feel that he is being humiliated and insulted. That is why there is no movement of displeasure or even a shadow of offensiveness in him. He is meek before everyone, like a lamb. For this, everyone treats him peacefully, warmly and with respect, even if he was not of high rank. Here is the union, here is the bond! Nothing can separate the meek from others and others from him; and the more meek there are, the stronger the union there is with each other - the more peace and joy there is. And the Kingdom of Heaven is the land of the meek, as the Savior said: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Blessed Jerome writes: “Meekness is such a disposition of spirit in which one is not disturbed by any passion, especially by anger and rage. Whoever has it will be worthy of the bliss promised by the Lord.” “On the contrary, embarrassment and irritation with something,” continues Ambrosiast, “give rise to disputes and encourage one to defend even what they recognize as unkind and wrong. Hence the discord that interrupts the union of peace.” The Apostle places long-suffering in third place. – Patience embraces everything that can be endured: troubles, insults, persecution, deprivation, and all kinds of labor and hardship in doing good and fulfilling one’s duties. Here the Apostle indicates only that patience which is exercised in mutual relationships and conflicts. He has - μακροθυμια - long-spiritedness, or generosity. The soul of generosity is so strong and powerful that no troubles from others produce any shock or change in him. Look at the calm water: the surface is smooth, like a mirror. But throw the lightest thing at it, it immediately starts to move, shakes at one point, gives off a wave that spreads over the entire surface. This is an image of cowardice, which, little by little, encounters something unpleasant, and immediately becomes embarrassed and grieves. But here is a cliff! “The waves hit him, but he stands there, not paying attention to them, as if nothing here concerns him.” This is an image of generosity and long-suffering. Look at the generous one! “Everything around him is worried and hurts him greatly, but he is calm.” It's like he doesn't have a soul. Others may think that this kind of condition is characteristic of those who have a hard heart. On the contrary, the magnanimous are the most tender-hearted: warmth emanates from them. What is the secret of this condition? - This is the grace of God. This gift is given for the feat over oneself, which in another place St. Paul expresses this way: “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). Experiences of overcoming evil with good give invincibility to evil. Prescribing long-suffering as a means of preserving loving relationships, Saint Paul says, as it were: practice such a feat, and you will not suffer stumbling in a walk worthy of your calling. “Bearing one another with love.” Generosity and long-suffering calmly endure insults and insults; but in mutual communication, in addition to this, repulsive troubles may occur, without even the intention on the part of others to cause any trouble. This may include mental and physical shortcomings, intertwined circumstances due to which another becomes a hindrance in the affairs and success of the community, various kinds of clashes, and the like. The Apostle commands us to endure and endure all this. Tolerating each other is like being indifferent to others. But the Apostle eliminates this and commands love to endure, just as a mother endures everything when caring for a child. Saint Chrysostom says: “How can you tolerate each other? - The Apostle indicated the way, saying: love. There is patience for everything only where there is love. Unite yourself with bonds of love with your brother: everything is easy for people bound together by bonds of love.” We can say that there will be no patience here, because love does not notice the work. Only outsiders can wonder how such and such can be tolerated. But not everyone suddenly matures in love. At first, this patience happens as one endures with clenched teeth; and an expression of displeasure would be ready to break through, but it is suppressed by willpower. These are the beginnings of being patient with each other. He who diligently continues to restrain himself and strain himself toward love acquires the skill of first calmly enduring everything that can disturb, and then covering and absorbing everything with love. At this level, patience with each other turns into supporting the weak, both in spiritual and in everyday life, strong. The Greek word means not only to demolish, but also to support. This will mean - to console the grieving, to reason with the unreasonable, to correct the sinner, to lend the needy to the poor, to protect the offended, that is, to help and assist each other in every possible way. Love cannot remain calmly at the sight of the needs of another, because it feels fused with others and perceives their feelings. Someone else's need is her own. Blessed Jerome writes on these words: “Understanding “tolerating one another,” as the words sound, one might think that this commandment does not apply to holy men, for saints do not have anything to tolerate in each other, but to those who are still overcome by some kind of passion. And it is not surprising that the Ephesians heard this, when among the believers there were still those who were supposed to tolerate each other. This same thing, it seems to me, means what is written to the Galatians: “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). But both of these testimonies can be interpreted differently, namely, that they encourage the rich to alleviate the needs of the poor. He who helps and serves a sick brother endures him with love. Whoever, while leading a blissful celibate life, in any way helps or brings comfort to another who has a wife and children, will bear the burden of the other. It happens that someone sees his mother or sister, a widow in extreme poverty and need, but cannot help them: whoever gives him a helping hand will tolerate him with love. Whether we take the first thought or the second, it is clear that whoever does not support a brother who sins and does not comfort the needy does not have love and despises the words of the Apostle, who commands: “We must bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not please ourselves” (Rom. 15:1). “To carefully preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” Everything, it seems, is already there: there is humility, and there is meekness, and there is generosity, and there is patience with each other - what else is missing for the strength of communication? “It is necessary,” he says, to “maintain the unity of the spirit in the union of peace.” What kind of unity of spirit is this? – If by spirit we mean the human spirit, the unity of the spirit will be an internal heartfelt unity, as opposed to an external union. Being humble, meek, enduring troubles, bearing with each other and helping each other - all this is a way of acting that is powerful to maintain peace between you. But you don’t just try to have peace, but so that in this peace, in this union of peace, you have unity of spirit, so that your hearts are united, so that you have one spirit, one soul. “Unity” – ενοτης – actually means unity, unity, sameness. If we decompose the spirit into its component spiritual parts - thoughts, aspirations, tastes, then the unity of the spirit will give us an indication of unanimity, unanimity, unanimity, and in the word of the Apostle we receive the commandment that everyone should observe the same way of thoughts and views, the same dispositions, intentions, desires, the same feelings and sympathies, so that everyone can find pleasure in the same things, in a word, so that within there is no separation and isolation from others, but so that each one had the same thing as everyone else. This unity of internal mood will bind everyone together, establish a union between everyone - συνδεσμον - which will give a solid foundation to an indestructible peace. Peace Union - external side; his soul is the unity of spirit. Only in this way can a single body be formed from all of them. Saint Chrysostom says: “What is unity of spirit? – Just as in the body the soul embraces everything and imparts some kind of unity to the diversity that comes from the diversity of bodily members, so it is here. But the soul is also given in order to unite people. An old man and a young man, a poor and a rich man, a youth and an adult, a husband and a wife, and every being endowed with a soul is something one, and this unity is greater than the unity of the body. The first affinity is higher than the last: more perfection in spiritual unity. Just as fire, falling on dry trees, turns them into one burning body, but has no effect on wet trees and does not unite them with each other, so it happens here: spiritual coldness does not contribute to the union, but spiritual warmth for the most part attracts everyone to itself. This is where the warmth of love comes from. The Apostle wants to unite us all with bonds of love. He wants us to be connected not by one world, but so that we all have one soul. These are wonderful ties: they connect us both with each other and with God. These bonds do not burden or constrain the hands that are bound by them; on the contrary, they give them greater freedom, open up more space for their activity and make the prisoners more cheerful than the free ones. This union cannot be disturbed by space, nor heaven, nor earth, nor death, nor anything else: it is higher and stronger than all. Arising from spiritual unity, it can embrace many at the same time. Listen to what Paul says: “We are not too crowded” (2 Cor. 6:12). But others by spirit mean the Spirit of God, or the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this case, the thought here will be: “You have all been granted the same grace; a single source pours out various streams. Therefore, guided by humility and meekness, bear with one another according to the law of love and preserve the covenant of peace” (Theodoret). The union of peace will make up of all of you one, tightly united vessel, which will be able to hold the streams of grace poured into you. The one Spirit of God fills you all: try to keep Him within yourself, and for this, in every possible way preserve the union of peace among yourself. When there is no peace between you, you will be like a broken vessel. The Spirit of grace will depart from you, and you will remain carnal. The Apostle says in another place: “Where... you have envy and zeal and strife, are you not of the flesh and walking after men?” (1 Cor. 3:3). Blessed Theophylact expresses this thought as follows: “Just as in the body the spirit is the beginning that combines and unites everything, although the members are different, so in believers there is the Holy Spirit, which unites everyone, although we differ from each other in gender, character, and occupation. Through this Spirit we are made one body. So, let us strive to maintain this unity through mutual peace among ourselves. If we do not have a union of love and do not make peace with each other, then we will destroy the unity that the Spirit has given us. Then the same thing will happen to us as if an arm or a leg were separated from the rest of the body and stopped their combination with other members - we will no longer be contained by one Spirit.” What the Apostle says: “to watch carefully”, “makes it clear that this is not an easy or accidental task” (St. Chrysostom). Nothing encounters so many obstacles as maintaining the union of peace and unity of spirit. This requires a lot of prudence, willpower, self-control and all-round prudence. “We will not keep peace without special effort and labor” (Theophylact). So at the beginning, but then peacefulness turns into character and disposition. And it’s no longer easy to upset him with anything. Having thus laid solid foundations for loving communication among all in anti-egoistic dispositions of the heart, or virtues, Saint Paul sets out the strongest incentives (4-6) for this holy work to be accomplished not mechanically, but freely, according to the rational determination of the will, according to reasonable convictions. Otherwise, he says, it’s impossible. You must be in loving fellowship, for with you everything is one. This is required of you by the unity of the body of the Church, of which you are members; the unity of the Spirit, Whom you all receive and Who, penetrating all members, communicates life and spiritual movement to everyone, the unity of bliss, to the inheritance of which all are called equally, the unity of the Lord - Redeemer and Savior, the unity of baptism by which you are born into a new life, the unity of God the Creator, Provider, Father, Who embraces everyone with one love, rules with one omnipotence, He preserves with a single industry - he is everywhere and fulfills everything. Every word is an encouragement for unity. The Apostle depicted the entire system of Christian relations, as it is according to the idea of ​​Christianity. From every feature of it comes the same consequence: therefore, be one with each other. I show you what you eat as intended. But in order to be like this, you also need to make an effort. Try to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Saint Chrysostom, starting a conversation about these verses (4-6), says this: “When blessed Paul wants to dispose Christians to something especially high, then, being filled with the wisdom and grace of God, he encourages this with heavenly objects - the example of the Lord Himself. So in one place he says: “Walk in love, as Christ also loved to eat us, and gave us to Himself” (Eph. 5:2), and again: “This... let him be wise in you, even in Christ Jesus: who in the form of God was not equal with God through admiration” (Phil. 2:5, 6), does exactly the same here. And he does it well, for when great examples are pointed out, a person is born with strong jealousy and desire (to imitate them). So what is he saying to encourage us to unite? - “One body, one spirit, just as your calling was speedy in the single hope of your calling,” and so on. (Eph. 4:4). Such is the essence of Christianity that those who profess it are one, that all believers constitute “one” living and life-combined “body” in which dwells “one spirit” that fills it and sets everything in it in motion, which is therefore one because it is animated by this one spirit. Here is the first impulse for loving unity in the union of peace. And this should be all the more compelling because, with the unity of body and spirit, You also have the same hopes. Just as all societies are united by the unity of goals and hopes, so you are called to work in the same ways, strive for one kingdom; the door to it is equally open to all of you. Blessed Theodoret writes: “You have received one Spirit, you are one body, one has been given to you the hope of the Resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven.” from a friend, to break the unity of spirit, to break the union of peace?! Saint Chrysostom expounds this at length, directing his entire speech primarily to incite the believers to unanimity. “What is one body? – The faithful in all places in the universe, living, dead and about to be born, as well as those who pleased God even before the coming of Christ, constitute one body. We usually say about objects that are connected to each other and have a great connection: they are one body. This is exactly how we make up one body. The body, although it consists of different members, important and unimportant, however, neither the best of them is armed against the insignificant member, nor is the former subjected to contempt by the latter. Although not all members have the same function, they are equally worthy of respect. The Apostle Paul demands from us such love that would bind us together, making us inseparable from each other, and such perfect unity, as if we were members of one body, for only such love produces great good. With the words “one body,” he demands that we have compassion for each other, do not desire the benefits of our neighbor and participate in each other’s joys; he expressed all this together. Then, very opportunely, he added: “and one spirit,” teaching that with one body we should be of one mind. He wanted to encourage by this mutual agreement, as if to say: since you received the One Spirit and drank from the same source, there should be no discord among you. Then the Apostle says: “just as you were called quickly in the one hope of your calling.” That is: God called us all to the same thing; He did not provide anything to anyone. more against the other: he gave immortality to all, eternal life to all, unfading glory to all, brotherhood to all, an inheritance to all, he became the common head of all, he resurrected and set all together. So, having such equality in spiritual things, why do you become arrogant? Is it because one of you is rich, and so and so is strong? For tell me, if the king had chosen ten people, clothed them all in purple, seated them on the royal throne and bestowed upon them all the same honor: would any of them dare to insult another because he was richer and more famous? - Not at all! So, will we, being equal in heaven, be proud of each other over our earthly differences? Eph. 4:5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. “Here is another incentive for loving communication!” (Ecumenius). Previously I said that we must remain in this communion, since everyone is one body with one spirit, not only for time, but also for eternity. Now he puts forward the motivation for this - that every Christian, if you look at him separately, is the same as another; how people become Christians, in this they are all equal, they have neither advantages for one nor disadvantage for another; just as everyone is born into the world in the same way - neither the king nor the last poor man differs in this, so everyone is created as a Christian in the same way. The Lord accomplished salvation and laid the foundation for a new life, like the firstborn. They approach Him by faith and gain access to communion in the one life united in Him through baptism. In whom this happened, he became a Christian. And in this the Lord is one for all, and faith is one, and baptism is one. They do not matter to anyone - neither more nor less - they are equal to everyone, and they give their power to everyone equally. “One Lord” - Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, - true God from true God, begotten, not created - for our sake, men, he came down from heaven, became man, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, was resurrected, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, reuniting everyone in His face with God. But in order for everyone to be reunited with God, one must be united in a living union with the Lord, as the Lord prayed: “that they all may be one: just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). Or as He explained before: “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:20). The path to this unity is opened by faith, which here is completely uniform for everyone and, as it were, monotonous. Everyone confesses: I am perishing, there is no salvation for me except in the Lord; I cleave to Him and surrender and dedicate myself to Him. This confession opens the door to the Lord. Moreover, no one brings anything superfluous here, and nothing other than this is taken into account: neither gender, nor education, nor deeds, nor former faith. All away: only this one confession must be presented for access to the Lord. He who declares faith is united with Him in a living union through baptism, in which everyone is immersed in the death of the Lord and becomes a partaker of His resurrection, grafted into the Lord and becomes a member of Him. The Apostle says, as it were: this is how each of you became a Christian. Look: does anyone in any respect have anything superfluous against another in order to set himself apart from him? Is the Lord more of a Redeemer, Savior and Reconciler for you, but less for someone else? What other advantage combined your faith with what other advantage, so that it had more strength than others, or was it one, the same as everyone else? Wasn’t baptism in three immersions performed on you with the invocation of the name of the Most Holy Trinity, as on everyone else, and didn’t the words apply equally to all those who were baptized: “as we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death? We are buried... Him through baptism into death” (Rom. 6:3, 4); and: “as if you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27)? Saint Chrysostom says at this: “One and the same (for all the Lord). Or was He called great for you, and less for him? You were saved by faith, and he by works? Your sins were forgiven in baptism, but not the other? “Get this thought away from us!” Eph. 4:6. There is one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all of us. We unite with the Lord Jesus Christ, so that through Him we can be reunited with God, from Whom the commandments in paradise fell away through transgression. And the Lord does not hold anyone back, but sends everyone to God the Father, with whom He Himself is one, as is the Holy Spirit. Behold the golden Divine Chain! – The Lord is in the Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. This is where the Apostle brought the unity of all. Now there is nothing left either in heaven or on earth that could serve to separate us from others and separate us from each other. He raised everyone to God the Father and says about Him that He is “above all and through all and in all of us,” making it clear that for one who clearly understands the work of Christianity, any separation from others is unthinkable, for he must see the one God - the Father of all, who fills all, inseparably with the Son and the Holy Spirit. What is said here about God, how He deigned to place Himself among us according to the economy of salvation, this is shown by the words: “Father...” and: “us”; and what is said about Him inseparably with the Son and the Holy Spirit is evident from the fact that, as has already been said, the whole body of believers is filled by One Spirit, and all those who are baptized by faith into one are clothed with the Lord. How will God the Father be above all, and in all, and through all separately, when in all of them there is already both the Spirit and the Lord? Why do the words: “over all, through all and in all” express the attitude of the Divine to humanity, reconciled with Him according to the economy of salvation? “Over all” means that God especially supervises all believers, extends special care and love over all of them, as over sons; “through all” means that God, filling them all, acts through them, they are a submissive instrument, consciously surrendered to His all-action, while others try to do everything themselves, and do not give God room to act in themselves; “in all” means that God rests in them with favor, and love, and peace: He is at peace in relation to them, for His goals are achieved in them. And at the Last Judgment, whoever brings peace will receive reward from him. Saint Chrysostom says: “Above all,” that is, above everything; “through everyone,” that is, he provides for everything, manages everything; “in all”, that is, dwells in everyone.” Blessed Theodoret writes: “This: “over all” means dominion, “through all” means providence, “in all” means indwelling.” So it is with Ecumenius and Theophylact. Others share this inseparable relationship of the Divine to believers, not separately, however, and attribute the first to God the Father, the second to God the Son, the third to God the Holy Spirit, so that in the last two the Father acts through the Son and the Spirit. So Saint Damascus: “There is one Father above all, who is through all, through the Word that comes from Him, and in all through His Spirit. Wanting to show how the likeness of Divine unity shines in us, the Apostle preached the peculiarities of the Trinity in one God” (or attributed the special actions in us of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity to one God). The same thing, by the way, is written by Blessed Jerome: “Some words “over all and through all and in all” refer to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: “over all” - to the Father, because He is the Cause of everything; “through all” - to the Son, because all things were created through the Son; “in all” – to the Holy Spirit, because He is given to believers, and we become the temple of the Holy Spirit: both the Father and the Son dwell in us.” The conclusion from all of the above is this: “We have one Lord, we received one baptism, we brought one faith, we all have one God and Father. Therefore, it behooves you, as brothers, to be of one mind with each other” (Theodoret). Saint Paul pointed out the virtues on which the loving communication of Christians is based, set forth the strongest motivation for this, and now shows in what this communication is revealed, or what it is like in action. It is revealed in mutual assistance and cooperation, in serving each other, who can do what and who will receive the gift for what. And in the natural order it cannot be said that anyone was affected by everything; everyone is capable of something. And in the order of grace, everyone in the sacrament of confirmation receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, whoever has received what, serve others. St. Peter expresses this commandment this way: “Live as you receive this gift, serving yourselves as good builders of the various graces of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). And how exactly to serve is depicted by St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, saying: whoever has received prophecy, prophesy; whoever has received service, serve; whoever has received teaching, teach; whoever has received wealth, give in simplicity, and so on. (Rom. 12:6–8). Here he only says that everyone has received grace, letting the Ephesians themselves understand: you have received it - and serve others with what you have received. Eph. 4:7. To one of us alone was given grace according to the bestowal of Christ. Just as there are different members in the body and each member has its own special purpose, fulfilling which it works for the whole body, so in the body of the Church, the head of which is Christ the Lord. But in a natural body the head does not produce members and does not assign them a purpose, but in the body of the Church the Lord Jesus Christ, its head, is also its producer, the producer of each member. Each member receives spiritual existence from Him; from Him a place is assigned to him in the body of the Church and the gift of grace is given to serve Him. This is what the Apostle mentions here. Everyone received from the Lord grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the extent that was pleasing to the Lord. Serve those others, and you will be in living and active communication with everyone. This, I think, is the purpose with which Saint Paul speaks these words here, since in the beginning he spoke all about the body, after this he will speak about the body, and precisely from that side, how it is created by the harmonious interaction of all members (Eph. 4:15, 16). That which should be common to all, by which the Christian life itself is conditioned, such as: belonging to the body of the Church, faith, hope, baptism, that in order to have God as the Father and the Lord as one’s head, then everyone has the same. But this sameness does not produce perfect equality in all and does not destroy differences. Each one has everything that the other has, but to varying degrees, and on top of that, each one receives a special grace and gift. Under the condition of such difference, and with this difference of interaction and communication, a single multi-component body, harmoniously combined, is constructed. Perfect equality will not allow the body to be formed, “for if all were one oud, where is the body? Now there are many, but the body is one” (1 Cor. 12:19, 20). But different graces and different gifts are given to everyone not for himself, but for the body of the Church. Therefore, to have this as a reason to set yourself apart from others or to rise above them when the gift is greater, or to envy them when it is less is completely meaningless. Saint Chrysostom says: “That one received more and the other less does not matter, but it is an indifferent matter, for each of those who received contributes to creation. Not for the sake of his own dignity, one received more, and another less, but for others, as much as Christ Himself distributed to whom. So in another place he says: “God put one of them in the body, as he willed” (1 Cor. 12:18). If someone else has something more in his talent, then don’t be upset about it, because he has more work. Remember also that from the one who received five talents and (profit) five were exacted, and the one who received two brought two (profits) and, however, did not receive less than the first reward for it. The Apostle says about himself: “Woe is me, as is everyone who has received the gift of the Apostleship, if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). But therefore woe to him, that he received, and you are free from such danger.” Ecumenius argues similarly: “Everyone has been given grace, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit, in proportion to the gift of Christ. The Apostle says, as it were: if He (Christ) measured it, then, of course, he measured it well, in the way that is beneficial and useful for you. And if everything is a gift, then give thanks for what you have received, and do not envy what you have not received, for that too is a gift. The Dispenser and Giver knows what is best and most useful: that’s what he did.” When is this special gift given to everyone? - In the sacrament of anointing. In this sacrament, natural abilities also receive the seal of grace, and some of them rise to such a height to which they could not rise by natural order, but its peculiarity is that it gives a gift for the needs of the Church. The Lord is the performer of all sacraments. From Him is the gift given to everyone in Confirmation. Christian societies that have deprived themselves of this sacrament are mediocre. Eph. 4:8. In the same way he says: ascending on high, you took captivity captive, and gave gifts to man. Saint Paul said that the dispenser of grace to everyone is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he explains this, or proves it. He who knows the course of the work of salvation arranged by the Lord sees it himself. For that is, a member of the profession of faith to believe that the Son of God came down to earth, was incarnate, suffered, died on the cross, was resurrected, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. But He did not leave those who believed in Him orphans, but, as He promised before suffering, He sent them the Holy Spirit - the source of all grace-filled gifts. There was no Spirit until the Lord was glorified. And as he became glorified, having received the glory that the Father had before the world did not exist, after that the Holy Spirit descended to earth. The Holy Spirit is the source of gifts of grace; but as the Lord, the head, creates the body of the Church for Himself, He Himself determines the measure of the gift: for some one, for some two, for others five talents. This action of God for our salvation is self-evident from the structure of faith. But Saint Paul compares it with the Old Testament predictions and thereby gives it the power of pre-eternal predestination. The Holy Spirit showed Saint Paul a prototype of how the Lord, having ascended into heaven, distributes grace to everyone according to the measure of his gift, in the procession of God, who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, led them through the desert, then captured the promised land for them and distributed it to the children of Israel. This procession is sung in Psalm 67: “Let God arise...” the content of which can be seen in the following words: “Your processions have been seen, O God” (Ps. 67:25). – The circumstance of how God distributed the captive land to the 12 tribes of Israel is depicted in the psalm as follows: “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast taken captivity captive: thou hast received the giving of men” (Ps. 67:19). The Apostle applies these words to the Lord to show how He, having ascended into heaven, received into His knowledge all the powers of grace and distributes them to the faithful. This application is self-evident; the relationship between the prototype and the prototype is obvious and does not require explanation. That the Prophet has a second person, and the Apostle Paul a third, is because the Prophet prayerfully depicted the procession of God, and Saint Paul remembers it as an event. His speech can be read like this: Scripture says that He, having ascended on high, took captivity captive. He says, that is, in the prototype there. And what it says there: “thou hast received,” and the Apostle: “did”, is explained by the fact that in the original there is a verb that means: to receive, or to take in order to give. Thus, in Ex. 25:2, God says: let them take the firstborn for me, that is, take them and give them to me. In 1 Kings 17:10 The prophet Elijah says to the wife: Take me water in a vessel, or take me bread, that is, take it and give it to me. In both of these cases the verb is the same as in the psalm. “Thou hast received,” therefore, it will be: received and distributed, or took and distributed gifts among people. Saint Paul, instead of saying: captivity captivated him, took him and gave him gifts, says directly: “captivity captivated him and gave him gifts.” A new thought is inspired by this indication of such a prototype, the one that the state of the humiliation of Christ the Savior was only in appearance; in fact, it was a solemn procession to victory with rich booty. The more humiliating it seems, the more striking the victorious blow is hidden underneath it. What is more humiliating than death on the cross? “But that was the main victory.” Through it death has been trampled, eternal Truth has been satisfied, heaven has been reconciled with earth, and the treasury of God’s mercies has been opened. From it comes the resurrection itself, which could not help but follow such a death. What captivity did the Lord take captive? – When they talk about captivity, they usually mean captives, but this goes without saying first, and then they always mean booty. Who did the Lord captivate and what kind of spoil did he take? - He captured our enemies - the devil, death, sin, hell, and took away from them everyone whom they captured and kept in their tyranny. The Lord descended from the cross into hell and brought out all the patriarchs, prophets and righteous people, and brought them into His Kingdom. After the Ascension of the Lord, they were the first to form the heavenly body of the Church under the head of the Lord. And these enemies lost power over the entire human race; so that as soon as someone believes in the Lord, they immediately retreat or are reflected from the believer. - But as the Apostle in this place speaks about the distribution of grace by the Lord and in explanation of this he cites the passage about the captivity that He brought into captivity, then by captivity here we more directly mean “all the Divine powers, even unto life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3), - everything that the Lord has acquired for us, according to the economy of salvation He has perfected: remission of sins, new life, gifts of grace, sonship, eternal bliss. He gives these gifts to everyone who approaches Him in faith and always remains faithful to the faith. Everything indicated here in the form of captivity is signified by both the holy fathers and teachers - one by one, the other by the other. Saint Chrysostom says: “What captivity is the Apostle talking about? - About the captivity of the devil. For the Lord has captured this tyrant, I mean the devil, and death, and oath, and sin.” “And us,” adds Theophylact, “who were under the devil and held by the said (enemies).” Ecumenius complements this: “This good and saving captivity has captured us. Having defeated the Devil in an invisible battle, he took us captive, not to enslave us even more, but to deliver us from the bitter tyranny of the evil one.” Blessed Jerome writes: “We were captured by the devil and distributed to his minions. The Lord came, delivered us from the bonds of our enemies, and distributed various gifts of grace to those freed, whom he had plucked as a victor from the hands of their enemies. This is the captivity captured by Him. Nevertheless, the Apostle brings this to mind in order - since he previously said: “to carefully preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” - to teach that, despite the various gifts, the Church is harmoniously agreed in itself and that no reason is given for divisions and disagreements by the fact that everyone received gifts according to the gift of Christ, and not the same ones. About the removal of those in hell as captivity, Ambrosiastes says: “He devastated hell when He brought the captives held captive there for Adam’s crime and for their own sins out of it and, ascending from there, elevated them to heaven. Some of them resurrected then and appeared to many as evidence of victory over death (Matthew 27:52). Captives are usually strangers and taken captive against their will. But the Savior took his own captives and not against their will. He captivated them, arousing the desire to be freed among them by His appearance.” Eph. 4:9, 10. And when you come up, what is there, just as you came down before to the deepest lands of the earth? He who descended, He who also ascended above all heavens, may He fulfill all things. The Apostle pointed out in the words quoted from the psalm that the Lord distributes gifts of grace according to His will, because He, like prey after victory, acquired for us all the divine powers, including life and piety. Now he explains the same thought more fully, adding that He has the power to act in this way, for He was everywhere, set His seal everywhere and fulfills everything. He did not just ascend from earth to heaven, but first descended to earth and went to the lowest countries, below which there is no longer any, and then ascended above all heavens, so high that there is nowhere to ascend higher. So that's who He is! - He who does everything, rules over everything, holds everything in his hands. Therefore, He has the power to distribute grace according to His bestowal. Saint Chrysostom says: “From the concept of ascent leads to the thought of descent. “He descended,” he says, into the deepest sections of the earth, beyond which there are no others. And he ascended above everything, beyond which there is nothing else. This means His power and authority (as the God-man). For (like God) He fulfilled everything before. - What He says in another place: “In the same way God has highly exalted Him” (Phil. 2:9), he expresses the same thing here with the words: “he who descended is also the one who ascended.” “And the hedgehog, as it is, has come down, just as it has come down.” When you hear the word: He ascended, do not dwell on it, but bring to mind that He descended. Actually, the ascent into heaven can only be attributed to the one who descended from heaven, as the Lord Himself said: “no one ascends into heaven, except the Son of Man who descended from heaven, who is in heaven” (John 3:13). Photius in Ekumenius writes: “Having said “ascended”, he explains how this “ascended” should be understood. It is not that He began His movement with this ascent, or that He began His existence here, down there. No! From the beginning He was at the height of Divine greatness and Fatherly glory; but according to the economy of salvation he descended, and descended to hell, and then ascended again to the Divine height appropriate to Him. This is what it means when it is said about Him that He “went up.” What does it mean: “the longest countries on earth”? - Others think that this simply means a descent to us, down to earth. The earth can definitely be called, in comparison with the highest sky, the lowest country. But the holy fathers do not stop at the top of the earth and descend to its underworld. “He descended,” says Saint Damascus, “not only to the earth, but also under the earth.” Blessed Jerome writes: “The deepest countries of the earth are hell, into which our Lord and Savior descended in order to extract from there the souls of the saints and take them with Him to heaven.” Photius also says in Ecumenium that the Apostle points to hell with these words. The following words force us to dwell on the same thought: may all things be fulfilled, and the previous speech: “may you be able to understand what is height and depth.” The Apostle’s intention is to say that the Lord, as the God-man, has penetrated everywhere and placed the stamp of His beneficial influence everywhere. By this He attracted everything to Himself, united and restored everything in Himself, becoming the source of every good for everything that exists. “He who descended is also He who ascended.” He was exalted not for an earthly feat, but received what the Father had before the world did not exist. “Not one descended, but another ascended; but one and the same, although he descended without flesh, but ascended with flesh” (Theodoret). “This place amazes Ebion and Photinus. For if the one who ascended into heaven is the same one who first descended from heaven, then how can one say that our Lord Jesus Christ was not before Mary, but began to be after Her. It also affects those who, in their madness, invented two sons, namely the Son of God and the Son of Man. For here it is very clearly stated that the ascendant and the descendant are one and the same” (Jerome). The last wicked teaching belongs to Nestorius. "Above all heavens". This is the same thing that is ahead: “above all principality and authority and power” (Eph. 1:21), for it is not the place that is important, but what is in the place. And such is a bishop befitting us, who... was higher than the heavens (Heb. 7:26) and surpassed everyone in perfection, and in power, and in strength, and in the wealth of goods. He descended below everything and ascended above everything, not just to be in all places, but to everywhere leave traces of His influence on those persons who are where they are and are able to receive it. It affected both those in hell and those with whom heaven is filled. Blessed Jerome writes: “We cannot know how the blood of Jesus Christ was beneficial both for the Angels and for those in hell, but we cannot help but know that it was beneficial for both. He descended to hell and ascended to heaven, that He might fill those who were in those countries to the extent that they were able to receive Him. From this we must conclude that before the descent and ascension of Christ everything was empty and needed to be fulfilled by Him.” “Let all things be fulfilled.” In addition to what is said by the Apostle: he descended below all and ascended above all, Ambrosiastes appends to the Lord the following words of the prophet David: “His departure came from the end of the heavens, and His meeting to the ends of the heavens” (Ps. 18:7). Let us add from ourselves: “and there is nothing that can hide from His warmth.” Sitting on the throne of glory at the right hand of the Father, and we see He is everyone, as the Lord and Judge of the entire world, and He fulfills everything with power, might, glory, greatness, sovereignty, all-government, an abundance of grace-filled gifts, signs and wonders. Everything in the spiritual world is based on Him, both in heaven and on earth; and in the physical world everything is built by Him; everything is directed towards one, so that everything finally appears in a form renewed from Him. Now all this is happening secretly and invisibly. And there will be a time when everything will come into reality. This hidden all-action is His fulfillment of all things. By faith we see: this cannot be touched. 2. Leadership of God-ordained shepherds (Eph. 4:11–13) In the community of Christians, everyone has special natural abilities, and receives a special gift of grace. Although, starting from the same source, they may not enter into opposition, they may act inconsistently with each other and therefore not contribute to the common goal of all. Hence the disorder, disorder and confusion, even when they try to act as they should. Therefore, there is a need for directors of common activities, rulers and leaders of each and every one. If we add to this that, despite the fact that Christian society is grace-filled, freedom and initiative are not taken away from anyone and, therefore, it can be expected from everyone that sometimes he can act wrongly and completely stray from the proper path, then such a necessity will become even more obvious: it is necessary for the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. Moreover, not everyone in the world is still Christian, both at the beginning of Christianity and still is. The words of the Lord: “You too it is fitting for Me to bring” (John 10:16) are not false. Therefore, among Christians there should be these who bring non-Christians to the Lord. For just as in the beginning He was pleased to lead not personally, but through the Apostles, so He always acts. For these reasons, the Lord, the head of the Church, deigned to establish a special order of persons in the Church, entrusting them with the care of the advancement of existing Christians and the conversion of non-Christians and arming them with the corresponding gifts of grace. St. Paul reminds of them in every epistle. They are so essential in the society of Christians that it is impossible to speak to it without addressing them. In this epistle, Saint Paul more fully depicts their significance in the Church: a) listing their types, b) indicating the responsibilities that lie upon them and c) indicating the goals where they should direct their labors. Eph. 4:11. And He gave us two Apostles, two Prophets, two evangelists, two shepherds and teachers. What the Lord gave here is not the same as what is meant in Art. 7. It speaks of what is given to every Christian in the sacrament of confirmation, and here it speaks of special gifts of grace to certain persons appointed as leaders of society. In other places the Apostle indicates that these gifts are conferred through the laying on of hands (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6; Heb. 6:2). Here he only says that such persons in the Church are not from the community of Christians, but from the Lord Himself. “He gave to eat” everyone who was then in this rank; He gave and still gives such to the Church, through mutually accepting grace, sometimes with the help of direct, extraordinary instructions. In this word: “he gave”, one must see both the divine establishment of the leadership in the Church and the divine establishment of the leaders. And everywhere St. Paul speaks about them this way, only he sometimes refers their appointment and election to God the Holy Spirit, as in his last speech to the Ephesians: “in whom the Holy Spirit has made you bishops” (Acts 20:28); sometimes to God the Father, as in the Epistle to the Corinthians: “God has been placed before the apostles in the church,” and so on. (1 Cor. 12:28); and here to God the Son. For the actions of the Most Holy Trinity are not separate (St. Chrysostom, Ecumenius, Theophylact). He puts the Apostles in first place: since they had everything (St. Chrysostom). These are actually 12, with the addition of Saint Paul to them, - the Lord's witnesses, witnesses of His resurrection, directly sent from Him and filled with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They were prophets, they were evangelists, they were shepherds, they had gifts of healing and all intelligence; - everything in them was combined and through them put into the Church. The Holy Spirit descended on them in all His fullness, and through them He entered the Church and fills it. They are channels of grace poured out over the entire universe. The rite of the Apostleship in the same strength as it was in the first Apostles is unique. And this does not seem necessary, for the Apostles invested everything in the Church. She was given all the truth that the Spirit of God revealed to them; she was given the sacraments for the sanctification of the faithful and a pastorate was established in her - the direct succession of the Apostleship, whose duty is to preserve what the Apostles invested in the Church, to keep it in action over everyone and in the entire Christian society. The Church lives by the Apostolic treasures and the grace that flows from them and continuously flows from generation to generation. If this current is cut off somewhere, there is no real life in Christ the Lord. In second place the Apostle puts the prophets - not the Old Testament ones, but those who appeared in the new grace - persons with the special gift of seeing the future. “At that time there were those worthy of prophetic grace. The history of Acts mentioned the prophet Agave (Acts 11:27, 28, 21:10) and others who prophesied in Antioch, among whom was the most blessed Apostle Paul himself (Acts 13:1) (Theodoret). Based on some indications about them, it can be inferred that, along with insight into the future, they were given insight into the secrets of the human heart and the hidden things in Scripture and sometimes utter a teaching word, according to the special excitement of the Spirit of God, a word that is most useful for inherent Christians. Their existence in the Church has not ceased and will not cease, but the manifestation of their gift is not always public and obvious to everyone. The gift itself is not associated with any position in the Church and society and is often the property of persons who, as usual, do not even want to look at. Judging by the fact that only the pure in heart see God, and prophetic insight is possible only in God and through God, we must assume that this gift dwells in souls that are primarily jealous of the purity of body and soul and have succeeded in that. Saint Paul places evangelists in third place. “These are those who did not go around all countries, but only preached, like Priscilla and Aquilla” (St. Chrysostom). That is, they evangelized when and where they had to, without making it their exclusive business to evangelize. But this does not apply to everyone known as evangelists. Philip, one of the 7 deacons, is called the evangelist (Acts 21:8); and he, leaving Caesarea, then walked with his daughters throughout Asia Minor and preached the gospel, although under the leadership of Saint John the Theologian. And under the other Apostles there were persons who worked in preaching at their direction. All of them can be considered evangelists. In the matter of preaching they are second to the Apostles; only the Apostles were the initial ones, and they depended on them and were sent by them where the need required. Saint Chrysostom also says: “Perhaps he also calls those who wrote the Gospel evangelists.” Saint Damascus writes: “Someone preaches the gospel in the Church by word or writing, just as, for example, Philip preached the gospel by word, and those who wrote the Gospels preached it by writing.” And there is no reason to believe that Saint Paul did not understand them either, when by that time the first three Gospels were already circulating among Christians, and when among the apostolic companions and evangelists were the holy Evangelists Mark and Luke. In these two types of evangelism, evangelism was constantly in the Church. Some shepherds, successors of the Apostles, sent to preach to countries that did not know God and His Christ, while others, with their blessing and guidance, wrote, setting forth the truths of God. The first group includes all the Equal Apostles, such as Cyril and Methodius for the Slavic peoples, the second group includes all church writers. In our time, evangelists are our missionaries, who would be better called evangelists. May God's blessing rest on their heads and accompany all their labors! In fourth place, Saint Paul puts shepherds and teachers, “to whom the whole people were entrusted” (St. Chrysostom) and “who were supplied by the Apostles to the cities and villages” (Theodoret). These are bishops and priests, the last of the Apostle, but the first in the work of building the Church, then, and after, and now. Bishops are the successors of the Apostles, and priests are their closest assistants. Souls are entrusted to the bishop; but since he cannot be everywhere himself, he shares his labor with others who are capable of bearing it. The priests are the eyes, legs and hands of the bishop. The bishop and the priests are one shepherd, inseparable. It happened that the Apostles, having sowed faith in some place, left it and moved on, entrusting the believers to their chosen and ordained shepherds, who then, by the grace of God, grew the seed planted by the Apostles into a great tree, edifying existing believers and acquiring new ones, in the same area or in the surrounding area. We see an example of this in the writings of St. Paul. In the Acts it is narrated that, having preached the Gospel in a row in Antioch (Pisidian), Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, the Apostle again went through all those places - “confirming the souls of the disciples, begging them to continue in the faith, ordaining them elders for the whole church, and having prayed with fasting, commending them to the Lord, they believed in the Unworthy” ( Acts 14:22, 23). And another time the Apostle was here, but only to see if everything was going well. The churches grew by the grace of God from what was placed in them in the beginning under the leadership of the God-given shepherd. What happened in these places was repeated in all others, all over the world. The apostles then passed away. The successors they appointed, the shepherds, remained in the churches everywhere; and they already remained the main leaders and producers of the work of Christ, only not the initial ones (not the original ones), but acting according to the principles laid down by the Apostles. Apostolic power and strength remained in the Church, only it belongs not to private individuals, but to an entire corps of bishops, who, acting collectively, are the legislator and ruler of the Church. Thus, shepherding became the main thing in the Church, after its beginning, in its further existence. And what primarily applies to him is what the Apostle says after this about the duties and goals of those leading the Church. Blessed Jerome dwells longer than others on the shepherds and first says that shepherds and teachers are one and the same; then he gives lessons to the shepherds, which it is fitting for us to listen to from the lips of a man of such a strict life. “One should not think that, as in the previous words: “Ow Apostles, “Ow Prophets,” “Ow evangelists,” the Apostle meant different persons; so he designated different persons with the words: shepherds and teachers. For he did not say: “They are shepherds, they are teachers,” but: “They are shepherds and teachers,” making it clear that these are the same persons, and teaching that whoever is a shepherd must also be a teacher, and that in churches one who cannot teach his flock should not take upon himself the shepherd. Every head of the church must be a shepherd and a teacher, a shepherd of sheep, a teacher of people. I believe that even now in the churches, just as there is a prophet and an evangelist, a shepherd and a teacher, so there can be an Apostle with all the signs of the Apostleship. And on the contrary, both outside and inside, both in the Church and in heretical assemblies, there are many false apostles and false prophets, false evangelists, false shepherds and false teachers. As for heretics, there is no doubt that just as their faith is false, then everything is false. But in the Church, don’t you see lying shepherds who herd the sheep not as shepherds, but as hired servants, not caring about the salvation of the flock, nor about the conversion of the lost or the recovery of the lost, but only about collecting milk and wool from the sheep, that is, food and clothing? Eph. 4:12. For the perfection of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ. These are the God-ordained occupations and deeds of church leaders! The first and most important thing is the accomplishment of the saints. Believers are called saints (Ecumenius). Their accomplishment is expressed by the word καταρτισμος, which means bringing a thing into its proper order and order, putting it in such a state that it is what it should be according to its meaning and purpose. Applying this meaning to believers, by performing them we must see bringing them into order and order and maintaining it, so that everyone is in his place and does his job as he should. This is from the outside. From the inside, the mood of their minds and hearts, their thoughts, feelings, dispositions and their whole life is such as Christianity requires, or which is characteristic of those whose characteristic feature is life in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Keeping Christians in external order is governance; their proper mood in their inner life is spiritual edification, or care for their salvation. Whoever is zealous, guide him in the best way; whoever is weak, awaken jealousy; whoever has deviated to the side, return to the proper path; whoever is heartbroken, comfort and inspire; whoever does not undertake what is good for him, give him some reason; quarreled, reconcile; an offense has occurred, judge rightly; Poverty oppresses, arrange help; they don’t understand what, explain; whoever is overcome by passions, show how to cope with them. So always - when in word, when in deed, when in severity, when in affection, when alone, when together - with one thing in mind, may they all be “perfect and lacking in nothing” (James 1:4). Everything that relates to this is: in general peace, bringing everyone to the most perfect knowledge of faith and a holy life corresponding to faith, so that everyone who is governed and edified by them “will be perfect, as a man of God, prepared for every good work” (εξηρτισμενος - 2 Tim. 3:17). To achieve this: “preach the word, be present in season and without season, reprove, rebuke, entreat with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). The second duty of representatives of the Church is “the work of service.” Saint Paul calls his apostolic works a ministry (Rom. 11:13; 2 Cor. 4:1, 6:3). But he, coming to any place, converted to faith, sanctified with the sacraments, established the rules of general or church meetings, explained everything related to the life of Christians, ordained leaders to conduct all orders and to lead Christians to further prosperity - and went to another place. The continuation of the Apostolic ministry for any local Church remained entirely with the primates. They performed part of this ministry, leading the saints to perfection, as has already been said. What remains is consecration by the sacraments, conducting church meetings so that everything here is in order and in order, kindling the spirit of prayer in everyone, maintaining spiritual and heartfelt communion with God. And this is what the Apostle called in this place the work of ministry. – It embraces everything that happens in the Church, all church rites - prayer, sanctification, performing (sacraments). This is the heart of pastoral work. The word, which is primarily used in the fulfillment of the previously indicated duty, is effective, it is true, but if it is not secured in the heart by the power of God, its effect will evaporate, and the soul will again be empty. What is sown by the word is dissolved with the soul by the grace of the sacraments and is further developed by the prayer rites of the Church. The spark thrown by the word is introduced by the grace of the sacrament (it is engaged, as they usually say about fire), and is fanned into flame by prayer. Grace creates. Consequently, the work of ministry in the sense shown should occupy the largest part of pastoral concerns and concerns, as it is in the Orthodox Church. Lead this part divinely, shepherd, and you will see the wondrous fruits of your shepherding: the invisible, mysterious shepherding of your flock. The last duty of the shepherds was called “building up the body of Christ.” The Body of Christ is the Church – universal, one. It was created and created by the Apostles. How? – They turned faces and communities and attached them to the common wholeness of the believers: The Church grew, just as a building grows when new stones are laid on it layer by layer. The Apostle uses the word οικοδομη here - not the internal structure of the house - economy, but its building, its structure. In relation to the Church, this is the addition of new believers, the spread of faith, the expansion of the boundaries of the Church. How the Apostles did this is obvious, but how can and should the primates of each private Church do this? – They accomplish the improvement of their small Church by leading the saints to perfection and correcting the work of ministry; but this is not the creation of the entire body of the Church, but of the smallest member of it. The Apostle entrusts them with the duty of building up the entire body of the Church, along with the building up of their small part of it. They could not and cannot do this any other way than by acquiring new believers. How's that? - Sanctifying children born among Christians, converting non-Christians living in the same area to the faith - in the same cohabitation or in the vicinity, undertaking, when prayed for, further rounds for preaching purposes, or preparing Christians from among their own who are capable of this work, and sending them wherever needed. It is clear from history that church leaders tried to accurately fulfill not only the first two duties, but also this last one. It was also performed in our Russian Church. More decisively, it has recently begun to fulfill it through the establishment of a society for this purpose - its main and diocesan branches. When expounding the contents of this verse, our church holy fathers and interpreters speak generally about serving for the salvation of souls. Saint Chrysostom sees three deeds in each of those who have received a special ministry and special gifts in the Church: “You see, everyone creates, everyone arranges, everyone serves.” Saint Damascus writes: “These gifts are so that those sanctified in the faith may be guided to perfection, while serving the community of those who have received these gifts.” The Ecumenium says that special persons in the Church are instituted with special gifts “for perfection, that is, for the final succession of the saints, or, what is the same, the faithful, to serve in the Church and build it up.” Eph. 4:13. Dondezhe we will achieve everything in the union of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, in a perfect husband, to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. Just as someone who has been assigned to a task or has taken it upon himself, in order to maintain zeal for the work and bring the work to the end, and not stop halfway, must have in mind the goal to which he must bring the work, as it were, the measure and standard of his work, so for shepherds, St. Paul indicates the goal, the limit, the measure to which they should try to bring their work of shepherding. And just as before he assigned three duties to them, so now he indicates three limits, three measures and goals for their fulfillment. He says, as it were: you have a duty to build the body of the Church by adding new believers to it: apply them more and more until there is not a single unbeliever left; but all of us, people, will achieve the union of faith and knowledge of the Son of God. “Union” ενοτης - unity - until we achieve that everyone has one faith and the same knowledge of the Son of God: one faith - so that there are no more non-Christians; one knowledge of the Son of God, so that there is no difference of opinion among Christians, but everyone equally understands what the Son of God is and what is the work of salvation accomplished by Him on earth, and how everyone can and should learn it. Saint Chrysostom says: “Until we all find ourselves having one faith, for unity of faith means that when we will all be one, when we will all understand this union in the same way. And until then you must work, if you have received the gift of creating (οικοδομης) others. When we believe equally, this is unity of faith.” Again: the duty of making saints lies upon you; and continue to work tirelessly at this until you make each and every one a perfect husband. Every believer at first, like a child, is imperfect in knowledge and not firm in the rules of life. Put him on his feet in this and that respect, make sure that all his active forces are in full development, so that everyone, whatever task they encounter, will be able and strong to do it as it should, to perfection. The word “perfect man” should mean perfection, or the final limit of active life. It is defined: - in the mind - the maturation of sound concepts about everything, - in the field of faith and outside it - according to its guidance; in the will - the establishment of good rules and the rooting in the heart of true Christian dispositions - humility, love, meekness, abstinence, peacefulness, self-sacrifice and all other virtues; in the heart - the cultivation primarily of taste and sympathy for everything spiritual, truly Christian, bringing it to the point that it does not find pleasure in anything else, as in the circle of things related to the cause of salvation and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Active perfection cannot go further than this; but it itself is not the final limit. Finally: the work of service lies with you, so that through prayerful, sanctifying and sacramental rites, you can bring everyone into spiritual communion with God, so that God is in everyone and everything is in God; and continue to carry out this work of service magnificently until, having renounced everything and been completely purified by an active preliminary life, everyone has ascended to a state of perfect peace in God and, having imagined a dwelling worthy of God, have Him dwelling within them. This is the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. The Apostle says about Christ Jesus that the fulfillment of the physical Divinity lives in Him. And about Christians the Lord Himself says: whoever loves Me and keeps My commandments, My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). This is the measure of age corresponding to the fulfillment of Christ. A life active in love according to the commandments prepares for this. Communion with God itself takes place in the sacraments, with prayerful tranquility in God. The spirit of prayer is cultivated by church ranks; in the same ranks - and the performance of the sacraments. It is obvious how the accomplishment of the work of service raises one to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. And this is the limit of perfection to which Christianity elevates. It is impossible to imagine anything higher than it. For if God is in anyone, what more could he want? And this is something every Christian should have as a goal, to achieve which he should use every effort, not sparing himself. If the Lord’s promise is not false, if it has already been justified on Christians countless times, is it reasonable not to strive according to its instructions?! 3. The return of all things to Christ (Eph. 4:14–16) The Apostle said before this: here are your leaders, here are their deeds and goals! They must raise you up to the stature of the fulfillment of Christ. But they are only pointers and cannot do anything for you without your own labor. So that they can lead you to such an age, and you yourselves become zealous to restore all things to Christ (Eph. 4:15). This is the main lesson of these three verses (Eph. 4:14–16). In order to kindle a stronger zeal for this, the Apostle outlines briefly, but completely, the bitter state of souls outside the true faith - v. 14. And after, in Art. 16, indicates the decisive moral necessity of precisely this kind of action. We entered into a society where everything is from Christ. There is only one thing left - either to be in this society and turn everything into Christ, or, without acting in this way, to cease to be in this society (Eph. 4:16). The Holy Apostle speaks on behalf of all people, or the entire human race, which is why he places himself in the ranks of those taught and instructed, as is usually done in sermons when they say: we. Eph. 4:14. Let us not be infants, tossed about and tossed about by every wind of doctrine, in the lies of men, in the deceit of the wiles of flattery. God appointed administrative and leadership persons in the Church. For some of them, the first thing - but for all of them not the last - is to convert non-believers to the faith and thereby build higher and higher, wider and wider - to destroy the building of the house of God - the Church. This work should not stop for them until all of us, people, begin to equally believe in the Lord Jesus and know Him, until the entire human race is of the same faith. This great good deed of God towards us, through their medium, is arranged so that we will no longer be infants, not be in lies, not be in the deceit of intrigues. It’s enough to wander, to fuss in vain, to be a game of the enemy’s cunning. God took pity on us, turned his merciful eye on us and delivers us from this discordant life. Confess mercy every one; accept the benefit; and, seeing what evil you have been delivered from, cleave more closely to the One who delivered. We recognize in these words the image of a state outside the faith of Christ, outside communion with the Lord, following Blessed Jerome, who, comparing them with the words of the previous verse: “until we achieve everything in the union of faith,” suggests that outside this faith there is only childish inconstancy and flighty excitement. “The question is, who does the Apostle mean by “all” when he says: “until we achieve everything in the unity of faith”: will it be all people, or only all saints (that is, believers)? - It seems to me that he is talking about all people, because among them there are many winds of teachings, the blowing of which raises waves here and there tossing people, dragging them into various errors and into who knows what directions of life. Why with all care? We must take care to achieve the unity of faith and through it the knowledge of the Son of God. When we receive this true possession, then we will cease to be infants.” The Apostle says: “Let us not be anyone.” Therefore, they were like that before. “This expression indicates that they were once like that” (St. Chrysostom). Where were the Ephesians before faith? - In paganism. Paganism was like that. Nowadays the same applies to all unbelievers. Outside of true faith, there are no definite concepts about anything, everything is shaky, everything is shaken by doubts. When someone believes, concepts are established. The seal is placed on them by the divine authority of revelation. And until now, the unbeliever sways like a light boat on the waves of the sea, and is carried back and forth like light fluff by the wind. “Wandering” - περιφερομενοι - being carried here and there. Every wind of teaching is outside the Church. There is no unity there: one is one thing, the other is another, and the unbeliever does not know where to stick. Everywhere the ghosts of truth appear to him: he sticks to this or that teaching. Just as there is no truth in any of them, none of them calms him down. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle used this comparison (swaying by every wind), wanting to show in what danger every soul given over to doubt is in danger.” Under the wind of teachings, differences of opinion in the Church cannot be understood, for they have not yet existed, but pagan opinions, which circulated in Ephesus on behalf of all kinds of schools. But in our time this can be applied to everyone who is outside the true faith and the Church, not excluding heterodox Christians. “In the lies of mankind” - Εν τη κυβεια των ανθρωπων. "Κυβεια - comes from the verb, which means - to play checkers" (Theodorit). Κυβευται - this is what those who play chess are called. “These are cunning people. And they move and rearrange everything every now and then” (St. Chrysostom). Therefore, to be in a lie εν τη κυβεια will mean or - to be a toy of human cunning, or to engage in such a game yourself, that is, to be carried away by empty vanity, to indulge in chance, to act at random, not having constant rules of life, but weaving according to established human customs. Judging by the fact that the Apostle is childishly swayed by the wind of teachings and accepts these teachings, it must be admitted that being “in the lies of mankind” is εν. τη κυβεια των ανθρωπων - he has the same thing - to be an actor himself according to the character of action common to all people, which can rightly be called a game. Everyone is chasing happiness, at random, fussing in troubles, pursuing illusory goals, living in inconstancy, without definite and sure hopes. Such is life - without Christ; even among Christians who do not have Christianity in their hearts, it is like that. From such and such a life, says the Apostle, faith delivers us, which the Lord established special grace-filled persons to preach, convert into, and support, so that we would no longer be like that. Saint Chrysostom says with this expression: “The Apostle touched upon worldly customs here.” If: “let us not be infants” - corresponds to the previous one: “until we achieve everything in the union of faith and knowledge of the Son of God”, then “let us not be in the lies of mankind” - εν κυβεια... must be recognized as corresponding to the words: “perfect in a husband”. The husband’s activity is perfect, according to firm rules, according to correct plans with deliberate goals, exactly the opposite of the vanity and emptiness of worldly life. “In the deceit of the wiles of flattery,” Πανουργια - all-deceit, all-round, incessant, cunning that does not stop at any means. His goals are προς μεθοδειαν (Μεθοδεια - detours, intrigues, snares; Πλανη - deception, seduction), in order to lure someone into vice, or delusion, or an everyday error. Πανουργια - all-cunning uses all intrigues, cunning, tricks to deceive, confuse, seduce and entice into evil. The Apostle says, so that we would no longer be in such a state or under such intrigues, the Lord established a wondrous faith, into which He calls through His chosen ones. But there are two possible thoughts here. Here the Apostle points to that part of the unbelievers, living according to the spirit of the world, who have reached the extreme degree of moral corruption, and not only remain in evil, but have also become rulers of evil in their circle, guides of others along this path. The last degree of sin is when a person becomes Satan and begins to work for Satan among people. So that we ourselves would not act in such a spirit or be entangled in the networks of others who act in this way, God gave us the holy Christian faith and called us into it. Or, perhaps, this means Satan himself - the source of all wickedness, all intrigues and all deceptions. The Apostle has collected here terms that suggest Satan, to whose power and influence all those who exist outside Christ the Lord are subject. In this case, the Apostle’s thought will be: after this, the Lord established the holy Christian faith, calls us into it and keeps us in it through certain persons, in order to deliver us from the dark power of the primordial panurg - the devil, who with his all-cunning entangles everyone and keeps everyone in his charm, under ghosts. This is how Blessed Theodoret understood it: he called cunning means “the machinations of flattery.” For the devil does not openly command to commit adultery, but either catches him through the eyes, or captivates him with his ears, does not openly induce him to renounce God, but forces him to resort to bird divination, to omens, to the use of protective pendants.” Agreeing with this, and at the same time that the first two thoughts of this verse correspond to the first two thoughts of the previous verse, we are naturally led to the guidance that this too: let us not be “in the deceit of the wiles of flattery,” corresponds: “according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ.” Just as outside Christ, being under the influence of Satan, those given over to sin become Satanized, so in the faith of Christ, faithful to the leadership of Christ, they become Christ-like, are filled with Christ and have Him living within them. These are the evils we have gotten rid of, the Apostle seems to be saying; and although he speaks of this in the form of a consequence of the achievement of the goals for which they are appointed by the leaders established by God in the Church, so, however, what inspires: delivered! Be careful not to return to the old ways, but, confessing the good deed and feeling its fruits within yourself, cleave more diligently to the One by whom you have been delivered. What exactly should we do? Eph. 4:15. Now who is true in love, may we grow into Him all things, of whom Christ is the head. “Truthfully in love” can be taken as an expression of one thought: having true, unfeigned, sincere love. So Theodoret: “The Apostle said this in his letter to the Romans: “Love is not hypocritical” (Rom. 12:9), and he also said in the letter to the Corinthians: “Love is not hypocritical” (2 Cor. 6:6). So here he commands to have true love and with it to increase the wealth of virtue about the Lord Himself. For it is said: every rod that does not produce fruit in Me is taken and thrown into the fire (John 15:2). – But we can also separate, and by “truly” we mean – containing the truth, and in “love” – being, or living in love. – Such a division is visible in Ekumenius and Theophylact, who, contrasting non-Christian life with Christian life, say that there is nothing true there, everything is a ghost and a lie, but we have one truth and love. “We are true in dogma, in life, and in word” (Ecumenius). “We no longer adhere to false dogmas, we no longer live in hypocrisy (for here, it seems, he is giving them life lessons)” (Theophylact). By accepting such a distinction, we will receive “in truth” - standing in the truth, as those who have received faith and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and are no longer driven by every wind of doctrine; “in love” - being with the truth and in deeds of love, which come at the age of a husband and testify to the maturity of character established in the rules, in contrast to non-Christians who live in vanity, empty fussiness and cunning before each other. To be true and to remain in love would seem to be enough, but the Apostle adds: being true to love, let us all grow into Christ - that is, let us all attune ourselves, our face, all our powers and functions, to the spirit of Christ and grow to His measure, just as, on the contrary, non-Christians act according to the spirit of Satan and grow themselves to the measure of his, the all-evil panurge. – The return of everything to Christ Ecumenius expresses this way: “let us build everything in Christ (build on Christ)”; “everything is ours: life, word, and dogmas.” Theophylact: “Let us grow into Christ all ours, both life and dogmas. For with Him, as the head, we must harmonize everything that we have, so as not to bring in anything that disagrees and is not in harmony with the head, but to have everything grown according to Him.” Saint Damascus says: “May we all reach such a height that we will be in harmony (harmoniously combined) with Christ, our head.” The content of truth and success in deeds of love is only the preparation of a dwelling for Christ the Lord. We must seek for Him to move in and live in this house. This will happen when everything in us is in accordance with Christ, nothing will be alien to Him. For this purpose, at the very beginning we put on Christ and then act in Christ, receiving stimulation from Him and turning everything to His glory, and following His example. Acting in this spirit gradually brings us into harmony with Christ and deepens Him more and more within us. When, through the labor of asceticism and good deeds, everything alien to Christ is driven out, and on the contrary, everything will be adjusted according to Him, since He is the one who acts all things here; then, at the same time as everything turns out to be returned to Christ, He will also turn out to be all-fulfilling of us and living in us. But for this to happen, for the end to be crowned with such success, everything must be directed to Christ from the very beginning, so as not to work in vain. For the Lord says: “Whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23). You can meet many people who speak smoothly and are not shameful in life, but are empty of Christ, for the reason that they do not grow into Him and live without Him in their thoughts. It is this danger that the Apostle wants to get rid of, saying, as it were: everything with you should be according to the thought of Christ, by His power, for His glory. Only in this case will you reach the fulfillment of Christ to the extent of your age. Eph. 4:16. From the worthless the whole body, composed and put together decently by every touch of alms, according to the action in the measure of a single part, the return of the body creates into the creation of itself through love. He wants to say: there is no other way; It is necessary to grow everything in ourselves into Christ, for such is our faith. The Christian faith unites the faithful with Christ and thus forms one harmonious body out of all. Christ creates this body, communicating Himself to everyone and giving him the Spirit of grace effectively, tangibly, so that this Spirit of grace, descending on everyone, makes him what he should be in the body of the Church of Christ. The Body of Christ, harmoniously combined with such a gift of the Spirit, then grows in itself, to the extent that each member meets its purpose or acts for the good of the Church with all the fullness of the gift of grace received: “according to the action in the measure of each part.” The body of Christ grows and creates itself in this way, with the interaction of all members or parts in an expedient manner. The force that everywhere captivates everyone to this kind of work is love - love for the Lord, with Whom everyone unites and from Whom he receives the gift of grace and love for all other Christians, so that through them he can repay to the Lord what he has received from Him. This is the circle of life of the body of Christ, in which everything comes from Him and everything returns to Him. This is what the Apostle wanted to say, that is, it is necessary to grow everything into Christ, for the faith of Christ is such that in it all believers form one body under the head of Christ and, having received everything from Him, they must return everything to Him through loving interaction with each other, according to the strength received from Christ the Lord. It would be straightforward to say: from whom the body creates its regeneration, but the Apostle said: “the body... the regeneration of the body creates,” because many intermediary thoughts were inserted and it is possible to lose who is creating this rebirth. The first additional words: “composed and put together decently” indicate a characteristic feature of an organism in which usually several organs, each in its place, with a special purpose, are harmoniously combined together and make the body live. This is how the Lord harmoniously combines His body – the Church. The peculiarity here, compared with material organisms, is that in these everything is created and restored by the vital force, including the head itself; and in the Church the Lord is the head, He does not produce another head, but builds the whole body for Himself, member by member, combining with Himself and growing from Himself a body for Himself. The words: “giving alms with every touch” show how the Lord creates a body for Himself. “Alms” is the bestowal of the grace of the Holy Spirit - the grace of rebirth in baptism, where a Christian receives Christian existence, and grace, as a Gift for the needs of the Church, as a result of which everyone in the Church is like a hand, someone like a foot, and so on. The “touch of alms” means that grace is actually received tangibly and tangibly penetrates the recipient; at the same time, she attaches member to member, which, touching each other, feel and touch each other. This is how the body of the Church is built. It is obvious that these words complement the previous one: “compiled and compiled more decently.” The words: “according to the action in the measure of a single part” refer to “the regeneration of the body creates,” and show how the body of Christ, composed of every touch of alms, continues to grow and be created. She does this - “according to the action in the measure of a single part”, when each member acts in the way that grace made it capable of acting, according to the measure of the gift, according to its own measure. Everyone, having been accepted into the Church, received a gift and became what they are now in the Church. But the growth of the Church will come from him when he acts with his gift for her good, does not enclose or lock it in himself, but dedicates it to everyone. This is how the material body grows, in which not a single member lives for itself, and this is how the spiritual body of the Church grows. But whereas in the material body everything is done mechanically, according to the law of necessity, in the spiritual body of the Church everything must be done according to free will. It is qualified by the Apostle with the word: “in love.” Love, poured out by the same Spirit of grace into the hearts of believers, makes it so that not a single member of the body of the Church can retain the gift for himself alone, but imparts its effectiveness to all brothers in Christ—to the whole Church. From this it grows and is built up. This text is difficult to understand. To further clarify its content, patristic interpretations of it are given. Saint Chrysostom, starting to interpret this text, says that Saint Paul in it “did not express his thoughts quite clearly - because he wanted to express everything suddenly.” Then he adds: “This is what his words mean: just as the spirit, descending from the brain, not only communicates, through the nerves, sensitivity to all members, but in accordance with each of them, and to the one that is able to receive more, it communicates more, and the one that is less, to that one - less (for the spirit is the root of life), so is Christ. Since our souls are also dependent on Him, as members are dependent on the spirit, His providence and distribution of gifts, in accordance with the measure of one or another member, brings about the regeneration of each one. – But what is “the touch of alms”? That is, through sensation (αισθησεως). For this spirit, distributed over all the members from the head, touching each of them, thus produces its effect on them. One can say this: the body, perceiving this influence of the spirit, grows in proportion to its members in this way. Or in other words: the members, each receiving their share of the spirit, thus increase. Or again: the spirit pours out abundantly from the head and touches all the members and is distributed among them, as much as each of them can take into itself, so it increases. - But why did he add the word: “in love”? - Because this spirit cannot otherwise communicate. In fact, if the hand happened to separate from the body, the spirit flowing out of the brain, looking for continuation and not finding it there, does not break away from the body and does not go to the taken hand, but if it does not find it there, then it does not communicate with it. The same thing happens here, if we are not connected with each other by love... Love recreates, unites, brings together and binds us together. So, if we want to receive the Spirit from the head, we will be in union with each other. There are two types of separation from the Church: one when we grow cold in love, and the other when we dare to do something unworthy in relation to this body (the Church)." Blessed Theophylact, repeating the thoughts of Saint Chrysostom, adds something new. So, speaking of love: “This is why the Apostle said about the body: “composed and put together,” in order to show that the members are not simply placed one next to the other, but are connected to each other and each takes its place. So, our business is to harmonize and combine ourselves through love, and sending down the Spirit is the grace of Christ, our head. The words: “with every touch of alms” show that the Spirit, given from the head, tangibly touches everyone. The body grows and is created through the fact that the alms of the Spirit touches the members and that He acts in them, or that it gives them the power to act." Theodoret says the following words to this: “The Lord Christ, as the head, divides the spiritual gifts and through this combines the members of the body into a single harmonious body." A continuation of this speech can be considered the words of Saint Damascus: “Christ, ruling over us, gives Himself to us and through this unites us with Himself and with each other; as a result of which we have mutual harmony, although each receives the gift of the Spirit to the extent that he can accommodate it.” This is the general structure of life for Christians. By maintaining the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace under the leadership of God-ordained persons, bring everything back to Christ. As for the first and last points, no Christian society argues. In the second, others make a lot of mistakes. It is remarkable that Saint Chrysostom spoke about the combination of the body of the Church as if he had them in mind. “The words: “the whole body is put together and put together decently” mean that everything in it should take its place, without intruding into something else that is unusual for it. Think about it. The Lord from above orders everything. But just as the body has receiving organs, so does the Spirit, which is entirely the heavenly root of life. Namely, in the body - the heart there is the root of the spirit, the liver - blood, the spleen - bile, and other organs - other elements; but they are all dependent on the brain. In accordance with this, God acted, bestowing special honor on man: not wanting to leave him, He Himself became the cause of all (salvation) for him, at the same time establishing employees for Himself and entrusting some of them with this, others with that.” Having spoken further about the leaders in the Church, he turns to those who err in judging their urgent need. “Tell me: do you really think it is enough that they also believe, while the grace of ordination has become impoverished and lost among them? What is the use of everything else if they do not observe this last one? – We must stand equally for both faith and the grace of the priesthood. Because if everyone is allowed, according to the ancient proverb, to fill their hands, if everyone is allowed to be a priest, then let everyone come - and in vain was this altar built, in vain was the church order established, in vain was the face of the priests: let us overthrow and destroy all this.” From this it is clear that where such an important member in the structure of life is missing, is it possible to see Christian life as it should be? “She’s not there, even though there’s a lot of talk about her.” B. Rules of Christian life Having indicated the structure of the life of Christians, the Apostle writes rules for it, first 1) general for all Christians, no matter what condition anyone is in, and then 2) specific, according to condition. 1. General rules Eph. 4:17–32, 5:1–20 When starting to present these rules, the Apostle puts at the head of them: a) the main principle for their conclusion, and as a guide in life according to them - Eph. 4:17–24; and then he proposes 6) the very rules of the moral life of Christians, as Christians - Eph. 4:25–32, 5:1–20. a) The main beginning of Eph. 4:17–24 This main principle emerges from what he said immediately before. Before this, he said that the Lord had given the Church and the entire human race special persons to teach people salvation and to guide them on the path to it, so that we, people, would not be carried away by every wind of teaching, would not live in human lies under the deceit of the wiles of flattery, but, true in love, would return everything to Christ, the head of the Church, because otherwise it is impossible to be a Christian. In the course of thoughts, it would be worth remembering: you have been called to this salvation and have entered on the direct path to It. But as he has already repeatedly mentioned this, and even here he hints not lightly (v. 20, etc.), he directly draws a conclusion from this: therefore, you should no longer adhere to those orders of life from which you have been delivered, but you should turn everything back to Christ. Since they were pagans, the Apostle briefly but fully outlines the badness of the life of the pagans in moral and religious terms, in order to clarify what exactly should be removed (vv. 17-19). How to grow everything into Christ is revealed by the change that grace produces in believers as they begin their journey following Christ, through the sacraments that lay the foundation for life in Christ (vv. 20-24). Both are short: putting off the old man and putting on the new. This means putting aside paganism and acting as Christians do. This is the main beginning! Eph. 4:17. For this I say and obey concerning the Lord, whom you must not walk, even as the rest of the nations walk in the vanity of their minds. “This is what I say...” It’s like this: this is what I’m leading all this speech to. The purpose of my words is so that you yourself can see how you should now live. And so that you no longer have any doubt that this is how it should be, I bring the Lord as a witness - “I will listen to the Lord.” “With the Lord as witness I will say this” (Theodoret). “I make the Lord a witness that my word is not false” (Theophylact). Therefore, accept it not as mine, but as God’s, as if it came from the mouth of the Lord Himself. “So, when teaching true teaching, one must not only convince, but also frighten and betray to God” (Ecumenius), reminding that God Himself stands before them (Theophylact) and looks where the disposition of their hearts tends when teaching, and that therefore one external signal to express consent is not enough, but acceptance of it with all the heart is required. “No one should walk among you, as other nations also walk.” “Do not walk” - “remembering the calling, which is the calling to holiness, do not return to the life that you led before the calling” (Saint Damascus), - and which the uncalled pagans continue to lead. The Apostle could have said directly: do not live this way and that way; but he pointed to the example of the pagans, because in the example the matter is clearer and the speech with it can be shorter, leaving oneself to bring to mind much that is not captured by the word, especially for the Ephesians, who themselves knew experimentally all the badness of pagan life. And this could serve this purpose, so that if anyone still held on to something worthy of reproof, he would take the lesson to his mind under such cover without bitterness (Ecumenius and Theophylact). Saint Chrysostom says: “He did not say: you should not walk as you walk, since this could hurt them, but he pointed to others, although he expressed the same thing. He also does the same in his letter to the Thessalonians, when he tells them: “It is not in the passion of lust, like the pagans” (1 Thessalonians 4:5). You left, he says, pagan beliefs, but this depended entirely on God, and I demand what depends on you - namely, life and walking according to God. This is your duty, and I call God to witness my words, namely that I did not keep silent, but said how you should behave.” “Do not walk... in the vanity of their minds.” The mind is the highest side of human nature, where consciousness and will, or freedom and initiative. This word embraces the entire structure of moral and religious life, that where a person acts with his consciousness and freedom, the established way of thinking, the rules of life, hopes, goals, undertakings, means and techniques - the entire circle of life, beyond which a person does not go beyond thought or desire. Looking at the pagans from this side, the Apostle finds that vanity of mind is characteristic of them. The mind, according to its original purpose, should, by kindling the fear of God, force a person to be faithful to his conscience in the hope of a blessed future. But after the fall, the power of which was revealed in its entirety among the pagans, the mind did not fulfill such a purpose. Among the pagans, God is forgotten, customs take the place of conscience, and instead of future benefits, present ones are pursued. They wanted to create a paradise on earth - sensual, from sensual goods, with their own means. Everything was directed here. As illusory as this is, it is rightly called vanity of the mind. Instead of the essential, the mind began to pursue the empty, fragile, and unsatisfactory. He fusses, but there is no benefit - not only for the future, but also in the present, in which he is chasing to grab the ghost of happiness, which is always running away from him. Saint Chrysostom depicts this state well. “What is vanity of the mind? Dealing with vanity objects. And what is vanity, if not the present, about which Ecclesiastes speaks: “Vanity of vanities... all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2)? - But someone will say: if this and that are vain and lead to vanity, then why does it exist? If, moreover, this is the work of God’s hands, then how vain will it be? And there are many similar objections regarding this subject. But listen, beloved! Ecclesiastes did not call the works of God vain, far from it: the heavens are not vain, the earth is not vain, no! – Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor our body. For all this is “good.” What's so vain? – Let’s listen to what Ecclesiastes himself calls vanity: “I planted grapes... I made them singing and singing... I created pools of water... and I had many cattle and flocks... I gathered gold and silver... and I saw that all was vanity” (Eccl. 2:4, 6-8, 11). Listen to what the Prophet also says: “I have treasures and I don’t know who will gather them” (Ps. 39:7)! Therefore, vanity of vanities - magnificent buildings, abundance and excess of gold, crowds of slaves noisily running after you across the square, pride and vanity, arrogance and arrogance - all this is vanity, for it did not come from God, but was produced by people. Why, however, is this vanity? - Because it has no good purpose. Money is vain when it is wasted on pleasures, but it is not vain when it is used to help the poor. When you use them for pleasure, let's see what the consequence is? – Obesity of the body, headache, laziness, internal heat, relaxation of the whole body. Just as someone who would pour water into a drilled vessel would work in vain, so a person who indulges in pleasure pours water into a drilled vessel. – Unrealistic ambitious plans are also called vain; they are truly vain, unreliable, and reckless; In general, something that is not useful for anything is called vain. Look, isn't this how human affairs are? - “Let us drink and drink, and in the morning we will die” (1 Cor. 15:32). What is the consequence of this, tell me? - Smoldering. We clothe ourselves in expensive clothes and finery: what is the use of this? - Nothing. Some of the Hellenes thought this way, but in vain. They led a strict life, but in an empty way, without any useful goal in mind, doing so out of vanity, in order to gain honor from the crowd. But what is honor? - Nothing. – Do you see that everything is vanity? “That’s why the Apostle said (about the pagans): “in the vanity of their minds.” – After this, St. Chrysostom depicts the vanity of the pagan faith, which worshiped trees, stones, fire, water, and the sun as God. And this is all, he says, pagan vanity of the mind. “However,” he adds later, “here the Apostle expressed himself this way about their life. The pagans indulge in fornication and adultery. This is what one should expect from their faith. Inventing such gods for themselves, they act in accordance with this in everything. If they can hide (their actions) from the eyes of people, then there is nothing that could stop them from bad deeds. Can the doctrine of the resurrection really have any force for them when they consider it a fable? – What about torment in hell? – For them, these are also fables: and note here the satanic suggestion. When they are told about the debauchery of their gods, they do not call it fables, but they believe it. And when they are told about punishments, they say that it is the poets who invent all such fables in order to upset the happy order of life everywhere. But philosophers, they say, have invented something that is completely worthy of attention and better than these fables. What kind of philosophers are these? – Are those who invented fate and claim that everything exists without Providence, there is no creative Providence, everything was made up of atoms? But, they say, others recognized God. What are these, tell me? - Is it not those who produce human souls from the souls of dogs and assure people that at a certain time one or the other of them was a dog, a lion, a fish? “How long will you stop talking idle talk?!” Eph. 4:18. Darkened by meaning, essentially alienated from the life of God, for the ignorance that exists in them, for the petrification of their hearts. When the mind - the spirit - fell and became completely entangled in vanity, then it was natural for all the powers of the soul, whose life, according to the structure of our nature, is in the spirit, not only to take the wrong direction, but also to freeze. They froze. The life of mental power is the light of knowledge. When the mind became futile, this light disappeared, and the meaning became darkened. Sound concepts about himself, about his final goal, about the purpose of this life, about what awaits him in the future fell out of him: all this was forgotten, God Himself and his relationship to Him were forgotten. In place of this, convictions took root - not expressed in words, but nevertheless strictly contained - that life is real - everything, that the means of it are at your fingertips, and that you yourself, with your mind and strength, are the creator of your destiny and the guardian of it, and you don’t need anything else, stand for yourself, take care of yourself, nourish yourself - and that’s enough. Such and similar beliefs constitute the guiding principles for those whose minds have become fussy, or whose spirit has fallen and become stifled. Saint Chrysostom says that whoever has the same kind of life comes up with dogmas of the same kind. And since they are all false, and lies are darkness, they surround a person with darkness. “Just as, immersed deep in water, we cannot see the sun, because above us the water forms a kind of wall, so in the eyes of the mind there occurs” a clouding from the false concepts that fill the head. Immediately, “the numerous confluence of everyday affairs darkens the clarity of the mind and keeps us in the dark.” - This is what it means: “clouded by meaning.” This obscuration is especially expressed regarding the protection and safety of life. Having taken charge of looking after himself and providing for himself, he who has become fussy with his mind, despite all his powerful means, is constantly in fear. Saint Chrysostom extensively depicts this state - the fruit of a darkening superstition, placed in the place of God's Providence. “Those who have become fussy in their minds, both in the reasoning of dogmas and regarding life, all speak and do as if they were in the dark; a person surrounded by darkness sees nothing in front of him: he mistakes a rope for a crawling snake or, having entered a dark place, thinks that a person or a demon is ready to grab him. And how much fear and anxiety there is! The pagans are afraid of similar things. “There you were afraid of fear,” it is said, “where there was no fear” (Ps. 13:5), and what they should be afraid of, they are not afraid of, but just as children, being in the arms of their nurses, foolishly stretch out their hands to the fire and boldly rush towards the lighted lamp, and meanwhile they are afraid of a man in clothes made of goat wool, so these Hellenes are real children, as someone said about them: “Greeks are always children.” They are afraid of things that do not constitute sin, such as: bodily untidiness, a bed occupied by a dead person, the burial of the dead, fatal days, and the like. But what constitutes a real sin, such as voluptuous love for children, adultery, fornication, they do not even think of counting as sin. You can see how a pagan washes himself after a dead man, but he is never washed from dead works. He puts a lot of effort into acquiring money and at the same time thinks that the crowing of a hen like a rooster can have an impact on his happiness. So they are “darkened by meaning.” They have many signs that frighten them. For example, such and such, says another, was the first to meet me when I was leaving the house: a thousand troubles will certainly come for me. Today, the hated servant, handing me sandals, brought his left one in front: there will be great troubles and misfortunes. I myself, leaving the house, stepped over the threshold with my left foot: and this foreshadows misfortune. These are home failures. When I left the house, my right eye blinked: this portends tears. In the same way, women, when something touches one another while weaving, makes a sound, consider this to be a harbinger of misfortune. And a thousand other superstitions they have that are worthy of laughter. Whether a donkey or a rooster crows, or someone sneezes, whatever happens, everything disturbs them, so that, as I said, they seem to be bound by thousands of bonds and are in darkness and much greater enslavement than slaves. But we won't be like that; on the contrary, having ridiculed all such superstitions, as children of the world, as heavenly citizens who have nothing in common with the earth, we will consider sin and insult to God to be terrible for ourselves. If we move away from sin and try not to offend God, then we will laugh at everything else, as well as at the first culprit of sin – the devil.” “Being alienated from the life of God,” that is, “from life according to God” (Theophylact). “The Apostle denounces the lawlessness of their lives, for he called the life of God a virtuous life” (Theodoret). When the light of truth illuminates the mental area of ​​a person, then in this light the path of true life becomes clear, which greatly stimulates the energy of active forces to rush along this path. When the meaning is darkened, the path of true life is closed, and the energy to walk along it falls. Those who are darkened by meaning naturally do not live true life, they are alienated from it, they abandon it. By the life of God, the Apostle could not mean a life of grace, but he meant that life according to God that the pagans could have, following the instructions given to them by the remnants of the image of God in the fallen. The mind, or spirit, of man was originally intended for life in God and according to God. After the fall, he became weak, but was not destroyed. The conviction that there is a God and that He should be pleased remained with everyone, and, where it was not suppressed, it showed its fruits. And all pagans could live under the influence of the fear of God, according to the demands of conscience, in the hope of future reward. – This is the essence of natural religion and the life of God, possible for everyone, outside of grace. And whoever does not have it is guilty. The Apostle convicts everyone of this guilt, because this was the prevailing spirit of life of the pagans. They forgot God, did not listen to conscience and lived only for the present, as if there was no God and no other life. The same is the life of those who work against sin and passions, even among Christians. Entire cities and societies can be like this. Then the Apostolic word will apply to them: “alienation from the life of God.” “For the ignorance that exists in them, for the petrification of their hearts.” Some say: the darkening of meaning is due to ignorance, and alienation from the life of God is due to petrification of hearts. But the obscuration of meaning is one and the same with ignorance. Therefore, it is better to attribute both to alienation from life, as a cause, promotion or punishment. Alienation from the life of God followed ignorance and hardening of the heart as a consequence. When such alienation began, ignorance and petrification of the heart contributed to its rooting, and when it took root, then God secured it for them as punishment: “God delivered them up to an unskilled mind, to do unsatisfactory things... He delivered them up in the lusts of their hearts... He delivered them up in the passion of dishonor” (Rom. 1:28, 24, 26). But, strictly speaking, all these three - darkening of meaning with ignorance, alienation from the life of God and petrification of the heart, go together as a direct consequence of the numbness of the mind, or the muffling of the spirit. The lightness of meaning, or the knowledge of truth, falling on the heart, arouses in it compassion for itself and creates incentives to live according to the truth, or according to God. When the meaning is darkened and the truths fall out of it, the heart, not receiving impressions, does not give excitement to life - and it stops, and its paths are closed. Alienation from life, which thus begins, hardens the heart; a hardening heart, in turn, increases alienation from life and thickens the darkness in meaning. So one thing is supported by another, and the cycle of life does not mature according to God. God becomes incomprehensible, unpleasant and is not included in the plans. Spiritual life is frozen. This deadness is most obviously expressed by the petrification of the heart, but everything else is right there too. The Holy Fathers express this state of compatibility - ignorance, carelessness and insensibility. Those who awaken from such a life suffer most from insensibility. - Someday when a dead heart will come to life! Such is the inner life of pagans and, in general, people without grace, who have not received grace or have drowned it out in themselves with a life incongruous with it. But what is the internal structure, such is the external life, or deeds and behavior. The Holy Apostle depicts her like this: Eph. 4:19. Who, having invested themselves in hopelessness, has given themselves over to the practice of philandering, to the doing of all uncleanness in covetousness. “Investment in hopelessness” - in Greek, the Holy Fathers express it with a word that means bitterness in bad things - the extreme limit of negligence and carelessness about good. “Invested in despair” - απηλγηκοτες, that is, completely lazy, not wanting to do anything good, having lost all fear and contrition, as if stupefied” (Theophylact). Every feeling froze, both moral and religious. “Grow thick, wide, and forget God” (Deut. 32:15). “There is no fear of God before his eyes” (Ps. 35:2). “The fool said in his heart: there is no God” - and gave himself up to all depravity along with others: “corrupt and disgusted in his undertakings” (Ps. 13:1). Saint Chrysostom says: “The heart turns to stone when no fear disturbs the soul. This comes from insensitivity. When a member of the body becomes insensitive, even if you burn it or cut it, no matter what you do to it, it feels nothing. So they too - the pagans - after they have fallen into carelessness once and for all, no matter what you say to them, threaten them with fire or sword - nothing will affect them, nothing will convince them. For their hearts were deadened once and for all. And until you destroy this insensibility in him, until your touch on him is as noticeable as on healthy members, until then all your efforts will be in vain.” Having come to such a state, “she gave herself over to the work of the devil, to the doing of all uncleanness.” – They indulged in all sorts of ways to satisfy carnal lust. There are two opposites in us – spirit and flesh. When the spirit freezes, the flesh becomes fierce. A person indulges in all kinds of sensual pleasures and sweets. “At first they suffered from lawlessness, then, creeping into a lawless life, they soon began to suffer from insensibility. Then they fearlessly venture into every sin, indulging in a corrupt life to the point of satiety” (Theodoret). Saint Chrysostom says: “Their life was like this because of their own carelessness and negligence. “I’ll betray myself,” he says. So, when you hear that “God gave them over to an unskillful mind” (Rom. 1:28), then remember the real saying that they “gave them over to themselves.” How did God betray them when they betrayed themselves? If they betrayed themselves, then how did God betray them? – It seems to you that there is a contradiction here. But the word “predade” means “allowed.” – “They gave themselves up to the work of uncleanness.” Do you see how the Apostle deprives them of an excuse by speaking about doing uncleanness? It was not out of outside passion, he says, that they sinned, but they committed all these criminal acts, taking care themselves to invent them. “In all uncleanness” (and they lived). Uncleanness is all fornication, fornication, voluptuous love for youths and all intemperance. “With them, he says, such a way of life has become, as it were, a rule.” Some understand the word “in covetousness” to mean that while doing unclean things one indulged in the passion for acquisitions, which is no less strong in the worldly, vain life. Saint Damascus writes: “Lust for love is a necessary consequence of love of the flesh. They want to gain money so that they have something to look forward to for pleasure.” Others by this word mean a thirst for greater and greater pleasures - the insatiability of carnal pleasure. The Apostle called ignorance of moderation “covetousness” (Theodoret). In the course of his speech, he has this - ignorance of the measure in carnal knowledge. – But Saint Chrysostom’s idea is visible - ignorance of limits in anything, neither in acquiring money, nor in a pampered life. “It would be possible,” he says, “to use it moderately with money, and pleasures, and all sorts of pleasures. But because they did not observe moderation in this, they ruined everything.” Theophylact has the same idea. - Ecumenius writes: “He says: “in covetousness,” meaning that they gave themselves over to two passions: philandering and amorousness, which are more prominent than other passions in a sinful life and rule it; - or that they indulged in filthiness and uncleanness excessively and greedily.” Eph. 4:20. You don’t know Christ like that. In the ugly pagan life the Apostle pointed out what should not happen in the life of Christians. Now it shows what should be in it; and since everything in it is from Christ the Lord, our attention is directed to Him. “You don’t know Christ like that.” They came to know, that is, they believed, they clung to Him, they united with Him in the sacraments, they accepted the commandments from Him and entered into the path of life according to Him - they already learned by experience what it means to be a Christian, to be with Christ. “Poznaste” - in Greek it is εμαθετε - studied, memorized, as one studies and learns lessons. What is meant is not bare—mental—cognition of Christ, but assimilation with Him, living knowledge of Him. It is not so, he says, that you have come to know Christ in this way; The knowledge of Christ does not oblige you to the kind of life that I showed you among the pagans; nothing of the kind can be tolerated in you. “You did not know Christ for such things” (Saint Chrysostom). Or “not taco” means – not for nothing. Points to the great promises in Christ Jesus, as if to say: you have been accepted into the Church of Christ, His truths have been communicated to you, holy baptism has been given, remission of sins has been granted, and the sure promise of the Kingdom has been secured for you - all this for free? Having received all this, you don’t even want to move your hand? Would everyone be ready to live as before? - No, that’s not good for you. “You did not accept Christ under such conditions in order to remain in your former life” (St. Chrysostom). This is the whole essence of Christianity (the truth about Jesus), to put aside everything that is old and begin to live according to a completely new law and order. Eph. 4:21. If you have heard Him and learned about Him, as the truth about Jesus is. “If” - “if” - does not mean that Saint Paul did not know whether they had heard about the Lord the Savior: for otherwise, how could he have written to them everything that had been written hitherto? This means that this proposition: “This is not how you know Christ,” and with what came from it, they themselves must deduce and keep in their minds from what they heard about Christ and what they learned from Him Himself, moreover from what they heard from Him Himself and what they learned from Him Himself, having received Him into themselves in the sacraments and having felt in their hearts that there is truth in Him. Everything can be expressed this way: if you have heard and learned properly, then you yourself know that you should not live like the pagans. It is implied, of course: but you have heard and learned as you should, therefore, you know how to live. Saint Chrysostom says: “The expression: “if you have heard Him” does not mean that he speaks with doubt, on the contrary, it shows his complete confidence; In a similar way, he expresses himself in another place: “If it is righteous with God, render tribulation to those who offend you” (2 Thess. 1:6). Knowing Christ consists of leading a righteous life. For whoever leads a bad life does not know God and is not known by Him. The Apostle speaks about this in another place: “They confess God, but His works are averted” (Titus 1:16). The expression used here by the Apostle: “having heard Him, you will learn about Him,” gives his thought a special connotation, very important, for it shows that Christians hear the Lord Himself and in Him - through living communication with Him, abiding in Him - they learn. Not everyone who hears and learns about the Lord from another person hears His word in himself and learns from Him. For for this it is necessary to add many conditions to the first hearing - living faith, baptism and readiness to live according to the commandments of the Lord, without sparing the belly. But that the Christian who fulfills all the statutes truly hears Christ speaking within himself, St. John the Theologian testifies to this in the point where he speaks of anointing, that it teaches everything: for even though here the Holy Spirit is spoken of, the Spirit and the Lord are one (1 John 2:27). Whoever has reached such a state that he can discern and understand the voice of Christ within himself has achieved complete renewal and sanctification of his nature. Sin no longer possesses it; he walks in the renewal of a bright life, just as the Risen Christ is bright - by the very order of the quality of life in him, he is alien to everything pagan - the old man has already been put aside, and the renewal of the mind is in him in all its strength. Keeping this thought in mind, we can see the proper condition in the word: “if anything...” without having to resort to outside explanations. This is the thought of Blessed Jerome. “If everyone who apparently should hear Christ had actually heard Him, then the holy Apostle would not have said to the Ephesians and in general to everyone to whom he revealed the mysteries of Christ: “If you have heard Him.” To study Christ is the same as to be able to practice virtue, and the saying: listen to Him does not differ from how if someone said: listen to wisdom, truth, courage, self-control, and other things that Christ is called. Whoever has listened to Christ and studied Him in this way will no longer walk in the vanity of his mind, will not be darkened by meaning, will not be alienated from the life of God, but will have knowledge, and all blindness will fall from the eyes of his heart, because the light admitted into the inner darkness will disperse all ignorance in him. When he realizes this, he will no longer indulge himself in philandering, will not do any uncleanness in covetousness, transgressing the boundaries assigned to him in marriage. If he sometimes happens to be overcome by some passion, he will ache about his wound and suffer the torment of his conscience - because he has lost his free boldness and the purity of his immaculate mind. Let us learn from Christ and listen to Him. Christ speaks to us in the Church through His word and the shepherds of the Church. But we should not despair of achieving the fact that He Himself will one day speak in our hearts and Himself personally teach us, without using any external instrument for this: just let us not succumb to sin, let us not allow lustful pleasures to take over our body.” "For there is truth in Jesus". “As” – καθως as: – learned how there is truth in Jesus, “what is the truth in Christ Jesus” (St. Chrysostom); what does it consist of? – It is to put off the old man and put on the new. The truth in Jesus is not a theory, but a life and a deed. He who has put off the old man and put on the new man has the truth in Jesus. Whoever does not have this does not have the truth of Jesus. And the evidence of this truth consists in putting aside the one and putting on the other. In baptism this is done, and not nominally, but really. Whoever has received the power of baptism experiences by the very act that everything that was former in him has died, and that something new lives on, which he did not know or feel. The Kingdom of Christ, what is given in Christ, is not a word, but a power. Here it is accomplished by deed: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). What should you do after this? - To preserve what is given and give it space to act and be realized, just as it was a duty in relation to heaven - to do and preserve. Eph. 4:22. Set aside for you, according to the first life, the old man, smoldering in delightful lusts. Since this deposition has already taken place in the baptized, and the old man has died, then the deposition must be understood not as a commandment, but as a notice of the accomplished deed. The truth about Jesus is that you put off the old man as soon as you come to Him and are baptized. In this regard, the first words: “you have not known Christ in such a way...” will also mean: you did not know Christ without anything, you did not only accept knowledge about Him, and you did not only borrow the name from Him, but you have completely changed, completely become new; that old man by which you lived died in you, you put it aside. And it seems that this is the direct thought of the Apostle, which also comes from the obligation to return everything to Christ. For, having spoken about this, he immediately commanded: “This is what I say,” - you should not live like a pagan. Why? “For that life,” he says, “has already died in you as soon as you came to Christ.” You didn’t know Christ “just like that” - without everything - but this is what happened to you: you put it off. But this is not done mechanically. This is preceded by a decision of the will, which is sealed by grace; hence the moral renewal, conscious and felt. The one who feels this no longer submits to lust, but tramples on it and rejects it as something alien to him. The Apostle said to the Ephesians: This you have already experienced in Him. A moral lesson still came out of this: you see how it is not proper for you to touch your former life, for freedom is not taken away by a new birth. What exactly was postponed is clear from the previous one. Two new features are added: decay and charm. Or the third – dilapidation. The “old man” is determined by his former life. “Life” αναστροφη - everything in which we previously revolved, both internally and externally, as Saint Paul depicted before this. If the Apostle had only said: “You are putting off the old man,” then others might have been perplexed as to what kind of old man he was, but when this word was followed by: “according to the former life”—the one in which each of those who heard that word himself moved—then it was clear to everyone what kind of old man he was. It is also clear to them what it means: to put it aside, for they realized and felt how this oldness had fallen away from them - it had fallen away, like leprosy falling like scales from a healed leper, and concepts, and tastes, and urges, and plans - all the former had fallen away, as if it had not happened. They looked back and looked at it as if they were discarded clothes - as if they were someone else’s. Saint Paul defined the former life in paganism in such a way that it was a life in vanity of mind, in blindness, negligence and insensibility, and in complete slavery to passions, especially carnal lust. This is the old man. He still says that such a person is smoldering. Selfish life in self-indulgence and passions corrupts, exhausts and consumes human nature. For then a person is not in his own atmosphere. Just as one who breathes polluted air increasingly corrupts his life, so one who lives in sin and passions destroys his nature. But it smolders, but never decays. Corroding aphids penetrate it more and more, wear away and consume it. So all your life, so all eternity, unless you repent and are renewed in Christ. The old man is smoldering in lusts. Lust gives the thought only of carnal pleasures, which in the old man stand out more clearly than other weaknesses. But this word can also be understood as all the passions in which a self-indulgent person usually lives. Lust is any self-gratifying desire, the satisfaction of which means nothing other than to console and please oneself. These lusts are charming because they beckon, promising mountains of happiness, but give nothing when they act on their attraction; They are also charming especially because they know how to cover up their deception, so that the unsatisfied does not blame lust for the deception, but reproaches himself for his inability to use it properly. This seduction keeps everyone in the power of lusts without noticing and feeling the harmfulness of this kind of life and without feeling the burden of the yoke of slavery imposed by the passions. Saint Chrysostom says: “Lust corrupts and destroys the very being of man. The love of fame is destructive, pleasure has ruined many, lust has deceived. However, all this does not constitute pleasure in the proper sense, but there is bitterness, deception, forgery and shadow. The outer side of these objects is attractive, but in themselves they are nothing more than a heavy burden, entailing great poverty, emptiness and poverty. And if you take off this mask from them, reveal their real face, you will see the deception. For this is what deception consists of, when something is shown to us not by what it is, but by what is not in it, which is the reason for false judgments about this or that object.” Eph. 4:23. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. This is the truth in Jesus, that in Him you are putting off old age and are being renewed in the spirit of your mind. What does spirit of mind mean? - since he said: by the spirit of your mind, it is obvious that Saint Paul does not mean here the Holy Spirit, but something that is in man. The highest side of human nature is called either mind or spirit. Here both names are combined together: the spirit of the mind, that is, the spirit - your mental power. Man was created so that he could live in God by spirit, or mind. If he had not fallen away from God, he would have lived entirely in God in his spirit. God would give the strength to his spirit to rule over all the powers of the soul and body and rule over all their needs. But when man fell away from God, his spirit lost its strength, and mental and physical forces began to dominate him, breeding many lustful passions. If, as we saw, in the Apostle this lustful, passionate bodily-spiritual life constitutes the old man, which is laid aside in Christ Jesus, then obviously, by the renewal of the mind by the spirit, he indicates the restoration of our spirit in its rights by creation, liberating it from the yoke of passions and returning to it power over all the powers of human nature, under the condition that he himself is now reunited with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our usual expressions, for example, the spirit of some scripture, can lead to the concept that there is a spirit of the mind. This signifies the essential, characteristic features of that scripture. It can be assumed that the spirit of the mind also means the essential, characteristic properties of the mind. Judging by this, the words of the Apostle: you are renewed in Christ Jesus by the spirit of your mind will mean: your mind in Christ Jesus again receives back its essential, characteristic features, given to it by God in creation and lost by it in the fall. Isn’t this what St. Chrysostom’s words mean: “By the spirit of the mind, that is, by the spirit that is in your mind!?” But Theodoret directly says: “He called the spiritual aspiration of the mind the spirit of the mind.” The mind, or spirit, by nature is our highest power, all directed towards the Divine. Hidden in him is the direct knowledge that there is God, with a feeling of all-round dependence on Him and with the consciousness of the obligation to submit to Him by strict fulfillment of His will, which is inscribed in the same Spirit, or mind, and composes the tablets of the law of conscience, by fulfilling which he expects and is always pleasing to God, and always blissful in Him, not only in time, but even more so in eternity, which is why he does not find contentment in anything created, even if he possessed the whole world. All these traits of the mind, or this spirit of the mind, were lost through the fall, but are restored in the Lord Jesus Christ, in other words: with this spirit of the mind a person is renewed in Christ Jesus and begins to live always before God, always in strict fidelity to His will, according to a conscience enlightened by the commandments, always with detachment from all created things and with the undoubted hope of bliss in the future. It is restored by the grace of the Holy Spirit through combination with the Lord. In this act, natural power over soul and body is returned to him, as a result of which he begins to rule over everything he owns, both internal and external. Eph. 4:24. And put on the new man, created by God in righteousness and in the honor of truth. The truth in Jesus is that you are not only putting off the old things, but you are also putting on the new man. Who this new one is can be seen by the contrast to the old; it can also be seen from the previous indication of the renewal of the mind by the spirit. But the Apostle defines it more fully here, in its origin, in its properties and directions of its activity. The new man is created again, or recreated, reborn in a supernatural way. Grace comes to a mind darkened by vanity and awakens in it the fear of God; the fear of God quickens the conscience; An awakened and alarmed conscience strikes with hopelessness and forces one to seek reconciliation. The Gospel indicates it in Christ Jesus: Christ is embraced by faith and united with the believer in the baptismal font, fulfilling him with the grace of the Spirit in confirmation. Thus, he who approaches the Lord is reconciled with God and devotes himself to serving Him, feeling that he has received strength, even to life and piety. This is how a new life begins, which is life according to God, in truth and in the honor of truth. “Created after God” is the same as created in the image of God (Col. 3:10). Just as in the beginning man was created in the image of God, so now he is recreated again in the same image, recreated according to God, and then lives according to God, that is, in life his first concern is maintaining the proper relationship with God, or fear of God, in order to always maintain peaceful communication with God and have boldness and access to Him. The new man lives in spirit in God. Confirmed in God, he descends into the circle of life and appears here completely righteous, zealous to fulfill every “truth”, every known determination of the will of God, so as not to sin in anything before Him and not to darken his conscience in anything. In this mood he is “right,” as the first man was originally created. It is said: “created in truth” - not “in truth”, but already “in truth”. Thus, from the font a new man comes into the light with such an inner structure that he zealously fulfills all truth in a sense of strength, influenced by grace. “In reverence” means the same as in truth. Reverence is due to someone who does what is due in all perfection. “What is reverence? - asks Saint Chrysostom, - and answers: What is pure and in accordance with the requirements of duty. Or perhaps “truth” means the more active side of virtue, and “reverence” means the more internal purity and integrity of feelings and dispositions. “Truth” refers to both truth and holiness, and shows that the new man is reborn in true righteousness and true holiness; It doesn’t just seem like that, but it really is like that, not only before people, but also before God. In the old man everything is charm (v. 22), everything is illusory, but in the new man everything is true, everything is as it should be and as the Truth itself - God determines. This is what Christians are made of in Christ Jesus according to the truth of Jesus Christ. By new and old man we mean the moral and religious character of a person, and not what special features a person has. There is only one person, but sometimes he lives in self-indulgence and passions, sometimes he devotes himself to God and is jealous of pleasing God to everyone. In the first case he is an old man, in the second he is a new man. Saint Chrysostom: “So that no one thinks that he is inventing another person, when he speaks about the new and the old man, he says: “be renewed.” Renewal occurs when something that has become dilapidated takes on a different form, so that the object remains the same, but a change occurs with its random properties. - “And put on the new one.” - Do you see that there is one object, but two clothes: one that is taken off, and the other that is put on? – Why does he represent a person under the name of virtue? And also under the name of vice? – Because in order to determine the property of a person, you need to point out his activity. Thus, a person’s actions, no less than his natural properties, show whether he is good or not good. Just as it is easy to expose (undress) a person, it is just as easy to see his properties by virtue or vice.” – Theodoret has the same thought: “The old man” the Apostle called not the very nature, but the effectiveness of sin. For the one who is baptized does not lay off his body, but his defiled sinful clothing; he called the one living according to the Gospel law a new man. And he called both virtue and vice human, because they are committed by people.” Blessed Jerome says that putting on the new man is putting on Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14), for He is truly a new man. And he adds: “So, whoever imitates His life and shows all His virtues in himself, becomes meek, as He was meek and humble in heart, and lays down his life for his friends, as He laid down for His sheep; being beaten, he does not answer, and being slandered, he does not counter-slander, but overcomes pride with humility; he has put on the new man and can speak with the Apostle: “I live... for no one, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). And: “Be imitators of me, as ... I am Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Such a one also fulfills the words of John the Theologian: “He who says, abide in Him, must eat as He went to eat, and let this one walk in the same way” (1 John 2:6). Saint Chrysostom, having said what and how Christians are clothed in baptism, adds that the Apostle’s intention with these words is to encourage everyone “to no longer live according to the attraction of seductive lusts, but according to the commandments of God. – Our duty is no longer to take off this garment of justification, which the Prophet calls the garment of salvation (Isa. 61:10), so that we may become like God. The Apostle wants us not just for one day, not two, not three, but always to remain in virtue and never take off this clothing. For it is not so disgraceful for a man to be naked in body as to be naked in virtue. With bodily nudity, his indecent position is seen by the same slaves, and there the Lord and Angels see it. - How will God forgive us if we destroy these clothes? – Let us strip ourselves of money, so as not to be naked of righteousness. The clothes of money damage the clothes of justification. Sensual inclinations also deprive us of this clothing, for they are fire, and such fire burns this clothing. Wealth is also a moth: and just as the moth eats everything and does not spare even silk clothes, so wealth does not spare our true clothes. Let us therefore leave all this, that we may be righteous, that we may put on the new man. Let us not leave behind anything old, nothing transitory, nothing perishable. Virtue is not difficult and not difficult to achieve. Don't you see those who spend their lives in the mountains? “They leave their homes, and their wives, and their children, and all their occupations and, having retired from the world, put on sackcloth, imprison themselves in a cramped cell... They exhaust themselves with fasting and constant hunger. If I offered you this now, would you all refuse such an offer? – But I don’t say that... What else will I even say? - Use the baths, take care of your body, go to the square, have a house, have servants, eat food and drinks - just drive out self-interest from everywhere. And don’t tell me that those (hermits) had special strength for such a strict life, for many, much weaker than you, and richer, and more delicate, entered into this harsh life. But what am I saying about husbands? “Virgins brought up in bliss—these virgins, suddenly embraced by the fire of Christ, abandoned all their luxury and pomp and, forgetting about their effeminacy, like brave fighters, entered the field of exploits. – Such is the power of the fire of Christ, so good will exceeds nature itself! “However, I don’t demand anything like that from you, because you want your wives to get ahead of you in the field of pious life.” At least do what is not difficult: keep your hand from inappropriate things, keep from shameless glances. What's so difficult about this, tell me? What's hard? Be fair, do not offend anyone - neither poor nor rich, neither seller nor hirer. Get married, have children. The feat (of hermitage) is truly great, that rock is high... and you are not able to climb it? – Have at least the least and achieve the lowest. Can't you give away your money? - Do not kidnap, at least, strangers, and do not offend others. Can't you fast? - At least don’t give in to voluptuousness. Can't you lie on a bed of reeds? - At least do not make beds for yourself, upholstered with silver, but use a simple bed and a bed made not for show, but for rest; Likewise, do not make beds of ivory; embarrass yourself. If you lead a modest life, you will not be afraid of anything: neither envy, nor thieves, nor intrigues. “I’m not telling you: serve the sick; at least order this to your servant. Do you see how hard it is?” b) The very rules of the moral life of Christians, like Christians in general, Eph. 4:25–32, 5:1–20 Eph. 4:25. Moreover, putting aside lies, speak the truth to each of your sincere ones, so that we please each other. Saint Paul puts truth in the word first. Connects your speech with the previous one. There he said: you have put on “the new man, created according to God in righteousness and perfection of truth.” Now he takes a reason in these words and speaks about the truth in the word: “hence putting aside the lies, speak the truth.” The basis for this rule comes not from the previous position, but from the fact that we “are pleased with each other.” There is a rule in logic that thinking cannot be formed if the mind does not represent every object as the same (the law of identity), always equal to itself, the same. And a society of people cannot succeed if everyone in practice is not what they say in their language. The chain connecting people is mutual trust. This trust cannot take root unless everyone has the truth in their word. To the extent that confidence in mutual truthfulness is strong, to that extent is the union of people strong; and, conversely, in such a union the union is weak, in which untrue speech is allowed. Christians constitute one body, livingly united. Consequently, truth-speaking is already a quality among them: otherwise such a union could not have been formed. The apostle says, as it were: do not put yourself in conflict with what you eat. And this indication also suggests that if we are happy with each other, then everyone should have the other as themselves. And who lies to himself? - Even if someone would like to, they cannot, because the consciousness both in the person who lies and in the one before whom the person lies is one and the same. And the Apostle used this word: speak “the truth to the sincere” - to the one who is sincere to you, and to whom you are sincere. Will the tongue dare to tell a lie to such a one? But people should be in exactly this relationship with each other. - To say: you please each other is the same as saying: sincere love should reign between you. Where there is love, lies are impossible. Saint Chrysostom says: “Having presented the general teaching about the old man, the Apostle then depicts it in detail, because the teaching about any subject, relating to its details, is more understandable. What is he saying? - “Then I’ll put off lying.” What lie? Does he not understand idols? - No. For although idols are a lie, we are not talking about them here, since the Ephesians had no communication with idols. He tells them about lies in relation to each other, that is, about craftiness and deception: “Speak the truth to everyone who is sincere,” he says, and presents the main motivation for this: “For this reason we are pleasing to one another.” Notice how everywhere the Apostle shames them, pointing out the mutual fidelity of their bodily members. The eye, he says, does not deceive the feet, nor the foot the eye... If the eye sees a serpent or a beast, will it deceive the foot? Wouldn't he let her know about it right away? And she, having learned this from him, will already walk carefully. In the same way, when neither the eye nor the foot has the means of recognizing a harmful poison, but everything will depend on the sense of smell, can the sense of smell lie to the lips? - No way. Why? - Because in this case it will destroy itself. On the contrary, as it (the sense of smell) presents itself, so it says. Does the tongue deceive the stomach? Doesn't he throw away what he finds disgusting? Such is the mutual exchange of services and mutual assistance between the members of the body. Notice how faithfully, and, moreover, sincerely, so to speak, this mutual warning is carried out. So we will not lie if we are members of one body. This will be a sign of our friendship, and the opposite of this will be a sign of enmity.” Eph. 4:26. Be angry and do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger. "Be angry". It is impossible to think that Saint Paul would allow anger, especially since a few verses later he says: “Let anger... be taken away from you” (Eph. 4:31), that is, let it be expelled from among you, so that there is no place for it here. It must be assumed that the Apostle took the very phrase, as it is read in Psalm 4:5 (Psalm 4:5), and connected with it a prohibition against anger, as if this: as for anger, do not sin with it. – The law of imputation in relation to anger is the same as in relation to all other passionate movements. Attacks of passion are not considered a sin. Imputation begins from the moment, noticing the movement of passion, they yield to it, and not only do not resist it, but take its side, inflate it and themselves help it rise to the point of uncontrollability. If someone, having noticed the attack of passion, arms himself against it and tries to drive it away with appropriate techniques in thoughts and body positions, then this is not considered a sin, but a virtue. The same applies to anger and anger. In constant clashes with others, there are no number of reasons for irritation. But when someone suppresses and drives away every occurrence of anger, then he is angry and does not sin. Not to be angry at all and never to feel any anger is a gift of grace and belongs to the perfect. In the ordinary course, it is the duty of everyone not to give in to anger, so as not to sin with it. Ecumenius and Theophylact say: “It would be nice not to be angry at all, but when anger breaks out, do not allow it to lead to sin.” Suppress it inside so that it does not break out into a word, into a mine, into some kind of movement. But sometimes it happens that anger instantly seizes, and before a person comes to his senses, he has already gone into speech and movement. And here insanity is appropriate, but only until the moment you realize it. As soon as a mistake is recognized, we must hasten to correct the matter through fraternal reconciliation. Who walks between different things arranged in different combinations and happens to knock down some things or move others with a careless movement - what does he do then? – He turns around and puts everything back in its place with an apology to the owner. The same is true between our usual clashes. There was an outburst and a disagreement; hurry to put everything back in the same order through reconciliation. Reconciliation can be restored immediately, but moments may arise that delay it. Start everything right away; God will help you, and enjoy yourself. External contacts, personal characters, and previous relationships matter a lot here. But none of this can justify or legitimize the prolongation of anger and discord. Sin began from the moment the error was noticed, and the soul is not supposed to immediately take measures for reconciliation. Once this is done, then the imputation of sin is rejected. Any danger of imputation, however, will pass when measures are taken in action and peace is restored. The Apostle commands us to hasten in this matter and try in every possible way so that the sun does not set in anger, that is, to make peace on the same day. Who knows, however, there may be circumstances that will prevent this from being accomplished on the same day, and the sun will set before reconciliation? But the Apostle does not write about reconciliation, but about mutual anger at each other. The turning point of anger is an internal matter. It can be arranged in one moment, but reconciliation takes time. He wants the anger inside to be suppressed immediately, and the movement towards reconciliation to begin at the same time - and at least before sunset. Perhaps the words of the Apostle may not be taken literally. However, as they note, there is a danger that at night, in freedom, a small displeasure can fan into flames and make discord irreconcilable. It is said about sleep in relation to the body that it consolidates in the body new elements taken in during the day in food. The same can be said about him in relation to the soul - that he consolidates in it the movements and thoughts that she cherished and collected during the day. And anger can take hold in her. That is why it is necessary to destroy it before sleep, so that it does not gain a foothold and turn into irreconcilable hostility. We present St. Chrysostom’s reasoning about this. “It is good not to be angry; but if someone falls into this passion, then, at least, not for a long time: “let not the sun go down on your anger.” Can't you control your anger? - Be angry for an hour, two, three: but let the sun not set, leaving us as enemies. It rose by the goodness of the Lord, but it will not go down, shining on the unworthy. For if the Lord sent him out of His great goodness and He Himself forgave you your sins, but you do not forsake them for your neighbor, then think about what evil is in this? Moreover, other evils can come from it. Blessed Paul fears that the night, having captured a person in solitude who has suffered an offense and is still burning with anger, will kindle this fire even more. During the day, while many things still irritate you, you are allowed to give room to anger, but when evening comes, reconcile and extinguish the evil that has arisen. If the night finds you angry, then the next day will not be enough to extinguish the evil that may grow in you during this night. Even if you destroy most of it, you will not be able to destroy it all, and the next night you will give the opportunity for the remaining evil to become stronger. Just as the sun, if it is dissatisfied with the warmth of the day to dry and purify the air, which has been filled with clouds and vapors during the night, gives rise to a thunderstorm when the night, having captured the remainder of these vapors, adds new vapors to them: this is exactly what happens in anger.” Eph. 4:27. Below, give room to the devil. The devil has no access to the soul when it does not harbor any passion. Then she is bright, and the devil cannot look at her. When she allows the movement of passion and agrees to it, then she becomes darkened, and the devil sees her, boldly approaches her and begins to rule over her. Two main vicious movements usually disturb the soul - lust and irritability. Whoever the enemy manages to overcome with lust, he leaves with it, without disturbing or slightly disturbing him with anger; and whoever does not give in to lust is in a hurry to provoke him into anger and gathers around him a lot of irritating things. He who does not understand the tricks of the devil and is angry about everything, gives room to the devil, allowing himself to be overcome by anger. And whoever suppresses every incitement of anger resists the devil and drives him away, and not only does not give him room within himself. With anger, a place is given to the devil as soon as anger is recognized as fair and its satisfaction is legitimate. At the same moment, the enemy enters the soul and begins to put thought after thought into it - each more irritating than the other. A person begins to burn in anger, as if in a flame. This is the devil's, hell's fire. And the poor man thinks that he is so burning with jealousy for the truth; whereas in anger there is never truth (James 1:20). This is a kind of delusion in anger, just as there is delusion in lust. Whoever immediately suppresses anger dispels this delusion and thus reflects the devil in the same way as someone in their hearts hits someone hard in the chest. Who among those who are angry, after extinguishing their anger, having examined the matter in good faith, did not find that the basis of the irritation was a lie?! But the enemy turns this untruth into truth and piles it up into such a mountain that it will seem as if the world cannot stand unless our indignation is satisfied. Saint Chrysostom says: “Give room below to the devil.” So, to be at enmity with each other means to give room to the devil. For, while we should unite together and rebel against him, we, having abandoned enmity against him, allow ourselves to turn on each other. Truly, nothing helps the devil to find a place among us more than enmity! Just like stones, as long as they are tightly packed and have no voids, are difficult to break; as soon as there is a hole in them, even as small as the point of a needle, or there is a crack into which you can only thread one hair, they fall apart and are destroyed, and so are they when attacked (by the devil). As long as we are closely united and close to each other, then he cannot introduce (among us) any of his (evil slander). But when he divides us even a little, then he invades us like a stormy wave. Everywhere he needs only the beginning, this is the most difficult thing for him; when the beginning is made, then he moves everything forward of his own accord. So, as soon as he opened your ears to slander, the liars already gain your trust. For those at war are guided by their hatred, which condemns everything, and not by the truth, which judges right. For just as during friendship one does not want to believe even fair but bad rumors, so during enmity, on the contrary, false rumors are accepted as truth. Then we have a different mind, a different judgment seat, listening not with indifference, but with partiality and prejudice. Just as the lead placed on the scales weighs everything down, so does the heaviest lead weigh the weight of enmity. It forces words that are spoken in one sense to be taken in another, it forces one to suspect movement and interpret everything that is for the worse, and thereby embitters and irritates a person, making him worse than the possessed, so that he does not want to say or hear the name of the one against whom he is at enmity, but always call him with abusive words. How can we soften our anger? How do we put out this flame? – If we think about our own sins and how guilty we are before God; if we think that we are taking revenge not on the enemy, but on ourselves; if we think that through enmity we bring joy to the devil, this enemy, this true enemy of ours, for whose sake we offend our fellow man. You can’t help but be vindictive and quarrel? - Be an enemy, but be an enemy against the devil, and not against your brother. This is why God gave us anger as a weapon, so that we would not strike our own bodies with the sword, but so that we would plunge its entire edge into the chest of the devil. Push your sword in there up to the hilt, if you want, push in the hilt too, and never remove it from the side; on the contrary, stick another sword in there as well. And this will happen when we spare each other, when we are peacefully disposed towards each other. Even if I lose my money, even if I destroy my glory and honor, my penis is more valuable to me than anything else. So let us say to each other: let us not insult our nature in order to acquire money or gain fame.” Eph. 4:28. Let the one who steals not steal from anyone, but rather let him work, doing good with his own hands, so that he may give to the one who demands. Among the Christians of Ephesus, perhaps there were no such people who would fall into the sin of theft, but, of course, there were those who, before their conversion, traded in this in paganism. According to Saint Chrysostom, this is one of the traits of the old man, along with lies and memory malice. Knowing this and fearing that such persons, after his removal and the cessation of his personal supervision over them, would not return to their previous state, he reminds them that this evil deed must be abandoned forever. Let none of these steal. They say that theft has a special attraction for those who engage in it. The noisy city presented favorable conditions for it everywhere. How long will it take to get rid of an old illness? Like a wise and kind doctor, he tells them: watch out, beware! “Since this sin is primarily generated by idleness, the Apostle rightly contrasted it with good deeds” (Theodoret). “But above all let him labor.” “It is not enough to lag behind sin; one must take the opposite path of goodness. Before they did evil, now let them do good, and not just do it, but overexert themselves in doing it” (Theophylact). By addressing such a speech to those who have stolen, the Apostle not only suggests that others can sit with their hands folded, but more importantly that the one who has stolen is now entering into the society of people who live by the labor of their hands. Why not only let him adopt a hardworking lifestyle similar to theirs, but even surpass all of them in work in order to show the sincerity of the correction. In civil law, a thief is punished by external court and corporal punishment; In moral order, conscience ties the hands of a thief. But it is not limited to just stopping a bad deed, but demands reward. This is required both by the thief’s conscience, in order to satiate himself with the opposite work, and by the conscience of others, so that trust in the one who lived in bad faith is restored. Saint Chrysostom says: “In order to remove condemnation from oneself, one must not only give up sin, but also do something good. See how one should atone for sins. They stole, which means they committed a sin. But when they stopped, this does not mean that they atoned for the sin. How can they do this? – We have to work and help others. Those who did this, therefore, made amends for the sin.” And a little lower, under the next verse, he also says: “The Apostle gives such instruction not so much in order to show leniency to those (who stole), but in order to instill meekness in those who suffered from this and convince them to be content with the fact that they will no longer be subjected to this.” Blessed Theophylact adds to this: “Let him labor” - partly in order to crush the body, which was previously agile in evil deeds from inaction, partly in order to have sufficient means of life and food in order to give to others - and so that the one who robbed others before would now be the benefactor of others. Marvelous!.. How the Gospel makes angels those who were previously almost the same as demons.” The Apostle commands here to do good, meaning by this not the doing of good deeds in general, but some kind of good and honest craft, for he says: “doing good with your own hands,” which, together with the expression “let him labor,” indicates handicraft. The Apostle in all his epistles prescribes as a common law for all: to live by one’s own labors. The needy among Christians are only those who cannot work. To cover their needs, the surplus remaining from the maintenance that those who can work obtain for themselves through their labors is assigned. This last goal of work, according to the Apostle, is so urgent that, obliging everyone to work, he does not indicate the immediate goal - to support oneself, which goes without saying, but puts forward this one further one - to help others, which could easily be forgotten - in order to bring it closer to consciousness or even put it in front of attention, so that because of it that one can already be seen. “The Apostle commands us to engage in work (handicrafts and crafts) not for the sake of the womb alone, but also for the needs of those in need” (Theodoret). This donation to the needy sanctifies the part that is used for oneself, and brings down God’s blessing to all work. This is the pious way of life for Christians! Everything is to God, and everything is from God. Eph. 4:29. Let not every word that is rotten come out of your mouth, but let it be good for the building of faith, that it may give grace to those who hear. “The word is rotten” must be explained from the concept of rotten. The tree is said to be rotten, and in this case it is worthless for any purpose. Applying this to the word, one must consider as rotten every empty, idle, playful and ridiculous word, witticisms, puns - pouring from empty to empty. But another body, when it rots, not only becomes useless, but spreads stench and infection. Foul words are slander, slander, slander, obscene language, flattery, insidious intrigues and all sorts of rumors. Words, like an infection, are those that undermine faith and shake good morals, sowing discord, suspicion, and confusion among the people. The Apostle prohibits all these kinds of words when he says: “Let not rotten words proceed out of your mouth.” This is what all our interpreters understand. Saint Chrysostom says: “What word is rotten? “That which in another place he calls an idle word, slander, slander, and blasphemy.” Theodoret writes: “The word is rotten - foul language, slander, slander, lies and the like.” Blessed Jerome: “The word is rotten, which predisposes to sin and leads to fall.” Ecumenius: “He calls rotten either idle and reckless speech, or corrupt and stinking, such as slander, slander, obscene language, ridicule, for what is more corrupt and stinking than this?” “Theophylact does the same,” adding: “For we will have to give an account for every idle word.” “The good word” is defined by itself, in contrast to the fact that it is a rotten word. But Saint Paul defines it directly - “good for the building up of faith.” Those who are commanded to work out their salvation with fear and trembling must direct everything there, especially the tongue, the most mobile and uncontrollable of organs. We have a saying: whatever hurts someone, that’s what they talk about. He who wholeheartedly worries about one thing, how to save his soul, will not dare to talk about anything extraneous. You say: that’s all about this, and about that? – But the society of Christians is supposed, and should be, all consisting of persons filled with the same painful concern for salvation. What is strange here is not that everyone is talking about salvation, but that if anyone starts talking about anything other than this. Saint Chrysostom says: “Say only what edifies your neighbor, but nothing superfluous. God gave you a mouth and a tongue so that you would thank Him and edify your neighbor. If you destroy a building, it is better to remain silent and say nothing. For even the hands of the artist, assigned to build walls, but instead learned to destroy them, would rightly be cut off. So (about the tongue) the Psalmist says: “The Lord will consume all flattering lips” (Ps. 11:4). The tongue is the cause of all evil, or better yet, not the tongue, but those who abuse it.” That’s why you can’t say anything indiscriminately. It should be noted that in our Slavic and Russian it stands: “to the creation of faith.” So it is in the Vulgate, and in some manuscripts. And it seems that this reading is better. The current ones have adopted a different reading: προς οικοδομην χρειας - to satisfy needs. Say only what you need or what those you are talking to need. But if by need we mean more than just an everyday or civil need, as we should assume in those who have one need, in addition to these needs, then the thought will come to one and the same thing. What needs are more sensitive for Christians than the needs of faith, questions and perplexities concerning dogmas and the organization of Christian life according to the norm of Christ? Everyone can handle everyday things themselves, and if something happens, a little speech about it is required: the word is different, and that’s it. On the contrary, the area of ​​faith and life by faith is both vast and sometimes obscure. Keeping everything here clear is a vital need of living faith. Yes, where people of living faith gather or accidentally meet, they always talk about faith and faith. Judging by this, we can assume that in whatever congregations there is no mention of faith and life according to it, it is relegated to the background for everyone. Saint Chrysostom does not show how he read, but his entire speech is aimed at instilling - always the message of conversation is edifying for faith and morals. Theodoret understood the word of the Apostle as an indication that the word should be adapted to the times. “But even such a word (that is, good), he says, “the Apostle commands to be pronounced on time.” – Blessed Jerome writes: “The word is good, which teaches how to follow the path of virtues and avoid vices. Every time our word brings benefit to someone, and, due to its adaptation to time, place and person, builds up those who listen, a good word comes from our lips. But when we speak either at the wrong time, or in the wrong place, or not in the way that is necessary for those listening, then rotten words come out of our mouths. So, we need to discuss what to say, because on the day of judgment we will have to give an answer for every idle word (Matthew 12:36). It turns out that even if we don’t harm, but if we don’t create, then the guilt of an unkind word still lies with us.” And Ecumenius and Theophylact read instead of “faith” - need, but they meant only spiritual need. The first writes: “But exactly what is good for satisfying needs is προς οικοδομην της χρειας. What need is this? – The presenting one, that is, the one about which we are talking. For a spiritual husband must direct every conversation that occurs to the building of those present.” The second is like this: “Only that which builds up our neighbor, being necessary in the present need, and we will say, and nothing untimely or indecent.” The words: “may he give grace to those who hear” directly convey the idea that the word should have a beneficial effect on those listening, so that it would be like rain for a thirsty land, or healing oil for a wound. How grace, entering the soul, arranges everything there, creates and revives, so that your word is beneficial for everyone and always. It always happens that a good person brings out good things from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person brings out evil things. But nothing prevents anyone from always observing prudent restraint, and if you do not know how to create in order to give grace, it is better to remain silent, as Chrysostom says. Saint Chrysostom, however, by grace also means gratitude, in the following thought: speak in such a way that the other will receive significant benefit and be grateful to you for that. He says: “Since there are a great many words, the Apostle rightly expressed himself vaguely, giving a command regarding their use and a rule on how to conduct speech. What is the rule? - “Even if it exists, it leads to creation,” he said. - In other words: speak in such a way that the person listening to you will be grateful to you (having benefited). For example, your brother has committed misconduct: do not revile him with offensive words, do not mock him. You will not bring any benefit to the listener, but you will definitely harm him if you sarcastic him with your witticisms. If you admonish him how he should act, then you will earn great gratitude from him. If you also teach someone to have good words, teach him not to slander, then you will teach him a lot, and, of course, you will earn gratitude. If you talk to someone about repentance, about chastity, about almsgiving (and you are disposed towards these virtues); for all this he will express his gratitude to you. If you excite laughter, utter an obscene word, or even worse, praise a vice, then you have upset and ruined everything. This is how we can understand the words of the Apostle.” Others – “may he give grace” – understand differently. Theodoret means by this the pleasantness or favorableness of the word: “He called pleasantness grace, that is, so that the word seems acceptable to those who hear.” Ecumenius, together with Chrysostom, understands gratitude and, literally, the grace of God: “Let him give, he says, to those who hear God’s grace.” – The anointed word, gracious, has a gracious effect on others. He says: grace is in your mouth. And every Christian has grace. Through a gracious word entering his soul, the gracious influence warms the grace inherent in him and puts him in a blessed state. The holy words of Scripture are all spirit-moving words. Whoever conducts a conversation with them conducts streams of the actions of the grace of the Holy Spirit into the souls of others. “And it definitely gives grace.” And Saint Chrysostom adds to his previous speech: “Or these words mean: in order to make them - those who listen - blessed. For just as ointment gives grace to those who are anointed with it, so does a good word. That is why someone said: “Your name has been poured out as ointment” (Song. 1:2). It – a good word – fills those who listen with its fragrance.” This thought, perhaps, is the main one in this place, for it is in direct accordance with the following text. Eph. 4:30. And do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, Who is marked by Him on the day of deliverance. The lesson about edification in the word continues here - and is protected by a threatening impulse. Every Christian is a church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in him, creating everything in him for salvation. He who edifies with his word comes into agreement with the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of believers and helps His creation of souls. On the contrary, whoever upsets the souls of others, scattering them with idle talk, and arousing unkind feelings with slander, ruins the work of the Spirit of God in believers and thereby offends Him, the Creator. But he who upsets another is also the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. If, by upsetting others, he offends the Spirit of God living in them, then even earlier and even more he offends Him in himself, for evil speech comes from a poorly disposed heart, towards which the Most Pure Spirit of God cannot treat favorably. A heart that is in a bad mood is the same as a house filled with stench, fumes and all sorts of dross. Who would like to live in such a house? In this regard, Theophylact says: “If you said a rotten word, unworthy of Christian lips, then you did not offend a person, but the Spirit of God, with whom you were blessed, with whom your lips were sanctified.” “Imzhe znamestesya” . All Christians are marked by the Holy Spirit and have received the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit has sealed us to show that we belong to the royal flock. He did not leave us among those guilty of God’s wrath, but took us away from them and put a seal on us in order to deliver us from this wrath. Isn’t it a shame to insult him? Your lips are sealed with the Spirit, so as not to say anything unworthy of Him. Do not break this seal” (Theophylact). What day is meant by the day of deliverance? - Ecumenius says that this is the day of baptism. “To show that we are the people of God, He sealed us in baptism, for it is the day of redemption.” Jerome means by the day of deliverance the final decision of the fate of everyone at the Judgment with a determination to bliss, and he expresses his thought as follows: “Everyone who believes is marked by the Spirit in order to preserve this sign and show him on the day of deliverance pure and not at all damaged, and for this he will be numbered among the delivered.” The last thought can be justified by the fact that in Greek it stands: εις ημεραν απολυτρωσεως, - as if for that day, to that day. Then the whole power of imprinting by the Spirit, which is also the deposit of the inheritance, will definitely appear; but the imprinting itself takes place in the initial sacraments - after baptism and confirmation. By his power we are made Christians and are preserved until the future restoration of all, and through all eternity we will be preserved. You cannot miss the words of St. Chrysostom on this place. We write down to them what was said about him. “And do not offend the Holy Spirit” - words that lead to fear and horror! – If you say an offensive word, if you upset your brother, you will not upset him, but you will offend the Holy Spirit. At the same time, the Apostle also points to the good deed received from the Holy Spirit, so that the accusation would be even stronger: “And do not offend,” he says, “the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are marked on the day of deliverance.” The Holy Spirit made us royal pasture, freed us from all previous evils, did not leave us among those who are subject to the wrath of God - and you offend Him? “Do not offend the Spirit, by whom you are marked.” Let these words lie like a seal on your lips. Lips sealed by the Spirit do not utter anything obscene. Don’t say: it doesn’t matter if I say a bad word, if I offend both. That is why this is a great evil, because you consider it insignificant. For evil, which is considered insignificant, is easily neglected, and if left neglected, it will increase, and when it increases, it will become incurable. Are your lips sealed with the Spirit? - Remember the dignity of your lips. Moreover, do not forget that you call God your Father. “You call God Father, and at the same time you revile your brother?!” “Do not disgrace your nobility, which you yourself received by grace, by cruel treatment of your brothers.” You call God your Father and insult your neighbor?! This is not characteristic of the son of God. The business of the son of God is to forgive his enemies, to pray for his crucifiers, to shed blood for those who hate him. This is what is worthy of the son of God: to make your enemies, the ungrateful, the thieves, the shameless, the treacherous, your brothers and heirs, and not to insult your brothers. Think about what kind of meal your lips are rewarded with, what they touch, what they eat, what kind of food they take. Think about who you are standing with during the mystery: with the Cherubim, with the Seraphim. Seraphim do not slander, but their lips have only one occupation - to glorify and glorify God. How will you glorify God? How will you say with them: Holy, Holy, Holy, after you have uttered slander with your lips? Tell me: if the royal vessel, which was always filled with royal dishes and designated for such use, was used by one of the servants for uncleanliness, would he then dare to again put this one filled with uncleanliness along with other vessels used at the royal table? - Not at all. Such is slander, such is insulting one’s neighbor! You have a Father in heaven: do not do or say anything earthly. – Do you stand before the throne of God and utter slander? “Aren’t you afraid that the Tsar will consider your action an insult to Himself?” When a slave strikes another slave before our eyes and reviles him, then, even if he did it rightfully, we are offended by this and take such an act as an insult to ourselves; and you, placed together with the Cherubim before the throne of God, dare to revile your brother? Do you see these sacred vessels? They have one purpose: who would dare to use them for another? “And you are holier than these vessels, and much holier!” Why do you defile yourself and stain yourself with dirt? Do you stand in heaven and indulge in slander? Do you live with Angels and indulge in slander? Have you been honored to kiss the Lord, and yet you utter slander? God has adorned your lips with so many angelic songs, honored them with a kiss that is not angelic, but surpassing that of angels - His kiss and His embrace, and do you indulge in slander? Let us teach our lips to be polite. From here comes great benefit, and from slander comes great harm.” Eph. 4:31. Let all grief, and anger, and rage, and cry, and blasphemy be taken away from you, along with all malice. Here the holy Apostle settles the incessant everyday conflicts, from which, if we do not make it a law to give in to each other and excuse mutual troubles, harmony and peace are impossible in the community. More often than not, things begin with little things, with slight grief—bitterness—which, if not immediately destroyed, soon turns into anger; If you don’t hold back your anger, it will flare up into a flash of anger, into rage; after this, large words, abuse, and along with this blasphemy immediately begin - reproaches and reproaches of each other. They fought, they shouted, they separated without making peace, and they get angry at each other, even inventing and saying: I’ll do this to you, I’ll prove it to you. This is revenge in greater or lesser proportions. All this has no place among Christians. “Let it be taken care of,” he says, “from you,” so that the spirit of this quarrelsomeness does not exist. He does not indicate any, even the slightest, measure in which this could be tolerated among Christians, but resolutely expels all this from Christian society. There are two evil emotions that confuse us - lust and irritation. Just as in lust it begins with a thought, so in irritation it begins with grief. The first thought, not driven away through attention, sympathy and determination, leads to lustful deeds. Chagrin, not driven away, also goes its own way, through bitterness, anger and rage, shouting, abuse and mutual insults, and finally, anger reaches discord, irreconcilable hatred, fights and murder. Just as the one who drives away a thought thereby stops its further movement towards maturation towards action, so the one who drives away the first grief puts an end to its further movement - to discord, fights and murders. So let bitterness arise from the environment, being driven away by mutual compliance, and peaceful agreement will never be violated. Saint Chrysostom discusses this at length. “Just as a swarm of bees never settles in an unclean vessel, and therefore people experienced in this prepare a place for them, fumigating it with incense, mastics and all kinds of incense; they sprinkle with aromatic wines and all sorts of other compounds the baskets in which they must sit after emerging from the hives - and they do all this so that the unpleasant smell, disgusting to the bees, does not force them to fly away, so all this applies to the Holy Spirit. Our soul is like a vessel or basket in which swarms of spiritual gifts can be placed, but if it is filled with bile, bitterness and anger, then these swarms fly away from it. That is why this blessed and wise householder (St. Paul) carefully cleanses our vessels, without using a knife or any other iron instrument for this. Look how he cleanses our heart: drive away, he says, lies, drive away anger; and at the same time shows how it is possible to destroy evil from the roots: let us not, he says, be angry in spirit.” Then Saint Chrysostom depicts the harmful effect of bile when it spreads throughout the body. Then he says: “But why are we talking about all this in such detail? - In order for us, through comparison with sensual bile, to better understand all the unbearable harm of spiritual bile - how, producing complete disorder in our soul, it causes complete destruction - and so that, knowing this, we take care not to experience its harmful effect on ourselves. Just as material bile produces inflammation in the body, so spiritual bile inflames our thoughts and brings the one it possesses into the abyss of Gehenna. So, let us listen to the words of Paul: “Let all sorrow be taken away,” he did not say, “let it be cleansed,” “from you.” Really, what need do I have for her and why should I keep her with me? Why should I keep a beast that can be removed from my soul and driven away in a foreign direction?.. “All sorrow,” he says, “let it be taken away from you,” so that it no longer remains in the soul. Otherwise, if this residue is excited, then, like a spark, it will produce a whole flame inside. “And the cry”: why does the Apostle prohibit this too? - Because this is how a meek person should be (that is, not a loudmouth). The cry is a horse with anger as its rider. Humble the horse and you will defeat the rider. Let the women listen to this with special attention, because they especially love to shout and make noise in any matter. In only one case is it useful to speak loudly, this is in preaching and teaching, and nowhere else, not even in prayer. If you want to believe our words in practice, then always refrain from shouting, and you will never become angry. This is the way to tame anger! Because just as it is impossible for someone who shouts not to become angry, so it is impossible for someone who refrains from shouting to become angry. So, if we accustom ourselves to refrain from shouting and scolding, then this will help us a lot in taming our anger. Suppress the cry, and you will thereby take away the wings of your anger, suppress the excitement of your heart. For just as it is impossible to engage in a fist fight without raising your hands, so it is impossible to indulge in anger without raising a cry. Tie a fighter's hands and tell him to fight, he will not be able to do it: exactly the same can be said about anger. A scream can arouse anger even when there is none. “And blasphemy,” says the Apostle, “may it be taken away from you.” Notice how evil happens: grief gives rise to anger, anger - rage, rage - a cry, a cry - blasphemy, that is, swear words, then blasphemy - blows, blows - wounds, wounds - death. But Saint Paul did not want to say anything like that, but only said: “Let all malice be taken away from you.” What is it with all malice? “All malice leads to this end.” There are people who are like those cunning dogs who do not bark or attack directly at those passing by, but, pretending to be humble and meek, grab the unwary and sink their teeth into them. These are much worse than direct attackers. Since among people there are dogs like those who, without resorting to shouting, anger, insults and threats, build secret feats and prepare thousands of evils for others, taking revenge on them with deeds, the Apostle pointed to such people. “Let all evil be taken from you,” he says. Do not take revenge with deeds if you spare words. For this reason, I held your tongue, stopped your cry, so that a strong flame would not ignite within you. If you do the same thing without shouting, if you conceal fire and coals within yourself, then what is the use of your silence? Don't you know that the worst fires are those that lurk inside and are not visible from the outside? Isn't it the same with wounds that produce inflammation inside? Likewise, hidden anger is worse and more harmful to the soul. But he, says the Apostle, “may he be taken away from you with all malice,” both small and great. Let us obey him and drive out from ourselves all bitterness, all malice, so that we do not offend the Holy Spirit. Let us destroy bitterness by the roots, cut it off. Nothing good can come to a soul filled with bitterness, nothing useful, but from it all the misfortunes, all the tears, all the screams and lamentations.” Eph. 4:32. Be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. The Apostle prescribes medicine against anger, scolding and malice. Instead of these bad dispositions, have good ones. Instead of all bitterness, for which you grieve yourself and upset others, be blasé - χρηστοι - sweet (Blessed Jerome), pleasant, hospitable; instead of all malice, be merciful - απλαγχνοι - merciful. This kind of disposition will not allow someone to become upset or angry with someone, and not just to upset and anger someone else. Cordiality and compassion absorb all troubles and spread a sweet, warm peace around. But who will say: what to do when someone has a bilious character! And I would be glad to cover everything with mercy and meekness, but you won’t be able to control yourself. It’s good for the one whose sympathetic dispositions predominate, but the one who has egoistic feelings predominate cannot do without anger, discord and vindictiveness. - To this it must be said that in Christianity, under the influence of grace, every bad natural disposition is transformed into a good one, when someone takes up this diligently and, for his part, uses every effort on himself. He will not remake himself by himself, but his grace will remake him, acting secretly under his own labor on himself. What is this effort? – Forgive everything to others in spite of your unyielding disposition. Repeated experiences of compliance and forgiveness, against the will, reluctantly, will lead to a willing forgiveness of everything, and then to innocence - to not being upset by anything. What inspires such self-resistance? - The living consciousness that you yourself were unrequitedly guilty before God and, however, He forgave you everything freely, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Bear, says the Apostle, the shortcomings of each other and become like the God of all, who through the Lord Christ granted us forgiveness of the entire multitude of our sins” (Theodoret). The driving force here is a feeling of gratitude; but if we recall to this the Savior’s parable about the unmerciful creditor and at the same time the debtor, who, because, after he himself had received the remission of a large debt, did not want to forgive his debtor a relatively very small one, was deprived of all mercy and thrown into prison, then the feeling of gratitude will also be joined by fear, which together are strong enough to arouse each time enough energy in order not to succumb to unmercifulness towards those who cause us any harm. upset or find themselves in some way not in the proper relationship with us. And the Lord, outlining a model of an everlasting prayer, put into it: “leave, as we also leave” (Matthew 6:9), so that the ever-present consciousness of the need to receive leaving for ourselves would always dispose us to leave ourselves to others. For whoever does not leave himself, against his will, inserts into the prayer: do not leave, just as I do not leave, even if you read it differently. So, in remembrance of the forgiveness of our unpaid debts in Christ Jesus, in baptism or repentance, with appropriate reflection, force yourself to forgive, and the grace of God will help you rise to the state of not being irritated by anything from those who oppose you and covering everything with kindness and meekness. Let us take again the speech of St. Chrysostom. Having explained at length at the beginning that to achieve the Kingdom it is not enough to give up sin, but that one must also acquire the opposite virtue, he goes on to say: “That is why blessed Paul, distracting us from unrighteousness, leads us to virtue, for what good, tell me, is there if all the thorns are plucked out, but useful seeds are not sown? “The work will again serve us to the same harm if it remains unfinished.” That is why Paul, deeply concerned about us, gives us commandments not only about cutting off and removing evil deeds, but also encourages us to soon show the planting of good deeds. For, having said: “Let all sorrow, and anger, and rage, and cry, and blasphemy be taken away from you with all malice,” he added: “Be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another,” for these are skills and dispositions, and it is not enough to move away from one skill in order to acquire another (opposite) one instead, but again some movement and striving is needed, no less rapid, than when moving away from evil deeds in order to acquire good deeds. One who is not an enemy is no longer a complete friend: there is something in between enmity and friendship, in which relationship most people are predominantly towards us. He who does not cry does not always laugh, but there is an average state. So here too, whoever is not annoying is not yet completely kind, and whoever is not angry is not completely sympathetic. But new efforts are still needed to acquire such a benefit. And look how, according to the requirements of better agriculture, Blessed Paul cleanses and cultivates the land entrusted to him by the Landowner: he threw away the rotten seeds, then exhorts him to acquire the proper plants. “Be blasiful,” he says. For if, after the thorns are plucked, the earth remains idle, then useless grains will grow again. The apostle destroyed anger, - he believes kindness; he destroyed vexation, - he believes compassion; he plucked out malice and slander, - he planted mercy. For the words: “forgiving one another” mean this. Be, he says, inclined to forgive offenses. Such mercy is greater than that which turns out to be in monetary matters. He who forgives money to someone who has borrowed money from him does a wonderful and amazing thing, but such mercy concerns the body, although he accepts retribution with spiritual and soul treasures. But the one who forgave sins brought benefit to the soul - both his own and the one who received forgiveness, because in this way he made not only himself, but also him, more meek. For it is not so much by persecuting those who have offended that we hurt their souls, but by forgiving them that we bring them into embarrassment and shame. Meanwhile, by acting vindictively, we do not benefit either ourselves or them, but on the contrary, we harm both them and ourselves. So, if you want to take revenge, take revenge in this way: repay good for evil in order to make him (the enemy) a debtor and win a wondrous victory. Why, do you think, does our Lord Jesus Christ say: “If anyone strikes your cheek on the right side, turn to him the other too” (Matthew 5:39)? – Is it not because the more generous someone is, the more benefit he brings to himself and to him? So, let us not be vindictive, but let us extinguish our anger in order to receive mercy from God. For “measure accordingly,” He says, “it will be measured back to you, and with the same judgment you judge, they will judge you” (Matthew 7:2). Eph. 5:1. Be imitators of God, like your beloved children. These first two verses can be considered both a continuation of the previous thought and a special commandment about love, as the highest Christian law of mutual relations. “Ubo” - so, directly connects the speech with the previous one. There he said: “forgive, just as God in Christ forgave you.” Now he says: farewell, and: as children of God. Children imitate their father and take their example from him. Take the example of your Heavenly Father, Who forgave not anyone else, but you yourself, and forgive. But the Apostle does not demand cold forgiveness, but loving forgiveness, as was evident in the future, where he derived forgiveness from the words: be kind and merciful, and it is clear here, for it immediately follows: “and walk in love,” as an indication of what to imitate. – In true Christianity, actions are not tolerated according to the cold demands of reason, but it is required that everything comes from the heart, and that the heart be full of love. God Himself said: “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). From the combination of speech where this is said, it is clear that the required God-imitating perfection here is love and mercy, as Saint Luke directly quotes the Lord in a similar speech: “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The Savior considers that love to be true, which is for enemies. For he says: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who attack you and drive you out, that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, as His sun shines on the evil and on the good and rains on the righteous and... the unjust. If you love those who love you, what kind of reward do you give? Don’t publicans do the same thing? And if you only kiss your friends, what else are you doing? Don’t the pagans do the same?” (Matt. 5:44–47). Here's a taste of love. This alone should be revered as God-imitating. Saint Chrysostom sees in this Imitation of God the incomparable advantage of Christians. “What could be sweeter than these words, “be imitators of God”? If you name a kingdom, or anything else, all this will not be at all equal to them! You imitate God, you become like God when you forgive with Him. Sins must be forgiven sooner than monetary debts, because if you forgive money, you will imitate God, and if you forgive sins, you will imitate God.” Blessed Jerome saw a certain nuance in the words of the Apostle. “Whoever understands in what sense it is said: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), he knows in what sense it is said here: “Be imitators of God.” – Writing to the Corinthians, the Apostle says: “Be imitators of me, even as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1, 4:16). For they could not immediately become imitators of Christ, but it was great for them if they could be imitators of the imitator. And to the Ephesians, like those whom he had already taught such sacraments, he does not say: be imitators of me or imitators of Christ, but imitators of God. Not because it is less to be an imitator of Christ than of God (for Christ is God), but because there is another thing to imitate after man, and another after God, although we no longer understand Christ according to the flesh, as (others) understood him in the beginning. - The Savior Himself says, showing His humility according to the economy of salvation: “The Son cannot do anything for Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it: what He does, the Son also does likewise” (John 5:19). It is not that the Father created another heaven and another earth, but in their likeness another heaven and another earth were then created by Christ, but that the Son also does the same thing that the Father does (that is, inseparably). In what way exactly can we become like God, he testified to this above, saying: “forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” I don’t think that in everything else that God does, man can imitate God. But it is possible that just as God is merciful and will rain on good and evil, so we should express our kindness to all people. When we fulfill this, we will be beloved children either of Paul himself, or, as I think better, of God.” In the words: “like a beloved child” there is an indication of the moral necessity of the proposed image of disposition, exclusively Christian. - Theodoret writes: “You have been honored with sonship; you call God Father, therefore be jealous of this kinship.” “Beloved children,” either because God loves them, or because they love God, that is, as God-loving children. The last thought appears in Saint Chrysostom: “And here is an even more beautiful admonition: “like a child,” he says, “beloved.” You also have another need to imitate Him, not only because you have been blessed by Him, but also because you have become children. Since not all sons imitate their fathers, but only beloved ones, that’s why he says: “like a beloved child.” And further guidance can be carried out from these words, namely, to the point of assuming that whoever is not like that is not a Christian. Those who are born of God are accepted to become children of God. They are born this way by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, having come, pours out the love of God - or Divine love - into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). The proof of such love, according to the word of the Lord, is love for enemies - not only forgiveness, but love. Going back, we get: whoever does not have such love does not have the Spirit; whoever does not have the Spirit is not born of Him; He who is not born again is not a son of God; whoever is not a son of God by grace is not a Christian... It follows that in the words: “like a beloved child,” the thought is hidden: otherwise there is no child; - are you not a child? - so it is known that. - This, however, does not give the right to someone who does not feel such love to say: “Well, when it is not poured out,” and sit with folded hands, waiting for God Himself to do everything for him. Despite the fact that moral good dispositions all exist in us in their present form only through the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit, no one withdraws from deeds that belong to the area of ​​​​those dispositions and serve as their expression. Let there be no disposition, force yourself to do things that come from it, and it will come; The grace of the Spirit will come and will elevate to final perfection everything that you could not give perfection with your own efforts. Eph. 5:2. And walk in love, as Christ also loved to eat us, and have given Himself an offering and sacrifice for us to God as a fragrant aroma. This is the train of thought. Be imitators of God. What to imitate? - In love. How to love? - Just as Christ loved us. Having given Himself up for us, He offered God the most acceptable sacrifice; surrender yourself to all sorts of labors and hardships for the benefit of others, and thereby you will testify to your sincere love for everyone, and show your deeds before God, which will be like a sacrifice to Him in the stench of fragrance. How wisely the Apostle traces all Christian moral teaching to Christ! "And walk in love". Perform not one, not two, not dozens or hundreds of acts of love, and that’s enough; but - walk in love, constantly and continuously act in the spirit of love. God our Father is everlasting, inexhaustible love (1 John 4:16). And we, to the best of our ability, will show a certain fullness of love if we always walk in love. Saint Chrysostom says: “And here is the foundation of everything: “walk in love.” If there is love, then there will be no rage, no anger, no shouting, no scolding, but all this will be destroyed. That’s why he puts the most important things at the end.” Works of love, especially in the sense that the Lord requires, that is, to show love to enemies, require sacrifice - inevitably. As this can undermine our energy, which is always weak, then to inspire us, the Apostle exposes the sacrifice that Christ made for us. He seems to be saying: understand the power of Christ’s sacrifice, enter into sympathy with it, and no longer hesitate to make any sacrifices in your walk in the spirit of love. Christ's loving sacrifice for us is for us a second example of love, closer to us, more tangible. God's love is invisible and all-encompassing; the love of Christ is visible and touches everyone. Having tasted its fruits, it is natural to be inflamed by it. Christ loved us and gave Himself for us; For the sake of this, out of the love of His betrayal for us, you too were pardoned, accepted into the love of God, and not only forgiven, but also awarded sonship to Him: love this very love, which betrays yourself to all kinds of sacrifices, and walk in it. Saint Chrysostom especially dwells on this line: “Tell me, if someone, when you were in a fever and struggling with death, helped you with some medicine, would you not exalt this person and even the very name of the medicine above all? For if we are attached to the times and places in which we received benefit as to our own soul, then even more so to the actions themselves. Be committed to love, because through it you are saved, through it you have become a son (of God), and if you are able to save others, then use the same medicine and exhort everyone: “Let go, and they will let you go” (Luke 6:37); to do so is the work of grateful, free and noble souls.” And the fact that it is necessary to love enemies before self-sacrifice is evident in the example of Christ the Lord’s love for us. For He offered Himself for us, His and God’s enemies. If it is your duty to imitate His love, then love your enemies. “Otherwise, how will the word “like” retain its meaning? Isn’t it obvious that this will only happen if we do good to our enemies” (St. Chrysostom). The Apostle does not discuss the meaning and power of Christ’s sacrifice here, but takes this guilt as known, and with the special purpose of raising inspiration to imitate the love of Christ the Lord by pointing to its fruit - the fact that the sacrifice, according to its power offered to God, was “to God as a fragrant aroma.” He seems to be saying to those: do not be afraid and do not stop before the victims; according to the power of love manifested in them, they will be “a fragrant aroma to God.” Who, having taken this to heart, will not be ready for all kinds of labor and sacrifice out of love for his brothers? The expression: “into the aroma of fragrance” - a most pleasant sacrifice, pleasing to God and valuable before Him - is encountered for the first time in the assessment of Noah’s sacrifice. It says: “And the Lord smelled the aroma. And the Lord God said... I will not curse anyone on the earth because of the deeds of men” (Gen. 8:21). The smell of the sacrificial stench is attributed to God to mean that that sacrifice reached God, was accepted by Him favorably and earned God’s favor. The sacrifice of Christ the Savior, who offered Himself, was the most pleasant: another such is impossible and is not required, for it alone replaced all the sacrifices. Christ Himself, not as a man, but as the God-man, was both priest and sacrifice. He offered not as a man, but as the God-man, and He offered Himself not as a man, but as the God-man. Hence the infinite price of His sacrifice! The stench of fragrance from this sacrifice is not only because of its boundless price, but also because it was the fruit of self-willed love: “love and surrender to yourself.” In this regard, it is an object of imitation for us: put sincere love into acts of self-sacrifice for others, and from them the stench of fragrance will rise before God. The Lord gave Himself up “for us” - not for saints and friends, but for sinners and enemies, in order to earn all-forgiveness for our sins - so that, humanly speaking, having driven away the stench of our sins from God’s sense of smell, with the most pleasant aroma of the fragrance of His sacrifice, He might appease God, so that He would speak to us all-forgiveness and all-mercy, - He would say that the curse that lay upon us, the end is over. From this sacrifice of Christ, made for us, who were still enemies, let us learn to love our enemies, with the readiness to sacrifice everything for them to the point of our belly, so that we may always be acceptable before God. Until now, Saint Paul taught how to correct the irritable part of the soul, to place its self-sacrificing love at the top of purification. Now it points to the cleansing of another part of the old man – the lustful part. At this point one can indicate a turn in the Apostle’s general instructions on Christian life. Eph. 5:3. Let fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness be called among you, as befits saints. “He spoke about irritable passion - anger, rage and bitterness. Now he has begun to embrace lustful passion—fornication. So the law, after it had already said: “Thou shalt not kill,” which is a matter of irritable passion, also said: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:13, 14) — which is a matter of lustful passion. Just as bitterness, crying, malice and blasphemy are the fruits of irritable passion, so the fruits of lust are fornication, adultery, uncleanness, covetousness, for if someone does not lust for bodies, he lusts for money and acquisitions” (Ecumenius). So are all our interpreters, and Saint Chrysostom. “Fornication” is any sin with a woman without a marriage union with her; all uncleanness - all other manifestations of lustful passion - lustful thoughts, self-willed kindling of the fire of the flesh, unnatural satisfactions; covetousness is a passion for acquisition, an insatiable desire to have more and more. That this also belongs to lust, Saint John the Theologian also showed, referring to it not only the lust of the flesh, but also the lust of the eye, by which they mean covetousness, as everyone usually says: your eyes are not full. Saint Chrysostom says: “We have the same passion, with which we love both money and bodies.” “Below let it be called in you.” “He sufficiently showed the disgustingness of the numbered vices, commanding that their very names be destroyed from memory” (Theodoret). “For I knew that speeches about them can be a fire (of passion) and a guide to action” (Ecumenius). “The Apostle wanted them to be completely pure and immaculate, so that their very tongue would not be defiled by the pronunciation of such names” (Theophylact). About manifestations of irritable passion he says: “let them rebel against you”; and about works of lust he says: “Let them be called below.” The last strongest represents a prohibition, because he wants that there should be no mention of them, that their very names should be forgotten, in order to reach the point that when someone utters such names, those who hear do not understand what he is talking about. “As befits saints.” Thus it behooves those who, before the foundation of the world, were chosen to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), who, having received faith in the Lord, clinging to Him and receiving new life from Him, commit themselves to a clear conscience (1 Pet. 3:21), who should be zealous for all-round purity, put into a state of purity and strength to keep it and accept life in it. Holiness is the filling of the heart with all the virtues, but primarily it is evidenced by purity from carnal desires and sympathies. Why does Saint Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, say: this is God’s will for you - “your holiness.” What is holiness? - “keep yourself from fornication” (1 Sol. 4:3). He places purity so highly that he assigns it as the final goal of our calling itself, saying: “God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). And writing to the Corinthians, he convinces them to avoid fornication especially because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit living in us (1 Cor. 6:18, 19). Why is the molesters of this church threatened with punishment from above: “Don’t you know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone corrupts God’s church, God will corrupt him: for the church of God is holy, just as you are” (1 Cor. 3:16, 17). The Spirit of God, having come, restores him to his original dignity - life in God. This life, perceived and felt, detaches from everything sensual and carnal, as if cutting off from it. Thus, life in God, holiness, purity, filling with the Spirit - stand on the same line in Christian life, and are manifested and acted in modern times. Eph. 5:4. And foul language, and bad language, or blasphemy, even inappropriate, but more than thanksgiving. And all this should have no place among you. “Foul language” - αισχροτης - actual disgrace, - disgraceful techniques, looks, movements, clothing, all disgraceful behavior, or licentiousness, indicating impurity and tempting to it. But, of course, the primary manifestation of this shamefulness is shaming - shameful speeches, with which shameful deeds usually begin. “Bullspeak” - μωρολογια - stupid, crazy, empty speech. “Babes” - ευτραπελια - passion to joke, joke, make people laugh. “Even dissimilar”, it must be translated: these dissimilarities, that is, also, should not be named in you. “It’s not right for us to do that.” They promised to live holy, working out their salvation with the fear of God. How can such speeches be appropriate in our country?! They dedicated themselves to God, sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit; when we spread empty, clownish and shameful words, desecrating the souls of others with them and singing lustful thoughts and movements in them, then we are blasphemous, we are sinning against God. This is the same as turning a sacred vessel for unclean use. Remember, everyone, what was the fate of Belshazzar! In all the holy ascetics we find an indication that idle talk and ridicule are in direct connection with lust. He who laughs is himself in a lustful state, which he spreads around through his idle talk. Saint Chrysostom says: “Do not utter words, neither joking nor shameful, and you will extinguish the flame, for words lead to deeds. Just as there (above, speaking against irritable passion) the Apostle destroyed the quarrels that support anger, so now he cuts off foul language and jokes that lead to debauchery.” “But above all thanksgiving,” that is, let it be expressed in words and let it be heard. This is what the conversation of Christians should be full of! When something particularly out of the ordinary happens, society will only talk about it. But what could be more outstanding than that Christians became Christians? God Himself bowed down to heaven and came down to lead us to heaven; We are all already called to this and live on earth only in order to better prepare for life in heaven, where the abodes prepared for us are already waiting for us. Take this to your heart, and you will not find the desire to talk about anything other than this, in feelings of gratitude for the ineffable mercies of God. Anyone who has received an appointment to come to the palace to serve and live there, only thinks about how to quickly settle everything for that life, and there is no measure of his gratitude to the king. Both he and those who know him talk only about his merciful destiny. And everyone thanks the king. This is exactly the situation all of us Christians are in. It is very natural to say that what should come from our mouths is primarily gratitude to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, for the salvation that is given to us and acts in us, if we do not interfere with it through our foolishness. No one will argue with this, nor with the fact that obscene language and bad language are indecent, but in order to banish jokes, wit and laughter from Christian societies, not everyone can accommodate this. Saint Chrysostom noticed this and denounces such a judgment and deed at length. Let us write down some of its provisions. “What's the use of telling a joke? Let's just make her laugh. Let there not be a single idle word, since idle talk can lead to indecent conversation. Now is the time not for fun, but for crying, sorrow and sobs. Are you kidding? What kind of fighter, having entered the arena, leaves the fight with the enemy and makes jokes? The devil walks around near you, roaring to devour you, erects everything and turns everything on your head, plots how to drive you out of your refuge, grinds his teeth, howls, fans the fire against your salvation, and you sit and make jokes, talk idle talk and utter indecent speeches?! Can you defeat him? We are having childish fun, beloved! Christ was crucified on the cross because of your atrocities, and you laugh? He was strangled and suffered so much because of your disasters and the storm that surrounded you, and you are having fun? And don’t you insult Him all the more by this? Let's see what a saint should be like? - He must be quiet, meek, grieving, crying, contrite. Therefore, whoever tells jokes is not a saint, and such is funny. This is only permissible for those playing on stage. Where there is shame, there are jokes. Listen to what the Prophet says: “Work for the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling” (Ps. 2:11). Playfulness makes the soul weak, lazy, lethargic. It’s great if the soul is sober - it cannot be carried away, but who can’t carry away an absent-minded one? She will be deceived by herself and will not need the intrigues and attacks of the devil. Many evils nest in a soul that is partial to jokes - great absent-mindedness and emptiness; order is upset, prosperity is weakened, fear disappears, piety recedes. You have a tongue not to imitate others, but to thank God. Let's banish this custom from meals. Having expelled this custom from everywhere, let us say what is appropriate for us, and let holy lips not utter words that are characteristic of dishonest and shameful lips. “What has righteousness to do with lawlessness? Or some kind of communication between light and darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14). So, having regulated these two states of mind and subordinated them to the mind, like obedient horses - I mean lust and anger - let us set the mind over them as a charioteer, in order to receive the reward of the high calling, which may we be worthy of in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eph. 5:5. For you know this, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. The Apostle encouraged us to tame anger and forgive troubles by the fact that we ourselves are given forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ, with the reminder that if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. To extinguish the lust of the flesh and desire, he poses the danger of losing the Kingdom of Heaven because of them, offering, as it were, a choice: either the momentary sweetness of lust, or eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Christ. Both of them cannot be together. One of two things: either temporary sweetness of sin and deprivation of eternal bliss, or eternal bliss and rejection of lustful pleasures. “This is news” is a decisive sentence, without any exceptions or limitations, that those who have the misfortune of working through the aforementioned passions do not have an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ are already excluded from it, and those who fall only into them, as soon as they fall, are excluded by the very action of the fall. So the Kingdom is incompatible with lust. The apostle only includes fornication, uncleanness and covetousness under this sentence, and omitted foul language, bad language and blasphemy. But this does not mean that, according to the Apostle, one can enter the Kingdom with them, but that for him they do not have independent meaning and are instrumental actions in relation to those main passions, so that they do not exist when those do not exist, and vice versa, where those are, there they are. Consequently, they will share their fate with those. Idle talk and ridicule seem not so important; but since underneath them lies a lustful passion, which sets the tongue in motion, then, judging by this relationship, their importance is very significant. And the look also seems insignificant; but “he who looks upon his wife to lust after her” (Matthew 5:28) is condemned as a fornicator. Fornicator and “unclean” are said by the Apostle in the same sense as before “fornication and uncleanness”; but the covetous person is characterized by a very special, weighty trait; “who is an idolater.” And in his letter to Colossai he calls covetousness idolatry (Col. 3:5). And the Lord said that you cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). Consequently, whoever serves mammon, that is, works by the passions of covetousness, does not serve God. Mammon became a god for him. He is devoted to him with all his soul, with all his heart, with all his thoughts and with all his strength. Just as he should have been disposed towards God, so he was disposed towards wealth. Such is the case, however, with any passion that when it overcomes someone, it consumes him entirely; why the Apostle called the womb god (Phil. 3:19), but in the addiction to wealth there is a special feature that puts the possessor on the same line with idolaters, namely, trust in wealth. We must expect everything from God and rest all our hopes on Him. But someone who is covetous expects everything from money and wealth, relies on them and rests his hopes. Where God should stand, Mammon stands with him. So, he is a direct idolater. “Have no possessions in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Property, - κληρονομια, - what is assigned to someone as an inheritance. The unexplored wealth of Christ is all distributed according to virtues, and every virtue has its place and its share of the wealth of Christ. When the Kingdom of Christ comes, then by whatever virtue someone has especially distinguished himself, he will go there, where the portion allocated for that virtue is. All, according to faith, who have labored in virtues will be in the Kingdom, and it will be indescribably blissful for everyone to remain there, but everyone will be in his own place and rank. In the midst of these bright abodes there is no place - no passion. “Outside... fornicators... and idolaters...” (Apoc. 22:15). This is obvious by itself, but the Apostle reminds us of this with special emphasis, saying: “This is good news.” That's right, we should have emphasized this. Perhaps there were some thoughts that undermined confidence in this. Why further, warning the faithful against misunderstandings, he writes: Eph. 5:6. Let no one flatter you with vain words, for for their sake the wrath of God is coming on the disobedient sons. Be careful that no one deceives you and misleads you. Regarding what? - Not regarding any new objects, but all the same: lustful deeds, covetousness, idle talk, ridicule. St. Paul does not indicate who the vain talkers might be. – Ephesus was full of heterogeneous schools and communities. Among them, the Epicureans did not strictly judge the deeds of prodigals, as did the Sadducees among the Jews. They say that the Simonians also limped very much on this plesno (foot). And it never occurred to anyone to take such a strict attitude towards covetousness, as the Holy Apostle does and as was required by the spirit of Christianity. The Apostle, of course, knew this, knew that all these vain talkers could speak, and, without going into a detailed examination of their vain talk, he cuts off the temptation with one word: look, no matter what anyone says against this, do not be deceived: these are empty words. It’s not surprising that the Apostle, when he was in Ephesus, refuted all these empty speeches before Christians, but now he only reminds them not to forget their personal lessons and continue to keep themselves on guard. Otherwise, everyone could have their own thoughts, that lustful deeds are natural, that having is impossible not to have, that joking and making fun of people are insignificant things. Why, writing to the Corinthians, Saint Paul wrote: “Do not flatter yourselves... fornicators... corrupters... covetous... will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9). It is true that vain speeches circulated everywhere then, as they still do, undermining confidence in the gravity of the passions denied by the Apostle and thereby weakening the vigilance of faithful Christians over themselves. Saint Chrysostom said about his time: “When we say that anyone who calls a brother a freak is subject to Gehenna, some say: “Is it possible that someone who calls a brother a freak is subject to Gehenna? - No!" - They say. And when we say that a covetous person is an idolater, they again laugh at this, saying that this expression is exaggerated, and all the commandments are humiliated in this way. So, with them in mind, Blessed Paul then wrote to the Ephesians, saying: “Let no one flatter you with vain words,” calling words that are not practical, but at the same time seductive and deceptive, “vain words.” “For these sakes” - because of the proliferation of these particular vices - fornication, uncleanness, covetousness - “the wrath of God is coming,” that is, the Last Judgment. The Last Judgment is determined to happen. When it will be, no one knows. But time flows and it gets closer. Naturally, he comes to us. But the proliferation of the above-mentioned vices accelerates its progress. The Lord compares the moral state in the last days with the moral state of those who lived under Noah. Then there was a terrifying outpouring of sensuality. They are all flesh, God said about them. The same will happen before the end of the world. Carnal deeds and covetousness will take precedence over everything. It seems that the Apostle Paul also points to this similarity here - “and the sons of the disobedient” he points out the example of seeing in those who resisted sometimes in the days of Noah. For the sons of the disobedient υιοι της απειθειας are the sons of lack of conviction, the kind of people who cannot be convinced by anything, no matter what you say, they do not believe God Himself, they do not believe and resist - stubborn unbelievers. Such were those who lived under Noah. How much did he repeat on behalf of God that they should repent? - They didn’t listen. People will be like this before the end of the world. Then the flood took the sons of disobedience, and at the end of the world the Last Judgment will suddenly befall the disobedient. The gospel will become known to everyone; everyone will hear lessons that living uncleanly is harmful, but no one will listen to it, calming, of course, their conscience with some vain words, similar to those from which the Apostle warned the Ephesians. – This is what St. Paul brings to mind for the Christians of Ephesus, in order to inspire them to flee from those vices and turn away their ears from all the rumors that belittle their severity with vain words. He wanted to fill their souls with the fear of the Last Judgment and thereby put their souls in intense sobriety and vigilance both over their hearts and over their external relations. Eph. 5:7. Do not be a partaker of this. “Sim”, that is, the sons of disobedience. They will become partakers of them if they become like them, and they will become like them if, having listened to the vain talkers, they relax in strictly observing themselves against the indicated vices, and, having fallen into them, they turn out to be opponents of the word of God, which the Apostle preached to them and is now offering. Be afraid, he says, to become like them by opposing the truth and indulgence in uncleanness and covetousness. If you allow this, then you will share their fate. And their fate is the fire of judgment and torment! - So, beware, and always arouse sober vigilance in yourself by imagining the picture of the Last Judgment, in order to keep yourself clean from lustful deeds, not only but feelings and thoughts. We see in the ascetic writings that for driving away the attacks of lust there is no more powerful means than the memory of judgment. Others advise standing at the trial and not taking your thoughts off it. This keeps us in fear, which consumes everything unclean. The Apostle commands two multi-stimulating images to keep in the mind and heart of those struggling with passions - the image of the Lord, crucified for us on the cross to extinguish all the evil movements generated by the irritable power of the soul, and the image of the Last Judgment to extinguish the passionate movements of lust. They drive out all passions from the soul, and they also prevent their very occurrence, when the good intention to please God is established in the soul. Those who have co-dissolved with consciousness have entered the realm of dispassion. The state of dispassion brings one closer to the all-perfection of God, or to the lordship of God. Having created man in His image, God put into him all His good qualities that a creature—man—could contain. These good qualities, after the fall, are darkened, closed and perverted by the passions that came with selfishness, which was the source of the fall. In Christ Jesus, the incoming grace restores our spirit, in which is the image of God, and teaches it, and helps it to expel from human nature all the passions that darken it, placing at the basis of this exile the trampling of selfhood by self-denial - which is the first step in following Christ. When passions are expelled, human nature enters into the Divine perfection predetermined for it, into Godlikeness. “God is light, and in Him there is not a single darkness” (1 John 1:5). This expresses His most perfect all-perfection. And a person, when he enters into God-likeness, or partakes of the all-perfections of God, or tastes Divine goodness, is called entering into the light of God, putting on it, and in fact he then becomes light. And this is what the holy Apostle now begins to speak about. Hitherto he introduced the Christian into the struggle with passions that come from irritation and lust, and brought him to a state of dispassion - pure and bright with the grace of God. Now, drawing the attention of the Christians themselves to this change that has taken place in them, he seems to say to them: you were darkness, but now you have become light. Beginning with this word, he further depicts the lightness of active Christian life in itself (vv. 8–10) and its luminosity for all those who have not partaken of the light of Christ (vv. 11–14). The Lord said something similar to this to the Apostles: you are light... be a lamp for everyone (Matthew 5:14–16). Eph. 5:8. For sometimes there was darkness, but now there is light in the Lord: walk as children of light. “Therefore he speaks of them this way, because they were illuminated by the Divine light” (Theodoret). “He reminds them of their former life in sin and pagan errors, saying, as it were: remember what you were and what you have become - from darkness - light. Previously, both in dogma (in the way of thoughts and beliefs) and in life, you were real darkness, but now you are light: you know the true God, and you do works of light. This happened to you not because of your virtue, but in the Lord, that is, by Divine grace. So you should no longer be partakers of the disobedient sons, upon whom the wrath of God is coming. You were once the same, and you were worthy of God’s wrath for that, but now you are no longer: do not run into darkness again” (Theophylact, almost word for word from St. Chrysostom). Initially, all those who were baptized and anointed - or the laying on of hands - were tangibly filled with light for themselves and visibly for others. That is why the day of the Baptism of the Lord, on which the largest number of baptized people gathered, was called the Feast of Lights. In those who were baptized themselves, this was accompanied by a complete internal renewal, a state in which they felt that sin no longer possessed them (Rom. 6:12), otherwise - a state of dispassion, which they had only to preserve. Nowadays we do not see this, being baptized in infancy. We cannot, however, fail to see that of the children entering the self-conscious age, some have a peaceful structure of spirit, while others have a stormy one, both to different degrees. This is a consequence of the preservation or non-preservation of the grace of holy baptism and confirmation. And in general, now the order is such that grace in the initial sacraments is given in full; those who received it then, by the faith and power of the Church, having come of age, accept obligations that condition the communion of grace, and from that moment they become what the first Christians (and in general those of age who were baptized) became at the very hour of receiving the sacraments. Another difference now is that we, entering conscious age, find passions more or less developed in ourselves, despite the presence of grace: these are wild weeds growing in a field that has not yet been touched by the hand of the farmer. They also block the action of God’s grace. Why are we always faced with the work of struggling with passions before the grace of God appears in power? When the passions are finally overcome spontaneously with the help of the same inherent grace, then the grace of the Spirit shines through. And the one who has achieved this feels it, and others can notice it. Then it is quite applicable to this: there was darkness and there became light - it became that the one who was originally baptized and accepted the laying on of the hands of the Apostles became at that very hour. There is nothing mechanical in spiritual life. No matter what degree of spiritual enlightenment someone may be at, it is always his responsibility to be vigilant and diligent in his work. As then, so now, for those who have received the action of the Spirit, the law is urgent, expressed in the following verse: “Walk as children of light.” “Children of light”, that is, born again by the grace of the Holy Spirit, in the Lord Jesus Christ, by the good pleasure of God the Father. Children of light are children of God, worshiped in the Trinity. Why? - Because of the likeness to God, restored by grace in our spirit. To walk, as is characteristic of children of light, is to walk in God-likeness, showing in one’s walk, or in life, the perfection or goodness of God. Saint John the Theologian, who lived in Ephesus, defines this negatively: “He who is born of God does not commit sin” (1 John 3:9). And Saint Paul himself, in his letter to the Romans, explaining the power of baptism, says: “let not sin possess you... let not sin reign in your dead body... your old man is crucified” in baptism; “Let the body of sin be done away with, because sin is not a work for us...” Now one thing is set before us: “to walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:14, 12, 6, 4). This is the state of the dispassionate! – But it is also a state of spiritual lightness, due to the manifestations of the effectiveness of the Spirit, or the filling of the heart with the Spirit. – Why further, explaining what this walk as children of light consists of, the Apostle points to the fruits of the Spirit. Eph. 5:9. For there is spiritual fruit in all goodness and righteousness and truth. The answer to if someone asked: what does it mean to “walk like a child of the light”? - Walk “in goodness, righteousness and truth.” For this is how those naturally walk in whom the Spirit dwells and works; and these are the children of light, born of God, Who is light. Why pointing out the fruits of the Spirit is the same as pointing out how the children of light walk. Children of light are born of the Spirit and filled with the Spirit. Where the Spirit is, there is life in goodness, righteousness and truth. Therefore, whoever is a child of light walks this way and not otherwise. Saint Chrysostom says: “He explains here what it means to walk “like children of light”, and says: “in all goodness” - against the angry and cruel, - “and in truth” - against the covetous, - “and in truth” - against false pleasure.” Thus, according to Saint Chrysostom, who will be followed by Ecumenius and Theophylact, goodness, justice and truth, being installed in us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, drive out all passions, or are installed under the condition of expelling the passions about which the Apostle had hitherto written. Having settled in, they begin to act in their place: for they are active forces, and not resting properties. If, where passions are driven away, goodness, justice and truth are established, then it is obvious that they determine the state of dispassion and purity. What exactly goodness, justice and truth mean can be explained differently by others than our interpreters, but it cannot be misinterpreted that they are introduced instead of passions and that they themselves embrace the whole bright, God-like life. What each of these fundamental virtues means is clear from their very name. Benevolence embraces all love; truth - all truth, which does not allow anything unrighteous, not only in deed and word, but also in thought. Love and truth are the clearest representatives of God-likeness, for God is love and truth itself. – What does truth mean? - since it is impossible to live rightly and lovingly without the knowledge of the truth, then this can be understood as the knowledge of the truth. This knowledge - grace-filled - illuminates all the paths of life, indicating what and how to do in what cases in order to act pleasingly to God. But there is nothing inappropriate to accept, together with Saint Chrysostom, that this indicates the taste of true good in the Lord, as opposed to deceptive sensual pleasures. Those who come to the Lord taste that the Lord is good, and are convinced that in this only eating there is their true good. This confirmation, with the constant tasting of blessings from the Lord, serves as true and lasting support for spiritual life, preventing us from noticing the deprivations associated with that life. How the sweet true good of life according to God flows into the heart like a stream when someone tastes how much good the Lord is. Going into detail about what goodness, truth and truth are, one can build an entire system of Christian moral teaching and imagine the complete bright way of life of the sons of light. Anyone who wishes can be guided by the fact that in the lengthy catechism and in the Orthodox confession it is said in explanation of the beatitudes: “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, - blessed are mercy, - and blessed are those who are pure in heart.” “But the holy Apostle seemed to want to embrace all this in one word, saying: Eph. 5:10. It is tempting that there is something pleasing to God. The children of light walk in goodness, righteousness and truth - tempting, carefully searching and making sure that it is precisely in the circle of affairs that are subject to those virtues as principles that is pleasing to God - and only following that, and not what their will, tastes and thoughts would like. For in the realm of good, every good only in its place, in its time, in its measure and in its application is true good. What generally pleases God is not difficult to know: in the word of God everything is defined in detail. The believer sincerely accepts what is said there into his conscience, which, under the influence of grace, from that time on becomes a divinely enlightened guide in life and an indicator of the will of God. But she also immediately indicates the general thing, but does not always clearly indicate how to determine the details of the good deed ahead. For there are numerous and intertwined circumstances. God wants that here, too, it be done according to His will, but the closeness of the matter does not allow this will to be clearly seen. The sons of light are zealously jealous to get on the trail of the will of God, no matter how complicated the accidents of the matter may be. And they seek this out and proceed to the matter no other way than by ascertaining that it is the will of God that in the present case it should be done exactly this way and that way. Theodoret writes: “You are gifted with reason and have received the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. Therefore you can conveniently discern what is pleasing to God.” - Do they always fall on the trail of God’s will - who can say? But there is no doubt that they are looking for this and always act out of a clear consciousness that the matter is pleasing to God. But life continues to flow in the same spirit, and experience grows. If in human arts it comes to the point that the parts of any masterly work are able to coordinate well, to perfection, is it possible that those taught by the Spirit of God do not finally reach such an art in life that they are able to accurately determine what, when and to what extent is pleasing to God? In persons led by the Spirit of God, the right spirit is finally renewed in their wombs. This right spirit always dictates what is right before God, and the one who has it directly sees and recognizes this right. – This is the dignity of the perfect, in whom the passions that usually lead us astray from the right path are extinguished. But for persons who have just begun a life pleasing to God, or even in the middle of it, who have reached the end of it, in addition to the instructions of conscience, the advice of experienced people is required. Under their leadership, the right spirit will mature, and the person being led will himself become a leader. So the true Christian life is mutually accepting, like grace and dogma. Eph. 5:11. And do not associate yourself with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. The Apostle depicted the bright life of the dispassionate, who had achieved perfection, and indicated the norm of their activity in doing what was always pleasing to God. Now he places them in front of those who live carelessly, carelessly, in God-forgetfulness, to please only their own desires and in the vanities of everyday life, without thoughts of salvation and without concern for their eternal fate, and says to them: be careful, do not become in any way involved in matters of this kind. He does not say: do not do such things, for for those who have conquered the passions this is unnecessary when they hate every sin and everything that is unclean and not pleasing to God. But he says: do not join in, for it is possible, without doing bad things yourself, to become guilty of the bad things of another through complicity in his deeds. How? – When consent to the bad deeds of others is somehow revealed. There are many cases of this. The last limit is if you see, or hear, or know, but remain silent. The Apostle takes him into account and says: do not be silent, but reprove him. Should every Christian really do this? Listen to the flow of the Apostle's speech; Here she turns to those who have conquered the passions, to the perfect, who know how to accurately determine what is pleasing to God in any case. Such people know when and how to direct an accusatory speech so that it is for the benefit of others. Reproof is a knife; one who does not know how to use it can only cause wounds to great evil, and cannot cut off a sore or growth to heal the sick person. Blessed Jerome looks at this subject from this side: “To expose others is a matter of great importance. It can be done worthily only by one to whom the following reproach cannot be applied: “You hypocrite, first remove the bridle from your hair, and then you will see to take away the speck from your brother’s hair” (Luke 6:42). Thus, the prophets, not stained by any impurity of sins and having an undefiled conscience, could expose others who sinned. From this it follows that he who is not convicted in himself (by conscience) can reprove.” This can only apply to perfect Christians, of whom the Apostle is speaking. But anyone can also disagree with someone who does something bad, disapprove of him, and not even jokingly talk condescendingly about bad things; and with just one face you can say a lot. Public exposure of others is exposure by the light of deeds. The one who moves away shows that he does not approve of what he is moving away from. Why is the life of the completely God-fearing always a reproof of the wicked and sinners. We must stand firmly in the Christian rules of life and, thus shining a light in the surrounding darkness of affairs, expose them. Photius in Ekumenia says: “Reprove, he says, by the way you live. I do not say: reprove them, listing their deeds, reproaching them for them, for I know that zealots of purity consider the mere memory of them to be desecration. Meanwhile, they will be convicted no less (words) when your deeds shine with virtue. Their deeds will be exposed, revealed and revealed by the light of your life. Those discovered will be illuminated and transformed and transformed into something better. The discovery by your life of the shame of their deeds will bring them to consciousness and self-condemnation, and this is the beginning of conversion and correction.” – Thus, the bright life of Christians silently brings the faulty to the point to which the accusatory word of the perfect is assigned to bring them. Eph. 5:12. It happens that you get away from them, it’s shameful to eat and speak. The thought is visible, but why it was inserted here is not visible. It’s as if Saint Paul distinguishes between the unfruitful works of darkness and the things that happen to disappear from them. And the first, he says, reprove, but the second is so bad that it’s shameful to even talk about it. And it turns out that there is nothing to talk about; then deeds are self-accusatory, when they hide with them even from those who only do the fruitless deeds of darkness. The unfruitful works of darkness, in this case, will mean the walking life of the wicked and sinners - a vain, sensual, ungodly life, not having death and judgment in mind - of which those intertwined in the course of its deeds are not aware of its lewdness and destructiveness. The Apostle says, try to expose the lewdness and destructiveness of this life, and there is no point in desecrating the tongue by talking about those shameful things that are done in secret. Their reproof is already there, and it will become even stronger when the reproof of the first takes effect. Or this: the unfruitful deeds of those who live in vanity and fearlessness are not always too reproachful in appearance. This can bind the tongue of the accuser out of condescension, as they say, towards human weaknesses. The Apostle says: do not look at this seemingly tolerant appearance, behind it lies such things that it is shameful to even talk about; therefore rebuke them mercilessly. But if we understand reproof by deeds and life, then it will be more directly clear why St. Paul said this. Convict them with the light of your life, because if you begin to convict them with a word, you will defile your tongue, for their deeds are extremely shameful. Saint John of Damascus writes: “It is not the same thing, he says, to reprove in word as it is to reprove in deeds. In a word, it’s shameful to talk about what they do: they themselves hide it out of shame. But if we are light and are able to detect the darkness (of their deeds) in contrast to the bright life, then such exposure will be the best.” Photius also expressed the same idea, as we saw. Eph. 5:13. But all that is reproved appears from the light, for everything that is revealed is light. The place is a bit dark. It seems that Saint Paul wanted to say how the conscience of sinners and the wicked is awakened through reproof. Their deeds are dark, their conscience is darkened, and none of them sees how shameful and destructive it is to live the way they live. When, he says, you expose them with your bright, passionless life and your words, all the shame of such a life will be revealed, their conscience will awaken and, in turn, will begin to expose them. So their shameful life will be visible in all its nakedness to everyone. Light has shone in this darkness, and everything hidden in it will be illuminated. He wrote something similar to this to the Philippians: “Do all things without murmuring or self-doubt, so that you may be blameless and without purpose, children of God, blameless in the midst of a generation of crooks and perverts, in whom you are revealed as lights in the world, holding the word of the living” (Phil. 2:14-16). The life of perfect Christians - pure and immaculate children of God - is definitely a luminary for the sinful race. There are many books, and many words, and everyone has their own meaning: what is missing? - Ability to live. Show me how to live your life, and no words will be needed. Everything will be clear without a word. Without life, even a clear word is dark. During life, the word is stronger. An indication of how the word exposes the conscience is found in St. Paul’s description of the order that must be maintained in church meetings, and specifically regarding the use of the gift of tongues. In tongues, he says, if there are no people in the congregation who understand them, do not speak, unless there is someone who can translate and interpret your speech to the congregation. Otherwise, it is better to remain silent. For in a church meeting everything should be directed toward the mutual edification of all. Speak every one in an understandable language and in understandable speech. – Imagine that you gathered in church, and everyone began to speak in tongues. If someone who is unreasonable and unfaithful enters this time, listening to you, will he say that you have gone crazy? But if you speak in an understandable language and in understandable speech, then some unbeliever or ignoramus, having entered, “is convicted by all, [and] is tortured by all, and the secret of his heart is revealed: and so he falls on his face and worships God, proclaiming that truly God is with you” (1 Cor. 14:24, 25). – St. Paul speaks about this image of the opening of the conscience and the revelation of the secrets of the heart in our place. Reprove them, he says, both in word and in the opposite way of life. With this light emanating from you, the morals of the ungodly and sinful will be illuminated, and their uncleanness and shame, invisible to those who live by them, will be revealed and become obvious. Just as objects hidden in darkness, when the light falls on them, become clear from this light, so all the unfruitful deeds of darkness, being exposed by your word and your opposite life, receiving this illumination from you, will be revealed and revealed as indecent, and will be recognized as such by everyone. This is the meaning of the words: “all who are convicted are of the light.” Further: “everything that appears, light is,” represents an explanation of the previous one. An object is dark until rays of light fall on it, but when rays fall on it, it becomes visible, light, illuminated. The word: there is light - the same as - there is light, illuminated. So the life of the wicked and sinners will become bright from your reproof and life, bright not as if it gives out light, but light in its darkness, it will be clearly visible how indecent it is. Saint Chrysostom says: “He said that you are light; the light reveals everything that happens in darkness, so, he says, if you are virtuous and worthy of admiration, the wicked will not have the opportunity to hide. Because, just as when the lamp stands, everyone is illuminated, so when the light shines from you, the wicked will be defeated. Therefore, it must reprove. - Just as a bodily wound, as long as it lurks, being covered from the outside, and while it deepens further, does not benefit from any treatment, so sin, as long as it is hidden as if in darkness, continues to act boldly very freely, but as soon as it is discovered, it becomes light: not sin itself, for how is this possible? - but the one who made it. For if he is brought into the midst of the meeting, if he is admonished, if he repents, if he receives absolution, then have you not driven away his darkness? Didn't he heal his wounds then? Did it cause infertility to the fetus? Eph. 5:14. For this reason he says: Arise, sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you. “For this reason he says” - who says? There is no such saying in Divine Scripture. Where does it come from? Who says that Saint Paul took it from some apocrypha and, forgetting, brought it as a place of Scripture; who says that such a saying came from the mouth of the Lord Himself and reached St. Paul by oral tradition; who says that Saint Paul heard such a voice in spirit and heart and cites it as the word of the Lord; who believes that it was compiled by St. Paul from various places of Scripture. All these explanations are unsatisfactory. The closest, perhaps, is the guess of Blessed Theodoret that this is the word of some church song, which was then composed by the most perfect Christians or even by the Apostles. That this was the case, St. Paul himself testifies in his letter to the Corinthians: “Every one of you has a psalm” (1 Cor. 14:26). – Has any of those who were converted in an extraordinary way heard such words in moments of supernatural excitement and, perhaps, from among the Ephesians themselves? since this word was known and circulated among the Ephesians as a word from above, the Apostle expresses it this way: for this reason, he says, meaning, someone from above, or a voice from above, as you know. Our other interpreters do not pay attention to the indication of who said, but undertake to directly find out what was said. - What did it say? – Calling the sinner in repentance to turn to the Lord Savior. By the word and life of perfect Christians, the sinner’s conscience is awakened; he clearly sees his lewdness and is ready to seek salvation: what should he do? - Arise from the sleep of sin, come to the Lord, and He will illuminate you. And in general, Christians, by the way of their lives and their confession of faith, said something else to those among whom they were like luminaries, if not this: arise, everyone, from the sleep of sin and sinful death and come to Christ the Savior! Natural sleep and death serve as an expression of sinful sleep and death. And the sleepy one, like the dead one, does not hear, does not see, does not feel, does not move. Likewise, the sinner is spiritually struck by carelessness, insensibility and blindness, and he has no movement in the sense of saving the soul and obtaining eternal bliss by pleasing God. “But there is spirit in him, only he is struck by a lethargic sleep.” When a ray of grace reaches the spirit through the anointed word of Christians or their bright life, it immediately opens its eyes and begins to reveal its characteristic movements - the fear of God, restlessness of conscience, condemnation of the entire previous life and the demand for its change. Then the sinner hears within himself: wake up, sleep! “But conscience alone will only torment you and not give you peace.” The word about the Savior comes to her, and she then forces the sinner to fight for faith in Him as the only means of salvation. The sinner believes, is reconciled with God and is enlightened by Christ the Lord. Then everything becomes clear to him, what should happen in his life and what to expect in the future. Otherwise, he already walks in the light of His face and only rejoices in His name. – Glory to God’s boundless mercy towards us sinners. Eph. 5:15. Be careful how you walk dangerously, not as if you were unwise, but as if you were wise. Having such a high purpose - to be the light of the world, walk in such a way as to correspond to your significance, so that no one can find anything reproachful in you, except perhaps that you are Christians and want everyone to be Christians. - “How dangerous” - πως ακριβως, exactly right, punctual in your duties, exactly as expected of you. But the commandments are known: act on them - and that’s it. Why the warning: “take heed,” and this norm: “not as unwise, but as wise”? - To the fact that good deeds can be spoiled, sometimes by timelessness, sometimes by inappropriateness, sometimes by excessive jealousy. Determining how to do something so that it fits exactly in its place and time and in its own measure is a matter of wisdom. Wisdom and the general norm of behavior determines and maintains, and examines every matter. Unwisdom acts in vain or, as they also say, in vain. That is why he wastes energy and time, but has little fruit, even though he tries to do everything good and not bad. - “Watch” also implies dangers, intrigues, snares. And there is no shortage of them. There are many entanglements in external circumstances that can distract from the right and lead to the wrong; and there is a lot in yourself that can lead you astray; and the enemy does not sleep. There are so many reasons to watch and walk with extreme caution. Blessed Jerome writes: “It is well said to the Ephesians that they, having senses trained in the judgment of good and evil, should walk dangerously and, in everything that tempts them, hold on to what is good. He who sees how he should walk and knows how to step carefully with his foot so as not to stumble on a stone, saying: “The lamp of my feet is Your law” (Ps. 119:105), he is certainly wise. And I don’t think that any simpleton, a person of short minds, could fulfill this commandment, even if he wanted to walk dangerously. From this we should understand that moral rules, which are considered by many to be completely clear, on the basis that it is said: “the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes” (Ps. 18:9), - need a comprehensive examination in order to find a prudent application. That bright commandment enlightens the eyes of those who, having rejected foolishness, devoted themselves to actively learning the lessons of wisdom.” Eph. 5:16. Time is redeeming, for the present day is evil. Shows the way to fulfill the previous commandment, how to walk wisely and dangerously. You will have time, he says, in this, “redeeming time.” But what does it mean to “redeem time”? - Do not waste it in vain, but try in every possible way to make something out of it that can further the goals of our life. Blessed Theodoret says: “Redeem time by using it as it should.” Blessed Jerome writes: “When we bide our time for a good deed, then we atone for it.” – The purpose of time is in eternity; present life is given to prepare for a blissful life in the future. He who directs everything towards this goal, not allowing even small periods of his time to be spent in empty pursuits, redeems all his time. The reason why we must hurry to redeem time is that “for the days are evil.” Evil means evil, and it also means cunning. You think you are about to catch a cunning person, but he slips out of your hands. This is how time flows: it flows quickly, it flows so quickly that you can’t catch it. The apostle says, as it were: hurry; do what you can at every moment; Don’t let it go in vain; it’ll go away, you can’t turn it back. Or - “the evil days” - means the present evil age, full of evil and delights. He wants to take away all our time, but we need to try not to let this happen, try to keep time for ourselves, turn it to our advantage, for our eternal goals. Time seems to be a subject of struggle between us and the evil age. This one pulls towards himself, but we must pull towards ourselves. Blessed Jerome writes: “By doing good, we redeem time and make it our own, instead of selling it to evil. No one, consumed by the worries of everyday life and seeking wealth, redeems his time. – If we redeem time as we should, then in some way we change it: we turn evil days into good ones and turn them from the days of the present century into the days of the future century. – This passage can be explained differently: O Ephesians, upon whom, upon awakening from the sleep of this age, the Sun of righteousness has shone - Christ the Lord! Walk dangerously and wisely, not succumbing to the variability of time, but on the contrary, trying, despite its variability, to maintain yourself always equally unchanged. Let persecution after persecution come, you keep one course and take care of one thing, so as not to change like the moon, as the foolish do, but, once begun, stand steadfast in it. I will explain my thought with an example from Scripture. Joseph had one goal in mind - how to please God. And this remained unchanged for him despite repeated changes in the circumstances of his life. Neither the hatred of the brothers, nor the state of slavery, nor the seduction of the mistress, nor the darkness of the prison, nor the power over all of Egypt changed this. He was always the same and, redeeming his time, turned bad days into good ones. The same can be said about Job. He was subjected to various temptations; but neither wealth, nor poverty, nor wounds, nor reproaches from friends, nor abandonment by everyone, nor then the restoration of his prosperity - nothing changed him. He redeemed his time and turned evil days into good ones.” Eph. 5:17. For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand that there is the will of God. This is the means to walk with wise caution, and the time to atone as it should! – Find out what God wants from you in this or that case, and do it. Ahead he already said: “tempting is what is pleasing to God”; now he says the same thing again: “understand what the will of God is.” This is so important and so necessary, so as not to distort the due course of action with your prudence, which is always insufficient. Our prudence - very often, if not always - distorts the matter, being deviated from rightness by self-pity, people-pleasing and many other, humanly speaking, valid reasons. But understanding the will of God dispels all the fogs that hang over the paths of our life, and clearly indicates the straight path, and this protects the rightness of our action and establishes it, or reveals it in life - under the condition, of course, that the initial covenant - to walk steadily in the will of God, not sparing the belly - is vividly recognized, so that this consciousness, and not something else, governs the plans of our life. Blessed Jerome writes: “Since time is evil and we must redeem it, we must first ask for wisdom in order to understand what the will of God is. We cannot walk dangerously if we do not first understand the will of God. In any case, you first need to consider what God wants, and after proper discussion, do what will be recognized as pleasing to Him.” Eph. 5:18. And do not get drunk with wine, for there is fornication in it, but rather be filled with the Spirit. On a bitter earth, it is natural for a person to seek amusements, who cannot forget that he was created for a heavenly life. And everyone searches and finds in their own way. Every nation and every person has its own pleasures. The most cheerful element is wine. But as sensual, it also gives sensual joy. For Christians who are born of the Spirit and are the dwelling place of the Spirit and whose life is hidden with Christ in God, there is no such kind of joy in themselves. They are characterized by joy in the Holy Spirit. The Apostle writes to the Ephesians - to leave first and look for the second. "Don't get drunk." But how to set the measure at which drunkenness begins? It’s best for Christians - don’t drink at all, except in extremes, in forms of healing. Of course, it is not wine that is reproachful, but drunkenness; but fire is added to the blood by a small amount of wine, and the resulting carnal joy scatters thoughts and shakes moral strength. What need is there to plunge oneself into such a dangerous situation? Especially when it is realized that every minute of time needs to be redeemed, and with this act not minutes, but days are given away for free to enemies, and goodness would be for free, otherwise with an additional payment? - So, judging strictly, wine drinking should be completely banished from use among Christians. Saint Chrysostom, although he allows the use of wine for joy, not for everyone, but only for those in sorrow and illness. “Do you want to know, he says, that the wine is good? – Listen to the words of Scripture: “Give strong drink to those who are sorrowful, and drink wine to those who are sick” (Proverbs 31:6). And rightly so: for it has the power to soften grief and melancholy and remove sadness. “Wine makes glad the heart of man” (Ps. 103:15). – Another reasonable use of wine is drinking it for health. This is, according to Chrysostom, its original purpose. “Wine,” he says, “was given to us not for anything other than for the health of the body. Listen to this blessed one (Apostle Paul), who writes and says to Timothy: “You have received little wine, but for your sake and for your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim. 5:23). - For this reason, God created our bodies to be moderate, requiring little to be satisfied, so that from here he could teach us that we were created for another life. This is the kind of life He wanted to give us at first, but since we became unworthy of it, He postponed it and during the postponement does not allow us to enjoy without measure. A small glass of wine and one piece of bread is enough to satisfy the human belly. God created the Lord of all the dumb, who were in need much less than them, and gave a small body, indicating that we should strive for another life. “Do not get drunk,” says the Apostle, “with wine, for there is fornication in it”: it does not save, but destroys not only the body, but also the soul.” “Fornication” - ασωτια, - debauchery, riotous life, all-round debauchery and depravity. Drunkenness is the mother and nourisher of all vices; and it inflames the irritable part. Saint Chrysostom says: “It makes us hot-tempered and impudent, and impetuous, irritable and intolerable.” But most directly, it multiplies fornication. For “the belly, extremely hot, foams with lust,” as Blessed Jerome puts it. “But above all be filled with the Spirit.” “Just as it is impossible for two masters to work, God and mammon (Matthew 6:24), so it is impossible to be filled with the Spirit and wine together” (Jerome). Why “the holy Apostle, having rejected harmful intoxication, introduced spiritual in its place” (Theodoret). “Do you want to have fun,” he says? want to spend the day? I give you spiritual singing. Drunkenness destroys the euphony of our speech, causing us to stutter, and also distorts our eyes and everything. Learn to sing psalms, and you will see the sweetness of this matter, because singing psalms are filled with the Holy Spirit, and singing satanic songs are filled with the unclean spirit” (St. Chrysostom). How different are carnal and spiritual people of joy! Those are filled with wine, and those are filled with the Holy Spirit; For those, wine excites carnal joy, and with this the Holy Spirit gives spiritual and divine joy; For those, wine kindles them for all kinds of lustful deeds, but for others, the Holy Spirit teaches Praise to God and thanksgiving for all kinds of good. Comforter, Soul of truth, come and dwell - and in us! What is the meaning in the words: “be filled with the Spirit”? – The Spirit of grace dwells in Christians from the time of baptism and confirmation. Isn’t approaching the sacraments of repentance and communion an acceptance of the most abundant influxes of grace? To those who already have the Spirit, it is fitting to say: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). But how can we say to them: “be filled with the Spirit”? – The grace of the Holy Spirit is given to Christians, because such is the power of the Christian faith. But the Spirit living in Christians does not bring about their salvation alone, but together with the free actions of the Christian himself. In this regard, a Christian can both offend and extinguish the Spirit, and can help Him to palpably manifest His influences in him. When this happens, then the Christian recognizes himself in an extraordinary state, expressed by quiet, deep, sweet joy, sometimes rising to a leaping of the spirit. This is spiritual rapture! Contrasting it with the intoxication of wine, the Apostle says: seek not that, but this intoxication, calling it the filling of the Spirit. So the command to be filled with the Spirit is nothing more than an order to behave in such a way, or to use such actions on your part that would facilitate or give the opportunity and space for the Holy Spirit to manifest itself tangibly: to tangibly influence the heart. In the writings of the men of God, who were worthy of such grace and even constantly remained under the shadow of it, we find an indication of two especially things that are required of a person for this - cleansing the heart from passions and turning to God in prayer. The Apostle Paul indicated the same means. Ahead, he taught how to cleanse the soul from the passions of lust and anger, and here, following the word: “be filled with the Spirit,” he also points to prayer. Saint Chrysostom introduced these two methods into interpretation. That prayer opens up freedom for the Spirit of God to influence the heart, he said about this already in the previous extract, saying: “Singing psalms is filled with the Spirit.” And that purity from passions also leads to this, he speaks about this after: “Is it in our power to be filled with the Spirit? - Yes, in ours. When we cleanse our souls from lies, cruelty, fornication, impurity and covetousness, when we become good-natured, compassionate, caring about ourselves, when there is no blasphemy (ridiculousness) in us - when we become worthy of what will prevent the Holy Spirit from approaching and flying to us? “And He will not only come closer, but will fill our hearts.” Eph. 5:19. Speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, chanting and singing in your hearts to the Lord. In what combination should we accept these words, is it this: when you are filled with the Spirit, then sing with your lips and heart? Or this: if you want to be filled with the Spirit, then sing? – Is the proposed singing with the lips and heart expressed as a consequence of being filled with the Spirit, or is it indicated as a means to this? The influx of the Spirit is not in our control, it comes as the Spirit Himself pleases. And when it comes, it leads to a strong excitement of the strength of our spirit. The song to God then weaves itself. Freedom is possible only in whether to leave this song sung in the heart, or to express it in the tongue publicly for everyone. In the latter case, the Apostle laid down the law that everything in the church should proceed gracefully and in order. From this it is clear that both being filled with the Spirit and singing under the influence and influx of Him cannot be the subject of a prescription, but only a subject of desire and seeking, with the use of appropriate means. An indication of the prudent detection of the singing formed inside is not included in the content of this text. Consequently, these words should be accepted not in the first, but in the second combination. Be filled with the Spirit; and for this purpose sing. Singing will arouse the Spirit, or lead to a state of influx of the Spirit, or its tangible influence. Blessed Theodoret writes that the Apostle introduces spiritual rapture when he says: “be filled with the Spirit,” and shows how to achieve this, namely: “by constantly singing songs to God, delving into ourselves and always stirring up thoughts.” This is the same as saying: through singing with the tongue and the heart. It is not difficult to understand that the main thing in this matter is not the euphony of the singing, but the content of what is being sung. It has the same effect as a speech written with enthusiasm inspires the reader who reads it. The feeling embedded in a word passes through the word into the soul of the hearer or reader. So it is in church songs. Church psalms, hymns (singings) and odes (songs) are spiritually moving outpourings of reverent feelings towards God. The Spirit of God filled His chosen ones, and they expressed the fullness of their feelings in songs. He who sings them as he should, back, can enter into the feelings expressed in them and, being filled with them, bring himself closer to a state capable of accepting the influence of the grace of the Spirit or adapting himself to it. This is precisely the purpose of church songs, so that through them to kindle and fan the spark of grace hidden within us. The sacraments give this spark. To fan it and turn it into a flame, psalms, chants (hymns) and spiritual songs (odes) were introduced. They act on a spark of grace in the same way as the wind acts on a spark that has penetrated into a flammable substance. But let us remember that such an action belongs to them under the condition that along with their use comes the purification of the heart, as Saint Chrysostom said, guided by the course of speech of the holy Apostle Paul himself. Other conditions are indicated in this very place, namely: first, that they should be spiritual, and second, that they should be sung not only with the tongue, but also with the heart. The Apostle indicates three types of songs: psalms, songs - hymns, and songs - odes. It’s true that they were all used in apostolic times and differed from each other in some way. Without having examples, we do not undertake to determine what kind of church songs were that bore these names, and we will understand from each of them a church song. And that these were definitely church songs, that is, songs sung in the assembly of Christians, this is evident from the fact that the Apostle commands them to say to themselves “εαυτοις”, which all interpreters understand: mutually. So, in order for the singing of church songs to lead to filling with the Spirit, the Apostle demands that these songs be “spiritual,” by which we must mean not only that they should be spiritual in content, but that they should be spiritually driven, themselves be the fruit of the Spirit, or poured out from hearts filled with the Spirit. Otherwise they will not lead to being filled with the Spirit. This is according to the law, what is put into the song is what it will give to the singer. Human thought is put there, human thought will give birth; an element of grace is inserted there, and it will arouse grace in the singer. But if it is a simple set of words, then it will not generate anything. Apostolovo’s second requirement is that songs be sung not only with the tongue, but also with the heart. It is necessary not only to understand the song, but to enter into sympathy with it, or to perceive its content in the heart, and sing it as if it came from our heart. From the comparison of this passage with others, it is clear that in the apostolic time only those who were in such a mood sang, others entered into a similar mood with them - and the entire church congregation sang and sang to the Lord only in their hearts. What wonder is it if, as a result, it was all filled with the Spirit? What treasure is hidden in church hymns, if they are performed as they should be! Saint Chrysostom says: “What do the words mean: “singing in your hearts to the Lord”? “This means approach this task with attention, for those who are inattentive sing uselessly, uttering only words, while their heart wanders elsewhere.” Blessed Theodoret adds to this: “He sings with his heart, who not only sets the tongue in motion, but also excites the mind to understand what is being said.” Other holy fathers, writing about turning to God in prayer, believe that it is best accomplished when done with a mind confirmed in the heart. What the Apostle says here about a church meeting also applies to private psalmody, which anyone can perform especially in the house. And the fruit from this can be the same when it is done as it should, that is, with attention, understanding, sympathy, from the heart. Let us also note that although the Apostle’s words speak of singing, his thought points to a prayerful appeal to God. And it, in fact, is the stimulant of the Spirit. Eph. 5:20. Always giving thanks to everyone in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father. Psalms, hymns, and odes presuppose primarily praise of God - an image of the endless perfections of God, worshiped in the Trinity, and His immense works of creation, providence, redemption, and the expected accomplishment of all kinds. But enter into the contemplation of all this, you will see that the main subject of Divine care was, and is, and will be man, placed high in creation, deeply fallen in the fall and raised high in restoration; that this good of restoration is already in action and that those who sing are made partakers of it, not only called to this, but also already eating its fruits. From here comes thanksgiving by itself, thanksgiving in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who saved everyone and saves everyone, thanksgiving to God and the Father, by Whom, through the economy of salvation, we are adopted as sons, not nominally, but essentially, becoming one with the Lord and being reborn by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thanksgiving is so essential in turning to God in prayer that without it it is impossible to begin this task. For everything we have is God's - and this very mind that turns to Him, and the very boldness to turn to Him, everything we have is God's - and our entire destiny, both temporal and eternal, is in His right hand. Everything has been prepared by Him for us, and everything is so arranged and adapted that everyone has in their hands the opportunity to achieve eternal bliss in Him. The consideration of all this in particular by each person in relation to himself naturally puts him in a state of thanksgiving, which is completely impossible to express. True thanksgiving is grateful amazement at the boundless goodness of God. What hinders the development of gratitude is a lack of understanding of how all the accidents of life serve for our eternal good, especially troubles. It seems that no one can see this. Living faith recognizes that this is the case and disposes us to give thanks for everything. Everything that happens to us, God arranges for our salvation. So it is, although it is not visible how. Saint Chrysostom explains this by saying: I will take you into the carpenter’s workshop. What will you see? - It cuts, then chisels, then planes. And what is all this for, you don’t see. However, you don’t say that he does all this without a purpose, but you believe that from the parts scattered in disorder, some useful thing will come out - a table, a chair, a box. This is how it happens. Believe that God also wants to make something good out of you for His Kingdom. Therefore, when you find yourself in situations similar to planing, chiselling and sawing, believe that all this is necessary for something to come out of you, and according to this faith, patiently endure and give thanks. 2. Particular rules of Christian life according to condition (Eph. 5:21–33, 6:1–9) Saint Paul takes into account only the relationships of family members and defines the Christian way of action for each class of them. Perhaps this is because the Ephesians, who made up the Church, were not in any other relationship; or, perhaps, because these relationships are the main ones between people, and you will not find anyone who is not on some side of them; or also because the one who is serviceable here will be serviceable everywhere. First, the Apostle defines the relationship of the main members on whom the family itself stands - husband and wife - Eph. 5:22–33; then - children and parents, - Eph. 6:1–4; finally, servants and masters, Eph. 6:5–9. Since this entire family union rests on the obedience of one to the other, he puts the lesson of obedience at the head - Eph. 5:21 ; and then he applies it to those members of the family who should especially fulfill it, namely: to wives - “wives be subject to your husbands” - Eph. 5:22; to children - “children, listen to your parents” - Eph. 6:1; to slaves - “rabbis, listen to the lords” - Eph. 6:5. Following the lessons, he indicates to these members the manner of action and the persons corresponding to them, to whom belongs the predominant dignity of husbands - Eph. 5:25, Fathers - Eph. 6:4, and masters - Eph. 6:9. It would seem that on the part of these latter, it is not obedience that is being shown, but power is being exercised, but when they are ordered to lovingly listen to the needs of the inferiors corresponding to them and to arrange their well-being in every possible way, this without words says the same thing that the Lord said: the greater one - be the servant of all (Blessed Jerome). And the Apostle depicts the image of the service of these great ones to the lesser ones in the family, characterizing their power with their ability to do good on a wider scale. St. Paul also touches on the mutual duties of family members in other epistles. The peculiarity of the letter to the Ephesians is that the meaning of the marriage union is more significantly defined here. Nowhere is it placed so highly, and its dignity is nowhere so deeply regarded as here, when the ideal of this union is indicated in the union of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Church. a) The main lesson of mutual obedience Eph. 5:21. Submitting to each other in the passion of God. Grammatically, this text relates to the previous one, and in content - to the subsequent one. There is nothing to be surprised at, for St. Paul is not alien to such techniques. “Obeying” stands in line with “giving thanks, singing, speaking.” But these latter are in combination with “be filled with the spirit,” but “obeying” cannot be combined with this. Saint Paul put this word in line with those at the transition to subsequent lessons. Let us accept these words as if it were said: “submit to one another in the fear of God.” This lesson does not concern only family members, although their relationships follow from it, but embraces all Christians. Each one obey the other, that is, never stand on your own, but bend your will to the will of the other. Thus. not to have one's own will is the fundamental law in Christian relationships. The Apostle does not indicate any limitation to this law; unless we take the word in this sense: “in the fear of God.” This means: not out of man-pleasing, not in the hope of any benefits, not out of any other external respect, but out of the “fear of God” alone, out of confidence that this is the will of God, not only in general, but in each particular case. To have such confidence, we must see in each case that the desire or demand of another, to which our will must bow, if satisfied, will bring him significant benefit, temporary or eternal. Obedience under this condition will flow from Christian duty - self-sacrifice and love, which is commanded to extend to the position of one’s soul for one’s brother. The strength of these obligations rests on the fear of God. How to perfectly fulfill this commandment of mutual obedience in the face of the most varied combinations and interweaving of accidents - this is Christian wisdom. It is certain that he who sacrifices himself and his own for others is never a loser if he does everything out of the fear of God. For there is an all-seeing Eye, and a glass of water will not remain without reward in due time, most necessary for everyone. Saint Chrysostom says: “If you obey out of submission, out of money or out of shame, then much more out of the fear of God (obey). Let one not take the place of a free man, and another a slave, but let you have a society of friends serving each other, where there is no anger, no vexation, no irritation, where everyone acts according to free choice and out of love for each other. Serve everyone as masters, and soon you will have them as servants. You will gain them even more if, without receiving anything from them, you give them yours. “Obeying one another in the fear of Christ” means that we curb all passions, serve God, nourish love for each other - and then we will be worthy of God’s love for mankind” (abbreviated). b) Application of this principle to family members Eph. 5:22. Wives, submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. He begins with the marital union, showing special care for it, as Saint Chrysostom notes. “And this is not in vain, because if marital relations are in order, then the children are brought up well, and the servants are decent, and the neighbors, and friends, and relatives (rejoice), everyone is pleased with their happiness, like a certain fragrance. If it’s the other way around, then everything is disordered and confused.” He started with wives, either because it comes more directly to them - “obey,” or, perhaps, as an indication of the high importance of a wife in family life. Because as long as she is in order, then everything in the house is in order. The strength of the Apostle’s speech is not in indicating the duty of obedience, for this was already the case everywhere, but in the spirit in which this obedience should be shown, namely: “obey as you do the Lord.” The obedience of a wife to her husband in Christianity takes on a higher character, as one that follows from the fear of God and is equated with deeds of pleasing God, done directly to the Lord Himself. She obeys her husband in the confidence that the Lord accepts such obedience as if it were directly rendered to Him; or obeys him, not as the strongest and most dominant in the order of nature, but as the representative of the Lord. Saint Chrysostom says: “Having said: “Obey as the Lord,” the Apostle or means the following: because those who know that you serve the Lord, as in another place he says that (they must obey) if not for the sake of their husbands, then especially for the sake of “the Lord” (Col. 3:18); or: if you obey your husband, then think that you obey as one who works for the Lord. For if one who resists even external public authorities resists “God’s commandment” (Rom. 13:2), then much less does one disobey her husband. This is what God requires from the beginning.” Eph. 5:23. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. “The husband is the head.” It seems that Saint Paul wanted to remind us that the ancient sentence: “Your appeal is to your husband, and she will possess you” (Gen. 3:16) has not lost its force in Christianity, only here the husband appears to be the greatest, not as the bearer of predominant power, but as the all-round trustee and guardian of the wife, and only in this and not in another sense - the head of her, to which she, as a body, must turn. The husband, according to the Apostle, in the marriage union is the same for the wife as Christ is for the Church, in the order of grace, or according to the economy of salvation. The husband is compared with Christ, the wife with the Church. The point of comparison is headship: the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. But the Apostle writes not as what is, but as what should be. Therefore, in his words one should see the following thought: the husband is the head of the wife in the same sense in which Christ is the head of the Church. But Christ is the head of the Church, as the Savior of this body of His. Let the husband also be head of his wife because of his salvation for her. In what and let there be a basis for the husband's headship; for a wife - an incentive to obey. Having said: the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the Church, the Apostle had only to draw a conclusion: therefore, let the wives obey their husbands in everything, as the Church obeys Christ; which he does in the next verse. But he deliberately added a clause in which he indicates why Christ is the head of the Church, in order to give the headship of the husband a Christian basis and the obedience of the wife - the most moral impulse - namely: “He is the Savior of the body.” Christ is the head of the Church, because He is the Savior of this body of His. He became the head through the salvation of those who were saved, and those who were saved became His members through salvation. By placing the headship of a husband over his wife on a par with the headship of Christ over the Church, as her Savior, doesn’t he indicate that the husband must show himself as the savior of his wife, so that the wife sees in him her savior, and on the feeling that he is her protection, preserver and cover, and that behind him, like behind a mountain, she must maintain and revive her obedience to him. Theophylact writes: “Just as Christ, being the head of the Church, provides for her and saves her, so the husband is the savior of his wife, his body. How can this body not obey the head who cares for it and saves it?” “Thus,” says Saint Chrysostom, “he offered the husband and wife, as the basis of their happiness, mutual love and caring, indicating to each of them what was appropriate for each - one authority and care, the other obedience.” Blessed Theodoret has the same thought: “Very wisely the divine Apostle presented this example. For it is enough to instill in wives respect for their husbands, and instill in husbands tender love for their wives.” Eph. 5:24. But just as the church obeys Christ, so do wives obey their husbands in everything. This text is understandable both in content and in the way it stands here. It is a direct conclusion from the previous one and does not represent anything new, no matter what was said above. And our interpreters say almost nothing about it. Only blessed Theophylact solves the question: “How to obey in everything? And then, as if to obey, when he deviates into unbelief and begins to persuade her to do the same? “But,” he says, “the Apostle’s word here is not about infidels, but about faithful men.” Christ, the head of the Church, is God, gathers and leads His Church to eternal glory. She knows this and does not hesitate to obey Him in everything that He pleases to do in her and with her in her internal structure and in her external destiny. But doubt about a person is always appropriate, and therefore a limitation of this in everything. It, however, in the speech of the Apostle is very strongly limited by the word: “as the Lord,” which also gives the following thought: in the purposes and in the views of the Lord, as in the Epistle to the Colossians it is said: “as it becomes in the Lord” (Col. 3:18), and even more by comparing the headship of the husband with the headship of the Lord, which comes from salvation. What kind of savior is a husband if he saves the body only under the condition of destroying the soul?!” Another remark is made by Blessed Jerome - about the holiness of married life. “If a wife must obey her husband as much as the Church obeys Christ, then the union between husband and wife must be holy, and they must never work for carnal passions.” Saint Damascus has the same thought: “The Apostle obliges the wife to obey her husband in the manner of obedience to the Church of Christ, so that this obedience is not of a physical, but of a spiritual nature.” Eph. 5:25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for her nudity. He gave wives a commandment and an example of obedience, now he gives husbands a commandment and an example of love - in the love of Christ the Savior for the Church. In a marriage, the wife's main duty is to obey her husband, and the husband's main duty is to love his wife. But just as a husband is not excluded from the obligation to listen to the reasonable advice and desires of his wife, so a wife is obliged to love her husband. Everything should be in harmony with them. St. Paul, in outlining their relationship pleasing to God, especially insists on the fact that it is more likely from whose side it can be violated. What the wife loves, there is nothing to say about this, but she is more likely to be forgotten. That the husband loves to subjugate his wife, and this happens by itself, but he can extend this beyond what is proper. The Holy Apostle stipulates these possible deviations on both sides. The wife must, above all else, obey her husband, because the wife’s attempt to take precedence upsets the family peace. A husband should love his wife most of all, because selfishness on his part makes the prosperity and sweetness of family life impossible. If you compare who the Apostle places more pressure on, it turns out that he puts more pressure on the husband. Having accepted in all severity that wives, in accordance with the pattern of obedience of the Church to Christ the Lord, must obey their husbands in everything, we must accept in all severity the love obligatory for husbands - in the measure of the love of Christ the Lord for the Church. But the Lord gave Himself for the Church, therefore, husbands must extend their love for their wives to the point of being ready to sacrifice their very lives for them. Where there is love, however, this happens by itself. But justice also requires this: for if we take obedience in real strength, we will see that it is a constant dying - cutting off one’s desires and reasoning. It is fair that for such a long death of a wife, the husband, if necessary, should die once. Saint Chrysostom understands this power as the love of a husband for his wife. Turning to his husband, he says: “You have heard about great obedience, you are pleased with Paul, that he, like some wondrous and spiritual teacher, teaches us order in life. Fine! But listen to what he demands from you, he gives the same example further: “husbands,” he says, “love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church.” Have you seen the measure of obedience? - Listen to the measure of love. Do you want your wife to obey you, just as the Church obeys Christ? - Take care of her yourself, as Christ takes care of the Church. Even if you had to sacrifice your life for it or endure and suffer whatever it was, do not refuse, but even if you suffered all this, do not think that you did anything similar to what Christ did. Know how to force her to be submissive to you through your great care, love, and friendship for her. There are no bonds stronger than these, especially for husband and wife. A servant can sometimes be bound by fear, but a life partner, the mother of children and the culprit of all family joys must be tied to oneself not by fear and threats, but by love and affection. What kind of marriage is it when the wife trembles at her husband? What pleasure can a husband enjoy who cohabits with his wife as a slave, and not as a free woman? Even if you had to suffer something for it, don’t complain: Christ didn’t do this.” Eph. 5:26, 27. Let him sanctify it, cleansing it with the washing of water in the verb: let it present to itself a glorious church, not having filth, or vice, or anything of the kind, but let it be holy and blameless. Saint Paul does not remember these saving actions of the economy of our salvation in order to explain them: he does this in other places; but his soul was always full of contemplation of these mysteries, and he could not miss the opportunity when he presented himself, so as not to touch them. He wanted to guide them through all the orders of life, so that, no matter in what combinations life flowed, it would not distract him from contemplating them, but would enliven and support him. In this regard, one can assume the Apostle’s intention is to further draw a parallel between the obligatory relationship between a Christian husband and his wife from the relationship of Christ the Lord to the Church. The very content of these texts is clear. The Lord gave Himself for the Church, deigning to suffer death on the cross. The Lord gave Himself thus, that He might sanctify the Church, or all believers through the sanctification of every Christian. How? - “Having been cleansed by the bath of water in the verb,” that is, by holy baptism, in which the words are pronounced with immersion in water three times: in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are the visible effects of holy baptism. Invisibly, the baptized person is immersed in the death of Christ, receives remission of sins and completely dies from a sinful life, and, emerging from the water, partakes of the power of the resurrection of Christ and is reborn to a new spiritual holy life. Baptized, not only in name, but essentially, pure and holy. This is done with everyone, therefore, with all those who come to the Lord, with the entire Church. The entire Church is holy, having passed through the cleansing and sanctifying bath of rebirth. “Let him introduce himself.” These words show why it was instituted so that everyone should pass through the baptismal font. For this purpose, he says, the Lord does this in order to present the Church, that is, all believers, to Himself as glorious, with internal perfections, without any defect, pure and immaculate. To present the bride to the groom, and especially down the aisle, the bride is washed, cleaned, and dressed up in every possible way. Christ the Lord does this with the Church. Having decided to unite with her, He adorns her with all sorts of goodness. For it is not fitting that anything should be combined with the purest and most perfect, while remaining impure and deficient. In the words: “let her be holy and blameless,” one can see an indication of the continuation of the sanctification received in baptism throughout life. Then there everything old and ugly dies and everything new and pure is given in order to gain the opportunity to be united with Christ, and further so that, having been granted this great good, one can preserve oneself in holiness and integrity throughout one’s life, in order to preserve one’s union with Christ. This is the attitude of the Church towards Christ. Saint Paul does not draw parallels to such relationships between husband and wife, leaving it to everyone to do. Its main goal is to dispose the husband to all loving care for his wife and this simple instruction is achieved. Our interpreters draw this parallel. Blessed Jerome mentions that some heretics abused this place, trying to prove that marriage in its ordinary sense is not permissible for Christians. “To such,” he says, “we must answer briefly that if anything is forbidden here by the Apostle, then passions, impurity, sensual lust are forbidden, and not holy union. The birth of children in a marriage union is permitted, but lust, such as fornication, in spouses is condemned. - Reading this, let every husband and wife understand that, after conception, they should practice more in prayer, and not in the pleasures of marriage. In animals this is fulfilled according to the law of nature, but in Christians the same must be a matter of freedom, so that abstinence has a moral value and deserves reward.” Blessed Theodoret sees in this a general indication of care for his wife. “Imitate the Sovereign care, and what the Lord showed in the judgment of the Church, have the same in the judgment of those living with you in marriage. For the Lord Christ did not deny even to die for His Bride in order to cleanse her, make her glorious, erase from her the traces of her former old age and show her free from all vice. Therefore, we should have the same love for our spouses and take care of them as we would of our own body.” Saint Chrysostom obliges the husband to pay primary attention to the moral side of his wife both when choosing her and during his life with her. “Let him sanctify you, cleansing you.” - So she was unclean; it means there were dirty spots on it; That means she was ugly and worthless. And no matter what kind of wife you take, your bride will not be the same as Christ found the Church; she will not be as different from you as the Church was from Christ. For all this, He did not disdain her and did not hate her for her excessive ugliness. Do you want to know how ugly she was? – Listen to what Saint Paul says: “For sometimes there is darkness” (Eph. 5:8). Do you see its blackness? What's blacker than darkness? What else can I say? She was both mad and blasphemous. However, despite the fact that there was so much bad in her, He gave Himself up for the ugly, as for the beautiful, as for the beloved, as for the one worthy of wondrous praise. And, having accepted her as such, He adorns her and washes her, and does not refuse this. And he not only adorned her, but also made her glorious, having no filth or blemish, or anything from such. Don't demand from your wife what she doesn't have. Do you see that the Church received everything from the Lord? Through Him she became glorious, through Him she became blameless. Do not turn away from your wife because of her unattractiveness. She is God's creation; It is not her that you blame, but the One who created her; what is the wife's fault? Don't praise her for her beauty either. Depraved souls are characterized by such praise and such hatred, and even the most passionate love. Seek spiritual beauty; imitate the Bridegroom of the Church. Physical beauty produces great insolence and much foolishness; it arouses jealousy and often makes one suspect oneself of vile acts. “But would you say she gives me pleasure?” – One month or two, and a lot if a year, but beyond that; on the contrary, from habit the wonder soon loses its charm. But what is bad in him remains forever: blindness, madness, arrogance. There is nothing similar in the pleasure delivered not by this beauty; there, love, begun in the right way, remains constant, like love for spiritual beauty, and not physical. Let us look for prudence, moderation, meekness in a wife; These are the signs of true beauty. But let’s not look for physical beauty, and we won’t reproach her too much for things that don’t depend on her, or better yet, we won’t reproach her at all, for this is characteristic of insolence, and we won’t be upset and indignant. Or don’t you see how many there are who lived with beautiful wives, but ended their lives in misfortune; on the contrary, how many are there who had wives who were not very handsome, but lived to a ripe old age in complete prosperity? Let us destroy inner filth, cleanse inner shortcomings, and destroy spiritual stains. - God desires such beauty. Let us prepare her (the wife) as beautiful for God, and not for ourselves. Let us not seek money or external nobility, but spiritual nobility. - Who, tell me, leaving the most important, will take care of the unimportant? But, alas, we always do this. If we have a son, then we are not trying to make him good, but how to find him a rich wife, not so that he is well-behaved, but so that he is rich. And if we outline a way of life, then we are also not concerned about how we can live sinlessly, but about how we can acquire more income. Money began to mean everything. That’s why everything was damaged, because we are obsessed with this passion.” Eph. 5:28. Thus, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies: if you love your wife, you love yourself. Exhibits a new, strongest and clearest impulse for love. What was said before may not have been clearly understood and may have seemed distant. He says, as it were: maybe what has been said is not so clear to you, I will say more directly and closer: “love your wives as your own bodies”; for, in fact, they are your bodies, and by loving them, you do not turn to others, but to yourself, for when you love your wives, you love yourself. This is how Saint Chrysostom combines the flow of speech: “The Apostle moves on to the strongest example; and not only this, but to the nearest and clearest, and to a new reason. For what was said did not seem very necessary, and in order for someone not to say: He was Christ, He was God and gave Himself, - the Apostle proves the same thing in another way, saying: “In this way we should love the essence as our own body.” “So, this is not mercy, but duty.” What follows from the obligation to love one’s wives “as one’s own body” is self-evident. “But how is it that the wife is the flesh of her husband? “Listen: “Behold, now,” says Adam, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Eve is flesh from the flesh of Adam” (St. Chrysostom). The Apostle does not present this foundation here, supposing it to be known. For whoever knows how the wife originally came into being cannot wonder how the wife is the body of the husband. The forefather Eve was taken from the forefather Adam, and Adam directly defined her, saying: “This is flesh of my flesh.” But what was then physically accomplished, then, according to the law laid down by God, is accomplished morally by the husband and wife. By marriage, the husband has his wife, in his feelings, as a part of himself; and the wife, in her feelings, has herself grafted onto her husband, so that in fact it turns out that they are both one flesh, that is, one being, one person. The apostle says, as it were: there is no need to teach you how to love your wife; love as a part of yourself. Of course, love for your wife requires sacrifices (as above came from the reference to the attitude of Christ the Lord towards the Church), but these sacrifices are not on the side, but on you. Love your wife, love yourself. Consequently, what he sacrifices for his wife, he sacrifices for himself. Eph. 5:29. No one ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, just like Christ does the church. If the love of a husband for his wife is so natural, then there is nothing to talk about. Love always exists, but often it loses its meaning. It happens that a husband loves his wife, but pushes her around as if she were prophetic. The Apostle reminds this one: look, she is a part equal to you, for you and she are one whole. It happens that a husband looks at his wife with too sensual eyes. The Apostle reminds this: she is your body, but not for bodily pleasures; have reasonable love for her, just as the law commands you to treat your body rationally. He who treats the body wisely nourishes and warms it not for the sake of carnal pleasures, but for the sake of the fact that it is a necessary tool for fulfilling the goals of life (Blessed Jerome). Take care of, nourish and warm your wife as a tool, but not a mechanical one, but an amateur one, as an assistant and collaborator. The purpose in the words of the Apostle is not to incite husbands to love their wives, for this happens by itself, but to transform this love from natural into a moral law and duty, which should not be violated due to any whim of the heart, but should retain its strength throughout life, as a union of the soul with the body, and especially to transform it from the carnal to the spiritual - to spiritualize it, which he makes an indication of a reasonable attitude towards the body, especially to indicate the relationship of Christ the Lord to the Church. Everyone feeds and warms his own flesh: nourish and warm his wife, but in the same way as Christ the Lord nourishes and warms His Church. With the words “nourish and warm” the Apostle meant all-round care, and by indicating the warmth and nourishment of the Church by Christ he defined the qualities and goals of this care. In what ways does Christ care for the Church? - “Let her be holy and blameless,” as stated above. It must be assumed that the Apostle understands similar goals by feeding and warming his wife, and not just feeding her, clothing and putting shoes on. Blessed Jerome gives the idea: let wives strive for complete pleasing to God, in order to become a perfect husband - and cease to be wives. Then, taking the words of the Apostle in a figurative sense and seeing in the husband the soul, and in the wife the flesh, he says: let the soul teach its flesh in such a way that it too will see the salvation of God. Finally, he brings both into one and says: “Let husbands warm their wives and the souls of their bodies so that the wives are transformed into husbands and the bodies into souls, and so that the difference between the sexes ceases. But just as the Angels have no male or female sex, so we, who are equal to the Angels, may from now on begin to be what we are promised to be in heaven.” But still we must not lose sight of the fact that the Apostle explains the duty of love only from a Christian point of view. He sets up the example of the love of Christ the Lord for the Church as a model, and, perhaps, in order to mutually clarify the relationship of Christ the Lord to the Church, applying what is known in the natural order to the supernatural orders. But it is also true that the way Christ nourishes and warms the Church, there is nothing and cannot be similar, in any natural order. Here it is not clear what the Lord said about His care for the Old Testament Church: “I have longed to bring your fellow children under your wing” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34), although this also takes place, but something very special, immediate, and essential. For Christ and the Church do not have an external union - one after the other, but an internal one - one in the other. Eve from Adam; but she became outside of him, and their union remained spiritual, the same as that of a husband and wife. And the Church is from Christ, but does not become outside of Him, but has Him in itself, penetrating everything in it and living in it all. The Apostle expresses this in the following text: Eph. 5:30. Thou shalt know His body, of His flesh and of His bones. We, all believers, are members of His body, we make up His body - the Church. Every believer is born from Christ and enters His body without being separated from Him. “From His flesh and from His bones” is a figurative expression of the fact that Christian essentiality is borrowed by us from Christ. Saint Chrysostom says: “As the Son of God is our nature, so we are His essence; and just as He has us in Himself, so we have Him in us.” This is accomplished in baptism and supported by communion: for - “put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27) - not just words, but a significant transformation in the image of Christ and because of the similarity of such a combination with Him. Equally, what is said about the communicant: “abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56) is an essential matter. “This is how we are of His flesh and His bones, and how we are His soul.” – Saint Chrysostom says: “What does it mean: “from His flesh”? - So it is truly from Him. But how through this do we become members of Christ? - Just as we were born like Him. How from the flesh? “You who partake of the mysteries know this, for through this we are immediately transformed.” Blessed Theodoret writes: “Just as Eve was created from Adam, so we are from the Lord Christ. We are buried with Him and raised in baptism, we eat His body and drink His blood.” This is how Christ the Lord nourishes and warms His Church—all believers. The work is being accomplished in a more significant and deeper way than general industry. - So it is, although it is inconceivable for the concept, and perhaps it exceeds another faith. Lord, give us faith! Eph. 5:31. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. The idea of ​​the place is clear. “Respect this first law, which was given at the creation of woman and inculcated in human nature. For he who enters into marriage, leaving his parents, is united with his wife, and the union becomes so close that the two are considered to be one flesh” (Blessed Theodoret). - But why is this law being given? All interpreters refer these words to verse 28, as proof of why a husband, loving his wife, loves her as his own body and as himself. Because, he says, this is how it happens and should be, that they become one flesh. But, I think, it is closer to relate them to the immediately preceding speech about the close living union of believers with Christ the Lord. It is said: we are of His flesh and of His bones. Therefore, the law that was spoken by God after the same words spoken by Adam also comes to us. Adam said: “Behold, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” and God sealed this with the law: for this reason will man leave, and so on. So it will be henceforth throughout all generations of the century. The Holy Apostle, having cited the words of Adam to explain the union of believers with the Lord, also cites that law about the combination of a husband and wife. But if we should understand the words “of His bones and of His flesh”, taken from the speech of Adam, about the union of believers with Christ, then why should the law, spoken after the words of Adam, be understood in the direct sense, and not in relation to the union of believers with Christ? – There is no need for this, especially since after this the Apostle himself determines the direction of his speech: I say this in relation to Christ and the Church. - So, nothing prevents the words of this text from being understood as an indication of the law according to which Christ the Lord is united with the souls of believers and the souls of believers with Christ the Lord. And it seems that the Apostle had in mind primarily this last side of the union, namely the union of souls with the Lord, and the purpose of his words: “the two flesh is one,” believers and the Lord are one. That is why the Apostle says: αντι τουτου - instead of this. Ahead said: The Lord nourishes and warms us, since we are flesh of His flesh and bone of bones. Now he says: instead of this, we must be so attached to Him that we are one. For He, too, has already become so familiar with us that He has given Himself entirely to us. One can find an indication of such a thought in the words of St. Chrysostom: “Thus, we become one flesh with Christ—by communion.” And a little lower: here a “spiritual union” takes place, in which the soul is united with the Lord in an ineffable union, as He alone knows. Therefore, it is said: “Be joined...to the Lord, there is one spirit [with the Lord]” (1 Cor. 6:17). The Psalmist says about this: “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house: and the king will desire your kindness” (Ps. 44:11, 12). The words of Blessed Jerome also suggest this: “These words in a figurative sense refer to Christ and the Church. Adam represented Christ, Eve represented the Church. Just as the entire human race was born from Adam and Eve, so from Christ and the Church the whole multitude of believers was born and is being born, which, forming a single body, is again inserted into the side of Christ and fills the place of the rib, becoming one flesh with Him as a husband. The Lord Himself prayed about this in the Gospel: “that you may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21). With this thought, the following words become clear: Eph. 5:32. This mystery is great: I speak into Christ and into the Church. It is obvious that the Apostle cited the previous words in order to lead readers to think about the relationship of Christ the Lord to the Church and the Church to Christ. This he now confirms, saying, as it were: I quote these words in the highest mysterious meaning; they directly indicate the close union of husband and wife, but also express the great mystery of the communion between Christ the Lord and the Church. The Apostle does not explain how to apply them to this mystery, leaving this to be done by the believers themselves; but as a guide to this, he already said a few words ahead, namely: Christ nourishes and warms the Church, we are of His flesh and bones. It is not difficult after this and further to draw this correlation and see in the words expressing the essence of marriage and its inseparability, an expression of the mysterious union of Christ the Lord with the Church. The Son of God in the incarnation left, as it were, His Heavenly Father (without being separated from Him) and entered into a mysterious union with redeemed humanity - the Church, which is also from His side and together with Him is one. Saint Chrysostom, although he points out the great mystery in the marriage union, but the real mystery, and according to it, is in the condescension of the Lord and His combination with the Church. He says: “This is truly a mystery - that a person, having left the one who gave birth to him, who gave birth to him, who raised him, and the one who conceived him, who was sick with him, who gave birth to him in illness - having left those who have benefited him so much, to whom he is accustomed - is combined with the one whom he has never seen before, who has nothing in common with him, and prefers her to everything. Truly it is a sacrament. And the parents are not sad, but, on the contrary, they are sad when this does not happen, and as a sign of joy they do not regret spending money and making expenses. Truly, this is a great sacrament, containing some kind of hidden wisdom.” - But Saint Chrysostom said this after he already indicated in these words the secret of the union of Christ the Lord with the Church. “I say,” says the Apostle, “in Christ,” since He, having left the Father, descended and came to the bride and became one spirit with her (and she with Him). “For cleave unto the Lord; there is one spirit [with the Lord]” (1 Cor. 6:17). Theodoret writes the same: “Christ Himself, leaving the Father above, united with the Church. But he left it behind the concept of incarnation, because, like God, he is not separated from God, since He Himself has an indescribable nature.” This is the secret. - Blessed Jerome clarifies this truth more fully: “Not the entire story about Adam and Eve, written in the book of Genesis, can be conveniently, as some think, attributed to Christ and the Church, but only what is said in the present place, that is: “for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” The first man, Adam, as the first prophet, prophesied this about Christ and about the Church - that our Lord and Savior would leave His Father God and His mother, the heavenly Jerusalem, and would come to earth for the sake of His body - the Church, and form it from His side: for which the Word became flesh. And just as not all sacraments are equal, but one sacrament is greater and another less, he now says: “This mystery is great”; showing at the same time a sign of his humility, he adds: “I speak in Christ and in the Church.” Gregory of Nazianzus, a most eloquent man and much knowledgeable in Scripture, when we discussed this place with him, more than once said: look at the mystery of that chapter (it seems in the book of Genesis), that the Apostle, interpreting it in relation to Christ and the Church, does not claim to explain himself, as the dignity of testimony requires, but said, as it were: I know that this place is full of ineffable mysteries and requires from the interpreter of his divine heart; I, due to the smallness of my meaning, think that it should be understood in relation to Christ and the Church, not because anything is greater than Christ and the Church, but because everything said about Adam and Eve is very difficult to explain in relation to Christ and the Church.” Eph. 5:33. Both of you, one by one, each one loves his wife as [he] loves himself: and let the wife fear [her] husband. It seemed to the apostle that it occurred to him that someone would not abuse his word about the cleaving of believers to the Lord to the point of becoming one with Him - and would not begin to teach that for Christians marital love for wives, and therefore marriage itself, is completely inappropriate. That’s why he stipulates: “both...” However, this does not prevent each of you from loving his wife; Let everyone love his wife as himself, and let the wife fear her husband. We must add: only everything is about the Lord, so as not to allow such love to become an obstacle to clinging to the Lord. Saint Chrysostom says: “It’s as if he said: this allegorical proof does not destroy the need for love.” “Although I accepted those words in a mysterious sense, this does not negate the law literally expressed here, which determines the relationship between husband and wife” (Theophylact). Theodoret and Ecumenius say the same thing. The words: “let a wife fear [her] husband” do not imply fear of a slave, but oblige the wife to honor and respect her husband, as if she were in awe of him. So Blessed Jerome: “Let him fear, that is, let him honor and revere his husband.” In this meaning, the same thing is said here as above: “obey,” so that wives do not go beyond the will of their husbands, but honor his orders and strictly carry them out. Saint Chrysostom says: “The wife is the second principle; This means that she should not demand equality with her husband, since she stands under the head, and he should not arrogantly look at her as a subordinate, for she is his body. If the head begins to neglect the body, then it itself will disappear; but in return for obedience, she (the head is the husband) must bring love: both head and body. But what kind of love, they will say, can there be where there is fear? “That’s where she’ll actually be.” For she who fears, and loves, and who loves, fears as a head, and loves as a member: since the head is a member of the whole body. For this reason, he subjugated her, and exalted her husband over her, so that there would be peace. The apostle showed an image of love, but not an image of fear. - Why is this? - Because he wants love to prevail. If there is it, then everything else will follow, but if there is fear, then not completely. He who loves his wife, even if she is not very obedient, endures everything; but if spouses are not connected by the power of love, then unanimity between them is a difficult matter. Fear in this case does not produce such an effect. That is why the Apostle dwells primarily on what is stronger. And the wife, although she is apparently assigned a worse lot in that fear is prescribed to her, she does not lose anything from this, because her husband is prescribed what is especially important - he is prescribed to love her. “And you, husband, hearing about fear, demand fear befitting a free woman, and not as from a slave: since she is your body.” And if you do the wrong thing, you will disgrace yourself by dishonoring your body. What kind of fear is this? - So that she does not contradict, so that she does not become obedient to you, so that she does not strive for primacy. It is enough to arouse only this kind of fear. If you love as you should, then you will achieve much greater respect for yourself, and you will achieve this not so much through threats, but through love itself. The female sex is very weak; he needs a lot of help, special indulgence. Condescending to her weakness, give her everything, do everything for her and be patient: you need this. Although the wife also has power in the house, she is the second; although she has superiority and is equal in honor to her husband, but for all that the husband has something more, namely, primary care of the house. According to Christ, he received the ability not only to love his wife as she should, but also to improve her life. “Let her be,” he says, “holy and blameless.” If you make her holy and immaculate, then everything will follow. Seek what is Godly, and what is human will follow very easily. Rule your wife, and your house will be prosperous. “Remember Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, the three hundred and eighty household members: how well-appointed their house was, how full of piety it was.” Sarah fulfilled the apostolic commandment and was afraid of her husband (who was called the master). And Abraham loved her so much that he listened to her in everything that she justly desired.” Eph. 6:1. Children, listen to your parents about the Lord: this is righteous. “Just as artists, when depicting bodies, begin with the head, then move on to the neck, and finally to the feet, so does Blessed Paul in his speeches. Having spoken before about husband and wife, now he begins to talk about children, because the husband rules over the wife, and husband and wife rule over the children together. So, listen to what he says: “children, listen to your parents in the Lord” (St. Chrysostom). Obedience is the main responsibility of children in relation to their parents, a natural consequence of the physical and moral dependence in which children are from their parents. It receives a Christian character when, in addition, it is fulfilled “in the Lord,” that is, Jesus Christ, in the spirit of Christ, for the sake of Christ, out of preliminary comprehensive obedience to Christ the Lord, or, as it was said at the beginning, in the fear of the Lord. In a word: “about the Lord” and then it is said that this obedience is pleasing to the Lord, and then it is suggested that if the will of the parents does not agree with the will of the Lord, then the children may not listen to them, so as not to disobey the Lord. Saint Chrysostom says: “Oh the Lord, that is, this is the will of the Lord. “God says he commanded it.” But what to do if the orders were immoral? Although it is very difficult to expect that any father, even the most dishonest, would order his children to do anything immoral, however, even for such a case, the Apostle gives instructions, saying: “about the Lord,” that is, so that by fulfilling the will of your parents you do not offend God. For example, if the father is a Hellenic or a heretic, then you should no longer obey him in everything, because this is not “about the Lord” (that is, obey on the subjects of Hellenism and heresy).” “This is righteous.” The first reason for this commandment and the first motivation for it. And the natural law of justice requires it. What could be fairer than to obey those from whom we received our being, education and direction of life. It is impossible to bring equal retribution for this. May constant obedience be rewarded. In order for this natural work to be sanctified by faith, children must see in their parents representatives of the Creator and Provider, through them expressing His will about them, and in this capacity, obey them and honor them. Saint Chrysostom says: “Notice what a solid foundation for a virtuous life the Apostle lays, and rightly so, in honoring and respecting parents. Having forbidden bad deeds and intending to expound the doctrine of good deeds, he commands, first of all, reverence for parents, since for us, after God, they are the main culprits of our life; therefore, they are the first to have the right to our veneration, and then all other people. If someone is not respectful to their parents, will they ever be so in relation to third parties?!” Eph. 6:2. Honor your father and mother: which is the first commandment in the promise. The second basis and incentive for children to obey parents is taken by the Apostle in the commandment of the law to honor father and mother. Who sincerely respects his parents, how can he decide to disobey them? – And whoever does not show obedience will believe that he honors his parents? Honoring parents is an internal feeling; deeds of obedience to them are the discovery of inner reverence. But since obedience is possible not out of reverence, but either out of fear, or out of some calculations, for example, about inheritance, the Apostle well placed the law of honor as the basis of obedience, so that it could be seen who the true giver of obedience is. “But in what sense is it said: “This is the first commandment”? “The Apostle calls this commandment the first, not in relation to order, but in relation to promise” (St. Chrysostom). Eph. 6:3. May it be good for you, and may you live long on earth. “Here the Apostle does not talk about Christ or other sublime subjects, because the minds to which he addresses his speech are still tender; therefore, the exhortation is short, since children cannot follow a long word; For the same reason, he doesn’t say a word about the Kingdom of God: he’s not at that age to hear about it; but what the infant soul most wants to hear is what it says, namely, that it will live long. If anyone begins to inquire why the Apostle does not speak to the children about the Kingdom of Grace, but offers a commandment from the Law of Moses, we will say that he did this to them because they were still very young, and also because he understood very well that if the husband and wife were faithful to the law that he set out for them, then it would not cost them much effort to subject the children to the same law. When a business gets a good start and has a true and solid foundation, then it goes very easily, successfully and firmly. But to lay a foundation and provide a support—this is where the important difficulty lies” (St. Chrysostom). Eph. 6:4. And fathers, do not irritate your children, but educate them in the discipline and teaching of the Lord. "Fathers". He does not mention mothers, not because they do not have a share in caring for children, but because this work is undivided between father and mother and what is said to one falls on both. Fathers are the same as parents. “Don’t irritate the children.” By the way you act on them, do not bring them to the point where they can become displeased, angry, annoyed, or angry with you. Anger is generally sinful; Anger at parents is even more sinful. Don't lead them into this sin. This happens from excessive severity, from indiscriminate exactingness and some kind of injustice - from which all children sometimes feel more cramped than slaves. Why is it that in the Epistle to the Colossians the encouragement to not irritate children is: “Let them not lose heart” (Col. 3:21). Before Christianity, fathers exercised too much power over their children: this became the custom. To cut off this excess, the Apostle writes this way, so that among Christians what is common among pagans would not be repeated. Having obliged - “not to irritate”, which, one might say, prohibited any action on children that is not in accordance with the spirit of Christianity - obliges to “educate”. The Apostle insists not so much on forcing them to educate, for this is already done everywhere, according to the law of nature, but on educating them as they should. The Apostle defines this in two words: “in punishment and teaching” - παιδεια and νουθεσια. If we take into account the way of upbringing, then the first is instilled with pedagogical rigor, and the second with heartfelt maternal suggestions and convictions. Hence: to educate in severity, with meekness and tenderness. If we take into account the subjects or aspects of education, the first indicates the formation of character, and the second indicates the investment in the mind of sound concepts about everything. The norm for both is the spirit of Christianity, so that both the punishment and the teaching are the Lord’s. So, the Apostle demands from parents that, balancing severity with meekness, they teach them to live like a Christian, and to look at everything with Christian eyes, or to judge everything with a Christian mind. Saint Chrysostom speaks to this place: “He did not say: love them; Nature itself draws them to this, even if they did not want it, and therefore it was unnecessary to lay down a law regarding this subject. But what does he say? - “do not irritate your children,” as many parents do, depriving their children of their inheritance, leaving them without care, treating them cruelly, like slaves. Therefore he says: “Do not provoke your children.” Then, most importantly, he points out how to make them obedient, and says that this depends on the head and boss. Just as he pointed out the reason for the wife’s obedience in the husband, with whom he therefore talks about many things, begging him, among other things, to attract his wife to himself by the power of love, so in the present case he also posits the reason for the children’s obedience when he says: “raise them in the punishment and teaching of the Lord.” Do you see that when there is spiritual good, carnal good will follow? Do you want your son to be obedient? – From childhood, raise him in the discipline and teaching of the Lord. Do not think that listening to the Divine Scriptures is unnecessary for him. There he will hear: “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12), words aimed at your benefit. Do not say: “This hearing of the Scriptures is the work of monks; Should I really make him a monk? There is no need for him to be a monk!” What kind of fear is this in you - are you afraid of something that is full of many benefits? Make him a Christian. For it is very necessary for the laity to pay heed to the teaching contained in Scripture, and especially for children, since at this age they still do not know much. But, not knowing Divine truths, they know, however, something from the works of pagans, studying in them the life of wondrous, according to their concepts, heroes who served the passions and do not represent anything good as an example or imitation. So, your son needs this saving guidance - “the discipline and teaching of the Lord.” Isn’t it reckless to teach children the arts, send them to school, spare nothing for their education, and not take care of raising them “in the discipline and teaching of the Lord”? That is why we ourselves are the first to reap the fruits of such upbringing of our children, seeing them as impudent, intemperate, disobedient, and depraved. Let us not do this and listen to the admonitions of Blessed Paul: let us raise our children “in the discipline and teaching of the Lord,” let us give them an example of piety, let us force them to practice reading the Scriptures from an early age. Oh! I say this all the time; Only I wonder if I’m wasting my words in vain? But despite all this, I will not stop talking about it: this is my duty! How long will we remain carnal people? How long will we crawl on the earth? Everything with us should be secondary in comparison with caring for children and raising them “in the discipline and teaching of the Lord.” He who first of all learns to be wise, through this acquires wealth that surpasses all wealth and the greatest glory. It is not as useful to educate a son by teaching him science and external knowledge through which he will acquire money as it is to teach him the art of despising money. If you want to make him rich, do this. Rich is not the one who cares about acquiring a lot of property and owns a lot, but the one who does not need anything. Instill this in your son, teach him this: this is the greatest wealth. Do not worry about making him known by external learning and giving him glory, but try to teach him to despise the glory of this life; this will make him more famous and famous. It is possible for both rich and poor to do this; this is learned not from secular teachers and not from the aid of science, but from the Divine Scriptures. Do not worry that your son will live here for a long time, but that there he will be worthy of limitless and endless life: give him great things, not small things. Heed the words of the Apostle Paul: “bring them up in the discipline and teaching of the Lord.” Do not try to make him a rhetorician, but teach him wisdom. If he is not a rhetorician, no harm will come from this, and if he lacks wisdom, the most abundant rhetoric will not bring any benefit. Good behavior is needed, not wit, morality, not power of speech, deeds, not words: this brings the Kingdom, this also bestows real benefits. Do not refine your tongue, but purify your soul. I say this not in order to prohibit secular education, but so that we do not become exclusively attached to it.” Eph. 6:5. Rabbi, listen to your lords according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, like Christ. “Of necessity, he supplies the law to slaves. For the body of the Church contains everything – husbands and wives, fathers and children, slaves and masters, rich and poor, rulers and subordinates” (Theodoret). “So, not only the husband, wife and children, but also the servants with their virtues are part of the house and determine its improvement. Therefore, Blessed Paul did not ignore this part of it, but finally proceeds to it, since in terms of merit it occupies the last place. And he talks a lot with them (slaves), and not as with children, but much more sublimely. He does not give them promises here, but points out the consequences: “Knowing,” he says, “that if anyone does any good, he will receive it from the Lord” (Eph. 6:8). He even teaches philosophy. For although they are lower in dignity than children, they have more meaning than them” (St. Chrysostom). Slavery was widely used in the ancient world. Saint Paul, sent not to rebuild civil life, but to transform human morals, takes civil states as they are, and puts into them a new spirit of life in instructions for a course of action consistent with Christianity. The Apostle leaves the external as it was established, and turns to the internal alone, and gives it a new order, so that if transformation of the external is needed, it comes from within, as a result of the free development of spiritual life. Remake the inside; the external, if it is absurd, will disappear by itself. Centuries, however, had to pass until the spirit of paganism was abolished, completely crushed, and the spirit of Christian freedom gave birth to the universal conviction of the incompatibility of slavery with the Christian relations of people and Christian life. It cannot be thought that slavery did not cause any hindrance or delay to the truth of the Gospel and the development of Christian life. No, it was a hindrance, like many other orders of Jewish and pagan life, but Christianity was strong enough to overcome it. The change in the view of slavery can be seen in the fact that the Apostle teaches us to consider masters as masters only “according to the flesh.” Slavery is limited to the external side of slaves. The Lord rules only over their physical strength, but their spirit is not bound, their conscience is free, naturally devoted to the Heavenly Lord Christ. With this free work for Christ the Lord, the Apostle also illuminates the involuntary work of people. “Rabbi,” he says, “listen to the masters [of yours] according to the flesh.” He immediately encouraged the saddened soul, immediately consoled her. Do not grieve, as if he were saying that your lot is lower than others: this is slavery only in name and dominion in the flesh, therefore, dominion is temporary and not lasting. For everything carnal is fleeting” (St. Chrysostom). The Apostle characterizes the obedience of slaves in three ways: “with fear and trembling,” “in simplicity of heart,” and “like Christ.” "With Fear and Trembling". “You see that he does not require the same fear from his wife and from his slaves. There he simply said: “let the wife fear [her] husband,” but here he strengthens his speech and says: “with fear and trembling” (St. Chrysostom). Blessed Jerome explains that if it had only been said: “with fear,” then one could understand this: with respect, reverence, as one can understand the word about a woman, “let her fear.” But when it is added: “and with trembling”; then, it’s true, we must understand here real slavish fear (not word for word). - In the same sense, taking these words, Saint Chrysostom asks: “What are you saying, blessed Paul? He (the slave) is the brother of his master; he received the same benefits as him, of the same nature, and what is most important, he became the brother not only of his master, but of the Son of God Himself, enjoys benefits equal to Him, and you say: “with fear and trembling”? “But that’s why I say so,” answers the Apostle. For if I command the free to submit to one another for the fear of God, as it was said above: “Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:21) If I command a wife to fear her husband, although she has equal honor with him, then does not all this apply more to the slave? There is no dishonor in this, on the contrary, it is high nobility, to be able to humble yourself, behave modestly, yield to your neighbor, for the free served the free with great fear and trembling.” Moreover, when the Apostle says: “Listen with fear and trembling,” then nothing prevents us from seeing here an indication of obligatory fear and trembling, not before the masters, as if they were monsters, but before obedience itself, in order to fulfill it properly. The Apostle inspires: when accepting obedience from your masters, do not accept them carelessly or indifferently, and do not fulfill them haphazardly with absent-mindedness and inattention, but with fear and trembling, lest you sin in any way against the wishes of your masters and turn out to be faulty performers of your duty. Fear and trembling are before the duty of obedience. Blessed Jerome also suggests another thought - the one that the Apostle so commands in the types of moral education. The slaves could not suddenly become perfect in obedience to the will of God. The Apostle introduces the Lord to them in the person of the masters and commands: “Serve them with fear and trembling, as the Lord, and through this learn how the Lord Himself should serve.” “In the simplicity of your heart”: with an undivided mind, but with full conviction that this is how it should be, therefore, bear obedience without hesitation, with a free decision to always be correct in this kind of life, loving the very service of slavery. “He commands that slaves serve their masters properly and be free from evil. He expressed this by saying: “in the simplicity of the heart” (Theodoret). “It is well said: “in the simplicity of the heart,” since one can serve with fear and trembling, but not with a good disposition, but in the worst possible way. There are many who secretly do a lot of evil to their masters. It is this kind of bad behavior that the Apostle tries to eliminate by saying this” (St. Chrysostom). "Like [and] Christ". And the servants, clinging to the Lord, conscientiously accepted the obligation to walk in all manner of good deeds. Having this in his heart, the slave could become perplexed: what kind of good deed can I do when in the flesh, and with all external activities, I do not belong to myself? The Apostle says to him: Serve your master diligently, and this will be serving the Lord. This limits the entire circle of obligatory good deeds for you. Christ the Lord Himself requires this of you. Having placed obedience to the masters in such a close connection with obedience to the Lord, the Apostle raised the impulse to submit to the masters to the beginnings of faith, and gave moral strength to the slaves to bear all the burdens of this service. For after this they could not help but be sure that, while showing obedience to the masters in everything, they did not show it to them alone, but through them to the Lord Himself. What is a true believer not ready to do for the Lord? Eph. 6:6, 7. Not working before your eyes as a people-pleaser, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, serving with prudence as the Lord, and not [as] a man. As soon as the Apostle laid down that by serving masters, slaves serve the Lord, he immediately transferred to the service of slaves all those qualities that should distinguish serving the Lord. The Lord sees the heart. You cannot show him service only outwardly without having it in your heart. Slaves should also have this in mind when serving their masters: not only to work in front of their eyes, but to curse them in their hearts or to plot something evil, but to work from the heart, as Christ should work - to work in the confidence that by doing this they are fulfilling the will of God, and not just for show and not out of man-pleasing. There are two faulty features here: the first is work in front of your eyes, - when in front of your eyes, work is going on properly, as soon as behind your eyes, everything is the opposite: this condemns laziness, “working under the whip”; the second is people-pleasing, when it is not the business that is meant, but just to please: in this case, the matter can be distorted, and one can sin in the nature of one’s business by agreeing to do things that should not be done to please the masters. The Apostle denies all this, obliging us to work - not only from the heart, but also with “prudence” - μετ ευνοιας, with prudence - with that sound view of your work, that you are not working in it for men, but for the Lord. If slaves adopt this good thought, it will correct their internal structure and give them external orderliness in everything, so that their slavery will not be some kind of burden, but free and self-willed service, performed with joy, whole-heartedly, with pleasure. E υνοια – can be translated – and favor. Saint Chrysostom says to this: “Do you see how much the Apostle demands? He inspires complete goodness, for many, as you see, serve their masters with fear and trembling, and the severity of their master prompts them to do this; but show, he says, that you serve as a servant of Christ, and not as a slave of man; Make sure that your service activities are virtuous and not carried out out of necessity. Just as Christ convinces and teaches someone who suffers insults from another to accept the insult as a benefit for himself and to endure it according to his own free will, in the same way the Apostle teaches slaves. Show that you bear slavery voluntarily, and not as a people-pleaser. A man-pleaser is not a servant of Christ, and a servant of Christ is not a man-pleaser. For who, being a servant of God, would want to please people? On the contrary, who, pleasing men, can be a servant of God? “From the heart,” he says, “serving with prudence (with prudence, with good disposition).” This is well said, since one can serve in simplicity and without malice, however, not with all one’s strength, but only by fulfilling one’s duty. Therefore he says: out of zeal, and not out of necessity, out of free will, and not out of compulsion. If you serve in this way, namely: of your own free will, with prudence, from the heart, for the sake of Christ, then you are not a slave. Do you see how dishonor is taken away from your slavery?” Eph. 6:8. Knowing that if anyone does good, he will receive this from the Lord, whether he is a slave or whether he is free. With this, the holy Apostle resolves all the perplexities and questions that might arise among slaves regarding their difficult service. The biggest speech on their part is usually this: you serve, you serve, no attention! – Saint Paul has already said: serve the masters as the Lord, do their will as the will of God, work for them as before the Lord. Now he says: if you are so determined, then the One for Whom you will serve the masters will not forget a single deed of yours, no matter how small it may be, and will not leave it without reward. If you served only the masters and only wanted to distinguish yourself in their eyes, your word would be reasonable; but if through them you have in mind to serve the Lord, then do not hesitate: the Lord will reward everything. – What encouragement should the slaves draw from this word of the Apostle for their worthy slave service?! Just take it to heart. “Slavery and domination are limited to present life; after leaving here there will be a difference no longer between slavery and domination, but between virtue and vice” (Theodoret). And the very slavish service, through the dispositions indicated by the Apostle, is transformed into a field of virtue. Will not every slave say: I will slave willingly and diligently, when slavery does not block the path to reward. Saint Chrysostom also encourages this, saying: “The gentlemen who are indebted to your services, if they do not reward you, then thereby give you a great reward, making God your debtor.” Everything that the Apostle said to slaves is currently applicable to servants who, although they voluntarily enter service, should not take from this a reason for negligence, but rather the strongest motivation to conscientious and diligent service. And they must obey their masters in everything, honor them and respect them, carry out their will as it is given, in simplicity, without hesitation, and do all things as they know how to do them, according to conscience, in the confidence that by doing so, they are fulfilling the will of God and doing what is pleasing to Him - not indulging laziness in anything, but serving as before the face of the Lord, from Whom they will not be deprived of a worthy reward for your good service. Eph. 6:9. And the Lord, therefore, do to them, easing rebuke, knowing that both to you and to you the Lord is in heaven, and He has no blame against Him. How can the Lord “also” do things for the servants? – This cannot concern the affairs themselves: for the job of servants is to serve, and masters tend to order and demand diligence. Therefore, this word correctly defines the spirit of the relationship between masters and servants. They serve you as the Lord and before the Lord, and you give orders in the Lord; They are good for you, and you take care of them; they see the Lord in you, and you see them as brothers; they honor you and fear you, and you do not push them around; They serve you with good will, and you too should be favorable and kind to them. Saint Chrysostom especially exposes this last point - and also entrusts the care of the slaves to the masters, frightening them, lest God condemn them for neglecting them. Blessed Jerome finds from what was said to the slaves that the following suggestions apply to the masters: “in the simplicity of the heart, - doing the will of God, - from the soul, - and with prudence,” - favorably, - but does not explain in detail in what meaning. In general, there is one commandment: you, gentlemen, also treat your servants in a Christian way. The holy Apostle himself especially insists that the masters moderate severity - not exactly abandon it, but relax the punishments, thereby obliging them to treat slaves “with goodness and meekness” (Theodoret), “not to be terrible for them, but to be their fathers” (Jerome). “Do not be, he says, cruel and obstinate” (St. Chrysostom). In order to keep the power of the masters within proper limits, the holy Apostle did not find a better motive than to point to the Lord in heaven, who sees everything and has to reward both the slaves and them without any partiality. He seems to be saying: “As you want to have a Master towards you, be so towards your servant, because God does not know the difference between a slave and a master, He created everyone equally” (Theodoret). “He wanted to arouse fear in the gentlemen too. What? - And here’s what: “With the same measure, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2; Mark 4:24; Luke 6:38), that is, so as not to hear: “the evil servant, he has forgiven you all the debt” (Matthew 18:32)! “And there is no partiality,” it is said, “with Him,” that is, so that no one would think that God would forgive an offense inflicted on a slave because it was inflicted on a slave. External laws, like human laws, still allow differences between classes, but the law of the common Lord does not know any difference, since it benefits everyone in general and endows everyone with the same thing” (St. Chrysostom). C. Spiritual Christian armor (Eph. 6:10–18) Christian life is a constant struggle - a struggle with the sin that lives in us, a struggle with the delights and hostility of the world, a struggle with the devil and his servants. Our hero is Christ the Lord; the other side is controlled by demons. Nothing sinful can happen without the participation of these latter. Everywhere they surround the fighter of Christ and take advantage of every opportunity to do dirty tricks on him. And the flesh attracts, and the world tempts and oppresses, but even here demons attack everywhere. Their interference in our affairs is more extensive than we can imagine. Therefore, Saint Paul considers all spiritual warfare to be warfare with them alone. “He already taught at length how to overcome passions—first anger, then lust; he also taught how Christians should appear in the world. Now arms them against their main enemies. – They usually enter the fight with their faces after the flesh and the world are powerless against a jealous Christian. Eph. 6:10. For the rest, my brethren, do your strength in the Lord and in the power of His strength. "Other things". Now I've said it all; All that remains is to inspire you to fight and arm you. "My brother". “You are not alone, and I am with you.” All the same, as if he said: well, brothers, let’s wait! “Be empowered,” - ενδυναμουσθε, - may mean - and be filled with strength, clothed with strength, - and gather strength, be inspired by courage, dare, go out into battle without timidity. This is the same thing that the Apostle says elsewhere: “Be of good courage, and let your heart be strong” (Ps. 30:25), or, as the Lord Himself encouraged the Apostles: “Be of good cheer, [for] I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). I trust in Him, and the Apostle teaches me to be able, saying: be able. "In the Lord, and in the might of His might." That's where the excitement is! In the Lord and in His strong power, in His almighty power, which contains everything and rules everything. Such is the Lord - and He is our Lord, and we are His. He will not allow His own to be offended. - The Lord is our helper; Let us not be afraid! What will they do to us?! If God is for us, who is for us? Let us be bold and courageous. With such a Leader and Protector, what enemy force can overcome us? - “Be strong in the Lord,” that is, in hope in Him, through His help; says, as it were: do not be afraid, put your hope in God, and He will make everything easier for you” (St. Chrysostom). “Put aside all fear, guarded by the power of God” (Theodoret). – When the Apostle says: “be strong in the Lord,” he commands not to seek help, but to take courage, trusting in ready help. The Lord is already with you and is ready to protect and disperse your enemies. Just don't be timid. Timidity will mean a weakening of trust in the Lord, internal betrayal of Him - as if belittling His strength in the face of enemies. This belittlement is followed by a belittlement of help and protection, and as a result, the strongest attacks from enemies. Whereas for one who completely trusts in the Lord and is devoted to Him, one wave of the Lord scatters all their hordes. Eph. 6:11. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil. To hope - to hope firmly, but do not sit idle. God's help is ready, but it comes not as a result of your inaction, but as a result of your powerless effort. Exhaust all your means, which are also a gift from God, and then, do not doubt, God’s assistance to you will immediately begin, which will make your powerless forces all-conquering. What exactly needs to be done on your part is described by the Apostle below; Here he speaks about this in a general position, under the image of putting on full armor. “Put on your clothes” - do not get dressed every time a battle comes, but - always be dressed, put on your full armor and do not throw it off, for our battle has neither time nor place, but is everywhere and minute by minute. “In all weapons” - πανοπλια - in all weapons - as if it were one multi-layered weapon, so closely knitted in parts that nothing from it can be put aside. Not one, but all weapons must be put on in order to protect yourself from all sides, and together so that, as soon as you make a movement, you immediately fall on any weapon. These weapons are called “God” because they are indicated and determined by God, given by God and powerful by God: God defeats the enemy through us with them. You must arm yourself with all weapons, because if any are missing, then your resistance against the enemy is doubtful. Why does the Apostle say: “In order to be able to become” - προς το δυνασθαι - in order to be able to become. If there is no weapon or one is missing, then it is appropriate not to stand, but to run or surrender. “Stat” - to come out to fight, to stand in a fighting position, - or, since the fighting continues without stopping, to stand in such a position fearlessly, face to face with the enemy, or not only to stand, but also to resist - so that you can not succumb to the enemy in anything. “Against the wiles of the devil.” Intrigues - μεθοδειαι - detours. The Apostle inspires, saying, as it were: the enemy is not strong, he takes advantage only by cunning. And we say: so-and-so beat me. The main trick of the enemy is to present as true in thoughts what is false, in deeds and undertakings to present as good what is bad, in quests to entice with deceptive hopes. He knows how to imagine all this in such a way that the inattentive gets caught in the net and becomes entangled. In this regard, “stati” is inseparable from “listen.” Stand and look in all directions vigilantly. If you don't miss, the enemy won't do anything. Saint Chrysostom says: “He did not say: against battles, against wars; but against intrigues. For our enemy does not simply and openly fight against us, but with deceit. What is deceit? - To be insidious means to seduce, to deceive with cunning: this happens in words, and in deeds, and in struggle - when we happen to deal with deceivers. The enemy never suggests obvious sins, but, in his cunning, arranges it differently, namely: using pretexts, he puts forward a good reason. With this the Apostle encouraged the soldiers and forced them to be sober, urging them to be careful. He does not want to weaken the soldiers who oppose the enemy (the devil), but to stir them up against him. Having spoken about the enemy’s tricks, he teaches attentiveness. If he had pointed out to them the strength of their enemies and stopped there, he would have led them into despondency. On the contrary, both before and after this he shows that it is possible to defeat the enemy, and thereby especially encourages them.” Theodoret also points out some intrigues: The Apostle called the enemy’s tricks “witnesses,” for he often prepares vice under the guise of virtue; in other cases, for example, vanity is mixed with fasting, prayer and care for those in need, and reprehensible arrogance is introduced into chastity.” Blessed Jerome exposes other enemy machinations. “If he doesn’t have time,” he says, to captivate lust, covetousness offers; this does not have time to captivate, it leads to the womb becoming a god. In general, he acts in the same way as skilled military leaders. He notices a person’s weak side, directs all his strength to it and directs it in the thought that, having taken possession of the weak side, he will take the strong ones into his own hands” (abbreviated). Eph. 6:12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, and against the powers [and] against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places. The reason shows why he commands us to always be fully armed and be in constant vigilance and caution. Because, he says, this is necessary, because such are our enemies and such is the war, that this is required by the insidiousness and invisibility of the enemies. “For this is our battle” - παλη - our struggle, battle, fights are not with “blood and flesh”, “not with people subservient to us and equal to us” (Blessed Theophylact). And in the Epistle to the Galatians, when the Apostle said that after his conversion he had not taken flesh and blood, this phrase means people. The Apostle wants to say that our warfare is not the same as it happens between people and people. Here the enemies see each other, they see what one is doing against the other and the latter counters him with a corresponding rebuff, as in fencing. Our enemies are invisible, and so are their machinations. We must, therefore, position ourselves in such a way that no matter what they do, their tricks will have no success in us. This is how it happens, for, although we do not see them, our entire armor is such that even without seeing this we can resist them. It should, however, be noted that those experienced in spiritual warfare come to understand the tricks of the evil one; from his first attacks they guess where he is aiming, and accordingly they counteract him. And Saint Paul said about himself that he does not misunderstand the devices of Satan. Having noticed them, he immediately repulsed them. But this is the property of the perfect, but for the most part we fight with spirits, as we fight in the dark. Blessed Jerome looked differently at blood and flesh in this place. He says that we have a war with flesh and blood, when the flesh lusts against the spirit. The Apostle does not reject it, but makes it clear that behind flesh and blood we must see other forces acting through them and fighting us. For there are spirits of lust, as the prophet Hosea mentions some who were deceived by the spirit of lust (Hos. 4:12); there are spirits of anger, enmity, hatred and all passion. The Apostle wants to teach us that passions in us are not aroused from the nature of the body, not from flesh and blood, but from spirits of evil; why does he say so (abbreviated). Such a thought cannot but be given weight. Because it is absolutely true. And everyone can tangibly verify it by observing the manifestations of passions, when they reach mania, such as: drunkenness, fornication, theft, gluttony. – Shouldn’t we even give this understanding an advantage over the first? “But to the beginning and to the power,” and so on. Despite being invisible and hidden, our enemies are still numerous, and they are all powerful and bureaucratic. The words: principles and powers signify the ranks of unclean spirits. In whatever ranks they fell, they retained them in their fall. Just as there are nine ranks among the pure Angels, so there are also ranks among the unclean ones. The Apostle only indicated two here. So St. Chrysostom: “He called them principalities and authorities in the likeness of how among the heavenly spirits there are Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers.” Theodoret adds: “Evil demons were among the holy ranks, but for their malice they were deprived of this rank. But even to this day they have these names to denounce their corruption.” Our enemies are not only numerous and powerful, but also experts in their field, which is why the Apostle titles them: “the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spirits of evil.” The rulers of the world are not the world created by God and in His omnipotence, but a world that lies in evil and in which there is only the lust of the flesh, the lust of desire and the pride of life, with a sufficient number of people carried away by these lusts and many customs to satisfy them. In this world, people crowd around according to these customs, fueled by lusts and fueling them more and more. From the crush and confusion - no one can make out anything, from what, what, why and how. Darkness covers this entire area and is the immediate reason that this world still stands and has some kind of price. Evil spirits are the holders of this world. They seduce people, and they keep them in delusion. Their power does not belong to them by nature, but by the foolishness of people given over to lust. People betray themselves into slavery to them and are enslaved. Satan accidentally became a prince by choosing sinful people. But as soon as someone refuses to live according to lusts and passions, he immediately leaves the power of the devil. If everyone came to their senses, the power of Satan would completely fall, and demons would cease to be the rulers of the world. But it is so destined that people will sin until the end of the century, and until the end of the century there will be a rule of the world by demons. That is why they are called the rulers of the darkness of this age only. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle called demons world holders not because they held the world, but because they are the real perpetrators of evil deeds. For Scripture usually calls sinful deeds peace. Perhaps by the world he also means evil people, for demons primarily extend their power to them.” Theodoret writes that demons became rulers of the world because people, who lived carelessly, voluntarily loved their slavery (abbreviated). Another title of demons is “spirits of malice”, - πονηριας, - wickedness. Evilness has become so deep within them that it began to constitute their nature: they have become like wickedness itself, and do not expect anything from them except wickedness. Our word is “under heaven”, in Greek it is εν επουρανιοις. Επουρανιος is not under heaven, but above heaven, therefore this word cannot apply to the spirits of evil, for they have been cast out of heaven. It cannot be classified as a spirit due to its grammatical combination. Our interpreters do not attribute it to them, but mean by this spiritual heavenly blessings, believing that the preposition εν stands here instead of υπερ - because - for which they also give examples. The following thought emerges: we are fighting with the spirits of evil because of heavenly blessings. Thus, Saint Chrysostom says: “The struggle takes place εν επουρανιοις, - not because of money, not for glory. Εν επουρανιοις is the same as υπερ επουρανιοις - for the heavenly. Our enemies do not fight with us in order to take advantage of something after victory, but only in order to deprive us of heaven.” So it is with Ecumenius and Theophylact. The usual way of translating and understanding this word: “in the heavenly places,” means that spirits hover between heaven and earth, in the air, and just as the air embraces us everywhere, so the spirits of evil surround us everywhere, and constantly attack us like mosquitoes in a damp place. According to the Apostle's purpose, both are appropriate here. Theodoret seemed to want to combine both thoughts, for he says that the struggle takes place with those in heaven, but because of the heavenly. “The Apostle also points out the benefits of victory in order to make the soldiers more zealous, because, he says, the struggle is with those in heaven, that is, with the heavenly ranks, and the reward for this struggle is the Kingdom of Heaven.” But all this, says the Apostle, is in order to show how necessary it is to always be fully armed, to be vigilant and sober. This is obvious from the invisibility and secrecy of enemies; it is also clear from the fact that they are spirits of evil - wickedness, and from the fact that they are numerous. How can this be seen from the fact that they are the rulers of the darkness of this age, when Christians are taken from under their power? “By the things that are taken away, they irritate their anger and arm them against themselves.” If so, then you need to arm yourself against them. Blessed Theodoret puts forward one general thought in this sense: “The Divine Paul imitates the valiant military leader, who, with the intention that there should be no laziness in his army, describes the courage of his enemies.” Saint Chrysostom attaches his thought about this to the word: because of the heavenly. “Notice what vigilance the enemy’s power arouses in us and what sobriety comes from the fact that we know that real danger lies ahead for our great good, and that we must also care about victory because of the great good, because the enemy is trying to overthrow us from heaven.” Eph. 6:13. For this reason, accept all the weapons of God, so that you will be able to resist on the day of cruelty and everything you have done. "For this sake." It was as if it was not clear why he ordered the front to be clothed in the full armor of God. Now, having shown the secrecy of the enemies, their number and strength, and their ability to fight with us, he says: that’s why! Otherwise, one cannot wage war, and not only hope for success in it. “Take” - αναλαβετε - take, put on yourself, the same as before - put on. May you be able to resist - αντιςηναι and resist - resist and resist - not succumb to the enemy, and remain victorious. “On the day of cruelty” - most directly at the moment of temptation, either external or internal, when it attacks with such force that it puts you in danger of falling, and thereby losing everything. So Theodoret: “Fierce day” calls the day of battle, giving this name - πονηρα - from the devil active on that day. At that time, they were clearly subjected to abuse, being persecuted, tormented and suffering all kinds of death.” But just as there is no time free from temptation, so that the whole life of a person on earth is a temptation, then it is not inappropriate to understand by the fierce day all life in this evil age, full of temptations. So Saint Chrysostom: “A fierce day” the Apostle calls present life, because of the evils that occur in it and require that we be constantly armed. He called it day to inspire. It won’t last long, as he would say, so you can stand cheerfully during battle.” However, from the words of St. Chrysostom it is clear that, calling all life a fierce day, he also names every temptation when he says that even after victory one should not weaken, and this is the same thing as having stood firm on the fierce day, one should not abandon vigilance, but stand, waiting for a new fierce day. So it is with Ecumenius and Theophylact. Apart from all this, nothing prevents us from understanding the fierce day as special decisive moments in our life, such as death and judgment. So Blessed Jerome: “The fierce day means either real life, as before he said: “a redeeming time, for the days are evil,” or the time of death and judgment, when the devil, the enemy and slanderer, will in every possible way try to keep us on his side. So, in order to stand on this day against the devil, who will then act as an accuser, we must take on the whole armor of God, do everything and become full of all virtues. And a third interpretation of these words is given by some who say that the battle with the devil does not end with death, but that when we leave this life, we have a stronger battle with him - an open battle, face to face.” This obviously points to ordeals, which, no matter how shunned our rationality is, no one can escape, as shown by multiple visions of saints, reliably attested. “And all the things he did.” “Having done”, - κατεργασαμενοι, - which means having done everything that depends on us, and having divided, destroyed, destroyed everything. In the first case, there will be a thought: when temptation comes, get into a fighting position and begin to use your weapons - one after another, until you achieve that the enemy leaves. It’s not something that is suggested: go through your weapons, but go through them in order to stand. Therefore, when everything has been sorted out, and the enemy is still standing, it does not mean: throw down your weapons and run or surrender; a: keep switching weapons until you defeat the enemy and stand. In the second - this: when fighting temptations - the attacks of passions - when you see that the enemy has already moved away, do not stop working on yourself, but try to erase from your heart every trace of temptation, so that the peaceful disposition of the heart that was in it before the temptation began is fully restored. The last technique of holy ascetics is especially useful for fighters, for they cut off the repetition of a former temptation, which, if a trace of it is left in the heart, can soon return. “Everything,” he says, “has been done,” and not in such a way as to fulfill one thing and not do another” (St. Chrysostom). And, having done everything like this, “by the way.” When temptation begins, you need to resist it, and when driven away, stand - not with folded arms, but in the same vigor, looking with all your eyes and in all directions, so that the enemy does not creep up again from somewhere. The apostle wants to say by this: do not lay down your arms, continue to stand fully armed. Or he means to show that this is victory when you stand still. Such is our enemy that we cannot kill him; and his goal is not to kill us, but to win us over to his side. Therefore, when we resisted, it means that we defeated the enemy. Saint Chrysostom expounds both thoughts at length. “Everything,” he says, “has been done,” that is, to stand after we have conquered passions, desires, and everything that causes us harm. It is necessary not only to overcome, but also, having overcome, to stand; and it happened that many, having won a victory, immediately fell. And after victory, courage is needed, otherwise what you managed to overthrow can rise again. If we do not stand, what we have overthrown rises. When we stand, it does not rise from falling. While we are awake, the enemy we have defeated will not rise again. Stand strong when the fight is over and you are the winner. It should not weaken even after the victory. In fact, if we are at war; if such militias are formed against us; if they consist of ethereal principles and rulers of the world and spirits of evil, then tell me, perhaps, how can one indulge in bliss? How can you be absent-minded? Is it possible to win without being armed? - Let everyone think about this every day, when anger takes possession of him, when lust overcomes him, when he desires this pampered and disordered life. He who struggles still encounters obstacles; but how happy he is if he doesn’t fall! Victory is more brilliant when there has been struggle. For example, if you are possessed by some evil desire, then you will do a very nice thing if you extinguish it. But, although this could not be done perfectly, we still must fight and always tame ourselves. If we do not fall during this struggle, then we will be victorious. It's not like it is with athletes. There you will not become a winner until you throw someone else to the ground, but here, just don’t be thrown down yourself, and you are a winner; you have already overcome if you have not been knocked over. And indeed! There both fight for victory, and if one falls, the other receives the crown. This is not the case here; here the devil is trying to defeat us. So if we deprive him of what he cares about, we win. He is strengthened not only to cast down, but to cast down with himself; therefore, he is already defeated, since he is already overthrown and is in a state of destruction; he cares about victory not in order to later receive a crown, but with the aim of destroying me. So, I am a winner if I am not overthrown (by the devil), even if I myself did not overthrow him. What is a brilliant victory? - In trampling on the enemy with extreme contempt. The fighter does not know what the end of the battle is, and may still think: if only he himself would not be defeated and wounded! And whoever tramples on his enemy has obviously already won a victory. So, let us trample on the power of the devil, trampling on sins: anger, lust, arrogance and all passions, so that after our departure there it will not turn out that we have abandoned the power that we received from God (that is, to step on the full power of the enemy). Whether anyone has an enemy, whether anyone suffers an insult, whether anyone harbors malice in his heart, let him gather and pour out all this rage and anger on the head of the devil. In this case, anger will be a good deed, indignation will be useful, rancor will be commendable. Have evil in your heart against the devil and never stop enmity with him. Always be an enemy, always angry, always irreconcilable with him. This will make him more peaceful and less dangerous.” Eph. 6:14. Gird up your loins with truth, and wrap yourself in the breastplate of righteousness. “Having organized such an army, awakening the warlike spirit in it and encouraging it, Saint Paul finally arms this army. For there will be no benefit from weapons if the warriors are not first gathered and courage is not aroused in their souls. First, they must be armed from the inside, and then from the outside. If this happens in relation to warriors fighting against external enemies, then even more so it should be in relation to spiritual warriors, who are not at all inclined to arm themselves from the outside, but all their weapons should be from the inside. And the Apostle awakened the warlike spirit in the soldiers he had gathered, inflamed it, gave them courage, put them in good order and is now arming them. But look how he clothes them in the very weapons.” ""Stand yourselves," he says. The first task of the combatants is to be able to stand well: a lot depends on this. That is why the Apostle often talks about what should stand. So, for example, in another place he says: “Stand, watch” (1 Cor. 16:13). And again: “Stand in this way in the Lord” (Phil. 4:1). Or again: “Be sure to stand and be careful that you do not fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) But note that he is not talking about just any kind of standing, but about standing in an orderly manner. Those who are experienced in military matters understand what it means to stand upright. Those who stand upright stand without having fun and without leaning towards anything. So, in reality, those who stand upright cannot maintain an upright position, those who are distracted are distracted. pleasures, is not in an upright position, but in an inclined one, likewise both a money-lover and a voluptuous person. For someone who knows how to stand, standing itself can serve as some kind of support, and everything related to the struggle will seem easy to him” (St. Chrysostom). Who exactly in a spiritual sense can be considered worthwhile? Let us remember that it was said above: “wake up and sleep.” This appeal is to the sleeping sinner. When he awakens, then, having desired the best, he decides to devote his entire life to pleasing God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, having this one need and one focus on that, directing all his strength and concerns. This is the one that is worth it! This only becomes a target for enemy arrows and attacks. Only such a person can be armed, because he is burning with the desire to do everything in order to achieve what is intended. Whoever doesn’t have this, no matter what you say, everything is useless. He will not stretch out his hands and will not move his legs in this sense, because his mind and heart are not occupied with that. To one who has assumed such an upright (straight, vertical) position and has directed all the thoughts of the mind and all the desires of his heart towards God, what does Saint Paul advise first of all to do? - “Gird up your loins with truth.” And the holy Apostle Peter commands Christians to girdle, calling it the girding of the thoughts, and equates it with sobriety (1 Pet. 1:13). The thoughts of a sinner constantly wander and never stand still. This fermentation of thoughts makes him morally powerless and at the same time opens him up to all the attacks and insidiousness of the enemy. Together with the thoughts and images wandering in the head, the enemy also makes his way there, and begins to build his ghostly plans and entice him into passionate and sinful things. The sinner thinks that all this construction is his own, but it is all the enemy’s, and by doing it, he serves the enemy. When he repents and becomes as shown, his first concern should be to stop the fermentation of thoughts, in order to block the enemy from all access to himself, for he approaches through thoughts. The fermentation of thoughts is stopped by sobriety, which is the constant attention of the mind to the movements of thoughts with the goal of not allowing anything unkind. This is the girding of the thoughts of the Holy Apostle Peter. Saint Paul orders them to be girded with the truth. - The most effective remedy! Why does the mind wander in idle thoughts and dreams? - Because it’s empty. It is empty, and yet it is fast-moving by nature and cannot be without occupation. Having nothing useful to do, he indulges in idle thinking - empty fermentation of thoughts and dreams. Fill him with truth, and instead of empty dreams, he will move through contemplation from one truth to another. Then the rapid movement of thoughts will stop, for every truth will hold attention not for one moment, but for a long time, sometimes hours and days, months and years; and the enemy’s access will be stopped, for he is a lie and cannot appear where truth reigns; its rays strike him like lightning. How to fill the mind with truth?! - Review the entire content of Christian teaching - understand each truth, provide it with decent reasons, elevate it to conviction and deepen it into the mind. So truth after truth will be implanted into the mind and penetrate it; finally, everyone will enter there, and the content of the mind will be identified with the content of God-revealed truths. From this he will be filled with sound concepts and judgments about everything that exists and happens, and he will become strong in himself, so that nothing can knock him down. What does the enemy take? – Represents the ghost of truth and goodness and captivates. But whoever knows the truth fully will immediately expose the illusory nature of the lie and thereby repel the attack. One who is thus filled with the truth is strong, just like one who is girded. They then gird themselves to become stronger. And the one who is filled with the truth becomes strong, as if girded. This is the purpose of the Apostolic word. A spiritual warrior is invincible when he is full of truth. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle is not talking about sensual girding; in this place he expresses himself allegorically. What does this mean? – He curbs a man who is absent-minded, devoted to wishes, whose thoughts are directed downward, by means of a belt. When he girdles the loins, he thereby strengthens our soul, because he does not mean bodily loins, but loins in the spiritual sense. And just as the bodily loins serve as the foundation (brace) for the lower and upper parts of the body, so do the spiritual loins. To make it easier for us to run, we gird ourselves: this protects our strength. Let the same, says the Apostle, be observed in relation to the soul, and then in all our affairs we will have more strength. We gird our bodily loins with a belt; and what's here? – The head of our thoughts, that is, the truth. “So, let’s leave behind all lies and act in everything according to the truth.” Will we seek glory, but true glory, or desire life, but true life? If we protect ourselves with this, that is, if we gird ourselves with the truth, then no one will defeat us. – He who is girded with truth, firstly, will never feel exhausted; secondly, even if he is tired, he will receive reinforcement in the same truth. In fact, will poverty make him suffer? - Not at all. The thought of true wealth will calm him down, and poverty will remind him of true poverty - spiritual. Wouldn't slavery seem hard to him? - Not at all. For he knows true slavery. - Disease? - And she doesn’t. – To be girded means to have a waking soul. To stand courageously, you need to girdle yourself. Let us also gird ourselves (like the Israelites before leaving Egypt, who ate the Passover with their girds on). For we also want to go out, and then we will have to experience many difficulties. When we pass through this sinful region, the devil immediately appears, begins to cheat, uses all measures to ensure that people who got rid of Egypt (sin and passions), crossed the Red Sea (in tears of repentance), were freed from demons and innumerable troubles - to take and destroy. But let us not be discouraged. And we have a pillar of fire. This is the grace of the Spirit. Our exodus is not led by Moses, but by Jesus. “Let us walk with our belts in order to defeat our enemies.” “Clad in the armor of truth.” Warriors put on armor - multi-component armor. The enemy's blow, falling on her, does not reach the body and does not cause wounds. This is a multi-use weapon! The spiritual warrior also needs to be clothed with them. What's the armor here? - Is it true. The truth here is righteousness, every good and holy disposition of the heart. To see how the totality of such arrangements constitutes armor that repels blows, let us recall how enemy temptations work. The swing of the enemy's sword is the application of a thought, in the hope that sympathy will respond to him in his heart, on the basis of which he will then construct a strong temptation. For example, the person who insulted appears: this is an enemy swing of the sword. When this is responded to in the heart by a feeling of hostility towards the offender, this means that the sword has passed to the body of the soul and wounded it. Then the enemy jumps up to the soul and raises in it a whole storm of enmity and vindictiveness. But when there is a constant disposition in the heart to forgive offenses and always keep oneself in quiet meekness and peace with everyone, then no matter how hard the enemy tries to imagine in the soul the faces that offended, there will be no echo in the heart for them, and therefore, the enemy will have nothing to drag his temptation into. The blow of his sword will bounce off the heart, like from a warrior clad in armor. So imagine that all good dispositions are placed in the heart, are loved by it and constitute the object of its treasure and treasure, like treasures: then no matter what tricks the enemy uses to plant stimulating thoughts in the soul, there will be no benefit to him from this, because there will be no trace of them left in the soul. Thoughts, with all their girding with sobriety, attention and vigilance, can slip through, which is why the Apostle was not content with just girding, but ordered to put on armor - to implant all the holy dispositions in the heart, so that even though thoughts somehow sneak in, no evil influence from them occurs in the heart. This spiritual armor, multi-component spiritual armor, was often depicted by Saint Paul in his epistles. Thus, in his letter to the Colossians, he writes: “Put on... the bowels of kindness, kindness, lowliness, meekness and long-suffering... forgiving... over all... [acquire] love... and let the peace of God rest in your hearts” (Col. 3:12-15). Likewise, the Holy Apostle Peter puts on the following spiritual armor: “Having applied all your diligence, add virtue to your faith, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). And in general, whoever is clothed in the armor of righteousness, he only thinks about this, “as much is true, as much is honorable, as much as is righteous, as much as is pure, as much as is lovely, as much as is worthy of praise, as much as there is virtue and as much praise as there is” (Phil. 4:8). - Whoever is so protected, what kind of enemy blow can hurt him?! Such good dispositions are all embedded in our nature, as Saint Macarius teaches, in creation itself, but the incoming passions darkened them and covered them up. You just need to cleanse them, throwing off the shameful cover that covers them. This is accomplished already in the first determination to please God by loving every virtue. Although they are not yet implanted, the desire for them replaces the place of introduction, and although with pain, it still repels the blow every time and presents the warrior as undefeated. In this sense, Saint Chrysostom speaks about this: “As armor protects us from defeat, so truth saves us.” Here he calls every virtue “truth.” As if it were said: “By introducing righteous intentions and enterprises into your heart.” About such people Christ says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). “He who has protected his heart with truth is as strong as the armor itself.” – About those in whose hearts all good dispositions are already truly implanted, Saint Chrysostom says below: “The righteous walks like a lion with confidence” (Proverbs 28:1). He who is dressed in such armor has nothing to fear from the enemy hordes. On the contrary, he can boldly go into the very midst of the enemy.” Eph. 6:15. And he put shoes on his nose in preparation for the gospel of peace. “The expression is not entirely clear,” notes Saint Chrysostom. If Saint Paul wrote instructions to preachers of the Gospel, then these words would be understandable by themselves. But since he writes rules of warfare that are common to all Christians, but the gospel of the Gospel cannot be made a duty common to all, then it should not be understood here. And Saint Chrysostom does not insist on this, he puts it forward only as an assumption: “He means here the Apostle or readiness for the gospel.” Or, that is, maybe. – One cannot understand here the virtues of peacefulness, as it were: be ready and always zealous to maintain peace with everyone, for peacefulness already lies in the armor of truth. One could understand the word peace not as an indication of a special virtue, but as a designation of the pacifying quality of the Gospel, and therefore already contained in the word of the Gospel, so that this one word - that is, the Gospel - would be enough to express a thought - one could understand here the readiness to live according to the Gospel. Saint Chrysostom and our other interpreters dwell on this thought more. So Saint Chrysostom says: “The preparation of the gospel means the best way of life.” What is this best way of life, he says below: “Let us behave worthy of the Gospel, let us act in such a way that our entire life and deeds are pure throughout our entire earthly career.” “But firm determination for such a life, readiness, already lies in the suggestion: stand, and constitutes an essential feature of standing. The private virtues in which this readiness is manifested are already contained in the armor of truth. – We have to either leave undecided what exactly Saint Paul means here, or come up with some other assumption. We decide on the latter and take as a guide the word of St. Chrysostom, who says: “Or,” if this explanation, that is, the understanding here of readiness for the gospel, is incorrect, “(the Apostle) wants to say that they (the Ephesians) prepare for the exodus.” - The memory of the exodus, or death, with the careful preparation for it of all ascetics - tireless fighters against the enemies of our salvation - is considered the most powerful means of repelling enemy arrows. Isn’t she definitely and naturally here? You just need to find out all the manifestations of spiritual life that touch this memory. – The memory of death is not bare memory. It contains the transmigration of the heart from this life to another. They remember death not only to frighten themselves, but so as not to become attached to anything temporary, because, no matter how great it is, today or tomorrow it must be abandoned. The heart, not attached to anything here, has thrown away all earthly tastes, and finds taste only in the unearthly and thereby delights. He who has such a heart lives here with his body, and with his heart in heaven, in another life. But such a mood is the essence of the Gospel. For the Lord says that His Kingdom is within us, that it is not of this world. He who is in the heart is inside, and he who lives in another world with his heart is no longer of this world. Is he not in the Kingdom, which the Savior indicated and about which the Gospel preaches? Let's take a slightly different train of thought. To those who decide to follow the Lord, what does He command first? - “Let them deny themselves” (Mark 8:34). In the course of speech, this word means: to love the way of the Lord and decide to remain faithful to him until the position of the stomach. It requires readiness for all kinds of sacrifices, all kinds of hardships and suffering, and even death. Holy ascetics often hear a testament: do you want to successfully follow the path of the Lord? - Die first. Let us put all these thoughts together and say: such is the spirit of life according to the Gospel that it requires the death of everything earthly and the transference of the heart to another life, with readiness for all kinds of hardships and even death. Whoever has set himself up in this way has prepared himself for life according to the Gospel; he has fulfilled what the Apostle inspires, commanding him to shod his feet in the readiness required by the Gospel. He who is like this is beyond the reach of the enemy's arrows. -What arrow will reach that heart that is in the sky? Or what sensitive wound can be inflicted on one who has died - and keeps himself in immovable death? The very structure of his speech forces us to dwell on this understanding of the Apostle’s words. Having girded the spiritual warrior with truth, he transformed his mind; having clothed him in the armor of truth, he transformed his will. It is expected that he will speak about the transformation of the heart. The mood we have indicated is its actual transformation and, together with the first two, is the most powerful means of repelling the enemy. But that all these three tools must be interpreted so that the concepts embedded in them are in correspondence (there are coordinates), this is required by the image of the expression: - “girded, - shod, - shod.” Let's apply the indicated heart mood to the shoes. Those who are barefoot or poorly shod step timidly, fearing pain from the unevenness of the path. And he who is well shod, walks boldly on bumpy, flinty, and thorn-strewn paths. This is the one who died to everything on earth and lives in heaven with his heart, ready for hardship and death. He walks boldly, fearing nothing, because he has already prepared for everything, and nothing can be thought of that he is not ready for. And whoever still lives on earth and has earthly tastes, interests and hopes, constantly groans and screams as if he were stepping on thorns. Eph. 6:16. Having accepted the shield of faith over everyone, in it you will be able to extinguish all the arrows of the evil one. A new series of spiritual weapons follows - the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the spiritual sword. And judging by the turn of phrase, they should be interpreted so that the concepts they present are in correspondence (there are also coordinates) with each other. And not only this, but also in a certain relationship with the three previous ones. It can be assumed that the shield of faith has a relationship with the boots of the feet in the said readiness, the helmet of salvation - with putting on the armor of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit - the word of God - with the girding of truth. They go in ascending order. If the first row of weapons all indicates what should be from us, then the second will indicate what is from God and the order of salvation established by Him. This is how we will conduct the interpretation. “Above all” - on top of all these three place a new row of weapons, on top of each - a special one. First, “take up the shield of faith.” “By faith here the Apostle does not mean the confession of the truths of faith (knowledge of dogmas), but that which undoubtedly believes in the future as in the present, can perform signs and remove mountains” (Theophylact). “Let you have faith instead of a shield, because it shows you the almighty God, it reveals rewards for warfare, proclamation as victors and crowns for valor” (Theodoret). It can be defined this way: a child’s confidence in God, so closely uniting with Him that it does not separate itself from Him and Him from itself. That is why it is omnipotent, because God Himself is active in it, Who gives it. Saint Chrysostom speaks of such faith: “Very rightly the Apostle calls faith a shield. Just as a shield covers the whole body, becoming like a wall, so faith protects us in the same way. For everything is inferior to her. Nothing can break this shield. Listen to what Christ the Lord says to His disciples: “If you have faith like the grain of a mountain, you say to this mountain: Depart from here, and it will pass away” (Matthew 17:20). To better understand what kind of faith this is, let’s make a few extracts about it from Saint Isaac the Syrian. “By faith we do not mean the basis of a confession common to all, but this mental power, which with the light of the mind strengthens the heart and with the testimony of conscience arouses in the soul great hope in God, so that it does not worry about itself, but carelessly casts its care in everything on God” (Homily 44). “The soul, having once given itself over to God with faith and having experienced His assistance through repeated experience, no longer cares about itself, but is bound by amazement and silence... Whoever follows such faith soon becomes free and self-powerful, and as the son of God he uses everything autocratically. He who loves this faith, like God, disposes of all created nature... Many, by faith, entered the flame, harnessed the burning power of the fire and walked unharmed in the middle of it, and walked along the ridge of the sea as if on dry land... Neither earth nor heaven can contain the treasures of faith. He whose heart is strengthened by faith never loses anything. And when he has nothing, he has everything by faith (2 Cor. 6:10), as it is written: “Everything you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22); and again: “The Lord is near.” Do not worry about anything” (Phil. 4:5, 6). “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23), because for God nothing is impossible. What indescribable wealth! (Word 25). “Faith says: for me every deed is sufficed by the One to whom I once devoted my soul. I'm not here; He knows it. Whoever is such, grace will follow him and reveal to him Its power in various aids, first in this obvious, concerning the body, and then in the consideration of the hidden, it reveals to him the intricacy of thoughts and the charm of them, putting to shame in his eyes all the wickedness of the demons” (Homily 49). Saint Chrysostom says that such faith commands demons. That's what a protective shield she is! It is difficult for us to accommodate such judgments about faith. So she is far from us, or we are from her. We can, however, guess that it is like this from the co-dissolution of consciousness with the Lord, with the Holy Church and with all the saints. She feels within herself that she is not alone, but that the Lord is with her, the Angels and saints of God are with her. That is why he feels as strong as the Church is strong and the Lord is powerful. “By my God,” he says, “I will cross the wall... Even if I walk through the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me... If God is for us, who can be against us?!” (2 Sam. 22:30; Ps. 22:4; Rom. 8:31). And we cannot help but understand that such faith cannot be filled into oneself by thinking about it or desiring it. It is the fruit of the fact that the Lord really accepts the soul into His right hand, really fills it with His power, really grafts it alive into the living members of His living body. The strength of the Lord, the head of the Church, and the strength of the entire body of His Church is reflected in it. She is strong too. This is the true shield! “Fire arrows” are internal and external temptations, strong and decisive, as if the last efforts of the enemy, where he combines all his malice. They cannot be precisely defined; because they change according to the person, according to his circumstances. For one - one thing, and for another - another is like a kindled arrow. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle called both temptations (external) and frantic desires the arrows of the evil one, and with the word: “kindled” - he meant their property. There are many thoughts that trouble the soul, many doubts and insoluble questions, but true faith gives a calming answer to everything. There are many suggestions with which the devil, inflaming the soul, plunges it into various kinds of bewilderment. For example, they say: is there a resurrection? What if there is a trial? Is there retribution? - Just have the shield of faith, and you will quench the arrows of the devil with it. Has any violent desire arisen in you? Are evil thoughts burning inside you? “Show the enemy faith in future blessings, and he will never appear again, and what’s more, he will perish.” “All,” he says, “are arrows,” and not in such a way as to extinguish some and not others. Do you see how many arrows the righteous once extinguished? Thoughts are at war within us - let us send faith forward. We are overwhelmed by frantic wishes - let's call on faith to help. We are in difficult circumstances and misfortune - let us seek consolation in faith. Faith is what protects every weapon. If we lose it, then the weapon (all kinds) will immediately be crushed. “Over all,” it is said, “we will accept the shield of faith.” “Over all”: over what exactly? - And over the truth, and over righteousness, and over the preparation of the gospel. This means they need faith.” This shield of faith is in direct correlation with the previous shoeing of feet - or readiness for anything, with renunciation of everything. That readiness paves the way for the perception of this faith, and this faith imprints that readiness. Eph. 6:17. And receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. He will put a helmet on his head, in the letter to Thessalonians it is interpreted: to receive “the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). If the same interpretation is applied to the present place, then the helmet of salvation will be the same as the previous one - the shield of faith. Saint Chrysostom understands it this way. He says: “And receive the helmet of salvation,” that is, you can achieve final security and avoid all harm except through faith. Just as a helmet protects the head from all blows and wounds, because it covers it from all sides, so faith, in addition to serving instead of a shield, also replaces the helmet of salvation.” But if, as one cannot but agree, each of the weapons proposed by the Apostle is a special weapon, then by the helmet of salvation we must understand something else from the shield of faith. And Saint Chrysostom himself was not satisfied with the previous interpretation, but proposed a new one. He takes the head of the soul and determines a helmet for it. The head of the soul is the mind. The bodily head is covered by a helmet, and the mind is covered by the spiritual head - Divine contemplations, which are entered into after cleansing from passions, or after extinguishing all the fiery arrows of the evil one. Here are his words: “When the arrows of the evil one (evil thoughts) are extinguished, then in their place we will have thoughts that will guard the sovereign (mind) in us and will not allow it to suffer from any ailment. For when you extinguish some nasty thoughts, then in their place others will certainly arise in us, which save and inspire hope. And like a helmet on a head, so they will cover the sovereignty within us.” Ecumenius and Theophylact repeat the same thing. In the rules of St. Basil the Great, against each passion, Divine contemplation is prescribed as the most powerful means, that is, the memory or consciousness of Divine omnipresence, and thinking about Divine properties and actions, and especially about the arrangement of our salvation, which can all be called saving God-thought. It envelops the entire soul with light, which the devil cannot look at and see the soul in order to strike it. But let's look at all the expressions of the Apostle. When he says: gird up your loins with truth, we mean: the girdle is truth. When he says: put on the armor of truth, we mean: the armor is truth. When he says: put on your shoes, we mean: shoes - readiness for all kinds of sacrifices and death itself. When he says: take up the shield of faith, we mean: the shield is faith. Approaching after all this the words: “receive the helmet of salvation,” it seems that we should also understand, in a similar way to the understanding of the previous expressions: a helmet is salvation. It remains only to express more clearly what salvation is. Salvation, of course, is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It consists in combination with Him, as He Himself said: be in Me and I in you. Otherwise nothing will come of you. “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Union with the Lord is accomplished through the sacraments. The first grafting of Him into us and us into Him takes place in the sacrament of baptism. This combination is maintained and deepened through the sacraments of repentance and communion. The essence of communion is this: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Let us put these truths in our place, and we will receive: the helmet is salvation, that is, union with the Lord Savior in the sacraments, and precisely through frequent confession and communion. Whoever does this cannot help but come to the consciousness that he stands under the Lord - the Head, Who covers him more firmly and safely than a helmet covers his head. It was said ahead that the shield of faith is the power that comes from the combination with the Lord and the holy Church - the Angels and saints. Now it turns out that the necessary means and condition for this combination and its deepening is the acceptance of the Holy Mysteries. And this means salvation, in the word of the Apostle: the helmet of salvation. That is why the Apostle did not say, as usual: σωτηριας, but: σωτηριου - saving. What is our saving grace? – There is nothing more saving than the sacraments! By accepting the word of the Apostle in this sense, we will receive a special, powerful weapon against our enemies. It is in action for all fighters. Isn’t this what blessed Theodoret meant?! For he writes: “And take the helmet of salvation.” The Lord Christ himself, says the Apostle, will cover your head, and, as if with some kind of helmet, will protect you with salvation, so as not to accept the blows inflicted by your enemies.” In this understanding, the helmet of salvation will stand in relation to the armor of truth, by which is meant the entire totality of virtues. Each virtue has one inscription: “Let this be wisdom in you, even in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). To whom is this more applicable than to the one who is more deeply united with the Lord through the sacraments, receiving through them special grace to do all good. “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Apostle himself explains what the spiritual sword is, saying that it is the word of God, that is, the revealed word of God. How one can defeat an enemy with this word, the Lord Himself showed when, tempted in the desert, he cut through all the intricacies of the devil with the sword of the words of God. To receive such a sword means to know the Divine sayings by heart and, at appropriate times, to wear them out from the heart, in defiance of the devil’s suggestions. The condition for the effectiveness of such a weapon is not only faith and love for the word of God, but also the disposition of life according to it. since such a state is brought about by the grace of God, then the one who pronounces the beloved and deeded word wears out in him the grace-filled power that scorches the enemy. Experienced fighters against the devil - ascetics - say that if in the hour of temptation you begin to read psalms, and especially those that say something related to temptation, then it will immediately disappear, just as smoke disappears from a blow of the wind. Others say: collect and keep ready in your memory the sayings of Scripture against any passion, and when you happen to be tempted, remember and read aloud, if possible, these sayings, and the temptation will go away. Saint Chrysostom says to this: “We need to take not just a shield and a helmet, but also a spiritual sword, in order not only to protect ourselves from the arrows thrown at us by the devil, but to defeat him himself. Indeed, wielding this sword, the soul, while still protected from flaming arrows, can stand against the enemy with complete courage and not fear for its success; She will be able, having torn the enemy’s armor, kill the dragon and cut off his head. And Paul himself, with the same sword, scattered and captured the devices of the devil. Here he calls the word of God the commandment, or teaching that Jesus Christ bequeathed to the Apostles and which they preached everywhere, performing miracles in His name. Let us observe one thing: how to preserve the commandments of God in everything. For their fulfillment will lead us to the fact that in this way we will overthrow and kill the devil - this cunning serpent.” In this understanding, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, will stand in accordance with the girdle of truth, providing an abundant source from which to draw the truth. So these new three weapons became parallel with the previous ones, that is, union with the Lord in the Church, which is the same as belonging to the Orthodox Church - the acceptance of the sacraments and the word of God. Everyone has all this at hand and can use the power of it all to overcome the enemy’s downfalls. We cannot ignore the special understanding of the spiritual sword expressed by Blessed Theodoret. He says that the Apostle called the “sword of the Spirit” (τοθ πνευματος - Spirit) the effectiveness of the Spirit, by which a spiritual person rebukes the devil and puts him to flight. “The thought is that a spiritual person, in whom the grace of the Spirit has begun to clearly act, after the purification of the passions, receives special power against demons. Why does he say to them: in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you - go out and do not enter anyone - and the demons flee. – This is the effectiveness of the Spirit. The fire of the Spirit burns them. Perfect Christians have always possessed and still possess such power.” “Isn’t that what the Apostle meant?” This idea, by the way, is also cited by Ekumenius and Theophylact. Eph. 6:18. Praying with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit, and in this time vigilant with all patience and prayer for all the saints. Saint Paul concludes the previous two series of spiritual weapons with prayer. This last weapon is grammatically combined with the first three: there - with girded loins, clad in armor, with shoes on his nose, and here - praying. But, in essence, it applies no less to the last three. She accompanies them all and gives them all power - Divine. In another place St. Paul said that the weapons of our warfare are powerful in God. This power is brought down into them from God through prayer. Saint Chrysostom presents the matter this way. He has clothed the warriors, he says, and now brings them to the king with a request for help. “Notice the wisdom of blessed Paul. There he armed the Ephesians, teaching them all precautions. And here, in conclusion of everything, he teaches how to turn to the king and ask him to send them his help. For, having said: “Pray with all prayer and supplication,” he indicated that if in any matter, then most of all in this matter they need God’s help. He seemed to say this: you will achieve this, and you can do everything only in this case, if you begin to pray.” Pointing out the need for prayer, the Apostle immediately points out what prayer must be like in order to be heard. First, pray, he says, with every kind of prayer and supplication, that is, with all diligence, with heart disease, with ardent striving for God. Saint Chrysostom points out an example of such prayer in Anna, the mother of Samuel. “She shed a lot of tears,” she says. Let's be ashamed of such a woman! She prayed for the gift of a son and cried, but we ask for the Kingdom of Heaven - and we do it with some carelessness! - “And she stood, it is said, before the Lord and prayed: Lord God of hosts” (1 Samuel 1:11). But the tears flowed before she could say anything. With them she hoped to bend the mercy of God to herself. Where there are tears, there is complete contrition, and where there is contrition, there is a lot of wisdom and prudence. - Then look at the reverence in the fact that “her mouth moved, but her voice was not heard” (Kings 1:13). With such a disposition, a person who sincerely desires to receive what he asks approaches God. Laziness, inattention, absent-mindedness, carelessness, and carelessness have no place in him.” The second is “pray,” he says, “at all times.” By this he commands persistence and vigilance in prayer. Prayer should not be an activity for a certain time, but an everlasting state of mind. “See, do not limit yourself to one certain time of the day. Hear what he says! - At all times, begin to pray, as he said in another place: “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Have you heard about the widow, how she defeated the judge, thanks to her persistence? Haven’t you heard how one friend prayed hard at midnight and begged his friend? Didn’t you also hear about the Canaanite woman, how she, with her persistent request, aroused her participation in the Lord? “These people received what they wanted, and each one because he was persistent in his request” (St. Chrysostom). Third, “pray,” he says, “with the spirit,” that is, prayer should not only be external, but also internal, performed with the mind in the heart. This is the essence of prayer, which is the mind and heart’s offering of the mind and heart to God. The Holy Fathers distinguish mental-heart prayer from spiritual prayer. The first is created by the conscious initiative of the person praying, and the second is found, and although it is recognized, it moves itself without the efforts of the person praying. This prayer is spiritually driven. The latter cannot be done. to prescribe, for it is not in our power. It can be desired, sought, and gratefully accepted, and not performed whenever you want. However, among purified people, prayer is mostly spiritually moving. We must therefore believe that the Apostle prescribes mental-heart prayer when he says: pray with the spirit. You can add: pray mentally-heartily, with the desire to achieve spiritually moving prayer. God is omnipresent. By attracting and reflecting the Divine ray from itself, it disperses enemies. One can probably assume that the soul in such a state is inaccessible to demons. - This is the only way to pray at any time and in any place. Fourth - “and to this day we remain vigilant with all patience.” This commands the difficulty of prayer, or overexerting oneself in prayer. Experiences in hearing prayers, whether popular or private, show that Christians who hoped to obtain good things through prayer did not approach prayer lightly or as an easy task, but prescribed fasting and vigils, long prayers and numerous genuflections. Such painful work in prayer attracted God's immediate help. This kind of excess in prayer is what Saint Paul prescribes here. “For this reason,” that is, for this very purpose, in order to receive help from above, watch in prayer with patience. Patience in Greek is meant by a word that indicates patient persistence in work, dedication to the same task, or perseverance. - Theodoret writes: “The Divine Paul commands us to watch and pray unceasingly, and not to weaken our bodily labor, but to remain in it with great patience.” - How, therefore, in accordance with the Apostolic commandment, long prayer services are conducted in our Holy Church! – Just as we are always surrounded by enemies, and therefore always have a need for prayer that is quickly heard, we also need laborious prayer rites. This is what we have. The ascetic fathers often remember this overexertion in prayer. They have such reviews - that a prayer in which no one gets sick in body and spirit is not a good prayer. Or: let preferential treatment be banished from your prayer rules. Work in prayer is an external matter; but it is not introduced to replace internal prayer. Likewise, this one was not introduced so that the matter of external prayer could be abolished. Both are needed. Saint Chrysostom says: “And in this true vigil,” it is said. Whatever (Saint Paul) means here—whether all-night vigils or sobriety of the soul—I accept both.” Then Saint Chrysostom points out an example of prayerful work again in the Canaanite woman, the widow, and others, showing how much labor they put in until they achieved what they wanted. "And in prayer for all the saints". This may be the fifth quality of prayer required for it to be heard. The Apostle writes to the whole Church and commands it to pray not for itself only, but also for all the saints, - for every other Church of believers, - for the welfare of God's holy churches; He commands, that is, that no one should be special in prayer, whether one prays alone, or a whole assembly of believers, but since we all have the same spiritual needs and the enemies who fight against us are the same, so that when praying, we should always pray for everyone. What came out of this? – If the Ephesians pray for everyone, then everyone prays for them. And through this their prayer becomes strong, like the prayer of the entire body of the Church. Let us call this the community of prayer, placing it in the condition of rapid hearing of prayer. You might be interested in: