157. Слово по освящении храма Святителя Николая, в Перервенском монастыре

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections) 607 I will fill the church of this glory, says the Lord Almighty. The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord Almighty. The last glory of this church will be greater than the first, says the Lord Almighty” (Hag. 2:8–10). This was the sermon of the Prophet Haggai at the restoration of the temple of Jerusalem. It is known that this church, magnificently created by Solomon, destroyed by the Babylonians, was later restored by the Jews returning from captivity in Babylon, under the command of Jesus and Zerubbabel, with meager means and many obstacles. To encourage the restorers of the church in their feat and as a reward for it, the Prophet, in the name of God, announced to them the unexpected news that this church would not only have glory like the former Solomon’s, but even greater glory than the former Solomon’s. The church in which we are now located had a kind and degree of its former glory, or, more modestly, dignity, memorability. We respectfully remember that its creator was His Holiness Patriarch Adrian. Not a hostile hand, but time, which sooner or later becomes hostile to everything that is born and remains under the law of time, was the reason that he demanded renewal: and this, by the goodness of God, was accomplished within his power. From respectful recollection of the past, from an instantaneous glance at the present, which is itself instantaneous, thought almost involuntarily extends into the future: because the work of renewal is not undertaken only for the present moment. Well? Do we dare to hope that here too the Lord Almighty will say: “I will fill the church of this glory”? Not only can we hope, but we must also believe that the Lord has already fulfilled here his promise to fill His church with His invisible glory, that, heeding the prayers of the Church, and accepting the intercession of the good-victorious Martyrs and Saints who are present to us in their holy relics, He entered with His grace-filled presence into this sanctuary, and established the residence of His Shrine here. Will “the last glory of this church be greater than the first”? What person can foresee and predict this if the Lord Almighty does not show and command? Wouldn’t it be too bold to even wish for this? In humility of spirit and recognition of our unworthiness, let us lift up to the Lord Almighty less daring and more moderate desires, may His grace, ancient and new, remain persistently in this church, may the glory of God be proclaimed here, the light of the Word of God, living and active, may it illuminate the hearts, may the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit cover them with peace, may more than one fire be kindled here lamps, but also the fire of Divine desire, may the prayers of the faithful be corrected, like incense before God, and may every gift perfect from above be brought down from the Father of lights, with the intercession of the most blessed Mother of God, and St. Nicholas, and St. Sergius, called to this church and this monastery, by the piety and faith of our predecessors. But perhaps we were hasty in our opinion about the first and last glory of the church, without first understanding what the first and last glory of the church is. Let us return to the preaching of the Prophet, and to the temple of Jerusalem, which can be looked at in part as an example of churches and their destinies: since it was created by Solomon in the image of the tabernacle of Moses, and this one in the image shown on the mountain by God. Fans of the Temple of Jerusalem believed the glory of the church, it seems, most in its splendor. The Prophet applies to this popular concept when he says to the Jews: “Who is of you who saw this church in its former glory? And how do you see him now, as if he did not exist before you?” (Hag.2:4) This is said because the church that they built was small and meager in comparison with the previous one that was destroyed. But further, when the Prophet proclaims the prophetically foreseen and understood glory of the church, he no longer adheres to the popular opinion, but corrects it and elevates it. To this, no doubt, the following words tend: “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord Almighty” (Hag. 2:9). That is: do not think that the church is glorious only when it is filled with silver and gold, and on the contrary, it is unglorious when it is meager. There is not much difference in this for God, who possesses not only the silver and gold of the church, but the silver and gold of the whole world. He enriches His church when He pleases, and without visible splendor He can give it a glory that is beyond all splendor. But what, according to the best understanding, was the glory of the Jerusalem Temple, which the Prophet calls the first? The answer to this can be found in the story of the consecration of this church under Solomon. “And it came to pass,” the book of Kings narrates, “when the priests came out from the Sanctuary, and the clouds filled the church of the Lord. And I can't. The priests should serve on behalf of the cloud, for the church will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10–11). It is obvious that here the “glory of the Lord” refers to the wonderful “cloud” that overshadowed and filled the church, and was a visible sign of the invisible, gracious presence of God. Another question follows: what does it mean that “the last glory is greater than the first”, proclaimed by the Prophet to the Jerusalem Temple? – The question is not as easy to resolve as the first, even difficult to resolve the first. If the first glory of the temple of Jerusalem, or the most important part of it, was a wonderful cloud, signifying the presence of God; but this miraculous sign is not visible in the second temple of Jerusalem, erected after the captivity of Babylon: then where is the “greater glory of the last than the first”? It seems that there is not even glory here equal to the first. Let us also remember that in the first temple of Jerusalem there was an ark of the covenant with the tablets inscribed by God, miraculous manna and Aaron’s rod were kept, miraculously vegetated: all this disappeared with the destruction of the first church, and did not appear in the second. Where is the “greater glory than the last”? Is it still ahead? But the temple, to which the Prophet Haggai pointed when he spoke in the name of God: “I will fill the temple of this glory,” was long ago destroyed by the pagans, worse than the first. Where is his last glory, greater than the first? - This is an unsolvable riddle for the unbelieving Jew. You, Christians, needed to see its difficulty in order to see the more clearly the power of the Prophetic word, the more joyfully to feel the triumph of faith. The key to solving the riddle of Haggai is given to us by another Prophet who followed him when he says: “Suddenly the Lord will come into His Church, for Him you seek, and the Angel of the covenant, for Him you desire: behold, says the Lord Almighty” (Mal. 3:1). It is not difficult to understand that this last prophecy points to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the second Temple of Jerusalem: He is the “Lord” whom the believers of the Old Testament had been “looking for” for so long, that is, waiting for; He is the “Angel” of the gracious “Covenant”, which they desired as their own, as well as ours, Savior. Now the Haggai Prophecy about the predominant final glory of the church is also clear, and it turns out to be surprisingly accurate. Isn’t the greatest glory of the church when the Lord of glory Himself appears in it with His life-giving word, with His Divine miracles? And our Lord appeared in it, as if at the last time, before its destruction. And so the invisible presence of God in visible signs - this is the “first glory” of the temple of Jerusalem! The visible presence of God appearing in the flesh is the “last” glory of the Temple of Jerusalem, “greater than the first”! What, therefore, should we think about the glory of the Christian church? – Something similar to what was said about the glory of the Old Testament church, which was “the shadow of those to come” (Heb. 10:1), and whose essentiality is more fully recognized in Christianity. The thought of the glory of the Christian church, of course, should not be confused with the thought of its splendor and splendor. Blessed is the feeling of the ancient lover of the church in a Christian: “Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house” (Ps. 25:8). It is good for the soul that sympathizes with the soul of the beloved David, who said to the Prophet Nathan: “I live in a house of cedars, and the ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under skins” (1 Chronicles 17:1). It is a shame, he thought, to live in a beautiful house, and to see the house of God without its characteristic splendor and splendor; If God has blessed me with abundance, it is necessary that the best part of it be dedicated to the giver. So to the one who reflects, I will not hesitate to say with the Prophet: “You have done good, as it was in your heart” (1 Kings 8:18). “Do whatever is in your heart, for the Lord is with you” (1 Chronicles 17:2). But if someone said that he brought glory to the church of God with generous offerings, then I would repeat to him the sermon of Haggai the Prophet: “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the Lord Almighty.” It was not you who enriched God and glorified His church: God gave you both the gifts that you brought to Him and the good thought of dedicating them. Thank Him, rejoice in Him, glorify Him; and be humble within yourself. The Lord Almighty alone is strong and powerful to fill His church with glory. He said about the church of Judea: “I will fill the church of this glory”; and in order to know where it will come from, not in one sign, but in essence and power, He said at the same time: “I am with you, says the Lord Almighty: the word that I commanded with you when you came out of the land of Egypt, and My Spirit will remain in your midst” (Hag. 2:5-6). Like us Christians, our Lord said: “If there are two or three congregations in My name; I am the one and I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20); and in this cherished word, effective and enduring, he laid the unfading beginning of glory for Christian churches, which exist for this purpose, to gather believers in His name. Here He is, among us, in the word of the Gospel, in the cloud of sacraments, in the spirit and flame of unanimous prayers. And because where God is and the glorified God-man, there is heaven, always filled with glory: then truly, Lord, “we stand in a church worth Thy glory in heaven” 608. This is the essential glory of the Christian church. But just as the prophetic word gave us the idea of ​​the glory of the church first and last, greater than the first: does not the Christian church expect something similar? – He also awaits the second glorious coming of Christ: but it will follow not in order to give the highest degree of glory to earthly Christian churches, but in order to elevate the true worshipers of these churches to the miraculous church of heavenly glory, which is the “last”, because everything is contained in it, and at the same time will never be “the last”, because it is eternal. While preparing us for the glory of the heavenly church, the church of God’s glory on earth still awaits some intermediate glory, which, like all true glory, is bestowed by God, but the acquisition of which is left to our faith and our zeal. Just as in the Old Testament church the glory of signs, wonders, and prototypes should have led to the glory of the appearance of Jesus Christ, so in the New Testament church the glory of the gracious presence of the Lord in His Word, in the sacraments, in prayers should lead to the glory of “the indwelling of Christ by faith in our hearts,” as the holy Apostle Paul explains (Eph. 3:17). It is fitting for us who enter the church of God, according to another saying of the Apostle, to become “the Church of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16), “and for the Spirit of God to live in us” (1 Cor. 3:16), or, according to the saying of another Apostle, it is fitting for those who come to the church to the Lord, “I live as a stone, from man I was despised, but chosen from God, honest”, and ourselves, “like living stone, to be built into a spiritual church” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). Even in the Old Testament, from afar, but already clearly, God shows this final purpose of Christians, to be living churches of God: “I will dwell in them, and walk, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Lev. 26:12). Think what glory it would be for the church if those filling its space were generally spiritual, living churches of God, filled with the Spirit of God. How the light of Christ's truth would spread! How fruitful prayers would be! How palpable is the power of the sacraments! How sweet are spiritual communications! How powerful is mutual spiritual help! How easy miracles are when you need them! And it was so in the Church: because the Apostle affirmatively and generally says to the Christians of his time: “you are the living Church of God” (2 Cor. 6:16). “Whenever you come together”, that is, to the church for Divine services, “every one of you should have a psalm”, that is, a song inspired by the Holy Spirit, “to have teaching, to have a tongue”, that is, a wonderful gift of speaking in an unlearned language, “to have a revelation, to have a legend” (1 Cor. 14:26), that is, the interpretation of the unintelligible to others. Is it the same in the Church today? It seems that we no longer have enough time in our churches to seek “great glory, the last, more than the first.” Shouldn't we mourn the decline of the “first glory”? Let us take care, brethren, of our souls, destined to be churches of God. It is comforting to think that the Lord, in part, although hidden, already dwells in us through the grace of baptism and other sacraments: but if we do not care to protect His dwelling in us in purity and holiness, that is, to cleanse ourselves “from all filthiness, flesh and spirit” and create “holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1); if we are careless to internally proclaim our spiritual church with the Word of God, to kindle in it the lamp of faith and love, to perfume it with prayer: it is dangerous, brethren, lest the Holy One, who rests among the Saints, abhor the unworthy abode, and pronounce, like the ancient temple and Jerusalem, a decisive judgment: “Behold, your house is left unto you empty” (Matthew 23:38). With unrelenting efforts, let us repel the fighting Babylonians, that is, evil thoughts, unclean passions, carnal lusts, so that they do not prevail over us and destroy the church of God in us; If by misfortune this also happened, let us arise, like Jesus and Zerubbabel, and let us build within ourselves the church of God with irrevocable repentance, tearful prayers, deeds of love and mercy, and all kinds of good spiritual deeds, and may the Lord fill the church of His glory from time to eternity. Amen. “And I will fill the church of this glory,” says the Lord Almighty. The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord Almighty. Great will be the last glory of this church, greater than the first, says the Lord Almighty.” ( Haggai 2:8–10 ). This was said in the name of God by the Prophet Haggai, when the temple of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians, was rebuilt by the Jews after the captivity of Babylon. The prophet foreshadowed to them the glory of the church, as an encouragement and reward for their feat in its creation. And here we see a church, once created long ago, and now rebuilt and consecrated, only not after destruction from a hostile hand, but after dilapidation from time to time. One must believe that in the present case, the Lord Almighty, looking at the pious zeal of those bearing fruit and doing good in this church, listening to the prayers of the church, accepting the intercession of the virtuous martyrs and Saints who are present to us in their sacred remains, visited the present mystery with His gracious presence, and, by His grace, gave it the promise of glory: “I will fill the church of this glory.” . And what is “the first and last glory of the church,” about this we will update this spiritual and Divine school with a brief teaching. Fans of the Temple of Jerusalem seem to believe that the glory of the church lies most in its splendor. The Prophet applies to this popular concept of the glory of the church when he says to the Jews: “Who is of you who saw this church in its former glory? And how do you see him now as if he does not exist before you? For the church that they built was small and meager in comparison with the one that had been destroyed. But when the Prophet promises glory to this seemingly insignificant church, then it is no longer according to the popular understanding that he speaks about the glory of the church, and therefore adds: “My silver and my gold, says the Lord Almighty,” i.e.: “in vain do you despise this church, because it does not represent visible splendor; he can have glory, despite this imaginary shortcoming; My silver and gold are in all the sunflowers, says the Lord Almighty; It is not difficult for Me to enrich My house, but I have no need for it of what I have in the whole world. What the glory of the church means in relation to the first temple of Jerusalem, that is, what was before the captivity of Babylon, this is not difficult to discern from the narrative of the consecration of this church under Solomon. “And it came to pass,” the book of the Kingdom narrates, “when Jeremiah came out from the Sanctuary, and the clouds filled the church of the Lord. And it was not right for the priests to serve on behalf of the cloud, for the church was filled with the glory of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11). It is obvious that here the “glory of the Lord” refers to the wonderful “cloud” that overshadowed and filled the church, and was a visible sign of the invisible presence of God. But if, in this way, the “first glory” of the temple of Jerusalem, or the most important part of it, is a miraculous cloud, signifying the presence of God: then how is it that the second temple of Jerusalem, i.e., erected after the captivity of Babylon, is ascribed “a great last glory more than the first,” when, on the contrary, in this last church neither a miraculous cloud, nor the ark of the covenant itself, nor other miraculous things were seen? accessories of the first church? This question made, and still makes for the Jews an insoluble riddle, the prediction about the predominant glory of the second Temple of Jerusalem, destroyed by the pagans more miserably than the first. But for us, Christians, the key to understanding the prophecy of Haggai is given by another Prophet, who followed him, when he says: “Suddenly the Lord will come into His Church, Him you seek: and the Angel of the covenant, Him you desire: behold, says the Lord Almighty” (Mal. 11:1). Our faith solemnly solves the riddle; opens the door of understanding, finds the sought after many centuries of the Lord? meets the longed-for Angel of the Covenant, contemplates the “great glory of the church” of Jerusalem, “the last more than the first,” in that in this church, in its last days, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared. And so the invisible presence of God in visible signs - this is the “first glory” of the temple of Jerusalem! The visible presence of God appearing in the flesh is the “last glory of the church” of Jerusalem, greater than the first! What should we think about the glory of the Christian church? Something similar to what was said about the glory of the Old Law church, which with all its accessories was “the shadow of those who are to come” (Heb. 10:1) and whose essentiality is more fully recognized in Christianity. The thought of the glory of the Christian church should not be confused with the thought of its splendor. If the temple is filled with decorations chosen for their antiquity, preciousness, beauty: for this reason it cannot yet be said that it is “full of glory.” Blessed is that feeling of the heart that says to God: “Lord, I love the beauty of Your house” (Ps. 25:8). Blessed is the humble soul, like the soul of the beloved David, who said to Nathan: “I live in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under skins!” (1 Chronicles 17:1) It is a shame, he thought, to use the abundance given by God if the best part of it is not dedicated to God; it is indecent to live in a beautiful house and see the house of God unadorned. Thus, I will also say to the one who ponders what Nathan said to David: “Do all that is in your heart, as God is with you” (1 Chronicles 17:2). Will you have time to create “everything in your heart” for the house of God, or will you not have time, and after you your good intention will be blessed. But if you have clothed the church with visible splendor, you think that you have sufficiently glorified it and Him who lives in it; and the flattering spirit also brings into your mind the thought that you have sufficiently glorified yourself by this, if, having given a tithe for the house of God, from your acquisition, you dream, like the Pharisee, that you will “bear it like other men” (Luke 18:11): then to you, as once to the Jews, the Lord Almighty says: “My silver and my gold” (Hag. 2:8-9 ); Is it great that out of the many things given to you, you returned a little to the Giver? The Lord Almighty alone has the power to fill His church with glory. He said about the church of Judea: “I will fill the church of this glory”; and if you want to know where it will come from, hear what else He said at the same time: “I am with you, says the Lord Almighty: the word that I commanded with you when you came out of the land of Egypt, and My Spirit will remain in your midst” (Hag. 2:5-6). Likewise for us, Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ said: “Wherever there are two or three congregations in My name, I am also in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20); and in this cherished word, effective and imperishable, he laid the unfading beginning of glory for Christian churches. He is here among us in the word of the Gospel, in the cloud of sacraments, in the spirit and flame of prayers of one accord. And because where God is and the glorified God-man, there is heaven always filled with glory: then truly, Lord, “we stand in a church worth Thy glory in heaven” 609. This is the first glory of the Christian church. "First"? And is it really possible that after this glory there is still “a last greater thing than the first”? I don’t know if I should say, there is “more than the first”; but it is true that this “first glory” of the Christian church must be followed by the “last”, to which the first strives, and without which the first would be like a beginning without a corresponding ending, like a means without an end. Just as in the Old Testament church the glory of miracles, signs, and prototypes should have led to the glory of the appearance of Jesus Christ: so in the New Testament church the glory of the gracious presence of the Lord in the sacraments and prayers should lead to the glory of “the appearance of Christ in us” (Rom. 8:18), as the Holy Apostle Paul explains. We who enter the church of God must ourselves become, according to another saying of the same Apostle, “the churches of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16), and “the Spirit of God dwells in us”; or, according to the saying of another Apostle, those who come to the church to the Lord must “live as a stone, being humbled by man, but chosen honorably by God,” and themselves, “like living stone, be built into a spiritual church” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). Even in the Old Testament, from afar, but already clearly, God showed this final purpose of Christians to be living churches of His glory. “I will dwell in them and walk around, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16). Here, finally, is “the last glory of the Christian church.” Oh, how I would like to have the boldness to decisively predict to the creators, decorators and visitors of this renewed church that it will be for them, or better in them, its “last glory more than the first”! It is not difficult to vouch for the Lord in this, promising glory: “The Lord will give grace and glory” (Ps. 83:12). But giving can only be accomplished if acceptance follows on the other side, as the Lord explains, speaking to His Father about His first disciples: “I gave the glory to Me, and I gave to them” (John 17:22), “and they received it” (John 17:8): the acceptance of what is given depends on the will and disposition of the recipient. And so from this side no one should expect any prophet of glory; but let each of us strive for himself, and especially in the church of sacraments and prayer, in order to receive the glory given from God for his inner church not made by hands, and thereby complete the glory of the visible church made by hands. While in the church, let us diligently gather our feelings, our thoughts, our desires into a single thought of God and Divine desire, and when we go home, we will run away from everything that the church of God condemns and rejects as contrary to the Law of God, as unworthy of the worshipers of the true God. If we are faithful in this, then we will truly know that the prayer that the Church so often offers is not in vain, and with which I now pray to everyone to lift up their hearts to grief: “To the Heavenly King! come and dwell in us." Amen. In the index on Thursday. O. L. D. P. is listed as pronounced on Oct. 7. 1841 - According to Evrein. collection: Sermon on the consecration of the Intercession Church in the city of Kolomna, spoken on August 4, 1828. Troparion for “Good is” at Matins of St. Pentecostal You might be interested in: