30. Слово при посещении города Серпухова

(Spoken in the Vysotsky Monastery, June 2 days; printed in meetings of 1822, 1835, 1844 and 1848) When the Holy Apostle Paul, with his colleague Barnabas, having been called by the Holy Spirit from Antioch to preach the Gospel in pagan countries, founded some new Christian Churches, and returned to Antioch, where they lived: “for some days,” as the book of the Acts of the Apostles narrates, Paul’s speech to Barnabas: “having returned, it is fitting to visit our brethren in all the cities in which they preached the word of the Lord, as they abide.” And indeed Paul “passed through Syria and Cilicia, establishing the churches” (Acts 15:36, 41). This was done by a perspicacious mentor, or, better to say, the Holy Spirit Himself prompted him to do this as a precaution, so that those newly enlightened by faith, or out of habit, would not turn to pagan superstitions, or, out of simplicity, would not be seduced from the path of truth by the cunning of false teachers, or, through the influence of temptations common in the world, would not deviate from the holiness of the Christian life. Because not only in new, but also in long-established Churches can false teachings appear; and the temptations of the world never cease, as long as the world is what it is: then the successors of the Apostles, “edifying” the believers “on the foundation of the Apostle and Prophet” (Eph. 2:20), that is, teaching to act, and themselves doing as the Apostles taught and acted, commanded all the pastors of the Churches, from time to time, “to visit their brethren in all cities” over which they have the right rule the word of truth “as they abide” (Acts 15:36). This very lot of service, which through sacred succession has reached our unworthiness, has brought us to you, brethren, to visit you, so that we may know “how you abide,” faithful, in the true faith, “how you abide,” Christians, in the Christian life. And your zealous flock to churches, your reverent attention to everything that bears the sign of shrine, and the frequent recollection of the Kingdom of Heaven, which we heard in your very greetings, convinces us to think kindly about you. The Lord, by His Grace, will create the worshipers of His church and shrines as living temples of the Holy Spirit, and may He remember those who remember His Kingdom with faith in His Kingdom, and may He make them true sons of this blessed Kingdom! But when I, a newcomer, out of my duty, delve into “how you abide,” I must think that you, out of your duty, are ready to learn from me “how you abide,” so that by this mutual comparison of teaching and life, both you and I can be “comforted,” as the Apostle says, “by the common faith, yours and mine” (Rom. 1:12). In what short but true word can I describe to you how you should abide? – I hear the Divine Chief Shepherd, Who says: “My teaching is not Mine, but the one who sent Me” (John 7:16). How much more do we humans deserve to teach a doctrine like ours? And so I will make you a faithful teacher and worthy of all acceptance - the saving Grace of the Heavenly Father, who sends earthly teachers. “Boy,” says the Apostle, “the saving grace of God has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). If saving Grace appeared, then of course it made the path of salvation obvious. And truly, the Apostle continues: “The saving Grace of God appeared to all mankind, chastening us,” that is, “teaching us.” What does saving Grace teach? - “Let us renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts and live chastely, righteously and godly in this present world, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:12-13). Grace, before leading us into the saving life that we must lead, inspires us to leave the destructive life that we lead without Grace. "Having renounced ungodliness and worldly lusts." How? - will say a person who has not experienced a life of grace, and therefore does not feel the deep corruption of ordinary, natural life - outside of grace, does our whole worldly life consist only of wickedness and lusts? - No matter how strange this is for such a person, the truth of God tells us to affirm that this is so. All that is “in the world,” says the Apostle John, “is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of desire, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Notice how strongly the Apostle expresses himself here. “Everything in the world is lust.” Everything that exists in the world is only lust. That which does not live through lust is no longer in the world, but in grace, in God; whatever is not in God, not in grace, but in the world, lives through lust. Whoever is not completely blinded by predilection for himself, and is not completely carried away from himself by dispersion in the vanities of the world: he can see this in himself, and for himself be a witness of this strict truth. Testers of human nature know that thoughts are controlled by the heart (just as the Word of God says: “from the heart come thoughts” (Matthew 15:19); and the heart is controlled by desires; and therefore the will, or the dominant desire, is the dominant principle, or the driving force of all life. See, what desires govern a worldly person in worldly life? They are varied in relation to particular cases: but if you go up to their common sources, then you can see the following root desires: the desire for one’s own sensual pleasure, the desire to own what we see, the desire to be above others; - also in short: carnal knowledge, greed, ambition - also in the words of the Apostle: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of desire, and the pride of life” (Titus 2:11). Because lust either does not listen to reason, or listens to it only feignedly: then the carnivore seeks pleasure without reasoning, thereby damaging and even destroying the creation of God in himself; the covetous man seeks acquisition without thinking that he is stealing from his neighbor a part of God’s gifts that belongs to him; an ambitious person strives to exalt himself so uncontrollably that if he can ascend above everything that is on earth, without being satisfied with this, he will say, like the king of Babylon depicted by the Prophet: “I will ascend to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven” (Is. 14:13); or like the king of Egypt: “Who is the Lord, whose voice I will listen to” (Ex. 5:2)? And from this it is not difficult to see that, along with “lusts,” the life of worldly people, if not clearly marked, is at least secretly infected with “wickedness.” And so, if we want to lead a life worthy of true Christians, then we must first, as saving Grace teaches, reject “ungodliness and worldly lusts.” To the extent that we try to succeed in this teaching of renunciation of worldly life, Grace introduces us into higher knowledge and into the very experience of real Christian life. “Let us live soberly, righteously and godly” (Titus 2:12). Human life in its activity moves between three limits, towards which it incorrectly strives, it confuses its own movements and damages itself. These spiritual limits are: man himself, his neighbor and God. In order to give life in all these respects the right direction towards the true goal, that is, to eternal salvation and bliss, saving Grace bestows and teaches us to use three forces: chastity, so that a person does not harm himself through carnality, truth, so that he does not harm his neighbor with selfishness, piety, so that he does not offend “God” with pride and wickedness. Under the name of “chastity,” Grace teaches more than just bodily purity, just as He by whom “Grace was” says in His teaching: “Whoever looks at a woman and lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). To live chastely, in the exact meaning of this word, means to live under the control of “whole”, intact, sound “philosophy”, not to allow oneself any pleasure that is not approved by sound reasoning, to keep a mind not defiled by unclean thoughts, a heart not infected by unclean desires, a body not corrupted by unclean deeds. And the natural mind of worldly people cannot fail to recognize the dignity of such a life. For who can say that it is not good to have a pure thought, a pure heart and pure deeds? But this, they say, is too strict and even impossible. Poor! Is it really strict that they want to make you like the pure heavenly Powers and the most pure God? Would it really please you to be left in the lust of the flesh to be like dumb animals? As for the fact that perfect purity seems impossible to you: it is true; “It is impossible for man to eat these things” (Matthew 19:26). That is why we appoint as a mentor in this purity not human reason, but the Grace of God: “The grace of God, bringing salvation to all men, appeared, chastening us” (Titus 2:11-12). The grace of God has no need to ask what a person can do. “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). “Truth,” according to a very common explanation, is believed to be “giving to everyone what is theirs.” An explanation of the truth, based on the not quite solid foundation 172 that a person has appropriated something to himself as his own, when he “has nothing that he has not received” (1 Cor. 4:7) from God. It is not surprising that by holding on to this concept, people do not learn on their own 173 the truth of God, which is taught by the Grace of God. To love those who love, to do good to those who do good, to give in return for the perception of an equal, is considered righteousness. The Truth of God calls this Pharisaic righteousness, and such righteousness that does not lead the righteous into the Kingdom. “Unless your righteousness comes out any more than the scribe and the Pharisee,” says the Divine Righteous One, “you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). What can be said about the truth that some think to find in repaying insult for insult, hatred for hatred, evil for evil? If love for those who love alone is called Pharisaic righteousness, then hatred and malice against those who hate must be recognized as lower than pagan righteousness 174. Learn the true truth worthy of heaven in the grace-filled teaching of the Gospel: “Whatever men will do, let men do to you, so do you also to them” (Matthew 7:12). Do you want people to love you? love people. Do you want everyone to do good to you without exception? do good to everyone without exception. Would you be pleased if everyone treated you meekly and humbly? be meek and humble before everyone. For those who have not yet tasted how sweet such a life of truth is, we can only say to him that if only people were governed by this truth; then there would be no insults, no trials, no thefts, no murders, no strife, no war, no squalor. What prosperity is there for a Christian in the fact that he can hope to see this life of truth, if he does not already see it! We wait for the “blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13) 175. “There will be one flock and one Shepherd” (John 10:16). “The heavens are new and the earth is new according to His promise; in them righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). The highest subject of the doctrine of saving Grace is Piety. “God is high,” says our popular proverb. It is a pity if such a thought has force among a people for whom approach to God is open to the Grace of God. But outside of Grace, God and His worthy piety, that is, true knowledge of God and reverence for God, truly is an unattainable height. In paganism, the inability to reach this height turned out to be such an extreme that people made gods for themselves out of wood and stone, or deified despised animals, and to show them respect, people like themselves were sacrificed before them. More subtle minds have barely risen to the point of accepting the heavenly bodies and subtle forces of the bodily world as Deities. According to the testimony of the Songsinger of God, a madman was found who “said... in his heart: there is no God” (Psalm 13:1). I note that he did not say this in his mind, that is, he could not convince his mind to accept this absurdity, but in spite of him in his heart he rejected God, Whom this corrupt heart did not want to have, not wanting to submit to His laws. What a terrible corruption of the heart, which, contrary to the conviction of its own mind, can reject God! Do those who do not want to accept the teachings of piety from Grace still act better? Isn’t it their favorite teaching that the Divine, due to His unattainable height, has nothing in common with our earthly piety? Blind wise men! you do not see that even the physical nature exposes the lies of your teaching. The sun, due to its height, is certainly beyond the reach of the earth, does it really have nothing in common with the earth? Doesn’t she constantly turn to him in order to receive from him the light and warmth of life for everything living on her? Why can you think that the spiritual being of man has less need for spiritual light, and for the spiritual warmth of the Highest Being, for the enlightenment and grace of God? And if it has this high need, then shouldn’t it turn freely and strive with all its might towards its eternal Sun? Or, when it cannot do this, since “the corruptible body burdens the soul” (Wisdom 9:15), and it, weighed down by sensuality, like a bird with wings weighed down with lead, only beats on the ground, instead of ascending to heaven, shouldn’t we hope that the Grace of the All-Blessed Being of God will descend to the weak human being and enlighten a darkened mind, and will warm a cold heart, and attract to Himself and give rest to a soul burdened with corruption? So indeed, “the saving Grace of God has appeared, punishing us, so that we may live godly” - so that we “bow down to God” the Spirit “in spirit and in truth,” so that we “love Him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind,” and let us embrace Him with everything that those who have not accepted Grace reject Him with. The most comforting and actually saving part of the grace-filled teaching of piety is that in it we find a means that no created mind could invent - a means not only to please God with His worthy service, but also to receive forgiveness by offending Him with our lusts and wickedness; not only to do the will of God, but also to receive from Him everything that we ask, even before partaking of His Divine nature, - in the name and intercession of His Only Begotten Son, who became incarnate and died for us, so that “all His Divine powers, even unto life and piety, may be given to us through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” ( 2 Peter 1:3). This, brethren, is the “teaching of life” that is taught to us by “the saving grace of God for all mankind”; and not only teaches, but also gives the ability to accept it, and grants strength to execute it. Oh, that in each of you this Divine seed would vegetate, and grow, and bear fruit pleasing to the Planter of good things, and sweet and life-giving for you! “We pray that you will not receive the Grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). Let us follow her instruction, not only in some of our deeds or exercises, but in all of our “abiding,” in our entire life. “Let us live chastely, righteously and godly in this present age, waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13). Amen. In collection 1822 and 1835: on that untruth... In collection 1822 and 1835: they do not teach and do not learn... In collection 1822 and 1835: I don’t know what to call it other than hellish truth. In collection 1822 and 1835 further follows: “There will be kingdoms of peace, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rev. XI, 15). In collection 1822 and 1835: to perform... You might be interested in: