Беседа 32

Conversation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Rome 16:17–18. I beseech you, brothers, beware of those who cause divisions and temptations, contrary to the teaching you have learned, and turn away from them; for such people serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and with flattery and eloquence they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. The leniency of the admonitions of St. Pavel. - Disagreement in dogma. – The inseparability of prayer from deeds. 1. Again exhortation and after exhortation prayer. Having said: beware of those who introduce divisions and do not obey them, (the apostle) added: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet,” and: “The grace of the Lord ... be with you” (Rom. 16:20). Notice how condescendingly he exhorts, doing this not as an adviser, but as a servant and even with great respect for them. (The Apostle) calls them brothers and asks, saying: “I beseech you, brothers.” Then he warns them, revealing the machinations of harmful people. But since these people did not act clearly, then (the apostle) says: “I beseech you... beware,” that is, carefully examine, find out, test. Who exactly should you be wary of? “Causing divisions and temptations, contrary to the teaching that you have learned,” because division of everything undermines the church more, it is the devil’s weapon, with it everything is overthrown. As long as unity is maintained in the body (church), the devil cannot have access, but from division comes temptation. Why the division? From teachings contrary to the teaching (of the apostles). Where do such teachings come from? From serving the belly and other passions. “Such people,” says (the apostle), “serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.” Thus, there would be neither temptations nor divisions if a teaching contrary to the apostolic teaching had not been invented; pointing to this, (the apostle) says here: “contrary to the teaching.” He did not say: which we taught, but: “which you learned,” which warns them and shows that they are completely convinced, heard and accepted the teaching. What should we do with these evil people? (The Apostle) did not say: go against them and strike, but: “avoid them.” If they did this out of ignorance or error, then they should have been corrected, but since they are consciously sinning, then move away from them. And in another place (the apostle) says: “Get away from every brother who acts disorderly” (2 Thess. 3:6). And regarding (Alexander) the forger, he gives the same advice to Timothy, saying: “Beware of him, you too” (2 Tim. 4:15). Then, reproaching those who dare to introduce division, he shows the reason for this action, saying: “such people do not serve the Lord... but their own belly.” He said the same thing in the Epistle to the Philippians: “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3:19). And here, as I think, (the apostle) makes an allusion to those who converted from the Jews, whom he usually always reproaches for excessive gluttony. And in the Epistle to Titus he said about them: “evil beasts, lazy bellies” (Titus 1:12). Also Christ, accusing them of this, says: “You devour the houses of widows” (Matthew 23:14). And the prophets accused them of the same thing - it is said: “he became fat, fat and fat; and forsook... God” (Deut. 32:15). That’s why Moses admonished them like this: “You will eat and be satisfied... beware that you do not forget the Lord” (Deut. 6:11, 12). And according to the testimony of the Gospel, the Jews said to Christ: “What sign will You prove to us?..” (John 2:18) - and, leaving everything else, they mention only manna. Thus, from everything one can see that the Jews were infected with the passion of gluttony. How can a brother of Christ not be ashamed to have slaves of the womb as teachers? So, gluttony is the cause of error, and the method of malice is again another disease, namely flattery. “By flattery and eloquence they deceive the hearts of the simple,” says (the apostle). It is well said: “eloquence.” The services of flatterers are only in words, but their hearts are not like that, but are filled with deceit. Further (the apostle) did not say: they deceive you, but: “the hearts of the simple.” He didn’t even stop there, but so that his words didn’t seem too harsh, he continued: Rome 16:19. Your submission to faith is known to everyone. This is not said to save them from shame, but to warn them with praise and many witnesses to keep them in obedience. It’s not just me, he says, who testifies, but the whole universe. And (the apostle) did not say: your prudence, but: “your humility,” that is, obedience, and this testified to great meekness. "I'm happy for you." That's a lot of praise. Then the praise is followed by admonition. Having freed them from reproof, (the apostle), so that through oblivion they could not become more careless, he again makes hints to them and says: “I wish you to be wise in good and simple in evil.” You see how subtly he again denounces them, when they do not even suspect it, since by this (the apostle) he hints that some of them are already deceived. Rome. 16:20. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet soon. Since (the apostle) spoke about those who introduce discord and temptation, he now speaks about the God of peace, so that they can boldly hope for liberation from them. He who loves peace overthrows everything that disturbs peace. And (the apostle) did not say - he will conquer, but, what is much more important, he will “crush”, he will crush not only those who introduce discord, but also their leader - Satan. And not only will he crush, but he will crush “under your feet,” so that they will gain victory and become famous as a result of this victory. (The Apostle) also consoles with the short duration of time, namely, he added “soon.” Thus, his words contained both prayer and prophecy. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!” This is the greatest weapon, an indestructible wall, an unshakable fortress - (the apostle) reminded them of grace for this purpose, in order to make them more zealous. If you were freed from the more dangerous and were freed by grace alone, then much more will you be freed from the less when you became friends and joined your own efforts. 2. You see how (the apostle) does not separate prayer from deeds, and deeds from prayer. Having testified to their obedience, he then began to pray, showing by this that if we seek salvation with all zeal, then we need both, both our own efforts and the grace of God. We not only needed the grace of God before, but we also have it now, no matter how great and skillful we are. Rome. 16:21. Greetings Timofey, my colleague. Do you see the usual praise again? "And Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen." Luke also mentions Jason and introduces us to his courage, saying: “They dragged Jason and some of the brothers to the city leaders, shouting” (Acts 17:6). Naturally, the rest were notable people, since (Paul) would not have simply mentioned relatives if they had not been similar to him in piety. Rome. 16:22. Greetings to you... and I, Tertius, who wrote this message. And it is no small boast to be Paul's scribe; but, of course, Tertius does not say this to praise himself, but in order to attract the ardent love of the Romans to himself through his service. Rome. 16:23. Gaius, my host (ξενος) and of the whole church, greets you. Do you notice what a crown (the apostle) wove for him, testifying to his great love of homosexuality and gathering the whole church to his house? The word ξενος here he calls the stranger. And when you hear that Gaius received Paul in his house, marvel not only at Gaius’s generosity, but also at the strict life of Gaius, because if Gaius had not been worthy of Paul’s virtues, then Paul would not have gone to his house. Trying to fulfill many of the commandments of Christ, more than they prescribed, (the apostle) would not have violated the law that commanded in advance to inquire about those receiving and to stay in the houses of the worthy. Rome. 16:23. Erast, the city treasurer, and brother Quart greet you. Not without reason (the apostle) added the words: “city treasurer,” but as he wrote to the Philippians: “They greet you... especially from Caesar’s house” (Phil. 4:22), to show that the sermon also touched noble people, so here, for the same purpose, he mentions the dignity of Erastus, making it clear that a person who is attentive to himself is not hindered by either wealth, or worries of office, or anything else. similar. Rome. 16:24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Do you see how everything should begin and end? The apostle laid this very thing at the foundation of his epistle, and covered the entire building with it, at the same time asking the Romans from God for grace - the mother of all blessings - and reminding them of all the good deeds of God. This is the predominant feature of a valiant teacher - to help his students not only with words, but also with prayer, which is why it is said: “we will constantly continue in prayer and in the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Who will pray for us after Paul has left us? Imitators of Paul, let us only become worthy of this intercession for us, so that not only here we can hear the voice of Paul, but also when we go there we will be worthy to see Christ’s ascetic; or better to say, if we listen to him here, then, without a doubt, we will see him there, and although we will not stand near him, we will undoubtedly see him in all his splendor near the royal throne, where the cherubim praise, where the seraphim soar. There we will see Paul together with Peter, as the main and supreme one in the ranks of the saints, and there we will fully enjoy his love. If in this life he loved people so much that, despite all the desire to be resolved and be with Christ, he preferred to remain in the flesh (Phil. 1:23), then all the more ardent love will he show there. That's why I love Rome; although one can praise much in it - its vastness, antiquity, beauty, population, power, wealth, military prowess, but leaving all this aside, I glorify it for the fact that Paul wrote to the Romans during his lifetime, loved them very much, talked with them personally and ended his life in Rome. And the city (Rome) is famous for this more than anything else. Like a great and mighty body, Rome has two bright eyes - the bodies of these holy apostles. The sky is not as brilliant when the sun pours out its rays as the city of the Romans is, illuminating all the ends of the universe with these two luminaries. From there Paul will be caught up, and from there Peter. Think and shudder what a spectacle Rome will present when Paul and Peter rise there from their graves and are caught up to meet Christ, what rose Rome will offer to Christ, what two crowns adorn this city, what golden chains encircle it, what springs it has. That is why I am amazed at Rome, and not at the abundance of gold, not at the columns, not at other decorations, but at these pillars of the Church. 3. Who will let me now touch the body of Paul, cling to the tomb and see the ashes of this body, which filled in itself the lack of the sorrows of Christ, bore the wounds of Christ, sowed preaching everywhere, the ashes of that body in which Paul flowed around the universe, the ashes of the body through which Christ spoke, a light shone brighter than any lightning, a voice thundered that was more terrible for demons all thunder, with the help of which Paul uttered those longed-for words: “I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers” (Rom. 9:3), in which he spoke before the kings and was not ashamed, and we came to know Paul and his Master himself. Thunder is not so much terrible for us as its voice is terrible for demons. If the demons trembled his clothes, how much more so did his voice. This voice brought bound demons, cleansed the universe, stopped diseases, drove out vice, established truth; Christ himself was present in this voice and walked with him everywhere; Paul's voice was the same as the cherubim. As Christ is enthroned on the heavenly powers, so he was enthroned in the language of Paul. Truly worthy to receive Christ was this tongue, which spoke only what was pleasing to Christ and, like the seraphim, soared to an indescribable height. What is more sublime than such a voice that says: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38, 39)? How many wings, how many eyes, do you think this voice had? That is why he said: “We are not unaware of his plans” (2 Cor. 2:11); That’s why the demons ran when they not only heard Paul’s broadcasts, but also saw his clothes, even though Paul was far away. I would like to see the dust of these lips, through which Christ spoke great and inexpressible mysteries, even greater than those that He himself announced, because just as He did more through His disciples, He also spoke more - the dust of those lips with which the Spirit gave His wondrous messages to the universe. What did the good lips of Paul not accomplish? They cast out demons, delivered from sins, stopped the mouths of the tormentors, bound the tongue of the philosophers, brought the universe to God, convinced the barbarians to be wise, transformed everything on earth and in heaven in the way that Paul wanted, because he, according to the authority given to him, bound and loosed those whom he wanted. I would like to see the dust not only of Pavlov’s lips, but also of Pavlov’s heart, which can, without sin, be called the heart of the universe, the source of thousands of countless blessings, the beginning and element of our life. From this heart the spirit of life spilled over everything and was transmitted to the members of Christ, being communicated not through the veins, but through voluntary good deeds. This heart was so spacious that it contained entire cities, tribes and peoples. “Our heart is enlarged” (2 Cor. 6:11), says (the apostle). However, this such a spacious heart was often compressed and oppressed by the love that expanded it, as (Paul) himself says: “Out of great sorrow and an oppressed heart I wrote to you” (2 Cor. 2:4). I would like to see this heart destroyed, which was inflamed against each of the perishing and was again tormented by the pains of birth for children born imperfect, which sees God (as it is said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8)), which became a sacrifice (“A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit” - (Ps. 50:19)), was above the heavens, more spacious than the universe, more brilliant than a ray of sunlight, hotter than fire, harder than diamond and flowing from rivers, as it is said: “out of the belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). In this heart there was a source flowing and watering not the face of the earth, but human souls, from it both night and day flowed not simple rivers, but sources of tears, it lived a new, and not this - our life. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), says (Paul). So, his heart was the heart of Christ, the tablet of the Holy Spirit, the book of grace. It trembled for the sins of others: “I fear,” says (the apostle), “I have labored among you in vain” (Gal. 4:11), “lest, as the serpent deceived Eve with his cunning” (2 Cor. 11:3), “at my coming, I may not find you such as I do not desire” (2 Cor. 12:20); but for itself it was both afraid and had boldness: “I am afraid,” says (the apostle), preaching to others, that I myself will remain unworthy” (1 Cor. 9:27), and also: “I am confident that... neither the Angels nor the Principalities... will be able to excommunicate us” (Rom. 8:38, 39); it was worthy to love Christ as no one else loved, it despised death and Gehenna, it was lamented by brotherly tears: “What are you doing? - says (Paul), - why do you cry and break my heart? (Acts 21:13); This heart was the most patient, however, and for a short time could not tolerate the alienation of the Thessalonians. 4. I would like to see the ashes of the hands that were in bonds - the hands through the laying on of which (Paul) gave the Spirit and with which he wrote these letters: “See how much I have written to you with my own hand” (Gal. 6:11), and also: “My greeting, Paul, with my own hand” (1 Cor. 16:21), - the ashes of the hands, seeing which the viper fell into the fire. I would like to see the dust of the eyes that did not lose their sight in vain, who received their sight for the salvation of the universe and were still worthy to see Christ in the body, who looked at earthly things and did not see, contemplated the invisible, did not know sleep, were awake in the middle of the night and did not suffer the things that are characteristic of envious people. I would like to see the dust of those feet that flowed around the world and did not get tired, that were imprisoned when the prison was shaken, that walked around the inhabited and uninhabited earth and traveled over it many times (Acts 16:24, 26). But why talk in detail? I would like to see the tomb in which are laid the weapons of righteousness, the weapons of light, members now living but dead when Paul was alive, members in which Christ lived, members crucified to the world, members of Christ clothed with Christ, a church of the Spirit, a holy building, members bound by the Spirit, nailed down by the fear of God, bearing the stripes of Christ. This body protects Rome, it is more reliable than any fortification and countless walls. And with him the body of Peter, because Paul revered Peter during his lifetime: “he went... to see Peter” (Gal. 1:18), he says. Therefore, grace deigned him even after death to be with Peter under the same roof. I would like to see this spiritual lion. Like a lion breathing fire on a herd of foxes, he attacked a gathering of demons and philosophers and, like quick lightning, burst into the devilish hordes. And the devil could not stand against him directly and openly, but was so afraid and trembled that, as soon as he noticed his shadow and heard his voice, he ran far away. So Paul, being at a distance, handed over to Satan the one who had fallen into fornication and then again snatched him out of his hands (1 Cor. 5:35). He did the same with others, so that they would learn not to blaspheme. And see how Paul encourages, excites and strengthens his subordinates. So he says to the Ephesians: “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers” ​​(Eph. 6:12), and then points to the reward in heaven, saying that we strive not for the sake of earthly things, but for the sake of heaven and heavenly things; and to others he writes: “Do you not know that we will judge angels, much less the deeds of this life?” (1 Cor. 6:3) So, having considered all this, let us be courageous. And Paul was a man, and he had the same nature as us, and everything else he had in common with us. But since he showed great love for Christ, he ascended above the heavens and became with the angels. Thus, if we want to ascend at least a little and kindle this fire within ourselves, then we will be able to imitate the saint (apostle). And if this were impossible, then (Paul) would not have exclaimed: “Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). So, let us not only be amazed at him, let us not only be amazed at him, but we will also imitate him, so that, after leaving here, we will be worthy to see him and participate in the ineffable glory, which may be given to all of us to achieve, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: