Беседа 9

Col. 3:16–17. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom; teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. How can you show gratitude to God? – You should read the Holy Scriptures. 1. Having convinced (the Colossians) to be grateful, (Paul) shows them the way to do this. Which one exactly? The one we already talked about. In what words (shows)? “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Or better – not only this (method), but also another. I said that we must imagine those who endured more terrible suffering, those who suffered more severe disasters than ours, and be grateful that the same did not happen to us; а что говорит сам он? “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,” that is, (let them dwell) teachings, dogmas, convictions, by the power of which, he says, real life and its blessings are nothing. If we had seen this, we would not have succumbed to any trouble. “Let him dwell,” he says, “in you”—not simply, but “abundantly,” with great abundance. Listen, all of you, worldly people who care about your wife and children, just as the apostle instructs you to read the Scriptures more - and not just as it happens, but with great diligence. After all, just as someone rich in money can endure loss and failure, so someone who has sufficient knowledge of wisdom can easily endure not only poverty, but also all misfortunes. And the latter is even easier than the first, because when there is a loss, the rich necessarily become poorer and this becomes known to others, and if he suffers this often, then it is no longer easy for him to bear his losses; but here it is not so: when we happen to endure something that we would not want, we do not lose our common sense, but maintain it constantly. And notice the wisdom of this blessed one. He didn’t say: “Let the Word of Christ” be in us, simply - but what? “Let it dwell”, and – “abundantly, with all wisdom; teach and admonish one another." Wisdom calls virtue. And rightly so, because humility, almsgiving, and all the like are indeed wisdom. Consequently, the opposite of this will be stupidity, since cruelty comes from stupidity. Hence, every sin is often called madness. “He said,” he says, “a fool in his heart: “There is no God” (Ps. 13:1); and again: “My wounds stink and fester because of my madness” (Ps. 37:6). What, tell me, is more senseless than that man who puts on expensive clothes on himself, and despises his brothers who do not have clothes; feeds the dogs, but looks at the image of God in his hungry neighbor with contempt; completely convinced of the insignificance of earthly things, but attached to them as if they were incorruptible? But just as there is nothing more senseless than such (a person), so there is nothing wiser than an ascetic of virtue. Look, he says, how wise he is: he gives from his property, he is merciful, humane; he understood the commonality of nature, understood the meaning of money, that is, that it is worth nothing, that one should take care of one’s body more than money. Therefore, he who despises honors is wise; he does not know human affairs, and knowledge of divine, and not human, affairs is what wisdom consists of. So, knowing which works are God’s and which are human, he abstains from some and does others. Знает он это и за все благодарит Бога; He regards real life as nothing, and therefore, just as he does not rejoice in happiness, he does not grieve in misfortune. And don't expect another teacher; If you have the word of God, no one can teach you like it. After all, another teacher often hides a lot, either out of vanity or out of envy. Listen, I ask you, everyone attached to this life, buy books - medicine for the soul. If you don’t want anything else, at least acquire the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, the Gospel - our constant mentors. If sorrow befalls you, approach them as if they were a vessel filled with a healing substance. Whether there is loss, death, loss of loved ones, draw consolation from there in your misfortune. Or better yet, don’t just attach yourself to them, but accept them completely and keep them in your mind. Ignorance of Scripture results in all evil. We go to war without weapons - and how can we escape? It is easy to be saved with the Scriptures, but impossible without them. Don’t put everything on us: you, of course, are sheep, but not dumb, but intelligent. Paul instills many things in you too. Learners do not always spend time acquiring knowledge because they do not always study; if you always just study, you will never learn; Come here not with the idea that you yourself always only need to learn, otherwise you will never know, but with the fact that you need to learn and then teach others. Tell me, don’t everyone devote a certain amount of time to the sciences and all kinds of arts in general? We all set a certain time limit for this. And if you are always studying, it is a sign that you know nothing. 2. Reproaching the Jews for this, God said: “Those who were adopted by Me from the womb, who were carried by Me from their mother’s womb, until you are old” (Is. 46:3–4). If you hadn’t always expected this, things wouldn’t have gone the way they did. If it turned out that some have already learned, while others have to learn, then our work would move forward: then you would proceed to others and help us. Tell me: don’t those who go to the teacher, but constantly sit over the alphabet, cause great difficulty for the teacher? How long shall we talk with you about (this) life? This did not happen with the apostles: they always bypassed those students who had studied with them before, making them teachers of others who wanted to learn. That is why they were able to go around the universe because they were not tied to one place. Think about how much teaching you need to teach your brothers in the villages and their teachers themselves? And you hold me, chained me to you, because before your head is well tuned, you should not go to other members. You place everything on us, when you should have learned from us, and your wives from you, and your children from you too; on the contrary, you leave everything to us. That's why there's a lot of work. “Teach,” he says, “and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Look how lenient Paul is. Since reading is tiring and can get boring, he encourages you not to read stories, but to read psalms, so that you can both amuse your soul with singing and not notice your labors. “With praise,” he says, “and spiritual songs.” And now your children love satanic songs and dances, imitating cooks, bakers and dancers; but no one knows a single psalm - now such knowledge seems indecent, humiliating and ridiculous. This is where all the evil lies; on which soil the plant stands, it bears fruit: on sandy and shale soil - this, on good and fat - different. So, teaching is, as it were, a beneficial source. Teach your son to sing those psalms full of wisdom, for example: first about abstinence, or first of all about not communicating with the wicked, that is, the psalm at the very beginning of the book [for this purpose the prophet began from here, saying: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Ps. 1:1); and again: “I did not sit with lying people” (Ps. 25:4); and also: “He in whose eyes the outcast is despised, but who glorifies those who fear the Lord” (Ps. 14:4)], about dealing with the good [you will also find this there, and much more], about continence of the belly, about holding back the hands, about non-covetousness, about the fact that money, and fame, and all the like are nothing. If you teach him this from childhood, you will gradually raise him higher. The psalms contain everything, and then the hymns contain nothing human; when he is versed in the psalms, then he will also recognize the hymns, which are a more sacred matter, since the higher powers speak hymns, and do not speak psalms: “Praise is unpleasant,” it is said, “in the mouth of a sinner” (Sir. 15:9); and again: “My eyes are on the faithful of the earth, so that they may remain with me” (Ps. 100:6); and again: “He who acts deceitfully will not live in my house” (Ps. 100:7); and again: “Whoever walks in the way of integrity will serve me” (Ps. 100:6). Thus, you must be wary lest they form connections not only with friends, but also with servants: there are countless evils for the free if we assign depraved slaves to them. If they barely escape, taking advantage of the care and wisdom of their father, then what will happen to them when we entrust them to the carelessness of servants? The servants will look at them as enemies, in the thought that their dominance will be gentler if they make them stupid, stupid and worthless. So, let's take care of this more than anything else. “I have loved,” he says, “those who loved Your law (Ps. 119:113): let us, imitating him, love them too. And so that the children are self-controlled, let them listen to what the prophet says: “My insides are filled with shame” (Ps. 37:8) 1; и опять: «Ты истреб ил всякого любоде йству ющ е го от Тебя» ( Пс. 72:27 ). Also, so that they are not lustful, let them listen again: “He killed,” he says, “their fat ones, ... while food was still in their mouths” (Ps. 77:30-31). In the same way, that they should not be overcome by gifts, they will learn from the following: “When wealth,” he says, “increases, do not put your heart on it” (Ps. 61:11); that one must stand above glory, they will find the following: “His glory will not follow him” (Ps. 48:18); что не должно завидовать лукавым: «Не ревнуй злодеям» ( Пс. 36:1 ); that dominion should be imputed to nothing: “I saw a terrible wicked man, expanding like a rooted many-branched tree; но он прошел, и вот нет его» ( Пс. 36:35–36 ); что настоящее должно почитать ничтожным: «Блажен народ, у которого это есть. Блажен народ, у которого Господь есть Бог» ( Пс. 143:15); that we do not sin with impunity, but there will be reward: “You reward everyone according to his deeds” (Ps. 61:13); Why doesn’t he reward every day? - because he says that “God is a righteous judge, [mighty and long-suffering]” (Ps. 7:12); that humility is good: “Lord! - he says, “my heart was not puffed up” (Ps. 130:1); that arrogance is evil: “That is why,” he says, “pride surrounded them like a necklace” (Ps. 72:6); and again: “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6); and again: “Their iniquity rolled out like fat” (Ps. 73:7); that alms are good: “He gave away, he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” (Ps. 112:9); that mercy is commendable: “A good man shows mercy and lends” (Ps. 112:5). You will find there many other dogmas of wisdom, for example, that one should not slander: “He who secretly slanderes his neighbor I will drive out” (Ps. 100:5). The faithful know what the hymn of the higher powers is, what the cherubim say, what the angels said on earth. «Слава Богу на небесах». Therefore, after psalmody, hymns are a more perfect thing. “With psalms,” he says, “with hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Paul) by this says either that God gave them this for grace, or that their songs were grace-filled, or that they had to admonish themselves and teach themselves by grace, or that these gifts were in them with grace, or this is the explanation. From the grace of the Spirit, he says, “singing in your hearts to the Lord”: not just, he says, with your lips, but with attention. This latter means singing to God, while the former means singing to the air, since the voice simply spills out (in the air). Not to show off, he says. Even if you are in a shopping area, you can concentrate within yourself and sing to God without being heard by anyone. After all, Moses prayed like this and was heard. Why are you calling on Me, God says to him? But he did not say anything, but cried out mentally, with a contrite heart. That’s why God alone heard him. Не мешает и во время пути молиться сердцем и быть горе. “And everything,” he says, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks through Him to God and the Father.” If we do this, then where Christ is called, there will be nothing vile, nothing unclean. Whether you eat, drink, get married, or go on a journey, do everything in the name of God, that is, calling on God for help. Get down to business by first praying to God. Do you want to say something? Put that up front. That is why in our letters we put the name of the Lord in front. Где имя Господа, там все благополучно. Если имена консулов скрепляют грамоты, то тем более – имя Христово. Или же то разумеет Павел, что все говорите и делайте по-божески; don't bring in angels. Ешь? Thank God, with the determination to do the same later. Are you sleeping? Благодари Бога, с решимостью то же делать и после. Are you going to the square? То же делай. (Let there be) nothing worldly, nothing worldly; do everything in the name of the Lord, and everything will prosper for you. Что ни запечатлеешь именем Божьим, все выйдет счастливо. If it drives out demons and eliminates diseases, then it makes it all the more easier to complete a task. And what does it mean – “What are you doing, in word or deed”? This indicates either someone who allows or does something similar. Listen to how Abraham sent a slave in the name of God. David killed Goliath in the name of God. Wonderful and great is His name. Then again Jacob, sending the children, says: “May Almighty God grant you to find mercy from man” (Gen. 43:14). Whoever does this has God as an assistant, without Whom he would not dare to do anything. Thus, the one who is honored by the invocation (God) returns honor by granting success in business. Call upon the Son, give thanks to the Father; By calling the Son, you also call the Father, and by thanking the Father, you thank the Son. Будем учиться исполнять это не одними словами, но и делами. There is nothing equal to this name; оно всегда дивно: «Имя твое , – говорится, – как разлитое миро» ( Песн.1:2 ). And whoever said it was suddenly filled with a fragrance. “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). This is how so much is accomplished by this name! If you said the word: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19) with faith, then you have accomplished everything. Look how much you have done: you have recreated man, and done everything else, in the sacrament of baptism. Таким же образом это страшное имя владычествует и над болезнями. Therefore, jealous of our honor, the devil introduced things unbecoming to the angels. These are the demonic chants. Но будет ли то ангел, или архангел, или херувим, – не терпи этого; after all, these forces will not accept you, but will reject you when they see that the Lord is being dishonored. Я почтил тебя, говорит, и сказал: призывай Меня. Are you dishonoring Him? If you sang this chant with faith, you would drive away both illnesses and demons. And even if he did not drive away the disease, it would not be due to impotence, but due to the fact that (the disease) is useful. According to your greatness, he says, so is your praise. With this name the universe was converted, tyranny was destroyed, the devil was trampled upon, the heavens were opened. But what do I say - heaven? We are reborn by this name, and if we do not abandon it, we shine forth. It gives birth to both martyrs and confessors. We must hold it as a great gift in order to live in glory, to please God and to be worthy of the blessings promised to those who love Him, by grace and love for mankind (Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen). The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Translation by P. Yungerov – Editorial office of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: