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The body has hearing, and the soul has its hearing. Not every body has open hearing. Not everyone is a soul. God says to the soul: do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, turn away from evil and do good, and so on. And the soul, whose ear is open, hears and listens to God speaking and does what God commands. It is impossible for a soul, truly impossible, not to listen to God and not to do what He commands if its ears are open. Man listens to the king of the earth and the lower authorities and does what she commands. Will not the soul listen to God who speaks when its ears are open? To her! With all zeal and sweetness he listens and says to Him: my heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready (Ps. 107:2)… All those who were told by Christ had open ears: follow Me... and they followed Him (Matthew 4:19-22). Everyone who diligently tries to fulfill God’s commandments has an open ear of the soul. It is not in vain that Christ the Lord says in the Gospel: he who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8, 15). Everyone has ears, but not everyone has ears to hear. To hear through the ears means to have open ears of the soul. Our physical ears do not bring us any benefit when our spiritual ears are closed. The body has its own deafness when its ears are closed. So the soul has its own deafness when its hearing is closed. A physically deaf person does not hear what a person tells him, orders and promises, since he cannot hear. Likewise, the spiritually deaf, that is, the one who has the hearing of his soul closed, does not hear what God says, commands and promises to him. How can you hear without an open ear? Every fornicator and adulterer, every predator, robber, bribe-taker, greedy person, every money-lover, sensualist - in a word, every lawless person has his spiritual ears closed, and therefore his soul is deaf. How many such people hear the Word of God, but do not listen to God and do not correct themselves. They listen and do not hear. They hear with their bodily ears, but do not hear with their spiritual ears. And how can they hear with them when they are closed? How many people hear Christ’s word: come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28), but they do not want to come to Christ and have peace. They hold on to the world as their beloved treasure, although it worries and destroys them. This is mental deafness! Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20), says Christ the Lord. This word is true and not false! The merciful Jesus shed His Blood for everyone, wants to save everyone, visits everyone, stands at everyone’s heart’s house and knocks on the door, wants to enter and serve the sweetest supper. But the deaf soul does not hear this sweet voice. What soul would not open the doors of its home and would not accept such a great, such a dear, such a longed-for Guest with eagerness and joy if it heard His voice? This Guest does not require our food and drink. He provides us with His own meal, He delights us with His heavenly food and His sweet drink. But the trouble is that the poor soul does not hear the voice of Jesus, and therefore does not open the doors to Him and is deprived of His visit and sweet pleasure. Bodily deafness is a disaster, as you yourself know, man. But spiritual deafness is even more disastrous, for no word of God, without which everything is ill-fated, will not be allowed to reach the soul. A person who is physically deaf has his hearing closed to every word, good and bad. But this is not the case for the mentally deaf. He has an open ear for everything bad: slander, worthless fables, nasty and seductive songs, whispers of the devil, stories about the desires of the flesh and the world. On the contrary, one has a closed ear to hear God’s Word, His wonderful works and His praise. How can someone tell him: “So-and-so a person has made quite a fortune for himself in this and such a way, such-and-such a governor or such-and-such a secretary has collected so many thousands of money and bought so many souls of peasants,” he immediately begins to think within himself how he can get it too. When they say that such and such materials, such and such carriages, such and such wines, and other things that serve human whims are sold, one immediately thinks about how to see them and have them in one’s home. And when God’s Word is preached and it is said to him: “Repent, correct yourself, start a new Christian life, fear God and His righteous judgment, beware of sin, love virtue and try to do it, and so on,” he listens to this like a deaf person to a song. Truly great spiritual deafness! What's worse than eternal death? And what is more desirable than eternal life? God speaks in His Scripture and through His preachers, His servants, thunders: “Poor soul! You will perish, you will perish forever, if you do not repent.” He will bring down snares on sinners: fire and brimstone and a stormy spirit - their portion from the cup. For the Lord is righteous and loves righteousness; His face sees righteousness (Ps. 10:6-7). But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their lot in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death (Rev. 21:8). But the poor soul does not hear that strong voice of God and remains without repentance, as it was. God calls: “Turn to Me, O soul, and you will be saved, and you will live forever.” But the soul does not hear God’s call, it goes and strives for destruction, as it strived, it does not hear, since it does not have open ears. Scary voice: “You will perish forever unless you repent.” A kind and longed-for voice: “You will be saved forever if you repent.” Oh, if the soul heard this voice, it would be greatly horrified, and would tremble, and would choose true repentance in order to avoid destruction and receive eternal salvation! Therefore, every Christian should try and pray so that the inner ear of the soul is open. From here comes the beginning of both conversion and true repentance, and salvation. O poor Christian, deaf Christian! Awake, please, awaken and force yourself, fall before Jesus, sigh and pray to Him with zeal, that He may open the ears of your soul with His Divine power - and then you will willingly and joyfully listen to the voice of the Lord. O Jesus, the Power and Hope of our salvation, who opens the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf! Open the ears of our souls, so that we may hear Your Divine word. Say to our sinful soul: “Ephphatha,” that is, open (Mk. 7:34) - and its hearing will be opened. Signs of mental deafness: 1. When Christians hear the Word of God and are not corrected. 2. Love for this world, that is, for honor, glory, wealth, luxury and sweets. Satan arranges this deafness with his whispering, so that people cannot hear the Word of God and thus perish. You see a deaf person who does not listen to what is said or forbidden, and does not do so because he does not hear the speeches and does not understand the order or prohibition. Understand that such is the sinner, whose spiritual ears are stopped by Satan so that he does not hear the voice of the words of God. Such a one has ears to listen, but does not have ears to hear. He hears only with his bodily ears, but is deaf with his spiritual ears. The voice of the Word strikes the physical ear, but does not touch the spiritual, and therefore it is as if it were deaf; that is why the Word is ineffective. What God’s Word says to Him, He does not heed; What he commands or forbids, he does not listen to, like a deaf man. For such a word, exhortation, advice, like music for a deaf person, does not bring any benefit. That is why Christ says in the Gospel: whoever has ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:15)! Everyone has ears, but not everyone has ears to hear. Hence it happens that although everyone gathered in the church listens to the Word of God, not everyone receives the benefit, since not everyone has ears to hear. Physical deafness is deplorable, but mental deafness is worthy of greater lamentation. Because a soul that does not hear or listen to God’s voice is subject to all delusion and eternal destruction. This exhorts you to pray to Christ to open the hearing of your soul, as He once opened the ears and tongue of the deaf and tongue-tied (see Mark 7:32-37), and to give you ears to hear.