О вере

In the Gospel, the Lord, wanting to bring the disciples to perfect faith, said: he who is faithful in a little and in many is faithful, and he who is unfaithful in a little and in many is unfaithful (Luke 16:10). What is small? and what is a lot? Small things are the promises of this age, with which the Lord promised to supply those who believe in Him (for example, food, clothing, and other things that serve to calm the body, health, and the like), commanding those who resort to Him not to worry about this at all, but to rely on Him with complete confidence. Many are the gifts of the eternal and incorruptible age, which the Lord promised to give to those who believe in Him, and to those who continually care about them and ask for them; because he commanded: you seek only the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33), so that in a small and temporary way everyone may be tested whether he believes in God; because God promised to provide this, although we will not worry about anything like that, we will only care about the future and the eternal. For according to the word which the Lord has spoken, everyone is tested and known, if he believes in temporal matters. How is this possible? Listen. Do you call yourself a believer that you will be worthy of the heavenly kingdom, you will become the son of God, being born again, you will be the heir of God, and you will reign with Christ for whole centuries, and how God will bliss in the indescribable light for boundless and countless centuries? - Without a doubt, you will say: “Indeed it is so; for, for this reason, having withdrawn from the world, I gave myself over to Christ.” “So, test yourself, don’t you still have worldly and earthly worries, don’t you have a lot of concern about food and clothing for the body, about other needs and peace of mind, don’t you resort to your strength, don’t you look after yourself, while you are commanded to have no concern about this at all? If you believe that you will receive the eternal, immortal, imperishable and incorruptible; then won’t you even more so receive this transitory and earthly thing that God gave to animals, birds, and wicked people? Do you not believe that the Lord will provide you with what He commanded you not to worry about, saying: Do not worry about what you eat or what you put on: for the nations of the world are looking for all these; But the heavenly Father has good news about you, that you require these all (Matthew 6:25.32); and reproaching those of little faith, he adds: look at the birds of the air, how they neither sow nor reap, and your heavenly Father feeds them: how much better are you to eat the birds (26)? And even more ensuring, he says: do not worry about it in the morning (34). If you still care about this and have not entrusted yourself to the word of the Lord; then know that you have not yet believed that you will receive eternal blessings, that is, the kingdom of heaven; and you consider yourself a believer, but turn out to be an unbeliever in the consideration of small and perishable things. And also, just as the body is more valuable than clothing, so the soul is more valuable than the body. So, do you believe that your soul accepts from Christ the healing of eternal and incurable ulcers and passions of dishonor (Rom. 1:2,6), since the Lord, the only Healer and Physician, came here for this purpose, to heal the souls of believers today from suffering incurable by human means, and to cleanse them from the filth of sinful leprosy? You will say: “Of course I believe, because this is why I am here, and this is what I am waiting for.” “So, having tested yourself, find out whether carnal suffering is not drawing you to earthly doctors, as if Christ, in whom you have trusted, cannot heal you. You see how you are deceiving yourself. Look, you consider yourself a believer, but you don’t believe as you should, according to the truth itself. And if you believe that Christ heals the eternal and incurable ulcers of the immortal soul and sinful infirmities, then is it really impossible to heal temporary diseases and infirmities of the body if you resort to Him alone, despising medical benefits? For He who created the soul also created the body; and He who heals the immortal soul can himself heal the body from temporary infirmities and diseases. But without a doubt you will tell me: “God gave this to heal the body, having arranged that herbs, and earthly medicines, and doctors’ aids against bodily infirmities, for the body, which is from the earth, are prepared from various types of earth.” And I agree that this is true. But know to whom this was given, and for whom it was prepared. God, by His infinite love for mankind and by His goodness, when man fell away from the commandment he had received, was subjected to an angry sentence, expelled from the paradise of sweetness into this world, as if into captivity, into the desert, and into some kind of mine, became under the power of darkness through unbelief, due to the error of passions, having previously known neither suffering nor illness, fell into suffering and illness of the flesh, and all from him those born became subject to the same suffering; then, out of His great goodness, not even though the sinful human race would certainly perish, He arranged all this for the weak and unfaithful. But to strengthen, protect and serve the body, he gave this to the people of this world, to everyone outside; for he allowed them to use this, although they were still unable to completely entrust themselves to God. And you, a monk who came to Christ, who desired to be the son of God, to be born again of the Spirit, to become higher than the first man who did not know suffering, who received great promises - the benevolent coming of the Lord, who became a wanderer of this world, must, above all worldly people, acquire for yourself faith, thought, and life, as if new and extraordinary. For if you live the same way as everyone else, then you are no different from worldly people. Here in the world they marry, and eat, and drink, and use gold, and silver, and trade, and arts, and wealth for their own benefit, since God has ordained everything for man who has fallen into sin. For we do not affirm that anything that is determined for the benefit of man is not from God. But for the complete sake of Christ, you stood outside of this; He must also place himself outside the worldly healing of infirmities and outside medical benefits, as one who has flown to Christ, Who promised to provide everything to His servants. If you reason and feel the same with the world; then you are already like the people of the world, and also unfaithful, although you consider yourself faithful and your own to Christ. New and unusual for the whole world, and will, and faith, and activities, and life, you must seek and achieve, who desire to completely please Christ, follow His footsteps and have a way of thinking that is contrary to the people of this age; because you believed the new and extraordinary message, the promises of eternal blessings, the inheritance of the heavenly city, the indestructible kingdom, unceasing joys and eternal pleasures, the sanctification of the heart and the perfect cleansing wrought in you by the Spirit. For he who truly desires to be a man of Christ and hopes to receive eternal blessings is obliged to joyfully count labor and sorrow as wealth, count suffering as repose, harsh life as pleasure, reproach as honor, insults as glory; because this is the glory of the servants of God who follow their Lord and obey His words. The ascetic and warrior of Christ not only must endure reproach, but if he encounters wealth, then it is proper for him to impute it to pus; and if there is glory and authority, then do not be arrogant or arrogant; if praise and honors come from people, consider them undeserved; It’s better to say that what is considered glorious, mourn about it, and what is dishonorable in the world, rejoice at it and have fun with it. Sometimes it is possible to endure reproach and not endure glory and honors, but on the contrary, to become proud and lose oneself, and abandon the humble path of righteousness. That is why Paul says: weapons of righteousness with the right hand and the side, with glory and dishonor (2 Cor. 6:7), so that, in every trial of both, you may be equal to yourself, and unshakable, and not lose your temper. For such should be one who desires to truly please the Lord, and thus accomplish the feat of his will. Just as an anvil does not yield to blows and no depressions are imprinted on it, but always remains equal to itself; So, whoever wants to be a Christian in various sorrows and temptations (both during external insults caused by people, or persecution, or damage, or the like, and during internal attacks by spirits of evil), let him be equal to himself, courageously enduring everything that happens. Always having the Lord as a stronghold, a fence and a pillar of strength from the face of the enemy, let him run to Him during battle, if he is in any enemy country, and let him say: Be me, O God, in a refuge and in a strong place to save me (Ps. 71:3). Thus, he will be able to overcome all the temptations and sorrows encountered, always having before the eyes of the Lord, also faith in Him and trust, like firm confidence. If human glory, praise, honors and superiors meet him, then, as it has been said, let them not make any depressions or impressions in his soul, so that he may enjoy and rest in peace, be exalted and exalted thereby. For he, who is tempted by his gums and lips, i.e. glory and dishonor, disgust and praise, one must be even and unyielding on either side, always remaining unshakable. So, whoever built his foundation in advance on stone, during floods and rivers of sorrows, during storms of temptation, although terrible winds - the spirits of evil - press and strike him, he will not fall, because he was founded on stone (Matthew 7:24). Who initially, according to God's word, practiced in acquiring such a skill and in the good training of himself to courage, firmness, generosity, patience, faith, hope and devotion, the habit of good morals and righteous life, spends time in other exercises of virtue, follows the word of God, and then, in anticipation of faith, received power from above; he, by the grace of God, truly becomes the foundation, house, pillar and affirmation, for many souls he serves as the author of life, having the strength to bear the infirmities of many. Therefore, having taught ourselves every virtue and in every good way devoting ourselves to a pleasing life, when our mind does not yield to any temptation, strengthened by the grace of God, may we become heirs of eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: