A conversation about the enjoyment of future benefits and the insignificance of present ones

“Discourse on the enjoyment of future benefits and the insignificance of present ones” (6 chapters) delivered by St. John Chrysostom in Antioch, year unknown. It is dedicated to the theme of spiritual freedom: true power belongs to those who know how to control their passions. The saint shows how spiritual blessings stand above earthly blessings, and what the difference is between the present life and the future: “Our body will no longer need clothes, a cover, a house, or anything else like that.” The conversation discusses in some detail the question of how Jesus Christ made the most sublime rules easy for us by performing them Himself: “Since the commandments were important, and the rewards for (fulfilling) them were invisible, this is what He does: He Himself fulfills them in practice, and lays crowns before our eyes...” *The title of the work in Latin is De futurae vitae deliciis. This conversation, undoubtedly delivered in Antioch, although it is unknown in what year, treats various subjects of morality. - Having given praise to those of his listeners who, out of their zeal, come to listen to the sacred word, the preacher shows where true greatness and true superiority lie. – How much spiritual goods stand above earthly goods. -What is the difference between this life and the future? - Finally, the question is discussed in detail how Jesus Christ made the most sublime rules easy for us, performing them Himself and providing us with rewards and retributions. – Final admonition. 1. The heat is strong and the heat is tormenting, but it has not weakened your zeal and has not dried up your disposition to listen (to the teachings). Such is an ardent and attentive listener: reinforced by the love of listening, he will easily endure everything, just to fulfill this beautiful and spiritual desire of his, and neither cold, nor heat, nor a multitude of affairs and worries, nor anything else like that can stop him, while the lazy and careless will not be awakened - neither by the goodness of the air, nor by leisure and freedom, nor by comfort and ease; no, he continues to sleep in some kind of sleep that is worthy of all condemnation. But you are not like that; no, you are the best living in our city. And indeed, the first people in the city are you, who are always so attentive and cheerful, and constantly follow the teachings. For me this sight is more majestic than the royal palaces. What is given there, whatever it is, ceases along with real life, and causes a lot of worries and anxieties, but here there is nothing of the kind, on the contrary, there is perfect security, and honor, free from anxiety, and power that has no end, not stopped by death, but then it becomes more secure. Indeed, don’t tell me that so-and-so is sitting on a chariot, raising his eyebrows high and surrounded by a crowd of bodyguards; don't talk about his belt or the crier's cry. No, show me the difference between a boss not in this, but in his state of mind, that is, whether he controls his passions, whether he conquers ailments (of the heart), for example, whether he curbs his addiction to money, whether he tames insatiable carnal love, whether he does not dry up from envy, whether he is not indignant at the strong passion of vanity, whether he is not afraid and trembles of poverty or unfavorable change, whether he does not die from this fear. Show me such and such a boss; This is power. But if, while ruling people, he himself is servile to passions, about this I will say that he is a slave more than all people. Whoever has a fever nesting inside him, although the appearance of the body does not at all show this illness, doctors, however, probably say that he is possessed by a strong fever, while ordinary people do not know this. So, about a person whose soul is in slavery and in captivity to the passions, despite the fact that his appearance does not show anything like this, but (shows) the opposite, I will say that he is more of a slave than anyone else, because a sinful fever is deeply nested in him, and the violent power of the passions is established in the soul itself. And whoever has thrown off this power, is not carried away by evil desires, and does not fear, does not irrationally tremble at poverty and disgrace, and other hardships of real life, even though he is dressed in rags, sitting in prison and chained, I will call him a leader, and free, and more royal than kings. 2. Such power is not bought with money, and has no envious people; neither the tongue of the slanderer, nor the eyes of the evil-wisher, nor the tricks of the insidious know it; no, living as if in an impregnable refuge of wisdom, it always remains invincible, and is not inferior not only to other circumstances, but also to death itself. The martyrs prove this: their bodies collapsed and turned to dust and dust, but the government lives and acts every day - drives away demons, eradicates illnesses, stirs up entire cities and leads the people here. The power of this power, not only during the life of those who possess it, but also after their death, is such that no one is forced, but everyone comes here of their own free will and willingly, and are not at all tired of the duration (both the journey to worship the holy martyrs and the church service performed in their church). You see, it was not in vain that I said that this spectacle is more majestic than the royal palaces. What is there is like drying leaves and passing shadows, and what is given here is like a diamond, even harder, because it is eternal, unshakable and not subject to any change, fearlessly comes to those who love it, free from abuse and strife, from envy and judgment, from intrigues and slander. Worldly goods have many envious people, but spiritual goods, the more people they receive, the more abundant they turn out to be. This can be verified from the present word. If I keep this word that I convey to everyone, I will be poorer, and when I tell everyone, then, as if throwing seeds into pure soil, I am multiplying my wealth, increasing my wealth, making you all richer, and I myself am not becoming poorer because of this, on the contrary, even much richer. Not so with money, but quite the opposite. If I had gold in my pantry, and I wanted to distribute it to everyone, my wealth, diminishing through this distribution, could not remain in its previous quantity. 3. So, when spiritual blessings are so excellent, when it is very easy to obtain them, since they are given freely to those who wish, then let us love them more (than anything), and let us cast shadows and not run to rapids and pitfalls. To strengthen this love in us (for spiritual goods), God arranged for worldly goods to disappear even before the death of their owner. In fact, not when the owner of them dies, not only then do they end, on the contrary, they wither and die during his lifetime, so that their transience will take away the most passionate and insane seekers of them from this terrible infection, revealing the nature of these blessings and teaching by experience that they are powerless than a shadow, and through this eradicating in people the very love for them. For example: wealth not only disappears with the death of the rich, but even leaves him during his lifetime; youth runs away from the one who possesses it, not only when he dies, but also when he is still breathing: it ends on the path of mature age and gives way to old age. Likewise, beauty and good looks, even during a woman’s life, end and turn into ugliness; glory and power too; honors and power are temporary and short-lived; people who possess them die sooner; in a word, we see that things (i.e., earthly goods) perish daily just like bodies (human). And this is so that we, neglecting the present, cling to the future and seek pleasure in the latter, so that, walking on earth, our hearts live in heaven. God created two centuries, one present, the other future, one sensual, the other spiritual, one delivering bodily peace, the other non-physical (spiritual), one through experience, the other in hopes, commanded one to be a field, the other a place of reward, assigned struggle, labor and exploits to the first, crowns, rewards and rewards to the second, made one a sea, the other a pier, one short, the other ageless and endless. So, since many people preferred sensual goods to spiritual goods, He assigned transience and short-term duration to these goods, so that, by distracting them from the present, He would bind people with strong love for future benefits. And since these last blessings are invisible and spiritual, existing in faith and hope, then look what He does. Having come here, having taken on our flesh and having accomplished that wonderful economy, through this He places future blessings before our eyes, and thus confirms (in their existence) our coarse minds. Since he came to bring (to us) angelic life, to make the earth heaven, and to give (us) such commandments that those who fulfill them would be likened to ethereal forces, he made people angels, called them to higher hopes, expanded narrow fields (for struggle), commanded to strive for the highest, ascend to the highest circles of heaven, oppose demons and fight with all the army of the devil, (commanded) having a body and being in bonds of the flesh, mortify the body, stop the agitation of passions, carry the flesh, be that as it may, on oneself, and at the same time try hard to compare with the ethereal forces. 4. Since He commanded this, look at what he does, how he makes the feat easier. However, if you wish, let us first talk about the importance of the commandments - about what a high flight He showed us, how, taking us almost beyond the limits of human nature, He commanded everyone to move to heaven. In fact, while the law (of Moses) commands: “an eye for an eye” (Ex. 21:24), He says: “whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39). He did not say: just bear the insult complacently and with meekness, but: go even further in wisdom, be ready to endure more than the offender wants; with the greatness of your patience, defeat his daring impudence, let him be surprised at your extraordinary meekness, and with that go away. And then he says: “Pray for those who offend you; pray for your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matthew 5:44). He also offered advice about virginity, saying: “Whoever can accommodate, let him accommodate” (Matthew 19:12). Since it, after disobeying (Adam), flew away and departed from paradise, He, having descended from heaven, brings it again, returning it, as if a fugitive, to its former fatherland, and freeing it from distant exile; having come (to earth), He himself was born of a Virgin and changed the laws of nature; and thus at the very beginning (of his earthly life) he honored virginity, showing his mother as a virgin. So, since He, having come (to earth), prescribed such commandments and demanded (from us) a high life, He gave rewards commensurate with our labors, and even greater and higher ones. But these (rewards) were invisible, only in hopes, in faith and anticipation of the future. Since the commandments are difficult and sublime, and rewards and rewards are in faith, look at what He does, how He makes the feat easier, how He helps in the struggle. How and in what way? In the following two ways: firstly, by the fact that He Himself fulfilled the commandments, and secondly, by the fact that He showed and placed the rewards before the eyes (of people). One part of His teaching was commandments, and the other was rewards. The commandment: “pray for those who use you and persecute you,” and the reward: “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44–45). Again: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). Do you see that one is a commandment and the other is a reward? Again: “if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Do you see another commandment and reward? He commanded them (the disciples) to do one thing, and He Himself prepared the other, and this was a reward and retribution. And again: “Whoever leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands” is a commandment; “he will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life” - this is a reward and a crown (Matthew 19:29). 5. So, since the commandments were important, and the rewards for (fulfilling) them are invisible, this is what He does: He Himself fulfills them in practice, and places crowns before our eyes. Anyone who is told to walk along an unpaved road will walk along it more quickly and willingly if he sees that someone has gone ahead of him. So in relation to the commandments, those who see those going ahead of them follow easily. So, to make it easier for our nature to follow, He, having accepted our flesh and nature, walked in it and fulfilled the commandments in practice. So the commandment: “Whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also,” He himself fulfilled when the bishop’s servant hit Him on the cheek; He did not take revenge on him, but endured him with such meekness that he said: “If I said bad, show that it is bad; What if it is good that you beat Me” (John 18:23)? Do you see the meekness that makes you tremble? Do you see humility that strikes with amazement? He received a blow not from some free man, but from a servant who grew up under the scourge, born in slavery - and responds with such meekness! So His Father said to the Jews, “My people! What have I done to you and how have I burdened you? answer me” (Micah 6:3). Just as he says: “If I said something bad, show it,” so does His Father: “Answer Me.” As He says: “Why are you beating Me?” so does the Father: “What have I done to you and what have I burdened you with?” Again, when He wanted to teach non-covetousness, look how He Himself shows it in practice, saying: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Do you see how extreme non-covetousness is? He had no table, no lamp, no house, no chair, or anything else like that. He taught us to endure slander graciously, and showed it in practice. Thus, when (the Jews) called Him demon-possessed and a Samaritan, He, although He could have destroyed and taken revenge on them for the insult, did not do this, on the contrary, He still showed them kindness and drove out the demons from them. Having said: “Pray for those who offend you,” He Himself fulfilled this when He ascended to the cross: when He was crucified and nailed (to the cross), He, hanging on the cross, said: “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He said this not because he himself could not let go, but to teach us to pray for our enemies. Since He not only taught in words, but also carried out His teaching in practice, therefore He also used prayer. So, let none of the heretics, seeing His great love for mankind, think that these words show His weakness. He himself said: “so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6). No, He wanted to teach, and the teacher introduces his teaching, not only with words, but also with his deeds. That's why He used prayer. So He washed the disciples’ feet, not because He was smaller than them; no, He, being God and Lord, only condescended to such humility. 6. That is why He said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). And how else He showed and laid before our eyes the very rewards and rewards - listen. He promised the resurrection of bodies, incorruption, the meeting (of Him) in the air, the rapture in the clouds; and this was proven in practice. How and in what way? Because, having died, he rose again; For this reason He was with them (the disciples) for forty days, to confirm and teach them what our bodies would be like after the resurrection. Again, saying through Paul: “We will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). He proved this with his deeds. After the resurrection, when He deigned to ascend into heaven, He, in the presence of them (the disciples), said: “He rose up before their eyes, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And they looked up to heaven as He ascended” (Acts 1:9). This means that our body will be consistent with His body, because it is made of the same substance with it, since as with the head, so with the body; as with the beginning, so with the end. Wanting to show this more clearly, Paul said: “He will transform our body so that it will be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21). So, if our body is conformed (to the body of Jesus Christ), it will go the same way, and will also rise in the clouds. Expect this too on Sunday. Since the word about the kingdom was dark for those who heard Him then, He, having ascended the mountain, was transfigured before His disciples (Matthew 17:1-2), in order to reveal to them the future glory, and, as if in a mirror, and although not clearly, to show what our body will be like. But then (during the Transfiguration of the Lord) the body appeared in clothes, but not so on the resurrection. Our body will no longer need clothes, a covering, a house, or anything else like that. If Adam, before the crime, was not ashamed of his nakedness, because he was clothed with former glory, much more so will our bodies, having passed into a higher and better state, not need any of this. That is why the Lord himself, when he resurrected, left his clothes in the tomb and in the burial cave, and resurrected his body naked, surrounded by unspeakable glory and bliss. Knowing this, beloved, and being admonished by words and taught by eyes, let us lead such a life that, as we are caught up in the clouds, we will always live with Him, and, having been saved by His grace, enjoy the eternal blessings that may we all receive in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honor, worship, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: