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Matthew 10:7. “And as you go, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:8. “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons; Freely you have received, freely give.” "Ch. 10, art. 7 and 8. As you go, preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand: heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons: freely you have received, freely give. And at the present time, preachers should primarily tell people about the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven. This can best work on people suffering under the heavy dominion of sin. Describe this Kingdom in all detail, like a well-known earthly state, which was described by eyewitnesses. But when describing the Kingdom of Heaven, throw some light and shade, which must necessarily be in our objects, which are not entirely known to us and are covered with some darkness: ... heal the sick ... and so on. In these words, the apostles see God in the flesh, the Creator of everything, to whom it is enough to say that there is a known deed or a known object - for this to actually come true. Can an ordinary person speak like that? Suppose you told me: heal the sick, and I would tell you: give means, for example medicine, advice that I could convey to the sick for his benefit, and so on. I myself am not able, I cannot: how can I restore order in the patient’s body when I do not know well what kind of disorder has occurred in his limbs and how to help order emerge from the disorder. How will this wonderful machine listen to me? How can I not spoil it, inexperienced? That's what I would tell you. But this is not the case here. It is said - and no one says a word: they know that it will happen. And if you told me: raise the dead, I would consider you crazy in your mind and would not consider it necessary to talk to you for a long time. I would only tell you that God alone is able to raise us from the dead, and people without the extraordinary gift of God cannot do this, and when you said: cast out demons, I would tell you: are you stronger than demons, since in order to cast them out, you certainly need to be stronger than them. But since they are disembodied spirits, although they are spirits of darkness, and were once angels, strong in strength, then, without a doubt, they are stronger than you, who are fleshly. If you overpower them, then either God is with you, or you are God Himself. But I know that this is God speaking, and I do not find anything strange in these words. It is natural for God to manifest Himself in this way” [1, 66]. “I sinned when I envied the priest Mikhail in Vaulovo for the fact that he took a lot of land into his possession - a whole mile, planting a thousand trees in it, making vegetable gardens for all kinds of vegetables and a large place for a beekeeper. But then he repented and changed his envy to goodwill - let him use this plot for his benefit and his family. The monastery has a lot of land - 800 acres, both forest and hay, and sown with grain seeds, or arable land. Father Mikhail is a good priest, simple, sober, well-behaved, efficient in his service, helpful, but also a family man. We thank the Lord for all His mercy. Eat tuna, give tuna (Matthew 10:8). For nothing, by accident, we received such a land gift from the Lord from the city of Senator Mordvinov” [4, 15]. “Do not look at the multitude of beggars who pursue you with their begging as your enemies, because of your addiction to acquisitions, but as truly friends of God and yours, because of whom an eternal, imperishable reward is being prepared for you in heaven; do not look at them as parasites, but, on the contrary, look at yourself as such, because from many you eat and drink for free for sweetness. Do not feel sorry for money, but for them as truly poor and pitiful, having nowhere to lay their heads, walking to the point of exhaustion for small alms. Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8)” [6, 106]. Matthew 10:9. “Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts,” Matthew 10:10. “neither a bag for the journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the worker is worthy of food.” "Versions 9-10. Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor a bag for the road, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the worker is worthy of food. Our work - serving the salvation of people - is very great and honorable. We must be completely devoted to our work and not think about money, about food and clothing; those for whom we serve must reward us for our unvalued labors from their property. And they should never show this to us, because if we have sown spiritual things in them, how great is it if we reap their bodily ones [1 Cor. 9:11]. “Do not acquire, says the Savior, gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor a feast for the journey, nor two coats, nor boots, nor a staff: for the worker of his reward is worthy (Matthew 10:9-10). These words of the Savior Christ convict you: you do not fulfill them at all. You have not touched them with your finger, as they say, to apply them to the work. You also have silver and copper at the belt, and in abundance, and a feast and several pairs of vestments and boots; not only that, you are also a lover of money and are stingy, you are not hospitable and sociable from the heart for the sake of pitying corruptible poison. After all, are you worthy of your reward, that as long as you are a priest, a spiritual worker, you will certainly need to receive your reward. dispensation of the Master, who will never, never forget His servants with earthly gifts. - My friend! Your duty and your first virtue should be non-covetousness and hospitality and readiness to serve everyone... (Matt. 10:9.) And whatever He wants to be in you, let him be a servant of all (Matt. 20:26). Christ! Fulfill the commandment of your Savior: you preach to others the teachings and commandments of the Savior - how will they fulfill it when you are the first to be seen as failing to fulfill it? They will point to you and say: he speaks and does not do (cf. Matthew 23:3)" [8, 430]. Matthew 10:11. “Whatever city or village you enter, visit who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave;” Matthew 10:12. “And when you enter a house, greet it by saying; peace to this house;" “Everything that makes up me, a human being, lives solely by God and in union only with Him, and having been separated from Him, it is extremely poor, but the life of my soul constitutes the world of my spiritual powers, and this world exclusively comes from God. There is, it is true, a world of the flesh, but this is a deceptive world, the forerunner of a spiritual storm, in which people who live in the spirit of the world slumber, such a world, says the Lord: they sometimes say to people: peace and affirmation, then all of a sudden destruction will attack them (Compare: 1 Thess. 5:3); but the spiritual world, which comes from the Spirit of God, differs as heaven from earth, from that carnal world. He is heavenly, blessed - Peace be with you, peace be with you (Luke 24:36), the Lord often spoke to His disciples, teaching them His peace, and the apostles also taught the believers the peace of God and wished them the peace of God as the first good (See: Matt. 10:12), precisely because it constitutes the life of our soul and testifies to the union of our soul with God, while the absence of peace in the soul, indignation, which distinguishes all the passionate states of our soul, is the spiritual death of the soul and a sign of the action in our hearts of the enemy of our salvation” [8, 522]. Matthew 10:14. “And if anyone does not receive you and does not listen to your words, then when you leave that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet;” Matthew 10:15. “Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.” "Versions 14-15. And if anyone will not receive you and will not listen to your words, then, when you leave that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city. Whether they listen to us or not, we must preach. We do our job; if they do not listen to us, on those who do not listen is the righteous Judge, Who will exact strict punishment on the day of judgment from them, and we will receive a bribe for our work” [1, 67]. “Where will our heads and professors of Academies, Universities and all higher, middle and lower institutions with their students be at the Last Judgment? – According to the dignity of his spirit or unworthiness, everyone will receive his own. But it will be more joyful for the Sodomites and Gomorrites, the Tyrians and Sidonians, the Ninevites and others (cf. Matt. 10:15) than for the Christians who belonged to the Church of Christ, who had the Gospel, the Divine Service, the Sacraments and neglected all this” [4, 86]. “Woe, woe to us sinners, to us who call ourselves Orthodox Christians: what do we see in our city, not talking about other places, but about our city - everywhere you go? - Saturation, drunkenness, passion for circuses and theaters - real paganism! On holidays, instead of going to church and praying to God and lighting a candle, in order to show the Lord their gratitude for His mercies and so that the Lord would send fire and gracious light into our souls instead of material fire and light, many go to a tavern or drinking house and there eat and get extremely drunk on the holiday - instead of honoring the holiday with abstinence. Among foreigners, although they are non-Orthodox Christians, on Sundays and holidays the places where wine is sold are sealed, and everyone goes to the service, after the service they sit in their houses and read holy books or engage in soul-saving conversations; dine modestly and moderately; They don’t even think about going to houses of entertainment: but with us - oh woe! Like a holiday, so is satiety and drunkenness; like a holiday, there are heart-rending spectacles of debauchery; If it's a holiday, then it's a visit to entertainment venues. What are we doing? What have we come to, Christians? In name we are Christians, as if we belong to Christ, but in deeds we are swept away from Him, in deeds we are pagans, not Christians, and woe, woe, woe will befall us at the Last Judgment of Christ if we do not correct ourselves. It will be more pleasant at the Judgment for the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Tire and Sidon, these lawless cities that angered the Lord with their carnal uncleanness, than for us (cf. Matt. 10:15; Matt. 11:22, 24; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12, 14), who call themselves Christians” [8, 655]. Matthew 10:16. “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves: therefore be ye wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.” “Be wise as a serpent (Matthew 10:16), said the Savior. When a snake sees its enemy, then it skillfully hides its head so that the enemy does not bite it, and curls up into a ring. In the same way, a person must beware of his spiritual enemy, the devil: he must hide his head, that is, his mind, in his heart and thus concentrate his entire life in one point, the stronger it is to resist the spirit of malice, which very quickly overthrows the distracted forces of the soul - That’s why it costs him nothing to overturn and break up scattered people” [2, 316]. "St. 16 [and 20–22]. Behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves: therefore be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves... for it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you... and you will be hated by all for My name's sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved. We only need to be spiritually wise, pure and gentle, so that the Spirit of God can be with us and in us and act through us. If they hate us for the name of Jesus Christ, we should rejoice. Let us endure: only for patience to the end is salvation promised. This means that salvation is a very important matter when it is promised as a reward for those who endure to the end” [1, 67]. “Since the devil is simple in his essence and in an instant with a single thought he can attack us completely and enter our heart, then it is necessary to reflect him in the same instant, with one strong word of the heart, containing all the power of truth, as a complete antidote to the enemy’s lies. In this sense, the Savior said: be wise as a serpent [Matt. 10:16], i.e. how spiritual this serpent is, quickly, accurately, with hellish wisdom, always attacking us, realizing when it is easiest for him to attack and overthrow us; peeking out what our weaknesses and habits are and, for the most part, delivering a blow for sure. But at the same time, the Savior said, your goals are like doves, i.e. simple and gentle; borrow only one wisdom from the serpent, but let your heart remain simple, pure and uncorrupted; be meek and humble, like me, do not give in to anger and irritability, for the anger of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God [Jas. 1:20], keep yourselves clean from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” [5, vol. 1, 145]. “The Lord is like lightning: and our soul should be just as simple and quick. And the devil as a spirit is hellish lightning. “Be wise as a serpent and whole as a dove (cf. Matthew 10:16), like the Holy Spirit" [10, 170]. Matthew 10:19. “When they betray you, do not worry how or what to say; for at that hour it will be given to you what to say,” Matthew 10:20. “For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you.” “Do not worry, says the Savior, about what you will say: and do not worry about how you will speak... For fear it will be given to you in that hour that you speak (Matthew 10:19). (God’s favor passed from the Jews to Christians, who are mostly pagans; and among Christians themselves, God’s favor passes from one people, from one kingdom to another, as, for example, from the Greek to the Russian people: Greece has fallen, but Russia is prospering, just as the Jewish people are scattered across the face of the earth, and Christianity is prospering everywhere.) Make sure that your prayer is always sincere, from the heart, and never pray without sincerity, otherwise your prayer will be false. Therefore, when you notice during prayer that it is not sincere, immediately overcome yourself, your evil heart, your evil flesh and force your heart to be sincere. Avaritia (Latin – “greed”) manifests itself in different, often specious ways: destroy it in all its forms. Sometimes you want to indulge yourself and take a walk and spend money, but at this time stinginess sticks out its head and whispers: “Oh, this walk costs a lot of money - it would be better to spend it on something more necessary and useful!” Don't listen to her: she is deceiving you. Passions always deceive us. Moreover, if you allow it to whisper in your heart, the pleasure of walking will be lost” [2, 265]. “We can think because there is an infinite thought, just as we breathe because there is an infinity of air space. This is why bright thoughts about any subject are called inspiration. Our thought constantly flows precisely under the condition of the existence of the boundless thinking Spirit. That is why the Apostles say: we are not content to think of anything from ourselves, but our contentment is from God [2 Cor. 3:5]. That is why the Savior says: do not worry about what you say or what you say, for fear that what you say will be given to you [Matt. 10:19]. You see, both thought and even the word itself (inspiration) come to us from outside. This, however, is in a state of grace and in case of need. But even in our ordinary situation - all bright thoughts are from the Guardian Angel and from the Spirit of God; whereas, on the contrary, unclean, dark - from our damaged being and from the devil, who is always present to us. How should a Christian behave? God Himself is active in us [Cf.: Phil. 2:13]. In general, everywhere in the world we see the kingdom of thought, both in the entire composition of the visible world, and in particular - on earth, in the circulation and life of the globe - in the distribution of the elements of light, air, water, earth, fire (in secrecy), while other elements are diffused in all animals - in birds, fish, reptiles, animals and humans - in their wise and purposeful structure, in their abilities, morals or habits, - in plants, in their structure, in nutrition, etc., in a word, we see the kingdom of thought everywhere, even in a soulless stone and grain of sand” [5, vol. 1, 11]. “The Lord Jesus Christ, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is everywhere. Angels and holy men are one spirit with the Lord. But if, through the action of an evil spirit, you have lost your heartfelt faith in the Holy Spirit for some time, then for you at that time there is neither the Son nor the Father, for faith is given by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, i.e. By the Spirit of Christ, Who said of Himself: I am the truth [Jn. 14:6], or by the Spirit of the Father: The Spirit of your Father speak in you [Matt. 10:20], or by the Spirit of the Son: God sent the Spirit of the Son into your hearts [Gal. 4:6]" [5, vol. 2, 408]. “During the Divine service, during the performance of all the Sacraments and prayers, be like a child, trusting, guided by your parents. Remember what great fathers, what luminaries of the universe, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, guide you! – Like a child, like a child, be simple, trusting, and undoubting in the work of God. - Cast all your sorrow on the Lord (cf. 1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 54:23), and be completely carefree. - Do not worry about how or what you say, or what you say: you will not be the ones who speak, but the Spirit of your Father will speak in you (Matthew 10:19-20). Long ago the Lord took away from us this concern, this sadness, teaching our God-bearing fathers by His Spirit what to say to the Lord during Divine services and in various cases and circumstances of human life that require prayer, bringing down the blessing from above. We are desperate to pray. - The enemy is getting cold. But what is his constriction, if our heart is established in the Lord (Compare: 1 Sam. 2:1)! This is the trouble if we are not in God, if we do not have firm faith, if we have bound ourselves with worldly passions, if our mind is proud and arrogant. “Then in the holiest, most immaculate matter of Divine services, the celebration and Communion of the Holy Mysteries, the devil will strongly hinder us. - Well, he will cleverly teach someone of little faith, or one who is arrogant in his mind, or who is partial to something earthly, carnal. It will exhaust you, exhaust you – so much so that you can barely bring your legs home” [10, 257]. Matthew 10:21. “Brother will betray brother to death, and father his son; and the children will rise up against their parents and kill them.” Matthew 10:22. “And you will be hated by all because of My name; but he who endures to the end will be saved.” “Original sin is so strong that relatives do evil to their relatives, for example, envy, etc. The Savior perfectly expressed its actions in relatives when he said: brother will betray brother and father will betray their child to death, and the children will rise up against their parents and kill them (Matthew 10:21)” [2, 335]. “Others willingly and with attention listen to the Word of God, but woe: they are frivolous, impatient, selfish, fickle; under favorable circumstances they believe, and under unfavorable circumstances they betray their faith; These are people who have not rooted faith in themselves, this is a seed that fell on a stone. But faith preaches that only by enduring to the end will he be saved (Matthew 10:22); and the fearful and the unfaithful and the vile... and all those who lie, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Apoc. 21:8) 2. And according to the general human consciousness, is it not fair to demand, beloved brethren, that a person be faithful to the end to the one to whom he has made an oath to be faithful to death, especially if the oath of allegiance is given to a person worthy of our full love and perfect respect? If we make an oath to the earthly king to serve until the last drop of blood and consider it dishonorable not to keep our vow, and remain faithful to him until death: then how can we not be faithful to death to God the Savior, Who, having taken upon Himself our nature, shed all His Blood for us to the last drop and to Whom we gave at Baptism the duty of fidelity? Oh, may we not fall away from our Lord the Redeemer, no matter what misfortune befalls us! For where can we hide from Him? What will we find without Him? He has the words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68)" [9, 302]. Matthew 10:24. “A student is not higher than a teacher, and a servant is not higher than his master:” Matthew 10:25. “It is sufficient for the disciple that he should be as his teacher, and for the servant that he should be as his master. If the master of the house was called Beelzebub, how much more of his household?” "24 Art. and so on. A student is not above his teacher, and a servant is not above his master: it is enough for a student that he should be like his teacher, and for a servant that he should be like his master. If the master of the house was called Beelzebub, how much more of his household?” [1, 68]. Matthew 10:26. “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be known.” “You grieve that your vices are disclosed by your own relatives. It is impossible not to grieve: you are appointed to shine, and not to darken the already dark darkness. But your deeds disgrace you. If good fame flees, then bad fame does not lie. Everything must come into manifestation: nothing is hidden, which cannot be revealed, and secret, which cannot be understood (cf. Matthew 10:26). Correct yourself immediately, so that those who see your life about Christ will soon stop thinking and speaking about you.” [8, 181]. Matthew 10:27. “What I say to you in the dark, speak in the light; and whatever you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” “When praying to God, you need to acquire such a firm, unshakable faith that doubting anything is difficult, even impossible, and for this you have the words inscribed in your heart: all things are possible with God [Cf.: Matt. 19:26 ]; one must also have living confidence that the Lord fulfills everything - that His being is Love and Goodness; that it is His business and, as it were, His being: to create, to give, to have mercy, to be generous, to fulfill our requests. – And whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be done for you [Matt. 21:22, Wed: Mark. 11:24]. You also need to pay close attention to your heart, so that it does not lie, so that every word comes from the depths of it, as it is said: from the depths I have called to you, O Lord [Ps. 129:1 ]! That is, we must be extremely concerned about the truth of prayer, about that sincerity that makes all the words of prayer composed by others its own, considers every word of prayer true” [5, vol. 2, 479]. Matthew 10:28. “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but fear Him more who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” “Verse 28. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. If the Savior, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, was called by defamatory names, then much less will His followers be ashamed to be called by the most reviled names. There is no need to be too afraid of those who rob and destroy only [one] house; we must be afraid of those who can rob and expose our soul. Or we must fear the One who, for our poverty through good deeds and for our evil, can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. This means that there will certainly be a terrible Gehenna, as was the case with the murderers of the apostles" [1, 68]. “Do not be afraid of physical deprivation, be afraid of mental deprivation. Do not be afraid, do not be cowardly, do not be irritated when you are deprived of money, food, drink, sweets, clothing, housing, even your body itself; Be afraid when the enemy deprives your soul of faith, hope, love for God and neighbor, when he plants hatred, enmity, addiction to earthly things, pride and other sins in your heart. Fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [Matt. 10:28]" [5, vol. 1, 208]. "Fear not those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul (Matthew 10:28). Stingy, covetous, money-loving, gluttonous! Hear these words of the Savior and place them on your hearts. Let us assume that someone kills you in any way, your money, food, drink, clothing, books, household utensils, and other things; let us assume that you you have lost your health because of the injustice of people, you have even lost your physical life - but you are not a loser: your immortal soul will remain intact and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29) - so that all earthly loss will mean absolutely nothing and will even amount to gain for the soul. So, no one is afraid of deprivation of earthly benefits, deprivation of health, physical life itself: people can take away our money, food, clothing, housing, health, life. physical, but cannot kill our soul. - Everything will pass away like a shadow, except the soul, which is immortal” [10, 429]. Matthew 10:29. “Are not two small birds sold for an assar? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father;" Matthew 10:30. “Even the hairs on your head are all numbered;” Matthew 10:31. “Do not be afraid: you are better than many small birds.” “Verse 30. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Such is the care of the Heavenly Father for us” [1, 68]. “You feel sorry and embarrassed in your heart because of the excessive, in your opinion, spending of money and the excessive and untimely consumption of food needs. But remember this: if the Heavenly Father feeds you with the Flesh and Blood of His Son, will He ever deprive you and your family of daily food? He who feeds the birds of the air, valued by one Assar, and does not forget them, will he forget you (See: Matt. 10:29–31; Luke 12:6–7)? I will not forget you, says the Lord Adonai (Wed: Isa. 49:15). Do not worry about the morning, for the morning is worried about itself: its wickedness prevails over the day (Matthew 6:34)” [8, 572]. Matthew 10:32. “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father who is in heaven;” “Verse 32. Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father in heaven; but whoever denies Me... Now there are many who reject the Savior before men. They, poor ones, do not imagine what shame and horror awaits them in the future - forever and ever. They will be rejected before the Father by the Son of God, the Father of the age to come” [1, 68]. Matthew 10:34. “Do not think that I came to bring peace to earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:35. “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Matthew 10:36. “And a man’s enemies are his own household.” Matthew 10:37. “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” “July 27 after the cathedral Liturgy. Oh, what my bliss comes from the communion of the most pure and life-giving Mysteries of my Lord! I feel so good! Glory to Thee, Lord! And before the Liturgy, the enemy stopped me and wounded my heart with pity for my brother’s corruptible food and anger at him. For a long time I groaned in my heart and prayed to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, and finally the Lord had mercy on me. I firmly imagined and acknowledged in my heart that everything before my Lord, who is the only One who exists (Ex. 3:14) is nothing, and all food and drink, all the riches of the world and its pleasures are nothing; the whole earth and its fulfillment (cf. Ps. 23:1) are like nothing, and that in Him alone, who brought everything into existence from non-existence, we must hope for everything completely and expect everything from Him: for He can always do everything with me. That maintaining the unity of the spirit in the union of peace (Eph. 4:3) with the brethren is the life of me and all people, that this unity of the spirit should not be divided by anything other than the obvious sins of a brother, for in this case separation is necessary and not to fall into opposition to the Lord, so as not to be in the same mind of wickedness. “The Lord Himself says that He came to separate in this way even father from daughter and son from mother... and that a man’s enemies are those of his own household (cf. Matthew 10:35, 36)” [8, 595]. “Verse 37. Whoever loves a father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. If those who love their own blood more than God, with a pure and holy love inspired by nature, are unworthy of the Lord, then how unworthy of Him are those who are passionately attached in their hearts to unrelated persons, who love not out of pure motives” [1, 68]. “What is the power of crime, the greatest madness of free and ingratitude, and the misfortune of the first people? The fact is that they exchanged God for creation; love for the Creator - to devotion to the evil creature; the most holy, imperishable union with the Creator, - to the unclean, evil, evil and corruptible union with creatures. He who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). What can we say about the sinful connections and addictions of fornicators and harlots; about malicious alliances, what are the current revolutionary alliances? About alliances of sectarians, schismatics, heretics, about alliances of robbers, thieves, anti-state? [6, 47]. Matthew 10:38. “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:39. “He who saves his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for My sake will save it.” "Verse 38–39. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who saves his soul will lose it... The cross was the instrument of the Savior’s death because we deserved it: He Himself was sinless. Since the world is still evil, adulterous and sinful, the flesh is whimsical, and the devil draws to his side the sweetness of sin, the cross is still a necessary path to salvation. The Lord redeemed us on the cross - but if we ourselves are crucified to Him; He died for us and is buried - but if we ourselves die to sin and are buried by Him" [1, 68]. Matthew 10:40. “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me;” Matt. 10:41. whoever receives the prophet, in the name of the prophet, will receive the reward of the prophet; and whoever receives the righteous, in the name of the righteous, will receive the reward of the righteous. Matthew 10:42. “And whoever gives one of these little ones to drink only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, will not lose his reward.” “40, 42 v. Whoever receives you, receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives Him who sent Me... And whoever gives drink... will not lose his reward. If you accept us, then it is the same as accepting our Lord, and by accepting the Lord, you accept His Father. But it’s a disaster if you do not accept. What is it like not to accept your Creator and Redeemer” [1, 69]. “The Lord, as the Knower of the Heart, knowing our stinginess and petty, selfish calculation in the case when we have to show hospitality and mercy to people from whom we do not expect to receive an equal, promised to reward on the day of judgment not only for the fact that we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, visited the sick and those in prison, but promised a reward even for a cup of cold water, given to a Christian or - in His name - to an infidel. Whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, Amen, I say to you, he will not lose his reward [Matt. 10:42]. Oh, the compassion of Christ! Who after this will not be ashamed of his cruelty of heart and shameful stinginess” [5, vol. 1, 196]. “Serve people impartially and willingly - rich or poor, healthy and sick, handsome and ugly, noble and simple, believing and remembering that they are all members of Christ and your souls and that for impartial and diligent service you will receive a reward from the Hero of Christ. Whoever gives his neighbor to drink, even a cup of water, in His Name, will not lose his reward (Matthew 10:42), He says. When serving others, sometimes there is partiality, or laziness, reluctance, or anger and irritation, or a desire for reward. Know that your reward is Christ” [6, 105]. Open 21 – approx. email editors. You might be interested in: