Глава 24

Matthew 24:14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." “I am a precise witness, and I testify before Him all, as much as you speak [the words of the confessor to the spiritual child]. The priests at the Last Judgment will be witnesses before the Savior about repentant sinners, that they repented or did not repent of certain sins, and those who repented will be forgiven. But why are there witnesses for God, when He knows everything Himself, as it is said: You do not demand, but whoever testifies man: For you yourself know that God does not need them, but we need them; we will be pleased to see how the priests will testify about us, before the Angels and men, that we repented of our sins, expressed disgust for sin, and accepted the firm intention not to sin: you will be led to the king and. to the rulers as a testimony to them [Mark 13:9], or: the Gospel will be preached with all the tongue as a testimony to them [Matt. 24:14]” [5, vol. 1, 240]. Matthew 24:15. “So when you see the abomination that makes desolate, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the one who reads understand -” “You will receive the power that the Holy Spirit has brought upon you, and you will be My witnesses (Acts 1:8). A preacher for strong, effective, life-giving preaching needs to receive power from the Holy Spirit, just as a teacher of the Law of God in schools also needs to pray for himself the power of the Spirit of God for the fruitful teaching of the truths of the Law of God. He who is reverent, let him understand (Cf.: Matt. 24:15)" [8, 54]. “Let not the abomination of desolation stand in its holy place (cf. Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:27) - in my heart; Let no strange fire (Num. 26:61) be brought into the tabernacle of God, that is, the fire of passions—the fire of worldly cares. Concern about food and drink, the fire of gluttony, love of money, stinginess, envy, hatred and other sins - may not be brought into my heart, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. - Son of a man! Guard your heart with all care: from this your life will come forth (Compare: Proverbs 4:20, 23)” [10, 452]. Matthew 24:29. “And suddenly, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;” “This quiet, beautiful, star-studded sky will present itself as a once terrible sight before the appearance of the Lord from heaven. Oh, sinners, learn daily from the spectacle of heaven, when you can learn. The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven [Matt. 24:29]" [5, vol. 2, 307]. Matthew 24:30. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” “Great Lent and the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Great Lent - as a time of abstinence from food and passions, as a time of struggle with the flesh, the world and the devil, means the real life of a Christian, which should all be a feat for the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Bright Resurrection of Christ and the entire Pentecost depict our future - glorious, blessed, in the unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16) of the Face of God's life in heaven. – How, after the sorrow of fasting and repentance, after the feats of mortification of the flesh and the painful struggle with the world and the spirits of wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12), the joy of the bright holiday of Christ suddenly shines abundantly with an abundance of external light with the internal one, shining from the Resurrection itself; the spiritual and material gifts of God's goodness are abundantly given: so after the sadness of this temporary life, after the exploits of mortification of the flesh and the fight against enemies, the joy of the common, glorious resurrection of all and the everlasting joy and bliss and contemplation in the unapproachable glory of the Tri-radiant Divinity will abundantly shine at the time determined by the destinies of God. Present times and church festivals are a foretelling of the future. Now we all joyfully flock to the Risen Savior, rejoicing around Him and in Him. This is an indication of the future. Thus, after the general resurrection, all the righteous will joyfully gather to Him, like sheep to the Shepherd, and will rejoice with Him forever in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father. Now we meet Him, risen from the dead, joyfully, with lamps; the hour will come when we will meet Him coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory (Matt. 24:30), we will be caught up on the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17)” [8, 373]. Matthew 24:35. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” “Having called on the Holy Spirit to the gifts that are presented and sanctified them with the prayer of transposition (during the liturgy), remember that heaven and earth pass by, but the words of the Lord do not pass by [Matt. 24:35] and that bread and wine are certainly transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord by the will of the Lord Himself and by the action of the Holy Spirit, even if the officiating person is unworthy due to some weakness” [5, vol. 2, 388]. “It is amazing how, in their freethinking, learned, crafty and proud people transform their great teachers - Christ himself, infinite Wisdom, the apostles who had the wisdom of the Holy Spirit; This is how Catholics transformed the teaching of the Wise Christ Himself, the heavenly Teacher, without Whom no one knows the Father, but only He, the Son. Christ says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and yet Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans say that He proceeds from the Father and the Son. Finally, stop blaspheming the Holy Spirit and making lies about Him: those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this nor in the next century. Have you forgotten the words of the Apostle: if we or an angel from heaven preached to you a gospel different from what we preached to you, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8)? Is this word scary or not? Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). And the words of the apostle are the words of God. Don’t be angry, friends, but listen to the truth of God in the simplicity of your heart, because we speak and dare from the simplicity of our hearts. Reject lies and accept the truth, and unite with us in like-mindedness; You are full of disagreements and arguments. The coming of Christ is near, at the door” [6, 44]. “When elegant and precious clothing deceives and confuses your heart, especially during prayer, distracting your mind and heart from God, say to yourself: will this clothing be dust of the earth? Didn't she come from the dust? - And who looks with passion at the dust trampled underfoot, who cleaves to it with his heart? - My soul! Cling to Jehovah (Ex. 3:14), from Whom are all things - to the eternal, unchangeable God: He is your bright garment, your Peace, Strength, Belly, everything; and let the dust remain dust, do not give it a price that it does not have. Look at food the same way; So it is with earthly differences: everything will go down into the grave, into the ground, everything will be dust. Say: all this is a passing shadow, everything will pass away sooner or later, and the world itself will pass away so that no trace of it will remain, heaven and earth will pass by (Matthew 24:35). God and my soul are eternal” [10, 179]. Matthew 24:50. “then the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect, and at an hour when he does not think,” Matthew 24:51. “and he will cut him up and subject him to the same fate as the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." “Terrible are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: where the worm of them (sinners) does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:44). They will come true in all truth and power on unrepentant sinners - adulterers, murderers, thieves and others. Oh, cry, sinner, with bloody tears for the terrible misfortune that is coming to you. Believe it or not, this misfortune will come to you and sneak up on you unnoticed. He will come on a day on which he does not expect (unintentionally), and at an hour in which he does not think, and will cut him open and subject him to the same fate as the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:50–51)” [6, 119]. You might be interested in: