About the truth of the Gospel teaching

What was foretold about Christ in the Old Testament was fulfilled in due time. Christ, the Messiah awaited by the world, came into the world and “arranged our salvation in the midst of the earth” (Ps. 73:12). And since that time, 1780 years or more have passed, and sinners who “loved His appearing” are being saved (2 Tim. 4:8). Throughout the entire universe the Holy Church professes, sings and worships its Savior and Savior, and glorifies Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So, let us heed the following points, which prove the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, and the truth of the holy teaching about Him and about the Sacraments revealed in the holy teaching of the Gospel, so that we may become girded around our loins with the truth, and be able to resist on the day of cruelty (see Eph. 6:14), and stop the lips of those who blaspheme the truth. First . God, the Heavenly Father, deigned to testify about Him with His Divine voice from heaven at Baptism: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And the Holy Spirit, descending on Him in the form of a dove, confirmed the truth of the voice of the Father, to which the self-seeing John, the holy prophet and Forerunner, testified: “And I saw and testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). The same voice of the Father was repeated on Tabor at the Transfiguration of the Lord: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). The self-witnesses Peter and those who were with him on the holy mountain testified to this voice: “We announced to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not following cunningly woven fables, but being eyewitnesses of His greatness. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when such a voice came to Him from the magnificent glory: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice coming from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Pet. 1:16–18). Second. His obvious witnesses, the apostles, the twelve, whom He chose and named, testified about Him, preached and proclaimed the gospel to the whole world. They themselves saw Him and followed Him, and followed Him from city to city, and went from place to place, and were with Him in adversity (see Luke 22:28). They saw Him working miracles, and heard Him preaching the holy Gospel, and teaching the path leading to the kingdom of heaven. They ate and drank with Him, and showed not only what He did, but where, and how He did, and what they asked Him about, and what He answered, and in what city, what village, in what place, and what miracle, and what sign He performed, and in what place, and what He taught, and at what time. The self-witnesses explained all these circumstances in the Holy Scriptures and handed them over to us for the confirmation of the Gospel truth and our faith. They saw Him suffering and dying for us, and rose from the dead, and after the Resurrection they ate and drank with Him, talked with Him, and saw Him ascending into heaven and worshiped Him (see Luke 24:35, 39, 42–43, 51–52; Acts 1:2–3). About all this, according to us, they preached: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and handled with our hands, about the Word of life, for the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify, and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us; what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (1 John. 1:1–3). There is no more reliable, more obvious evidence, by many about one thing according to those testifying. This truth is irresistible. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). And the same Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins, and was resurrected, and ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, and will come to judge on the last day, as the holy Samovids preached. Third . The apostolic teaching agrees in everything with the prophetic teaching and preaching about Christ. The prophets from the beginning of the world, who lived at different times, one after the other, preached in detail about Christ: when He will come and appear on earth, from which tribe, and from whom, and in what land and in what city will He be born, and what will happen and follow at His birth; and what kind of life He will have on earth, and what He will do, and what miracles He will perform, and what and what He will teach; and what joy and consolation he will bring to people, and how His people will accept Him (see John 1:11), and how and how much He will suffer from them, and die, rise from the dead, and ascend to heaven; and with what joy, desire and thirst the peoples will turn to Him and run with faith, and accept with love, and worship and glorify Him; and how His people, the Jews and the rest, will be rejected by those who did not accept Him. We see the same thing in the Scriptures of the New Testament of the holy apostles, who, in accordance with the entire prophetic teaching, preached about Christ in various places, with the one difference that in the Old Testament Christ was preached under shadow, darkness and fortune-telling, and in the New Testament - clearly. The Old Testament, as a shadow and mark, depicted Christ, and the New Testament, as a living image, depicts Him and shows Him clearly. And from this agreement of the prophets and apostles the truth of their holy teaching is known, and the unshakable message and firmness, and the fact that one and the same Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, spoke both through these and through these, as through His organs. Fourth. What the holy prophets foretold, and what must be fulfilled in the present age, has all been fulfilled. In the same way, what Christ and the apostles predicted has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled, except that it will be fulfilled on the last day and in the next century. It was predicted that the pious would be persecuted, and that is what is being done: the faithful members of Christ have suffered, and are suffering, and will suffer until the end of this age. We see this clearly in the church history of previous centuries, and we see it now, and it will be the same in the future. There is no proof more reliable than what comes true. The truth of teaching, word and prophecy is completely known from fulfillment, because then we not only see, but also touch the truth. So, the truth of the prophetic and apostolic teaching, as proven by what comes true, remains in the age. And therefore we must believe their word more than our feelings. For our feelings can deceive and deceive rather than the prophetic and apostolic word, like the word of God, but spoken through their lips. Fifth. Those holy men and messengers of God judged their teaching to be so “faithful and worthy of all acceptance” (1 Tim. 1:15) that they did not hesitate to seal His truth with their blood and establish it by renouncing their life. Who would want to die for charm and lies? Charm is fickle and fearful, but truth is firm and unshakable. Delight will appear, and like smoke it will disappear, but “the truth of the Lord abides forever” (Ps. 116:2). And so, by their example, the holy men of God taught us that we too must stand and die until we bleed for the truth of their holy teaching. Sixth. How much their holy teaching, and how Christ Himself preached by them, was opposed by the hardened Jews; how they tried to hide His glorious Resurrection, and filled the hands of the soldiers guarding His life-giving tomb; how they forbade, threatened, imprisoned and beat so that they would not preach Jesus, as the book of Acts testifies, for the truth is always persecuted by the enemies of the truth, and just as sick eyes do not tolerate the light, so the deceivers do not tolerate the truth - but they could not do anything. They all boldly answered for the truth, and convicted them: this is Christ, “the stone that was despised by you builders, but became the head of the corner, and there is salvation in no one else,” and so on (Acts 4:11). And so the word of God spread (see Acts 12:24, 13:49) from Jerusalem, like the river of Eden, to other countries. Seventh. From the hardened Jews, the preachers of God turned to the pagans, and eyewitnesses of the Word were scattered throughout the universe to carry the name of Jesus to all the ends of the earth, and to testify about Him before the whole world, and to sow the seed of the word of God in the fields of idolatrous hearts. Let everyone judge what an inconvenient task it is and incomprehensible to the human mind, not enlightened by heavenly light and not strengthened by the power of God - to go to foreign and unfamiliar countries among nations like wild beasts, to go without any provisions, with only one staff, and preach the “unknown God” (Acts 17:23) to those who were zealots of the gods of the fathers, and to reveal the heavenly mysteries to the mind incomprehensible to humans. They did not doubt, the preachers of God went and carried the name of Jesus to all the ends of the earth, and like lambs among wolves they remained, tormented by them, but not eaten. Eighth. It is impossible to say how excited and confused the kings and princes with their people and the sages of this century were, having heard a new teaching that had been unheard of for centuries; how they armed themselves against the unarmed, the simple, the unlearned, but armed with the single name of Jesus Christ and the power of God, and wise with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit; how they forbade, frightened, tormented, tormented, drove out the preachers of the Word from their cities, but finally, defeated by them, they submitted to their holy teaching, and the sages of this age, not caring about their imaginary wisdom, adhered to their simple wisdom, and considered what they considered violence to be true wisdom. And so the King of glory, Jesus Christ, entered the cities, villages, and villages: “and all the ends of the earth saw the salvation of our God” (Ps. 97:3). And the name of Jesus began to be glorified in all the ends of the earth, and what the Psalmist sang was fulfilled: “The Lord destroys the counsels of nations, sweeps aside the plans of men, and rejects the counsels of princes. But the counsel of the Lord endures forever, the thoughts of His heart to generation and generation” (Ps. 32:10-11). That is, the advice, plans and tricks of the nations, people and their princes, which they formed against the truth of the Gospel teaching, were scattered by the Lord, and His holy and merciful advice about the conversion and salvation of the people was established forever and throughout all generations, and the people who worship and serve Him with faith are saved by His mercy and the name of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Ninth. An unheard-of and incomprehensible thing: to believe the heavenly secrets about the One God, but Trinity in Persons, and about His Divine properties, about the creation of the world from nothing, but by the one Word of God, about the incarnation of the Son of God and the birth from the Virgin without seed, but without violating Her virginity; about His free suffering and crucifixion on the Cross among evildoers, but for our sins, about His Resurrection from the dead, about justification by faith in Him and about eternal salvation through His name alone; about the general resurrection of the dead on the last day and the rising of the bodies that had crumbled into the dust of the earth, and their bringing into a much better and more beautiful state, and the union of souls with them; about eternal life and the blessings to come in it - to believe all these and other sacraments and to be established by faith in them - a matter impossible for the carnal human mind, darkened and inveterate by idolatrous superstition. But the apostles made this possible, and with the word of God they planted the holy faith in the hearts of idolatrous, dilapidated and inveterate ones, and confirmed them, and their hearts, with the love of peace and the customs of the fathers, like hard trees watered with water, were inflamed to the love of God and the desire and search for eternal blessings, which “no eye has seen, no ear has heard,” and which “have not entered the heart of man” ( 1 Cor. 2:9). What is this if not that God Himself spoke through them, God preached by them, and gave power and action to His word, according to what is written: “Behold, He will give His voice the voice of power” (Ps. 67:34)? Tenth. It is marvelous and powerful for the confirmation of the truth of the apostolic teaching that these sacred vessels and organs of the Holy Spirit in such a short time and in such a small number (for there were only twelve of them), flew around the entire universe like winged eagles, and carried the priceless treasure of the Gospel, and with it they enriched those living on it and those who received it. Saint David, the King and Prophet of God, foreseeing this from afar, sang: “Their message went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5; Rom. 10:18), which the Apostle also cites about these messengers of God. And in the Epistle to the Colossians he mentions that “the gospel” then, both in them and “in the whole world, was bearing fruit and increasing” (Col. 1:5-6). Eleventh. The truth of the holy apostolic teaching is also known from the fact that they did not hide their errors, in which they were before their apostleship, but wrote them in their writings and announced them to the whole world. Saint Matthew in his gospel calls himself a publican (Matthew 10:3). Saint Paul is not ashamed to call himself a blasphemer and persecutor of the Church and, as it were, confesses and repents of it before the whole world. They thereby testified to the truth of their holy teaching, and assured us that “their word is true, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). This is not evident in other secular writers, but these sacred heads did not hesitate to write about their vices, and thereby proved that their sacred hands were the reed of the Spirit of Truth. Twelfth. What followed after the death of these sacred teachers and what fruit the seed of their holy word sprouted is testified by countless numbers of faithful scattered throughout the world. What kind of slander, slander, abuse, dishonorable names, and reproaches did not the fierce pagans invent against them? What gravest torments and terrible deaths have not the kings, princes and nobles of this century invented? They tied them up, locked them in dungeons, starved them, led them naked through the streets, beat them, tormented them like wolves of lambs, in cauldrons filled with sulfur, resin and oil, boiled them, baked them on iron grates like edible meat, shut them up in hot ovens and red-hot copper oxen, threw them into water and fire, and so on, but they could not do anything. They could not extinguish the flame of faith, which was kindled by the word of the Apostle. And what is more wonderful: the more the faithful were killed, the more their number multiplied, and the more the holy Church was stained with the blood of her children, the more children she gave birth to and sent their holy souls to her Bridegroom - Christ, like pure doves, whitened by His Blood, to heaven. The apostolic teaching was so powerful! For at that time, entering into Christianity and accepting the faith of Christ was nothing more than plunging oneself into obvious torment and violent death, but people, despite this, in great numbers approached the Christian faith and hurried to torment and death, like a sweet feast, in front of each other. It is indisputable that both lies and superstition attract many human souls, as we see in Mohammedan and idolatrous wickedness. But this is not surprising, since there appears free carnal knowledge of corrupt human nature, and what does the teaching of the Gospel offer? Self-denial, cross, persecution, sorrow, hatred from everyone, and so on. How can the carnal mind, not enlightened by the light of grace, not shudder and be horrified, looking at this, approach, accept and embrace the gospel teaching? But those who know the truth do not doubt to accept the true gospel teaching, seeing not the visible, but the unseen, not the present, but the future, not the earthly, but the heavenly, and, having renounced themselves and worldly lusts through the cross, through persecution, through sorrow, through suffering, they hasten and follow the suffering Christ, take up eternal life, and before each other, as “those who make effort take away the kingdom heavenly” (Matthew 11:12). What works if not “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16), the truth, the power of Jesus Christ crucified on the Cross, Who said: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32)? And what He said, He fulfilled, since “His word is true,” and He drew to Himself from the east and the West, the north and the midday, and gathered together His scattered sheep, “and there became one flock and one Shepherd” (John 10:16). Thirteenth . When someone considers the ineffable suffering and patience of the martyrs, then from here he will clearly recognize the truth of the Gospel teaching and will be confirmed in the Christian faith or, lost, will stick to it. Although all Christian life and piety cannot be without the grace and help of God, for the desire of the passions warring in our members to restrain and subdue, which Christian piety requires, is impossible for us without a supernatural and omnipotent power, just as it is impossible for us to swim against a river current without strong and skillful rowers (for to subdue and conquer the passions means one’s passionate flesh, and therefore to conquer oneself), but the patience of the martyrs is especially shows a supernatural invisible force present with them in suffering. It is impossible for weak and infirm human nature to endure such severe torment; it was necessary to have a higher strengthening force, another must be present, who would support them in that feat and strengthen them with their strength. The holy martyrs endured and overcame everything, and, what is more miraculous, they were put to death, but did not die, they were burned in fire, but were not consumed, they were drowned in water, but were not drowned, they were cast into food by beasts, but were not eaten, so that nothing could take away their life until the time of their suffering and feat had passed. The tormentors themselves were amazed at their courage, patience and invincible strength operating within them. Therefore, many, not caring about idolatrous delusions, adhered to the truth of the Gospel and accepted the faith of Christ. And although many villains suffer a lot, they suffer involuntarily, they suffer for their iniquities, they suffer without patience, but the holy martyrs suffered spontaneously, with joy, they suffered only because they rejected idolatry’s charms and confessed Christ. They could, with one word: “I renounce Christ and worship the gods,” get rid of suffering and receive mercy, honor and wealth from the tormentors, but they did not want to do that. They preferred to suffer rather than have the temporary sweetness of sin, firmly believing that to renounce Christ is to renounce eternal salvation and fall into eternal destruction. It is known to everyone, not only Christians who please and honor their suffering, but also the pagans themselves who hate them, it is known that they suffered and endured for the truth of the gospel teaching and the Christ preached by them. So, Christ, for whom they suffered, was present with them with His omnipotent power, strengthened them in the feat of suffering and in the most obvious deaths preserved their lives, preserved by the One in Whose hand is human life and death (see Wis. 16:13; Sir. 11:14). They knew the truth, and their Truth, Christ, also knew. They loved Christ - true Life, Christ also loved them and, like true friends, helped them. They glorified Christ with their suffering, and Christ glorified them with His power, acting in them and strengthening them in the feat of suffering. Fourteenth. “The truth of the Lord endures forever” (Ps. 116:2). Why? Because God Himself protects and preserves His truth. “The Word of God is truth” (John 17:17). The word of truth was from the beginning of the world. The holy patriarchs maintained it and learned it from God Himself. Moses preached in his books and taught the house of Israel. The prophets revealed the word of truth and preached to the people of God. And so, from the beginning of the world until the coming of Christ, the truth of the Lord remained immovable, and all who steadfastly adhered to it were saved. Christ, having come into the world, testified to the truth, and what the patriarchs held, the prophets preached and prefigured the law, He established everything with His word, teaching, miracles, suffering, and sealed it with His Blood. After Christ, the apostles preached the same word of truth to us, and the saints of Christ, their successors, and teachers interpreted and explained, and the entire Church from the beginning of the world to Christ, and from Christ even to this day, has contained, contains and will contain even until the end of the world. And so “the truth of the Lord endures forever.” Lies, deception and superstition are fickle and unstable. How much the pagans tried to assert their superstition, the books show them, but with the apostolic preaching all this was exposed, and how the darkness disappeared from the sun, and how darkness was driven away from the light. What kind of false wisdom did the heretics invent and try to corrupt the word of truth, to their destruction? But all their wisdom turned out to be false, and their efforts were vain, and the preachers of truth scattered them. And from this it is learned that everything that is unstable and impermanent is a human invention; and although a few appear and something is seen, it soon disappears like darkness, like steam, like smoke, like a dream. The word of truth is like the sun, which from the beginning of the world even to this day shines, and from now on to the end will shine. So the prophetic and apostolic teaching shone, shines and will shine until the end of the world to the whole world. “They who turn to him do well, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day begins to dawn and the morning star rises in their hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). Fifteenth. The truth of the Gospel teaching is also known from this, that its preachers and those who adhere to it suffer persecution in this world. The teaching of the Gospel is a heavenly teaching, originating from God, and therefore Satan, the prince of the world, and the sons of this age, who are in its delusion, do not love this heavenly seed and the children spiritually born from it. All the past centuries testify to this. We see this even now, we see that as long as a person lives according to the laws of the world and serves the lusts of the world, he is a dear child of the world, but as soon as he takes up the word of God and its saving fruit is conceived in him, then everyone, as a stranger and stranger, shuns and abhors him. And just as the sea does not hold a dead body, but spits it out, so all the sons of this age cast him out. And this is what the apostle says: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12), and the word of Christ shows: “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18–19). Sixteenth. It is worthy of special note that the Holy Bible, which contains heavenly teaching, has been preserved intact. Prophetic books during the time of the Israelites' apostasy from the God of Heaven and the fall into idolatry, and apostolic books during the time of terrible persecution of the Church have been preserved. This is no less a miracle than a fiery spark surviving in the middle of water. Satan, the enemy of our souls, became furious and tried to destroy true knowledge of God and worship of God from people. As much as I wanted to eradicate the books of Holy Scripture, the sources of Israel, from which knowledge of God, worship and consolation are drawn!.. This miracle must be attributed to God’s goodness and power, to the One who both gave and preserved His holy word for our salvation in cruel times. The prophets were persecuted and killed for the word of God. The apostles, like lambs, were tormented and slain for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. They looked for saints and church teachers to kill, and they killed, and other faithful were tortured and killed. No matter how the wicked tried to destroy the Books of God’s words, from which Christian teaching and life are compiled, the Book of God was preserved intact and unharmed. Truly this is a miracle, and whoever recognizes as true that the Holy Scripture was preserved by the special Providence of God - which is truly so - must admit that it is the heavenly fruit of the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is true and not false, and what it says and reveals is “worthy of all acceptance.” Seventeenth. The prophetic and apostolic Scripture within itself has a certain special power, so that those who read it and reason about it with attention feel a spiritual action within themselves and recognize encouragement to piety, are encouraged to despise the world and to desire heavenly blessings, draw living consolation in sorrows and sorrows, turn to true repentance, and so on. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Therefore, we read in church history that many pagans, reading the Holy Scriptures, turned to the True God, accepted the faith of Christ, and became considerable Christians, as evidenced by the conversion of all nations. This comes from nothing other than the power and action of the spiritual, hidden in the Holy Scriptures. For the Holy Scriptures were given to us from God for our salvation. “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). So, salvation works in the souls of those who read, and listen, and listen to it. For like honey from taste, grass and flowers from friction, so Holy Scripture is known from the power and effect of its heavenly power, that it is a great gift given to the human race from the Heavenly Father. Eighteenth. The Holy Scriptures are confirmed by signs and wonders that do not lie, and, as said above, they are sealed with the blood of the apostles and countless martyrs. “They (the apostles) went and preached everywhere, with the Lord’s assistance and strengthening the word with subsequent signs” (Mark 16:20). The pagans themselves were amazed at their signs, and thus were aroused and converted to the holy faith. Nineteenth. We read that when the children of Israel walked around the walls of Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant and the sound of a trumpet, they were crushed and fell (see Josh. 6:19). Thus, pagan wickedness, idolatry, idols, temples and their godless sacrifices were crushed and fell by the preaching of the apostles of Christ, they fell not with weapons, but with their words. It’s a wonderful thing - both the city walls and the idolatry temples and other vile pagan rituals will fall at the sound of one voice. They fell, and the idols fell silent, and their charm disappeared, and the kingdom of the devil was destroyed, and Christ God reigned over the nations, and those who bore the yoke of the devil took upon themselves “His good yoke” (Matthew 11:30). What is it that both the voice of the children of Israel contributed and helped to destroy the walls of Jericho, and the voice of the unarmed twelve apostles - to overthrow idols and their altars throughout the world? What if not the omnipotent power of God, present in His holy word and assisting it, to which everything obeys? And this is what Saint Paul and his brethren, the other apostles, say: “While we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds: with them we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and we take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5); and that the prophet sang: “Behold, He will give His voice a voice of power. Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing to the Lord, who has ascended to the highest heaven, to the east. So He gave His voice the voice of power. Give glory to God” (Ps. 67:33–35). Twentieth. The Holy Church, scattered throughout the entire universe, the prophetic and apostolic writings for the true word of God, which He deigned to speak through the mouth of these sacred organs and in it to reveal Himself and His holy will to us, recognizes undoubtedly, believes and thanks Him for this heavenly gift, and gives birth to spiritual children with them, and raises them with food, “until all come into the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, into a man.” perfect, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). We adhere to it steadfastly. Let His law be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths (Ps. 119:105), and let us “learn in it day and night” (Ps. 1:2), and let us bear the fruits that this heavenly and Divine seed bears. Amen. You might be interested in: