Беседа IV

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters: and let there be a parting in the midst of waters and waters: and so it came to pass” (Gen. 1:6). 1. Seeing your, beloved, diligent daily gathering here, I feel great pleasure and do not cease to glorify the man-loving God for your success. Just as hunger is a sign of physical health, so diligence in listening to the Word of God can be considered the best sign of mental health. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount about the beatitudes, said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Who will be able to adequately praise you, who have already received the title of blessed from the Lord of the universe and expect countless more benefits from Him? Our Lord is like this: when he sees that the soul strives for spiritual objects with strong desire and intense zeal, he bestows grace and His rich gifts. Therefore, I hope that He will give us, for your benefit, the most abundant teaching word for the edification of your love. After all, it is for you and your prosperity that we are undertaking all this work, so that you too can quickly reach the very pinnacle of virtue and be teachers of a godly life for everyone who looks at you, and we will receive greater boldness, seeing that we do not work in vain and in vain, that this spiritual seed grows daily, and that what happened to the sower mentioned in the Gospel did not happen to us (Matthew 13:4-7 ). There only one part survived, but three perished: another seed fell along the road and remained fruitless; some were crushed by thorns, and others, falling on the stones and remaining on the surface, could not bear any fruit. But here, by the grace of God, we hope that all the seed is thrown onto the good soil, and some will bear its fruit a hundredfold, others sixtyfold, and others thirtyfold. This increases our jealousy, this excites our mind - precisely the confidence that we are not offering teaching in vain and in vain, that you receive your words with attentive hearing and a cheerful mind. I say this not to flatter your love, but to conclude about your zeal from our conversation yesterday. I saw how you all listened attentively and tried your best not to miss a single word. Moreover, the frequent applause was very clear evidence that you listened to the teaching with pleasure. And whoever listens to something with pleasure obviously implants it in the mind and, composing it in the depths of his soul, makes it indelible. Who can adequately praise you and please us for speaking in the ears of those listening? - “Blessed,” says (Scripture), “tell it in the ears of those who listen” (Sir.25:12). This is a consequence of fasting; this medicine served to save our souls. If (fasting) showed such power at the very beginning, then what benefit should be expected from it in the following days? Only you, I ask, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) and do not give any access to yourself to the enemy of your salvation. He, now seeing your spiritual wealth, becomes enraged and furious, and “like a lion he goes about roaring, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But if we are only vigilant, then, by the grace of God, he will not defeat anyone. 2. These are our spiritual weapons with which the grace of the Spirit has invested us, as we explained yesterday to your love. So, if we constantly protect all our members with these weapons, then not a single arrow thrown by the enemy will touch us, but they will all return to him without any effect: the grace of God would make us harder than diamond and completely invincible if we wished. Just as the one who hits a diamond does not cause any harm to it, but only exhausts his own strength, and whoever steps on the pricks only bleeds his own feet, so it will be with us and with the enemy of our salvation if we constantly protect ourselves with the weapons given to us by the grace of the Spirit. Their strength is such that the enemy cannot even bear their brilliance; on the contrary, his eyes are blinded by the radiance emanating from them. Constantly protecting ourselves with these weapons, we will go out into the square, visit friends, and do business. And what am I saying: go to the square? Having put them on ourselves, we will come to church, and return home, and sleep, and get up from sleep, in a word: we will never take them off ourselves in our entire life; let them go with us (and into the future life) and there give us the greatest boldness. They do not burden the body, like sensual weapons; on the contrary, they also lighten, elevate and strengthen, if only we cleanse them every day, so that, shining brightly, they blind the eyes of the evil demon, who invents all sorts of intrigues against our salvation. However, since we have already sufficiently armed you, we will offer you the usual meal, and explain to your love what follows what you said yesterday, taking as the leader of this useful teaching again the wonderful hospitable host, blessed Moses, the great prophet. Let us see what he wants to teach us today, and let us listen carefully to the words: he does not speak from himself, but what the grace of the Spirit inspired him with, he pronounces with his own tongue, for the teaching of the human race. Having finished his speech about the first day and, after the creation of light, saying: “There was evening, and there was morning, one day,” he further says: “And God said: let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let there be a divide in the midst of the waters and the waters.” Pay attention here, beloved, to the consistency of the teaching. Having told us in advance, after the creation of heaven and earth, that “the earth was invisible and unstructured,” he also added the reason why it was “invisible,” precisely because it was covered with darkness and waters: everything was water and darkness, and nothing more. Then, at the command of the Lord, light appeared and there was a division between light and darkness, and one was called day, and the other night. Then he wants to teach us that God, just as he divided the darkness, producing light, and gave both the corresponding name, so also he divides the multitude of waters by His command. 3. See how His power is indescribable and exceeds every human concept. He only commands - and one element comes, another leaves. “And God said: let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let there be a parting in the midst of the waters and the waters.” What does it mean: “let there be firmament?” This is the same as if someone said in human language: let there be a certain wall and fence, which, being in the middle, would create a division. And so that you understand the great obedience of the elements and the excellent power of the Creator, he says: “And so it was.” He just said it and it was done. “And God made,” he says, “the firmament: and God separated between the water that was under the firmament, and between the water that was above the firmament.” After the creation, he says, of the firmament, God commanded some waters to be under the firmament, and others above the surface of the firmament. But, someone asks, what is the firmament? Solidified water or condensed air or some other substance? No one who is prudent will decide this directly. We must accept the words (of the Scriptures) with great gratitude and, without going beyond the limits of our nature, not experience what is higher than us, but only know and keep in mind (in our minds) that at the command of the Lord there was a firmament that divides the waters, and contains one part of them under itself, and can carry the other higher lying on its surface. “And he says,” he says, “God is the firmament of the sky.” See how here the Divine Scripture uses the same order. Just as yesterday (God) said: “let there be light,” and when he appeared, he added: “let there be a separation between the light and the darkness,” and then he called the light day, so today he said: “let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters”; then, both about the light, and here he explained to us the purpose of the firmament: “let there be,” he says, “separating in the midst of water and water.” And when he explained its purpose to us, then, just as he gave a name to the light, so he gives a name to the firmament. “And called,” he says, “the firmament is the sky,” this is the visible sky. How, you say, do some people claim that many heavens were created? They teach this not from Divine Scripture, but for their own reasons. Blessed Moses teaches us nothing more than this. Having said: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth,” then showing the reason why the earth was invisible, i.e. that was covered with darkness and an abyss of water, (Moses), after the creation of light, observing a certain order and sequence, says: “and God said, let there be a firmament.” Further, having explained with precision the purpose of this firmament and saying: “let there be separation between water and water,” he called this very firmament, which makes a division between the waters, heaven. Who, after such an explanation, can agree with those who speak decisively from their own minds and dare, contrary to Divine Scripture, to assert that there are many heavens? But, they will say, blessed David, sending up praise to God, said: “Praise Him, you heavens of heavens” (Ps. 149:4). Do not be embarrassed, beloved, and do not think that Holy Scripture contradicts itself in any way; but know the truth of what was said and, carefully preserving its teaching, block your ears from those who say anything contrary to it. 4. And what I want to say, listen with full attention, so that you are not immediately led into doubt by those who like to say whatever they please. All the Divine books of the Old Testament were first written in Hebrew; on this, of course, everyone will agree with us. Not many years before the birth of Christ, King Ptolemy, who very zealously tried to collect books and collected many other different kinds of books, considered it necessary to acquire these (sacred) books. So, having invited some of the Jerusalem Jews to himself, he ordered them to translate (these books) into Greek, which they did. This was the work of God's economy, so that i.e. These books were used not only by those who knew the Hebrew language, but also by all the inhabitants of the universe. What is especially wonderful and surprising is that such zeal was shown not by any of the followers of the Jewish religion, but by a person devoted to idolatry and hostile to (true) worship of God. Such are all the works of our Master: He always spreads the commandments of truth through opponents. I told your love about this not without a purpose, but so that you know that (the books of the Old Testament) were not written in our language, but in Hebrew. Those well acquainted with this language say that the word “heaven” is used in the plural by the Jews; Those who know the Syrian language also show this in agreement. No one, they say, in their language will say: “heaven,” but “heaven.” That is why blessed David said this: “the heavens of heavens,” not because there are many heavens—blessed Moses did not teach this to us—but because in the Hebrew language the name of one object is often used in the plural. Otherwise, if there were many heavens, the Holy Spirit would not fail to inform us through the mouth of the same blessed prophet about the creation of other heavens. I ask you to firmly remember this, so that you will be able to stop the lips of those who want to introduce teachings that are contrary to the Church, and so that you can truly know the meaning of the words of Divine Scripture. This is why you gather here often, and we constantly teach you teaching, so that you may be “ready to answer every question that comes to you” (1 Pet. 3:15). But, if you like, let's move on to what follows. “And they say,” says Scripture, “God is the firmament of the heavens. And God saw that it was good.” Look at the condescension towards human weakness in these words. Just as he said about the light: “and the appearance is good,” so now about the sky, i.e. about the firmament, he says: “and God saw it as good,” thereby showing us its inimitable beauty. Who can help but be amazed and surprised that she has retained her blooming beauty for such a long time, and that the more time passes, the more her beauty increases? And what could be more beautiful than something that has received praise from the Creator himself? If we, looking at the perfect work of man, are surprised by its appearance, staging, beauty, proportionality, harmony and everything else, then who can worthily praise God’s creation, especially when it has received praise from the Lord himself? This 18 is said from a descent to us, and God, you see, pronounces this (approval) about each of his creatures and through this warns the insolence of those who then decide to sharpen their tongue against the creation of God and say: why was this and that created? Having curbed in advance those who dare to make such speeches, Moses says: “And God saw that it was good.” When you hear that God saw and praised, then understand these words in a Godly manner and as one should about God. The Creator, even before creation, knew the beauty of what was created; but since we, people, overwhelmed by such weakness, were not able to know this otherwise, He disposed the blessed prophet to use these crude expressions to teach the human race. 5. So, when you raise your eyes and see the beauty, greatness and beneficence of the sky, then rush from here to the Creator, as the wise one said: “From the majesty of the beauty of creatures, their creator is known comparatively” (Wis. 13:5), and from the very creation of these elements see what the power of your Lord is. Indeed, a person with a right-thinking soul, if he wants to examine each of the visible objects - and what do I say: each of the visible objects? - if he wants to carefully examine only his own composition, then even from this small thing he will see the ineffable and incomprehensible power of God. If visible objects sufficiently demonstrate the greatness of the power of the Creator, then how can you turn to the invisible forces and raise your thought to the armies of Angels, Archangels, Higher Powers, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, Cherubim and Seraphim - what mind, what word will be able to express His ineffable greatness? If the blessed prophet David, having examined the structure of the visible, exclaimed: “For Thy works are great, O Lord, Thou hast created all things with wisdom” (Ps. 103:24), if (thus exclaimed) a man so worthy of the Spirit, to whom it was given to know “the unknown and secret wisdom” of Him (Ps. 50:8), then what shall we say, earth and ashes, - we, who must constantly lower our heads and marvel at the ineffable humanity of the Lord of the universe? But what can we say about the prophet? Blessed Paul, this celestial soul, clothed with a body and likened to incorporeal forces, walked on the earth and flowed around the sky with zeal, he, delving into only one part of the economy of God (about Jews and pagans, of whom the first were rejected, and the second accepted), perplexed and embarrassed, exclaimed loudly: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God, as His judgment was not tried, and His ways were not searched” (Rom. 11:33). Here I will gladly ask those who dare to investigate the birth of the Son of God and those who dare to humiliate the dignity of the Holy Spirit 19: where, tell me, do you get such daring courage? From what intoxication did you reach such madness? If Paul, such and such a great man, already says that His judgments, i.e. house management, management decisions 20 are untestable, - he did not call it incomprehensible 21, but untestable 22, those that do not allow testing 23, and its paths, i.e. commandments about virtue 24 and commandments are unsearchable again in the same sense, then how do you dare to examine the very essence of the Only Begotten and humiliate, as much as depends on you, the dignity of the Holy Spirit? You see, beloved, what an evil it is not to follow exactly what is contained in the Divine Scripture! These people, if they had accepted the teaching of the Divine Scripture with prudence and had not brought in anything from their own speculations, would not have reached such madness. We, however, will not cease to proclaim them with the words of Divine Scripture, protecting our ears from their disastrous teaching. 6. I don’t know how we again got so carried away by the flow of the word and deviated from order: therefore, we need to turn the word back to what it was before. “And he said,” says (Moses), “God is the firmament of the sky, and God sees that it is good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.” Having given a name to the firmament and praising what had been created, he put an end to the second day and continued: “And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.” You see how carefully he teaches us, calling the end of the world evening, and the end of night morning, and calling them all together day, so that we do not mistakenly think that the evening is the end of the day, but know clearly that the duration of both is one day. Therefore, evening can rightly be called the end of the world, and morning, i.e. the end of the night is the completion of the 26th day. This is what Divine Scripture wants to show when it says: “And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.” Perhaps we have spread ourselves very widely in words, but this is not intentional, but, so to speak, carried away by the very flow of speech, as if by some powerful current. You too, who listen with pleasure to our words, serve as the reason for this. Nothing can excite the speaker so much and inspire him with such an abundance of thoughts as the zeal of the listeners. Inattentive and careless listeners discourage the one who could speak; on the contrary, you, by the grace of God, are able, even if we were more silent than stones, to awaken our inactivity, drive away sleep and force us to say something useful and edifying to you. Since you have been taught so much by God that you can, in the words of Blessed Paul, “teach others also” (Rom. 15:14), then we ask you, if at any time, but especially during Lent, to diligently take care of a godly, virtuous life, and let our word not be burdensome for you if we tell you the same thing every day. To say the same thing, I will say in the words of Blessed Paul, “I am not lazy, but you are confident” (Phil. 3:1). Our soul, being careless, needs constant reminders. And just as the body daily needs bodily food in order not to fall into complete relaxation and inactivity, so the soul requires spiritual food and the best management, so that, having established itself in the habit of good, it can finally be elusive from the wiles of the evil one. 7. So, let us examine the power of it (the soul) daily and will not stop testing ourselves; Let us demand from ourselves an account of both what enters into us and what comes out of us - what we said that was useful and what word we uttered that was idle, and also what we brought into the soul that was useful through the ear and what we brought into it that could harm it. We will assign some rules and limits to the language, so that we can weigh expressions in advance and then pronounce words, and we will train the mind not to invent anything harmful, and if something similar comes from the outside, to reject it as unnecessary and capable of harm; if a bad thought arises within, immediately drive it away with pious reflection. Let us not think that simply not eating until evening is enough for our salvation. If the man-loving Lord spoke to the ungrateful Jews through the prophet: “Behold, seventy years, have you fasted? And when you eat or drink, don’t you eat and drink? The Lord Almighty says: Judge righteous judgment, and show mercy and generosity to each one of his brothers, and do not force the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wretched, and let no one remember the malice of his brother in his hearts” (Zech. 7:5-6, 9-10), - if they, sitting in the shadows and surrounded by the darkness of error, had no benefit from one fast, when they did not fulfill this and did not remove anger towards their neighbor from their hearts, then what excuse will we have, from whom much more is required; who are commanded not only to do this, but even to love their enemies and do good to them? And what do I say: do good? - even pray for them, ask and beg the Lord to take care of them (Luke 6:27–28). Such a disposition towards our enemies will help us most of all and will be the greatest ransom for our sins on that terrible day (of judgment). True, this commandment is very difficult, but if you think about the reward prepared for those who fulfill it, then, although it is very difficult, it will not seem so at all. What kind of reward is this? If you do this, says (Scripture), you will be like your Father, “who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). And to make this thought clearer for us, he adds: “as His sun shines on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and on the unjust.” You, he says, then imitate God as much as humanly possible. Just as He commands the sun to rise not only on the good, but also on those who do evil, and annually sends rain not only to the righteous, but also to the unrighteous, so you, if you love not only those who love, but also those who are at enmity against you, imitate your Lord in your strength. Do you see how (Scripture) has elevated the one who can fulfill this virtue to the highest heights? So, do not just think about the difficulty of the matter, beloved, but first of all, reason with yourself about what honor you can receive, and the thought of this honor will make the difficult and difficult for you easy. In fact, shouldn’t you consider it a mercy that by your good deeds to the enemy you can open the doors of boldness before God and achieve forgiveness of your sins? But maybe you really want to take revenge on the enemy, and plunge the one who did you harm into the same or even greater trouble? What good will come of this, when you, having received no benefit for yourself, will still have to give an account of this at the Last Judgment, as a violator of the laws prescribed by God? Tell me: if an earthly king issued such a law that we should do good to our enemies, and otherwise be punished by death, wouldn’t everyone, out of fear of bodily death, hasten to fulfill this law? What kind of condemnation is worthy of doing everything out of fear of bodily death, which the duty of nature inevitably brings upon us, and for the sake of that death, in which no consolation can be found, to care less about the law prescribed by the Lord of the universe? 8. But I forgot what I say to people who do not show equal love to those who love them. Who, after this, will save us from the mentioned punishment, when we are not only far from that commandment (about love for enemies), but do not even do what the tax collectors do? “If you love those who love you,” says (Christ), “what kind of reward do you pay, don’t publicans do the same?” (Matthew 5:46). So, when we don’t do this, then what hope do we have for salvation? Therefore, I ask, let us not be hard-hearted, but let us tame our thoughts, and first of all, let us learn to overcome our neighbor with love and, in the words of Blessed Paul, “doing one another greater honor” (Phil. 2:3), let us learn not to yield and be defeated in this, but to overcome (others), and to show greater and more ardent favor to those who love us. This most of all supports and cheers our life, this is how we differ from the dumb and from animals, i.e., that we can, if we want, maintain the order that suits us and have perfect harmony with our neighbors. Then (we will learn) to tame our thoughts and pacify this indomitable beast, i.e. anger, presenting him with the spectacle of the Last Judgment and instilling in him that if he decides to reconcile with his enemies, he will receive great benefits, but if he continues the enmity, he will be subject to grave condemnation. After all, we should not waste time in vain and without purpose, but every day and hour have before our eyes the judgment of the Lord and that which can either bring us great boldness or incur punishment. Having this in our thoughts, we will overcome the passions, curb the impulses of our flesh and put to death, in the words of Blessed Paul, “our evils on earth, fornication, uncleanness, evil lust,... wrath” (Col. 3:5, 8), covetousness, vanity, hatred. If we make ourselves dead to these passions so that they cannot act in us, then we will receive the fruits of the Spirit, which are: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). This should be the difference between a Christian and an infidel; This should be our distinctive features, so that we do not show off only in name, and do not exalt ourselves in outward appearance, on the contrary, even if we possess all the numbered fruits (of the Spirit), and then we would not be proud, but would be even more humble. “Whenever,” says (Christ), “you have done all that is commanded you, say, as we are unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10). If we care and take care of our salvation in this way, then we can bring ourselves the greatest benefit and get rid of future punishment, and for those who look at us, we can be useful teachers, so that, having spent the present life in severity, in the future we will be rewarded with mercy (of God), which may we all receive by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, power, honor forever and ever. Amen. That is, that “God sees it as good.” Here we mean the heretics of Anomea (vol. 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