Беседа 18

A person has the opportunity not to sin. 1 Corinthians 6:15. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I, then, take away the members of Christ to make them members of a harlot? It won't happen! 1. From the fornicator (the apostle) he passed on to the covetous man, and now he again moves on to the fornicator, addressing his speech not to him, but to others who are not guilty of adultery, and, warning them against the same sin, at the same time he denounces him, because the sinner, even in the case when the speech turns to another, is touched and tormented by the conscience awakening in him. The fear of punishment, of course, could sufficiently restrain them from violating chastity: but (the apostle) wants to achieve this not only through fear, and therefore he uses threats and admonitions. First, speaking about this sin, he defined the punishment for it, showed the harm that comes to everyone from communicating with an incestuous person, and, having finished, moved on to the greedy man; he, as well as all other numbered sinners, was threatened with deprivation of the kingdom, and thus ended his speech; and here he offers a very strong exhortation. Whoever assigns only punishments for sin, and does not show that it is very serious, will not do anything important through punishment; Likewise, the one who only makes admonitions, and does not frighten with punishments, will not touch much (people) who are insensitive. Therefore Paul does both, and admonishes with the words: “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6:3) and frightens with the words: “Or do you not know that... the covetous... will not inherit the kingdom of God?” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). In the same way he speaks against incest. Having frightened him with what was said before, excommunicating him, betraying him to Satan and reminding him of the future day, he now admonishes: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” - talking with them, as if with noble children. Above, he said: “a body... for the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:13): now he explains this more precisely, as he does elsewhere when he says: “you are the body of Christ, and individually members” (1 Cor. 12:27). He uses this comparison in many places, although not in the same meaning, but sometimes to express love, and sometimes to intensify fear: here he uses it to instill fear and horror: “Shall I take the hooks of Christ, and create the hooks of the harlots? Let it not happen." Nothing can be more terrible than these words. He didn’t say: “Shall I therefore take away the members of Christ” and unite them with a harlot, but what? "To make members of a harlot". This expression is much more striking. Then he shows how this really happens to a fornicator: “or do you not know,” he says, “that he who has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her?” (1 Cor. 6:16)? How is this known? “They will be,” he says, “two and one flesh.” “And he who is united to the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). By clinging to each other, the two can no longer be two, but both become one. And look how he again, with the help of the very names, leads the accusation, using the words: harlot and Christ. "Flee fornication". He did not say: abstain from adultery, but: flee, i.e. try carefully to avoid this vice. “Every sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). This is less important than the above; but, speaking about fornicators, he exposes their sin from all sides and shows the importance of their guilt both great and small: the first is said for the more reverent, and the last for the weaker. Paul's wisdom is revealed precisely in the fact that he admonishes by presenting not only the great, but also the small, the shameful and the indecent. But, you say, do a murderer, a covetous man and a robber not defile their hands? Everyone knows this: but since it was impossible to say that there is no one worse than a fornicator, he portrays the importance of this sin differently, explaining that from fornication the whole body becomes unclean; it becomes defiled as if it had fallen into a dirty vessel filled with uncleanness. That is why we have this custom: after deeds of greed and theft, no one bothers to wash themselves, but returns straight home, and after adultery they go to wash themselves, as if they had become completely unclean: so the conscience is ashamed especially of this sin! Both sins are grave, and covetousness and adultery, and (both) lead to Gehenna; but, doing everything with forethought, Paul shows the importance of adultery in every way he could. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 6:19). 2. He did not just say: the Spirit, but: living in you to comfort the listeners, and to explain these words he added: “Which you have from God”; indicated the Culprit in order to exalt them and frighten them with the greatness of the gift and the mercy of the Giver. “And you are not your own.” This not only serves to reprove, but also encourages virtue. How, he says, can you do what you want? You have no control over yourself. By saying this, he does not reject free will. “as with the words: “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is useful,” he does not take away our freedom, so here, by expressing himself: “you are not your own,” he does not violate free will, but deviates from vice and shows the Master’s care for us. That’s why he adds: “for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). But if I am not myself, then how do you demand that I fulfill my duties? How, continuing your speech, do you also say: “Therefore glorify God” in your body and in your spirit, “which are God’s”? What does it mean: “you are not one of us”? And what does he want to suggest through this? To establish us so that we do not sin and follow the misplaced lusts of the soul. We have many inappropriate wishes, but we must refrain, and we can; and if we could not, then the admonition would be unnecessary. See how he affirms us. Having said: “you are not your own,” he does not say further: but are subject to necessity, but: “bought at a price.” Why does he say this? Here, others may say, it would be necessary to show that we have a Master. But we have this in common with the pagans; and “bought with a price” belongs exclusively to us. He reminds us of the greatness of the good deed and the image of our salvation, showing that we were redeemed when we were strangers to Him, and not simply, but at a price. “Therefore glorify”, demonstrate God in your body and in your spirit. It inspires not only with the body not to commit adultery, but also in the spirit of the soul not to think anything vicious and not to remove grace. “Which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). After the word: yours, he adds: “who are God’s,” constantly reminding us that everything is Master of us - body, soul, and spirit. Some say that by spirit he here means spiritual talent; when it happens to us, God is glorified; and it happens when we have a pure heart. He called them God not only because God created them, but also because when they became alien to Him, He acquired them a second time at the price of the blood of the Son. See how he relates everything to Christ, how he lifts us up to heaven. You, he says, are members of Christ, you are the church of the Spirit; Do not be members of a harlot; You are not dishonoring your body, because this body is not yours, but Christ’s. These words show the love of mankind (of Christ), who made our body His own, and together suppresses our vicious power (over it). If, he says, your body is not yours, then you have no right to dishonor the body of another, especially when it belongs to the Master, or to desecrate the church of the Spirit. If someone who enters the house of a private person and commits atrocity in it is subjected to great punishment, then think what kind of torment he who makes the church of the King into a den of a robber will be subjected to! Imagining all this, be ashamed of what lives in you; this is the Comforter; fear the one who united with you and adopted you for himself; this is Christ. Have you not become a member of Christ? Imagine it and be chaste. Think about whose your members were and who they have become. They were formerly members of a harlot, but Christ made them members of his own body. Therefore, you no longer have power over them, but must serve the One who freed them. If you, having a daughter, out of great stupidity, sold her to the owner of harlots for fornication, and the king’s son, who happened at the same time, freed her from such slavery and took her as his wife, then you would no longer have the power to take her to a dissolute house, after having once given her away and sold her. It's the same with us. We sold our flesh to the devil, this cruel owner of harlots, and Christ, seeing this, plucked it out and freed it from this evil power; therefore, it no longer belongs to us, but to the one who freed it. No one is stopping you from using her as the king’s bride; If you use it for your previous deeds, you will suffer what such offenders should endure. So it is necessary to decorate it, and not dishonor it. You do not have power over the flesh to satisfy evil desires, but only to fulfill the commandments of God. Think of the dishonor God delivered her from. Our nature was formerly more dishonest than any harlot: robbery, murder, every vicious thought, entering into it, committed adultery with the soul for a small and insignificant price - for fleeting pleasure; the soul, combined with vicious thoughts and deeds, received from them only this reward. 3. But this, which happened before, although it was hard, is still not so hard, but to be defiled after heaven, after the kingdom, after the communion of terrible mysteries - does this deserve forgiveness? Or don’t you think that the devil himself copulates with the covetous and with all the above-mentioned sinners? Or don’t you think that he also copulates with women who adorn themselves for voluptuousness? Who would contradict this? If anyone objects, then let him reveal the soul of such shameless women, and he will see that the evil spirit was closely combined with them. It is difficult, beloved, difficult, and perhaps impossible, while decorating the body in this way, to decorate the soul at the same time; caring about one, one inevitably has to omit the other; both by nature cannot be together. That is why (the apostle) says: “he who copulates with a harlot becomes one body:... but he who unites with the Lord is one spirit.” The latter becomes a spirit, although he is clothed with a body, because if there is nothing corporeal, gross and earthly in him, if he is only clothed with a body, and all power belongs to the soul and spirit, then God is glorified by him. That is why we are commanded to say in prayer: “Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). And Christ says: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). This is how the heavens glorify Him, not by making a sound, but by their appearance, arousing surprise and disposing to glorify the Creator. So let us glorify Him, or even more; and we can do it if we want. It is not so much the sky, day and night, but the holy soul that glorifies God. Whoever looks at the beauty of the sky says: Glory to Thee, O God, who has done such things; So he who looks at a person’s virtue (will say) the same thing, and even much more. When looking at creation, not everyone glorifies God, but many say that they exist by themselves, while others attribute the creation and production of the world to evil spirits, thus falling into an extremely unforgivable sin; but when looking at a person’s virtue, no one can be so shameless, but will glorify God in every possible way, seeing that the one who serves Him lives virtuously. Who would not marvel when a person, having a common nature with others, turning among people like adamant, is not crushed by many passions - when among fire, iron and animals he is stronger than adamant and overcomes everything with the power of piety - when he is insulted, but he blesses, he is slandered, but he is praised, he is offended, and he prays for those who offend him, he is persecuted, but he blesses to your enemies and persecutors? Such and similar deeds will glorify God far more than heaven. The pagans, looking at the sky, are not ashamed; but, seeing a holy man strictly fulfilling the rules of wisdom, they are ashamed and condemn themselves. When one who has the same nature with them appears as much higher than them as heaven is above earth, and even more, then they involuntarily recognize that this is accomplished by divine power; That’s why (Christ) says: “And glorify your Father in heaven.” Do you still want to see how God is glorified by the life of His servants, as well as by miracles? Once Nebuchadnezzar threw three youths into a cave; but seeing that the fire did not touch them, “he said, Blessed be God..., who sent His angel and delivered His servants from the furnace, who trusted in Him and did not obey the king’s commandment” (Dan. 3:95). What are you saying? You have been shown contempt, and are you surprised at those who despise you? Yes, he says, because they showed me contempt: this is the reason for the surprise. Thus, here not only the sign served to glorify God, but also the determination of those cast down. Whoever compares the two will see that the latter is no less than the first. To decide in your soul to be thrown into a cave is no less a miracle than to remain unharmed in a cave. Isn’t it amazing that the king of the universe, who had so many weapons, troops, military leaders, rulers and governors, who owned the land and the sea, was despised by the captive youths, the bound ones overcame the bound one and defeated all this army? Those around the king could not do what they wanted with them, although they called on the stove to help them; and the naked, the enslaved, the strangers and not many in number - what really is less than three? - being tied up, they defeated a countless army. Death was already despised because Christ had come. Just as before the rising of the sun, before its rays appear, the light of day is already visible, so before the rising of the Sun of Truth, death has already begun to recede. What could be more brilliant than this spectacle? What is more glorious than this victory? What's more famous than these new trophies? 4. The same thing happens to us. And now there is a king of the Babylonian furnace; and now he kindles a fire stronger than that; and now there is one who commands the worship of the image; he has nobles, and warriors, and seductive music; and many worship this image, varied and great. This idol, similar to that, is greed, which does not disdain iron, which is made up of the most diverse things and forces us to worship everything, copper, iron, and much worse things. But as this is so, there are now imitators of the youths who say: “We will not serve your gods and” we will not worship your image” (Dan. 3:18), but rather we will endure the furnace of poverty and any other calamity for the laws of God. Those who have many things now, just as then, often worship this (image) and are scorched; but those who have nothing despise it, and those who are in poverty enjoy greater coolness than those who live in abundance, just as then those who were thrown were scorched, and those who were thrown were in the midst of fire, as if in water and dew. And the tormentor himself burned more than the youths in the fire, which was strongly ignited in him by his anger. Their fire could not even touch the ends of their hair; and his anger burned his soul stronger than fire. Imagine what it was like for him to endure the contempt of the captive youths in the eyes of so many people? Here he showed that he took their city not by his own strength, but for the sins of many, because if he could not overcome those bound and, moreover, thrown into the oven, then how could he defeat them if they were all like that? It is obvious that the sins of many have betrayed the city. Look at how far the youths were from vanity. They themselves did not throw themselves into the cave, but in advance they already kept the commandment of Christ: “Pray so as not to fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41); and they did not think of running when they were led, but boldly went out into the middle; They did not look for a fight without a challenge, and were not afraid after a challenge, but were ready for anything, courageous and undaunted. Let us listen to what they said, so that we can learn from this their wise mood. "There is a God... in heaven,” they say, “Who is able to deliver us” (Dan.3:17); They do not care about themselves, but, preparing for burning, they worry about the glory of God. So that you do not somehow, they say, accuse God of powerlessness if we are burned, for this we directly proclaim to you our entire confession: there is a God in heaven, not like this earthly idol, soulless and voiceless, but capable of vomiting out even a fiery furnace; do not accuse Him of powerlessness because He allows you to fall into it; He is so strong that he can snatch us away from the flames as well. “If this does not happen, then let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor will we worship the golden image that you have set up” (Dan. 3:18). Look how wise it is that they did not know the future. If they had foreseen the future, it would not be surprising what they did. Indeed, would it be surprising if they decided to risk danger, being confident of salvation? God would be glorified if he was able to deliver them from the furnace, and they would not be worthy of surprise as having decided on a task that was not dangerous for them. Therefore, God left them in ignorance of the future in order to glorify them more, and just as they convinced the king not to accuse God of powerlessness if they were burned, so God did both, and showed his power and showed in all his glory the fearlessness of the youths. Why, you say, could they have doubt and uncertainty that they would certainly be saved? Because they recognized themselves as insignificant and unworthy of such a benefit. And that this is not my guess is evident from the regrettable words that they uttered in the oven: “we have sinned and done iniquity,... we cannot open our mouths” (Dan. 3:29, 33); That’s why they said: “even if it does not happen” (Dan.3:18). If they did not say this clearly - for example, like this: God is able to deliver us, but if He does not deliver us, He will not deliver us for our sins - do not be surprised at this; Then the barbarians would have thought that they were hiding the powerlessness of God under the pretext of their sins. Therefore, having spoken only about the omnipotence of God, they do not express the (mentioned) reason. On the other hand, they were well taught not to test the destinies of God. After the words were spoken, they went into the fire, and did not revile the king or overthrow the idol. (A) valiant person should be like this - prudent and meek, especially in danger, so that it can be seen that he goes to exploits not out of irritation and vanity, but out of courage and prudence. Whoever blasphemes is suspected of these passions; and whoever endures and, being driven, performs deeds with meekness, is not only amazed at his courage, but no less glorified for his prudence and meekness. The youths did exactly the same thing then: they showed both courage and complete meekness, and did everything without expecting reward or retribution or retribution. “And if it does not please,” they say, “take us away,... we will not serve your God” (Dan. 3:17–18); We have already received a reward in that we have been deemed worthy to be uninvolved in wickedness and for this to be given over our bodies to be burned. Likewise, we, having already received our reward - and we received it in the fact that we were worthy to know God and become members of Christ - will not make ourselves members of the harlot. We should conclude our conversation with such a terrible word, so that, vividly feeling the fear of a threat, we, by the action of this fear, keep ourselves purer than gold. Thus, having renounced adultery, we will be able to see Christ, to whom may we all be worthy to look with boldness in that day, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Antioch around 390. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: