Беседа 11

Phil.3:7–10. But what was an advantage for me, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; to know Him and the power of His resurrection. What is the true gain for a Christian? – Sin removes you from God, virtue brings you closer. 1. In disputes with heretics, one must argue with strong thoughts, and incessantly. Without giving them any time to rest, you can thus lead their horde into confusion and completely overcome it. Therefore, wanting from the scriptures to prepare you for such disputes, so that you can stop the mouths of objectors in this way, I begin my real conversation with the end of the previous one. What, they will say, was the end of that one? The Apostle, having enumerated all the Jewish differences, both from nature and from free will, added: “But what was an advantage for me, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Him I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” These words are attacked by heretics. This is also a matter of the wisdom of the Spirit, that He allowed them to hope for victory, so that they would undertake the fight. If (the apostle) had spoken clearly, they would have acted with these words in the same way as they did with others: they would have thrown away the books, they would have renounced the Scriptures, being completely unable to look at them. But, as one does when catching a fish, precisely what can be used to catch it, they do not openly put it out, but hide it, which is why it runs on its own - this is exactly what happened here, when Paul called the law vanity. He calls the law skills, called vanity: it is impossible, he says, to gain Christ if I did not consider the law to be vanity. All this lured the heretics to accept this place as favorable to them. When they accepted, they were surrounded on all sides by nets. What are these attackers saying? Here the law is called vanity, here it is called skill: how do you say that it is God’s? But this very thing serves in favor of the law; and how, we will see from the following. Let's take a closer look at what has been said. (The Apostle) did not say that the law was vanity, but “counted” it as “vanity,” when speaking of acquisition, he did not say imputed, but “it was an advantage,” but speaking of vanity, he said, “counted it,” and rightly so: the former is such by nature, and the latter is only in our opinion. So what? According to the apostle, the law is not vanity? Vanity, but “for Christ’s sake.” But now he has become an acquisition. The law, he says, was not only considered, but was an acquisition - I would say this: think what it cost to transform people who had become beasts by nature into people! If there were no law, grace would not be given. Why? Because he was (to her) like a bridge. When it is impossible to ascend from a very low place to an elevated place, then a ladder is erected; and whoever has ascended, although he no longer needs the ladder, therefore does not neglect it, but remains grateful to it. She has put him in such a state that he no longer needs her; and for this very thing, which has no need for her, he considers it fair to express gratitude to her, because (without her) he would not have ascended. The same (I must say) about the law. He raised us to heights, therefore He was an acquisition; but now we consider it a loss - why? Not because he is a loss, but because the grace is much greater than him. A hungry poor man, as long as he has silver, is freed from hunger; and when he finds gold, meanwhile he cannot possess both of them together, then he considers the possession of the first to be a loss and, throwing it away, takes the gold; he throws away the silver not because it is a loss - it is not loss-making - but because he cannot take both together, but must leave one. So it is here. Consequently, it is not the law that is unprofitable, but the apostasy from Christ due to attachment to the law; therefore, when he takes us away from Christ, then it is a loss, but when he leads us to Him, it is not such. That is why (the apostle) says: “For Christ’s sake through loss.” If “for the sake of Christ,” then (the law) is not vanity by nature. Why does the law not allow one to come to Christ? For this reason, you say, He was given, and Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and “the end of the law is Christ” (Rom. 10:4). He does, if we believe him. So, whoever believes the law abandons the law itself? Leaves if we are attentive; and if they are not attentive, then it does not leave. “Yea, I count all things as loss” (Phil. 3:8). What do I attribute this to the law only, says (the apostle)? Isn't peace good? Isn't real life good? But if they remove me from Christ, then I consider them a loss too. Why? "For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." In sunlight, sitting at a candle is a loss, so that (anything) becomes a loss from comparison with an excellent object. Do you see that (the apostle has) a comparison? “For the sake of superiority,” he says, and not for something heterogeneous, since advantage takes place between homogeneous objects. Thus, by comparing the superiority of one understanding over another, (the apostle) at the same time shows their homogeneity. “For Him I have given up everything, and count everything as rubbish, in order to gain Christ.” “Garbage”: whether (the apostle) calls the law garbage is not yet clear: he probably calls the objects of the world that way. Having said: “But what was an advantage for me, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ,” he says: “Yes, and I count everything as loss.” He said everything, that is, both ancient and present. However, if you want to attribute this to the law, then through this it will not be violated. Wheat has waste, and it is the rough part of the wheat that is waste, i.e. chaff. Therefore, before the wheat, waste is needed, and we collect it along with the wheat; and if there were no garbage, there would be no wheat. The same must be said about the law. 2. Do you see how (the apostle) everywhere calls a thing a loss not in itself, but for Christ’s sake? “Yes, and I count everything as loss.” Why? “For the sake of the excellence,” he says, “of the knowledge” of Him, “for Him I have given up everything.” He further adds: therefore, “I count all things as rubbish, that I might gain Christ.” You see how he leans on Christ everywhere, and nowhere allows him to dishonor and revile the law, but protects it from everywhere. “And will not be found in Him having our own righteousness, which is from the law” (Phil. 3:9). If he who has the righteousness (of the law) has resorted to the righteousness (of Christ), because it means nothing, should not those who do not have it much more have to resort (to Christ)? And he said well: “Not with my own righteousness,” that is, not that which I acquired later and through labor, he says, but that which I acquired by grace. (the Philippians) said that the truth acquired by labor is more important; therefore (the apostle) it shows that this truth is trash before that. If I had ever committed it, I would not have rejected it, and would not have resorted to that. What kind of truth is this? That which comes from the faith of God, that is, which is given from God: this is the truth of God - it is entirely the gift of God. The gift of God is much superior to the unimportant good deeds accomplished by our efforts. What is faith? “By faith,” he says, “in order to know Him” (Phil. 3:10). So, knowledge (of God) is acquired by faith, and without faith it is impossible to know Him. How? By faith we must know the power of His resurrection. What kind of reasoning will actually convince us of the resurrection? None, but only faith alone. If the resurrection of Christ in the flesh is known by faith, then by what kind of reasoning can it be comprehended the birth of God the Word? After all, resurrection is less than birth. Why? Because there were many examples of such a birth; before Christ, many who died were resurrected, but no one was ever born of a virgin. So, if that which is less important than birth according to the flesh must be comprehended by faith, then how can that which is much more important, infinitely, incomparably more important, be comprehended? You have to believe that it could have happened, but how it could have happened is impossible to imagine. Communion in suffering also depends on faith. How? If we did not believe, we would not suffer; If we did not believe that having suffered (Christ) we would also reign (with Him), we would not have endured suffering. So, both birth and resurrection are comprehended by faith. Do you see that what is needed is not just faith, but faith combined with works? He predominantly believes that Christ has risen, who boldly goes into danger, who has fellowship in His suffering, since he has fellowship with the risen, with the living. That is why (the apostle) said: “And be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that is from God by faith; that we may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, so as to attain to the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:9-11). “Conforming,” he says, “to His death,” that is, participating in it, because just as He suffered from people, so do I. That is why (the apostle) said, “being conformed”; and in another place: “I make up for the lack of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh” (Col. 1:24), that is, my persecutions and sufferings constitute this image of His death, because (the apostle) did not seek his own benefit, but (the benefit) of many. Therefore, persecution, and sorrow, and difficult circumstances should not only not embarrass you, but also (should) rejoice, since through them we are conformed to the death of Jesus Christ, so to speak, we portray (Him in ourselves), as (the apostle) says in another place: “We bear in the body the death of the Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10). But this also comes from great faith, since we believe not only that Christ has risen, but also that after the resurrection He has great power, which is why we follow the same path that He walked, that is, we become His brothers, so to speak, and therefore we become Christs. Oh, how great is the dignity of suffering! We believe that through suffering we are conformed to His death; just as in baptism we are “buried in the likeness of His death,” so here we are conformed to His death. The apostle said correctly there: “in the likeness of His death” (Rom. 6:5), since we did not die entirely, we died not in the body according to the flesh, but in sin. Since both are called death, Christ died in the body, and we for sin, there died the man whom He assumed, a man in our body, and here a man of sin, - then in one case (the apostle) he said: “In the likeness of His death,” and in the other - not in the likeness of death, but in death itself. 3. Thus, Paul, in the midst of persecution, did not die to sin, but in the body itself; and therefore suffered the same death. “To achieve,” he says, “the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:11). What are you saying? Without a doubt, everyone will achieve it: “We will not all die,” (you yourself) said, “but we will all change” (1 Cor. 15:51), and not only resurrection, but also incorruption (will be achieved) by all, some to honor, and others to punishment. If everyone achieves the resurrection, and not only the resurrection, but also incorruption, then why did you, as if wanting to receive something special, say: “In order to achieve” (Phil. 3:11)? This is why I endure this, he says: “to achieve the resurrection of the dead”; and if you don’t die, you won’t be resurrected. What does it mean? He seems to be hinting at something important here. Indeed, it was so important that he did not even dare to say it directly, but only says: “so that.” I believed (as if he were saying so) in Christ and in His resurrection, and even suffer for Him; but I still cannot be completely sure of my resurrection. What resurrection is he talking about here? About the one that leads to Christ himself. I, said (the apostle), believed in Him and, by the power of the resurrection, I participate in His sufferings and am conformed to His death; but behind all this I am still not completely sure - what he says in another place: “If anyone thinks that he stands, beware lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12); and again: “So that, having preached to others, you yourself do not remain unworthy” (1 Cor. 9:27). “I say this not because I have already achieved or perfected; but I press on, lest I may attain as Christ Jesus has attained me” (Phil. 3:12). “Not because I have already attained.” What does it mean: “already attained”? That is, rewards. If he who suffered so much, if he was persecuted, if he who bears death was not yet entirely sure of that resurrection, then what shall we say? What do the words mean: “shall I not achieve”? The same as what was said above - “to achieve the resurrection of the dead.” If, he says, I achieve His resurrection, that is, if I can suffer just as much, if I can become like Him, if I can become conformed to Him. So, Christ suffered a lot, was spat on, beaten, scourged, and finally died. And this is the race: through all this, all ascetics (of Him) must achieve His resurrection. Thus, either this (the apostle) expresses here, or the following: if I am worthy to achieve the glorious resurrection, united with hope, then I will achieve the resurrection of Christ; If I accomplish all the feats, then I will achieve His resurrection and rise with glory. Now, he says, I am still unworthy: “I strive to see if I will achieve it.” My life is still full of achievements, I am still far from the goal, I am not yet close to the rewards, I am still running, still chasing. He didn’t say: “I’m running,” but “I’m striving,” and rightly so. You know with what tension the persecutor strives: he does not look at anyone, with great effort he pushes away all those who interfere, and directs his mind, his eyes, his strength, his soul, and his body towards one, not having anything else in mind except the reward. If Paul, who persecutes so much, who has suffered so much, also says: “Shall I not achieve it,” then what will we say, lying on our sides? Further, wanting to show that this constitutes an obligation, (the apostle) says: “how Christ Jesus reached me.” I was, he says, one of the perishing, I drowned, I was close to death; but God saved me, since He is chasing after them, fleeing from Him with great swiftness. All this (the apostle) expresses precisely in the words: “How he reached me” indicated both the jealousy of God, who wants to overtake us, and our great aversion from Him and delusion, and the fact that we ran away from Him. 4. Therefore, it is worthy of tears that we have all returned to our previous state and become great debtors, and yet none of us is sad (about that), no one cries, no one groans. Don't think I'm saying this feignedly. Just as before the coming of Christ we were moving away from God, so we are moving away from Him now, and we can move away from God not by place, since He is omnipresent, but by deeds. That it is impossible to get away from Him in a place, listen to this, as the prophet says: “Where will I go from Your Spirit, and where will I flee from Your presence?” (Ps. 139:7). So how can you run away from God? Just as you can be far from Him, just as you can move away from Him: “those who remove themselves from You,” they say, “perish” (Ps. 73:27); and again: “But your iniquities have created a division between you and your God” (Is. 59:2)? How does this separation (from God) happen? How does this separation happen? By will and soul, but by place it is impossible: who can escape from Omnipresent? Only the sinner runs away from Him. Scripture speaks about this: “The wicked flees when no one pursues him” (Prov. 28:1). We quickly run away from God, although He is always chasing after us. The Apostle sought to draw closer to Him, and we seek to move away from Him. Isn't this worthy of crying? Isn't this worthy of tears? Where are you running, poor and unhappy? Where are you running from life and your salvation? If you run away from God, who will you take refuge with? If you run away from the light, how will you see? If you run away from life, how will you live after that? Let us better flee from the enemy of our salvation. When we sin, we run away from God, we leave, we move away from Him to a foreign land, like that squanderer of his father’s property, who, having gone to a foreign country and having squandered all his father’s property, suffered hunger. And we have our father's estate. Which? (God) freed us from sins, gave us strength and strength to practice virtue, gave us zeal and patience, and in baptism gave us the Holy Spirit. If we waste it, then we will suffer hunger afterwards. And just like the sick, as long as they suffer from fever and damage to their juices, they can neither get up, nor do anything, nor act; and if, after someone frees them from illness, and after they return to health, they do nothing, then this depends on their own negligence - this is exactly what happens with us. We were possessed by a cruel illness, a severe fever, and lay not on our beds, but in evil itself, mired in wickedness, like in dung, covered with wounds, stinking, nasty, emaciated, and more like statues than people; we were surrounded by evil demons, the prince of this world mocking and attacking. The Only Begotten (Son) of God came to us, extended the rays of His presence, and immediately drove away the darkness; the King came to us, sitting on the throne of the Father, leaving the Father’s throne (and when I say: having left, do not imagine a change of place, because He fills both heaven and earth, I say this only in relation to the economy); He came to an enemy who hates Him, turns away from Him, cannot see Him, and blasphemes Him every day. He saw that (the enemy) was lying in dung, eaten away by worms, possessed by fever and hunger, and susceptible to all kinds of illness. And a fever tormented him, - this is evil lust, - and he suffered from inflammation, - this is pride, - and the so-called wolf hunger tormented him, - this is covetousness, - he had rotten wounds, - this is fornication, - and blindness of the eyes, - this is idolatry, - and deafness and insanity of the mind, - this is the worship of stones and trees and conversations with them, - and great disgrace, - this is wickedness, something disgusting and a grave disease. I saw that we speak even worse than those who are mad, and call wood and stone God; He saw us in such wickedness and was not disgusted, did not grieve, did not turn away, did not hate. Since He is the Lord, He did not hate His creation. But what does it do? As the best physician, He prepares valuable medicines and is the first to taste them: He was the first to perform virtue, and thus taught it to us. And the first medicine, like some kind of antidote, He gave us a font, with which we were freed from all evil - and everything suddenly went away: the inflammation ended, the fever stopped, and the rotten wounds dried up. Everything that comes from covetousness, and from rage, and all other evil is destroyed by the Spirit; the eyes were opened, the hearing was opened, the tongue began to speak well, the soul received strength, the body received beauty and color such as it is fitting for the Son of God, born of the grace of the Spirit, - such glory as it is fitting for a royal son to be born and raised in purple. Oh, what nobility has been bestowed upon us, and yet we remain ungrateful to him who loved us so much! We were born, raised, blessed: why are we again moving away from the Benefactor? Whoever did all this will, of course, give strength; otherwise we, being susceptible to illness, would not be able to bear it if He had not given us strength. He gave us remission of sins, but we rejected this gift; He gave us wealth, but we squandered it, squandered everything; He gave us strength, but we exhausted it; He gave us grace, and we extinguished it. How? They squandered it on things that were not necessary, they used it on completely useless things. This is what destroyed us, and the worst thing is that, being in a foreign country and feeding on mugs, we do not say: let us return to the Father and say: we have sinned in heaven and before You (Luke 15:18)! - while we have a Father who loves us so dearly and greatly desires our return. If only we would abandon wickedness, if only we would return to Him, He will not later reproach us for our previous sins. Let's just fall behind - returning is already a sufficient justification. What am I saying: He won’t reproach? Not only does He not reproach Himself, but if another reproaches, He stops the mouth, even if the reproacher is well-intentioned. So let us return: how long will we be away from Him? Let us feel our dishonor, let us feel our poverty: wickedness makes us pigs, wickedness torments the soul with hunger. Let us enter into ourselves again, come to our senses and return to our former nobility, in order to be worthy of future blessings, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: