Беседа 3

Phil.1:18–20. I rejoice in this and will rejoice, for I know that this will serve me for salvation through your prayer and the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, with my confidence and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but with all boldness, and now, as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death. Love and firmness ap. Pavel. - Childbirth. - Lyubomudie ap. Pavel. -Which of the dead needs to be mourned? – Commemoration of the dead during the performance of the sacraments. 1. No sorrow that happens in real life, no enmity, no reproach, no slander, no misfortune, no intrigue can disturb the great and wise soul - because it seemed to have fled to the top of some high mountain, where it became safe from all the arrows fired from below, from the earth. Such was Pavlov’s soul, which found itself the highest place of any peak - the place of spiritual wisdom, true philosophy. What external people (pagans) are busy with is only words and childish games. But now we are not talking about them, while we are talking about the affairs of Pavlov. This blessed one, being persecuted by the king, also had other enemies who caused him various griefs and cruelly slandered him. And yet, what does he say? Not only do I not grieve about this and do not lose heart, but I even “rejoice and will rejoice,” that is, not only now, but I will always rejoice in this. “For I know that this will serve as my salvation” in the future. And how can it not come true when both enmity against me and envy contribute to my preaching? “Through your prayer,” he says, “and with the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, with my confidence and hope.” Notice the humility of this blessed one. He struggled in a difficult field, accomplished countless deeds, was already at the very crown - after all, it was Paul, and what more can be said? - and yet he, having acquired salvation through countless virtues, writes to the Philippians that I can be saved “through your prayer and the assistance,” he says, “of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” What does “assistance” mean? This means: so that you may receive grace for your prayers. The expression: “by assistance” is equivalent to the following: so that more Spirit may be given to me. “For salvation,” that is, for liberation, so that I can avoid the present misfortune just like the first. About the first, he said: “At my first answer, no one was with me, but everyone left me. May it not be imputed to them! The Lord appeared to me and strengthened me” (2 Tim. 4:16–17). He now predicts the same thing, saying: “Through your prayer and the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, with my confidence and hope.” On this, he says, my hope is based. So that we, relying in everything on the prayers of others, do not remain without any participation, for this, look at how (the apostle) points to our share - to hope, the reason for all good things, according to the word of the prophet: “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we trust in You” (Ps. 32:22); and in another place: “Look at the ancient generations and see: who believed the Lord - and was ashamed?” ( Sir. 2:10 )? And the blessed one (Paul) said: “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5). “With confidence,” he says, “and my hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything.” This is Pavlov’s hope: I hope that I will never be put to shame. Do you see what it's like to trust in God? Whatever happens, says (the apostle), “I will not be put to shame,” that is, (the enemies) will not defeat me. “With all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body.” (The enemies) hoped to catch Paul with their net and destroy the teaching he preached, as if their deceit could do this. Therefore he says that this will not happen, I will not die now: “And now, as always, Christ will be magnified in my body.” How? Often I was in such troubles, in which not only everyone despaired about us, but we also about ourselves - “But in ourselves we had the sentence of death” (2 Cor. 1:9); but the Lord delivered us from everything. So “even now he will be magnified in my body.” And lest anyone think and say: if you die, will you really become exalted? - he says: yes, I’m sure, that’s why I didn’t say that he will only be exalted by life, but also by death. At first, however, he said: “With life,” they will not kill me; but even if they kill, then through this Christ will be magnified. How? Life because He saved me; death, because death did not force me to renounce Him, because He gave me so much jealousy, and made me stronger than death. In the first case, He delivered me from troubles, and in the latter, He did not allow me to be afraid of violent death. This is how (the Lord) is exalted by life and death. 2. He says this not because death was already facing him, but so that even in the event of his death they would not be grieved as a human being. And that he said this not because he had to die, which would have greatly upset them, then look how he consoles, as if saying: I do not say this as one who is about to die. That’s why he adds further: “And I know for sure that I will remain and be with you all.” And the words: “I will not be ashamed of anything” mean: I am not ashamed to die, on the contrary, it is very useful. Why? Because I am not immortal - however, I will be in greater glory than I would have been in while remaining immortal on earth, since it is not the same thing to despise death while being immortal and being mortal. Therefore, it is not at all shameful to die now, although I will not die. “I will not be put to shame in anything” - that is, whether I live or die: I will accept both complacently - whether I live or die. It is well said: this is precisely the (property) of the Christian soul. “But with every daring,” he says. Do you see how I am not put to shame? If the fear of death took away my courage, then it would be shameful to die. When approaching death does not frighten you at all, then there is no shame. Whether I live, I am not ashamed to live, because I preach the gospel; If I die, I’m not ashamed to die, because I’m not afraid. (In both cases) I show equal boldness. Do not consider as a shameful thing what I said about bonds. They were the cause of such great benefits for me that they also gave others courage. It is a shame not only to be in chains for Christ, but (ashamed) to betray Christ in anything, being afraid of the chains, so that while this is not the case, the chains produce boldness in me. I have often not avoided dangers, and in this I can boast before the infidels, and if something nasty happens to me, then consider me ashamed, because the latter is no less than the first and gives you boldness. See how (the apostle) reduces this to his face; He does the same in many other places, for example, in his letter to the Romans he says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Rom. 1:16), and to the Corinthians: “This... I have added to myself and to Apollos” (1 Cor. 4:6). "Whether by life or death." He says this not because he doesn’t know - he knew that not then, but later, he will die - but he prepares their souls for this in advance. “For for me,” he says, “life is Christ, and death is gain” (Phil. 1:21): and having died, he says, I will not die, since I have life in myself. Only then (the enemies) would kill me when they could tear faith out of my soul through fear; As long as Christ is with me, I am alive, even if death happens. Even in the present age, it is not the fact that I live that constitutes my life, but Christ. If in this age life does not consist in this, “But as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith,” then about the next age I say that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). This is how a Christian should be. I don’t live, he says, an ordinary life. How do you live, blessed Paul? Don't you look at the sun? Don't you breathe the common air? Do you really not eat the food common to all? Do you really not walk the earth like we do, have no need for sleep, clothing, shoes? What are you saying: I don’t live? How can you not live? Why are you boasting? (No), it's not vanity. If deeds did not testify to this, then of course it could be called vanity. And since deeds testify, what vanity? Let us examine how he does not live. Elsewhere he says: “By whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). So, listen to the sense in which he says: “It is no longer I who live,” and also: “But Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The name of life, beloved, is significant, that is, it has many meanings, just like the name of death. There is bodily life, and there is sinful life, as (the apostle) says in another place: “We died to sin: how can we live in it?” (Rom. 6:2). Therefore, it is possible to live a life of sin. I ask you to pay strict attention so that our work is not in vain. There is eternal and immortal life, and at the same time heavenly: “Our citizenship,” he says, “is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). There is also bodily life, about which it is said: “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). So, he is not talking about natural life, which does not live; but about the sinful life that all people live. And rightly so (he says). Who is not attached to real life, how does he live it? How does one live with her who strives for another? How does one who despises death live by it? How does one live by it who does not want anything here? Just as one made of adamant, even if they inflict a thousand blows on it, will never turn around, so (firmly) Paul: “And it is no longer I,” he says, “who live,” that is, the old man: and in another place: “Poor man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). Thus, whoever does nothing for food, nothing for clothing, nothing for the present, how does he live? He doesn't live a natural life. He who does not care about anything in life does not live. We live this life because we do everything for it; but he did not live, because he did not do anything here. How did he live? Just as we say about some: such and such does not exist for me when he does nothing related to me; or something the same again: such and such does not live for me. And that he did not neglect natural life is clear from another place: “And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20), that is, I live some new, different (from the ordinary) life. 3. Yet this is spoken for the comfort of the Philippians. Don’t think, he says, that I will be deprived of this life, because while I was living, I did not live this life, but the one that Christ wanted. Tell me really: is this the life he lives who despises money, and pleasures, and hunger, and thirst, and troubles, and health, and happiness? Is this the life that someone who has nothing here lives, who often decides to leave it when necessary and does not care about it? Not this one at all. This needs to be explained to you with an example. So, imagine that some great rich man has slaves and gold, and does not use any of this: is he rich from such wealth? Not at all. Imagine also that he sees how his children squander their property and live absent-mindedly in idleness, and does not care about them at all, and if you like, imagine that he endures beatings without grief: shall we call him rich? No way, although the wealth belongs to him. So Paul says: “But Christ lives in me.” If you want to examine my life, then Christ is my life. “And death is gain.” Why? Because (after death) I know Him much more clearly, so to die means to begin true life. Those who kill me will not cause me any harm, because they will lead me to my life and save me from this unusual life. So what? Being here, are you not Christ's? And very much. “But if life in the flesh brings fruit to my work, I do not know what to choose” (Phil. 1:22). Lest anyone say: if this is what life consists of, then why did Christ leave you here? - he explains that this is “the fruit of the deed.” This means that you can enjoy real life by spending it as it should, and not as many people (spend it). This was said to him so that you would not think that he slandered life, and would not say: if we do not gain any benefit for ourselves here, then why do we not mortify ourselves, do not kill? No, he says, we can get benefits here too, if we live not this life, but another. But maybe someone will say: is this what brings you fruit? Truly, he says, where are the heretics after this? Now - “If life in the flesh,” (the apostle) calls it, “brings fruit to my work,” and precisely “to the work.” How's the fruit going? “And as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.” This is why the fruit of the work. “I don’t know what to choose.” Oh, what wisdom! How he rejected his love for real life and did not slander it! It was with the words: “And death is gain” that he rejected love for her, and with the words: “If life in the flesh brings fruit to my work,” he showed that real life is also needed. How? If we use it as we should, if we bear fruit. If it is barren, then it is no longer life. We throw away trees that do not bear fruit, as well as dry ones, and set them on fire. Living is something average and indifferent; and to live well or badly is in our will. Therefore, we should not hate life, since we can live well; If we abuse life, then even in this case we should not blame it. Why? Because it is not life that causes this, but the will of those who abuse it. God gave you life so that you could live for Him; I, you, by your inclination towards evil, living sinfully, expose yourself to all kinds of guilt. What are you saying, Paul, tell me? Don't know what to choose? Here he reveals the great secret that it was in his power to die, since when there is a choice, it means we have power. “I don’t know,” he says, “what to choose.” So (this) is in your will? Yes, he says, if I want to ask God for this grace. “I am drawn to both: I have a desire” (Phil. 1:23). Notice the tender love of this blessed one: he also consoles them by seeing how he himself has power in his choice, how it depends not on human malice, but on the dispensation of God. So, why do you, he says, grieve about death? It would be much better to die long ago. “Resolve,” he says, “and be with Christ, because this is incomparably better; but it is more necessary for you to remain in the flesh” (Phil. 1:23–24). By this (the apostle) prepares (the Philippians) to endure his approaching death courageously, by this he teaches them wisdom. He says well: “to be resolved and to be with Christ,” because death is an indifferent thing, not death is evil, but evil is to suffer after death. Equally, death is not good, but good is to be with Christ after death; What happens after death is good or evil. So, we should not just grieve for the dying, and rejoice not just for the living. How? We must weep for sinners not only who die, but also those who live, and rejoice over the righteous, not only those who are alive, but also those who have died. The former died during their lifetime, and the latter live even after death; The former, even in this life, are pitiful for everyone, since they offend God, and the latter, having moved there, are blessed, since they have gone to Christ. Sinners, wherever they are, are far from the King - therefore they are worthy of tears; and the righteous, whether here or there, together with the King, and there they are still much closer to Him, not by contemplation, not by faith, but, as they say, “face to face.” 4. So, let us mourn not just those who have died, but those who have died in sins. They are worthy of crying, sobbing and tears. What, tell me, is there any hope of going away in sins to a place where it is no longer possible to put aside your sins? As long as they were here, one could very well expect that they would change, that they would be better; and when they went to hell, then there is no benefit from repentance: “In the tribulation,” it is said, “who will call on you in hell” (Ps. 6:6) How are they unworthy of tears? Let us cry for those who die like this, I do not prevent; We will cry, but without violating decency, somehow: we will not tear (our) hair, bare our hands, torment our faces, put on black clothes, but only in our souls we will quietly shed bitter tears. And without this ritual, you can cry bitterly, and not just joke: in fact, what some people do is no different from jokes. These public torments are not out of compassion, but for show, out of ambition and vanity; many (women) do it as a trade. Weep bitterly and groan long where no one sees; it will be a matter of compassion, and it will benefit you too. Whoever cries like this for another will try all the more to avoid being subjected to the same thing - after that, sin will be terrible for you. Weep for the infidels, weep for those who are not at all different from them, who die without baptism and confirmation; truly such are worthy of tears and lamentation, they are outside the royal palace with the accused and condemned: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Weep for those who died in wealth, and from their wealth did not think of doing anything to console their souls, who had the opportunity to cleanse their sins, and did not want to. We will all cry for them, separately and together, only with decency, without losing gravity, so as not to expose ourselves to disgrace. We will cry for them not one, not two days, but throughout our entire lives. These tears are not the result of reckless passion, but of tender love; and those arise from insane passion, and therefore are soon drained. Only that which comes from the fear of God happens constantly. So, we will mourn them, we will help them as much as we can, we will come up with some kind of benefit for them, although small, but still able to help. How and in what way? Praying themselves, and convincing others to pray for them, always giving to the poor for them. This will provide some relief. In fact, listen to what God says: “And I will defend this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant” (2 Kings 20:6). If the memory of only the righteous was so strong, then how will the deeds done for the deceased not be strong? It was not in vain that the apostles established that when performing terrible mysteries they should remember the dead: they knew that this would bring them much benefit, much benefit. When all the people and the sacred face stand with their hands raised, and when a terrible sacrifice is presented, then how can we not beg God, asking for them? But this (we speak) about those who died in faith; and the catechumens are not awarded this consolation, but are deprived of all such help, except one. Which one exactly? For them you can give to the poor; this gives them some comfort, because God wants us to help each other. Otherwise, why would He command to pray for the peace and welfare of the world? Why - about all people? Although among everyone here there are robbers, grave diggers, thieves, and those full of countless vices, we nevertheless pray for everyone: perhaps this will somehow contribute to their conversion. Because just as we pray for the living, who are no different from the dead, we can also pray for the dead. Job made sacrifices for the children and cleansed them from their sins. “Perhaps...,” he said, “they have sinned... in their hearts” (Job 1:5). This is how they care about children. He did not say, as many people now say: I will leave them property; did not say: I will give them the glory; did not say: I will acquire power; I didn’t say: I’ll buy the fields. But what? “Perhaps... you have sinned... in your heart.” What is really the use of everything that remains here? No. I will appease the King for all of them, he says, and then they will not lack anything. “The Lord is my Shepherd,” says (the prophet), “I will not need anything” (Ps. 22:1). Here is great wealth, here is a treasure! If we have the fear of God, then we have no need for anything; and if we don’t have it, then at least we owned the kingdom itself, we are the poorest of all. There is no equal to the one who fears the Lord: “The fear of the Lord,” it is said, “surpasses everything” (Sir. 25:14). Let us acquire it, let us do everything for its sake; even if it were necessary to lay down our soul and give up our body to death, we will not spare ourselves; We will do everything to acquire this fear. In this way we will be richer than all, and will receive future blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: