Беседа 2

Col. 1:9–10. Therefore, from the day we heard about this, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you act worthy of God, pleasing Him in everything, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. The calling into the kingdom of the Son of God is the greatest good. – Real life is like a bird's nest. – Earthquakes and destruction of cities. – Refutation of the doctrine of fate. 1. “Therefore we”: for what? Because we have heard about your faith and love. Having good hope, we are trustworthy in our petitions for the future. Just as in the arena we especially excite those who are close to victory, so Paul especially exhorts them who have shown great success in virtue. “As soon as we heard about this,” he says, “we do not stop praying for you.” We spent more than one day in prayer, not two, not three. By this he shows his love, and slightly hints that they have not yet reached the end - this is expressed in the words: “So that you are fulfilled.” And note the prudence of this blessed (apostle): nowhere does he say that they are deprived of everything, but everywhere that they lack. This means the expression: “so that you may be fulfilled”; and again: “Pleasing in everything... in every good deed”; and again: “strengthened with all strength”; and: “with all patience” (Col. 1:11). Saying: “in every way,” testifies that they did something, although not everything. “So that you may be fulfilled,” he says, and not (says): yes you will receive, because you have received; reminds us of what is missing - “so that you may be fulfilled.” Thus, the reproof was not heavy, and the praise did not allow them to fall and become careless, as if everything was accomplished. But what does it mean: “so that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will”? That you must be brought to Him through the Son, and not through angels. What must be brought, this you have known; Now it remains for you to find out why He sent the Son. After all, if salvation had to be achieved through angels, He would not have sent or betrayed the Son. “In all wisdom,” he says, “and spiritual understanding.” Since the philosophers deceived them, I want, he says, for you to be guided by spiritual wisdom, and not human. If spiritual wisdom is needed to understand the will of God, then unceasing prayers are needed to understand its essence (spiritual wisdom). And Paul shows here that from that time he prayed, and did not finish the prayer, and did not leave it - this is what the expression means: “as they heard about this.” Thus, he places a seemingly great condemnation on them if, from that time on, helped by prayers, they have not corrected themselves. “And ask,” he says, that is, with great jealousy, - this is indicated by the word: “they learned” (έγνωτε). But in order to “act worthy of God,” you also need to “know” something (έπιγνώναι), which indicates life and deeds, since he always does this, always connects the way of life with faith. “Pleasing in everything.” How then – “pleasing in everything”? How He generally revealed Himself to you, he says, and as you accepted such knowledge, so manifest life, worthy of faith; and our faith requires a special life, much higher than the ancient one. For whoever knows God and is worthy to be a servant of God, even a son, look at what virtue is required. “Being strengthened with all strength.” Here (Paul) speaks of temptations and persecutions: we pray that you may be strengthened, so that, that is, you will not give in to negligence and despair. “According to the power of His glory” So that you may receive, he says, such zeal as is fitting to ascribe to the power of His glory “In all patience” (Col. 1:11). The meaning of these words is this: we pray earnestly, says that you lead a virtuous life and worthy of your calling, and stand firm, properly strengthened by God. Therefore, he does not yet touch upon dogmas, but revolves around life, in which he saw nothing worthy of accusation, and, having praised them for what he should have, then moves on to accusation. He does this everywhere: when he writes to someone, intending to accuse him of one thing and praise him for another, he first praises and then moves on to accusations; first he wins over the listener and protects the accusation from any suspicion, showing that he only wanted to praise everything, and that he only enters into these accusatory reasonings out of necessity. This is what he does in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5): having given them many praises for loving him, he then, starting from the fornicator, moves on to accusations. But in the Epistle to the Galatians this is no longer the case, but on the contrary; however, whoever examines deeper will find that this accusation also implies praise. Since at that time it was impossible to say about any good deed of theirs, and the accusation was great, everyone was corrupted, and had the strength to endure (the accusation), he begins with the accusation, saying: “I am amazed” (Gal. 1:6), which is also praise, and then praises them not for the present, but for the past, saying: “If it were possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me” (Gal. 4:15). 2. “Bearing fruit”, he says - this is about deeds; “being strengthened” is about temptations. “In all patience,” that is, in long-suffering towards each other, and in patience with others, since long-suffering occurs where it would be possible to take revenge, and patience where revenge is impossible. Therefore, patience is never attributed to God, but long-suffering is always attributed. This is what this blessed one says, writing in another place: “Or do you despise the riches of God’s kindness, meekness and long-suffering” (Rom. 2:4)? "In every way". It’s not just now, but then no longer. “In all,” he says, “spiritual wisdom and understanding,” since otherwise it is impossible to know His will. Although they thought that they knew the will of God, this was not spiritual wisdom. “So that they act,” he says, “worthy of God”: this is the path of the best life, when someone knows God’s love for mankind; and the one who knows him, who can see the devoted Son, will have greater zeal. However, we do not only pray that you know (the will of God), but that you show this by your very deeds, since those who know and do not will be punished. “So that they act,” he says, that is, always, not just once, but at all times. Just as we need to walk, we also need to live correctly; and he rightly calls such a life a walk, showing that this life is offered to us, and that the worldly life is not like that. And there is great praise in his words: “So that you act worthy of God,” and: “In every good work,” that is, so that you always grow and never stop, and metaphorically: “Bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,” that is, so that you put on as much of the power of God as is possible for a person. "According to His power". Great consolation. He did not say: according to strength, but according to power, which is greater. “According to the power,” he says, “of His glory,” since the glory of God reigns everywhere. I was already comforted by the fact that, having endured reproach, you again walk worthy of the Lord. He says this about the Son, who rules everywhere - both in heaven and on earth, whose glory reigns everywhere. He doesn’t just say: they could, but: they could, as is typical for the slaves of such a strong Master. "In the knowledge of God". At the same time, it also concerns the conditions of knowledge: but to know God as necessary means to be mistaken. You must, he says, grow in the knowledge of God. If he who does not know the Son does not know the Father, then knowledge is rightly required, since without it there is no benefit from life. “In all patience,” he says, “and generosity with joy, thanking God.” Intending to later convince them, he at first did not mention what he had set aside for the future, but only hinted at it, saying: “in the hope of what is prepared for you in heaven”; here he mentions what has already happened, because this serves as the reason for it. He does this in many cases, because what has come true is already believed more, and what has come true occupies the listener more. “With joy,” he says, “thanks to God.” The sequence of thoughts is this: we do not stop praying for you and thanking God for the past. Do you see how he begins to speak about the Son? After all, if we give thanks with great joy, then what is said is great. You can give thanks out of fear alone, you can give thanks even while in sorrow, as for example, Job, thrown into sorrow, gave thanks, which is why he said: “The Lord gave, the Lord has also taken away” (Job 1:21). Let no one say that what happened to him did not arouse sorrow in him and did not plunge him into despondency; Let no one take away the great praise of the righteous. If so, then not out of fear, not out of fear of authority only, but according to the very nature of things, we thank “him who called us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12). He spoke about a great thing. What is given, he says, is such that it is not only given, but also made us strong to accept (the given). So the word: “who called” (who made us capable - τφ ίχανώσαντι) has an important meaning here. Let, for example, someone of low rank become a king; he has the power to entrust the leadership to whomever he wants; however, he is able to bestow only dignity, and not the very ability to command (and often honor makes such a person ridiculous); if he had given him dignity and made him capable of honor and fit for government, then honor would have been real. The same thing is said here, that He not only gave us honor, but also made us strong to receive it. 3. Indeed, it is a double honor to give and to prepare the ability (to receive) the gift. (Paul) said not just the one who gave, but: “who called (ίκανώσαντι) us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light,” that is, who placed us with the saints. At the same time, he said not just - who supplied, but also - who allowed to enjoy the same benefits, as part ("to participate") is called what everyone receives. After all, you can live in the same city without enjoying the same benefits; but it is impossible to have the same part without enjoying the same benefits. It is possible to belong to the same heritage and not have the same part - for example, we all belong to the heritage, but we do not all have the same part. However, here he is not talking about this, but about the part with the heritage. Why call this a heritage? In order to show that no one acquires the kingdom by his good deeds, but just as inheritance depends more on happiness, so here: no one discovers such a life as to be worthy of the kingdom - everything is a gift from God. That is why (the evangelist) says: “When you have done everything commanded you, say: we are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:10). “To participate in the inheritance of the saints in the light,” that is, in the nobility. It seems to me that he is talking about both the present and the future. Then it shows what we have been awarded. Not only is it amazing that we are honored with the kingdom, but we must also add that we are honored as such; but this is not the same, as (the apostle) says in the letter to the Romans: “For hardly anyone will die for a righteous person; perhaps someone will decide to die for a benefactor” (Rom. 5:7). “He who delivered us,” he says, “from the power of darkness.” Everything depends on Him - to give this and that, because none of us has a good deed. “From the power of darkness,” he says, that is, from error and from the power of the devil. He did not simply say: from darkness, but from power, since (the devil) has great power over us and dominates. It’s hard to be simply under the devil, but (under the devil) with power – it’s even harder. “And he brought,” he says, “his beloved Son into the kingdom” (Col. 1:13). So, (the Lord) showed His love for mankind not only in liberating us from darkness. Of course, it is a great thing to free yourself from darkness; but to be brought into the Kingdom is even greater. Look how complex the gift is: He freed us, lying at the bottom, and not only freed us, but also transferred us to the kingdom. "Who delivered us". He didn’t say “he was a monster,” but he “delivered” (έρρύσατο, “extorted”), showing on the one hand our miserable state and the captivity of those, and on the other hand, the unhindered power of God. “And he who brought it in,” he says, as if someone had transferred a warrior from place to place. And he did not say - translated, or - moved, since all this would express transposition, and not transition, but - rearranged - so it was both our and His business. "Into the kingdom of his beloved Son". He didn’t just say: into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he gave the word great importance, calling (the Kingdom of Heaven) the Kingdom of the Son, because there is no greater praise than this, just as in another place he says: “If we endure, we will also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). He has honored us with the same thing, he says, as the Son, and to this he has added the beloved. He suddenly moved the darkened enemies to where the Son was and clothed him with the same honor as Him. He was not satisfied with this alone, but in order to show the greatness of the gift, he did not consider it sufficient to say - the kingdom, but added also - the Son; and this is not enough, - added - the beloved; He did not even limit himself to this, but showed the (divine) dignity of His nature. What exactly does it say? “Who is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). However, he did not suddenly come to this, but brought good deeds to us; So that you, hearing that everything is the work of the Father, do not think that the Son is excluded, he gives everything to the Son, and gives everything to the Father: the Son rearranged, and the Father gave the reason. What exactly does it say? “Who delivered us from the power of darkness”; and this is the same as: “In whom we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14) - because if sins had not been forgiven us, then we would not have been transferred. Here again - “in Which”. And he did not say: liberation (λύτρωσιν), but “redemption” (άπολότρωσιν), so as not to fall again and become dead. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creation” (Col. 1:15). Here we encounter the objection of heretics, and therefore today’s conversation must be postponed until tomorrow in order to offer it to your refreshed ears. If, beyond this, something must be said, it is that the greater work is the work of the Son. How? Such that one was impossible, that is, to bestow the kingdom on those who were in sin, and the other was easier, that is, to prepare the way for the gift. What are you saying? He himself forgave your sins, and therefore he himself brought you. Here the root of the teaching is already laid in advance. 4. But before we say this, it is necessary to finish the word. What is this? The fact that, taking advantage of such a benefit, we must always remember about it, we must constantly imagine the gift of God and reflect on what we got rid of and what we received, in order to thus be grateful and strengthen our love (for God). What are you saying, man? Are you called to the kingdom, to the kingdom of the Son of God, and you completely indulge in yawning, scratching yourself and falling asleep? Yes, if one were to be subjected to a thousand deaths every day, would one not have to endure everything? You do everything to get an influential position; and having to join the kingdom of the Only Begotten, will you not rush towards a thousand swords, will you not throw yourself into the fire? And this is not what’s scary, but the fact that, even when you want to leave, you cry and, being tied to your body, lovingly rotate among the local objects. What is this? Do you even consider death a terrible thing? The reason here is luxury and idleness, because whoever leads a sorrowful life would willingly arm himself with wings to fly away from here. We are now in the same state as chicks, weakened because they always want to stay in the nest. The longer we stay here, the weaker we will become. Indeed, real life is a nest made of straws and dirt. Even if you pointed out to me large buildings, even even royal chambers shining with abundance of gold and stones, I will think that they are no different from a swallow’s nest: when winter comes, they will all fall by themselves. And I call winter that day, which will not be winter for everyone, because God calls that time night and at the same time day, night for sinners, and day for the righteous. In the same sense, I call that day winter. If during the summer we are not well fed, so that when winter comes we can fly, then our mothers will not take us, but will leave us to die of hunger, or, when the nest falls, to die. Then God, having recreated everything and put it in a new order, will destroy everything, like a nest, only with greater ease (than nests are destroyed). Then, unfeathered and unable to meet the Lord in the air, but fed so sparingly that they did not receive light wings, they will endure everything that is natural for those in such a state to endure. So, when a swallow’s nest falls, its chicks immediately die; but we will not perish, but will be forever under punishment. At that time there will be winter, but only more severe than winter: then not streams of water will flow, but rivers of fire; there will be not darkness from the clouds, but darkness undispelled and impenetrable by light, so that you will not be able to see either the sky or the air, but you will have to feel the tightness more than those buried in the ground would feel it. We often talk about this, but we don’t convince others. And it is not surprising that we, weak people, experience such disbelief when we talk about this, if the prophets also experienced the same thing, talking not only about such subjects, but about war and captivity. And Zedekiah was rebuked by Jeremiah, but was not ashamed. Therefore, the prophets said: “Woe to those... who say: “May He hasten and hasten His work, so that we may see, and may the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come closer and come to fruition, so that we may know!” (Isa. 5:18–19). Let us not be surprised at this: even those who lived at the time of the ark did not believe, but believed when there was no longer any use in faith; and the Sodomites did not expect it, but they also believed when it no longer served them for anything. But what am I talking about the future? Who expected what has happened now in different places? Who expected these earthquakes and the destruction of cities? And this was more likely than that ark. What can you see from? Because they had no other example in mind and had not heard the Scriptures; and we had a lot of them both in your times and before. Where does the disbelief in such phenomena come from? From relaxation of the soul: they drank and ate, and therefore did not believe. After all, what anyone wants, that’s what he thinks about, that’s what he expects; those who contradict this are considered talkers. 5. May the same thing not happen to us: and now there will be no more flood and no mortal punishment; Now the beginning (only) of executions is the death of those who do not believe that there will be a judgment. Who do you say came from there and announced this? If you say such words as a joke, that’s no longer good; one should not joke about such things; We joke not about humorous, but dangerous objects. If you really are like that and don’t think that anything will happen after this life, then why do you call yourself a Christian? And I don’t talk to non-Christians. Why are you taking the font? Why do you go to church? Do we promise you (government) places? All our hope is in the future. So why are you starting if you don’t believe the Scriptures, if you don’t believe in Christ? And being like this, you are - I won’t say, non-Christian - you are worse than the pagans. Why? Because recognizing Christ as God, you do not believe in God. That wickedness is at least consistent: whoever does not think that Christ is God, necessarily does not believe in Him; and this wickedness is even devoid of consistency - it recognizes Him as God and does not consider what He said to be reliable. These are the words of drunkenness, luxury, bliss: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” (1 Cor. 15:32). Not tomorrow, but even then, as you say this, you have already died. Tell me, are we really no different from pigs and donkeys? If there is no judgment, no reward, no judgment seat, then why are we honored with such a gift - in a word, and have everything in subjection? Why are we in charge, and why are they subordinate to us? Look how the devil presses us from all sides in order to convince us not to recognize the gift of God. He confuses slaves with masters; like a slave seller and an ungrateful servant, he tries to bring a noble man into the same insignificance as himself, the offender. Apparently he rejects the trial; and this denies the existence of God. The devil is always like this - he offers everything with cunning, and not directly, so that we do not beware. If there is no judgment, then God, judging humanly, is unjust; and if God is unjust, then He is not God, and when He is not God, everything immediately collapses: there is neither virtue nor vice. But he clearly doesn't say anything like that. Do you see the thought of the satanic spirit, how it wants to make dumb people out of people, or better yet, animals, and even better, demons. So, let's not believe him. There is a court, you pathetic and unhappy person! I know where you come from for these speeches. You have many sins, you have done many wrongs, you do not dare to speak openly, you think that the nature of things will follow your speeches. Until the time comes, you say, I will not upset my soul with the expectation of Gehenna. Even if there was Gehenna, I will try to convince myself that it does not exist; In the meantime, I'll take a walk here. Why do you add sins to sins? If, having sinned, you believe that there is Gehenna, then you will depart, cleansed from your sins only by punishment; and when you commit this wickedness, you will be subjected to extreme torment both for the wickedness itself and for this thought. In the latter case, the cold consolation that briefly flattered you will be the cause of continuous torment for you. Even though you yourself have sinned like this, why do you encourage others to sin, saying that there is no Gehenna? Why are you deceiving the simpletons? Why are you relaxing the hands of the people? In your opinion, everything is reversed: diligent people will not be even more diligent, but carefree, the evil ones will not give up on evil. After all, if we begin to corrupt others, our sins will not be forgiven us. Do you not see how the devil intends to overthrow Adam? Was he forgiven? This was the reason for greater punishment. That’s why he arranges his networks in such a way that we are punished not only for our own, but also for the sins of others. Let us not think that by leading others into the same destruction as us, we will make the judgment seat, in relation to us, more meek; on the contrary, this will make it stricter. Why should we push ourselves and destroy ourselves? All this is the work of Satan. Have you sinned, man? You have a humane Master: pray to Him, beg, cry, groan, frighten others and persuade them so that they do not fall into the same sins. If in the house one of the rude servants says to his son: child! I insulted the master, try to please him so that the same does not happen to you - then tell me, will he prepare some forgiveness for himself, will he break the master’s anger and bow him down? But let him, leaving these words, say, for example, the following: my master does not repay everyone according to their property, everything is simply mixed up for him - both good and evil, in this house you cannot expect gratitude - what do you think the master will think of him? Will he be subjected to even greater punishment for his misdeeds? And rightly so: there the emotional shock will lead to an apology, albeit a weak one, but here nothing. So, imitate, if not someone else, then at least the rich man in Gehenna, who says: “Father, send... Lazarus to my relatives, lest they also come to this place” (Luke 16:27–28) and suffer the same thing, but he himself could not go. Let us refrain from those satanic words. 6. What do you say, if the pagans ask us, don’t you want to help them? But by throwing a Christian into bewilderment under the guise of caring for a pagan, you want to confirm the satanic teaching; without being convinced of it yourself, through an interview with one soul, you want to bring others as witnesses. If you need to talk with a pagan, then you should not start the conversation with this, but with this: Is Christ God and the Son of God, and are the demons they confess gods? As soon as this is considered, everything else will flow by itself; and before the beginning is stated, it would be in vain for us to talk about the end; Before the elements are known, it would be unnecessary and foolish to proceed to the end. The pagan does not believe in the court, and is in the same state as you, because he also knows many who have philosophized about this: although they said this about a person who has separated his body from his soul, they nevertheless allowed the court; and the clarity of this matter seemed so strong that there was almost no one who did not know about it, even poets, and everyone agreed both regarding the judgment and the judgment. This means that a pagan does not disbelieve his own people, and a Jew does not doubt this, and not a single person at all. Why do we deceive ourselves? So you say to me: what do you say to God, who created the heart of each of us separately, who knows everything that is in the mind, who lives and acts, and who penetrates more than any two-edged sword? Tell me the truth: don’t you admit to yourself that you are sinning? Is there a person (in the world) who would not blame himself for laziness? How did such great wisdom come about by itself that the sinner blames himself? After all, this is a matter of great wisdom. You blame yourself; and the one who gave you such a mind left everything to your own devices? So, this is what will be the general rule and definition: none of the people who live virtuously, even if he were a pagan or a heretic, disbelieves this word of judgment; none of the people spinning in the greatest evil, except for a few, accepts the word about the resurrection. The Psalmist also says this: “Your judgments are far from him.” Why? Because “at all times his ways are destructive” (Ps. 9:26). “Let’s eat,” he says, “and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” (1 Cor. 15:32). Do you see that it is common for lowly people to say this? These words denying the resurrection come from food and drink. The soul cannot bear it, cannot bear the judgment of conscience, and acts in the same way as a murderer: first he puts himself in such circumstances so as not to be caught, and then he kills; being before the court of conscience, he does not quickly proceed to crime - he knows and pretends that he does not know, so as not to be tormented by conscience and fear, and not weaken himself for murder. This is how those who sin know that sinning is bad, and they hesitate daily in their evil actions, not wanting to know that they are evil, although their conscience reproaches them for this. But we won’t dwell on them. There will be, there will certainly be judgment and resurrection, and God will not leave such great deeds in vain. Therefore, I beg you, let us shun evil and adhere to virtue, so that we may receive the true word in Christ Jesus our Lord. Given that it is easier: should we accept the word about resurrection, or the word about fate? The latter is full of untruth, full of senselessness, full of cruelty, full of inhumanity; and the first is the word of truth, rewarding what is deserved. And yet they do not accept it. And the reason is laziness. But the latter is not accepted by anyone who has reason; and among the pagans he only accepted fate, who considered pleasure as the goal of life, and the lovers of virtue rejected fate as something meaningless. If the pagans thought so (about fate), then all the more (they should have been inclined) to the word about the resurrection. But look how the devil created two opposites: so that we would neglect virtue, he introduced necessity; and in order to diligently serve the demons, he instilled two opposite concepts and with both of them achieved both. So, what justification can he bring who does not believe such a wondrous thing, but believes those fables? Do not even feed on the consolation that you will receive forgiveness, but let us turn and strive for virtue, and let us live truly for God in Christ (Who, with the Father and the Holy. By the Spirit glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen). The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: