1. My beloved brethren! If any among us is not sealed and does not bear the seal of our Lord Jesus Christ, let him hasten to be sealed; if we do not have the mark of the grace of the Holy Spirit, let us strive by every means to receive it. For death has no power over the souls that are sealed with the most pure blood of Christ and the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, and the cunning wolf, the devil, cannot bear to look upon the seal of the Chief Shepherd, Christ, by which He seals His sheep. Yes, my Christian brethren, he cannot bear it. For this reason, let us diligently strive to do all deeds that are pleasing to Christ, that we may be deemed worthy of His seal, so that we may pass the rest of our lives without fear; and not only this, but that we may receive mercy from Him and be made worthy to understand the mysteries of Christ—not by word alone, or by hearing and tradition, but by deed and experience.
How does one come to understand the mysteries of God by deed? Listen carefully to understand. Jesus Christ says in the Holy Gospel: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Hearing this, we must ponder and carefully examine ourselves to see if we are such, that is, whether we are poor in spirit, so that the kingdom of heaven may truly be ours, so truly ours that we are assured in our soul that we have already acquired the kingdom of heaven and hold its riches faithfully, feeling without any doubt that we are within it and rejoicing, enjoying the blessings that are found there within. For the Lord tells us that the kingdom of heaven is within us. The sign and proof showing that the kingdom of heaven is truly within us is as follows: if we do not desire any of the temporal goods of this world, neither wealth, nor glory, nor pleasures, nor any worldly or carnal delight, but we withdraw from all this and turn away from it with our whole soul and heart, as much as those honored with royal dignity and authority withdraw from those who frequent brothels and as much as those accustomed to wearing clean garments and anointing themselves with perfumes and fragrances turn away from unclean places and stench. But whoever does not turn away from all this, but has an attachment to any of the things we have mentioned, has neither seen the kingdom of heaven, nor smelled, nor tasted its sweetness and fragrance.
And again Christ says: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). Let us again examine and see if we have mourning, and what this comfort is that, as the Lord says, follows mourning. Previously, He said that blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit, as we have said, have no attachment to the goods of this world and do not think of them with delight, but hate them and turn away from them. Therefore, who has despised the entire world, who distances himself from it more by thought than by body, and has no desire for any visible good, what worldly thing can cause him sorrow or joy? And how can someone who possesses the kingdom of heaven and rejoices within it daily mourn? Moreover, the Lord said that those who mourn will receive comfort. But heed, I ask you, to understand the power of this word.
A faithful person, always diligently observing the commandments of God, when, doing all that the commandments of God require, considers their height, that is, the blameless life and purity (that they depict), then, examining his own measure, will find himself extremely weak and incapable of reaching that height of the commandments, will find himself extremely poor and unworthy to receive God, or to thank and glorify Him (to give Him rest within himself), since he has not yet acquired any good for himself (has nothing to give rest). But such a person, thinking of all that I have said with a feeling of the soul, will undoubtedly weep that most blessed weeping, which indeed receives comfort and makes the soul meek. The comfort and joy that weeping brings are the pledge of the kingdom of heaven. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, as the divine Paul says, and the comfort that comes to those souls who weep from the illumination and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit is the presence of God, giving them humility for the sake of weeping, which is called both the seed and the talent: because it grows and multiplies thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold in the souls of those who strive and brings forth to God the holy fruit of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Where there is true humility, there is also the depth of meekness; where there is meekness, there is also the radiance of the Holy Spirit; where the radiance of the Holy Spirit is, there is the abundant outpouring of God's light and God, with wisdom and knowledge of His mysteries; where this is, there is the kingdom of heaven, and the awareness of the kingdom, and the hidden treasures of divine knowledge, in which there is also the manifestation of spiritual poverty; where there is a sense of spiritual poverty, there is also joyful mourning and constant tears, which cleanse the soul from all loves and attachments and make it entirely luminous.
When the soul is thus enlightened and truly knows its Master and God, it then begins with all diligence to bear other virtues within itself to Him and to Christ the Lord. And it should be so. For, being always nourished and fed by tears, it completely extinguishes anger within itself, and it becomes entirely meek and unmoved to wrath, and then it hungers and thirsts, that is, strongly desires and seeks to know and partake in God's righteousness. Along with this, it becomes merciful and compassionate. From all this, again, its heart becomes pure, and it attains the vision of God and clearly sees His glory, according to His promise: "for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). And those whose souls are such are truly peacemakers and are called sons of God, who clearly know their Father and Master and love Him with all their heart, enduring every hardship and sorrow for His sake when they are reviled, reproached, and oppressed for His righteous commandments, which He has commanded us to keep. They endure all sorts of offenses and persecutions, and they bear every evil word spoken against them falsely for His Holy Name's sake, rejoicing that they have been deemed worthy to suffer dishonor from men for their love of Him.
Do you now understand, my brothers, the true imprint of Christ's seal? Do you grasp, believers, the signs by which a Christian's faithfulness is revealed? Truly, there is but one seal of Christ—the radiance of the Holy Spirit, though there are many forms of His actions and many signs of His power. The foremost and most necessary is humility, as it is the beginning and foundation. For God says: "But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2). The second is mourning, which produces constant tears, about which I would like to say much, but I do not find sufficient words to speak worthily of them. An inexplicable wonder! Material tears flow from material eyes and wash the immaterial soul from sinful impurities; they fall to the ground, but they cast down demons and free the soul from the invisible bonds of sin. O, tears! Flowing from the action of divine illumination, you open the very heavens and bring down divine comfort. From this comfort and from the spiritual sweetness that I experience, I again say and will repeatedly say the same, that where there are tears with true knowledge, there is also the radiance of divine light, and where there is the radiance of this light, there is also the bestowal of all blessings, there within the heart is imprinted the seal of the Holy Spirit, from which all the fruits of life are born. From tears, meekness, peace, mercy, compassion, goodness, kindness, faith, and self-control are brought forth for Christ. From tears comes the ability to love one's enemies and to pray for them to God, to rejoice in temptations and to boast in afflictions, to see others' sins as one's own and to weep for them, and to willingly lay down one's life for one's brothers.
Listen, I beseech you, my Christian brothers, and awaken from your slumber! Enter into yourselves and see if the light of Divine grace has shone within your hearts—see if you have seen the great light of knowledge, if the dawn from on high has visited you and shines upon you, who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. God lacks nothing, being full of all goodness and perfections. He needs nothing from us, except for our salvation alone. Our salvation cannot come to pass otherwise unless our mind is changed and made different by the action of God's power so that it becomes a deified mind, that is, a passionless and holy mind. A mind is deified when it has God within it. However, for the mind to become such by itself is impossible. Only the mind that is united with God through faith and knows Him through the doing of His commandments is most surely deemed worthy to see Him and to behold Him; for through the faith that it has in Christ, Christ dwells within it and makes it deified. The mind is preserved as deified by always meditating on what is of Christ and continually heeding His law; for as much as one heeds the law of Christ, so much does he keep His commandments (and thus maintains himself as deified); likewise, the one who has a deified mind is the same one who always meditates on what is of Christ, continually heeds His law, and does His commandments.
So, my beloved, let us strive to nourish and ignite within ourselves the most abundant divine fire, that is, the love of God, through the keeping of Christ's commandments. For through them the divine fire is kindled within us and through them it is usually increased. Just as a physical fire ignites in a material substance, such as wood or other combustible materials, so that when a small spark of fire falls on such a substance, it ignites a large flame, which becomes even greater the more combustible material it finds; similarly, the intelligent fire acts in relation to the intelligent (or in the intelligent realm). What the combustible material is for the physical fire, the rational soul is, having within itself as it were a combustible substance—the commandments of Christ—for the fire of Divinity. Divinity, that is, Divine grace itself, is not manifested by itself unless it descends into a rational soul. Just as a physical fire does not appear in the physical unless it finds combustible material, so the intelligent fire does not appear in the intelligent unless it finds the material of God's commandments. The Lord says: "He who loves Me will keep My commandments, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21). The material fire, before it manifests itself in the material, is hidden; similarly, the divine fire, before it manifests itself in intelligent souls, is hidden. And again, the beginning of the physical fire is incomprehensible, because it is hidden within the physical; likewise, the beginning of the intelligent fire is beyond thought, because it is hidden in the intelligent. However, the physical fire is of one nature with the physical, whereas the intelligent fire is not of one nature with the intelligent (souls), for the Creator is not of one nature with the creature. Consequently, the intelligent fire is much more hidden in the intelligent than the physical fire in the physical.
Let us then, brethren, examine ourselves thoroughly to see if the seal of Christ is in us, and let us strive to know definitely, by the signs mentioned above, whether Christ is in us. If we have not yet received Christ, if we do not yet have His seal and do not see that we have those signs which we have mentioned, but rather see all the contrary, that is, that the deceitful (cunning, deceptive) world lives in us, and we, unfortunately, live in it, that we highly value the temporary goods of the world, and in the sorrows that come upon us we are weak, in dishonors we are distressed, but in honors, wealth, and worldly and carnal pleasures we rejoice and are glad; woe to us because of the malignity from which we suffer, woe to us because of the ignorance and darkness that covers us, woe to us because of the wretchedness and insensitivity that have taken hold of us! We have completely fallen down to the earthly, worldly, and physical. Truly, we are poor and most miserable, being far from eternal life and the kingdom of heaven, because we have not yet acquired Christ within ourselves, but we still have the world living within us, insofar as we live in it and think earthly thoughts. And whoever is like this is clearly an enemy of God, because attachment to the world is enmity against God, as the divine Apostle says: "Do not love the world or the things in the world" (1 John 2:15), for "the love of the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4). It is impossible to serve God and live according to man.
I truly tell you, my brethren, that there is nothing better in the world than to have nothing of the goods of this world and to desire nothing beyond what is necessary for the body. What is necessary for the body is bread, water, clothing, and shelter, as the divine Apostle says: "And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (1 Timothy 6:8). If we are in need of anything more than this, He who has given us incomparably more and satisfies every living creature's desires (Psalm 144:16) will surely grant this to us as well, if we believe and trust in Him. Only let us abandon all sinful and impure things before God, such as vainglory, envy, hatred, enmity, cunning, grumbling, lying, injustice, greed, strife, reproaches, slander, gossip, pride, misanthropy, malice, and everything else that the devil has taught mankind. For because of all this, God has commanded us not to love the world or the things in the world. Not with the intent that we indiscriminately hate God's creations, but so that through this we may cut off the occasions for sins. For this reason, let us finally hate the world and all that God hates, because all this is harmful to the soul.
The goods of this world are hindrances that prevent us from loving God and pleasing Him. Who, loving the glory and honor of men, can consider himself the least of all and the most humble, be poor in spirit and contrite in heart, sigh and weep for his sins? Who can, loving wealth, all kinds of things and possessions, be merciful and compassionate, rather than hard-hearted and cruel beyond any beast? Who can, being vainglorious and proud, be free from envy and rivalry? And to him who is given over to carnal passions and wallows in impure pleasures, is it possible to be pure in heart, or to see God who created him? How can he see Him?! Is it also possible to be a peacemaker for one who has estranged himself from God and does not listen to the blessed Paul, who says: "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). That is, instead of Christ, who was the envoy, mediator of God the Father to men, that they might be reconciled to God, we, like the Apostles, who have received the embassy and in place of Christ have become mediators of God the Father to you, implore you: be reconciled to God. For everyone who transgresses God's commandments is an enemy of God, fighting against Him. And how can such a one be a peacemaker of others? Even if he happens to reconcile others among themselves, he cannot arrange this reconciliation in such a way that it is pleasing to God. When he is an enemy to himself and to God, it is doubtful that those who are reconciled through his mediation will not also be enemies to God, just as he is. He who is an enemy to anyone, he cannot advise others to do anything pleasing to his enemy, he cannot teach them to do the will of his enemy, when he himself is an opponent of that will.
So, my beloved brothers, let us hate the world and the things in the world. For what communion do we, Christians, have with the world and with what is in the world? Let us love with all our soul what God commands us to love. Let us love spiritual poverty, that is, humility; let us love constant day and night weeping, from which every hour spiritual joy is born and consolation is poured out upon those who love God. From weeping, meekness also settles in those who truly strive. Those who weep also hunger and thirst for righteousness and diligently seek the kingdom of God, which surpasses all human understanding. And not only this, but also one becomes merciful and pure in heart, full of peace and a peacemaker, as well as courageous in trials because of constant weeping. Weeping produces in us hatred for all evil. Through it, divine zeal is kindled in the soul, which does not allow a person any rest, but, not permitting him to incline towards evil with the wicked, urges him towards all good, simultaneously filling the soul with courage and strength to endure all trials and sorrows.
Let us hasten, brothers, let us hasten with all diligence to reach the incorruptible and everlasting good, despising the goods of this world, which are corruptible, transient, like a dream, and have nothing stable and firm within them. The sun and the stars, the sky and the earth, and everything will pass away for you, and you, man, will remain alone with your deeds. What of what we see in this world can benefit us in the hour of mortal need, when we depart from here and move to another life, leaving the world and all worldly things here, which will soon also pass away and no longer be? Even if it does not pass away immediately, what benefit is there for us when, moving to another place, we leave all that here? Our body remains dead in the earth, and the soul, having left the body, can no longer look at this world without it, nor be seen by anyone. There its mind is turned only to what is invisible, having no more concern for what is in this world. It is then entirely in another life, either for the kingdom of heaven and its glory or for the torment and fire of Gehenna. It receives one of these two from God as an eternal inheritance, according to the deeds it has done in this world.
Let us flee from the delusions of this world and its deceptive joys and consolations, and let us hasten to Christ alone, the Savior of our souls. Let us strive to reach Him and, when we reach Him, let us fall at His feet and kiss them with all the warmth of our hearts. Indeed, I implore you, let us strive now, while we are still in this present life, to know Him and to see Him. For if we are deemed worthy to know Him here with the sense of our soul, we will not die, death will not prevail over us. Let us not wait to see Him in the future life, but let us strive to see Him here in this world. The Holy Apostle John says: "By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us" (1 John 3:24). Therefore, those of you who have shown by your deeds firm and unquestionable faith in Him, consider well what I have said, and, examining it carefully, see if Christ is in you, so as not to deceive yourselves, thinking that you have Christ within you when you have nothing, and not to depart from this life empty, without having Christ, and not to hear that dreadful voice of the Lord: "Take away from him what he thinks he has, and give it to him who has more." Then you will weep and wail, and grieve uselessly for endless ages. But let this not happen to us; rather, let us be deemed worthy to see the Lord in this life, and when we die, to have Him within us, so that we may dwell with Him in the next life and rejoice with Him in His kingdom. Amen.
Leave a comment
Share
Thanks for reading The Old Believer! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
