In the next verse, the Apostle James offers another example: "Behold, the ships, no matter how great they are and how much they are carried by strong winds, with a small rudder they steer whither the helmsman wills (James 3:4).Brothers and sisters, imagine a huge ship. It is indeed driven by a powerful wind, but the direction of its movement is determined by the rudder. Even a child can hold this rudder: turn left and a huge ship rushes to the left, turn right and moves to the right.You all know that at the beginning of the XX century, a huge ship "Titanic" was shipwrecked. Why did this happen? Because people were very presumptuous, they wanted to set a kind of record - to arrive as quickly as possible from the Old World to the New, from Europe to America. Those naval officers who were entrusted with the rudder spent their time very carelessly and did not immediately notice the fatal iceberg. And when they noticed him, it was too late to change anything! Sometimes you say a hostile word and turn everyone against you at once! But think: what if you can't change anything in this situation throughout your life?! One woman once came to me and said: "Father Oleg, I have been at war with my sister for almost fifteen years and I cannot reconcile with her! I tried to call her, slipped notes under the door, but she still does not want to communicate with me!" What happened between you?" And she told me that a long time ago, fifteen years ago, she had made some snarky remarks to her sister about her little children. She said to her then: "You do not know how to do anything at all: neither swaddling nor feeding a child! What kind of mother are you?!" she said this because she was really worried about the child, who, in her opinion, was poorly fed and wrapped up - she saw it herself. That is, there was objective truth in her words. But this could not be said as she said! And for fifteen whole years she has not been able to reconcile with her own sister, because the bit of the fear of God did not restrict the movement of her tongue! so the tongue is a small member, but it does a lot. Look, a small fire ignites so much substance! (James 3:5).Indeed, the tongue does a great deal! We know that children, playing with matches, sometimes start a real fire: they strike a match, the curtain catches fire - and the whole house is already on fire! The same is true for words: they can be very dangerous, so they must be controlled. And what does the Holy Scripture say about our language? In the Book of the Prophet Micah it is said: Can I be clean with unfaithful scales and deceptive weights in my bag? For his rich are full of iniquity, and his inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouths (Micah 6:11-12). The prophet Micah denounces people who speak lies with their tongues. Why are they doing this? Often for profit! These people have the wrong "scales", they have the wrong "weights".For the sake of money, a lot of people sin with their tongues. In the world of business, there is always deception. We often encounter the fact that a person tells a lie with the sole purpose of getting some benefit for himself; material benefit, which means transitory, having no eternal significance.Therefore, brothers and sisters, try never to lie in your life. Some people ask: is it possible to lie to the doctor to get a different disability group? No, you can't do that! Even if we acquire some money in this dishonest way, it will still not be of any use to us! On this path, many have fallen into sin. It is very dangerous when people are bilingual. The Scriptures say that Christians must be honest, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not covetous (1 Tim. 3:8). See how the Apostle, speaking of tongue and "double tongues," connects this with wine and covetousness! And indeed, when a person drinks, his tongue immediately begins to work in such a way that you can't stop it! Drunkards often become "double-tongued": with one – they say this, with another – otherwise; one will be told one thing, another another... And you won't understand what kind of person he is: he always speaks differently! "Bilingualism" is when we are inconsistent in our words: today we say one thing, and tomorrow another. In a drunken state, this manifests itself very often.The Apostle Paul also names another reason for "double-tonguedness" – greed. The meaning is again the same – for the sake of enrichment, for the sake of money. You said that your health was fine, and the time came to solve the issue with your pension - and you already have bad health! You've just recovered, you've already served a thanksgiving service, and you're lying to the inspector that you're not feeling well! Greed and drunkenness are what provoke our language and lead us to destruction. And what are flattering speeches? In Proverbs it is said: "To guard thee against a worthless woman, from the flattering tongue of a stranger" (Proverbs 6:24). This is how the wise King Solomon instructs us.Flattery and flattering tongue are very often associated with the sin of fornication. The wise Solomon warns that a flattering tongue leads to a strange woman.Women, of course, know how men know how to flatter: they say so much, they promise so much... Men also often listen to flattering speeches. But we must avoid such speeches, brothers and sisters! No matter how voluptuous our tongue pushes, no matter how covetousness and greed tempt us, we must remember that our language has another purpose! If we look at Proverbs again, we will find the following words: "A deceitful heart shall not find good, and a wicked tongue shall fall into trouble" (Proverbs 17:20). This is when people gossip about each other: they hear something about something else and retell it in the ear of their neighbor. But gossipers are people whom the Lord Himself will judge with a special, strict judgment!The Gospel says: If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him between you and him alone; if he hearkens to you, you have gained your brother; but if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be confirmed; but if he does not listen to them, tell the church; and if he will not listen to the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican (Matt. 18:15-17). But if you spread all kinds of gossip, rumors and conjectures, this is the deceit of the tongue! not that we should speak flattering, "double-tongued"; Not that we should tell lies for the sake of enrichment! The prophet and psalmist David answers this question: "And my tongue shall preach Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long" (Psalm 34:28). Brothers and sisters, when we read the morning and evening prayers, believe me, our tongue rejoices: it was created to glorify the Creator! But if we use our tongue to pronounce treacherous, flattering, bilingual, unrighteous words, remember that it is not given to us for this purpose! This is partly noted in the text that we have just read, but here it speaks exclusively about singing: then our lips were full of joy, and our tongue was singing; then they said among the nations: "The Lord has done great things over them!" The Lord has done great things over us: we rejoiced (Psalm 125:2-3). When a service is held in the church and all the people sing "I believe" or "Our Father" or some other prayer with one mouth, then a special spiritual uplift arises in the faithful. Truly, our language must be filled with joyful spiritual singing — that is why it is given to us. In the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians there are the following words: "That at the name of Jesus every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue may confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11). the tongue is given to us in order to preach the truth of God, to sing psalms, to confess Christ; our ears are given to us in order to receive the word of God with an open heart, dissolving it with faith in our hearts; the feet are given to hasten to do good; hands to do mercy. Everything that the Lord gave us, He gave for our good.Before the Fall, harmony reigned in the human being: the body was in unity with the soul. And we must strive for this unity, so that, as it is said in the Scriptures, our spirit, soul, and body may be preserved blameless until the coming of the Son of God.1 We read the following verse of the Epistle of the Apostle James: "And the tongue is fire, the adornment of iniquity; The tongue is in such a position among our members that it defiles the whole body and inflames the circle of life, being itself inflamed with hell (James 3:6). That's where the "rotten words" come from! The Apostle Paul, calling obscene speech "rotten words," said: Let no rotten word proceed out of your mouth... (Ephesians 4:29). It turns out that all this comes straight from hell - from hell it becomes inflamed.I saw one man who was already swearing, swearing so much... I said to him: "What are you doing?! Why?" – "For a bunch of words!". No, not for the sake of a bundle of words: his tongue is inflamed directly from hell, and he himself does not know it! (James 3:7).With these words the Apostle puts us to shame. He says that the animal world, which is given over to man, is really subordinate to us. But why then does man not obey his Lord? In the village, I watched how the herd was disbanded: each cow knew which yard to go to. They were walking, mooing – two turned here, one went there... Animals are in complete subjection to man, as it is said in the Holy Scriptures: And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea [and over the beasts,] and over the fowl of the air, [and over every cattle, and over all the earth,] and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth (Gen. 1:1:1). 28. The Lord gave animals to people. How dogs obey their masters, although they make them walk on their hind legs, and what they do not do to them! And dogs obey their owners and serve them faithfully! We cannot learn humility even from those creatures that are placed at our disposal. That is why the Apostle James says: For every nature of beasts and birds, creeping things and sea creatures is tamed and tamed by human nature. but no man can tame the tongue: it is an irrepressible evil; it is full of deadly poison. With it we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, who are created in the likeness of God (James 3:8-9). One man said to me: "Father, don't give me a big rule. You gave me a big rule, and I began to rush at everyone!" — "How did you do that?" — "I used to read only the Lord's Prayer and the Mother of God, and you ordered me to read the morning rule in its entirety. It is difficult for me, I have become very irritable..."Imagine how it happens: with the same tongue we bless God, glorify the Queen of Heaven, honor the Angels of the Lord, — and with the same tongue we utter evil words! this should not be so. We must try to do everything so that our speech is a glorification of the name of God, a preaching of God's truth, a confession of Christ. We must seriously realize our responsibility to this amazing organism – our body, which the Lord has given us as an instrument. Our tongue should be a kind of organ with which we will sing the glory of the Lord, glorifying His great miracles.But I must also warn you: if we use the organs of our body for other purposes, the Lord can deprive us of them. If we do not glorify the Lord, why do we need to speak?! And it is not necessary to fall into muteness: I have seen people who drank so much that they could not even speak! I said: "He must have fought a lot?" "He was constantly swearing!" The same goes for the ears... If we do not listen to the Word of God, but listen only to various gossip and rumors, our hearing may weaken. Why does eyesight begin to decline? You're looking in the wrong place! Why does hearing weaken? You're not listening to what is good for your soul! There may also be problems with the language. Therefore, in all things we must seek only the glory of the Lord!I knew a paralyzed man who was completely bedridden: he could neither move nor speak. He could only write brief notes with one hand. And in one of them, written with incredible difficulty, he expressed his understanding of why the Lord punished him so much! For example, my kidneys are sick now – I know why. If you have pain in your ears, liver, or something with your legs, you should know why it happened. If you do not know, then you will not know where to improve, to catch up.And the Lord punishes us not in order to take revenge or destroy: whom He loves, He punishes [2]. The Lord loves us and punishes us like a loving Father – in order to enlighten, heal, instruct. And may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23). ^Whom I love, I rebuke and chasten (Rev. 3:19). ^

Sixth Discourse

Part 2

In the next verse, the Apostle James offers another example: "Behold, the ships, no matter how great they are and how much they are carried by strong winds, with a small rudder they steer whither the helmsman wills (James 3:4).Brothers and sisters, imagine a huge ship. It is indeed driven by a powerful wind, but the direction of its movement is determined by the rudder. Even a child can hold this rudder: turn left and a huge ship rushes to the left, turn right and moves to the right.You all know that at the beginning of the XX century, a huge ship "Titanic" was shipwrecked. Why did this happen? Because people were very presumptuous, they wanted to set a kind of record - to arrive as quickly as possible from the Old World to the New, from Europe to America. Those naval officers who were entrusted with the rudder spent their time very carelessly and did not immediately notice the fatal iceberg. And when they noticed him, it was too late to change anything! Sometimes you say a hostile word and turn everyone against you at once! But think: what if you can't change anything in this situation throughout your life?! One woman once came to me and said: "Father Oleg, I have been at war with my sister for almost fifteen years and I cannot reconcile with her! I tried to call her, slipped notes under the door, but she still does not want to communicate with me!" What happened between you?" And she told me that a long time ago, fifteen years ago, she had made some snarky remarks to her sister about her little children. She said to her then: "You do not know how to do anything at all: neither swaddling nor feeding a child! What kind of mother are you?!" she said this because she was really worried about the child, who, in her opinion, was poorly fed and wrapped up - she saw it herself. That is, there was objective truth in her words. But this could not be said as she said! And for fifteen whole years she has not been able to reconcile with her own sister, because the bit of the fear of God did not restrict the movement of her tongue! so the tongue is a small member, but it does a lot. Look, a small fire ignites so much substance! (James 3:5).Indeed, the tongue does a great deal! We know that children, playing with matches, sometimes start a real fire: they strike a match, the curtain catches fire - and the whole house is already on fire! The same is true for words: they can be very dangerous, so they must be controlled. And what does the Holy Scripture say about our language? In the Book of the Prophet Micah it is said: Can I be clean with unfaithful scales and deceptive weights in my bag? For his rich are full of iniquity, and his inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouths (Micah 6:11-12). The prophet Micah denounces people who speak lies with their tongues. Why are they doing this? Often for profit! These people have the wrong "scales", they have the wrong "weights".For the sake of money, a lot of people sin with their tongues. In the world of business, there is always deception. We often encounter the fact that a person tells a lie with the sole purpose of getting some benefit for himself; material benefit, which means transitory, having no eternal significance.Therefore, brothers and sisters, try never to lie in your life. Some people ask: is it possible to lie to the doctor to get a different disability group? No, you can't do that! Even if we acquire some money in this dishonest way, it will still not be of any use to us! On this path, many have fallen into sin. It is very dangerous when people are bilingual. The Scriptures say that Christians must be honest, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not covetous (1 Tim. 3:8). See how the Apostle, speaking of tongue and "double tongues," connects this with wine and covetousness! And indeed, when a person drinks, his tongue immediately begins to work in such a way that you can't stop it! Drunkards often become "double-tongued": with one – they say this, with another – otherwise; one will be told one thing, another another... And you won't understand what kind of person he is: he always speaks differently! "Bilingualism" is when we are inconsistent in our words: today we say one thing, and tomorrow another. In a drunken state, this manifests itself very often.The Apostle Paul also names another reason for "double-tonguedness" – greed. The meaning is again the same – for the sake of enrichment, for the sake of money. You said that your health was fine, and the time came to solve the issue with your pension - and you already have bad health! You've just recovered, you've already served a thanksgiving service, and you're lying to the inspector that you're not feeling well! Greed and drunkenness are what provoke our language and lead us to destruction. And what are flattering speeches? In Proverbs it is said: "To guard thee against a worthless woman, from the flattering tongue of a stranger" (Proverbs 6:24). This is how the wise King Solomon instructs us.Flattery and flattering tongue are very often associated with the sin of fornication. The wise Solomon warns that a flattering tongue leads to a strange woman.Women, of course, know how men know how to flatter: they say so much, they promise so much... Men also often listen to flattering speeches. But we must avoid such speeches, brothers and sisters! No matter how voluptuous our tongue pushes, no matter how covetousness and greed tempt us, we must remember that our language has another purpose! If we look at Proverbs again, we will find the following words: "A deceitful heart shall not find good, and a wicked tongue shall fall into trouble" (Proverbs 17:20). This is when people gossip about each other: they hear something about something else and retell it in the ear of their neighbor. But gossipers are people whom the Lord Himself will judge with a special, strict judgment!The Gospel says: If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him between you and him alone; if he hearkens to you, you have gained your brother; but if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be confirmed; but if he does not listen to them, tell the church; and if he will not listen to the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican (Matt. 18:15-17). But if you spread all kinds of gossip, rumors and conjectures, this is the deceit of the tongue! not that we should speak flattering, "double-tongued"; Not that we should tell lies for the sake of enrichment! The prophet and psalmist David answers this question: "And my tongue shall preach Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long" (Psalm 34:28). Brothers and sisters, when we read the morning and evening prayers, believe me, our tongue rejoices: it was created to glorify the Creator! But if we use our tongue to pronounce treacherous, flattering, bilingual, unrighteous words, remember that it is not given to us for this purpose! This is partly noted in the text that we have just read, but here it speaks exclusively about singing: then our lips were full of joy, and our tongue was singing; then they said among the nations: "The Lord has done great things over them!" The Lord has done great things over us: we rejoiced (Psalm 125:2-3). When a service is held in the church and all the people sing "I believe" or "Our Father" or some other prayer with one mouth, then a special spiritual uplift arises in the faithful. Truly, our language must be filled with joyful spiritual singing — that is why it is given to us. In the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians there are the following words: "That at the name of Jesus every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue may confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11). the tongue is given to us in order to preach the truth of God, to sing psalms, to confess Christ; our ears are given to us in order to receive the word of God with an open heart, dissolving it with faith in our hearts; the feet are given to hasten to do good; hands to do mercy. Everything that the Lord gave us, He gave for our good.Before the Fall, harmony reigned in the human being: the body was in unity with the soul. And we must strive for this unity, so that, as it is said in the Scriptures, our spirit, soul, and body may be preserved blameless until the coming of the Son of God.1 We read the following verse of the Epistle of the Apostle James: "And the tongue is fire, the adornment of iniquity; The tongue is in such a position among our members that it defiles the whole body and inflames the circle of life, being itself inflamed with hell (James 3:6). That's where the "rotten words" come from! The Apostle Paul, calling obscene speech "rotten words," said: Let no rotten word proceed out of your mouth... (Ephesians 4:29). It turns out that all this comes straight from hell - from hell it becomes inflamed.I saw one man who was already swearing, swearing so much... I said to him: "What are you doing?! Why?" – "For a bunch of words!". No, not for the sake of a bundle of words: his tongue is inflamed directly from hell, and he himself does not know it! (James 3:7).With these words the Apostle puts us to shame. He says that the animal world, which is given over to man, is really subordinate to us. But why then does man not obey his Lord? In the village, I watched how the herd was disbanded: each cow knew which yard to go to. They were walking, mooing – two turned here, one went there... Animals are in complete subjection to man, as it is said in the Holy Scriptures: And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea [and over the beasts,] and over the fowl of the air, [and over every cattle, and over all the earth,] and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth (Gen. 1:1:1). 28. The Lord gave animals to people. How dogs obey their masters, although they make them walk on their hind legs, and what they do not do to them! And dogs obey their owners and serve them faithfully! We cannot learn humility even from those creatures that are placed at our disposal. That is why the Apostle James says: For every nature of beasts and birds, creeping things and sea creatures is tamed and tamed by human nature. but no man can tame the tongue: it is an irrepressible evil; it is full of deadly poison. With it we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, who are created in the likeness of God (James 3:8-9). One man said to me: "Father, don't give me a big rule. You gave me a big rule, and I began to rush at everyone!" — "How did you do that?" — "I used to read only the Lord's Prayer and the Mother of God, and you ordered me to read the morning rule in its entirety. It is difficult for me, I have become very irritable..."Imagine how it happens: with the same tongue we bless God, glorify the Queen of Heaven, honor the Angels of the Lord, — and with the same tongue we utter evil words! this should not be so. We must try to do everything so that our speech is a glorification of the name of God, a preaching of God's truth, a confession of Christ. We must seriously realize our responsibility to this amazing organism – our body, which the Lord has given us as an instrument. Our tongue should be a kind of organ with which we will sing the glory of the Lord, glorifying His great miracles.But I must also warn you: if we use the organs of our body for other purposes, the Lord can deprive us of them. If we do not glorify the Lord, why do we need to speak?! And it is not necessary to fall into muteness: I have seen people who drank so much that they could not even speak! I said: "He must have fought a lot?" "He was constantly swearing!" The same goes for the ears... If we do not listen to the Word of God, but listen only to various gossip and rumors, our hearing may weaken. Why does eyesight begin to decline? You're looking in the wrong place! Why does hearing weaken? You're not listening to what is good for your soul! There may also be problems with the language. Therefore, in all things we must seek only the glory of the Lord!I knew a paralyzed man who was completely bedridden: he could neither move nor speak. He could only write brief notes with one hand. And in one of them, written with incredible difficulty, he expressed his understanding of why the Lord punished him so much! For example, my kidneys are sick now – I know why. If you have pain in your ears, liver, or something with your legs, you should know why it happened. If you do not know, then you will not know where to improve, to catch up.And the Lord punishes us not in order to take revenge or destroy: whom He loves, He punishes [2]. The Lord loves us and punishes us like a loving Father – in order to enlighten, heal, instruct. And may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23). ^Whom I love, I rebuke and chasten (Rev. 3:19). ^

Part 1

As you have probably already noticed, brothers and sisters, when we talk to you about one of the sections of the Bible, we try to see what is said on the same subject in other places of the Holy Scriptures. This is very important, because the Scriptures say that any case is established in the presence of two or three witnesses [1].This applies not only to the worldly, but also to the spiritual life. It is impossible to build a religious life on the basis of a biblical verse taken out of context: one must try to study the entire Bible, so as to adhere not to the details misunderstood, but to the entire volume of the truth that is imprinted on the pages of the Holy Scriptures.We continue reading the Synodal Epistle of the Holy Apostle James.Does sweet and bitter water flow from the same opening of the spring? (James 3:11) Here the question immediately arises: what kind of water are we talking about? What is sweet and bitter water? Do we have the right to decide for ourselves, based on what it seems to us, what kind of water is being referred to here?In the Holy Scriptures it is said: "Have faith in God" (Mark 11:23). This means that we have no right to guess about this or that biblical text or expression. The Word of God interprets itself: in the Holy Scriptures themselves we can find evidence that confirms every word of this same Scripture.If we want to understand correctly what the Apostle James means by the expression "sweet water" (it is not "Pepsi-Cola", not carbonated water, of course, this is something else), then we must carefully study the Holy Scriptures.Reading the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus, we begin to guess what the expression "sweet water" really means: [Moses] cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There God gave the people the rule and the law, and there He tested them (Exodus 15:25).Water in the Bible is a symbol of the word of God. And now, after reading this passage, we begin to understand that the source of sweet water refers to God's statutes and God's laws. Here it is said: and the water became sweet. There God gave the people a statute and a law, and there He tested them.Naturally, where there is a law, there is a test – whether we can fulfill this law. Because the commandment tests our souls, revealing our sins or our righteousness: either we are faithful to the law or we depart from it. Of course, the law of God is sweet for a believer! Strange as it may seem, when I was about fifteen or sixteen years old, I especially loved to read the book of Deuteronomy. Later, I often wondered why. And it became clear to me: when a person is young, he enters life and wants to know what can and cannot be done.It often happens that newcomers (people who have recently come to the Church) ask the following question: "Show me clearly what I should do and what I should not!" Therefore, it is really very important when at the beginning of our journey we decide: what is God's commandment, what God wants from us, and what He does not want from us. It is entering into the wisdom of the Lord that makes a person righteous. But one should not think that the law of God will always be preserved in purity (in the sense that people will always correctly understand the law of God). Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good (Romans 7:12), the Scriptures say, and we are sinners. And since we are sinners, we inevitably begin to distort the commandments of the Creator, trying to understand them in our own way. This is a sin! But it is an even greater sin if a person thinks that both sweet and bitter water can flow from the same source; if we say: "Something in the Bible is useful to me, and something is outdated, harmful and I no longer need it!" That is why the Apostle James asks: Does sweet and bitter water flow from the same opening of the spring? In other words, he says: "If you call God your Lord, then accept all His words!" Why are we more willing to accept for ourselves from the Scriptures what concerns, for example, our forgiveness? But, on the other hand, we must also talk about God's punishments, about God's punishment. For me, this is always a difficult topic; it is probably hard for you to hear when we talk about punishment, about God's punishments that come upon sinners. Of course, it is much more joyful to talk about God's mercy and God's forgiveness. But we must learn to accept all the words of the Lord in the same way. Perhaps they will seem bitter to us—it is our duty to treat them as the truth of which it is said, "sweet water." Thus, for you and me, brothers and sisters, everything is equally useful: both when the Lord forgives us and when He punishes us! Behold: Sweet waters will become salty, and all friends will turn against each other; then the mind will be hidden, and the mind will withdraw into its storehouse (3 Ezra 5:9). So, brothers and sisters, you see one Bible verse continuing another. At first, it seemed completely unclear what the Apostle James was talking about: "sweet water", "bitter water"... But the word of God explains to us that "sweet water" is a firm stand for the statutes and laws of God, it is an exposition of the Divine laws and statutes. And so, in the Book of Ezra, we read that sweet water will be made salty: that is, there will be people who will use the law of God to distort its meaning. Then they will make the truly sweet salty, the light dark, and the hot cold. Even in our time, there are people who, although they take the law of God in their hands as a book, do so in order to interpret everything in their own way. And they change everything exactly the opposite. About the times when such changes and distortions of the word of God will take place, Ezra writes: "There will be confusion in many places, we will often send fire from Heaven; wild beasts will change their places, and unclean women will give birth to monsters (3 Ezra 5:8). This is what will precede the time when people will undertake to distort the law of God, to violate the commandments of the Creator, and to make salty things out of sweets, as we have read here. These are times of turmoil. And what is confusion? Confusion is when people are not sure about the future: they have fear, fright, despair – what will happen next? Nor are we sure that life will continue to be peaceful. For example, what is the United States doing now? To many countries of the world, they dictate their will through military force. Why is this done? Not just to scare Muslims! [2] All the devil's aggressions are always directed, first of all, against the people of God, against the Orthodox. This is done in order to sow fear and uncertainty in the hearts of us, the Russian Orthodox people, as well as among other Orthodox Christians. If there is fear in our hearts, we will be afraid. And when a person is afraid, he grovels, he can even become a traitor. The United States, which cultivates debauchery and violence, now wants to intimidate everyone and is already intimidating with missiles and bombings. It is only in words that they allegedly want to restore order or neutralize the terrorists: we know that their bombs and missiles fall on residential areas, destroy the houses of civilians, kill women and children. The true goal they are pursuing is to scare everyone and make them hostages of fear. And, indeed, someone becomes scared! Even our government is already afraid: what if there are traitors, American spies among us? And so, fear is sown in people – enemies are all around, internal and external.. This is the real confusion when a person is not sure about today, let alone tomorrow.On the one hand, the Scriptures say about the end times that then fire will often be sent from heaven to earth, and people will perish. These words can be interpreted in such a way that, by God's permission, people will be destroyed by the deadly fire of rockets [3]. On the other hand, scientists are now extremely concerned that comets and other celestial bodies often fall to earth. And they say that in the immediate vicinity of our planet, huge comets have recently been observed, ready to fall to earth. This, in turn, can lead to serious catastrophes and global cataclysms.The Scriptures also say that wild animals will change their places, that is, they will change their habitats. But now it is actually happening. Animals appear everywhere: they leave their habitual habitats, fleeing from any "chemicals", they flee from poisoned forests, from contaminated sources; their migrations have indeed become very chaotic.It is said that unclean women will give birth to monsters. On the one hand, it says that freak children will be born. There will be many such children precisely because women will become unclean and will cease to fulfill God's commandments. But one should not think that only women will be to blame for this: after all, a woman cannot give birth on her own. If a wife is unclean, then her husband (or simply the person who is the father of the child) is doubly unclean! Why could he allow her to become like this? In the Scriptures it is said: whoever marries a divorced woman (that is, a harlot. – Author) commits adultery (Matt. 19:9). Look at what kind of young people we have now, what monstrous crimes young people are committing! Just two days ago, an excited altar boy of our church ran up to me and told me an unpleasant story, which he had to witness. He was riding the subway and saw such tall, well-dressed young men surround an elderly man and completely empty his pockets. The victim was very frightened: he understood that if he protested, he could be killed. There were a lot of people around, but no one intervened! And the bandits calmly got out of the subway and went to McDonald's.And so, they were sitting and having a snack, and the altar boy ran to me and said: "Father Oleg, we need to do something. I saw with my own eyes how it all happened!" - "Well, let's call the police." We dialed "02", no one came up... Where else to call? I had the phone number of the 47th police station: I dialed the number, waited, no one came up either... Brothers and sisters, now we have such a life that you will be attacked, and you will sit at the phone for an hour while your door is broken, and you will not be able to get through anywhere. And we don't need to break down our door for an hour: if you push it once, it will break! And it is said in the Scriptures that it is in these times, when confusion will come, when fire will fall from heaven, when wild beasts will change their habitats, when women will give birth to monsters, in these times the sweet waters will become salty, and all friends will turn against each other; then the mind will be hidden, and the mind will retire to its storehouse. And then it is written: Many will seek it (that is, reason. – Author), but they will not find it; and unrighteousness and intemperance will abound in the earth (3 Ezra 5:10).And look how Ezra describes these times: One province will ask another, neighboring one: "Has not righteousness passed through you, which makes you righteous?" And it will say: "No" (3 Ezra 5:11). One asks the other: "Maybe you have a better one?" and he answers: "No, even worse!" On TV, they constantly show how one or another governor speaks: people seem to be trying to find where life is better, but everyone has their own problems. they will labor, and their ways will not be governed (3 Ezra 5:12). That is, labor will become useless: an honest person will never be able to earn money in a society dominated by criminals. And who can make money in such a society? Only a crook or a criminal! And it would be more correct to say – not to make money, but to steal.These are the monstrous times in which we live, brothers and sisters! And it becomes clear to us why it is in these times that sweet waters will become salty: the law of God will be deliberately distorted, they will try to abolish it, drive it into a ghetto, into a reservation. They will say this: "The Bible is for believers, and for the state - we have our own laws. The Bible is for Christians, and for the country we have the Constitution, codes, etc." And they will teach people in this way, and they are already teaching, and we calmly look at the fact that our state has become secular and has ceased to be religious, that is, it has ceased to obey the will of the Creator! And we think that this is in the order of things?! If so, then we are traitors to the law of God! After all, we must recognize only this law and in every possible way avoid attempts to distort it.It happens that those around us ask: "What should our country do?" ... Now everyone is interested: "What should we do? It was hard under Chernomyrdin, and even worse under Kiriyenko... What to do? Who to vote for? What is there to hope for?" ... And here we need to answer directly: "We must hope in God! Human laws will not help here: study the law of God!" And, submitting to the will of the Creator, His absolute power (and all power, as we have found out, belongs only to God), we will all truly be the people of God. Let it be among the wolves — but by the people of God! Let it be in the darkness that surrounds us, but the light of Christ will shine even in this darkness, and the darkness will not envelop it! Only the Lord God is our King, He is our Ruler. And it is said that without His will not even a hair of our head will be lost (cf. Luke 21:18). But if even a hair does not fall without His will, will the Lord not be able to govern our family life, teach us how to raise children correctly, how to equip our land, how to govern our state? Only the Lord possesses the fullness of wisdom and truth, and this truth is the commandments of God. Each commandment of God teaches us how to live, how to act correctly, how to build relations with neighboring states... Scripture regulates all things, absolutely everything! And we are told: "The Bible is no longer relevant! Let them read the Bible in church."One day I was summoned to court as a consultant on a religious issue. And when I opened the Holy Scriptures and began to read, everyone shouted: "The Bible is not a book for judgment, we have other books!" And so it is in reality: we have not even noticed, brothers and sisters, how people have rejected the law of God and replaced the commandments of the Creator with human traditions! That is why we, Orthodox Christians, in the midst of general confusion, must not succumb to general panic: we know that at a time when all earthly governments are reeling and are on the brink of war, the Throne of the Lord is not shaking, it stands firm! At a time when all the laws in our state do not work and do not work, God's commandments are always unchangeable and holy! Borders are constantly being remade, states are uniting, disuniting (in Eastern Europe everyone is divided, in Western Europe everyone is united) – this is all human, it is people doing something of their own. The Kingdom of God is one, and it will be both in Heaven and on earth! "Thy kingdom come..., as in heaven and on earth." That is, sooner or later all these human boundaries will disappear and there will be only the Kingdom of God! And there will be only one authority – from God, as in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, let us not associate ourselves with the temporary speculations of modern politics, but let us stand firm in our stand for God's truth.That is why the Apostle James says: Does sweet and bitter water flow from the same opening of the spring? If you have accepted the will of God, accept it completely, be in agreement with it in everything! ^The sermon was delivered during the next bombing of Iraq. ^Behold, all you who kindle fire armed with incendiary arrows, go into the flame of your fire and the arrows that you have kindled! (Isaiah 50:11). ^

Part 2

My brethren, the fig tree cannot bring olives, or the vine figs. Likewise, even one spring cannot pour out salt and sweet water (James 3:12). He says that those of us who trust in princes, in the son of man (Psalm 145:3), should not forget that no matter how high a position a person occupies, he still remains only a man. And the Scriptures tell us that every man is a lie (Psalm 115:2). And the Psalmist exclaims: "Do not put your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 145:3). This means that any person is also a gate of perdition: after all, there is no salvation in people. So, if we, relying on people, want to build our life correctly – family, civil, state, public – we will inevitably come to a dead end, because every person is a lie. If we follow a sinner, how will our journey end? The Gospel says: "If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit" (Matt. 15:14). We must follow only the Lord! The Apostle Peter says: "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in His footsteps" (1 Pet. 2:21). And when we wait for salvation from people, it is like waiting for olives from a fig tree. What kind of olive tree can there be from a fig tree? And can the vine bring figs? Michurin crossed apple trees with pears and, they say, almost watermelons with apples... But human fantasies do not lead to anything good! I recently visited the Tambov diocese, where I once served, and asked the local residents: "Well, what has Michurin done here?" - "Yes, he ruined all sorts of things! Before the revolution, there were such good varieties, but he mixed everything and it is not clear what happened!" This is what happens to us, brothers and sisters, when we leave our fate at the mercy of other people – let them, they say, solve our problems. This should not be the case! We must follow only the natural path, recognizing only the authority of God over us. Only the power of God! And if we live by worldly ideas about power, then we will inevitably get all sorts of hybrids: not a pear or an apple; No taste or appearance. If we are talking about the authority of God, let's see what the Holy Scriptures say about it. We often return to this topic, but it is so multifaceted that we can discuss it endlessly.The Holy Scriptures tell us that God's authority is manifested, first of all, in His creation. In the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, it is said about the authority of God as follows: He created the earth by His power, He established the universe with His wisdom, and with His understanding He stretched out the heavens. At His voice the waters in the heavens roar, and He raises up clouds from the ends of the earth, He creates lightning in the midst of the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His storehouses (Jeremiah 51:15-16). This is how God's authority is manifested in His creation, the natural world. The Lord established the universe, He stretched out the heavens, at His command the waters in the heavens roared, He summoned lightnings to the earth in the midst of the rain. You remember, brothers and sisters, how during the celebration of the next day of the city, the Moscow government spent millions of rubles to disperse the clouds over the city. And what came of it? So that people would not be proud, the Lord thickened the clouds even more! Do you know, brothers and sisters, what the Olympic Games are? They are clearly from the devil! What is this Olympic flame? In Greece, on Mount Olympus, where in ancient times there was an idolatrous temple, a female priestess reads pagan prayers, calls the demonic names of these idols and lights a fire. And then the athletes run with this fire, causing a curse: where they run with it, something always happens, problems always arise, both spiritual and material.The Holy Scriptures forbid to bring "strange fire" – a strange fire, which He did not command them (Lev. 10:1). They would light it in the chapel, serve a prayer service. If a prayer service was served before the competition, it would be Orthodox, brothers and sisters! And here they bring fire from Olympus, lit with occult and magical spells, then carefully preserve it, and then it blazes over our Moscow! Because a person is just a person. And only our God is the One Who is above all, we must obey Him in everything. We speak, for example, about sports: the Holy Scriptures do not say that sports are harmful. The Bible says: bodily exercise is of little use (1 Tim. 4:8), but it is absolutely not forbidden. Everything must be done in accordance with the commandments of the Creator! See how it is said in the Psalms: "Come and behold the works of God, who is terrible in the dealings of the children of men" (Psalm 65:5). It turns out that our Lord is terrible when He executes judgment on human affairs! But always—even when we don't think about it—if we turn away from God, God's judgment is invisibly carried out on our deeds! Someone thinks that he has hidden from people, that he is doing evil unnoticed – but the Lord sees everything! In the 65th Psalm we read: He turned the sea into dry land; we crossed the river with our feet, there we rejoiced in Him. In His power He reigns eternally; His eyes behold the nations, lest rebels be lifted up (Psalm 65:6-7).This is what the Holy Scriptures tell us about the authority of God — that He reigns forever; that to Him alone our God belongs all power; that He watches that the rebels are not exalted.What rebels are we talking about, what kind of rebels are they? These are the ones who oppose God's authority! Those who say, like the devil, when he whispered to Adam and Eve in paradise: "Ye also shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). And it continues to this day: every time we put the laws of men above the laws of God, we play along with the rebels and become rebels ourselves. But the psalmist testifies that the Lord watches over the rebels, so His punishment will not be delayed! God's judgment is always carried out on human affairs.Further, the Prophet David exclaims: Bless our God, O nations, and proclaim His praise. He preserved our soul's life, and did not allow our foot to be shaken (Psalm 65:8-9). All nations must bless God! And the Scripture tells us that such a time will come. This will be the time when all people – all nations, all peoples, all languages – will gather to worship the Lord on His Holy Mountain (Ezekiel 20:40). But the Lord's mercy to the righteous – to believers, to those who fulfill His commandments – will not be shaken [1].Everything will shake, everything will collapse, everything will change, everything will be devalued, but believers must be firm! We have the foundation, the rock on which we stand, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And if our house is based on a solid foundation – on a rock, as it is said in the Sermon on the Mount – then let the winds blow, let it rain, let the thunder roar, the lightning blazes and the rivers overflow – the house founded on the stone will stand unshakable! Like, for example, in China: half of the country is already in the water, and they all can't understand why this is happening. They try to hold back the water, put sandbags, but the water rises and rises. But we, the Orthodox, should not be proud: if we do not repent, God's justice can also befall us. The Russian people have already experienced the power of the punishing hand of God for the fact that many supported the revolution in their time. And the Lord still continues to punish for this.So, the Lord looks at all nations, at all nations. And He judges everyone equally, but He asks us more strictly than the rest. This is indeed so, because the Scriptures say: first, to the Jews, then to the Greeks (Romans 1:16); That is, first the believer, the Orthodox, will be punished, and then all the rest.And we all know, brothers and sisters, how the Russian people have already been punished – we really got the most! Because for God we are our own, not strangers. When parents see that their children are naughty, hooligans, who will they punish? A neighbor's child? Moreover, the Scriptures say that believers are judged here on earth (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:32). And thank God that we receive recompense for our sins on earth, so that we may not be judged there, at God's judgment. Let us not be surprised, therefore, that among the faithful there are many who are sick, and poor, and needy. It is the Lord who cleanses us so that we may appear worthy of His eternal city, the Heavenly Jerusalem. Thus, the power of God extends over all creation.If any of you is wise and prudent, prove it in fact by good behavior with wise meekness (James 3:13).Thus, we see that the Apostle James first puts everything in its place, so that we may understand and understand what God's truth is and how it should be held; Everything that is of the evil one, we must sweep aside. And in this verse he addresses the believers with an appeal: "If any of you is wise and prudent, prove it in fact by good behavior with wise meekness. This means the need to comply with it. And moreover, we must observe the laws of God in such a way that those people who live according to their own written laws would look at us and wonder: "What an amazing people you are, Orthodox! Everything is so unanimous with you... What are these laws that govern you? Teach us these laws too!" This is what the Apostle James calls for: that we may have all things with wise meekness, that we may not boast and say, "We have received more than all others!" Yes, we have received the most, but perhaps we have fulfilled the least. This must also be remembered. The Gospel says: "And from everyone to whom much is given, much will be required, and from whom much is entrusted, from him will be required more" (Luke 12:48). This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, soulful, demonic... (James 3:14-15).Here the Apostle James continues the theme that we touched upon in previous discourses. If we have knowledge of the Divine laws, if we have knowledge of the will of the Creator, of His power over us, then we must unquestionably obey these laws, this authority. But if we only accumulate this knowledge in ourselves, but do not implement any of it in our lives, this is not wisdom. This is what will serve as a greater condemnation for us, this is earthly, spiritual, demonic wisdom. Remember what we said about demons: they believe and tremble, but this faith of theirs is a dead faith, because they have no good works! And the Apostle James worries about those who seem to have figured out that the Lord is above all, but at the same time still do not live according to the commandments of God... for where there is envy and quarrelsomeness, there is disorder and all evil (James 3:16). What is envy? If one person envies another, it means that he has already stolen something in his heart, he has already appropriated what he did not deserve; something that does not belong to him. Older people very often suffer from quarrelsomeness. Often, not being able to influence the interlocutor with personal authority, they begin to influence with words: they talk, they say... Day and night say the same thing! This must be avoided, it is not from the Lord. This is the irritation of your loved ones. Some people have already become so proficient in this grumpiness that they know for sure: "Now I'm going to say this to this one and he's going to explode! I will tell this to another - he will also lose his temper!" And in this way they play on the nerves of their neighbors. But the wisdom that comes down from above is first pure, then peaceful, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy. But the fruit of righteousness in the world is sown among those who keep peace (James 3:17-18). And what wisdom can be said to have come down from heaven? The entire word of God came down from heaven, was written at the behest of the Holy Spirit and addressed to us. Although the Holy Scriptures were written by people, they were people moved by the Holy Spirit [2]. Therefore, it is wisdom that came down from heaven for you and me. We must cling to this wisdom, we must study day and night what is written in the Holy Scriptures. And then many things will change for the better in our lives.But now people are ready to study anything, but not the commandments of God. Blessed Augustine writes about this in a very interesting way in his work, which is called "On Faith, Hope and Love"

For it is not they themselves, who are distinguished by such intelligence, who are aflame with zeal, who have free time in abundance, who now study human assumptions, now investigate historical experience. And in those discoveries of which they are proud, there are many who rather assume than know all these things invented by them. Further, Blessed Augustine writes: For a Christian, it is sufficient to believe that the cause of the creatures in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, lies only in the goodness of the Creator, Who is the One and True God; to believe that there is no nature that is not of Himself or of Him; that He is the Trinity, namely, the Father and the Son, begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the same Father, but one and the same Spirit of the Father and the Son [3].Blessed Augustine says that some people want to know everything: why the clouds move, why the species of animals change... And they are trying to comprehend it in a human way. But the believer, he says, does not need to know the natural essence of these things; you only need to know the main thing – that the Lord does everything! The main thing is to believe that there is a Holy Trinity! The main thing is to have faith and obey the will of the Holy Spirit, recognizing God's authority over you. And this is what the last verse of the third chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle James speaks of: "The fruit of righteousness in the world is sown among those who keep peace. The fruit of righteousness is true knowledge of God. In those people who have this fruit, it increases. This means – have faith in God, acknowledge His authority over you, submit other people to this power, and then you will see how your own life and the life around you will change. ^For prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). ^Blzh. Augustin. Creation. St. Petersburg, Aleteya Publ., 1998. T. 2. P. 7. ^

Seventh Discourse

My brethren, the fig tree cannot bring olives, or the vine figs. Likewise, even one spring cannot pour out salt and sweet water (James 3:12). He says that those of us who trust in princes, in the son of man (Psalm 145:3), should not forget that no matter how high a position a person occupies, he still remains only a man. And the Scriptures tell us that every man is a lie (Psalm 115:2). And the Psalmist exclaims: "Do not put your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 145:3). This means that any person is also a gate of perdition: after all, there is no salvation in people. So, if we, relying on people, want to build our life correctly – family, civil, state, public – we will inevitably come to a dead end, because every person is a lie. If we follow a sinner, how will our journey end? The Gospel says: "If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit" (Matt. 15:14). We must follow only the Lord! The Apostle Peter says: "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in His footsteps" (1 Pet. 2:21). And when we wait for salvation from people, it is like waiting for olives from a fig tree. What kind of olive tree can there be from a fig tree? And can the vine bring figs? Michurin crossed apple trees with pears and, they say, almost watermelons with apples... But human fantasies do not lead to anything good! I recently visited the Tambov diocese, where I once served, and asked the local residents: "Well, what has Michurin done here?" - "Yes, he ruined all sorts of things! Before the revolution, there were such good varieties, but he mixed everything and it is not clear what happened!" This is what happens to us, brothers and sisters, when we leave our fate at the mercy of other people – let them, they say, solve our problems. This should not be the case! We must follow only the natural path, recognizing only the authority of God over us. Only the power of God! And if we live by worldly ideas about power, then we will inevitably get all sorts of hybrids: not a pear or an apple; No taste or appearance. If we are talking about the authority of God, let's see what the Holy Scriptures say about it. We often return to this topic, but it is so multifaceted that we can discuss it endlessly.The Holy Scriptures tell us that God's authority is manifested, first of all, in His creation. In the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, it is said about the authority of God as follows: He created the earth by His power, He established the universe with His wisdom, and with His understanding He stretched out the heavens. At His voice the waters in the heavens roar, and He raises up clouds from the ends of the earth, He creates lightning in the midst of the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His storehouses (Jeremiah 51:15-16). This is how God's authority is manifested in His creation, the natural world. The Lord established the universe, He stretched out the heavens, at His command the waters in the heavens roared, He summoned lightnings to the earth in the midst of the rain. You remember, brothers and sisters, how during the celebration of the next day of the city, the Moscow government spent millions of rubles to disperse the clouds over the city. And what came of it? So that people would not be proud, the Lord thickened the clouds even more! Do you know, brothers and sisters, what the Olympic Games are? They are clearly from the devil! What is this Olympic flame? In Greece, on Mount Olympus, where in ancient times there was an idolatrous temple, a female priestess reads pagan prayers, calls the demonic names of these idols and lights a fire. And then the athletes run with this fire, causing a curse: where they run with it, something always happens, problems always arise, both spiritual and material.The Holy Scriptures forbid to bring "strange fire" – a strange fire, which He did not command them (Lev. 10:1). They would light it in the chapel, serve a prayer service. If a prayer service was served before the competition, it would be Orthodox, brothers and sisters! And here they bring fire from Olympus, lit with occult and magical spells, then carefully preserve it, and then it blazes over our Moscow! Because a person is just a person. And only our God is the One Who is above all, we must obey Him in everything. We speak, for example, about sports: the Holy Scriptures do not say that sports are harmful. The Bible says: bodily exercise is of little use (1 Tim. 4:8), but it is absolutely not forbidden. Everything must be done in accordance with the commandments of the Creator! See how it is said in the Psalms: "Come and behold the works of God, who is terrible in the dealings of the children of men" (Psalm 65:5). It turns out that our Lord is terrible when He executes judgment on human affairs! But always—even when we don't think about it—if we turn away from God, God's judgment is invisibly carried out on our deeds! Someone thinks that he has hidden from people, that he is doing evil unnoticed – but the Lord sees everything! In the 65th Psalm we read: He turned the sea into dry land; we crossed the river with our feet, there we rejoiced in Him. In His power He reigns eternally; His eyes behold the nations, lest rebels be lifted up (Psalm 65:6-7).This is what the Holy Scriptures tell us about the authority of God — that He reigns forever; that to Him alone our God belongs all power; that He watches that the rebels are not exalted.What rebels are we talking about, what kind of rebels are they? These are the ones who oppose God's authority! Those who say, like the devil, when he whispered to Adam and Eve in paradise: "Ye also shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). And it continues to this day: every time we put the laws of men above the laws of God, we play along with the rebels and become rebels ourselves. But the psalmist testifies that the Lord watches over the rebels, so His punishment will not be delayed! God's judgment is always carried out on human affairs.Further, the Prophet David exclaims: Bless our God, O nations, and proclaim His praise. He preserved our soul's life, and did not allow our foot to be shaken (Psalm 65:8-9). All nations must bless God! And the Scripture tells us that such a time will come. This will be the time when all people – all nations, all peoples, all languages – will gather to worship the Lord on His Holy Mountain (Ezekiel 20:40). But the Lord's mercy to the righteous – to believers, to those who fulfill His commandments – will not be shaken [1].Everything will shake, everything will collapse, everything will change, everything will be devalued, but believers must be firm! We have the foundation, the rock on which we stand, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And if our house is based on a solid foundation – on a rock, as it is said in the Sermon on the Mount – then let the winds blow, let it rain, let the thunder roar, the lightning blazes and the rivers overflow – the house founded on the stone will stand unshakable! Like, for example, in China: half of the country is already in the water, and they all can't understand why this is happening. They try to hold back the water, put sandbags, but the water rises and rises. But we, the Orthodox, should not be proud: if we do not repent, God's justice can also befall us. The Russian people have already experienced the power of the punishing hand of God for the fact that many supported the revolution in their time. And the Lord still continues to punish for this.So, the Lord looks at all nations, at all nations. And He judges everyone equally, but He asks us more strictly than the rest. This is indeed so, because the Scriptures say: first, to the Jews, then to the Greeks (Romans 1:16); That is, first the believer, the Orthodox, will be punished, and then all the rest.And we all know, brothers and sisters, how the Russian people have already been punished – we really got the most! Because for God we are our own, not strangers. When parents see that their children are naughty, hooligans, who will they punish? A neighbor's child? Moreover, the Scriptures say that believers are judged here on earth (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:32). And thank God that we receive recompense for our sins on earth, so that we may not be judged there, at God's judgment. Let us not be surprised, therefore, that among the faithful there are many who are sick, and poor, and needy. It is the Lord who cleanses us so that we may appear worthy of His eternal city, the Heavenly Jerusalem. Thus, the power of God extends over all creation.If any of you is wise and prudent, prove it in fact by good behavior with wise meekness (James 3:13).Thus, we see that the Apostle James first puts everything in its place, so that we may understand and understand what God's truth is and how it should be held; Everything that is of the evil one, we must sweep aside. And in this verse he addresses the believers with an appeal: "If any of you is wise and prudent, prove it in fact by good behavior with wise meekness. This means the need to comply with it. And moreover, we must observe the laws of God in such a way that those people who live according to their own written laws would look at us and wonder: "What an amazing people you are, Orthodox! Everything is so unanimous with you... What are these laws that govern you? Teach us these laws too!" This is what the Apostle James calls for: that we may have all things with wise meekness, that we may not boast and say, "We have received more than all others!" Yes, we have received the most, but perhaps we have fulfilled the least. This must also be remembered. The Gospel says: "And from everyone to whom much is given, much will be required, and from whom much is entrusted, from him will be required more" (Luke 12:48). This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, soulful, demonic... (James 3:14-15).Here the Apostle James continues the theme that we touched upon in previous discourses. If we have knowledge of the Divine laws, if we have knowledge of the will of the Creator, of His power over us, then we must unquestionably obey these laws, this authority. But if we only accumulate this knowledge in ourselves, but do not implement any of it in our lives, this is not wisdom. This is what will serve as a greater condemnation for us, this is earthly, spiritual, demonic wisdom. Remember what we said about demons: they believe and tremble, but this faith of theirs is a dead faith, because they have no good works! And the Apostle James worries about those who seem to have figured out that the Lord is above all, but at the same time still do not live according to the commandments of God... for where there is envy and quarrelsomeness, there is disorder and all evil (James 3:16). What is envy? If one person envies another, it means that he has already stolen something in his heart, he has already appropriated what he did not deserve; something that does not belong to him. Older people very often suffer from quarrelsomeness. Often, not being able to influence the interlocutor with personal authority, they begin to influence with words: they talk, they say... Day and night say the same thing! This must be avoided, it is not from the Lord. This is the irritation of your loved ones. Some people have already become so proficient in this grumpiness that they know for sure: "Now I'm going to say this to this one and he's going to explode! I will tell this to another - he will also lose his temper!" And in this way they play on the nerves of their neighbors. But the wisdom that comes down from above is first pure, then peaceful, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy. But the fruit of righteousness in the world is sown among those who keep peace (James 3:17-18). And what wisdom can be said to have come down from heaven? The entire word of God came down from heaven, was written at the behest of the Holy Spirit and addressed to us. Although the Holy Scriptures were written by people, they were people moved by the Holy Spirit [2]. Therefore, it is wisdom that came down from heaven for you and me. We must cling to this wisdom, we must study day and night what is written in the Holy Scriptures. And then many things will change for the better in our lives.But now people are ready to study anything, but not the commandments of God. Blessed Augustine writes about this in a very interesting way in his work, which is called "On Faith, Hope and Love"

For it is not they themselves, who are distinguished by such intelligence, who are aflame with zeal, who have free time in abundance, who now study human assumptions, now investigate historical experience. And in those discoveries of which they are proud, there are many who rather assume than know all these things invented by them. Further, Blessed Augustine writes: For a Christian, it is sufficient to believe that the cause of the creatures in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, lies only in the goodness of the Creator, Who is the One and True God; to believe that there is no nature that is not of Himself or of Him; that He is the Trinity, namely, the Father and the Son, begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the same Father, but one and the same Spirit of the Father and the Son [3].Blessed Augustine says that some people want to know everything: why the clouds move, why the species of animals change... And they are trying to comprehend it in a human way. But the believer, he says, does not need to know the natural essence of these things; you only need to know the main thing – that the Lord does everything! The main thing is to believe that there is a Holy Trinity! The main thing is to have faith and obey the will of the Holy Spirit, recognizing God's authority over you. And this is what the last verse of the third chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle James speaks of: "The fruit of righteousness in the world is sown among those who keep peace. The fruit of righteousness is true knowledge of God. In those people who have this fruit, it increases. This means – have faith in God, acknowledge His authority over you, submit other people to this power, and then you will see how your own life and the life around you will change. ^For prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). ^Blzh. Augustin. Creation. St. Petersburg, Aleteya Publ., 1998. T. 2. P. 7. ^

Part 1

Let us begin the reading of the fourth chapter of the Conciliar Epistle of the Holy Apostle James.Where do you get your enmity and strife? Is it not from here, from your lusts, which are at war in your members? (James 4:1) Asking the question: Whence do you have enmity and strife? The Apostle James himself offers the answer: is it not from here, from your lusts, which are at war in your members? But aggression, enmity, strife, are always the fruit of lusts, of which it is said that they are warring in your members. That is, everything is much simpler than people are trying to imagine, deceiving both themselves and society.When a person shows aggression, enmity, sows discord and at the same time tries to justify it with some lofty matters, in fact, everything is much simpler: it is his feelings that are at war in the body, carnal passions, disorders related to the functions of his body, which spill out in this way. In other words, the Apostle James reminds all warring people that they are still very carnal. Their lives, their behavior (what they often call politics) are nothing more than a reaction to the different functions of their bodies. You see how simple everything is, brothers and sisters! A person becomes aggressive, but it turns out that he just has increased bile! A person declares war, launches missiles, but in fact this is his offended pride! A person wants to literally turn everything upside down – home, around him, in the country – and this is connected only with his physical defects, with his desires, with his passions – with what the Apostle James calls "the war of the members of our body." Politicians begin to make some strange statements, make demarches – but it turns out that they just have a "spring cycle", so they become more active! During the summer, they will take vitamins, rest - and in the fall they will begin to act weird again! All this is directly related to the physiological functions of the body, and the Apostle James speaks about this with all certainty. We must understand that carnal people live according to physiological laws. Let's read this text again: Where do you get your enmity and strife? Is it not from here, from your lusts, which are at war in your members? That is, enmity, political activity, social aggression manifest themselves because a person cannot control his body, cannot restrain it, cannot put the body in its proper place so that it obeys the spirit, and not vice versa. Hence the different ambitions.You, brothers and sisters, have probably noticed that as soon as the American president had problems with his secretary, he immediately started bombing something? Most recently, Operation Desert Storm was carried out - as soon as the scandal became public, the president immediately started a war! Then this process resumed again – and the American president again begins to throw bombs to divert attention from himself – or rather, he tries to drown out this pain of the warring members of his nature, the warring contradictions between his body and his soul.But do not think that you and I are better than the American president: if some of us were given power, we would also probably show ourselves in a very peculiar way. If some of us were to gain power, our bodily functions would manifest themselves more openly, thanks to social consequences. Thank God that we do not have such a government! There is a proverb: "God does not give horns to a butchered cow." you kill and envy — and cannot attain; you dispute and enmity — and you have not, because you do not resist (James 4:2).Here the Apostle James speaks of the inadequacy of our desires. Lusts will never bring a person complete satisfaction. Because we, passionately desiring something, as a rule, do not possess the object of our desires. A person can commit terrible sins: kill, rob – but achieve nothing! Often we try to achieve something, but in the end we have nothing! Why? This is the conclusion of the Apostle James: if we want to achieve something with the help of our desires – our aggression, envy, bickering, enmity – we will still not achieve anything positive. Aggression will breed aggression, irritation will cause reciprocal irritation, and people who do not make concessions, cannot show humility, are doomed to the fact that their own evil will turn against them. In the Old Testament, the Book of Esther tells the story of Haman and Mordecai. Mordecai was a very religious man and recognized only the authority of God over him. Haman, a rich nobleman, was proud, haughty, and slanderous. Haman was always annoyed when Mordecai did not welcome him (and Mordecai recognized only the authority of God), and so Haman decided to build a gallows for him and put him to death. But how to condemn an innocent person to death? And Haman began to slander the righteous elder. However, it all ended with Haman himself hanging from a tree that he had prepared for Mordecai.Evil always returns to the person who creates it. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you and I must be wary of doing evil, remembering that it will certainly return to us! The Holy Scriptures say that as we treat other people, so will the Lord treat us [1]. How we treat others is a measure of how the Lord will treat us. Therefore, we have a very good mechanism for building the right relationship with God: if we want the Lord to be merciful to us, let's treat others well! Let's try to serve as an example for others! A Christian in general should be an affable, pleasant person, always joyful. He must radiate joy!I now remember Father Boris, our late rector. His cell was always open to a variety of people. And I remember how often rich and poor people came to him, and children from an orphanage, and some homeless people, and firefighters, police officers, doctors, priests from neighboring churches. In the corridor I could hear the footsteps of incessant visitors (my cell was next to Father Boris's, the door was constantly slamming, and sometimes it even annoyed me a little). Once I asked him: "Father Boris, are you tired?" He answered very interestingly: "I'm tired, but it doesn't matter: the main thing is that people don't get tired of me!" This is how this righteous man answered me, who tried to help a variety of people. And this good returned to him a hundredfold when, on his deathbed, he was vouchsafed to commune of Christ's Holy Mysteries five times! Five times in one week! And the last time he took communion was literally a moment before his death! As it is said in the Scriptures: "Let thy bread go upon the waters, for after many days thou shalt find it again" (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Let's reread the second verse again, think about it more carefully: You will, and you do not have; you kill and envy — and cannot attain; you dispute and enmity — and you have not, because you do not quarrel. That is, you have to ask. We must ask for good from the One Who is the Source of good, from God.Brothers and sisters, I have already given you the following example: let's think about it – where is the most money? In a church or in a bank? Of course, without a doubt, there is more money in the bank. There is little money in the church. In the church there are your donations, and many of you are pensioners or just poor people. But beggars begging, as a rule, do not stand next to the bank! Although, if you think logically, there is much more money there than, probably, in all the churches of Moscow. And it would be more logical for beggars to stand here and there begging: rich people go to the bank, you won't meet pensioners there! But beggars feel where there is more goodness, where there is more attention, where there is more mercy, and they go to church. They stand and beg for alms near our churches. And they ask because they receive!So, we have decided that the Source of all good is God. Those people who are connected with Him – parishioners of Orthodox churches, priests of God – they also radiate goodness. And those who seek good are drawn to the church. They want to find God, they want to experience an encounter with our Lord. It often happens that very rich people come to church to be helped here.Perhaps some of you remember an incident that once happened in our church. Shortly before confession, a tall man, well dressed, went straight to the lectern and began to speak loudly. People around him could hear what he was saying - this rich man. He literally shouted: "I want to lay hands on myself, I am broke! Bless me to pass away!" This man was really very rich. He told about himself that he helped the Church, helped orphanages, and carried out various charitable programs. But suddenly these financial changes took place in the life of our state – a financial crisis – and it went bankrupt! Now he is being hunted, he is being chased by creditors. And he came to church... Why? Any person feels, brothers and sisters, that true goodness, true strength and true protection come from God and from God's people, who radiate this God's mercy towards every person. We must ask God to help us with this! We must ask, and we ask, because the Lord really helps us.Last night on the radio station "Radonezh" there were many notes from pensioners - mainly from the elderly, who asked: "How should we live now, when everything has become so expensive? Not only that, we feel that everything will rise in price even more! And when I came to the radio, the studio staff who work there told me: "Believers call all day long and ask what to do, how to survive?" Yes, many are now broke. Orthodox Christians have always tried to work together: throughout the country they united in different artels, created various collectives, where they worked together, putting together their capital. But now even not very rich, medium-sized enterprises have gone bankrupt very quickly. And people think about what to feed their children. And children are getting ready to go to school, they need to buy clothes, textbooks. Our children and grandchildren have grown up over the summer, the old clothes no longer fit them. What can we do for them? Where to get a livelihood? But the Apostle James says: You do not have, because you do not have. And then we read: "Ask, and you do not receive, because you ask not for good, but to use for your desires" (James 4:3). Sometimes, brothers and sisters, we really begin to ask and even demand a lot – from life, from society, from relatives. Some people try to demand something even from the Church or from God. Often such people come to church and say: "You must help us!" We are constantly faced with this: Uzbeks have come, then Tajik refugees in robes and skullcaps come in whole groups and say: "You must help us!" The Church must help, the Church must feed, the Church must clothe... But the Church owes nothing to anyone, because the Church is the Kingdom of God here on earth. And all of us are bad subjects of this Kingdom, who are indebted to it, in the sense that you and I do little work in the fields of the Church, take little care of our churches, make little effort to make the life of our communities more religious. We should not ask God for help in order to use it for our lusts. Some, for example, ask God that the ruble begins to grow as quickly as possible and it would be possible to buy up as many dollars as possible. Others ask God that, on the contrary, the dollar would grow even more and it would be possible to sell currency and get rich on it. But ordinary people do not understand such problems: they have neither rubles nor dollars. Ordinary people do not have great material desires - they do not think about the exchange rate of the dollar and the ruble. Their problems are much simpler: they have a few trips to the subway left, they still have cereals at home... But in some incomprehensible way – just look! "The rich die out like mammoths (some were killed, some died, some went bankrupt, some died – we hear about it all the time!), and the poor who have nothing, who should have died of hunger five years ago – they live! They look good, dress well, especially when they go to church for the holidays. Who cares for these poor? That's right, the Lord cares for His poor! In the Gospel He Himself says to us: "But even the hairs of your head are numbered" (Matt. 10:30). That is, without the will of the Heavenly Father, not a single hair will fall from our head! The Lord cares for each of us, because we ask Him for help not for our own desires. What kind of desires are there... They gave me a few hundred rubles of pension - I went to the store, bought some food, and that's it, the money ran out! That's all the desires... The Apostle James speaks of those people who aspired to great wealth. Let us re-read this verse again: Pray, and you do not receive, because you do not ask for good, but to be used for your lusts. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? Thus, whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4).These words show us in what position we should be in relation to the world. The world lies in evil [2], it is hostile to the people of God. This enmity has existed since the very moment when Cain killed his brother Abel. From Cain came the people – the Cainites; the seed of the slain Abel was reborn in righteous Seth: from him came the Sethites, the children of God. The entire history of mankind is, as it were, the history of two peoples: the people of God and those who followed the devil. And we constantly observe how this battle continues: sometimes openly, sometimes invisibly; now it intensifies, then subsides. But this strife – between the children of God and the sons of this world – never ceases.The Apostle James gives the following characterization of people who want to be friends with the world: adulterers and adulterers. Thus, friendship with the world is a kind of spiritual fornication: when a person fornicates in his thoughts, fornicates, combining his Christian sentiments with false political concepts, philosophical ideas, with those passions that overwhelm modern humanity. But we should not be at one with this world, because the Apostle says: friendship with the world is enmity against God.There is a certain contradiction here: on the one hand, we must be open to all people living in the world; should be, as I have already said, friendly. On the other hand, we have no right to unite with this world, to merge with its sins. When this happens, the Lord immediately punishes us. Because God is very jealous: He immediately reacts to any of our contacts with the world of sin. So, we should not be friends for this world: friendship with the world is enmity against God.But now many people (among them there are Orthodox Christians) are trying to be friends with the world: they meet with politicians, talk with them... Of course, brothers and sisters, it is possible and necessary to communicate with any person in order to instruct him in the Orthodox faith. But when Orthodox Christians gather and talk not about God, not about the holiness of our religion, but about the general mood, about common business, about currency – this is spiritual fornication! ^We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in evil (1 John 5:19). ^