Therefore, whoever looks with a clear spiritual eye at the deceptions of this life and has become higher than those who care about this world, will undoubtedly understand that whether he eats, drinks, sleeps, works, or scatters himself, every day and hour nature brings him closer to old age and to the end of temporal life. Therefore, despising everything as umats (nets), he will try to free himself from addiction to life, so as not to have any communion with that which is evil in human life.

And so, whoever has in mind a virtuous life, enriches himself with virtue, to which no human limit is limited, can he pass through the present life without contrition and tears? Shall he not bow down with his soul to him that creepeth upon the earth, and is trampled underfoot? Will he still marvel at earthly riches or human power, or anything else that people seek out of foolishness? "Whoever is still partial to such things, let him be outside such a face (assembly), and we do not speak of him. But whoever thinks more loftily and soars in thought to God, is undoubtedly above such things and strives with all his might in the pursuit of virtue, because there is nothing more honorable in the world. It makes people friends of God. All gold in her eyes is like a few grains of sand, and silver is reckoned to her as dust. It does not fade from suffering; infirmity does not darken it. A death that is terrible for all is not feared by those who have succeeded in virtue, because they will boldly exclaim with the Apostle, who said: "He who desires to be departed, and to be with Christ" (Phil. 1:23). To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

A Word on the Resurrection of the Dead

Question: What do the words of the Scriptures mean: "For nothing has been brought into this world, that we can bear below" (1 Tim. 6:7)?

Answer: I think that this expresses the following: For nothing has been brought into this world... below we can bear what we can, because everything belongs to the Creator, and we are strangers and strangers (Psalm 38:13). If a man has wealth in his hands and prosperity, he is not his sovereign master, but only his steward, for he has received it from another, and after him it will again pass into the inheritance of another, according to the command of the Creator. Therefore, it is necessary to confess the mercy of the Giver.

Knowing this, wise stewards do not neglect the work of righteousness, desiring to be vouchsafed this gratification. The Lord says: Blessed is that servant, whose master, when his master comes, he will find such a thing. Amen I say unto you, that he shall set him over all his possessions (Matt. 24:46-47), because he hath made his words in judgment, therefore he shall not be moved for ever. And the Holy Spirit says: A good man is generous and giving: he will arrange his words in judgment, as he does not move in the world. The righteous will be in eternal remembrance. He will not fear evil at the hearing of evil: his heart is ready to trust in the Lord. His heart shall be strengthened, and he shall not be afraid, until he shall look upon his enemies. Scatter, give to the poor, his righteousness endureth for ever and ever: his horn shall be lifted up in glory. The sinner will see and be angry, he will gnash his teeth and melt. The desire of the sinner shall perish (Psalm 111:5-10), but the righteous shall be remembered eternally, and shall not fear the hearing of evil. What kind of evil rumor is this? I think this: let the wicked be rewarded, let him not see the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 26:10). Having bound his hand and nose... cast the useless servant into utter darkness (Matt. 22:13). Depart from Me cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his aggel (Matt. 25:41). Instead of this, the righteous will hear: "Good, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a little, I will set thee over many: enter into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt. 25:23). That is why the Lord, the Giver of blessings, commanded us not to have an addiction to worldly things, saying thus: No one can serve two masters... You cannot do God with work and mammon (Matt. 6:24). Do not hide for yourselves treasures on earth, where worms and aphids corrupt, and where they break in and steal (Matt. 6:19). For where your treasure is, your heart will also be there (Matt. 6:21). And again he says: Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves vaginas that will not fade, a treasure that is inexhaustible in heaven (Luke 12:33). And again: And I say unto you, Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when ye become poor, ye shall be received into eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9). He who trusts in his strength and boasts of the abundance of his riches (Psalm 48:7), as men die, and as one of princes falls, because they have not retained their devotion to the Lord (Psalm 81:7). But those who endure Him shall inherit the earth, for the word in them is light, and salt, and power, according to the saying of the Lord: Ye eat the salt of the earth... and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-14).

That is why the world stands to this day, because it has this salt and this luminary in it. From generation to generation there are those who serve the Lord, otherwise the world would not stand. If, it is said, salt is overflowing, it will be salted; nor shall it be anything to him, but let men be poured out, and trampled underfoot" (Matt. 5:13). Since there were no such people in Sodom except one, the city perished in an instant. But while the righteous man was still with them, the Almighty Hand did not send wrath upon them until it had taken from among them. Therefore blessed is the country, blessed is the city, blessed is the generation, in which there are many righteous. Much more blessed are the righteous themselves, through whom the world is saved, because the praises and praises (of the Lord) are kept by the righteous.

And so, putting aside works that are not proper to righteousness, let us be zealous for the life of the righteous, that with them we may inherit praise, becoming the light, and the salt, and the city of the Great King, that He may be our praise, as in His hand are the ends of the earth (Psalm 92:4). He, according to the words of the Psalmist, gives His snow like a wave, darkness, like ashes, sprinkling, throwing His naked hair like bread. Who can stand against His face of filth? He shall send forth His word, and I shall fade: His spirit shall breathe, and waters shall flow (Psalm 147:5-7). Then the earth, fragrant to the eye, is clothed by God's command in its splendor and delights the spectators, as if it were a vessel of gold with precious stones; fluttering birds, enjoying the clarity of the air, produce harmonious sounds; four-legged creatures gallop through the valleys, because the desert valleys are covered with grain, and the raptured shepherds rejoice in the gifts of the Lord. Rivers, after the stormy and immoderate rush of the waters, flowing silently, amuse the places they flood, and fish play in the sunshine; trees, hitherto devoid of leaves, are clothed with flowers and, with an abundance of fruit, stand adorned with leaves. The mountains, and the hills, and the valleys, and the whole earth, full of flowers, proclaim the glory of the Lord, because the Lord, like a bride, has clothed the earth with adornment. And we, the sons of men, having cast off the gloom of winter, rejoice, enjoying the blessing of the air and the abundance of fruit. In the same way, let us also produce fruits of righteousness acceptable to the Lord, so that we may have boldness to say to the Creator, "The Lord shall rejoice in His works" (Psalm 103:31). For the Lord really rejoices in those who do righteousness.

Therefore, let no one be puffed up with vain wisdom, or power, or riches, for all things will wither like grass. Boast, let him glory in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31). What is higher or more honorable among the people of the royal diadem? And it does not last forever on a person's head, because generation after generation passes from one head to another.

But if we have all things, gold, silver, clothing, servants, and maidservants, and herds of oxen, sheep, horses, and camels, but He does not command the sun to shine, all will be counted to nothing. The wise will become overwhelmed, the strong will grow weary, the rich will become poor.

Thus, it is fair to confess that no one has anything, but everything belongs to the Creator. But we know our weakness. And just as we ourselves, looking at the skeleton or skull of those who have fallen asleep before, sigh, so those who will come after us, when they see our bones, will assume a sad countenance, for all of us, the sons of men, are made of the same dust.

Brethren, beloved of the Lord, let us humble our souls under the mighty hand of God, that God may exalt us during the visitation. Let us hate vanity and arrogance, which is unreasonable; let us flee pride, because God opposes it. Let us love humility, so that when we become meek, the Lord will teach us His ways. How many have ruled in the universe since the foundation of the world, and all rest under a heap of earth, and there is no difference between the bones of the king and the captive, the owner of the golden-bridled chariot and the one who walked on his own feet, who ate luxuriously and lived in poverty, the noble and the ugly, the destroyer and the destroyed. But all sleep under the heap of earth, until the holy trumpet sounds, which will awaken the dead from the beginning of the world, that they may receive whatever has done to the body either good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). It is a great miracle, brethren, to see suddenly the tombs opened at the sound of the trumpet, the awakened dead, and all those who have reposed from Adam to that hour, rising together in one imperceptible twinkling of an eye; to see the angels rushing about with a loud trumpet, and gathering the righteous from the four winds, from the end of the heavens to the end of them (Matt. 24:31). This voice will give life to all, from the first to the last, and none of the people will remain unanimated, but some will be resurrected into the resurrection of life, and others into the resurrection of the Judgment (John 5:29).

Hearing of the resurrection of the dead, let us not doubt it, Christ-loving brethren. Everything is possible for God, and nothing is impossible for Him. Those who were cast into the fiery furnace and hidden as in the tomb, in the flames He preserved unharmed; not only was their hair not singed, but there was not even a stench of ignited flame left on them with such an effort. In the same way, the dead will rise incorruptible, and not only will not a hair be lost, but there will be no smell of corruption in them after so long a time from their dormition. Everything is possible for God, and nothing is impossible for Him. Listen therefore to what the prophet Ezekiel also says: "And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me forth in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me in the midst of the field, and behold, it was full of the bones of men, and encircled me round about them, and behold, many were green upon the faces of the field, and behold, the earth was dry. And he said to me, Son of man... And thou shalt say unto them, The bones are dry, ye hear the word of the Lord. Behold, says Adonai the Lord with this bone: Behold, I will bring into you the spirit of life, and I will give you sinews, and I will raise up flesh against you, and I will stretch out my skin over you, and I will give My Spirit in you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord. And I prophesied, as the Lord commanded me, and there was a voice when I prophesied, and behold, a coward, and copulating bones, bones... to his composition. And they saw, and behold, their sinews were there, and their flesh grew up... and the skin stretched out to them on top, but the spirit was not in them. And he spake unto me, O prophet, O Son of man, and O Son of Spirit, this saith Adonai the Lord, Come to the soul of the four winds, and breathe upon these dead, and let them live. And he prophesied, as he commanded me, and the spirit of life entered into her, and came to life: and she stood on her feet, the assembly was many. And the Lord spake unto me, saying, Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel, for they say, Our bones are dry, our hope is perished, and they are slain by the Bech. For this reason prophets and prophets speak to them, this saith Adonai the Lord: Behold, I will open your graves, and bring you forth from your graves... and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when your graves are opened to Me, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people: and I will give My Spirit in you, and you will live. And I will set you up in your land, and you will know as I am the Lord: I have spoken, and I will do, saith Adonai the Lord (Ezekiel 37:1-14).