The Saviour of the World, having completed His work on earth and ascended to heaven, did not leave man without His providential care. While still departing to heaven, He promised His Apostles, and in their person all His followers, to be with them "always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20), and also promised to send a Comforter from the Father, Who with His Divine breath would give life and help in the matter of salvation to all those who believe in the Son of God. For the final completion of the work of Christ, for grace-filled assistance in the matter of the full assimilation of the redemptive fruits of Christ's Sacrifice, it was necessary for the building, creative Power to come, Which is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

Before the redemptive feat of the Son Brzhiim, the Holy Spirit did not dwell in people in its entirety. And only after the offering of the Sacrifice of Christ was it possible for believers to fully perceive the Holy Spirit, Who builds up in their souls a new life of grace and "from Whom all good and good deeds flow as from an ever-flowing fountain" (4:342). The Holy Spirit grafts people into the Son of God, like a branch to a good root (John 15:2). The life-giving fire of the Spirit renews and enlightens those in whom it dwells. He gives those who seek salvation His grace-filled help in their weaknesses, struggles, and in their struggle with the devil (3:138). The immaterial light of the Spirit enlightens and strengthens Christ's followers and thereby gives them the opportunity to feel in their hearts the divine power that helps in their salvation (1:27; 2:279). The salvific influence of the Spirit of God on the hearts of believers is like fire, which, coming into contact with the fragrant substance, emits a pleasant fragrance. "Thus it happens, when the grace of the Holy Spirit touches the heart of man, then true sighing and prayer arise in such a heart, on high to the Heavenly Father, and finds grace and mercy from Him" (2:79).

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the soul of man, the spiritual, grace-filled life that was lost in Adam is renewed. And the union between God and man is restored in its complete harmony and in ideal reality. "The grace of God enlightens the human heart and kindles in it the fire of God's love" (4:342). It instills in his heart not earthly joy, but "spiritual, heavenly," which, according to the saint, is a foretaste of eternal "blessed life" in God (4:344). And if a person, in his careless life, does not have this grace-filled help from above in his heart, then his soul is like a blind and deaf man, who has neither joy nor peace (2:118). In this way, the grace of the Holy Spirit assimilates the fruits of Christ's salvific work to all people. With the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, man sees before him the path he must follow in order to attain eternal life (2:139-140).

The promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when He descended in the form of tongues of fire on all the apostles gathered in one house (Acts 2:1-4) (1:27), and in their person — "and on all who believe in His most holy name" (1:94) "and on all flesh" (5:275). The grace-filled outpouring of the Comforter made the Apostles bearers of the Trinitarian Divinity, and also miraculously changed their minds, wills and feelings, and gave their word a fiery power against which no one could resist (5:257). The Holy Spirit gave the apostles the deepest knowledge of Divine wisdom (5:83) and reminded them of the teaching that had been taught by the Savior Himself when He was with them on earth. The Holy Spirit made the apostles fearless and spiritually strong. Thus, on the day of Pentecost, the preaching of the Apostle Peter opened the hearts of many of those present to the understanding of Divine truth, after which they were baptized (3:12). Thus, the day of Pentecost, or the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, is the beginning of the existence on earth of the mysterious and grace-filled body of Christ, His Holy Church.

With the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ, a complete rebirth took place in their hearts. Feeling the grace-filled power of the Holy Spirit within themselves, they became fearless and zealous preachers of the teaching of Christ. A bright flame of love for God and people burned in their hearts. From that moment on, they devoted their entire lives to the recovery of the lost sheep for which the Son of God came down from heaven. In fulfillment of the commandment of his Divine Teacher: "... Go ye into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), they bore witness to Christ not only in Israel, but throughout the whole world (4:130). And this testimony bore fruit. "God, Who created the world out of nothing, so did the fallen one restore, correct, and renew miraculously... He drew to Himself those who had fallen away tongues... through twenty simple and unlettered, armed with His power and made wise by the Holy Spirit" (2:87). It was precisely in this miracle that the holy apostles, chosen by the Son of God from among the simple and illiterate fishermen, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, spread the teaching of Christ throughout the whole earth and united all peoples into one flock of Christ (2:87).

In their work, the Holy Apostles were distinguished by a sense of higher truth and were always guided by the rule: "It behooves God to obey more than man" (Acts 5:29). They also knew that all people had the right to enjoy, if they wished, the fruits of Christ's atoning sacrifice. In addition, they remembered the words of their Teacher, that "the shadow of the lawful grace that has come has passed away" (John 1:17; Heb. 10:1), and therefore they were free from national, class and other views, prejudices, inclinations and antipathies incompatible with the higher truth. Their main goal, according to the saint, was "to carry the name of Jesus to all the ends of the earth and to bear witness to Him before all the world, and to sow the seed of the word of God in the fields of idolatrous hearts" (5:255). St. the Apostles strove to bring every soul to obedience, to faith in Christ through the word of the Gospel, they strove so that no soul through their fault would perish or go astray, but would always abide in the Church which He did"... having acquired it with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).

Planting faith in Christ in their hearts, the holy apostles "refuted idolatry..., they opened the eyes of the hearts of those who were blinded to the knowledge of the true God; they founded the Church of God on the face of all the earth; they gathered one blessed flock of different tongues, like wild beasts; They taught to worship the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God; they kindled the fire of God's love in the hearts of the faithful, and confirmed them with the hope of life and bliss of the age to come" (3:132). They confirmed the true teaching about the Divine Messenger and His redemptive feat with many different "signs and wonders" (5:6).

The apostolic zeal for the salvation of man had no limits; it even went so far as to sacrifice one's life. The apostles were surrounded on all sides by hostile people. They were in an atmosphere of hatred for the new divinely revealed teaching, since many representatives of that era could not accept the gospel of Christ; the soil of their hearts, on which the seeds of good were sown, was not yet suitable for the reception of Divine truth. That is why all the mighty "of this age" rose up so fiercely against the preachers of the word of God, giving them over to many tortures and torments (5:256). The malice of these people in strength and subtlety surpassed any measure of cruelty. The rulers of many countries of the ancient world, striving to prevent the spread of salvific truths, which "the most grievous torments and terrible deaths have not been invented." They put preachers in prisons, starved them, led them naked through the streets, poured boiling tar, brimstone and oil over them, burned them in red-hot furnaces, etc. But all these tortures could not shake the faith of the followers of Christ; on the contrary, tested in the crucible of torments and temptations, their faith grew stronger and stronger, and they attracted an increasing number of new followers. In this way, the blood of the martyrs became a solid foundation in the spread and establishment of the Church of Christ (5:256-258).

In such severe trials, human nature would not be able to resist the devil's malice, if the Savior of the world, for Whom Christians suffered, did not help and strengthen their weak strength with His almighty power (5:259). Finally, by the grace-filled action of the All-Holy Spirit, all the "wise men of this age" submitted to the holy teaching. "And so the King of glory, Jesus Christ, entered into the cities and villages, and into their villages; and "... having seen the salvation of our God to the ends of the earth" (Psalm 97:3). And the name of Jesus began to be glorified in all the ends of the earth" (5:256).

Thus, the holy apostles "founded the Church of God" (3:132) and set up in it, by command from above, "bishops and presbyters" (4:362). Being in constant communion with Christ, the apostles showed their followers the path they must follow in order to gain Christ. Preaching a highly moral teaching, they themselves lived in accordance with their preaching, and they demanded the same from their successors. In their activity, the first place was occupied by love for people, because it is this virtue that is an irresistible weapon in the hands of the servants of Christ. That is why the teaching of the apostles was such a great success. The apostolic preaching, in accordance with the commandment of the Saviour, spread"... even to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), and all the families of the earth received it and partook of the Kingdom of God through it.

Chapter IV

The Church of Christ is the Place of Salvation of Man

1. The Necessity of the Church of Christ in the Salvation of Man

Having accomplished the work of salvation of the human race on earth, the Saviour of the world thereby removed all the barriers that had existed before, separating man from God, and united into one flock not only the earthly, but also the heavenly. Leaving the earth after His redemptive feat, Jesus Christ founded upon it a grace-filled Kingdom — His Church, which is, in the words of St. Tikhon, "the spiritual Body of Christ" (3:30). Believers – members of the Church – are as closely united with Christ as a vine branch is with a vine: "I am the true vine, and my Father is a worker" (John 15:1). "To this true Vine are the births that are attached," says the saint, "to His faith, which by faith and love are joined to the Vine, by the juice of its grace they are quickened, watered, and bring forth fruit" (3:31). Creating His Church for the purpose of sanctifying and saving people in it, Christ forever remained the Head and Source of life in it. He Himself invisibly governs it, uniting all the faithful into one body. "Christ is the Head of the Church" (3:185), "Her sons... are spiritual spirits, the most blessed Head, having and acknowledging Christ, and united in faith and love to the Head" (3:30). Revealing the salvific significance of this grace-filled organism, the archpastor says that the word "Church" translated from Greek (ekkA, t|oCha) means "evoking"; for the faithful who are in the Church are called out of the realm of Satan into the Kingdom of Christ, from darkness into His wondrous Light, as the Apostle teaches: "Ye are the chosen generation... O people of renewal, that ye may proclaim out of darkness out of darkness Him who called you into His wondrous light" (1 Peter 2:9) (3:30).