2. Let us strive then, my beloved brethren, to gain Christ and see how wondrous He is in His beauty and sweetness. He Himself says: "If you have My commandments, and keep them, you will love Me: but if you love Me, you will be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself (John 14:21). And then he adds: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him (23). This one who loves God and His commandments is clothed from above with the descending power of the Holy Spirit, Who does not appear sensually, in the form of fire, and does not come with a great noise and stormy breath (this was accomplished only in the Apostles - for unbelievers), but is seen intelligently, like an intelligent light, and comes with quietness, bringing joy - which is the reflection of the first eternal light and the reflection of unceasing bliss. As soon as this light shines in the spirit, every impure thought immediately disappears, every passion of the soul is expelled, and every bodily infirmity receives healing. Then the eyes of the heart, the mind and the thought, are purified, and they see God, as it is written in the Gospel about the Beatitudes. Then the soul, as in a mirror, sees all even the slightest of its sins and comes to the greatest humility; Thinking about the greatness of this glory, he is filled with all joy and gladness, and, marveling at the unexpected miracle he sees, sheds abundant tears. Thus, at last, the whole man is completely changed and comes to know God, having himself previously been known from God. This grace of the All-Holy Spirit alone causes a person to despise everything earthly and heavenly, present and future, joyful and sorrowful. It makes him a friend and a son of God and a god, as far as this is possible for a man. Oh, how majestic are the gifts of God!

Almost everyone is ashamed of weak and poor people: the earthly king does not even want to look at them, the nobles turn away from them, the rich despise them. If it happens to meet such people on the way, they are bypassed, paying no attention to them as if they were insignificant, and no one even thinks that it would be good to enter into contact with them. But the all-good God has forsaken the strong, the wise, and the rich, and has chosen the weak, the foolish, and the poor, according to His great and ineffable goodness. And who is content to thank Him worthily for this alone?! This God, Whom thousands of angels serve, Who bears all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), the greatness of Whose glory no one can endure, this same God was pleased to become the father, and brother, and friend of such outcasts, and to take on human flesh, that He might become like us in all things, except sin, and make us partakers and heirs of His glory and His kingdom. Oh, how great and rich is the goodness, how ineffable is the condescension of our Lord God towards us!

But why, brethren, do we not have recourse to this gracious God, Who loved us so much? Why do we not give our lives to die for the love of Christ and our God, Who died for us? Do we not see how many people, out of addiction to perishable goods, endure great labors, are exposed to great dangers, go to distant places, leaving their wives and children and all the comforts of life, and do not value anything higher and more beautiful than what they desired, and do not give themselves rest until they have achieved their goal? But if these, for the sake of temporal and perishable blessings, take up such a podvig, and in order to obtain them they endanger both their soul and their lives, then is it not in every way fitting for us to give up to death both our souls and our bodies for the sake of our love for the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Creator, Almighty, and Ruler of all creatures? He Himself says in His Holy Gospel, that he who has lost his soul, that is, who is prepared to sacrifice his life for Me and for the sake of the Gospel, or who has made his soul dead for the world, and does not find it occupied with any carnal lust, will save it, but he who gains his soul, that is, he who regrets to give up his life for Me, or who finds his soul occupied with something sinful, will destroy her.

Thus says God, omnipresent and all-containing! Whither shall we, brethren, flee from His presence, or whither shall we go? If we ascend to heaven, there we will find Him; if we descend into hell, and there He is present; if we enter into the depths of the sea, and there we will not flee from His sovereign hand, but His right hand will hold both our souls and our bodies. Therefore, brethren, since we cannot resist the Lord, nor flee from His presence, come, let us rather become servants of that God, Who for our sake was man, took the form of a servant and died for love for us. Come, let us bow down under the strong and invincible hand of Christ, Who exudes eternal and immortal life and fills with it those who seek it in Him, by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. Come, let us seek Christ, in Whom we clothed ourselves in holy Baptism, but for the sake of our wicked deeds we again cast off Him. When we were baptized, we were still senseless infants, both in age and in mind, and we did not understand how great the sanctification was; then, although we have come to know this, yet, carried away by our youth, we have defiled ourselves with our sins, we have lost the grace of holy Baptism, and we continue to defile both our souls and bodies every day, transgressing the commandments of God. Let us return ourselves again to our former order through repentance, which now remains the only way to our salvation, and let us put it in our hearts to work with all our might in the practice of all kinds of good works, of which we know that they are pleasing to Christ the Lord, that we may again be sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit, and that we may live the rest of our lives blamelessly, having Christ the Saviour as our all-powerful helper, from Whom we shall therefore receive this mercy also, that we shall become worthy to know the mysteries of our God, hidden from the ages and from generations.

3. If we wish to attain that which our soul has loved, that is, the blessings of God's grace, and, being men, to become earthly angels, we must also love sorrow and bodily distress, lift up all suffering, and endure temptations with joy, in the conviction that they will bring us every good.

For this reason, none of those who have been vouchsafed to have Christ desires anything else, and none of those who have been satiated with the love of God has the urge to love anything else here on earth.

Verily, my brethren, there is nothing in the world better than not to have anything of the goods of this world, not to desire to acquire anything more than the necessities of the body, and not to plot to rest your flesh and please it, but to desire only one thing – to live a spiritual life, not to please the flesh in anything in lust (Romans 13:14). As for the necessary necessities of the body, I call bread and water, clothing and shelter, as the Apostle teaches: "Having food and clothing, we shall be filled with them" (1 Timothy 6:8). If there is a need for anything more than this, then in every way, if we believe in God and trust in Him, He, Who gives us more than this and provides for all things, will give it to us. Only let us abandon all the other things that have come into our temporal life, vanity, envy, disputes and quarrels, deceit, murmuring, slander, and in general everything that is hateful to God and causes harm to the soul, and let us love with all our hearts that which God commands, spiritual poverty, or humility, and the unceasing weeping of the day, from which joy and consolation flow into the soul every hour, who love God. From this weeping is born meekness in those who strive in truth, from weeping hunger and thirst for righteousness or every virtue, and always seek the kingdom of God, which surpasses all human understanding; from unceasing weeping they are merciful, and pure in heart, and peacemakers, as if filled with peace, and good-natured in temptations; because of weeping they hate evil; From weeping, divine zeal is kindled in the soul, which does not allow it for a moment to give itself over to the peace of carelessness or to incline to evil together with the wicked, but fills it with courage and strength to endure all kinds of temptations to the end.

4. Let us hate, my beloved brethren, this world and all that is in the world. Why should we have communion with the world and with the affairs of the world, when our Lord says to us in the Holy Gospel: "Bring ye out of the world" (John 15:19)? Let us flow along the path of virtue. Let us strive until we gain something from the ever-abiding and incorruptible. For all the things of this world are perishable and pass away like a dream, and there is nothing in them that is permanent and solid; And the sun, and the stars, and the sky, and the earth - everything passes away, and from everything one person remains. What of these visible things can now serve us for our benefit, in the hour of mortal need, when we pass from this life to our abiding there, in this endless age, and let us leave all this here, and it will decay and pass away? Though all this visible things will not pass away immediately, what is the use of it to us, when we are necessarily separated from it, leaving here only our body, dead and insensible, and our soul will no longer be able to see anything through this body, nor to be seen by anyone itself, but from that hour will heed only the invisible, having entered into other relations and other orders of life? That they may either enjoy the kingdom of heaven and eternal glory, or inherit hell and eternal fire? One of these two must be received from God as an eternal inheritance, according to the deeds that one does in this life.

For this reason, my beloved brethren, let us hate, I beseech you, this world, let us flee from its charms, and from the imaginary and deceitful joys of this life, and let us turn to Christ alone, the Redeemer of our souls, striving in every way to find Him, the omnipresent. Having found Him, let us fall down at His feet and kiss them with all the fervor of our souls. To her, I beseech you, let us strive to see Him while we are still alive. For if we are vouchsafed to see Him here, we will not die, and death will not rule over us. Let us not wait to behold Him in the life to come, but now let us strive to behold Him. We know, says St. John the Theologian, that we have God in our hearts, according to the Spirit, Whom we received from Him (1 John 3:24; 4:13). Therefore, you who have shown your faith in Him, which is firm and known by your works, consider with all attention what I have said to you, and consider well whether you are not deceived when you think that you have Christ in you, when you have nothing, and are in danger of passing out of this life empty-handed, in order to hear that terrible voice, saying, Take it, that this wicked servant thinketh to have, and give to him that hath more (Luke 8:18; Matt. 25:29). Then you will weep and weep, and you will receive eternal sorrow. But let it not be for us to hear such a voice and suffer something like this, for us, who in the hour of divine Baptism renounced the devil and all his deeds and united ourselves to Christ, having vowed to keep His commandments. Let us strive to preserve the divine commandments and purify our hearts with tears and repentance, that we may behold Christ Himself, this Divine Light, and that we may acquire Him here, in this present life, as the Dweller in us, that He may give life to our souls by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, and that He may nourish them with the sweetness of the longed-for blessings of His kingdom. Amen.

Twentieth Word. 1. Who are those who truly love God, from what is love for God born, and by what is it revealed? 2. What are the works of love for one's neighbor according to God? 3. Love is the head of the law.

Some people are surprised when we say that not all Christians love Christ. But to love Christ is nothing else than to fulfill His commandments, as He Himself said: "If you have My commandments, and keep them, you will love Me" (John 14:21); so that a Christian who does not keep His commandments, when he says that he loves Christ, is lying. For every father who keeps and educates his sons and daughters, and cares for them, and whoever buys a slave for himself, or receives a hireling, certainly desires to have them, feeds and clothes them, and provides them with everything they need, that they may help him and minister to him in the house. But if he sees that none of them does his will and does not correct the work and ministry entrusted to him, will he be satisfied with the fact that his son and daughter will say to him, "You are our father, and the slave and hireling, you are our master"? Of course not. In the same way, God is not satisfied with the fact that someone says that he loves Him, but does not fulfill His commandments. That is why He says through the Prophet: "If I am the Father, where is My glory?" And if I am the Lord, where is My fear? (Mal. 1:6). - Thus, a Christian who does not glorify God by fulfilling His commandments and keeping His commandments is in no way better than the unbelievers, if not worse than them.

The commandments and commandments of God say: do this, and do not do that: it is not enough not to do evil, but it is also necessary to do good. At the same time, it is necessary for us to know and confess that it is impossible for a Christian not to do evil and to do any good, except by the power of the All-Holy Spirit, which is given from the bottom of his soul to those who believe in Christ and renounce Satan and all his works, and all his ministry, and all his pride, and unite with Christ, and unite with Him. Human nature is changeable and perverse, and the Divine nature alone is immutable and unchangeable. But the Christian, having become a partaker of the divine nature in Christ Jesus our Lord, through the reception of the grace of the Holy Spirit, is transformed and changed by His power into a God-like state, becomes a god by grace, like Him Who made such a change in him, that is, Christ the Lord, the Sun of righteousness. A Christian gives himself entirely to Christ the Lord, but Christ the Lord brings about the change shown in him and makes him a god by grace. A Christian cannot produce the desired change in himself by himself, and Christ will not grace him with the gift of this change, if he does not give himself to Him with all his heart. Why a Christian who has not been changed by this good change, let him not condemn his nature in this, but his own will, because he himself did not want to wholeheartedly surrender himself to Christ. For the Apostle certifies that since a man cleaves unto the Lord, he is one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17). And the Lord Himself says: Be ye in Me, and I in you, as the rod cannot bring forth fruit for itself, unless it be on the vine, so are you, unless ye abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the birth. And whosoever shall be in me, and I in him, the same shall bring forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If any man abide not in Me, he shall be cast out as a rod, and shall be dried up (John 15:4-5). Again: Be ye in my love; If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; As I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love (9:10). And again: "Of this all understand, that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).

As the disciple of a grammarian, rhetorician, philosopher, poet, artist, and every other disciple is known by his teacher, so a Christian, a disciple of Christ, is known by Christ, the Lord and God, his good Teacher, Who loved us so much that for our sake He became man and gave His soul for our redemption. Why does anyone who does not have love, how can he be recognized as a disciple of Christ or a Christian? Since, on the contrary, whoever has this love, even if he cannot lift up great feats and labors, but has acquired only this love, he, according to the law of our Teacher Christ, has ascended to the very summit of the perfection of the saints. For thus it is written: Thou shalt love thy brother, thou shalt fulfill the law (Romans 13:8), and Thou shalt not love thy brother, whom thou hast seen, God, whom thou hast not seen, how can thou love? (1 John 4:20). Again: If anyone says that he loves God, and hates his brother, there is a lie (ibid.). But when he hears love, let no one think that it is a manageable matter. The commandment of love is the greatest and most important. Why did God Himself from the beginning put into human nature a certain loving power, and naturally parents love their children, relatives love themselves in return, and friends love their friends? But this natural power of love is given by God to help rational human nature, so that, using it, it may flow into (universal) love, self-willed and voluntary. The great and perfect commandment of love given by God is spoken not of natural love, but of spontaneous love.

2. That the commandment of love is the greatest commandment and is the head of all virtues, the highest of every good life and all laborious deeds, listen to what the Apostle Paul says - this is the mouth of Christ, where he points out that without love the five greatest gifts are vain and useless, namely, the gifts of tongues, prophecy, miraculous faith, almsgiving, and martyrdom, and says: "If tongues are spoken of men and of angels... if the Imam prophecy and the knowledge of the mysteries are all and all the understanding, and if the Imam is all the faith, as if the mountains are lifted away... If I give away all my possessions, and if I give up my body to burn it, I have no love, it is of no use to me (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Then, thinking that the other, amazed at such words, is ready to ask him how it is possible to manifest such great deeds without love, he resolves this perplexity and says: Love is long-suffering, merciful, does not see love, does not exalt itself, is not proud, does not riot, does not seek his own, is not irritated, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. He bears all things, eats faith in all things, trusts in all things, endures all things. Lyuba Nikolizhe falls away (4-8). By this he clearly showed that he who speaks with tongues can become proud, likewise he who prophesies and has miraculous faith can become vain, he who gives alms can enjoy glory and honor from those who have benefited him, and he who has given himself over to torture can think highly of himself. But since he ended his speech thus: "Love falls away," he showed that the root of love is humility, since the root has nowhere to fall, being always in the depths of the earth. Whoever thinks that he has love, and yet has no patience and mercy, is envious and disrespectful, is proud and disorderly, seeks his own, is irritated and thinks evil, rejoices in unrighteousness, and does not rejoice in the truth, does not cover everything, does not have faith in everything, does not trust in all things, and does not endure everything, such a one does not have love, and when he says that he has it, he lies.