Death is powerful to move to repentance. Death is known to us and unknown. It is known because we will all die, and it is unknown because we do not know when, how and where we will die. The more we live, the more our life is shortened, and our days are shortened, and we are nearer to death, and today we are closer to it than we were yesterday, and at this hour, than an hour ago. Death follows everyone invisibly, and delights him when he is not waiting. Almost all people, especially healthy and strong ones, dream thus, thinking within themselves: I will still live, my death is not yet visible, I will gather and be satiated with the collected blessings. But then death suddenly falls upon him, and then all his dreams and thoughts perish (Psalm 145:5). Soon the one who promised himself a long life dies. Whoever wanted to gather and become rich, leaves both the world and his body in the world. So we do not know the end, Christians. The loving God, having care for us, made our end unknown to us, so that we would always be ready for it and remain in true repentance. With what a person departs from this world, he will appear with him at the judgment of Christ. Sinners! Let us diligently consider this and repent, so that we do not depart with our sins to that age and do not appear at the Last Judgment. The merciful God promised us to show His grace and mercy, but He did not promise us tomorrow. Let us listen carefully to this, and let us awaken from sleep, and, remembering our death, let us correct ourselves and prepare ourselves for the end, that we may die blessedly. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord" (Rev. 14:13). He dies in the Lord who dies in repentance, and faith, and true prayer. That hour is terrible for all. All the saints, looking at that hour, wept and thus propitiated the man-loving God, that He might deliver them at that time. It is surprising that the saints, looking at that hour, weep, but sinners do not weep, although every day they see how their brothers die. Poor sinners! Why do we sleep? Behold, the devil, like a thief, steals our salvation. Let us engrave that hour in our memory, and we will be ready. From the hour of death a man will be either eternally blessed or eternally poor. Here the doors to eternity open to everyone, and he will go either to a happy or to an unhappy eternity. From this moment on, a person begins to either live forever or die eternally. Where are those who have now lived before us in luxury, and sweetness, and unrepentance? They have departed from this world, and have left all their pleasures, and remain in their places, and await the last judgment, where they will fully receive according to their deeds. Therefore, before this hour has come to us, let us turn with a pure heart to our God, and let us be reconciled to Him through repentance and faith, that we may receive eternal life. The holy apostles exhort and beseech us about this in their writings: "In the name of Christ, and as if God Himself exhorts through us; In the name of Christ, we beseech you: be reconciled to God. For He made him who knew no sin to be a sacrifice for sin, that in Him we might become righteous in the sight of God" (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). Amen.

Homily 11: On the Dread Judgment of Christ

 "Behold, I come quickly, and my recompense is with me, to repay each one according to his deeds"

(Rev. 22:12)

 Beloved Christians! I tremble and tremble with fear, hearing and pondering these words: "Behold, I come quickly, and My recompense is with Me, to repay each one according to his deeds." Who says this? God is great and terrible. What does it mean? That He Himself is coming to judge the universe and to reward each one according to his deeds. Poor sinners! What do you think when you hear these words? God Himself is coming to judge and reward you according to your deeds. Be horrified to sin and live lawlessly. God Himself is coming to judge you, He is coming with power and much glory. Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on Thy creation, for no one is sinless, only Thou alone. Terrible, beloved, is the day and hour in which God will judge sinners. The judgment of man is terrible to us, but the judgment of God is incomparably more terrible. In the judgment of man it is a man like us who judges, and in that judgment it is God Himself who judges. In the judgment of man, witnesses accuse or acquit a person, but there they are not needed, for the Judge Himself knows everything perfectly. In the judgment of man, faces are often looked at, and the rich are preferred to the poor, and the noble to the ignoble, — there the Judge does not look at faces, but judges according to conscience and deeds. At human judgment, people often help people with their intercession: the noble to the noble, the rich to the rich, friends to friends – there this will not happen, but everyone will answer for himself. In human judgment, silver and gold often protect a person, but this will not be the case there. In human judgment, eloquence and cunning often help a person, but there they will be silent and dumb. In the judgment of man before a few, man is rebuked and judged, and there before the whole world the sinner will be rebuked and judged. In the judgment of man only external deeds are judged, and in that judgment even secret thoughts. In the judgment of man only evil deeds are judged, and in that judgment "men will give account for idle words" (Matt. 12:36).

"Behold, I come quickly, and my recompense is with me, to repay each one according to his deeds." Christians, chosen generation! We see the first coming of Christ our God, let us also see the second, as He Himself promises: "Behold, I come quickly," and so on. Of the first the holy prophets proclaimed to the world, as if to say: Christ is coming, coming into the world, and he has come; the teachers of the Church proclaim to us about the second, always repeating: here He goes, here comes Christ again into the world, and suddenly He will appear! His first coming was quiet and humble, and the second will be swift and glorious, "for as the lightning proceedeth from the east, and is seen even to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man" (Matt. 24:27). In the first coming the world saw Him suffering and dying for our sins, but in the second it will see Him sitting on the throne of His glory, and judging sinners for their sins, and rewarding each one according to his deeds. Now He says to sinners: "Repent," and then He says: "Answer Me!" Now He calls sinners to Him: "Come to Me," and then He will say to unrepentant sinners: "Depart from Me" (Matthew 25:34, 41). Where to? "Into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Oh, how terrible this word is! Poor sinners! That day has not yet come, the Judge is still "long-suffering" with us, "not wanting anyone to perish" (2 Peter 3:9), still waiting for our repentance, not yet judging us, still showing mercy to everyone who repents and prays. Let us also repent, that we may receive mercy from Him, and be vouchsafed to stand at His right hand at His coming, and to hear from Him an all-favorable voice: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). Amen.

Homily 12: On the same

 "I will rebuke you, and I will set your sins before you"

(Psalm 49:21)

 This word is also terrible, beloved! "I will rebuke thee, and I will set thy sins before thy face." For this is also the word of the great God. To whom? To the sinner, as it is written above in the same psalm: "To the sinner God spoke." What does it mean? That He will rebuke the sinner for all his sins and present all his iniquitous deeds before him. Where is? At the world judgment, where all the holy Angels will be and all the people who have lived from the beginning to the end of the world will be gathered. At that universal assembly every sinner will be exposed, and his unscrupulous and ungodly actions will be brought before him, and will be revealed to the whole world. "I will rebuke thee, and I will set thy sins before thy face." You, a sinner, did this and that: "If you saw a thief, you hastened with him, and associated with adulterers, your mouth multiplied backbiting, and your tongue wove deceit; sitting (in the assembly), thou hast slandered thy brother, and hast given thy mother's son a stumbling-block" (Psalm 49:18-20). Sinner! Do you destroy My law, and reject my words completely, and think that all these things will go unpunished, and that I will not punish you for them? "With what did the wicked man provoke God to anger? By saying in his heart: "He will not seek" (Psalm 9:34). No, no, it will not be as you lawlessly dream and flatter yourself. I will punish you for all that you have done, and all your iniquitous deeds, words, thoughts, undertakings, designs, and deeds will be presented to you. Behold, thou, O sinner, hast thought and contrived, done and spoken, and thus hast destroyed My eternal and inviolable law, and despised and trampled upon the words of My mouth, the holy words. "I will rebuke thee, and I will set thy sins before thy face." To the fornicator and to every defiler will be presented all his foul dreams, words, views and deeds, where and when he committed them, and with whom he mingled with impurity. The evil one will imagine whom and with what he harmed, to whom and when he gave the poisoned cup with poison, and so his life was either taken away or shortened; whom and before whom he dishonored with his slander, and so was the cause of his dishonor, reproach, mockery, ridicule, sorrow, and so on. The thief and the plunderer will see before them all their thieves' deeds, secretly, or openly, or deceived. Each of them will see where, and what, and from whom he brazenly stole, or insidiously appropriated, or secretly stole. The wicked merchant will see how he shamelessly sold goods and deceived people; how rotten things for good, and cheap for expensive, and some things for others; how much water he stirred into the wine, how many times and for what commodity he demanded a higher price than it was worth, and so he acted shamelessly. Here you deceived this and that, at such and such a time, in the sale of your goods, and so you acted against your conscience, and esteemed your filthy gain more than My commandment, which says: "Thou shalt not steal." The evil one and the flatterer will see all his insidious plans laid before him and will be convicted when, whom and in what he deceived and deceived, and whom he flattered with his tongue. The blasphemer and scoffer will be exposed to all his blasphemy, which he spewed out against God, his Creator and His saints, and against other people created in the likeness of God, and he will be exposed where, when, and before whom he spoke those pernicious words. The impious ruler will be presented with his negligence towards his subordinates, violence, anger of the people entrusted to him, and his other lawless deeds. The negligent pastor will be shown his negligence for the flock of Christ and his other sins. The bribe-taking judge will see the transgression of oaths and oaths, the trampling of the truth and judgment of God, and other iniquities committed by him. A negligent parent will see his negligence in the upbringing of his children, and that because of this they have become corrupt and perished, and the temptations that he gave to children will appear before him. The lawless master will be presented with all his insolence, violence and anger, which he showed to his slaves and peasants, and he either inhumanly tortured them, or burdened them with intolerable work and taxes. In a word, every sinner will have the sins that he has committed secretly or openly will appear with him and will be presented to him. They will also appear to you, whimsical and peace-loving. Your banquets, your banquets, your balls, your operas, your masquerades, your dances, your card games, your dog-hunting, and your other amusements will be presented to you, for you have turned your heart away from God, Whom you have confessed, and have added to this vanity; and not to God and His kingdom, but to the charms of the world, they turned their desire, and in this they found their consolation and joy. Then, instead of transient joy, you will see your present and eternal sorrow, sorrow, sickness, and sighing. "I will rebuke thee, and I will set thy sins before thy face." Then every sinner will be rebuked and hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The fornicator will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The thief, the robber, and the robber will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The vindictive one will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The evil one and the hypocrite will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The wicked ruler will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The bribe-taking judge will hear: "Here is the man and his deeds!" The negligent parent and the seducer will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The lawless shepherd will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The wicked lord will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" The unscrupulous servant and every subordinate will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" Finally, every sinner who has not been cleansed by repentance will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" He shall hear, and shall cover him with shame and shame, and shall envelop him with fear, trembling, and terror. Then they will say to the mountains and stones, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand" (Rev. 6:16-17)? Poor sinners! That great day has not yet come, God still accepts repentance and forgives the sins of those who repent. Let us turn to God with repentance and tears, and let us cease to sin, and with warm tears let us atone for our sins, so that they do not appear with us at that world's judgment and, as fierce enemies, do not denounce us. Weep, weep, sinful soul, regret and sigh that you have sinned against God! Ask, seek, and knock, that the Lord may open to you the doors of His mercy. "Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:8). Glory to God, the lover of mankind, for this, and let all people say: so be it! Amen.

Homily 13: On Eternity