The Church is the Body of Christ, not a vanishing reality. It is possible to be saved only in the Body of Christ, because the Church does not save as an organization, but as Christ Himself, who lives in her. And all Christ is the Head of the Body, as the Apostle Paul said: "... He is the head of the body of the Church" (Col. 1:18). Can we say that Christ appeared two thousand years ago? "Probably not, since He is from God. — Yes, He is eternal. This is very important to remember.

Yes, Christ became a man two thousand years ago, but He has always been as a Person. That is why He says: "And now Thou shalt glorify Me, O Father, with Thy own glory, which I had with Thee before the world was" (John 17:5). He was already in the glory of the Father, before the stars came on, even then. His Self, His self-consciousness, was and remains divine. Having become man, He did not cease to be God and remained the same God as He was, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient.

And so, wherever we are, we can hear about it, remember, "Behold, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:20). And through Him the Father created the world. It is said: the Father is the Creator, and it is said about Jesus Christ: "... By Him all things were," remember the Symbol of Faith. Through Him the world was created. The Father conversed with Him when He created man. To whom did He speak? He spoke to the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And He not only created, He gave the Law, He sent the prophets, He came Himself. — «... The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool" — how is this to be understood? The Father said to the Son: "Sit at My right hand." He said, set on the right hand as a Man, not just as God. Because as God, He rules with the Father always, eternally. Because He is the Power of God.

I was talking to a Muslim in Egypt. He is a Wahhabi, by the way, Russian, who wanted to kill me. And it is interesting that although he is a fanatic, he is an intelligent person, so you can talk to him. There are stupid fanatics, and there are smart ones, that is, those people who are looking for the truth. He says to me: Fools, you want to be saved by man, and Allah himself will save us.

I said: how do you think Allah saves? By his strength or by his powerlessness? He answers: of course, by force. Then I ask: Do you think Allah has a strong or powerless word? He: Of course, it is strong. Logically. I ask again: do you think God has some wordless powers? He saves with his strong word, don't you agree? And according to the Qur'an, who is the Word of Allah? You know, no? Jesus Christ!

And you do not believe in Him, how is it so, I say, you have written it, but you do not believe in Him?! "Is that what it says in the Koran?!" "It directly says that Allah has Jesus, His Spirit. And the Wahhabi agreed, because, indeed, it is impossible to unite with God without God. But the Lord is the only one who has immortality. Why? Because He has no beginning.

And therefore, man, if he wants to conquer death, must unite with Him. God is the only Holy One, and if man wants to conquer sin, with whom must he be united? With God. And God is Love, and if a person wants to be loving, with whom should he unite? — With the Father and the Son. — No, not only. It's not so easy, I'll tell you now. There is also a third Person of the Holy Trinity.

And we believe in the third Person of the Holy Trinity. We believe not only in the Father and the Son, but also in the Holy Spirit. And who is the Holy Spirit? You are baptized here, tell me. —The Holy Spirit, He was from the very beginning. "Yes, at the moment of creation He was hovering over the waters. Who is the Holy Spirit, do you know? — The third part of God. "A face, not a part. God is not made of parts.

The Holy Spirit is indeed the third Person of God. Naturally, He is God, equal to the Father and the Son. That is why we say: "... Who with the Father and with the Son is worshipped and glorified.", that is, we worship Him together with the Father and with the Son. And we glorify Him together with the Father and with the Son. Therefore, when we say: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, how many prostrations do we make? One bow. Why? Because there is only one God.

That is, we make one bow in the name of the One God. And therefore we sign ourselves in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that the power of God through the Blood of Jesus Christ may cleanse us. We put our fingers together in three fingers, showing our faith in the Triune God, crucified on one Cross. You see, all dogmatics is in one hand. Thus, the Holy Spirit is God, and He, unlike the Son, proceeds from God the Father.

Its source is also God the Father, but in a different way: the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. He is not the Son and not the Brother of God the Son. He is a different God. We know that the image of the Trinity can be compared to heat, which also comes from the Sun, but is not a ray of the sun, but comes to earth together with the ray. Therefore the Son is revealed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to us Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.

That is why it is said that no one can call Jesus Lord except the Holy Spirit. I mean: not in the sense that no one can formally call Him Lord. No one can see His Divine power, be a partaker of His Divine life, except by the Holy Spirit. To call him the Lord – please, "Lord" – the demons cried out, but they did not cry out with the Holy Spirit.

And the point is that it is impossible to unite with the Lord, to see His Divinity, Divine power. Only by the Holy Spirit. And therefore, by the way, Baptism is performed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Life-Giving Lord. — What is "by the Life-Giving Lord"? "He is the Lord of the Universe, He rules the world together with the Father and the Son.