Schema-abbot Savva is the fruit of true repentance. Bible Lessons: Bear Fruit Worthy of Repentance

Does repentance erase memories of past sins? What does the “prodigal son” - a repentant sinner - experience in the future upon his return to the house of the Heavenly Father? Below are answers to these questions in an essay on the Gospel parable of the Prodigal Son.

“He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him.

The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. And the father said to his servants: bring best clothes and clothe him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it; Let’s eat and have fun!” (Luke 15:20-23).

The feast ended in the house of the good, merciful father. The sounds of rejoicing have died down and the invited guests are leaving. Yesterday's prodigal son emerges from the hall of the banquet still full of the sweet feeling of his father's love and forgiveness...

Behind the doors he meets his older brother standing outside. In his gaze he meets condemnation - almost indignation.

The younger brother's heart sank; joy disappeared, the sounds of the feast died down, the recent difficult past appeared before his eyes... What can he say to his brother in justification? Isn't his indignation justified? Did he deserve this feast, these new clothes, this golden ring, these kisses and his father’s forgiveness? After all, just recently, quite recently...

And the head of the younger brother bows low before the stern, condemning gaze of the elder: the still very fresh wounds of the soul ached and ached...

With eyes begging for mercy, the prodigal son throws himself on his knees in front of his elder brother.

“Brother... Forgive me... I didn’t organize this feast... And I didn’t ask my father for these new clothes, and shoes, and this ring... I didn’t even call myself a son anymore, I only asked to accept me to become a mercenary... Your condemnation of me is fair, and there is no excuse for me. But listen to me, and perhaps you will understand the mercy of our father.

What does this new clothing cover now?

Look, here are the traces of these terrible (mental) wounds. You see - there was no healthy place on my body - there were continuous ulcers, spots, festering wounds (Isa. 1:6).

They are now closed and “softened by the oil” of the Father’s mercy, but they still painfully hurt when touched, and it seems to me that they will always hurt...

They will constantly remind me of that fateful day when, with a callous soul, full of conceit and proud self-confidence, I broke with the Father, demanding my share of the estate, and went into that terrible country of unbelief and sin...

How happy you are, brother, that you don’t know her, that you have no memories of her, that you don’t know that stench and decay, that evil and sin that reigns there. You have not experienced spiritual hunger and do not know the taste of those horns that in that country must be stolen from pigs.

Here you have retained your strength and health. But I no longer have them... I only brought the remains of them back to the Father’s house. And this is breaking my heart now.

Who did I work for? Who did I serve? But all one’s strength could be devoted to serving the Good Father...

You see this precious ring on these sinful, already weak hands. But what would I give for them not to bear any trace of the dirty work they did in the land of sin, for the knowledge that they always worked only for the Father...

Ah, brother! You always live in the light and will never know the bitterness of darkness. You don't know the things that are happening there. You have not met closely with those with whom you have to deal there; you have not touched the dirt that those living there cannot avoid.

You don’t know, brother, the bitterness of regrets: what was the strength of my youth spent on? What are the days of my youth dedicated to? Who will return them to me? Oh, if life could start over again!

Do not envy, brother, this new robe of the Father’s mercy. Without her, the torment of memories and fruitless regrets would be unbearable...

And should you envy me? After all, you are rich in wealth, which you may not notice, and happy with happiness, which you may not feel. You don’t know what irretrievable loss is, the consciousness of wasted wealth and ruined talents. Oh, if only it were possible to return all this and bring it to the Father again!

But property and talents are given only once in a lifetime, and you can’t get your strength back, and time is gone irrevocably.

Don’t be surprised, brother, at the Father’s mercy, at His condescension towards the prodigal son, at His desire to cover the pitiful rags of a sinful soul with new clothes, at His hugs and kisses that revive a soul devastated by sin.

Now the feast is over. Tomorrow I will start work again and will work in my Father’s house next to you. You, as the eldest and blameless, will dominate and guide me. Subordinate work befits me. That's what I need. These disgraced hands deserve no other.

These new clothes, these shoes and this ring will also be removed before the time: it will be indecent for me to do menial work in them.

During the day we will work together, and then you can relax and have fun with your friends with a calm heart and a clear conscience. And I?..

Where will I go from my memories: regrets and thoughts about wasted wealth, ruined youth, lost strength, scattered talents, soiled clothes, about yesterday’s insult and rejection of the Father - from thoughts about opportunities gone into eternity and forever lost?..”

In every church, in every religious community, you can hear the following calls: “We must repent!”, “We are required to change our way of thinking!..” “We need to make a turn in our lives!..”. And after such loud calls, some church members begin to “do” their repentance, others fall into complete prostration, absolutely not understanding what is required of them, and still others, without changing anything in their lives, repeat in unison with the pastor like parrots: “ we must repent..." It is quite natural that such calls never achieve their goal, but only increase fanatical sentiments in the church among some, and alienate those who have repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to “do” their repentance, but have been disappointed once again. Is it any wonder that many today have no desire to go to church, so as not to once again remind themselves of their sins? Can such a church be called a “trumpet” that makes the right sound? How relevant today are the words of the Apostle Paul: “And if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8).

John the Baptist, sent by God, according to the prophecy of Isaiah (Is. 40: 3), was supposed to prepare “the way of the Lord.” Addressing the people of God, people who carefully observed all the requirements of the Mosaic Law, he calls: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). And to the religious leaders who come to him to be baptized, he says: “Produce fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). What did the leaders and people of God need to repent of as they awaited the coming of the Messiah? What does repentance even mean? What should this fruit of repentance be expressed in?

Quite naturally, the Jews hoped for their physical relationship with Abraham, not realizing that they had no spiritual relationship at all. And the baptism performed by John was for them just a new ritual of washing, as an addition to the many they already had. John’s call to “do not think of saying to yourselves: Our father is Abraham” (verse 9) directed their gaze to the spiritual world, which meant a change in life position, a shift in emphasis from the physical to the spiritual. It is not the physical relationship that is important, but the spiritual one, which does not at all depend on the will of a person and his efforts. And careful observance of religious instructions does not at all bring a person closer to spiritual unity with Abraham.

Why did the people of God, on the eve of the coming of the Messiah, need to change their position in life, their direction of thought? What was wrong with their religion? The problem of Israel was not in religion, but in the fact that the thoughts of the people and priests were displeasing to God, the people were burdened with form, traditions and traditions, and various matters of the “law,” but at the same time in their hearts they remained deaf to the spiritual world. That is why God sends the greatest of the prophets to His people, about whom Christ said that “a greater man than John stood not” (Matthew 11:11), to call them to repentance.

The angel who announced to the priest Zechariah about the birth of his son also revealed to him the grandiose mission that the born child had to accomplish. “The angel said to him: Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great before the Lord. He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the way of thinking of the righteous. to present to the Lord a prepared people" (Luke 1:13-17). John's message was to change the direction of the thoughts of God's people. This is what repentance is for.

What did God's people need to repent of, and what fruits did God expect from them? Unfortunately, the call to repentance among modern Christians, as well as among Jews, evokes different and sometimes opposing associations. If you turn to existing religious encyclopedias for an explanation of the word “repentance,” you can find many different contradictory articles on this topic, after reading which you will still not understand what repentance is. The Bible definitely says that repentance is a gift from God to man, which can only be accepted. The Apostle Paul, speaking about the work of a servant of God, gives advice to his co-worker and servant: “But the servant of the Lord should not quarrel, but be friendly to everyone, teachable, gentle. Instruct those who oppose him with meekness, lest God grant them repentance to the knowledge of the truth” ( 2 Timothy 2:24,25). Why does God give people the gift of repentance? Only so that they can bear worthy fruits of repentance. So, true repentance coming from God bears fruit! What fruits please God? What does God accept and what does not God accept?

From the very beginning biblical story tells us how the first people, Cain and Abel, came to God to worship. One of them brought the fruits of the land as a gift to the Lord (Gen. 4:3), and the Lord rejected his gift. Another brought a sheep from his flock (Gen. 4:4), and was accepted by the Lord. Reading this story with a carnal eye, one might get the impression that the gift you bring to the Lord is important, since God prefers one thing to another. The spiritual view reveals a different picture. This story reveals two images to us - heavenly and earthly. Cain sacrificed the fruits of the ground. By this he shows that his faith comes from carnal motives and earthly priorities. Cain was focused on earthly well-being, on the material world. His sacrifice was a symbol of earthly origin. “For the earth of itself produces first a green plant, then an ear, then a full grain in the ear” (Matthew 4:28). Any fruit is produced by the earth. The one who brings them to God thereby testifies that he wants to bargain with God for the favor and mercy he needs. People like Cain offer sacrifices to God only to receive earthly blessings from God in return. God does not accept these sacrifices, no matter what they consist of.

The lamb sacrificed by Abel had a different meaning, and came from a faith striving for a higher, spiritual world, pointing to the Lamb of God coming from heaven, through whom salvation comes to all people from above. The lamb is an animated animal, it is not just a gift from the earth, it contains the gift of life from God, which “the earth itself” cannot produce. The gift of life is a gift from God, and he who offers “life” as a sacrifice to God testifies that his faith awaits God’s mercy and forgiveness. Faith in salvation given by God orients a person towards the spiritual world. Christ, in a conversation with Nicodemus, explained this truth, saying: “He who comes from above is above all; but he who is from the earth is and speaks as one who is from the earth; He who comes from heaven is above all” (John 3:31) . Abel's faith came from above and testified to his repentance, and expressed worthy fruit accepted by God. Living in the material world, with his faith Abel sought a heavenly fatherland, and therefore he “strove for the best, that is, for the heavenly” (Heb. 11: 16).

Thus, in the symbol of the sacrifice of the first people, the Bible reveals to us that humanity was divided from the very beginning into two camps: those who worshiped God in order to “have” (the material world), and those who worshiped Him in order to “be.” (spiritual world). So the Bible shows us two directions in the development of mankind from the very beginning - the desire for the material world with its interests, and the desire for the spiritual world with its values. This important truth cannot be understood by a person oriented towards the material world.

Repentance as a gift of God implies a transition from a material attitude of life to a spiritual one. Without repentance, a person will never discover the value of the spiritual world; he remains a slave, always striving only to have more. Such a person comes to God for purely selfish reasons, like Cain, in order to “have.” He realizes that he needs to have forgiveness, without which he cannot win God’s favor, justification and salvation. And for this he is ready to worship God, repent, confess, make a sacrifice, he is ready to do anything just to “have”! God's gift of repentance means a different direction of thought, a change in life attitude from “to have” to “to be.” A person himself can never achieve this, but faith leads him to Christ, who gives people repentance that changes a person’s life priorities. Then a worthy fruit of repentance will be a change in a person’s entire life, and not simply performing some good deeds of mercy, while remaining at the same “have” attitude. This is exactly what John meant when he called on the Pharisees to produce fruit worthy of repentance.

“To have” and “to be” are two fundamental attitudes towards the world. For physical existence one must “have” as much as possible, for spiritual existence one must “be.” “To have” is always analytical. You can divide the material world and increase it, you can count how much wealth you have, how many good deeds you have done, how many bits of information you have accumulated... “Being” is indivisible. You cannot be partly spiritual, you cannot be a little pregnant, you cannot be half enlightened, half saved and half left in hell. You have either crossed the “threshold” into the spiritual world or you have not.

As we read the Bible carefully, we notice that God's people in the Old Testament as a whole were always seeking to "have." Abraham wanted to have an heir, and for this he listened to what God told him. While in Egyptian slavery, the Jews wanted freedom and their own land. Although, starting from Abraham, God has always revealed himself to them as “to be.” To Moses' question about the name of God, on whose behalf Moses had to address the children of Israel in Egypt, God says: “I am who I am. And he said, thus say to the children of Israel: He who is has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). God not only wanted to free them from physical bondage, but also to lead them out of spiritual bondage to sin. However, this was beyond their understanding. And therefore the Jews, remaining slaves by nature, having freed themselves from one slavery, immediately fell into another. They did not want to accept the GIFT OF REPENTANCE.

Christ, who wanted to reveal to the Jews the purpose of His coming, pointed to His Father, who sent Him to liberate them from spiritual slavery. He tells them: “And the Father who sent Me has himself testified of Me. But you have never heard His voice, nor have you ever heard His face.” have seen, and do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent. Search the Scriptures, for through them you think you HAVE eternal life; and they testify of Me" (John 5:37-39) . Christ specifically points out the problem to them. The important thing is not to HAVE eternal life, but to BE fit for eternal life. This is exactly why He came, to give every person this opportunity to BE!

The Jews thought about HAVING eternal life, and for this they were ready to do a lot. However, BEing involves a completely different approach. God is also interested in us having eternal life, for this He created man. “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). For this to be accomplished for us sinners, “He had to BE.” Christ tells His disciples many times: “But first He must suffer many things and BE rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:25). “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and BE crucified, and on the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7). It was difficult for the disciples to understand their Lord, since the priority of their life position was always “to have.”

After Pentecost, the preaching of the apostles already had a different direction. The Apostle Paul boldly testified that the gospel is available to everyone. “Revealing and proving to them that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead, and that this Christ IS Jesus, whom I preach to you” (Acts 17:3). The Gospel is good news that gives every person the opportunity to BE adopted as sons of God through Jesus Christ. If a person thinks to HAVE this sonship without repentance, he is trying to enter the Kingdom of God in another impossible way.

There is only one way: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me,” says Christ (John 14:6). All human efforts and methods to follow Christ are in vain. Diverse religious denominations with their charters and doctrines cannot help a person in this either. Christ is the only one every person needs. Christ is the door. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs in somewhere else, is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep” (John 10: 1,2). God made Christ the Door for everyone. Having become a man, He Himself passed through this door, and now He invites us to enter through it. “So again Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. As many as have not come before Me, they are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door; whoever enters through Me will be saved.” and he will go in and out and find pasture" (John 10: 7-9).

Prompted by Satan, the thief and the robber, man does not want to change his life attitude of “having”, introducing materialistic interests into his religion. Such a religion becomes cruel and authoritarian towards others, using them for its own purposes. In our time, we are seeing how religion is once again becoming in demand in a society that has lost its moral guidelines. Just recently, the country in which I was born did not need God at all! "We are ours, we will build a new world!" – sat in everyone’s heads. And suddenly there is such a metamorphosis, people are almost driven into religion, the state finances various religious projects. Why this change? Humanity has realized its collapse, and therefore is strenuously striving to avoid future dangers, doing everything possible to preserve what it has.

How relevant is the message of John the Baptist today for secular-religious humanity, calling: “Create fruit worthy of repentance”! How important it is today to change the thoughts of a person rushing to the temple to worship the Lord. How important it is that the temple of a person’s soul be cleansed of the “merchants” who have filled his soul! For this to happen, it is necessary to be imbued with John’s message: “Produce fruit worthy of repentance.”

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Yesterday a sister in Christ called and asked the following question: “Is water baptism obligatory for those who have repented”? I was surprised by this sister’s question. I thought everyone knew this. She explained why she was asking about this. A man came to their group, referring to a passage from Scripture about a repentant thief crucified next to Christ, who was not baptized in water, but went to heaven. I understand who such a statement could come from and who does not care about water baptism. I decided to write about water baptism and its importance.

It is written: “John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole country of Judea and the people of Jerusalem came out to him, and they were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:4-5)

Pay attention to the words “everyone was baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.”

And again: “And he (John the Baptist) went through all the surrounding country of Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3)

Notice the words “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

And again: “Peter said to them: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

Notice the words “each of you is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”

The main thing from all of the above is that water baptism is necessary in order for sins to be forgiven after repentance. It's like a stamp on a certificate.

Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is not the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a different story.

We read the verse from Scripture: “Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John restrained Him and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered and said to him: Leave it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then [John] admits Him. And having been baptized, Jesus immediately came out of the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and descending upon Him. And behold, a voice from heaven said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:13-17)

From what we read, we see that Jesus Christ Himself came to be baptized by John. Knowing that water baptism is a baptism (immersion) into repentance. It is written about this here: “Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in him who should come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.” (Acts 19:4) Synodal translation.

And again: “After this, John went through all the regions adjacent to the Jordan, and preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 19:4) International translation.

Immersion in repentance was and is an important action then and now. Was Christ a sinner since it was baptism of repentance? Of course not. During His baptism He took upon Himself the sins of the world.

“The next day John sees Jesus coming to him and says: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

“We all like sheep have gone astray, every one of us has turned to his own way: and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa.53:6)

The passage about the dove descending on Christ, one denomination familiar to everyone, ascribes it as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but this is not so. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a completely different act. It is described here: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord together. And suddenly there was a noise from the sky, as if from rushing strong wind, and filled the whole house where they were. And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4) But we are talking about water baptism and that there are conditions for water baptism - the fruit of repentance.

It is written: “[John] said to the people who came to be baptized by him: You are brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from future wrath? Produce fruits worthy of repentance and do not think of saying within yourself, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9) Synodal translation.

And again: “John said to the crowds who came to receive baptism from him: “You brood of vipers!” Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Deeds prove the sincerity of your repentance. Do not reassure yourself with the words: “Our father is Abraham!” I tell you that God can create children for Abraham from these stones. Already the ax lies at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9) International modern translation.

What are worthy fruits? Why doesn’t everyone have them and cannot be baptized through this?

The fruit of repentance is a person’s willingness to change his life. Leave your life in sins and follow God, fulfilling His commandments. Not everyone has this readiness. They can go into the water as dry sinners and come out as wet sinners, which will not change anything in their lives. Many, then and now, want forgiveness of their sins, but do not want to change their lives.

It is written: “This is the judgment, that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God. After this Jesus came with His disciples to the land of Judea and lived there with them and baptized.” (John 3:19-22)

Water baptism is a promise to God to serve with a good conscience. This is a kind of covenant with God - dedication.

Based on this, it becomes clear that small children cannot be baptized. They have nothing to repent of, and they cannot personally devote themselves to serving God. Draw a conclusion from this. As they say: “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer.”

Baptism is not just a bath. Many bathe, but not many are baptized (immersed).

It is written: “So now baptism, like this image, saves us, not the washing away of fleshly uncleanness, but the promise to God of a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who, having ascended into heaven, is at the right hand of God, and to whom the angels and authorities and powers have submitted.” (1 Peter 3:21,22)

Water baptism is a watery grave for our old man. This is immersion in death and union through the resurrection from the dead with Christ for newness of life.

It is written: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we are united with Him by the likeness of His death, then we must also be [united] by [the likeness of] the resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be abolished, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who died was freed from sin. If we died with Christ, then we believe that we will live with Him, knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him. For if He died, He died once to sin; and what he lives, he lives for God. So consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts; And do not yield up your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. Sin must not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” (Rom.6:4-14)

So is water baptism important or not? It's mandatory. There are exceptions for the rogue, but this is the exception. He could not come down from the cross to be baptized, and therefore he was forgiven without water.

And further. Is preparation necessary for water baptism? I think you need an explanation of what’s for what (described above), and baptize immediately if possible. The conditions for this are worthy fruit: repentance or willingness to change life.

Nikolai Nikolaevich

You will find about the sacrament of repentance itself, with a detailed listing of sins, in the books “Seeds of the Word for God’s Field” (Part 2) and “Answer to Questions about Monasticism,” so now I will answer briefly about fruits true repentance and how to prepare yourself for confession.

Questions about repentance are not only interesting to you. People often come to me with the same questions. They especially often ask: “Father, what is repentance?”, “Father, what does true repentance mean?”, “How should one repent correctly?” - and similar questions.

With God’s help, I will try to answer all your questions, but you also have questions that your conscience itself will tell you what to do. Conscience is for us what a compass is for a sailor. If the captain loses his compass, he will not know which way to steer the ship, especially in cloudy weather. So with us, Christians, who have lost their conscience and become unscrupulous, no longer knows how to achieve a safe haven of salvation.

The robber kills people, and if no one has discovered his crime, then he walks around happy and cheerful. Rejoices! What is he happy about? You and I know - his death, he does not understand this.

Conscience does not judge only those who have reached the heights of virtue or the heights of vice. There is no need to talk about the former: a judge is needed only for those who break the law, and for those who implement the law, he is not required. Their conscience is crystal clear, and it does not disturb the righteous. The latter have either lost their conscience or are sleeping soundly. The rest of the sinners bad conscience worries them all the time and seems to say: cleanse me with repentance, you did this and that, repent. So we need to listen as carefully as possible to the voice of our conscience. She will teach you everything good and good.

The voice of conscience is the inner, secret voice of God in us, and woe to those who do not listen to its advice and demands, who deliberately drown out its voice so as not to hear its judgment and not feel its torment, who leans more towards the side of sin and vice .

You, D., are doing well in this regard, but there is a gap in another. You ask some questions again. I already answered them, but you forgot. And why? Yes, because he is inattentive to the words of his spiritual father. This is a sin - repent.

You have to catch every word of your spiritual father on the fly, and you... Well, okay, I forgive you! Just get better!

INSTEAD OF A FOREWORD

My friend! Many times you confessed and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. God bless! This is good!

By approaching the sacraments of confession and communion, a person is cleansed, renewed, revived and leaves the church, as if from the baptismal font. In fact, this is true. Through repentance and communion, the grace that we received at baptism returns to us, because it returns lost grace. After repentance and communion, a person feels joy, peace and consolation.

But you probably also experienced something else, when instead of joy and consolation after confession and communion, an incomprehensible feeling of languor suddenly appears in your soul: tightness, dissatisfaction, some kind of general relaxation. This is a sign that one confessed incorrectly and unworthily received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. At confession, it means that you were lethargic and cold, you did not have deep experiences, a thirst for purification, heartfelt contrition for your sins, an ardent desire to unite with the Lord: when the priest listed the sins, you said: “I am a sinner” - mechanically, this is the result.

True, vexation of spirit also happens for another reason, when the Lord is testing, but more often it happens when we repent incorrectly. Some mix self-justification and even condemnation with repentance, leave aside personal repentance for their sins and move on to spiritual conversation or, even worse, touch on everyday issues. This dispels them and weakens the feeling of repentance.

Some blame the priest and say: “Father failed to bring him to his senses. In the other one, everyone is crying, but this one...”.

This concept is wrong. It is not the priest’s fault that the confessor has no contrition of heart, no tears of repentance. The reason for this must be sought in oneself. This means that not all is well in his soul.

It is commendable, of course, when a confessor conducts confession with great spiritual uplift, but if the priest is elderly and infirm, is it possible to demand special upliftment from him? And is it really necessary?

Previously, there were no general confessions. The priest did not have to remind the confessors what they might have sinned, because each of them knew their sins well. Christians strictly monitored their actions, deeds, words and even thoughts, so they quickly and confidently listed everything that was on their conscience.

They didn’t have to strain their memory too much: their conscience seemed to tell them all their sins.

Now, during confession, they come up to the priest and don’t know what to say. What's the matter? What is the reason that the conscience of people has become coarsened and dulled, and a person no longer feels its remorse, he has become unscrupulous. He sins and does not notice that he is sinning, and sometimes he belittles the sin, that is, he says: “This is a small sin, God will not punish for it” - and does not repent.

The devil rejoices at such carelessness of people, rejoices that they live inebriated, do not take care of themselves, and lulls them into imaginary righteousness. He instills in them the thought: “What special have I done? I didn’t kill, I didn’t steal. I live like everyone else.” It turns out that there is no need for repentance. This is how cunningly the evil spirit approaches...

So, my friend, in order to shame the evil force, so as not to fall under its influence and not perish forever, you also need to learn to repent correctly and not wait for others to make you lament your sins. After all, if contrition about sins is in confession, and besides, only when the priest is eloquent and has special power grace-filled prayer that ignites hearts, is such contrition reliable and lasting? What fruits can such repentance bring?

We listen, we cry, we repent... We left the church and forgot that we were lamenting our sins, repenting and making a promise to God, as if we were taking an oath before the Cross and the Gospel, that we would not return to our previous sins and that with God’s help we would correct ourselves.. We forgot about everything, and again we begin to chatter, condemn, slander, get irritated, get angry, quarrel... this is the worst thing. This means that we do not have real, true repentance: there is only one form of repentance, but there is no spirit of repentance. But the Lord does not need form, but essence! The essence of repentance lies not only in mechanically listing the names of sins to the priest, but the main thing is that the heart, from where the thoughts come, does not accept evil words and evil deeds, but only accepts pure and holy thoughts and sensations, and all evil would say: I will not deign. The essence of repentance lies in the correction of a sinful life, in self-improvement.

Such repentance can be fruitful; it always brings good fruits. If a person says in words: I'm sorry, but He himself has done evil and continues to do so, then this cannot be called repentance. This is hypocrisy before God. God forbid!

THREE MOMENTS OF REPENTANCE

The purpose of repentance is correction of sinful life and good deeds. In repentance, as in any other matter, there are certain moments. True repentance is determined by three points:

1. Test of conscience.
2. Contrition of heart.
3. Verbal confession of your sins.

But before I begin to explain these points, I have to warn you that when you want to talk, you may encounter many obstacles, internal and external. Don't pay any attention to them. If you remain steadfast, all obstacles will disappear.

And the second thing that you should pay especially serious attention to is that the intervals between confessions be filled with spiritual struggle, efforts of the will to good.

For example, we are very talkative. We love to joke, laugh, we laugh ourselves and make others laugh, we tell jokes, but all this is a sin. After the first confession, rarely does anyone immediately regenerate and become serious and pious. They usually say: what should you do if you have such a character? These are the ones who need to painstakingly work on themselves, they need to force themselves to remain silent.

PREPARATION FOR CONFESSION

When you begin to prepare for confession, then first of all examine your conscience, look into your heart. Look to what extent it is contaminated with sins. With God's help, remember all the sins that you committed after your last confession, and whoever is preparing to take monastic vows remembers his sins from the age of seven.

Check yourself: is there a lack of faith, hope, love in you; is there any self-confidence, callousness, irritability, gluttony, cowardice, murmuring, despondency and other sins.

If you spend this moment of repentance with due attention, then you will inevitably experience contrition of heart, and if there is no contrition, then this speaks of petrified insensibility, of deathly coldness, which means that the soul is in danger.

In this case, one must read and remember the lives of the saints and their teachings. They considered themselves the first sinners and with sincere conviction they cried out to the Lord: “No one has sinned on earth since the beginning of time, just as I (I), the accursed and prodigal, have sinned.” If you look up to them and take their example, then contrition will certainly appear and you will weep for yourself.

Sincere repentance is the initial degree of holiness, and composure and indifference are moving away from holiness, dying outside of God. When grace touches the heart and illuminates it, then the disorder in the soul appears with all clarity and then we sincerely recognize our sins, ulcers and spiritual wounds. And those people who are not drawn to grace, they are immersed in the darkness of sin and do not see anything in their hearts, and if they see something, they are not horrified, because they compare themselves not with saints, but with others like themselves.

Check yourself also according to God’s commandments: are you violating any of them, as well as according to some prayers (for example, the 3rd Vespers and the 4th Communion).

BASIC SINS AND DERIVATIVES

It’s good if you can distinguish between basic sins and derivative ones. If you don't know how, learn. It is very important. We must know what we most need to lament and what we need to improve on. For example, if we are absent-minded in prayer, if in church we feel drowsy and are inattentive, if we are not even interested in reading the Holy Scriptures, then this comes either from lack of faith and weak love for God, or from laziness and carelessness.

If in Church during worship we walk, talk, push; if we approach the anointing of oil, the cross and the shroud without reverence, without holding back those standing behind us, and press on those who stand in front of us; if for Epiphany water and for the water of minor consecration at prayer services we do not stand in line, but walk straight ahead, almost over our heads, this means that we have no fear of God and no love for our neighbors. If we take great care of our appearance and the furnishings of our home, then this means we are vain.

If we take everyday failures too close to our hearts, have a hard time withstanding separation, grieve inconsolably for the departed, then this indicates that we do not believe in God’s Providence, and so on. Self-justification, impatience of reproaches, vanity, stubbornness, but it is even more important to see their connection with pride, selfishness, arrogance and pride; it is to these basic sins that one must turn all one’s lamentation.

Eat good remedy, which leads us to the knowledge of our sins, is to remember what people accuse us of, especially those living nearby and loved ones. Their accusations, reproaches, and attacks are almost always justified. When testing yourself, you must be careful not to fall into excessive suspiciousness of any movement of the heart. If we take this path, we may lose our sense of distinguishing between what is important and what is unimportant. In this case, you need to stop testing yourself and, through prayer and good deeds, beg and clarify your soul.

Preparation for confession consists not only in remembering as fully as possible or even writing down your sins, but first of all in sincerely realizing your guilt, in order to bring your repentant feeling to heartfelt contrition and, if possible, shedding tears of repentance.

BREAKING THE HEART

Knowing your sins does not mean repenting of them. Grief over evil deeds done, crying about sins- this is what is most important in matters of repentance. Well, what if there are no tears? What to do then?

Don't despair! And in this case, we still need to repent, repent, repent, no matter how cold and insensitive we are, hoping only for the mercy of God. Coldness and insensibility usually occur when there is no fear of God in the heart, from lack of faith or from hidden unbelief.

Sometimes a person conceals in confession that he does not believe into the afterlife or doubts its existence, and for this the Lord punishes with coldness. The Lord seems to be saying to a person in his soul: “You are not a Christian, you are a pagan. Realize that you have no faith, repent, and then I will console you, forgive your sins and send you joy.”

Indeed, What kind of Christians are we if we do not believe in the immortality of the soul? If we do not believe that we will praise the Lord forever, when will he honor us with such mercy? After all the whole meaning of faith is lost in God! And how many such pagan Christians are there? Oh oh oh! Check yourself, D.! Aren't you a pagan?

CRY

Crying over sins is of great importance in repentance. I will dwell on this in a little more detail, because you have the wrong concept about crying. Know that crying does not come from tears, but tears from crying. Some have no tears, they restrain themselves in the presence of others, but their hearts cry tears of blood, sincerely lamenting their sins. It is when a person does not pay attention to the sins of others and only examines his own sins and laments over them, then he begins to cry.

Crying is the name given to the abundant intensification of repentant feelings. A person acutely admits his spiritual weakness. He sees his weakness, his helplessness; realizes that with his own strength he will never be able to free himself from sinful ulcers, from spiritual defilements without the help of the Lord, and with the deepest humility he falls at the foot of the Cross, begging the crucified Lord to forgive him the sins with which he again nails Him to the Cross.

Again and again I always insult
You, my Savior, I crucify you
I am with my sins every day;
And You, merciful, and You, dying,
You still love me and, quietly bowing
Head on the Cross, You forgive me,
And you only expect repentance
And you still call me to heaven to Yourself...

The humble sinner begins to feel the presence of God. Sometimes it happens that every cell in the body feels His presence, His closeness. The fear of God appears, at times so strong that it seems that the hair on the head rises and a sacred trembling, like a chill, runs through the body. A person has a remembrance of death, a fear of condemnation at the Last Judgment for sins, and then tears flow from his eyes in an uncontrollable stream. And when in his heart a person feels forgiveness of sins, feels lightness, silence, joy, then from an excess of happiness and grateful feelings, like a comforted child on the chest of a tender father or mother, he constantly repeats the words: “My Jesus! My joy! My happiness! Love mine! Don't move away from me!" At this moment, a person desires to be separated from the body, so as never again to be separated from Christ.

This is what true repentance means. After great sorrow, the sinner receives great, great joy, and consolation is the unity of the soul with the Lord. This is the highest fruit of true humility and repentance.

There are many pious ones
Smart and scientists;
there are many truthful people,
Chaste, ready
Help everyone, forgive sometimes,
But few can be found
With a humble soul -
Self-awareness is the worst of all!
See all the sins in yourself -
This is a feat!
It's the same as hating yourself
It means to give up
From the idol of self-conceit!
It means to agree
Accept all insults!
Pride is the most terrible sin of all,
But beautiful humility
Christ Himself became incarnate!

Help us, Lord, to imitate true humility!

DETERMINATION NOT TO SIN

A sure sign of sincere repentance, by which a sinner can learn that his sins have truly been forgiven by God, is a feeling of hatred and disgust from all sins to the point that he agrees to die rather than arbitrarily sin before God; In addition, he develops a feeling of forgiveness, a feeling of lightness, purity, inexplicable joy, deep peace, a desire to do everything only for the glory of God, to hate and eliminate the proud desire to attribute glory to himself. And vice versa, unworthy repentance, after which sins remain, causes a feeling of dissatisfaction, falls heavily on the heart, with some kind of heavy, vague, unclear feeling of bitterness.

Remember, D., repentance will not be complete and useful if you internal will not no firm determination return to confessed sin. If you say with humility, no matter what your sin (fall), “Forgive me!” - you will be forgiven, but if you say so, and then return to sin and do not fight it, this means your repentance is false; it means to repent and remain in sin. Deliver, Lord!

We must realize our sin and hate it, we must make as much effort as possible so as not to return to previous iniquities.

Forgiveness of sins is freedom from passions, and whoever has not been freed from them by grace has not yet received forgiveness. And in order to receive forgiveness from God, you must make a change in your entire life and, leaving behind vice, constantly remain in virtue.

Repentance is valued not by the amount of time, but by the disposition of the soul. He who hates sin turns away from it and quickly conquers the passions in himself, but it often happens that the confessor does not notice in himself spiritual growth and is embarrassed by this, like you, for example. It seems to him that he is standing still or has become even worse than he was: “one step forward and two steps back.” Don’t be embarrassed, my friend, it just seems so; in fact, there is no case when every confession does not produce good changes in the soul, when a person is drawn to grace and has a good desire to correct himself, to suppress sin in himself.

A person cannot correctly judge himself: whether he has become better or worse. The Lord reveals the truth only to the spiritual father; only he alone knows the state of the souls of his children. Usually, increased severity towards oneself and a heightened fear of sin create the impression that sins have multiplied and intensified and that the state of mind has not improved, but worsened. In addition, the Lord often hides our successes from us so that we do not fall into pharisaism, vanity and pride.

It also happens that although sin remains, frequent confessions and communion of the Holy Mysteries have shaken it and significantly weakened its roots, moreover, the very struggle with sin and suffering from the consciousness of one’s sinfulness brings great benefit to the soul. So do not be afraid, my friend, even if you fall every day... Rise quickly, repent and stand courageously in the feat, and the Lord will reward you for your patience.

Repentance is not only confession in church, it is a person’s entire life in repentance, in a repentant feeling. Until death, we must preserve this feeling, we must constantly remain in hell with our minds, that is, we must sincerely consider ourselves worthy of hell, but not despair, but trust in God’s mercy. If a person loses this sense of his worthlessness, he will lose grace.

Sin puts such a stain on us that cannot be removed by anything other than sincere repentance and bitter tears about it. He who does not cry for his sins will cry from the punishments for sin both in this and in future life Therefore, it is better to mourn your sins here voluntarily and suffer for them, than to cry there forever from torment.

Every sin is committed for pleasure and enters through pleasure, therefore forgiveness of sins is given through suffering and sadness, and sin is driven out by bitterness and tears.

TEARS

Tears are a sure sign that through repentance a person is born into new life, to the spiritual. But these tears are not the kind that you have to squeeze out of yourself, that appear under duress, but the kind that are difficult to stop and hide from prying eyes. If a person has not achieved such tears, it means that he is doing God’s work only with the outer man, and his inner man is still sterile, because his fruit begins with tears. He who is reborn for spiritual life cries continuously day and night for up to two or more years. This is when grace touches the heart and a person reaches out to grace. She, like a tender, caring mother, will sometimes reveal herself to a person, then hide for a while in order to teach him all spiritual wisdom and make him experienced and strong in spiritual life, for an inexperienced husband is not skilled.

With such abundant tears a person washes and cleanses the soul more and then comes to a peaceful, blissful state. The Holy Spirit inhabits a person and guides all his actions.

Every person who is with God also has tears: sometimes when he is in mental contemplation, sometimes when he reads the Holy Scriptures, sometimes during prayer, but these tears are moderate, joyful, sweet. In this case, we can say that the person is crying from an excess of happiness.

This is the kind of repentance we should strive for. Tears are especially useful in confession. They soften petrification and eliminate the main obstacle to repentance - our selfhood. Proud and self-loving people, as a rule, do not cry about their sins, but cry out of resentment, but such tears are sinful. Those who blame others and justify themselves do not cry.

Tears are only given humble sinners. Don't be ashamed of crying in confession. Let your soul be more completely cleansed from the defilements of sin, just do not forget that sadness about your sins is useful and saving in the case when it does not go beyond the limits of what is permissible, and if it becomes immoderate, as they say, goes beyond boundaries, then this sadness turns into disastrous feeling - despair. Deliver us, Lord, from this!

It is useful to have constant contrition for sins, but we must not forget about God’s mercy. The Lord forgives every sinner who repents and moves from the path of wickedness to the path of piety.

If, due to spiritual weakness, you cannot immediately be reborn and you sin again, then do not despair, but again and again resort to the sacrament of repentance.

Whatever fall happens, get up (repent) immediately. Shake off sin like dust, like dirt, and continue on your usual path with redoubled energy. Practice kindness non-judgment and other Christian virtues.

Schemamonk Nikodim of Athos writes: “So that we are angry with demons, and not with people, we must answer demons this way: although I am a great sinner, I do not want to despair of salvation, for I hope in God’s mercy! I have sinned only to my God, and to Him I repent ". He alone is my Judge, and not you, damned demons. What do you have to do with me? You yourself are apostates from God and rejected from Him, you have no right to torture me, you yourself are condemned to eternal destruction; I don’t want to know you damned ones. God is my strength, God is my Savior, all my hope is in His mercy, and everything depends on His mercy. But I will not be afraid of your fear, even if you had found me sins a thousand times more than this, then even then I would not accept "In spite of the despair you have inspired in me, I hope for the ineffable mercy of God, for the prayers of the Mother of God, the holy Angels and saints of God, whom I call for help. Amen."

CONFESSION

One of the main acts of repentance is confession. After the sinner comes to his senses, like the Gospel Prodigal Son, tests his word and conscience, recognizes his sins, turns to God with a contrite and humble heart, reproaches, condemns and mourns himself before Him, he must sincerely confess his sins to the priest, discover your sinful state.

When starting confession, three conditions must be met:

You must make peace with everyone who is a burden to you and to whom you are a burden. If you haven’t had time to personally reconcile, then mentally forgive them from the bottom of your heart, justify them, and blame yourself. When meeting them, ask for forgiveness and behave in accordance with your repentant feelings.

We must have contrition of heart and humility. The repentant must outwardly show his humility and kneel down.

Pray without distraction.

So, first of all, you must make peace with everyone who is a burden to you and to whom you are a burden. Perhaps you will say: “Why go and reconcile, I am not angry with anyone. Whoever is angry with me, let him ask for forgiveness.” Why are they angry with you? It means you upset them in some way. Check your conscience! And if your conscience turns out to be truly clear, if you have not offended anyone in any way, then for the sake of love for your neighbor, you still come up and ask for forgiveness from everyone who is angry with you out of envy, jealousy or another reason. After all, they are in great danger. The Gospel says: “Everyone who is angry with his brother in vain is subject to judgment, the condemnation of God.” (Matt. 5:22). And if you do not make an effort to make them reconcile with you, then you yourself will find yourself violating God’s commandment about love. How will you approach the Cup of Life?

Some say: it’s shameful and humiliating to ask for forgiveness. It’s a shame to pick into someone else’s pocket, but doing a good deed is never a shame. By this a person shows his humility, and humility and love are the highest virtues. If someone is ashamed, it means that the passion of pride has not been overcome, then it is necessary to get rid of it, one must force oneself by force of will to ask for forgiveness. Sometimes they ask the question: “Father, what to do when they don’t want to make peace?”

They don’t want to put up with only those who ask for forgiveness and at the same time justify themselves.

Human souls understand each other, as they say, at a glance, the heart gives the message to the heart, so if we sincerely forgive, are not offended and blame only ourselves for everything, and justify others, then even the most irreconcilable enemies will certainly reconcile with us.

Well, if even under such conditions they do not want to reconcile, then “do good to those who hate.” (Matt. 5:44). If we do good to those who offend us, then this mercy, more than all other virtues, will protect us at the ordeal and the Last Judgment.

Let us not, my friend, humiliate anyone, let us not rise above anyone, let us remember that we are the worst of all and therefore, to every reproachful word we will sincerely say: sorry. This word drives away confusion from the soul, suppresses anger, destroys disagreement, drives out the world, so that evil power has no opportunity to harm the one who says from the heart: "It's my fault, forgive me."

At confession, you don’t have to wait for questions from your confessor, but you have to confess your sins yourself, without being ashamed, without hiding or belittling their importance. If the confession is general, then all the sins that the priest lists must be brought to consciousness and feeling and we must admit ourselves guilty of everything, for if we did not commit any sins in deed, we could have committed them in word or thought. The word “sinner” must be pronounced with a feeling of deep repentance, and not mechanically.

Confession is a feat of self-compulsion. Many cannot avoid the temptation of self-justification and during confession they often tell their confessor that, they say, I sinned, but he forced me to sin... Especially when they repent of quarrels, anger, irritability, they will definitely condemn others. They will blame them and protect themselves. Such repentance is counterfeit, false, crafty, hypocritical, and contrary to God. This is a sign of pride and lack of personal deep repentance.

Sometimes they say:

- “Father, I have a weak memory, I cannot remember the sin.”

Look, young healthy man and complains of bad memory.

“No,” I say, “it’s not a matter of memory.”

- “It’s true, father, I don’t remember anything.” - “I believe, I believe! But this is not because your memory is bad, but because you live inattentively and absent-mindedly and do not attach serious importance to sins. You do not stop your attention on sins of serious significance. You do not stop your attention on sins, you do not fix they are in your memory, and that’s why you forget.”

So you, D., need to pay serious attention to this, you also have a gap in this.

We don’t forget to sit down to a meal because we want to eat... Now, if we hungered and thirsted for heavenly food with the same intensity, then we wouldn’t forget our sins either. They don’t sit at the table with a bag on their shoulders, wearing a sheepskin coat and mittens. First they dump the load and get rid of it, because it will interfere with the meal. Likewise, we will not be able to enjoy the Heavenly Meal if we do not throw off the burden of sin through repentance. Every day the soul is burdened with a burden of sin, and every day it is necessary to throw it off through repentance.

Confess to God before your cross. For those who, due to their living conditions, cannot often confess and receive communion, this is extremely necessary. The Lord accepts such repentance. So you will get used to and remember your sins and will remain in constant saving repentance. Example - Reverend Mary Egyptian.

Habit (skill) is the second nature of a person. It, as they say, enters his flesh and blood and becomes inseparable from a person; he develops a so-called reflex. A person does many actions out of habit, without thinking: he blinks, makes rhythmic movements with his hands when walking, etc.

The habit of blinking keeps the cornea of ​​the eyes from drying out, the habit of waving your arms when walking helps a person maintain balance; so in spiritual life, for example, with Rev. Macarius of Egypt developed a pious habit for all things and before starting each task to believe sign of the cross, i.e. do not start anything without a blessing. One day the demon thought to tempt him. “I’ll climb into the washstand,” he thinks, “and bring oblivion on him, he’ll forget to cross the washstand, and then I’ll... oh, and I’ll make fun of him!” So he did. Rev. Macarius approaches the washstand, out of habit, crosses him and seals the demon in the washstand with the sign of the cross. The demon was burned by the sign of the cross, and he began to beg the reverend. Macarius to release him.

You see, D., how dear a pious habit is to us, but generally speaking, we must set ourselves up in such a way that we agree that it is better not to sin than to confess our sins after sinning.

No matter how complete and sincere the confession, traces of sinful stains will still be visible on the clothes of the soul. They will be completely erased only when with joy Let us accept penance (punishment) from God for our sins. But which of us rejoices in sorrows and illnesses? Units! So, from day to day, from year to year, sins are layered in the soul, and such a burden becomes difficult not only for the person himself, but also for the spiritual father. Demons usually inspire us either not to confess our sins to our spiritual father at all, or to confess as if on behalf of another, or to lay the blame of our sin on others. I, they say, swore and said a lot of unnecessary things because M. and P. drove me crazy and pushed me into it.

Confession with self-justification is an abomination before God! Where is contrition for sins; where is self-destruction? Instead of them - condemnation! A new sin was added to the previous sins... They mixed the porridge with broken glass(the sacrament of cleansing with the sin of condemnation) and instead of healing they received new ulcers and mental illnesses: clouding of conscience, shame and reproach, heaviness in the soul.

No! This is not a confession. This is a perversion of the Holy Sacrament. In any case, it is not useful to justify yourself: if your conscience is clear, then there is no need to worry about it; sooner or later the Lord will bring the truth out and justify you, and if your conscience denounces you, then it is all the more impossible to justify yourself, because a new sin is added to that sin - lying. If your conscience or spiritual father denounces you, then you need to listen and correct yourself. You must show interest in the matter of salvation, then even without additional techniques you will remember your sins. Whatever a person is interested in, he does not forget about it.

If you are traveling on a train and looking out the window with interest, you will not miss anything unnoticed. Every little detail, every stroke will remain in your memory, and you will be able to tell everything in detail to others. And if you look out the window with indifferent eyes that see nothing, if you are absorbed in your thoughts, then your story about the trip will be dry, brief, in general outline, without details. Otherwise you will be forced to say: “Yes, I don’t remember anything! I forgot everything!” This is what happens in confession.

TWO CONFESSORS

One confessor stands in confession, and his whole life passes before his mental gaze. He remembers and repents: today he slept an extra half hour and did not have time to read morning prayers, I even forgot to kiss the cross... I repent, Lord, have mercy and forgive me! Yesterday on the road, in a hurry, I almost knocked over a stroller with a baby and pushed an old woman hard - I repent. God! During the day I offended and upset such and such with words and deeds, willfully and involuntarily, knowledge and ignorance - I repent, Lord! I punished Vanyutka unfairly, but Olya did something wrong and deserved punishment, but I didn’t even make a remark - I repent. Lord, have mercy and forgive, etc. And the more he goes deeper into his life, the more complete his self-knowledge, the more he is contrite in heart. It seems to him that he is worse than a robber, worse than a harlot. “The robber,” he thinks, “paid with blood for his sin, but I live in complete prosperity, and my deeds are no better than his deeds. Now I cut one with a word worse than a dagger, then I prick another like a sword. The robber destroyed only the bodies of people, but the souls saved them: they died like martyrs, and I... poor people! How much grief I bring them! Now they suffer from me, now from the fifth or tenth, as unreasonable as me... And you don’t want to do bad, but it it happens in itself when you forget your prayer and have fun. Take yesterday's incident for example... I bought flowers for my wife, was going to congratulate her on Angel's Day, to console her. Suddenly Tanyusha comes towards me with an unfamiliar young man. I shuffled in front of her like a boy, I said a lot of pleasantries to her and put a bouquet in her hand... Poor thing, how embarrassed she was... Well, okay, I can justify myself to myself by the fact that she did a lot of good to our family and deserves even more attention, and I bought my wife another bouquet. But that’s not the point! Why didn’t I show sensitivity, caution, vigilance?... She came, poor thing, all in tears. He says the groom made a scene. He asked: who is this? What is this? I didn't know what to say...

And I’m always like that, if I take a step without prayer, it’s a temptation for people, no matter what word I say, it results in embarrassment... Woe is me! Oh my God! All hope is for you! Help me to always keep prayer in my mind. Make her unentertainable, so that the devil does not make me his toy and does not build his intrigues for people through me, the accursed one.

The Lord did not condemn the harlot, but others all condemned her and wanted to stone her. What a shame she suffered! What a shame, what a humiliation! And me?... Oh-oh! Most unfortunate creature! They consider me a pious person, they set me up as an example to follow, but I, worse than senseless cattle, am overcome by lust. Where is my abstinence? Where is the observance of the law, statutory days? Everything is trampled underfoot by the sin of voluptuousness. Poor wife! With my ignorance I am dragging you into hell... Pray for me, dear, I am weak... Oh, Lord, save us - weigh us with our destinies!

Heavy, muffled sighs escape from his chest... Complete mistakes, complete sins... Have mercy, merciful Creator, and help me correct myself, for without You I am unable to even think good.

He stands there and is sincerely heartbroken. He doesn’t notice how they press him, push him, step on his feet... He completely withdrew into himself, inside his bodily shell, as they say, crawled under his skin to internally work on his soul, on his heart, in order to cleanse them as completely as possible. From the depths of his heart he cries out: “Savior! I come to You not because I can bring You firm, unshakable faith, a heart full of hope and humility. No! I come because I have nothing, that I am poor and wanted I wish I could put on bright clothes again, clothes of purity. I endure cold and thirst, and You alone can satisfy me with the bread of life and give me a fountain of living water to drink. Lord, do not depart from me. My strength! Hasten to help me! "

He stands like a candle before God, repents, laments, prays earnestly, regretting that the service passed quickly. He would like to extend the service. I don’t want to part with the temple. It’s so good, easy, joyful here! Here he feels the closeness of God, the Mother of God and the saints, who look at him with living eyes from the icons with a gentle and encouraging look.

Such repentance is always fruitful. It brings many, many good fruits and improvement of life. A person, from strength to strength, ascends the ladder of virtues, and such laymen achieve purity and holiness of life, like the Venerable Jonah and Vassa of Pskov-Pechersk and others like them.

And the other confessor stands in confession and is tormented in soul and body. He doesn’t know what internal work on himself is. Why doesn't he know? Yes, because he doesn’t want to know! Why, they say, burden yourself with unnecessary worries? It’s more fun to live when you don’t think about sins (this is his reasoning). And so all his concern in confession is manifested in pushing everyone away from himself and standing spaciously, enjoying empty, sinful thoughts, dreams, or in his thoughts he is burdened with everyday affairs, but not with prayer. Worship is a burden to him. He came to church to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, outwardly fulfilling the duty of an Orthodox Christian, but not according to the inner desire of his heart. It’s unusual and difficult for him to stand in church, and so he grumbles: “Why is the priest hesitating, not starting confession? Why are you the first to get up? The last one to come! Baby, why are you standing here? You have no sins!”

What will this poor man get from confession? If he never comes to a contrition of heart about his sins, then he will only perform the ritual, but will still be far from repentance and he will leave the temple with the same heavy, vague feeling with which he came to the temple: not renewed, not healed .

I say sincerely, D., I feel sorry for such people, just as I feel sorry for the completely blind. But bodily blindness is temporary, just as our life on earth is temporary, therefore it is not as terrible and dangerous as spiritual blindness, which destroys the soul forever.

INNER LIFE

Inner life is the foundation Orthodox faith and an integral part of an Orthodox Christian. If we do not watch over ourselves, over our hearts, over our minds and thoughts, then we will not be saved. We must ensure that all the inclinations of our hearts are directed towards glorifying the Lord and that our thoughts are directed only to Him alone.

Through self-knowledge and self-vigilance we receive grace and strength to acquire immortal life.

Sometimes you look at a person - in appearance he is no different from others, but in inner life he is high before God and often does great deeds of virtue.

Without inner life, without self-vigilance, a person easily falls into errors and lawlessness, therefore we must try to ensure that our external, external behavior is controlled by our internal, heartfelt disposition. If a person’s external life prevails over his internal life, if he is occupied only with earthly objects and does not care about spiritual objects, that is, about his salvation, then sooner or later he will feel dissatisfaction with life, emptiness, darkness, and this will inevitably lead him to despondency and even despair.

Yes, it is scary to live without God, in other words, without inner life such a person will never enjoy peace and spiritual joy, the joy of God in this earthly life, and even more so in the life of the next century.

Try, my friend, to give primary importance to inner life. Do not think that it is possible only for individuals. It is acceptable for all people of any rank, any condition, living in any time, employed in any position, at any job, even on the most difficult. There is no reason why a person could not go inside himself and observe every movement of his heart, every thought. The only one who cannot who does not want to to engage in the exercises of inner life, who wants to be more concerned with himself than with the Lord. But in a soul occupied only with itself, only external life, grace cannot abide.

Ask, my friend, from our Lord Jesus Christ that pure the light of self-knowledge, who would teach you inner life, would teach you to always be inseparably with the Lord. When you taste the sweetness of the inner life, then no one and nothing can hinder you in pious exercises. Whoever engages in self-contemplation, the Lord grants him such an ability that he can simultaneously perform prayer and perform the most complex and labor-intensive work. For example, an artist, musician, sculptor and even a writer can simultaneously pray internally, engage in their work, and even participate in conversation.

For many this seems incomprehensible, impossible, but in reality it is so. These people constantly taste the sweetness of conversation with the Lord; they are saturated and oversaturated with spiritual joy. So you too strive for this.

IMITATION OF JESUS ​​CHRIST

In all cases of life, try to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. Go within yourself and conform to the Divine example, act as Christ would act in this case. Honor Him in all your words and actions. And in order to know the words and actions of Jesus Christ, diligently study the Holy Scriptures and go to church more often. There is not a single action of His life that does not provide us with an example to follow.

Jesus Christ is a perfect example, and people will never be able to achieve such perfection, but our task is to imitate Him to the best of our ability and ability and to be His true followers. Without the grace of God, we cannot do this on our own, so earnestly ask the Lord for the grace of the Holy Spirit.

I advise you, my child, to do everything carefully, without haste, because haste greatly harms your inner spirit. Do not strive to distinguish yourself by spiritual and moral deeds in order to be known and admired for your deeds, in other words, for the sake of glorifying your name.

COMMUNION OF THE HOLY MYSTERIES

In the sacrament of communion we eat, under the guise of bread (prosphora) and wine, the true Body and Blood of Christ and through this we unite with Him. One must prepare for the sacrament of communion through prayer, fasting and repentance. This sacrament is performed in the church during the Liturgy. Patients can also receive communion at home. The priest brings the Holy Gifts in a monstrance. During communion of the Holy Mysteries, one must nurture pious feelings: reverence and fear of God. But sometimes we are cold and absent-minded, and this makes many people sad. There is no need to be discouraged. We must humble ourselves and admit that we deserve such a state. Say to yourself: “It’s a hat for Senka! Because of my sins, the Lord does not give me joy; thank the Lord for everything!” Bear it patiently and do not despair, but try to improve.

The Lord tests some pious and zealous people in their spiritual life: they do not give them joy - and thank God for this. The Lord knows better than us what is more useful to us: He sends sweets and consolations to some for reinforcement and encouragement, to others He does not do this, because in any state they must love Him with the same strength, and checks: are they like that? Still others are deprived of consolation for their sins. In any case, you cannot be discouraged.

Do not consider yourself an outcast from the Lord, even if you do not feel disposed to serve Him, but always try to please Him with equal strength. Don’t be more concerned with yourself than with the affairs of God, surrender to Him, and in this you will find joy and bliss.

When a person is careless about the work of his salvation, leaving a place for himself, then from communion of the Holy Mysteries he receives more weakness than healing. If after communion you remain vigilant over yourself, over your inclinations and use them to please God, then you will preserve yourself in piety and the joyful feeling that you received while communing.

To serve the Lord you must have pure heart, perfect and obedient to all His manifestations, so do not be surprised when He tests, instructs, teaches you to be more perfect.

Some are disdainful of taking communion after the sick and elderly, they are afraid of getting sick. Look, D., beware of this feeling of disgust: it is very great sin. Priests in parishes where there is no deacon, and deacons in other parishes and monasteries, use the remaining Holy Gifts and live in good health until old age. Disgust shows that a person has weak faith. We must pray to God so that the Lord will increase and strengthen our faith.

It can be hard to watch how some frail old women and mentally ill people make an effort to be the first to approach the Cup of Life, just like children. They push each other and without reverence, without fear of God, they receive communion...

Mentally ill people are often a temptation to others. They inspire fear in some, and there are cases when a person was preparing for communion, but because of them did not approach the Chalice. This also applies to other patients, especially the elderly. A prudent and pious elder and elder, if he feels bad, then sits somewhere on the side and calmly, reverently prays, and approaches the Chalice last, when there is free passage in the church. This is piety, and he himself receives great benefits for soul and body, and does not embarrass others. So do this, my child, this will acquire humility, fear of God and piety.

FRUITS OF REPENTANCE

One day a spiritual child comes to me and says:

- “Father, is it possible to ask God for death?”

- “What is it?” - I ask.

- “I’m scared to live... I’ll have to answer for everything: for every step, for every look, for every word. It’s better to die now, otherwise many sins will accumulate in old age.”

- “Don’t put them in a suitcase. A step, a look, an idle word - these are not mortal sins. They are terrible only for those who do not pay attention to them, who do not recognize them as sins, do not repent and do not correct themselves, so immediately ask God for forgiveness in front of your cross, as St. Mary of Egypt did, and then you repent to your spiritual father and force yourself to correct yourself, then not a trace will remain of these sins. For you now it is more terrible to die than to live, because to repentance -You have come, but you still don’t have the fruits of repentance. And so that you don’t feel afraid to die, you need to stock up on the fruits of repentance.

Dying is easy. The faint-hearted even commit suicide. These are those who do not want to fight difficulties, but they are worthy of pity and even contempt. The Holy Church does not pray for such people. Who gave us the right to control our destiny? We were not born of our own will, and we must die not of our own will! To ask God for death is insolence! This is clear evidence that we do not want to live according to the will of God. It's clear?"

- “It’s clear, father, what are fruits worthy of repentance.”

- "Fruits, worthy of repentance, are Christian virtues and good deeds. The Gospel writes a lot about the fruits of repentance. For example, the apostle and evangelist Luke writes: “Produce fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8), and then explains: “Whoever has two coats, give to the poor, and whoever has food, do the same” ( Luke 3:11).

And here are more spiritual fruits: “As God’s elect, let us clothe ourselves with mercy, longsuffering, kindness, humility, meekness and love” (Col. 3:12-14). The main fruit of repentance is love (John 15:2-16).

The Apostle Paul says: “If I give away all my substance and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Cor. 12:3-8).

“Do this (i.e., produce fruits worthy of repentance), knowing the time that The hour has come for us to wake up from sleep"(Rom. 13, I).

The fruits of repentance come from true repentance. And true repentance means sincere, unfeigned contrition for sins. IN Holy Scripture are given specific examples true repentance that brings worthy fruits. For example, Zacchaeus, the unrighteous tax collector, what fruit of repentance did he bear? He gave away half of his estate and abundantly rewarded everyone from whom he took extra.

Rev. Mary of Egypt led a vicious life in her youth. What fruit of repentance did she bear? She went into the desert and began to live chastely.

This is what we should do. For example, pride and vanity take over us. We pray to God to send us humility. How can we practically remake our sinful nature? It is necessary to melt us in the fire of slander, lies, ridicule, all kinds of humiliation and insults from all people and even from our closest relatives - so the Lord sends us what we ask for, because when we ask God for humility, it means we ask to send us people who who would humble us. And if we complacently, without grumbling, without bitterness and irritation, accept and joyfully thank God for all this, pray for those who have offended us and do not change our good disposition towards them, then this means we bear the fruits of true repentance.

GOOD INTENTION

In order for repentance to be not formal, not external, not fruitless, one must pray for enemies, and always do only good to everyone, even if to the detriment of oneself; give alms whenever possible. It is good to give alms from excess, but from scarcity it is even better, higher.

The Lord looks not so much at people's deeds as at their intentions. There is such a story. When Jesus Christ was a boy, he made birds and began to color them. One bird thinks:

Oh, yellow..., I don’t want yellow, I want red! Do you see? This is self-will! But the Lord did not give her anything for her self-will, no colors, so she remained gray. And for several generations these birds were gray. And when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, the same bird sat on the Cross and thought: my ancestors were self-willed, and I am self-willed, and we all upset the Lord, and now he is suffering. I will help Him! I will pull out the nails, and He will forgive us. And so she began to peck at the nails... bale-bale, bale-buck, bale-buck, peck... Well, where is it! Could she have pulled out the nail? This bird is very small, smaller than a sparrow. Well, she pecked like she pecked at a nail, then she remembered about her children, that they were hungry, they wanted to eat, and quickly flew to them. She flew in, and they all shouted in one voice: “Mommy, mommy, how beautiful you are!” “What’s the matter?” he asks. - “Your breast is red.” - “Ah! This is the blood of the Lord.” - “And we want to be the same!”

She kissed the breast of each chick, and so all generations became red-breasted. Since then, this bird has been called a robin.

You see, the Lord accepts good intentions and forgives sins for them. Self-will - wow, what a great sin! For monks this is the most serious sin. This means there is no obedience, the monastic vow is broken, and the worldly must obey the Lord, and even birds and animals obey God.

The Lord forgave the bird because of its good intentions. She did not pull out the nails, but she really wanted to, and the Lord accepted her desire as the very thing.

So we, my friend D., need strive for good to good desires, intentions, deeds, words, thoughts, and so that all our feelings are aimed at pleasing God and our neighbors. If you practice kindness and force yourself to do every good thing, then the Lord and the Mother of God with all the saints will not hesitate to help you in this good intention.

Peace and God's blessing to you!

Luke 3:1-22

Key Verse 3:8

“Create fruits worthy of repentance and do not think of saying within yourself, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.”

The ministry and preaching of John the Baptist is one of the most important moments stories. This was so significant for Luke that he devoted a large chapter to this narrative. Let us study the life and ministry of John together and pray that through today's sermon God will speak personally to each of us. Let us pray that the word of God will change us today. Amen.

I. Produce fruits worthy of repentance (1-14)

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was in charge of Judea, Herod was tetrarch in Galilee, Philip his brother was tetrarch in Ituraea and the Trachonite region, and Lysanias was tetrarch in Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God was to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness."

Herod the Great, reigning for about 40 years (died in the 4th year BC), divided power over Israel among his sons:

1) Herod Antipas inherited Galilee and Perea.

2) Herod Philip inherited Iturea and the Trachonite region.

3) Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene.

4) Archelaus received Judea, Samaria and Idumea as an inheritance. He was a very bad king. The Jews eventually turned to Rome with a request to remove him. And Rome, dissatisfied with the constant unrest in Judea, appointed a procurator there. At this moment, the ruler of Judea was Pontius Pilate.

It is necessary to complement the picture with the fact that Tiberius Caesar was a very evil ruler, and Pontius Pilate was a cunning and skillful politician.

Luke also described the religious situation in Israel. According to the law of Moses, the office of high priest in Israel was held by an heir from the sons of the Levites. However, with the arrival of the Romans, this position became the object of all sorts of intrigue. As a result of this, in the period from 37 B.C. to the 26th year after R.H. Twenty-eight high priests were replaced. Annas was high priest from the 7th year to the 14th year after Christ. When John the Baptist began his mission, Annas was not in office, but after him four of his sons were high priests, and Caiaphas was his son-in-law. That is why, although Caiaphas was the high priest by office, Annas controlled the actual power. Therefore, immediately after His arrest, Jesus was brought first to Anna (John 18:13), although at this time he did not hold office. Luke therefore connected his name with the name of Caiaphas - although Caiaphas was the high priest, Annas remained the most influential in the religious life of Judea.

We see a very dark, chaotic situation in the political and religious life of Israel. This situation reminds us of the current situation in Ukraine. Ukraine is actually now divided into 4 regions: Western with a tendency to join Poland; the eastern region (Donetsk, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk) with pro-Russian sentiment; Crimea generally became Russian; the south (Odessa) takes a neutral position - Odessa residents do not care who is in power. As they say: “Odessa residents will still get out!”

The religious situation in the country is also no better: many positions of the Orthodox clergy are associated with all sorts of intrigues. Some pastors of large charismatic churches have been embroiled in formal charges. The people are confused.

What should we do at this time? Time of Troubles? This is the wrong question.

We need to ask another good question. What does God do at a time like this? What God does is true path.

Let's read verse 2b: “the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” . What means "was the word of God" ? This means God told John His plan, His will, what God was going to do at such a time. John the Baptist must convey God's word to the people, reveal God's will to all people.

Let's look at verses 3, 4. “And he went through all the surrounding country of Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who says: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

John's mission is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins: John prepares people for repentance, and Jesus gives forgiveness of sins.

The position of the people is sick, poor, disadvantaged, oppressed. People want to solve their problems and issues through different ways. For example, many go to church and light candles, or on Easter they bless eggs, sausage, etc. Or they go to a famous priest to get baptized. Some do charity work.

But what they need is repentance. Repentance is the only true path to salvation. Nobody likes the word repentance - because they believe that repentance is a shameful, shameful thing. When someone says, “You need to repent.” Then they get very offended and say: “Don’t interfere in my personal life.”

But repentance is the most blessed activity, because if we confess our sins, mistakes, weaknesses with a simple heart, Jesus does not blame us, but forgives us with understanding. Through repentance we are freed from the oppression of sin. If we want to have the Kingdom of God in our hearts, if we want to have true joy, strength, happiness, we need repentance.

John the Baptist, as the shepherd of the people, knew this well, so he served the people with all his might to bring them to repentance. This is his ardent love. Do you know what is true love? This is to lead your loved one to repentance.

People think our life is hard because of bad politicians. People stood in the cold on the Maidan for 4 months, and in the end they achieved it. However, life did not get any better. This is the truth - life is hard because of sins.

A person must repent of sins. Whether you believe in God or not, it doesn’t matter. All the same, if you are a person, then you must repent of your sins and correct yourself.

Let's look at verse 5. “Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight, and the rough paths made smooth; 6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God.”

This word reveals to us what repentance is. The human heart is like valleys or mountains and hills. Valleys are all kinds of inferiority complexes, wounds, resentments. Mountains and hills are our pride. Curvatures are selfishness. But through repentance our heart will become straight, even and smooth. And then all flesh will see the salvation of God.

Look at verses 7 through 9. “[John] said to the people who came to be baptized by him: You are brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from future wrath? Produce fruits worthy of repentance and do not think of saying within yourself, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John lived in the desert. The desert was covered with thickets and dry stubble. Sometimes, from one spark, the desert caught fire, and poisonous snakes crawled out of the cracks and crevices, fleeing in horror from the terrible flame. John compared some of the people who came to him to be baptized with them.

The Jews were firmly convinced that if they were baptized, they would be saved. But John says that what is needed is not baptism, but repentance. Many people say: “I was baptized in a church,” or “I was baptized in a famous church under a famous priest.” However, this event does not provide salvation.

We need visible fruit of repentance, visible changes. When a person sincerely repents, the Holy Spirit fills and burns away all sin. When a person sincerely repents, the Holy Spirit enters us and gives us birth from above. Only then does a person receive salvation. True revival occurs through the voice of God - that is, when people receive the word of God, which leads people to repentance.

Look what verses 10 through 14 say. “And the people asked him: What should we do? He answered and said to them, “Whoever has two coats, give to the poor, and whoever has food, do the same.” The publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him: Master! what should we do? He answered them: do not demand anything more specific to you. The soldiers also asked him: what should we do? And he said to them: do not offend anyone, do not slander, and be content with your salary.”

What do we do? I used to think that once a person repented, he should immediately give up everything, leave the world and enter a theological seminary. Therefore, in 1997, I prayed to God like this: “If You exist, then I will give up everything and become a priest. I'm ready not to get married."

John said that we must do the most basic thing - have love for our neighbors. A person should not change his job to please God. Of course, if you used to sell drugs, then you need to change. We are talking here about normal operation. We see that even publicans and soldiers want to live normal life. Because they are people too. Here we see what true repentance is. The fruits of repentance are not only confession and repentance of sins, but a person must actually change in his relationship with his neighbors. The fruit of repentance is manifested in relationships with people. If the relationship with people has not changed, we can say that the person has not repented.

II.Baptism of Jesus (15-22)

Look at verses 15 through 22. “When the people were waiting, and everyone was thinking in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ, John answered everyone: I baptize you with water, but one stronger than me is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. He preached many other things to the people, teaching them. Herod the tetrarch, rebuked by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for everything that Herod had done that was bad, added to everything else that he put John in prison. When all the people were baptized, and Jesus, having been baptized, prayed: the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove, and there was a voice from heaven, saying: You are My Beloved Son; I am well pleased with You!”

John only baptizes for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, which burns away sin and changes our essence. Water baptism is done by a person, but only Jesus can give the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit gives a person the holiness of God, and endows believers with power from on high to be witnesses of Jesus. Home work The Holy Spirit - to bear witness to Jesus, and to glorify Jesus (John 16:14). A person who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit must live a holy life and be an active witness for Jesus.

When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. From that moment on, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus and gives anointing and testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. Through Jesus, the Kingdom of God came to earth, since Jesus is the Son of God. God also confirmed with His word: “There was a voice from heaven, saying: You are my beloved Son; I am well pleased with You!”

The word “I am well pleased in You” – Jesus obeyed the will of God completely to the point of death. This shows that at the moment of His baptism, Jesus clearly realized that, firstly, He was the Messiah, the King anointed by God, and, secondly, that this would bring Him suffering and a cross. The cross did not come to Jesus unexpectedly. From the very moment He realized His destiny, He saw that crucifixion lay ahead of Him.

Let's look at verse 17 again. “His fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

What faith are we learning here? Here we learn to believe in the Second Coming. John preaches that Jesus the King is yet to come, and with him the judgment. The spade was a large flat wooden shovel. They threw grain into the air, the heavier grain fell to the ground, and the chaff was carried away by the wind. And just as the chaff was separated from the grain, so Jesus will separate the righteous from the sinners. Thus, John the Baptist painted a picture of judgment, but such a judgment a person could calmly expect if he fulfilled his duty towards God, his neighbors, and if he faithfully performed his daily work.

John was one of the most successful preachers of all time. The essence of his sermons is simple: he called people to repentance. We often think that preaching repentance is not popular in the 21st century. However, only repentance can change the essence of a person, only repentance can change a person’s destiny. It is not politics, not the economy, not living conditions, not marrying a good sister, not buying a new car that makes us happy. But only repentance!

What fruit of repentance should I personally bear?

First, I repent of unforgiveness and resentment. Because of the grievances, many times I wanted to leave the church instead of repenting. Obviously God wants to teach me humility, but instead of humility I was proud and because of pride I received insults and wounds in my soul. I was offended by Shepherd John, Shepherd Moses and Shepherd Matthew. I thought that I had already repented, but last week God revealed that the offense remained, I did not repent at all. When it was announced at the meeting that we needed to pray for children who were sick, I could not sincerely pray for them with love. On the contrary, I gloated: “Well, they were against healing all the time. They attacked me when I was talking about God's power healing. And now they themselves receive it and the children also have to pay for the sins of their parents. And look at me – I haven’t been sick this year and my children aren’t sick.” As soon as I thought and spoke this, I opened the door for Satan. And on the same day the youngest son fell ill. He had a fever and diarrhea for a whole week. On Friday I realized my sin and repented of my pride. On Saturday, the doctor visited us and wrote out a direction - we need to urgently take the child to the hospital, it is dangerous for health. I prayed to God and repented of my pride. Standing in the righteousness of God that I received through repentance, I believed that the blood of Jesus had forgiven my sins. I asked God for healing with faith, and I also ordered Satan to leave, since my family is my territory. I received faith in the spirit that if the temperature did not drop by evening, then the next day we would take the child to the hospital. Thank God, until the evening the temperature dropped and did not rise again, and the diarrhea stopped. Glory to God, who accepts our repentance and heals us. But that night I almost got sick myself. I had a fever all night, headache and my throat hurt a lot. I didn't sleep and drank honey and lemon. In the morning I had thoughts of not coming to the service. But I decided it was better to die during a service. During the service, God's healing came to me and restored me.

I repent of my grievances and ask God - God, heal my wounds and grievances, so that I can rejoice and serve You in the purity of faith, as in the first time. Sometimes I asked myself the question: “How can you love Shepherd Matthew?” IN Lately he has changed and become very cute, you can already love him. This question asked me from 2000 to 2010. In 1998, we were born again, sincerely loved each other, we ate ashiritsa, quinoa, together we went to a sermon in the hostel in the evenings, and at night to prayer on the “Mount of Olives” in the park. Shepherd Matthew was my brother. But then something happened, we began to take opposition against each other. Thank God, last year we went together to Nikolaev at night and could sincerely talk, and God gave us the grace to understand each other and forgive each other. Now we are no longer enemies, but co-servants of the Gospel in Jesus.

I also ask God to restore my prayer life.

Sometimes I preach a sermon or conduct a Bible study without the spirit of prayer. I myself feel that this is blasphemy, that I have lost the fear of God. To do God's service without prayer and trust in God's guidance is blasphemy, since instead of God, I want to change the Angles with my own strength. However, I did it often. When the Anglos were in sins and problems, instead of praying I played chess. I lost a lot of time because of chess. If I didn't play a couple of games of chess before going to bed, I couldn't sleep peacefully. But if I played, I also can’t sleep peacefully, because thoughts about moves and combinations were spinning in my head. I became addicted. Chess became a drug for me. God, forgive me, help me not to play chess anymore, but to spend more time in prayer and meditation on the word. I decide not to play chess anymore.

One word: bear fruit worthy of repentance. Amen.