屬靈講道集 第 1 章 第 27/36 段

For if the sight of an earthly king is desirable to all men, and everyone sojourning in the king's city desires even just to behold his beauty, or the comeliness of his garments, or the glory of the purple, the beauty of the manifold pearls, the splendor of the diadem, the dignity of the offices about him, and the comeliness of the faces of his retinue—unless it be the spiritual, who despise these things because they have had experience of another, bodiless and heavenly glory, and have been wounded by another ineffable beauty, and have partaken of another unspeakable wealth, and take delight in the inner man, and share in another spirit—

—since the men of this world, who have the spirit of the world, are in great desire even just to behold the earthly king with all his splendor and glory;

for insofar as, in visible things, his portion is far greater than that of all men, so glorious, so desired by all is it merely to be seen by him—and each one says within himself:

"Would that someone had given me that glory and splendor and beauty!"—counting blessed that man who is like himself, earthly and subject to the same passions and mortal, on account of the temporary splendor and glory that is so desirable. If, then, carnal men so desire to see the glory of an earthly king, how much more those into whom that drop of the Spirit of the Godhead of life has been instilled, and whose heart has been wounded with divine longing for the heavenly King, Christ, are bound and taken captive by desire and yearning for that beauty and unspeakable glory and ineffable splendor and inconceivable wealth of the true and eternal King, Christ—being wholly and entirely directed toward him, and desiring to obtain those unspeakable goods of the Spirit which they behold as in a mirror; for the sake of which they have utterly despised all the beauties and splendors and glories and honors and riches of kings and rulers upon earth!

for they have been wounded by divine beauty, and the life of heavenly immortality has been instilled within their souls.

Therefore they are impelled toward that love for the heavenly King, having him alone before their eyes in great desire, and for this reason they release themselves from every love of the world and withdraw from every earthly bond, so that they may be able always to keep that longing in their heart, and nothing else along with it.

But there are very few who have brought a good end to a good beginning and pass through to the end without falling, holding fast to the one love of life, that toward God alone, and having released themselves from all things.

For those who truly wish to pass through to the end in good conduct ought not willingly to admit and mingle any other desire or love alongside that heavenly one, lest they be hindered in spiritual things, and turn back, and in the end fall away from life.

For just as the things promised by God are great and unspeakable and indescribable, so also there is need of faith and hope and great toils and struggles and much testing;

for the good things that a man hopes to receive are no small matter.

You desire the kingdom of heaven, and wish to reign together with Christ unto the endless ages, yet will you not readily undertake the struggles and toils and trials for the brief time of this life, even unto death? For the Lord cries out:

"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, rejoicing, and follow me." And again:

"If anyone does not hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

Most men wish to attain the kingdom and desire to inherit eternal life; yet their will lives on in their own desires, and, following their own wills—or rather the one who sows in them vain things—and without denying themselves, they wish to inherit eternal life, which is impossible;

for the word of the Lord is true.

And it is those who, according to the commandment of the Lord, have denied themselves wholly and entirely, and who abhor all the desires and bonds and distractions and pleasures and preoccupations of the world, and hold him alone before their eyes, and desire to do his commandments—these pass through without falling. So then each one turns himself away from the kingdom by his own will, because he does not truly wish to labor and deny himself, and because he loves something along with that love—by taking pleasure in certain pleasures or desires of this age—and because his love is not, as far as is possible by choice and will, wholly directed toward the Lord.

But understand all this from me by means of a single example.

Each one, in judging, indeed judges and knows that what he wishes to do is unseemly; but because he loves it and does not deny it, he is overcome by it.

For first the battle takes place within, in the heart, and the balance and the inclination and the weighing of the love of God against the love of the world; and then it proceeds outward, and each one, in judging, judges—if it should happen to come to conflict and quarrel with a brother—saying within himself:

"Shall I say it? Or shall I not say it? Shall I speak? Or shall I not speak?"—remembering God, yet also seeking to procure his own glory, and not denying himself.

But if the love of the world and its inclination in the balance of the heart weighs down even a little, the wicked word immediately proceeds as far as the lips.

Then, as if stringing arrows, the mind from within shoots at the neighbor through the tongue, sending forth arrows of unseemly words that lie outside the commandment of God—

—as one weighed down by the inclination of the love of the world, and by his own voluntary will procuring his own glory.

Then, shooting at the neighbor at length with unseemly words, until the sin spreads even into the limbs, unto clashing blows.

Or sometimes it even produces wounds upon the body as the limbs war against one another, and sometimes the desire of the evil one is carried through even to murder and death.

See, whence it began and to what end it came—the love of worldly glory, in one weighed down by his own will in the inclination of the balance of the heart!

For it is because of not denying oneself, but loving something of the world, that all those unseemly things come about.

In this way understand me also concerning each sin and every base practice of wickedness, when it flatters and incites the will of the mind through worldly desires and pleasures of the flesh.

it is thus accomplished: so is adultery, so is theft, so is covetousness, so is drunkenness, so is love of rule, so is vainglory, so is envy, so is love of money, and every practice of wickedness whatsoever.

But sometimes even practices that seem good are carried out for the empty glory of men, which in God's sight are equal to injustice and theft and the rest of the sins.

"God," it says, "has scattered the bones of men-pleasers"; so that even through seemingly good deeds, the evil one wishes to be served and obeyed—

for he is exceedingly manifold and deceitful in the desires of the world.

For on account of some earthly and fleshly love, by which someone is bound, being enticed by his own will through wickedness, this becomes for him a chain and a bond and a heavy burden that sinks and chokes him in this present age of wickedness, not permitting him to lift up his head and go straightway up to God—

since whatever a person has loved of the world weighs his mind down, and holds it fast, and does not allow it to lift up.

For upon this the balance and the inclination and the weighing of the heart hang, and by this every race of men is tested—whether Christians dwelling in cities or in mountains or in monasteries or in fields or in desert places—that whoever is enticed by his own will does not love rightly, and his love is not bound wholly, and is not entirely toward God.

For, say, one person has loved possessions, another gold and silver, another to be a slave to the belly, another the desires of the flesh, another the wisdom of the world for the sake of human glory, another has loved rule, another glory and the honors of men, another anger and wrath—for by quickly surrendering himself to the passion he loves it—another untimely encounters, another envy, another simply wastes every day in idle distraction and takes pleasure in it, another loves idle words, another loves to be like a teacher of the law for the sake of human glory, another delights in laxity and negligence, another is bound to garments and rags, another gives himself over to earthly cares, another loves sleep or coarse jesting or ill-timed talk—and simply, if someone is bound by anything of this world, small or great, he is held fast and is not permitted to lift up his head.

For whatever passion a person does not fight against nobly, that he loves; and that holds him fast and weighs him down and becomes for him an obstacle and a chain, preventing his mind from going away to God and serving him alone acceptably, and from obtaining the kingdom of eternal life.

For the soul that truly has its impulse toward the Lord possesses its love wholly and entirely toward the Lord, and, insofar as it has power, binds itself by its own choice to him alone; and from there it acquires the help of grace, and denies itself, and does not follow the desires of its own mind—since that mind proceeds treacherously with us on account of the indwelling and enticing evil—but it gives itself over completely to the word of the Lord, and releases itself from every visible and hidden bond, as far as is possible by its own choice, and gives itself entirely to the Lord; and thus it will be able to pass through purely to the end—

—and be relieved of the struggles and toils and contests.

For wherever a person loves, from there he is helped, and from there he is also burdened.

And if he loves something of the world—whatever it may be called, however trifling it may seem—that thing becomes for him a chain and a burden and bonds dragging him down, and not permitting him to go up to God.

But if he loves the Lord and his commandments, from there he is helped and relieved, and all the Lord's precepts become easy for him, because he preserves his love toward him whole and entire; and it inclines him toward the good—or rather, it relieves and lightens every toil and every affliction, and through the divine power it severs him from the world and from the powers of wickedness in it, which ensnare the soul in the depth of the world and bind it with the nooses of manifold desires—

for one who has truly loved by his own will is helped by the Lord to obtain eternal life.

But that we may demonstrate from evident facts how many perish by their own will on account of some love—

—and are burned in fire, and drowned in the sea, and carried off into captivity: suppose for me that some house or field is being set on fire; the one who, wishing to save himself, perceived the conflagration and fled naked, abandoning everything, and wishing only to preserve his own life, was saved.

But another, wishing to take some of the household vessels or other garments, went in to carry them off, and just as he had taken them, the fire mastered the house, and it seized him inside and burned him up.

You see, then, that by his own will, on account of some temporary love for those things which he loved for himself, he perished in the fire.

Likewise again, some, having encountered a certain onset of a storm at sea, were shipwrecked.

And one man, having stripped and gone naked into the waters, wishing to save himself, and thus being battered by the waves and swimming above them—because he was unencumbered—was able to pass through the bitter sea, and so preserved his soul.

But another, wishing to save some of his garments, supposed he could swim out and get through together with those things he had taken up with him; yet those very things which he took weighed him down and plunged him into the depth of the sea, and he perished for a small gain, because he did not resolve to save his own soul alone.

You see that it was by his own will that he was put to death.

Or again, suppose for me that a report comes of foreigners advancing.

And one man, upon hearing it, immediately fled without delay, going out naked.

But another, disbelieving that the enemies were coming, or pitying some of his own belongings and wishing to take them with him, delayed to flee; and the enemies, coming upon him, seized and took him captive into the land of the foreigners, and there compelled him to serve bitterly.

You see that it was by his own will, through slackness and folly and love of certain possessions, that he was carried away into captivity.

So also those who do not follow the commandments of the Lord and do not deny themselves and love the Lord alone, but are willingly bound by the earthly bonds of the world and held fast by a certain carnal love—when the eternal fire comes upon them, being found in the love of the world, they will be burned, and they will be sunk down by the bitter, evil sea, and being taken captive by the captivity of the foreigners (that is, of the spirits of wickedness), they perish.

But if you wish to know the rectitude of a love perfected toward the Lord, learn it from the God-inspired Scriptures.

Behold Job, how he stripped off, so to speak, all that he had possessed—children, possessions, animals, servants, and the rest of his property.

How, having stripped, he fled and preserved himself, even leaving the tunic itself and casting it to satan, uttering not a single word of blasphemy either in his heart or with his lips before the Lord, but on the contrary blessed the Lord.

For the Lord, he says, gave, and the Lord took away.

As the Lord willed, so also it came to pass.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Behold the rectitude of a whole and complete love toward the Lord—that he loved nothing besides the Lord, except him alone.

And Abraham was thought to have possessed many things, but when tested by God to go out from his land and from his kindred and from his father's house, immediately, so to speak, he stripped off everything—fatherland, land, kindred, parents—and followed the word of God.

Readily he offered him up with his own hand, stripping himself of him and truly denying himself.

He showed, through the offering of his only-begotten son, that apart from God he loved nothing else.

For if he readily stripped himself of that one, how much more, if he had been commanded to leave the rest of his possessions, or to distribute them at once to the poor, would he have done it readily and eagerly.

Do you see the rectitude of a love perfected out of the will toward the Lord? So also those who wish to become fellow-heirs with these ought to love nothing besides God, so that when they are tested they may be found useful and approved, preserving their perfect love toward the Lord.

Such men will be able to pass through to the end—those who out of their own will have always loved God alone, and have freed themselves from every love of the world.

But very few indeed are found who take up such love, and turn away from all pleasures and desires, and patiently endure the uprisings and temptations of the evil one.

For just because many, in crossing rivers, are swept away by the waters, are there not those who cross over and pass valiantly through the turbid rivers of the world's desires and of every manner of various temptations? And just because many ships, tossed on the sea and covered by the waves, sink, are there not those which pass through and travel above the waves and arrive at the harbor of peace? For this reason there is always need of much faith and patience and struggle and endurance and labors and contests and hunger and thirst for the good, and of keenness and boldness and discernment and understanding.

For most men wish to obtain the kingdom without toils and sweats and struggles, which is impossible.

Just as in the world men go out to a certain rich man, a master of a household, to work at the harvest or at some other labor, so that they may procure what they need for their sustenance—and among them there are some hard, slack, and idle, who do not labor as they ought nor work fittingly, and these, having toiled nothing and labored nothing in the rich man's house, want to receive the same wage as those who labored manfully and swiftly with all their strength, as if they had already performed the same work—in the same way we read over the Scriptures and learn how the righteous man was well-pleasing to God, how he became a friend and companion of God, and how all the fathers became friends and heirs of God, how many afflictions they endured, how much they suffered for God's sake, how many brave deeds and contests they performed; and we call them blessed, and we wish to attain the same courses and dignities as theirs, and we eagerly desire to receive those glorious gifts—passing over their toils and contests and afflictions and sufferings—wanting readily to receive their honors and the dignities they possess with God, but not taking upon ourselves their labors and toils and contests.

But I tell you, that all men desire and want these things—even harlots and tax-collectors and unrighteous men readily wish to obtain the kingdom without toils and contests, by mere willing without laboring. But for this reason there lie in the midst many temptations and trials and afflictions and contests and sweats, so that it may become manifest

who in truth, having come even unto death, out of their whole purpose and will loved the Lord alone, and had nothing else, together with love toward him, that was longed for.

Therefore also they are justly deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven, having denied themselves according to the word of the Lord, and having loved the Lord alone above their own life.

Therefore also they will be recompensed for their utmost love with the highest heavenly gifts.

And the glory and the restoration of the heavenly goods is like the seed cast into the earth, or the tree that is grafted and passes through a certain decay and dishonor, and then manifests the beauty and glory of its clothing and its manifold fruit; for unless they had passed through those things worthy of dishonor and disappearance, they would not have been shown to possess the beauty of adornment, and that comeliness, and the abundant fruit.

As also the apostle says, through many afflictions we must inherit the kingdom of heaven; and the Lord says

In your patience possess your souls; and again

For there is need of toil and zeal and watchfulness and much attentiveness, and of keenness and boldness in petitioning the Lord, in order to be able to pass through the snares of earthly desires and the nooses of pleasures and the storms of the world, and to escape the uprisings of the evil spirits, in much watchfulness and alertness, and altogether in love and faith toward the Lord—through which toils and afflictions and faith they have acquired from here, in their souls, the heavenly treasure (that is, the power of the Spirit), which is the pledge of the kingdom.

For the blessed apostle Paul, speaking of this heavenly treasure (that is, the grace of the Spirit) and declaring the surpassing greatness of afflictions, and at the same time indicating what each one ought to seek from here and what he ought to acquire, said:

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Each one, therefore, ought to strive and be zealous through all the virtues, and to believe, so as to acquire from here that house, in order that when our house of the body is dissolved, we may have there another, heavenly house, in which our soul may lodge.

If indeed (he says), being clothed, we shall not be found naked—that is, deprived of the communion and commingling of the Holy Spirit, in which alone the faithful soul is able to rest.

For this reason those who are Christians in truth and in power take courage and rejoice as they depart from the flesh, because they have that house not made with hands, which house is the power of the Spirit dwelling in them.

If then the house of the body is dissolved, they do not fear.

For they have the heavenly house of the Spirit, and that incorruptible glory, which glory, on that day of the resurrection, will build up and glorify the house of the body, as the apostle says:

He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit dwelling in us; and again

that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh, and that the mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Let us strive, therefore, through faith and a virtuous manner of life, to acquire from here that garment, so that when we put off the body we may not be found naked, and there be nothing to glorify our flesh on that day.

For each one, to the degree that he was deemed worthy through faith and zeal to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, to that same degree on that day his body also will be glorified.

For what the soul has now stored up within will then be uncovered and appear outwardly upon the body.

Just as the trees, when winter has passed, by the warmth of an invisible power—whether of the sun or of the winds—put forth and send out from within, as a garment, their leaves and flowers and fruits; likewise also the flowers of the grass, at that season, come forth from within, from the bosom of the earth, and the earth and the grass are covered and clothed like the lilies, concerning which the Lord said:

...in the resurrection. For thus, to all God-loving souls (that is, to true Christians), the first month is Xanthikos, which is April, which is the day of the resurrection.

For through the power of the sun of righteousness, from within there comes forth the glory of the Holy Spirit, covering and clothing the bodies of the saints—that glory which it now has hidden within the body.

For whatever a person has now, that very thing will then come forth outwardly. This month, he says, shall be to you the first among the months of the year;

this one brings joy to all creation, this one clothes the naked trees, this one raises up the grasses, this one brings joy to all living creatures by opening up the earth, this one first shows cheerfulness to all; this is the Christians' first month, Xanthikos, which is the season of the resurrection, in which their bodies will be glorified through the ineffable light already existing in them from this time (that is, the power of the Spirit), which will then be to them a garment, food, drink, exultation, joy, peace, raiment, and altogether eternal life.

For all the beauty, brightness, and heavenly comeliness that comes to them is the Spirit of the Godhead, which they have from now been deemed worthy to receive; then it comes to pass.

How then ought not one to strive and believe and be zealous in every virtuous manner of life, and to expect in hope and much patience to be deemed worthy now to receive the power from heaven and the glory of the Holy Spirit within the soul, so that then, when the creatures are dissolved, he may have something to clothe him and give him life? For if (he says), even being unclothed, we shall not be found naked, and (he says) he will give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit dwelling in us.

For the blessed Moses showed the type, through the glory of the Spirit resting upon his face, at which no man could gaze—how in the resurrection of the righteous their bodies will be glorified.

For the souls of the saints and the faithful are, from now, deemed worthy to have that glory within, in the inner man.

For we, he says, all with unveiled face (that is, the inner man), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; likewise again

forty days and forty nights he ate no bread.

But it is impossible for the nature of the body to live so long without bread, unless he was partaking of some other spiritual food—of which food the souls of the saints, from now, invisibly partake from the Spirit.

In two ways, therefore, the blessed Moses showed forth what glory of the light of the Spirit, and what spiritual food, true Christians will have in the resurrection—which they are also deemed worthy to have secretly in their souls from now.

Therefore then it will also be manifested upon their body; for the very glory which the saints now have in their souls, as has been said, that glory will then unveil and clothe even their naked bodies in the resurrection, and will snatch them up into the heavens, and then, at last, in body and soul, they will rest with the Lord forever in the kingdom.

For God, having created Adam, did not fashion for him bodily wings as for the birds, having beforehand prepared for him the wings of the Holy Spirit, which He was going to give him in the resurrection, so that they might lift him up wherever the Spirit wills.

Which wings the souls of the saints, from now, are deemed worthy to have, soaring with the mind toward the heavenly disposition.

For the world of Christians is another world, and their table is another table, and their garments are other garments, and their enjoyment is another enjoyment, and their communion is another communion, and their disposition is another disposition.

Therefore also they happen to be better than all men.

And they are now deemed worthy to receive the power of these things within, in their souls, through the communion of the Holy Spirit.

They will be deemed worthy of those eternal goods of the Spirit, and will be commingled with that glory, of which their souls have from now received the experience.

Each one of us, therefore, ought to strive and labor and be zealous in all the virtues, and to believe, and to seek from the Lord that the inner man may from now become a partaker of that glory, and that the soul may commune with that holiness of the Spirit, so that, being cleansed from the filth of wickedness, even when our bodies rise naked in the resurrection, we may have that which will clothe our shame and give us life, and will grant us rest forever in the kingdom of heaven.

For Christ is about to come from heaven, and he will raise up all the tribes of Adam, those who have fallen asleep from the beginning of the age, according to the holy Scriptures, and will divide all into two; and those who have their own sign (that is, the seal of the Spirit), calling them to himself as his own, he will set on the right hand.

For my sheep, he says, hear my voice, and I know mine, and I am known by mine.

And then their bodies will be clothed with divine glory from their good works and the glory of the Spirit, which they had from now in their souls.

And thus, glorified by the divine light and caught up into the heavens and into the air to meet the Lord, as it is written, we shall always be with the Lord, reigning with him unto the boundless ages of ages.