Friday. [I Thess. 5:9-13, 24-28; Luke 12:2-12]

   Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. The greatest fear we have is death. But the Lord says that the fear of God should be above the fear of death. When circumstances come together in such a way that it is necessary to either lose life or to act against the suggestions of the fear of God, it is better to die, and not go against the fear of God; because if you go against the fear of God, then upon your bodily death, which is nevertheless inevitable, you will meet another death which is immeasurably worse than all of the most terrible bodily deaths. If we always bore this in mind, the fear of God would not weaken in us, and we would not do any deeds contrary to the fear of God. Suppose that passions rise up. At the moment they rise up, the conscience, motivated by the fear of God, requires one to defy them; a refusal of the demands of the passions seems like a parting with life, a killing of the body. Therefore, when disturbing feelings of this type come back and begin to shake the conscience, hurry to raise up the fear of God and of His judgement and its consequences. Then fear of a most terrible death will chase away the fear of a very weak death, and it will be easy for you to stand firm in your duty and conscience. This is how the wise [Solomon’s] saying is fulfilled: Remember thy end and thou shalt not sin unto the ages.

Saturday. [II Cor. 11:1-6; Luke 9:1-6]

   And he sent them (the holy apostles) to preach the Kingdom of God. Then only throughout Palestine, but later throughout the whole world. The preaching which was begun then has not ended to this day. Every day we hear what has been handed down by the holy Apostles from the the Lord, in the holy Gospels and the Apostolic writings. Time does not make a difference: we hear the holy Apostles and the Lord Himself as if they were before us, and the power which acted in them acts to this day in the Church of God. The Lord has not deprived any believers of anything: what the first ones had, the most recent ones have as well. Faith has always encompassed this, and still does. But false wisdom came and made a division between the present and what was originally. It seemed to this false wisdom that there was a great gulf between them; its head began to spin, its eyes grew dim, and for it, the Lord and holy Apostles were as if plunged into a seemingly impenetrable darkness. And it gets what it deserves: let it reap the fruits of what it has sown; only the downfall of the spirit is in it. It wallows in darkness and it does not see the light, and one can only acknowledge this consciousness as being sincere—but who is guilty? It has fogged itself over and continues to do so. To this day, it has not stated why one could not consider the words of New Testament Scripture to be the true word of the holy Apostles and of the Lord Himself. It only cries out tirelessly: “I do not see, I do not see.” We believe, we believe, that you do not see! But stop emitting your fog—the air around you will clear, and then perhaps God’s light will come in and you will see something. “But this is the same as me ceasing to be myself.” Too bad! Stop; others will have more peace. “No, I cannot. I am destined to exist until the end of the age, and very artful ones will arise. I began in the first creature’s mind, even before this visible world [came into being], and while the world still stands, I will rip like a whirlwind across the paths of truth to raise up a pillar of dust against it.” But, you see, you only fog yourself, while around you it is light. “No, I will dust at least someone’s eyes; and if not, let them know me as I am. I will not be silent, and you with your truth will never manage to bar my lips.” Who does not know this? Everyone knows that your first title is “pizma” (from the Greek)—obstinately insisting on your own way, regardless of all obviousness which unmasks your falseness. You are blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—so await the fulfilment of the sentence pronounced against you by the Lord.