Monday. [Heb. 3:5-11, 17-19; Luke 20:27–44]

           The Sadducees had an objection to the resurrection, which seemed to them irresolvable; but the Lord resolved it so clearly in several words that everyone understood and acknowledged the Sadducees as conquered by the truth of His word (Luke 20:27–40). What then were [called] Sadducees are now unbelievers of all sorts. They have heaped up for themselves a multitude of fantasised suppositions, set them forth as irrefutable truths, and magnify themselves with them, supposing that there is nothing to say against them. In reality they are so empty, that there is no point in speaking against them. All of their philosophizing is a house of cards: blow on it and it will scatter. There is no need to refute them in each part; it is enough to relate to them as to dreams. When speaking against dreams, people do set not about proving any incongruity in composition or in the parts of a dream; they simply say, “It is a dream”—and that says it all. Such precisely is the theory of the formation of the world from cloudy spots, with its props—the theory of spontaneous origination, of the Darwinian origin of genus and species, with his latest fantasy about the origin of man. It is all like the delirium of a sleeping man. Reading them, you walk in the midst of shadows. And scientists? What can you do with them? Their motto is: do not listen if you do not want to, but do not hinder us from telling lies.

Tuesday. [Heb. 4:1-13; Luke 21:12-19]

           And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. He who breathes even a little of the spirit of the world into himself becomes cold to Christianity and its demands. This indifference turns into dislike when one remains in it a long time without coming to one’s senses, and especially after picking up somewhere a particle of some false teaching. The spirit of the world with its false teachings is a spirit of disliking Christ: it is of the antichrist. It is the spread of hostile attitudes toward the Christian confession and Christian traditions. Apparently something like this is happening around us. So far only hollow roars are sounding everywhere; but it will not be surprising if soon the Lord’s prophesy will begin, that, they shall lay their hands on you…and persecute you…ye shall be betrayed…and cause you to be put to death. The spirit of antichrist is always the same; what was in the beginning will be now, perhaps in another form, but with the same meaning. What should we do? In your patience possess ye your souls. Be patient, with a firm word of confession of the truth in your mouth and in your heart.