How will people be resurrected after the Last Judgment. What is a terrible judgment? God's judgment

Those who counted and calculated claim that there are one and a half billion living people on earth. Of these one and a half billion living people, not one is able to tell you from his mind what will happen to the world at the end of time and what will happen to us after death. And all the many and many billions of human beings who lived on earth before us were not able to say anything from their mind definitely and with certainty about the end of the world and about what awaits us after death - nothing that we could with reason, accept with heart and soul as truth. Our life is short and counted in days, while time is long and counted in centuries and millennia. Who among us can stretch out of our narrowness to the end of the age, and see the latest events, and tell us about them, and say: "On the edge of time, this and that will happen, that will happen to the world, that - with you people? No one. Indeed, none of all living people, except the one who would convince us that he, having penetrated into the mind of the Creator of the world and people, saw the whole plan of creation; and that he lived and was conscious before the existence of the world; and also - that he can clearly see the end of time and all those events that will mark this end. Is there such a person among the one and a half billion people living today? And has it been like this from the beginning of the world until now? No, there is not and never was. There were perspicacious people and prophets who, not from their own mind, but according to the revelation of God, said something, briefly and fragmentarily, about the end of the world; and not so much with the intention of describing it, but in order to enlighten people with their visions, by the command of God: let them turn away from the path of lawlessness, let them repent, and think about the fateful one who has to come more than about the petty and transient, shielding from them , like a cloud, a fiery and terrible event, which will end all human life on earth, and the existence of the world, and the course of the stars, and days and nights, and everything that is in space, and everything that happens in time.

Only the One and Only clearly and definitely told us the main thing about everything that should happen at the end of time. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. If someone else told us about the end of the world, then we would not believe it, even if he were the greatest worldly sage. If he spoke from his human mind, and not according to the proven revelation of God, we would not have believed him. For the human mind and human logic, however great they may be, are too tiny to extend from the beginning to the end of the world. But all our reason is vain where vision is required. We need a perspicacious person who sees - and sees clearly, as we see the sun - the whole world through and through, from its beginning to its end, and the very beginning and end. There was only one such person. And this is our Lord Jesus Christ. Him alone we can and must believe when He tells us what will happen in the last days. For all that He prophesied has come to pass; everything that He foretold to individuals, like Peter and Judas and the other apostles, came true; and to individual peoples, as to the Jews; and separate places like Jerusalem, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin; and the Church of God, established on His blood. Only His prophecies about the events before the very end of this world and the prophecy about the very end of the world and the Last Judgment have not yet been fulfilled. But he who has eyes to see can see clearly: events have already begun in the world in our time, predicted by Him as signs of the imminent end of the age. Have not many benefactors of mankind appeared who desire to replace Christ with themselves and with their teaching - the teaching of Christ? Did not nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom? Isn't the earth shaking, like our hearts, from the many wars and revolutions all over our planet? Do not many betray Christ, and do not many flee from His Church? Has not iniquity increased, and has not the love of many grown cold? Has not the gospel of Christ already been preached throughout the whole world, as a witness to all nations (Matthew 24:3-14)? True, the worst has not yet come, but it is approaching irresistibly and rapidly. True, the Antichrist has not yet appeared, but his prophets and forerunners are already walking among all nations. True, it has not yet reached the pinnacle of sorrow, which has not been from the beginning of the world, to the unbearable death rattle, but this peak is already visible on the horizon before the eyes of all spiritual people who expect the coming of the Lord. True, the sun has not yet faded, and the moon has not ceased to give its light, and the stars have not fallen from the sky; but when all this happens, it will no longer be possible to write or talk about it. The human heart will be filled with fear and trembling, the human tongue will become numb, and human eyes will stare into terrible darkness, into the earth without day and into the sky without stars. And suddenly in this darkness will appear the Omen from east to west, with such brilliance as the sun could never shine over our heads. And then all the tribes of the earth will see the Lord Jesus Christ, coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And the armies of the angels will sound, and all the peoples of the earth will gather before Him, the trumpets will sound a gathering, such as has not been since the beginning of the world, and they will call for a Judgment that will not be repeated.

But about all these signs and events that will take place before the end of the world and at the end of time, it is said in another place of the Holy Gospel. Today's gospel reading describes to us the last settlement between time and eternity, between heaven and earth, between God and people. It describes to us the Last Judgment and its course, day of the wrath of the Lord(Zoph.2:2). It describes to us that terrible moment, the most joyful for the righteous, when the grace of God will convey the word to the truth of God. When it will be too late to do good deeds and too late to repent! When crying will no longer meet with sympathy and tears will no longer drip into the hands of angels.

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. As in the parable of the prodigal son God is called a man, so here Christ is called the Son of Man. This is He, and no one else. When He comes into the world a second time, He will not come quietly and in humiliation, as He came the first time, but clearly and in great glory. This glory means, firstly, the glory that Christ had in eternity before the existence of the world (John 17:5), and secondly, the glory of the Conqueror of Satan, the old world and death. Meanwhile, He does not come alone, but with all the holy angels, whose number is infinite; He comes with them because they, being His servants and warriors, participated both in the struggle against evil and in the victory over evil. Joy for Him is to share His glory with them. And in order to show the greatness of this event, it is especially emphasized: with the Lord they will come all angels. Nowhere else is there any mention of a single event in which all the angels of God would participate. They have always appeared in smaller or larger numbers, but at the Last Judgment they will all gather around the King of glory. The Throne of Glory, both before and after, saw the sight of many seers (Is.6:1; Dan.7:9; Rev.4:2; 20:4). This throne refers to the heavenly powers on which the Lord sits. This is the throne of glory and victory, on which the Heavenly Father sits, and on which our Lord Jesus Christ also sat after His victory (Rev. 3:21). Oh, how majestic this coming of the Lord will be, with what wondrous and terrible phenomena it will be accompanied! The perspicacious prophet Isaiah foretells: For, behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind(Isaiah 66:15). Daniel sees at this coming, how a fiery river went out and passed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him, and so many darknesses stood before Him; the judges sat down and the books opened(Dan. 7:10).

And when the Lord comes in glory and sits on the throne, then all nations will be gathered before him; and separate one from the other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. Many holy fathers were occupied with the question of where Christ would judge the nations. And, referring to the prophet Joel, they expressed the judgment: Judgment will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat, where once King Jehoshaphat defeated the Moabites and Ammonites without a fight and weapons, so that among the enemies there was not a survivor (2 Chronicles chapter 20). And the prophet Joel says: Let the nations rise up and descend into the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all nations from everywhere(Joel 3:12). Perhaps the throne of the King of glory will rise above this valley; but there is no valley on earth where all peoples and all people, living and dead, from the creation to the end of the world, billions, billions and billions, can gather. The entire surface of the earth, together with all the seas, would not be enough for all human beings who have ever lived on earth to stand shoulder to shoulder. For if it were only a gathering of souls, then it would be possible to understand how they could all fit in the valley of Jehoshaphat; but since this will be people in the flesh (because the dead will also rise in the flesh), the words of the prophet should be understood in a figurative sense. The valley of Jehoshaphat is the whole earth, from east to west; and just as God once showed His power and judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat, so at the last day He will show exactly the same power and judgment over the whole human race.

And separate one from the other. In the twinkling of an eye, all the gathered people will separate from each other on two sides, left and right, as if by an irresistible force of a magnet. So that no one on the left side can move to the right and no one on the right side can move to the left. Just as when the shepherd hears the voice, the sheep go to one side and the goats to the other.

Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. In the beginning, Christ calls Himself the Son of Man, that is, the Son of God; here He calls Himself King. For to him have been given the kingdom and the power and the glory. Come, blessed of my Father. Blessed are those whom Christ calls blessed! For the blessing of God contains all the blessings and all the joys and comforts of heaven. Why does the Lord say not "my blessed ones" but blessed of my Father? Because He is the only Son of God, the Only Begotten and uncreated, from eternity to eternity, and the righteous are adopted by the blessing of God and through that they became Christ as brothers. The Lord calls the righteous to inherit the kingdom, destined them from the creation of the world. This means that even before the creation of man, God prepared the Kingdom for man. Before He created Adam, everything was ready for him. heavenly life. The whole kingdom shone brilliantly, waiting only for the king. Then God brought Adam into this Kingdom, and the Kingdom was filled. So for all the righteous, God from the beginning prepared the Kingdom, waiting only for its kings, at the head of whom will stand the King Christ Himself.

Having called the righteous into the Kingdom, the Judge immediately explains why the Kingdom was given to them: for I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; was a wanderer, and you accepted me; was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to me. In response to this marvelous explanation, the righteous, with humility and meekness, ask the King when they saw Him hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison, and did all this to Him. And the King says to them just as wondrous: Truly, I say to you, because you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.

There are two meanings in this whole explanation, one external and the other internal. The outer meaning is clear to everyone. He who feeds a hungry man feeds the Lord. He who gave drink to the thirsty gave drink to the Lord. He who clothed the naked clothed the Lord. He who received the stranger received the Lord. He who visited the sick or the prisoner in prison visited the Lord. For back in Old Testament says: He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.(Prov. 19:17). For through those who ask us for help, the Lord tries our hearts. God does not need anything from us for Himself; He doesn't need anything. He who made bread cannot hunger; He who made water cannot thirst; He who clothed all His creatures cannot be naked; cannot be sick Source of health; the Lord of lords cannot be in prison. But He requires alms from us, in order to soften and ennoble our hearts. Being omnipotent, God can make all people rich, well-fed, clothed and contented in the blink of an eye. But He allows people hunger, and thirst, and sickness, and suffering, and poverty for two reasons. First, that those who endure all this with patience soften and ennoble their hearts, and remember God, and with faith pray to Him. And secondly, so that those who do not experience this: the rich and well-fed, clothed and healthy, strong and free - see human sorrows and soften and ennoble their hearts with alms; and so that in someone else's suffering they feel their suffering, in someone else's humiliation - their humiliation, thus realizing the brotherhood and unity of all people on earth through the living God, Creator and Provider of everyone and everything on earth. The Lord wants mercy from us, mercy above all else. For He knows that mercy is the way and means of returning a person to faith in God, hope in God and love for God.

This is the outer meaning. And the inner meaning concerns Christ in ourselves. In every bright thought of our mind, in every good feeling of our heart, in every noble striving of our soul for doing good, Christ is manifested in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. All these bright thoughts, good feelings and noble aspirations He calls His little, or lesser brothers. He calls them so because they represent in us a small minority in comparison with the great region of worldly sediment and evil that dwells in us. If our mind hungers for God and we give it food, then we have given it to Christ in us. If our heart is naked of all virtue and all the goodness of God, and we clothe it, then we have clothed Christ in ourselves. If our soul is sick and in our prison evil creature our evil deeds and we will remember her and visit her, then we have visited Christ in ourselves. In a word: if we provide protection to the second person in us - the righteous, who once took precedence, now is oppressed and humiliated by the evil person living in us, the sinner, then we have defended Christ in ourselves. Little, very small, this righteous man who dwells in us; huge-immense this sinner dwelling in us. But this righteous man in us is the lesser brother of Christ; and this sinner is in us Goliath-like opponent of Christ. So, if we protect the righteous within ourselves, if we give him freedom, if we strengthen him and bring him into the light, if we exalt him above the sinner, let him completely prevail over him, so that we can say, like the apostle Paul: and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me(Gal. 2:20), - then we will be called blessed and will hear the words of the King at the Last Judgment: come...inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And standing by left side The judge will say: Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.. Terrible, but fair condemnation! While the King calls the righteous to Himself and grants them the Kingdom, He drives the sinners away from Himself and sends them into eternal fire (“If ever the end of eternal torment comes, then it follows that eternal life will end. But since this cannot even be conceived in relation to eternal life how can one think of the end of eternal torment?" St. Basil the Great. Word 14, about the Last Judgment), into the disgusting company of the devil and his servants. It is very important that the Lord does not say that eternal fire has been prepared for sinners from the foundation of the world, as He said to the righteous about the Kingdom: prepared for you from the foundation of the world. What does it mean? It is quite clear: God has prepared eternal fire only for the devil and his angels, and everyone From the foundation of the world, He prepared a kingdom for people. For God wants all people to be saved(1 Tim. 2:4; compare: Mt. 18:14; John 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9; Is. 45:22) and no one died. According to this, God predestined people not to perdition, but to salvation, and prepared for them not the fire of the devil, but His Kingdom, and only the Kingdom. From this it is clear that those who speak of a sinner are mistaken: "He is destined to be a sinner!" For if he is destined to be a sinner, then, verily, it is not destined by God, but by themselves; this is evident from the fact that God did not prepare in advance any place of torment for people - only for the devil. Therefore, at the Last Judgment, the righteous Judge will not be able to send sinners to any other place than to the gloomy abode of the devil. And that the Judge sends them there justly is clear from the fact that during their earthly life they completely fell away from God and went into the service of the devil.

Having pronounced a sentence on the sinners on the left side, the King immediately explains to them why they are cursed and why He sends them to eternal fire: for I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you did not give Me drink; I was a stranger, and they did not receive me; was naked, and they did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and did not visit me. So they did none of the things that the righteous on the right side did. Having heard these words from the King, the sinners, as well as the righteous, ask: God! when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison...? The Lord answers: Truly I say to you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.

All this explanation, which the King gives to sinners, has exactly the same two meanings, external and internal, as in the first case, with the righteous. The mind of sinners was gloomy, the heart was petrified, the soul was malicious in relation to their hungry and thirsty, naked, sick and imprisoned brothers on earth. They could not see with their emaciated mind that through the grieving and suffering of this world, Christ Himself asks them for mercy. Other people's tears could not soften their petrified heart. And the example of Christ and His saints could not convert their evil-minded souls to strive for good and do good. And just as they were not merciful to Christ in their brothers, so they were not merciful to Christ in themselves. They deliberately drowned out any bright thought in themselves, replacing it with thoughts of prodigal and blasphemous. Any noble feeling, as soon as it was conceived, they uprooted from their hearts, replacing it with bitterness, lust and selfishness. Any desire of the soul to create, following the law of God, any good, they quickly and rudely suppressed, instead of it causing and supporting the desire to do evil to people, to sin before God and offend Him. And so the lesser brother of Christ living in them, that is, the righteous in them, was crucified, killed and buried; the gloomy Goliath raised by them, that is, the lawless one dwelling in them, or the devil himself, emerged from the battlefield as a winner. What is God to do with such? Can He accept into His Kingdom those who have completely expelled the Kingdom of God from themselves? Can He call to Himself those who have uprooted in themselves all resemblance to God, those who both openly, before people, and secretly, in their hearts, have shown themselves to be an enemy of Christ and a servant of the devil? Not; they became servants of the devil by their free choice, and the Judge at the Last Judgment will send them to the society in which they openly signed up during their lifetime - into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his servants. And immediately after that, this process will be completed, the greatest and the shortest in the entire history of the created world.

And these will go(sinners) into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Life and torment here are opposed to each other. Where there is life, there is no pain; where there is flour, there is no life. And, verily, the fullness of life excludes torment. The Kingdom of Heaven represents the fullness of life, while the habitation of the devil represents torment, and only torment, without life, which is from God. We also see in this earthly life how the soul of a sinful person, in whom there is little life, that is, little of God, is filled with much greater torments than the soul of a righteous man, in whom there is more life, that is, more of God. As the ancient wisdom says: The wicked one torments himself all his days, and the number of years is hidden from the oppressor; the sound of horrors in his ears; in the midst of the world comes the destroyer. He does not hope to be saved from darkness; sees a sword in front of him. - He is afraid of need and crampedness; overcomes him like a king preparing for battle, because he stretched out his hand against God and resisted the Almighty(Job 15:20-22,24-25). Thus, even this time on earth is a severe torment for the sinner. And the smallest torment in this life is harder for a sinner to endure than for a righteous man. For only he who has life in himself can endure torment, scorn suffering, overcome all the wickedness of the world and rejoice. Life and joy are inseparable. Therefore, Christ Himself says to the righteous, whom the world reviles and persecutes and slanders in every way unrighteously: Rejoice and have fun(Matthew 5:11-12).

But all this earthly life ours is a distant shadow of true and full life in the Kingdom of God; like all torments on earth are only a distant shadow of the terrible torments of sinners in hellfire. ("They asked a certain great old man: "How, father, do you bear such labors so patiently?" The elder answered: "All my life's labors are not equal to a single day of torment (in the other world)"". Alphabetic Patericon). Life on earth - no matter how sublime it may be - is nevertheless dissolved by flour, for here there is no fullness of life; like flour on earth - however great it may be - is nevertheless dissolved by life. But at the Last Judgment, life will be separated from torment, and life will be life, and torment will be torment. And she and the other will remain forever, each - in itself. What is this eternity - our human mind cannot contain this. Whoever enjoys contemplation of the face of God for one minute, this delight will seem like a thousand years. And to the one who will be tormented with demons in hell for one minute, this torment will seem like a thousand years. For the time we know will be no more; there will be neither day nor night, but everything is a single day: This day will be the only one known only to the Lord(Zech. 14:7; compare Rev. 22:5). And there will be no other sun but God. And there will be no rising and no setting of the sun, so that eternity can be calculated by them, as time is now calculated. But the blessed righteous will count eternity with their joy, and the tormented sinners with their torment.

This is how our Lord Jesus Christ described the last and greatest event that will happen in time, on the border of time and eternity. And we believe that all this will literally happen: firstly, because all the other numerous prophecies of Christ came true literally; and secondly, because He is our Greatest Friend and the Only true Lover of mankind, full of love for people. And in perfect love there is neither unrighteousness nor error. Perfect love contains perfect truth. If all this had not happened, He would not have told us this. But He said it, and it will all be so. He did not say this to us in order to show His knowledge before people. Not; He did not receive glory from men (John 5:41). He said all this for our salvation. Anyone who has a mind and who confesses the Lord Jesus Christ can see that he needs to know this in order to be saved. For the Lord did not do a single deed, did not utter a single word, and did not allow a single event to occur in His earthly life that would not serve our salvation.

Therefore, let us be reasonable and sober, and let us unceasingly keep before our spiritual eyes the picture of the Last Judgment. This picture has already turned many sinners from the path of perdition to the path of salvation. Our time is short, and when it expires, there will be no more repentance. In our lives, in this short time, we must make a choice that is fateful for our eternity: whether we will stand on the right side or on the left side of the King of glory. God has given us an easy and short task, but the reward and punishment are enormous and exceed anything that human language can describe.

Therefore, let us not waste a single day; for every day may be the last and decisive; every day can bring destruction to this world and the dawn of that longed-for day. ("Written: whoever desires a friend to be in the world, there is an enemy of God(James 4:4). Consequently: whoever does not rejoice at the approach of the end of the world proves that he is a friend of this latter, and through that - an enemy of God. But let such a thought be removed from those who believe; let it be removed from those who by faith know that there is another life, and those who truly love it. For to mourn for the destruction of the world is characteristic of those who have rooted their hearts in love for the world; for those who do not want future life and does not even believe in its existence. St. Grigory Dvoeslov. Gospel Conversations. Book I, Conversation I. On the Signs of the End of the World). May we not be ashamed on the Day of the Lord's wrath, neither before the Lord, nor before the armies of His holy angels, nor before the many billions of the righteous and saints. May we not be forever separated from the Lord, and from His angels, and from His righteous ones, and from our relatives and friends, who will be on the right side. But let us sing with all the countless and radiant regiment of angels and righteous people a song of joy and victory: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts! Alleluia!" And let us glorify, together with all the heavenly host, our Savior, God the Son, with the Father and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible, forever and ever. Amen.

From the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery.

How will it go Last Judgment- Will the Lord really act as a judge: listen to witnesses, pass judgment? thinks things will be different.

Interestingly, on the eve of Great Lent, the Church reminds us that there will still be a judgment, that a person, having received life from God as a priceless gift, will then have to answer God for how he lived this life.

And this thought alone about the Court, about the responsibility for all your actions and for your whole life, makes a person in a spiritual and moral sense more fit. If a person knows that God sees his deeds, his thoughts and will ask for it, he will be kept from many sins by this one fact, this one thought.

In the beginning, I would like to say a few words about the very word "judgment". in Greek court – a crisis. And what is in our concept? For example, there is a crisis in medicine, when a person is sick, in a fever, and the doctor says: "The patient has a crisis of the disease." And after this crisis, there are two scenarios for the development of events: either the patient will recover tomorrow, the temperature will drop, or he will die. That is, a crisis is a certain highest point of the disease, after which it will be either good or bad.

There is a political, economic, financial crisis. Why do these crises occur? Irregularities and contradictions accumulate, and then, already at some highest boiling point, a crisis occurs. Or an interpersonal crisis. There is also a set of contradictions, misunderstandings, omissions, which ultimately leads to a crisis, after which people either learn to talk to each other, or disperse.

That is, there is a kind of judgment. When a person must, in the end, answer for some of his actions at a time of crisis.

Everyone knows that Christians constantly frighten people with the Last Judgment. How easy and peaceful it would be to live, knowing that there will be no Judgment. And here the priests constantly repeat that there will be a Judgment. In what form this Judgment will take place, the holy fathers answer in different ways.

There is an opinion that God will weigh the good and evil deeds of people on the scales, and if the evil deeds outweigh the person, then the person will go to hell, if the good ones, then he will be saved. Thus, God is identified with the goddess of justice Themis, who is blindfolded, she impartially weighs human affairs.

But it seems to me that at the Judgment Christ will stretch out His hands, pierced with nails, to him and say: “Behold, My child, what I have done for you. This is how My Love for you manifested itself. And I proved this Love to you by My death, My sufferings and all My Blood shed for you on the cross. Now tell me what have you done for me?"

And the person will begin to remember what deeds he did for the sake of the Lord God. It is even possible that many good deeds will come to his mind, but it turns out that he did them out of decency, in order to appear as a good, well-mannered person in front of other people. He did good deeds for the sake of loved ones. Not neighbors, but relatives, that is, relatives: parents, children. And it turns out that he did most of the good deeds not for the sake of the Lord, but for the sake of people or for the sake of his vanity.

And then, bowing his head, a person will understand that he has nothing to answer to this whole Love to the last drop of Blood that God showed us to us. Even with some small manifestation of love and gratitude to God, he will not be able to answer.

And in this, perhaps, there will be the Last Judgment - a person will condemn himself. No one will drive him anywhere, he will drive himself away and will not be able to enter the Kingdom of this Divine Love.

In today's Gospel, Christ says that when He comes to earth a second time, His coming will be different from the first coming. The first time He came as a preacher of the Kingdom of God, a beggar who had neither power nor external political authority. But there was only the power and truth of the word, as well as the power of divine miracles, by which the Lord confirmed the truth of his words.

And when Christ comes a second time, He will come as King and Judge. And therefore it is said in the Gospel: in His glory all the holy angels are with Him. Christ will come as a King, he will divide all nations, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left.

I often thought about how sheep are different from goats. According to the Old Testament, both sheep and goats were considered clean animals, they could be eaten and sacrificed to God. The difference in the behavior of these animals.

When I served in Volgograd, in a church that was in the private sector, one of my parishioners kept goats. And I often watched through the window of the altar how Aunt Nadia tends her goats. When sheep are grazing, either the shepherd or the most important ram goes in front, and all the other sheep obediently follow him. And when a shepherd grazes goats, it is not clear who grazes whom. The shepherd constantly catches up with his goats, which rush in completely different directions: they run across the road, and climb trees, and climb over the fence into neighboring yards. They are not disobedient to their shepherd, they constantly show their crazy will, and it is very difficult to feed them.

And behold, the King will say to those on His right hand: “Come, blessed ones, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” And to those on the left: "Go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

And people will answer with bewilderment: “Lord, when did we not serve You?”. And Christ will say: "What you did not do to one of your neighbors, you did not do to Me." Do you understand what a simple criterion is?

It turns out that a person who does something good to his neighbor does it to God. If we could see the image of God in any of our neighbors without obstacles and distortions, how easily all good deeds would be given to us! But it often happens that people who are not nice to us ask for our help, people in whom the image of God is obscured and distorted by vices and sins.

And if we do good deeds only for the sake of people, we will never learn to do good deeds to our enemies, our offenders, people unsympathetic to us. And if we remember more often that we are doing this good deed not only for this person, but for God, who calls us to this, then it will be much easier to do all good deeds. And then we will be able to serve God and justify ourselves at the Judgment.

What will not help at the Last Judgment?

Vladimir Berkhin

I don’t know about you, but I am very afraid of the Last Judgment. I'm afraid of the ordinary, and even more so the Terrible.

We don't know much about how it will play out. There is a parable about the Last Judgment in the Gospel of Matthew, there are several more indications in Scripture that “a believer does not come to Judgment, but an unbeliever is already condemned”, there are several chapters in the book of the prophet Daniel and in Revelation, striking in the scope of events, but not revealing details legal proceedings. This is clearly done on purpose - so that people do not produce casuistry, do not try, as in the Egyptian "Book of the Dead", to come up with cunning answers and ambiguous excuses, so that relations with God do not fall into either magic or jurisprudence.

And it scares me. Because all the ways I know to defend myself against accusations will not work there. Judging by what we know, they will not help at the Last Judgment:

- attempts to shift the blame on circumstances for which the person himself is not responsible, but the One Who Judges. Such a precedent has already been recorded in Scripture. This is exactly what Adam did after the fall - he began to tell God that it was not him, it was all the wife that God gave, which means that God is to blame for the sad result. How it ended is known. It probably won't work for the others either.

- an attempt to "get lost in the crowd", that is, to refer to the global or all-Union practice. Like, everyone does it. Sometimes it seems to me that one of the three righteous people who have experience of living in a totally hostile environment - Noah, Lot and the prophet Elijah - will be invited to discuss this kind of excuse. These three stern men know very well what it means to “do not act like everyone else“. And they can explain.

- references to a special historical moment, which for some reason made the fulfillment of the commandment insignificant. But if you hated your neighbor, then you hated your neighbor. Even if he, such a beast, dared to be from you on the other side of the barricade, when the fate of the Motherland was being decided. The Sanhedrin justified the need for the execution of the Savior with the good of the Fatherland.

- references to historical precedents. Say, the fathers sinned and we were allowed. But the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who were punished for their sin, although they were neither the biggest, nor, moreover, the last who tried to put their hand in the church cash desk, quite convincingly shows that sin remains sin, even if the Lord for the time being pardons.

- excuses that it's just someone else's fault. In addition to the fact that Adam already did this, it is also a violation of the commandment not to condemn. It is said that by what court you are judged, by such you will be condemned. You hang your sins on others - well, you will also be responsible for others.

– references to high results that have been achieved in other areas. As one journalist once wrote, corrupt officials built a power transmission line of the first category of reliability, and their opponents did not do this either, and therefore theft is quite excusable. But the Scripture also speaks about this more than definitely - “what is high among people is an abomination before God” and “what profits a man if he gains the whole world, but damages his soul.” Will not help .

- references to the fact that you acted within the framework of the current legislation, and all the correct papers were signed by authorized persons in the right places. Judas did not violate any laws, Nero and Diocletian acted within their powers, and even the executions of the new martyrs to the point complied with the instructions of the OGPU. Civil laws are needed, they provide order and at least a semblance of justice. But they do not lead to the Kingdom of Heaven.

- references to the confusion and inconsistency of the principles of the court, their ambiguity and ambiguity. I wanted, they say, the best way, but the mind was not enough. It won't work either. Because the Lord said that He is with us all the days until the end of time. This means that any attempt to say “I didn’t know what to do” will be followed by a reasonable answer “I was there, why didn’t you ask?”. And I don’t know about you, but I have already learned by myself that “I don’t know what to do” in practice almost always means “I don’t want to act according to the commandment.”

- some options for justification by the fact that he belonged to the right group of people who knew the right words, no matter how it was called - the Church, people, nation, tradition or party. After all, this is also said - that on the Day of Judgment, some will begin to remember that they cast out demons and prophesied in the name of His name, but a harsh rebuke and eternal hell await them. Or it is said quite bluntly that God can make new children from cobblestones to Abraham if the existing ones turn out to be unworthy.

And many more such considerations can be devised that will not help at the Last Judgment. That's why he's terrible.

But this judgment is also merciful. The most merciful. Actually, there will be nothing but Grace.

The most difficult thing will be to accept Grace at the Judgment. Grace cannot be earned by good behavior. It does not depend on the pardoned, but on the Merciful. You just need to stop proving, in words and deeds, that you "have the right." To be justified, you must stop looking for excuses. We must not justify ourselves, but repent.

Because all these words and reasons are simply attempts to fight back, so that they don’t humiliate with mercy, so that they don’t pardon. After all, only those who are guilty can be pardoned. And if you plan to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as one who has the right, there will be no Grace, because you simply do not want it. You do not need Grace - there will be no Grace.

Free, go into outer darkness.

Relax, finally, man, stop inventing, why don't you sin a little more. This is the Terrible and Merciful Judgment. Remember the parable, and repeat - “Father, I have sinned against you, and I am no longer worthy to be called Your son, but accept me. I have sinned and I have no excuse, and there is no hope, except for Your Love.”

The Last Judgment or the best day of our lives?

Priest Konstantin Kamyshanov

Why did Christians become afraid of the Last Judgment - after all, it was not always so? Archpriest Konstantin Kamyshanov regrets that we are talking more and more about the Judgment and less and less about what should come after it.

The day when the Last Judgment will take place will be the first day of the triumph of Paradise. A new day will be added to the days of the creation of the world. During his our sinful world will be completely transformed. And something strange will happen: the angels will fold the sky like parchment, and the sun will darken, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

And the Morning of Peace will come.

It will begin when the number of the inhabitants of Paradise reaches a certain necessary and sufficient value.

For them - the righteous - the Last Judgment will not be a terrible judgment, but will become the best day of their lives, because the first joy is the strongest. The soul of the elect will see the One whom they loved, whom they dreamed about, whom they always wanted to see - Christ.

And Christ will be glad to see His friends. He will lead them into new world golden gates.

For God, this day of Judgment will not be terrible either. This nightmare called "our world" will finally end. According to the word of the prophet, the lion and the lamb will lie side by side, evil will be abolished and the eternal kingdom of good will come. The beginning of the Judgment will be the end of this terrible day of the fall, which lasted for all eternity, with its wars, murders, deceit and anger.

For sinners, the Last Judgment will bring some fear, but in the future the Lord will give them, after their own heart, to be forever with the same as they are.

It's like being in a prison. There gather, albeit against their will, some gentlemen who have the same outlook on life, who are united by some semblance of brotherhood and concepts. They do not have to work, and their day passes in philosophical conversations about the meaning of life. There you don’t have to strain about food, the ruble, and about feeding relatives or loved ones. Everything is paid. They are sober there and their life goes according to a reasonable regime that excludes abuse and sin.

Of course, this similarity is conditional and requires clarification.

First, Christ said that the evil servant will be deprived of those talents that he was too lazy to multiply. That is, a person will be simplified in his organization by an order of magnitude, and, like demons, he will accept a simpler organization of personality, similar to animals.

This does not mean that God will avenge their sin. The Holy Fathers are unanimous in their opinion that the Lord is absolutely good. On the contrary, such a simplification to the state Polish cattle, will reduce the degree of suffering of a person who will be incapable of subtle experiences. As a result of degradation, the inhabitant of hell will not be able to sin in full, as he could, remaining in full mind and all the strength of the soul.

Secondly, almost all the holy fathers are sure that sending a sinner to hell is good for him, not only because he himself chose the place he aspired to. He will be more comfortable in Hell than in Heaven. For a person, will is the most important thing. It is his freedom and individuality. Having broken the will of the sinner, God will break the whole person. But the Lord does not need a broken, disfigured and opposing personality in Paradise. God gives her will according to her heart - and this is good.

So in an unusual way The Lord will try not only to increase the measure of the grace of Paradise, but also to reduce the level of suffering in hell.

As a result, the level of evil will decrease in the whole universe.

So the Last Judgment will paradoxically bring more light into the world and reduce the level of evil, compared to the current state of affairs. The Last Judgment will make the world less scary.

And if so, why prepare for a disaster? And who should prepare for a catastrophe, and how should one prepare for this Last Judgment?

Obviously, the Last Judgment will be terrible for the citizens of hell. It will be so not only because they are threatened with existence in evil, but also because they must go through the process of personality degradation. And it's really scary.

The interpreters, inviting the church to remember the first day of the renewed world as the Last Judgment, a priori assume that there are no righteous among us, no those who love God, but only potential victims of hell. For some reason, in the comments on this event, not the joy of a long-awaited meeting with Christ is preached, but, on the contrary, the fear of divine revenge is pumped up.

How to celebrate this day correctly?

Professor Aleksey Ilyich Osipov noted that in order for liberation to begin, there must first be an awareness of one's slavery. This means that we must perceive the psychology and way of thinking of a slave.

Saint Silouan of Athos gave the following formula for preparing for the Last Judgment: "Keep your mind in hell and do not despair." So we must be tempted to live in hell.

But how can a simple person keep his mind in hell and not be afraid and despair?

How can one learn to be a citizen of the Heavenly Jerusalem if one constantly trains one's mind in the reality of Chertograd?

For example, I wanted to become an architect. And for this I decided to become one through the denial of other professions: not to be a doctor, not to be a mechanic, not to be a diver. And, you might think, through this negative theology I am the architect of the country? No.

Through such a denial, it is impossible to create and form a positive and essential image. Negation cannot be the basis of existence.

The Easter words of the angels "What are you looking for Zhivago with the dead" take on a new depth. In Hell, it is impossible to prepare oneself for Paradise. What is needed in Paradise is not the skill of despair and fear acquired in the new Sodom, but the skill of love for God, people and the Earth.

How can you learn all this while sitting in hell already during your lifetime? How can you find light in the dirt? How can you poke pearls in the trash?

Let us recall the sensational dispute in absentia of our well-known theologian, a professor and a saint, recently glorified in Greek Church. We are talking about Porfiry Kavsokalivite.

A Moscow professor, on the eve of the very glorification of this saint, announced that Porfiry was in delusion. The reason for this was the words of the saint that it is not worth fighting demons, since they are eternal, indestructible, indefatigable, and we are temporary. It will not be possible to destroy them, and the fight against them is meaningless in the projection of Eternity.

Instead of becoming specialists in the fight against devils, the saint offered to become experts in life in God. He remarked that it is better to immerse yourself in God than in hell. And then grace itself will heal and fill infirmities and protect from demons in the most reliable way.

In fact, there is no contradiction here. A saint, as a saint should, looks farther and higher. Porfiry Kavsokalivit talks about strategy, and the professor about tactics.

The saint says that the meaning of life consists in drawing closer to Christ and acquiring similarity with Him. The goal of life cannot be a wrestling skill in hellish stadiums. In Paradise, this is a useless skill.

What are you looking for Zhivago with the dead?

But in order to achieve this similarity, it is tactically necessary to overcome the resistance of the spirits of malice, which do not intend to miss the prey.

The bewilderment, as usual, came from a different view from a different point of observation in time and space.

What do we care about these theological subtleties?

The fact is that they contain a direct indication of the strategy of our life in the perspective of Eternity. In particular, this theology contains the correct approach to the exercise that gives residence in Paradise - fasting.

If you do not mean strategy, but only tactics, then fasting is a struggle. A person who does not see Paradise ahead goes to the post as if in trouble and in war. And he celebrates the end of the fast as the end of trouble and throws a victorious feast. He "rests" from fasting, from being tired of being bright and kind. Signs of such fasting are excruciating hunger, chronic fatigue and fatigue of the soul.

But thin people approach Easter feasts differently. The Easter feasts of spiritual people, on the contrary, are quiet. The joy of the news of the Resurrection of Christ is legitimate and fair, but the end of the fast often brings sadness. It stems from the fact that the time of fasting thin man considers as the time of his approach to God, and his final - as the end of this perigee and involuntary removal from the Luminary of God. And often words of regret come out: “I didn’t fast” or “I just started fasting and just learned the joy of fasting.” The sign of such a fast is joy.

These posts of fatigue and joy cannot be confused.

A person who sees God over the maneuvers of fasting meets fasting not as a national misfortune, but as an approaching joy, with the words:

- Happy fasting, brothers and sisters! Let's fast with a pleasant post.

Before the week of the Last Judgment, the week of the Prodigal Son passed. They are connected in a single logical circuit. In the week of the Prodigal Son, a person was looking for his real home - Paradise, this week the church puts him on the very threshold of Paradise:

- Look!

Hello hell? No. Hello morning world!

In the old days, people better understood the essence of the memory of this day. The proof of this is vintage icons Russian north. Bright major spots of red color are revealed on white sonorous backgrounds. Hell in these icons is hidden in such a way that you won’t find it right away.

Over time, another interpretation of the Last Judgment came to us from the West - a real Hollywood horror movie trailer.

Being in the Sistine Chapel, one can be amazed at the incredible artistic genius of Michelangelo, and at the same time, with no less force, one can be surprised at his spiritual color blindness.

Instead of the Morning of the World on the famous fresco, we see not the meeting of the world and Christ, but study guides according to the drawing in the halls of the meat processing plant. How so? After all, thousands of theologians, the apostles and Christ Himself said that we will not die, but we will all change. We will return to the subtle bodies again, forever leaving temporary “leather robes” in the earth. How was it overlooked by such talented person, is completely incomprehensible.

Okay, this chapel. This feast of meat there balances the ethereal Botticelli. But here, these Zverograd thrillers have become the norm on the western walls of temples. Fashion came from the West, and it triumphed on the western wall. On these frescoes, not the righteous triumph, but the Stranger.

Unfortunately, over time, not only the frescoes on the western wall were transformed, but also the church consciousness, traumatized by the spirit of the bursa. The time of apostasy left its mark on the entire perception of the world by man. Instead of preparing to meet their Heavenly Father, the sons of God began to prepare to meet the Antichrist.

Alas. Today, efforts must be made to turn our bewitched gaze away from the gaze of the Antichrist and transfer it to the face of our merciful Lord and God our Savior Jesus Christ.

hello hell! - it's not for us. Not for those whom the Lord has called to life. Not for those who love Him. Not for those who, despite falling, fell headlong towards Paradise.

The soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is bad. That Christian is bad who does not aspire to Heaven, but sits with his soul in hell and cannot take his hypnotic gaze away from Satan, like a rabbit from the gaze of a boa constrictor. Poor is the Christian who has forgotten about the greatness that God has given him and about the place that he has prepared for him in heaven.

The bad thing is that instead of striving with the help of the Lord to his own home, to Paradise, an already weak person weakens even more, sitting on the rivers of Babylon, rummaging around in hell and sorting out its meanings.

Our - Christ is Risen! « Let the heavens be worthy of having fun, but let the earth rejoice, let the world celebrate, the whole visible and invisible: Christ is risen ... O great and most sacred Easter: Today every creature rejoices and rejoices, as Christ is risen and hell be captivated.

Ours - “Now all is filled with light, heaven and earth, and the underworld, let the whole creation celebrate the rise of Christ, and it is affirmed in it. Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ; today I stand together…”

It is believed that every bad deed of a person is taken into account and he will certainly be punished for it. Believers believe that only a righteous life will help to avoid punishment and end up in Paradise. The fate of people will be decided at the Last Judgment, but when it will be is unknown.

What does the Last Judgment mean?

The judgment, which will affect all people (living and dead), is called "terrible." It will happen before Jesus Christ comes to earth a second time. It is believed that the dead souls will be resurrected, and the living will be changed. Each person will receive an eternal fate for their deeds, and sins at the Last Judgment will come to the fore. Many mistakenly believe that the soul appears before the Lord on the fortieth day after its death, when a decision is made where it will go to. This is not a judgment, but simply the distribution of the dead, who will be waiting for "time x".

Last Judgment in Christianity

In the Old Testament, the idea of ​​the Last Judgment is presented as "the day of Yahweh" (one of the names of God in Judaism and Christianity). On this day, the celebration of victory over earthly enemies will take place. After the belief that the dead could be resurrected began to spread, the “day of Yahweh” began to be perceived as the Last Judgment. The New Testament states that the Last Judgment is an event when the Son of God descends to earth, sits on the throne and all nations stand before him. All people will be divided, and the justified will stand by right hand, and the convicts on the left.

1. Jesus will entrust part of his authority to the righteous, such as the apostles.
2. People will be judged not only for good and evil deeds, but also for every idle word.
3. The Holy Fathers said about the Last Judgment that there is a "memory of the heart" in which all life is imprinted, not only external, but also internal.

Why do Christians call God's judgment "terrible"?

There are several names for this event, such as the great day of the Lord or the day of God's wrath. The Last Judgment after death is called so not because God will appear before people in a terrifying guise, he, on the contrary, will be surrounded by the splendor of his glory and majesty, which will cause fear in many.

1. The name "terrible" is due to the fact that on this day sinners will tremble because all their sins will be made public and they will have to answer for.
2. It is also frightening that everyone will be judged publicly in the face of the whole world, so it will not work to evade the truth.
3. Fear also arises from the fact that the sinner will receive his punishment not for some time, but forever.

Where are the souls of the dead before the Last Judgment?

Since no one has yet been able to return from the other world, all information regarding afterlife is a guess. Posthumous ordeals of the soul, and the Last Judgment of God are presented in many church writings. It is believed that within 40 days after death, the soul is on earth, living different periods thus preparing for a meeting with the Lord. Finding out where the souls are before the Last Judgment, it is worth saying that God, looking through the lived life of each deceased person, determines where he will be in Paradise or Hell.

What does the Last Judgment look like?

Saints who wrote holy books according to the Lord, detailed information about the Last Judgment was not transmitted. The Almighty showed only the essence of what will happen. The description of the Last Judgment can be obtained from the icon of the same name. The image was formed in Byzantium in the eighth century and was recognized as canonical. The plot was taken from the Gospel, the Apocalypse and various ancient books. Great importance had the revelations of John the Theologian and the prophet Daniel. The Last Judgment icon has three registers and each has its own place.

1. Traditionally, Jesus is represented in the upper part of the image, who is surrounded on both sides by the apostles and they are directly involved in the process.
2. Under it is a throne - a judicial throne, on which there is a spear, a cane, a sponge and the Gospel.
3. Below are the trumpeting angels who so call everyone to the event.
4. The lower part of the icon shows what will happen to people who were righteous and sinners.
5. On the right side are people who have done good deeds and they will go to Paradise, as well as the Mother of God, angels and Paradise.
6. On the other side, Hell is represented with sinners, demons and.

V different sources, other details of the Last Judgment are described. Each person will see his life in the smallest detail, and not only from his own side, but also through the eyes of the people around him. He will understand which actions were good and which were bad. Evaluation will take place with the help of scales, so good deeds will be placed on one bowl, and evil deeds on the other.

Who is present at the Last Judgment?

During the decision-making, a person will not be alone with the Lord, since the action will be open and global. The Last Judgment will be held by the entire Holy Trinity, but it will be deployed only by the hypostasis of God's Son in the person of Christ. As for the Father and the Holy Spirit, but they will take part in the process, but from the passive side. When the day of the Last Judgment of God comes, everyone will be responsible together with their own and close dead and living relatives.

What will happen to sinners after the Last Judgment?

The Word of God depicts several types of torment that people who lead a sinful life will be subject to.

1. Sinners will be removed from the Lord and cursed by him, which will be a terrible punishment. As a result, they will be tormented by the thirst of their soul to draw closer to God.
2. Finding out what awaits people after the Last Judgment, it is worth pointing out that sinners will be deprived of all the blessings of the kingdom of heaven.
3. People who have done bad deeds will be sent to the abyss - a place that demons fear.
4. Sinners will be constantly tormented by the memories of their lives, which they ruined with their own words. They will be tormented by conscience and regret that nothing can be changed.
5. In the Holy Scriptures, descriptions of external torments are presented in the form of a worm that does not die, and an unquenchable fire. Sinners are waiting for crying, gnashing of teeth and despair.

The Parable of the Last Judgment

Jesus Christ spoke to believers about the Last Judgment so that they would know what awaits them if they deviate from the righteous path.

1. When the Son of God comes to earth with holy angels, he will sit on the throne of his own glory. All nations will gather before him and Jesus will hold a separation good people from the bad ones.
2. On the night of the Last Judgment, the Son of God will ask for every deed, claiming that all bad deeds committed in relation to other people were done to him.
3. After that, the judge will ask why they did not help the needy when they needed support, and sinners will be punished.
4. Good people who have led a righteous life will be sent to Paradise.

“And the locusts were ordered not to kill them,

and tormented by pain for five months.

And the pain was like pain

caused by a scorpion when it stings a man.

And all this time people will seek death

but they can't find it.

They will wish for death, but it will not come to them."

(Rev. 9:5,6)

At least half of the world is waiting for the Last Judgment… Threatening others that both evil and good forces will punish them at this court. But the fact that punishment will affect everyone - both those who wish heavenly anger to others and those who wish it - those who believe in the Last Judgment as the most powerful system of punishment think little about this, everyone wants only punishment for others, but not for themselves.

Of course, there are versions that there will be no terrible judgment, and our world is just some kind of random ordered system in a series of derivatives of chaos, and the End of the World will come in 4.5 billion years when the solar cycle ends, or from a meteorite fall ... But we still let us suppose, at least in this article, that the result of earthly life is the Last Judgment. More precisely, not the result - after all, life after the Judgment will not end, especially for the righteous, but a certain border for the transition to another world and to another state for all life on Earth, which no one will pass.

In short, the Last Judgment will judge everyone according to the laws of God, who both fulfilled the commandments, there are versions that those who were not closely familiar with the commandments will be judged according to the laws of conscience, which is the voice of God in each of us.

The prototype of the Last Judgment is also on earth: our judicial system, albeit corrupt, albeit imperfect and based solely on earthly laws, where the head of the court is a judge who has power over other people's destinies, independent in decision-making, obeying the highest legislative acts, and there is a primitive an example of the justice that awaits us on the Day of Judgment.

Failure to comply with laws, or their fundamental violation, the commission of murder, a series of murders and other grave crimes, according to world codes, entails different countries punishment from imprisonment for several decades, life imprisonment up to the death penalty. And although for the court these are letters, the compliance of the committed acts with the articles of the criminal codes, and for the court employees the most sophisticated crimes very soon become commonplace - nevertheless, our justice system is the strongest deterrent to animal aggression and others. negative traits people power in the world.

On earth there is a system of justice, and from the powers of heaven there is the Supreme Court.

Many people are afraid of going to prison after doing something terrible, but much less of the Supreme Court... But in vain.

So, we need to answer two main questions that concern everyone who hears and seriously accepts the reality of the Last Judgment - what is it, how will it happen, and when will it happen. Let's try to answer.

It is interesting that the paintings of the Last Judgment, frescoes, wall paintings, rock paintings with prototypes last day earthlings were created by people even before the coming of Christ and even in the period BC. Either this mechanism is laid in our subconscious, or the very idea of ​​the Last Judgment, embodied in the Scriptures, is already a consequence of the desire for some omnipotent punishment and the expectation of retribution for all misconduct.

The question “what was born first: an egg or a chicken” is rhetorical, philosophical and eternal ... The Last Judgment is a prototype of our expectations or intuitively, anticipating such an outcome that will be in reality, the subconscious mind “blinded” the picture of the Court - it is not known, it’s like with faith - then whether the subconscious created God, or God, people therefore have the instinct of faith, because it is laid in them from the beginning by God.

The Last Judgment, Judgment Day - in the eschatology of the Abrahamic religions - the last judgment performed by God on people in order to identify the righteous and sinners and determine the reward for the first and punishment for the last.

The Last Judgment is both the result of earthly things in Christianity, and in Judaism and Islam. The scenarios are roughly similar, the essence of all of them is retribution to all according to their deeds, and one, the righteous, will inherit Eternal Life, and the sinners will go to perdition. Let's take a closer look at Christianity.

And even the dead will be resurrected for Judgment: “And many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to everlasting reproach and shame” (Dan. 12:2). It is noteworthy that "many" - which does not mean ALL. Why some wake up from the sleep of death and others do not is a mystery.

It can be said without exaggeration that the Last Judgment, the expectation of it as a reward to all according to their deeds: believers according to good deeds, the offenders of the commandments - according to the evil ones - are the basis of Christianity and other religions. Because if it were not for this Judgment as a result, then there would be no reward for good deeds by which believers are saved, there would be no fate of being with the saints, consolation, salvation of Eternal Life, and there would be no hope warming many who had to go through grief , tragedies that their offenders, the murderers of their relatives, are simply evil people waiting for the most terrible punishment- Hell.

According to the Gospel, God (father) gave the entire Judgment to Christ (son), therefore this very Last Judgment will be performed from the hand of Christ at the time of the second coming, when he appears on earth with holy angels. Christ, as the son of man and God, simultaneously has the power to judge, in addition to himself as the head of heavenly justice, Christ will give the power to judge the world to the righteous, the apostles, who will be seated on 12 thrones to judge the 12 tribes of Israel.

“The Apostle Paul was convinced that all the saints (Christians) would judge the world: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? But if the world be judged by you, are you not worthy to judge unimportant things? Don't you know that we will judge the angels, much less the deeds of life?" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)."

However, the choice of who will be holy and worthy of judging the world is again a mystery, since we know the situation from the New Testament, when Christ answered the request to put certain people next to him in the Other World, that it does not depend on him, but on God's destiny , His Father.

However, there are such delusions among believers (I'm not talking about obvious sects) that saints are not only those who are on the list Orthodox Church, but also those who willfully included in it. Whether there will be someone from the lists of the Orthodox Church or another - it is not for us to know, but it is still obvious that sinful people the world will definitely not be judged, for this, holiness is definitely needed, which for earthly people a priori alien. The same Apostle Paul, perhaps, had in mind just the same apostles.

But there is an interesting moment with the judgment of the Son: that God seemed to withdraw and give the entire Judgment to Christ... At the same time, God himself is love, but heavenly punishment, if anything, on the Son... the evil that they themselves higher power and allowed to produce through people.

According to the Christian concept, Judgment Day will begin with the fact that “The angels at the end of the age will gather the elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other (Matt. 24:31), and also gather from His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who do iniquity (Matt. 13:41) and separate the evil from among the righteous (Matt. 13:49). According to the apostolic teaching, “we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10), “we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10).

God the Father, through God the Son, will judge Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 2:9), the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1), that is, those who will rise from the dead and those who will remain until the resurrection alive, but, like the resurrected, they will change (1 Cor. 15:51-52), and also, besides people, and evil angels (Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4).

Not only the deeds of people, both good and evil, will be judged (Matt. 25:35-36, 2 Cor. 5:10), but also their every idle word (Matt. 12:36). The Judge will say to the righteous: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34), but sinners will hear such a sentence: “Depart from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” » (Matthew 25:41).

Judgment is possible not only for committed deeds, but for thoughts and wishes. For example, someone could not kill the enemy, but wish him death, evil all his life, which inevitably affects the personality, the state of the ill-wisher himself. This poisons his essence, making it black ... depriving him of bright deeds, thoughts. Therefore, forgiveness in Christianity is so important, forgiveness purifies first of all the most forgiving one, even if this does not affect the enemy in any way, and the enemy will stand up with an answer at the Judgment, but selfishness true christian in that they don’t give a damn about what will happen to the enemies and take care of their souls first of all, forgiving others as well.

Some Christian denominations, in particular Protestant ones, believe that there will be two judgments: for believers and for non-believers. The first will be “taken to pieces” regarding their compliance with Christian dogmas, and the unworthy may even go to hell (after all, it is more dangerous to know and not fulfill, or to commit blasphemy, to trample on the blood of Christ with neglect and constant sins, than not to know and be judged according to the laws of conscience), and unbelievers will be judged according to their deeds, and, presumably, if they are saved, then as a "brand from the fire."

And as for the believers, it is possible for them to receive salvation already on earth, resurrection from the dead into Eternal Life: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5:24).

The criteria for “listening to the Word” are reflected in the parables of Christ from the Gospel, the listener accepting the Word, fulfilling it, bringing it to life. Therefore, “listening” in this context is not at all the same as simply understanding what is revered, heard, but a much broader and more active concept - the incarnation of the Word into Life, a believer (a process that means constant movement in the direction of comprehending faith, not just a believer, but a believer ).

But the main condition for the transition to the camp of the saved according to Christian standards is the recognition of the Son (Christ) as the son of God, his messenger, and faith both in the Father and in the Son. Why is this? Because before the coming of Christ, there was a vicious circle, because of which all people after death went to hell, because they were a priori sinners.

And through Christ, God gave people the opportunity of salvation not through deeds, but through faith, and Christ took upon himself all the sins and everyone who turns to Him has the opportunity to lay their sins on Him and receive salvation, but for this you need to firmly believe that Christ was sent God and His Son. not so easy good man, a messenger from distant planets or a missionary of obscure forces, but the Son of God.

Here are those who believed in the Son, received salvation from Him, underwent a rebirth (their deeds accordingly changed as a result of faith), one can say - they were resurrected being alive, they will be raptured with the church before the second coming of Christ (and the second coming presupposes the Judgment Day), having escaped the Judgment, they will immediately go to the so-called "Paradise".

Judgment Day in the New Testament is dedicated to the book - "The Revelation of John the Theologian", about the Apocalypse. 4 horsemen, 7 seals, 7 bowls of God's wrath, the fall of the great harlot of Babylon...

This book is the most difficult of all the messages of the Bible, and those who say they understood it - most likely simply did not read it, or did not even try to understand its essence. The book itself, as an encrypted message, as a sign, is symbolic and, perhaps, allegorical. That is, those same 4 horsemen who bring death are perhaps not horsemen at all, but for example a series of events at the beginning of the Apocalypse, natural disasters, wars. Between them, perhaps not a couple of hours, days, but several years, centuries ... But it can also be that the horsemen are the forces of evil with which it is given to the devil to poison the earth: famine, death, war and ... Antichrist?

There are opinions that the rider on the white horse is the Antichrist. Victorious, with a crown on his head, who captured the pure white horse, with a bow in hand. There are opinions that this rider is evil, which manifests itself with false prophecies, deceit, which is characteristic of the devil - to deceive and kill. Evil will win on earth, along with famine, war and death, but will be powerless in the domain of God. Antichrist will be overthrown during the Last Judgment.

The bowls of wrath will be poured out on the ground, which will cause terrible torment to unrepentant people ... the earth will turn black, darkness will come everywhere, some will die from floods, some from fire, but no one will die without torment. And physical death is not so bad - then the judgment of the soul awaits everyone.

There are suggestions that the Antichrist will not be killed immediately, but imprisoned for 3 thousand years, in which the saints will reign on earth, and then released to fight in the battle and already killed and thrown into the sea of ​​fire forever.

Everything will be so terrible for those who have not submitted to the will of salvation that the phrase “the living will envy the dead, and the dead will rise from hell out of fear” will do.

When it will be? Of course, there is no exact answer, even the angels do not know about it. But there are signs of the last times, though believers have been observing them for several centuries... Lawlessness, darkness, false prophets, cataclysms... all this has been happening for many centuries. And as many years ago everyone said that the End would come tomorrow, so they say the same today. But there is good advice to all who wait: stay awake! There are parables in the New Testament, the essence of which is: you can’t relax, the last day can come like a thief at night. And one more thing (although this is from the samurai code): live every day as if it were your last, as if you were going to die tomorrow. But much more real for each of us own death because not everyone will live to see the Apocalypse. However, according to the scriptures, even the dead will be resurrected for the Judgment.

But it may well be that the Court will be held in the form of a trial, who will go where, without any special effects ...

The Apocalypse is the punishment for the sins of mankind. Mankind has been told about change and repentance for many centuries, millennia, and the Day of Judgment is the result for those who heard it or not.

Someone can say that they did not warn, they did not hear ..

No, everyone heard it many times, they only perceived it as a fantasy, a joke, fiction, a legend, considering themselves the kings of the world, life (but to be honest - we don’t know if this is true or not). For example, once again everyone heard about Judgment Day through this article. Believe it or not? And then it will be too late...

“... Let the unrighteous one still do a lie; let the unclean be still defiled; let the righteous still do righteousness, and let the saint still be sanctified. Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according to his deeds. » (Rev. 22:11-13)

Then he will also say to those on the left side:

depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire,

prepared for the devil and his angels.

Spiritual hell and no frying pans

New country. Now everyone knows themselves. Now everyone is teaching the Church, discussing the mysteries of God and doubting the icon.

For example, everyone now knows that in the icon of the Last Judgment, in its lower right corner, fantastic pictures are drawn that were born in the peasant minds of a medieval inhabitant: hooks, frying pans, hanging by the legs and by the tongue. Now every graduate high school knows that it is a primitive fiction or a naive allegory.

It is strange that one has to talk about the existence of Hell at all.

Neophytes interpret Judgment as an opportunity for a person to take the place in the world that he likes. And it seems that this is how the mercy of God is manifested. Liked to drink? Go to drunkards. Fornicated or stole? Go to the fornicators and robbers. God does not punish anyone and executes. Everyone is the blacksmith of his own happiness. He wants to and lives among the villains. He himself suffers. Satisfied myself. In Paradise, it only gets worse.

And all the suffering of life in hell, according to non-traditional theologians, lies in the fact that, here, a drunkard wants to drink, but there is no wine. The thief wants to steal, but there is nothing to steal. A person wants to roam, but subtle body like a cloud empty and objectless, it cannot accomplish anything. This is how they will suffer without God. And God has nothing to do with it. And damn it ... somehow Lately talking about demons was bad manners. They seem to exist, and they seem to not exist, because God is good. He scares them away and does not tell us to bother beyond easy measure.

And no frying pans. And what Christ called "gnashing of teeth" is an allegory. And all suffering is only spiritual experiences

Alas. This is not true. And this conclusion is easy to refute.

We should listen to Christ

We all believe in universal resurrection of the dead. The dead will rise in bodies. Some think that such bodies will be our ordinary bodies, but in the prime of life, at the age of Christ, that is, thirty years old. Others think that we will rise not in our stout body, but in thin bodies, similar to the body of Adam, who lived in Paradise and did not yet have leather robes - a meat animal body.

Be that as it may, a person after death will have a certain body. And it is quite obvious that suffering in hell will be not only subtle and spiritual, but also bodily. And it is quite clear that once in the world of demons, which also have a certain degree of materiality, we will contact with them, and this contact will not always be spiritual and ethereal.

Demons during our earthly life are bound by God and He does not allow them to be stronger than us. Now I can accept a thought, or I can drive it away. In Hell, there will be no such opportunity to drive out the demon. And what will happen in this case is completely understandable: the demon will hurt and hurt us. Perhaps without a frying pan and hooks, but it hurts and perhaps more painfully than a frying pan.

Seraphim of Sarov:
“But, father, do demons have claws?”

- Oh, your love of God, your love of God, and what only they teach you at the university! Don't you know that demons don't have claws?! They are depicted with hooves, horns, tails because it is impossible for the human imagination to come up with a more vile kind of this kind. They are such in their vileness, for their unauthorized falling away from God and their voluntary opposition to Divine grace  But, being created with the power and properties of angels, demons have such irresistible power for man and for everything earthly that the smallest of them, like I told you, he can turn the whole earth with his fingernail.

Neophytes think that God is so sweet that there is essentially no evil, and that everyone will be saved, even devils. But this is not news. This is the teaching of the Gnostic Origen, publicly and loudly condemned by the church council.

Thus, the world after the Last Judgment will not be uniformly ethereal. This world will also not have the homogeneity to which we are accustomed while living on earth. He will split. In the big Universe there will appear a cyst clogged with evil. And between the bed of Abraham and hell a fire will lie, and the angel of the Lord will watch that no one enters or leaves from there and there.

And an angel with a fiery sword will not listen to our neophyte church. Evidence of this in the Gospel are the numerous words of Christ about hell and torment in it. For example, in parables about wedding feast, the fig tree, the wicked vinedressers, the talents, and the grass that will be thrown into the fire. But what about people? There are people who doubt not only the authenticity of the revelations of John the Theologian, but also the words of Christ, recorded by equally different authors of the Gospel.

But we should listen to Christ.

The world can't be the way we imagined

So, the world will become discrete sooner or later. In hell, perhaps the lightning of God's glory will be seen and the prayers of the righteous for sinners will be heard, but all this will be like a rare dawn under the canopy of a black sky from a distant sun. And this otherworldly Mordor will be filled with spiritual and physical suffering. Do not listen to people who came to church yesterday and lie about different reasons. Listen to Christ and His saints. The world cannot be the way we imagine it to be.

Knowledge of the structure of the world is important for eternal life. If the world is tailored to my fantasies, then the means of escape will be fantastic. If I seek to learn about the world from God, then the means of salvation will be divine.

The unwillingness to know the truth of God is very dangerous and sad.

A person knows how much money he has in his pocket, how he will meet Friday or New Year. But does not care about how to meet death, Christ or hell. What a strange thing - not to think about the most important thing and not want to see the boundaries that separate Heaven from Hell. Bliss from suffering, joy from grief.

Was merciless - go to the other side

Before fasting, the church established three preparatory weeks. In the week of Zacchaeus the publican, there was no talk of any heaven or hell. Everything is so clear.

Zacchaeus has changed so much that he does not need to know where this border between good and evil is. He has already passed her and forever.

In the week of the Publican and the Pharisee, each of them has one foot in Paradise and one foot in Hell. And the Lord encourages them by promising both of them justification if they do repentance and add to their merits the second missing part. Publican - Law. Pharisee - love. The second week is about those who are acquitted rather than condemned. Who is more likely to heaven than hell.

The third week is about who was more likely to be in hell than in heaven - about the Prodigal Son.

But the fourth week is for the damned. For those who are almost entirely in hell. They have been threatened. They are offered fear as a last resort. Fear for those who understand not love and even calculation. For treacherous and crafty slaves. But again, for everyone. Those who do not need God and the church are out of the question. The threat of the last pre-Lenten week is only for those who still come to God and to the temple. They are words filled with thunder and lightning. Words of fear to them. To them, God clearly and clearly shows the boundary, after which hell begins. If this minimum requirement is not met, there will be a complete slide into hell. This requirement determines the minimum entry threshold for entry into paradise.

Here it is: if you have not fed, watered, comforted the weak, and do not understand mercy and compassion, then you are not a Christian and there is nothing for you to do in paradise. And nobody needs you there. This requirement is not in knowledge, but in the grace that we acquire in the heart. Exceptionally grace, and not everything that we invented instead of it, God does not require fasting, prayer, akathists, religious processions for salvation, if they do not change us, which in most cases happens. All this is good as a condition, not as a goal. And here the subject of salvation and the key to paradise is discussed - mercy.

There is no mercy. If you don’t look every day for an opportunity to serve your neighbor, go to hell, and without sentimentality, and without reference to fasts and akathists. There is no compassion and sacrifice of love - there is nothing.

The lord of the priests does not spare. Tired of the people. Donate nothing to anyone. Did not feed the weak, did not keep the peace in the church - go to the other side. He was hard-hearted and unmerciful - a panagia will not save. God does not look at the miter, but at the heart.

The priest did not spare the people. He frightened the people, fooled his head, replaced the power of God with his own power, raked out the church cash desk clean - go to the other side.

A Christian does not spare people, is rude to parents, torments priests, does not visit brothers in hospitals, does not buy bread for a poor neighbor - a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Diveyevo and Athos will not help you. The cross on your chest will condemn you. He put on the cross, but did not want to crucify his bestial appearance on it - go to the other side.

Why is there no place in heaven for a normal person

But why so strict. Yes, most of of us does not do good every day. But we have an excuse: we have to pay for an apartment, for study, for treatment, to postpone for a rainy day. It is necessary to make repairs, upgrade cars, clothes and leave more for food. It's like the money is there, but it's not there. Yes, finding someone who is smaller with God is also not easy. Smaller - after all, this does not mean a criminal swindler, gypsies with children pumped up with vodka, alcoholic parasites.

There is dubious charity, which nourishes vice more than heals it. But we often do not do obvious undoubted good.

So what? Let a person do good not every day. Let him be tight-fisted "in a good way." But he doesn't do evil. Doesn't offend anyone. Not a fornicator and not a villain, like some publicans and adulterers. Why would God not give such a quiet, modest, inconspicuous place in paradise for these decent people, radiating the modest charm of the bourgeoisie. Why is there no place in Paradise for an ordinary normal decent person?

We are one spirit and one body with God.

The apostle Paul said this:

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members from Christ to make them the members of a harlot? Let it not!

Or do you not know that he who has sex with a prostitute becomes one body with her? for it is said, the two shall be one flesh.

And he who unites with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord.

Run fornication; every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body.

Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought with a price.

Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's.

There shouldn't be cancer cells in heaven

So we exist in the spirit and body of God, through the sacraments and especially the sacrament. And we are like God in grace. We have the opportunity to be members of a single conciliar body - to be part of the body of Christ, to be the Church. But we also have the right not to be part of the Body of God. This is our natural right. Our right is not to receive grace.

Then it turns out that in common body a foreign member is formed. Basically alien. Such bodies are cancerous tumors. Benign tumor. In everything decent cells, except for the most important thing - their life and reproduction occur outside the design of the whole organism.

There are infected members. kind of gangrene. If a cancer cell has some kind of “virtue” and the only problem is that its meaning of life is closed to itself, then the problem of an infected member is that its somatic – bodily cells are affected. Such an organ would be happy to be healthy, but it is tormented by an infection.

This pathology corresponds to two types of people. Decent egoist and a common person infected with sin. It's the same story about the publican and the Pharisee. Pro prodigal son and his jealous brother.

Sadly, gangrene and cancer must be cut out so that the disease does not affect the entire body. Cancer cells and sepsis should not be in paradise. And the health of a person is determined by his likeness to God, which is by grace.

There is grace - a person is magnanimous, sacrificial, kind and similar to God. And he is one with Him.

There is no grace - he is greedy, angry, proud and not related to God. He is alien and contagious with evil.

To whom does God address the "damned"?

I try to end my sermon on a positive note. But this Sunday it seems inappropriate to me - to be more cheerful and kinder than Christ. Christ Himself sets the tone for the Last Judgment reminder. Who are we to correct God?

Aren't these words menacing and serious? Didn't God say the words about the goats and the righteous? To whom does God address the "damned"? What do you say it's not?

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all nations will be gathered before Him; and separate one from the other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.

Then he will also say to those on the left side: Depart from me, cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you did not give Me drink; I was a stranger, and they did not receive me; was naked, and they did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and did not visit Me.

Then they too will say to Him in answer: Lord! when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve you?

Then he will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

I didn't write this. God dictated it, whether we like it or not. This is the law of the world. And it is stupid and dangerous not to take into account the laws underlying the world. Therefore, the absence of care for one's soul, the absence of mortal memory, the absence of good deeds and, most importantly, the absence of being together with God every moment of one's life is a sin. And sin is separation from God.

For a righteous person, there is nothing terrible in the memory of a mortal. It is terrible for sinners.

As John of the Ladder writes:

The fear of death is a property of human nature, which has come from disobedience; and trembling at the memory of death is a sign of unrepentant sins. Christ is afraid of death, but does not tremble to clearly show the properties of two natures

Some experience and wonder why God did not give us the foreknowledge of death, if the remembrance of it is so beneficial for us? These people do not know that God miraculously arranges our salvation through this. For no one, having long known the time of his death, would not hasten to be baptized, or to live righteously, but everyone would spend his whole life in iniquity, and at the very exit from this world would come to baptism, or to repentance; (but from a long-term habit, sin would become a second nature in a person, and he would remain completely without correction)
When you mourn over your sins, never listen to this dog who inspires you that God is philanthropic; for he does it with the intention of tearing you away from weeping and fearless fear. Accept the thought of God's mercy only when you see that you are being drawn into the depths of despair.

So, if you live well, then why are you afraid. The Last Judgment will be a joy to the righteous. And if you sin, then how are you not afraid of the Supreme Court and God? Whoever has acquired the memory of death cannot sin. And not because he fears punishment, but because death unites him with Christ forever. The one who has acquired the memory of death has reached a certain level of love for God and people, and his heart is not embarrassed by death.

Let's ask God divine love and grace, which would not only give us life, prepare us for eternal life, but also destroy the bodily fear of death and lead us out of judgment. Because there is no judgment on those who love.

Let us pray to God that he would save us by this grace of his, at least somehow, and grant us the mind to desire our own salvation and eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ.