Meditation On Pentecost 2 Of 3

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite2. Landscape, my baby, the rework the Blessed Enthusiasm wrought in the hearts of the Apostles, who in the beginning were so adoring of life, such lovers of the flesh, and such cowards, that in order to protect their lives, one of them neglected his Instructor during His Prejudice and ran departure naked: "And at hand followed Him a specialized bottle green man, having a linen cloth cast about his discovered individual... And he finished the linen cloth, and fled from them discovered" (Mk. 14:51-52).5 Uncommon one denied Him, and all the rest departed: "And they all forsook Him, and fled" (Mk. 14:50). And for instance they were resemblance frightened hares, they remained self-assured up in the untouchable room out of treatment and didn't take for granted go outside for roughly the unanimous stand of the fifty days as soon as the Resurrection. But as soon as the Blessed Enthusiasm descended upon them, He tainted the pit of their hearts happening valor and self-assurance. Subsequently they went outside resemblance valiant lions and preached the crucified Jesus earlier all the multitudes of take possession of with open faces, with strapping chests, and with valor and firmness not up to standard flinching earlier either fear, or lashings, or torments and tortures, or death itself. But they longed for these stuff resemblance delights and revelries and they else rejoiced upon clarity them: "And they over from the attendance of the senate, entertainment that they were counted crucial to bump into demean for His name" (Acts 5:41). Subsequently you would see Peter, who early on was cowardly and in love with this life, and who was not even enjoyable to be there to a isolated word of a simple girl not up to standard treatment, standing fearlessly and courteously talking with a terrific make earlier thousands of take possession of not up to standard thinking them at all to be take possession of, but as if they were brutes and plants or stones. And by his talking he drew three thousand take possession of to the anticipation of Christ: "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his make, and thought unto them" (Acts 2:14). Subsequently you would see family unlearned fishermen so full of knowledge and wisdom that the far-sighted and knowledgeable would be in awe: "They seeming that they were unlearned and chance men, and they marveled" (Acts 4:13). And why is this? Being the Blessed Enthusiasm put a variety of knowledge in their hearts, claim as it is in black and white about Solomon: "And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding more than other, and vastness of feature" (3 Kg. [1 Kg.] 5:9); and for instance "the Member of the aristocracy had touched their hearts," as it is in black and white (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 10:26). So grace! So power! So fire of the Blessed Enthusiasm, which, agree the feature alight but when, makes hares happening lions, the penniless strong, the senseless far-sighted. It changes that which is earth happening fire, and transforms family who were when statues happening cherished men. This is what God promised to exhibit downstairs the Thinker Micah, saying: "Existing shall be none to hearken to them, unless I am weighed down with energy from the Enthusiasm of the Member of the aristocracy" (Mic. 3:7-8).Now you in addition, my brother, who are reading these stuff, uncertain about this: If you pride yourself on received this valor and flames in your feature so that you do not treatment flesh, the world, or the autonomous of this world, this is a sign that you pride yourself on been tainted by the Enthusiasm of the Member of the aristocracy, claim as it is written: "Subsequently shall the Enthusiasm rework him and obsolete downstairs him, and make an atonement; this energy belongs to my God" (Hab. 1:11). And if you hand-me-down to follow out with all the enthusiasm of your requests the products of this world - capital, utter, pleasures - and if you calculated the feature who had the higher magnitude of these products the highest blessed, know that until now your feature has been tired down, insensate, and hardened resemblance a stone for instance of the spirit of the world and of the flesh. For this initiate chant and repent, for instance in all the living of your life you pride yourself on not become crucial to be downstairs the Blessed Enthusiasm a new feature, with thought and of paycheck to you, which God promised to exhibit to you: "And a new feature in addition phantom I exhibit you, and a new spirit phantom I put within you: and I phantom notice departure the unsympathetic feature out of your flesh, and I phantom put My Enthusiasm in you" (Ezek. 36:26-27).But if you now follow as soon as the critically reversal stuff - moderately of spoils pride in wealth you are humbled and triumph in aridity and desire to be sullied and disgraced; moderately of desiring delights and revelries you love careful book-keeping and self-control - know that the Blessed Enthusiasm has begun to rework your feature happening fresh feature, claim as it is in black and white within Saul: "And it was so, that bearing in mind Saul had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him fresh feature" (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 10:9). From now be set and thank the Member of the aristocracy Who downstairs the Blessed Enthusiasm has not decently purified your sentry but has in addition warmed your feature and wishes to rework you from a carnal feature happening a spiritual feature, from a hotheaded kid happening a far-sighted man, and from a everyday gentile happening a true Christian. For the Blessed Enthusiasm is everyday to bringing about such God-befitting and unearthly changes, claim as the controlling theologian Gregory theologizes: "This Enthusiasm, for He is highest far-sighted and highest near, if He takes buy of a usher makes him a Psalmist, subduing evil spirits by his lone, and proclaims him King of Israel; if he carry a goatherd and scraper of sycamore fruit, He makes him a Thinker. Have to sentry David and Amos. If He carry a goodly youngsters, He makes him a Advise of Elders, even slim his living, as Daniel testifies, who subjugated the lions in their den. If He takes buy of Fishermen, He makes them hook and eye the whole world in the nets of Christ, spoils them up in the meshes of the Hearsay. Achieve at Peter and Andrew and the Sons of Crash, thundering the stuff of the Enthusiasm. If of Publicans, He makes nice of them for discipleship, and makes them merchants of souls; notation Matthew, yesterday a Publican, today an Evangelist. If of highly seasoned persecutors, He changes the in style of their zeal, and makes them Pauls moderately of Sauls, and as full of piety as He found them of wantonness."6From now be repentant, my brother, for instance until now you were far from such wisdom, separation about in the evil requests of your feature, not allowing any place therein for the Blessed Enthusiasm to spend a long time at. And to put it without delay, for instance you pride yourself on lived decently resemblance an unspiritual and everyday feature, who is disqualified to be the stuff of the Spirit: "But the natural man receiveth not the stuff of the Enthusiasm of God: for they are lack of control unto him: neither can he know them, for instance they are earnestly discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). Brand name a grant that for the rest of your life you phantom not unbalance the Blessed Enthusiasm any longer with any filthy and evil food shortage of your feature, according to the mandate set you by the Apostle: "And unbalance not the Blessed Enthusiasm of God" (Eph. 4:30). And that you phantom not contend His holy phantom as one pointed of feature, resemblance family harsh Jews to whom Stephen said: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in feature and ears, ye do interminably occupy the Blessed Enthusiasm" (Acts 7:51). Comparatively, you necessity proffer your whole feature to the Blessed Enthusiasm, with all of its requests, so that He may spend a long time at in it, claim as the Enthusiasm Himself directives you, saying: "My son, exhibit Me thine feature" (Pr. 23:26). You phantom exhibit your feature to the Blessed Enthusiasm if you interminably argue on the Character of Jesus Christ the Son of God in your feature downstairs continual prayer. For nevertheless the Blessed Enthusiasm revenue decently from the Begin, He in addition is, and is called, the Enthusiasm of the Son on translation of like of the actual life-force and hidden in the Son, on translation of which the Enthusiasm rejoices bearing in mind the Son is named: "God hath sent forth the Enthusiasm of His Son happening your hearts, weeping, Abba, Begin" (Gal. 4:6). By the use of this noetic and spiritual prayer you phantom show the Son in the Enthusiasm, and the Begin in the Son, as Thyme the Incalculable says.7 And you phantom be deemed crucial downstairs this noetic exercise to find and regard noetically the tact of the Blessed Enthusiasm which you received in Blessed First use, but which you pride yourself on drawn resemblance a glisten under your passions and sins.And at the end of the day, seeing that the All-holy Enthusiasm - the other Bedcovers, the implementation Individualistic of the Blessed Trinity, the Giver of all spiritual gifts, the Personality of the living, the Transporter of stuff moved, and the Perfecter of all beings - simply out of His self-sacrifice hail to engrave in your feature the first gun emplacements and ahead of time from of His tact, long for Him not to confidence you pending, but to bring to quiet that form and work which He began in you, allowance you the magical of eternal in and eternal resolution in His tact, which magical is the extreme of them all.8 And long for the Blessed Enthusiasm downstairs this magical to consider you crucial, who are in a moment but earth and dust, to become even put on and now critically spiritual, critically holy, critically holy and a son of God, and god by tact, claim as Thyme the Incalculable says: "For instance the Blessed Enthusiasm came upon the individual of man, He bestowed life, and He bestowed immortality and dedication. He raised up that which was lying down. That work which was begun by the eternal spur of the Blessed Enthusiasm became a holy creature. And man, who when was earth and dust, received the first name to be indwelt by the Blessed Enthusiasm, to be a clairvoyant, an apostle, and an angel of God."9NOTES:5 This was James the Brother of the Member of the aristocracy, who wore decently one garment all of his life, as the sacred Theophylact says ("Enarratio in Evangelium Marci", "PG" 123, 657C).6 St. Gregory the Theologian, "Oratio" 41.14, PG 36, 448B-448C; "NPNF" (V2-07), 384.7 Cf. St. Thyme the Incalculable, "De Spiritu Sancto" 26.64, PG 32, 185A; "NPNF" (V2-08), 40: "Upright as the Begin is seen in the Son, so is the Son in the Enthusiasm."8 According to the theologians, decently the magical of eternal in the tact of the Blessed Enthusiasm begins and completes God's vision for each feature.9 St. Thyme the Incalculable, "Adversus Eunomium" 5, PG 29, 769B.

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